Numbers 23:11
in Numbers 23Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and behold, you have only blessed them!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
KJV
And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
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This verse in Numbers 23
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
I brought you here to curse my enemies
on Numbers 23:11-12
Balak paid for a curse and heard a blessing, and his question is the question of a man who thought he had bought an outcome. Balaam's reply is exactly true, and he had already said it at 22:38 before he left home, and he took the fee and came. John Gill reads the answer as a show of scruple from a man under compulsion.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He pretended to honour the Lord with his sacrifices, and to wait for the answer God would send him; and yet, when it did not prove according to his mind, he forgot God, and flew into a great passion against Balaam, as if it had been purely his doing: " What hast thou done unto me!
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
And Balak said unto Balaam, what hast thou done unto me?....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
WHO HATH COUNTED THE DUST OF JACOB? Balaam is saying: “I see them from the top of the rocks dwelling alone, and I cannot count them for they alone are like the dust of the earth, and no man can number the dust of the earth; 134 See Genesis:16.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בָּלָק֙ | balak | Balak | H1111 → | 43 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בִּלְעָ֔ם | bilam | Balaam | H1109 → | 61 times |
| מֶ֥ה | meh | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| עָשִׂ֖יתָ | ʾasita | have you done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לִ֑י | li | to <the> me | ||
| לָקֹ֤ב | lako | to curse | H6895 → | 14 times |
| אֹיְבַי֙ | ʾoyevai | enemies my | H341 → | 282 times |
| לְקַחְתִּ֔יךָ | lekachtikha | I took you | H3947 → | 966 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֖ה | vehineh | and here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| בֵּרַ֥כְתָּ | berakhta | you have blessed | H1288 → | 330 times |
| בָרֵֽךְ׃ | varekh | actually <bless> | H1288 → | 330 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
בָּלָק֙Balak
balakH1111 →43 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בִּלְעָ֔םBalaam
bilamH1109 →61 times
מֶ֥הwhat?
mehH4100 →752 times
עָשִׂ֖יתָhave you done
ʾasitaH6213 →2628 times
לִ֑יto <the> me
li
לָקֹ֤בto curse
lakoH6895 →14 times
אֹיְבַי֙enemies my
ʾoyevaiH341 →282 times
לְקַחְתִּ֔יךָI took you
lekachtikhaH3947 →966 times
וְהִנֵּ֖הand here!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
בֵּרַ֥כְתָּyou have blessed
berakhtaH1288 →330 times
בָרֵֽךְ׃actually <bless>
varekhH1288 →330 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Nehemiah 13:2because they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but had hired Balaam to call down a curse against them (although our God had turned the curse into a blessing).
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 23:5
Yet the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, and the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.
- Joshua 24:9–10
Then Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you,
- Micah 6:5
My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”
- Numbers 23:8–11
How can I curse what God has not cursed? How can I denounce what the LORD has not denounced?
- Psalms 109:28
Though they curse, You will bless. When they rise up, they will be put to shame, but Your servant will rejoice.
- Deuteronomy 23:5
Through
Numbers 24:10Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together and said to Balaam, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 21:14
‘So then, son of man, prophesy and strike your hands together. Let the sword strike two times, even three. It is a sword that slays, a sword of great slaughter closing in on every…
- Ezekiel 22:13
Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst.
- Ezekiel 21:17
I too will strike My hands together, and I will satisfy My wrath.’ I, the LORD, have spoken.”
- Ezekiel 21:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.