Numbers 23:26
in Numbers 23But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that Jehovah speaketh, that I must do?
KJV
But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the Lord speaketh, that I must do?
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This verse in Numbers 23
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
All that the Lord speaketh, that I must do--a remarkable confession that he was divinely constrained to give utterances different from what it was his purpose and inclination to do.
This site's exposition
the people rise like a lioness
on Numbers 23:24-26
Genesis 49:9 gave the lion to Judah alone, and here the whole people rise like a lioness. Albert Barnes suggests Balaam's omen may have been a real lion from the Jordan thicket. Balak's request falls from a curse to silence, neither curse them at all nor bless them at all.
This site's exposition
whatever the LORD says, I must do
Balaam points back to 22:38, where he said before setting out that he could speak only the word God put in his mouth. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown call this a remarkable confession: he was made to say what he neither intended nor wished to say.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, told not I thee,....
This sows, First, In general, that the way of man is not in himself; there are many devices in man's heart, but God's counsels shall stand. Secondly, In particular, that, as no weapon formed against the church shall prosper, so every tongue that rises against her in judgment god will control and condemn, Isa. liv.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֣עַן | vaiyaan | and he answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| בִּלְעָ֔ם | bilam | Balaam | H1109 → | 61 times |
| וַיֹּ֖אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בָּלָ֑ק | balak | Balak | H1111 → | 43 times |
| הֲלֹ֗א | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| דִּבַּ֤רְתִּי | dibarti | did I speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ | ʾeleikha | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| לֵאמֹ֔ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כֹּ֛ל | kol | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יְדַבֵּ֥ר | yedaber | he will speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֹת֥וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֶֽעֱשֶֽׂה׃ | ʾeeseh | I will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
וַיַּ֣עַןand he answered
vaiyaanH6030 →331 times
בִּלְעָ֔םBalaam
bilamH1109 →61 times
וַיֹּ֖אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בָּלָ֑קBalak
balakH1111 →43 times
הֲלֹ֗א¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
דִּבַּ֤רְתִּיdid I speak
dibartiH1696 →1141 times
אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙to you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
כֹּ֛לall
kolH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁר־that
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יְדַבֵּ֥רhe will speak
yedaberH1696 →1141 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֹת֥וֹ<obj.> it
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
אֶֽעֱשֶֽׂה׃I will do
ʾeesehH6213 →2628 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
Acts 5:29But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.
it leads to
- Acts 4:19
But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God.
- 1 Samuel 15:24
Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
- Mark 7:7–9
They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’
- Genesis 3:17
And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because…
- Revelation 14:8–12
Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
- Acts 4:19
Through
Numbers 22:18But 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
- 1 Kings 22:14
But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever the LORD tells me.”
Reached by 3 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 22:14
Through
2 Chronicles 18:13But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever my God tells me.”
it leads to
- Numbers 22:35
But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you are to speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
- Numbers 22:35
Where this verse is studied
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.