Numbers 22:12

12 And God said to Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they [are] blessed.

Numbers 22:12 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 22:12

And God said unto Balaam, thou shalt not go with them
Which is a denial of the first thing Balak requested, "come now, therefore" ( Numbers 22:6 )

thou shall not curse the people;
which was the principal thing desired, and in order to which he was solicited to go with the messengers; but this is absolutely forbidden:

for they are blessed;
by the Lord himself, with an irrevocable blessing, and therefore it would be vain and fruitless, as well as dangerous for him to attempt to curse them, ( Genesis 12:3 ) this may have a special respect to the blessing of Jacob by Isaac, which could not be reversed by the solicitations of Esau, and which descended to Jacob's posterity, the Israelites, ( Genesis 27:33 ) .

Numbers 22:12 In-Context

10 And Balaam said to God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent to me, [saying],

11 Behold, [there has] a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now, curse them for me: it may be I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out.

12 And God said to Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they [are] blessed.

13 And Balaam rose in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, Depart into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you.

14 And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went to Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us.