And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.
Parallel translations
- WEB God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak to you, that you shall do.”
- BSB That night God came to Balaam and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but you must only do what I tell you.”
- NKJV And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you—that you shall do.”
- NASB And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise and go with them; but you shall do only the thing that I tell you.”
- NLT That night God came to Balaam and told him, “Since these men have come for you, get up and go with them. But do only what I tell you to do.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God permits Balaam to go but only to speak the word He gives. This is permission given as a form of judgment on Balaam's persistence.
Overview
God's allowance is not approval of Balaam's heart; it is a giving-over that will expose and constrain him (compare Psalm 81:12). Crucially, God ties the permission to absolute control over Balaam's speech. The episode shows that even when God lets a stubborn person have his way, He remains sovereign over the outcome.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Num 23:26But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?
- Num 24:13If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the LORD, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; but what the LORD saith, that will I speak?
- Num 23:12And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?
- Num 22:35And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
- Num 23:16And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.
- 1 Sam 12:12–19And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God was your king.
- Ezek 14:2–5And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
- Ps 78:30–31They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths,
- Ps 81:12So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
- Isa 37:29Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
- 1 Sam 8:5–9And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
- 2 Th 2:9–12Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
- Hos 13:11I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.
- Num 23:5And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
- Ps 33:10–11The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 22:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.