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Numbers 24:12

in Numbers 24

Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not already tell the messengers you sent me

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers that thou sentest unto me, saying,

KJV

And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers which thou sentest unto me, saying,

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This verse in Numbers 24

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

Spake I not also to thy messengers

on Numbers 24:12-14

Balaam answers by quoting himself from 22:18, and the quotation is close without being exact, since the word of the Lord my God there becomes the commandment of the Lord here with of mine own mind added. He kept that word to the letter, and 2 Peter 2:15 still describes his way as the way of a man who loved the wages of unrighteousness. His offer to advertise Balak what this people shall do to thy people is the last thing he says before the fourth oracle, and 31:16 reports what he actually left behind, the counsel that brought Israel down at Peor. The phrase in the latter days occurs here for the first time in the King James Old Testament, and Genesis 49:1 rendered the same Hebrew as the last days when Jacob gathered his sons to tell them what would befall them.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And Balaam said unto Balak,.... In order to mitigate his wrath, and bring him into a better temper: spake I not also to thy messengers which thou sentest unto me: those that came to him a second time; for to the first he said nothing of what is after related, but to the last he did much the same as he had afterwards said to Balak himself: saying,

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Balak could not say that he had cheated him, since he had given him fair notice of the check he found himself under. (2.) He endeavours to atone for it,

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together--The "smiting of the hands together" is, among Oriental people, an indication of the most violent rage (see Eze 21:17;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

[AND BALAAM SAID UNTO BALAK]: ‘SPOKE I NOT ALSO TO THY MESSENGERS ETC.?’ Balaam was now defending himself on the basis of what he had told Balak’s messengers when they came back to him, before he knew what the Eternal would speak unto him more; 225 Above,:19.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Numbers 24:12:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
ברח לך, the use of the word ברח does not refer to escape from a pursuer, but refers to abandoning a certain place because of fear of what might happen there in the future.
Sforno: Italy, c. 1475–1550 · Sforno on Numbers 24:11:1, via Sefaria, Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash

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. 5 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 words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • בִּלְעָ֖םBalaam

    bilamH1109 →61 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • בָּלָ֑קBalak

    balakH1111 →43 times

  • הֲלֹ֗א¿ not

    halo'H3808 →5168 times

  • גַּ֧םalso

    gamH1571 →769 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • מַלְאָכֶ֛יךָmessengers your

    malakheikhaH4397 →213 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־whom

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • שָׁלַ֥חְתָּyou sent

    shalachtaH7971 →845 times

  • אֵלַ֖יto me

    ʾelaiH413 →5510 times

  • דִּבַּ֥רְתִּיdid I speak

    dibartiH1696 →1141 times

  • לֵאמֹֽר׃<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

2 in all, six open

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Numbers 22:18

    But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything small or great to go beyond the command…

    it leads to

    • Numbers 23:26

      But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Numbers 24:13

      that even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the…

    • 2 Chronicles 18:13

      But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever my God tells me.”

    • 1 Kings 22:14

      But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever the LORD tells me.”

    • Numbers 22:38

      “See, I have come to you,” Balaam replied, “but can I say just anything? I must speak only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

  • Through

    Numbers 22:38

    “See, I have come to you,” Balaam replied, “but can I say just anything? I must speak only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 19:21

      Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.

    • Numbers 22:18

      But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything small or great to go beyond the command…

    • Numbers 23:16

      And the LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak what I tell you.”

Where this verse is studied

About Numbers

The Bronze Serpent, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Bronze Serpent, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Numbers: the study guide →Read Numbers 24 →

This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Numbers 24 →