🔢WEB · Numbers 23:26
What does Numbers 23:26 mean?
"But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that Yahweh speaks, that I must do?’”"
— Numbers 23:26 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; Neither is there any divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What has God done!’
Behold, the people rises up as a lioness. As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”
Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.”
But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that Yahweh speaks, that I must do?’”
Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”
Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert.
Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
Explanation
Numbers 23:26 records Balaam's blunt reply to King Balak after Balaam has just pronounced a blessing over Israel instead of the curse Balak demanded. Balak is frustrated and confused, having watched his hired prophet bless the very people he wanted cursed. Balaam's answer is simple and firm: he reminds Balak that he had already warned him from the start that he can only speak the words Yahweh puts in his mouth. There is no room for negotiation or persuasion here — Balaam is not free to change his message to suit his employer's wishes.
The context is the story found in Numbers 22-24. Balak, king of Moab, is terrified of the Israelites as they journey toward the Promised Land, so he hires Balaam, a well-known diviner from Mesopotamia, to curse them. Balaam initially seems willing to take the job for pay, but God intervenes repe
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