So he answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?”
Parallel translations
- WEB He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which Yahweh puts in my mouth?”
- KJV And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?
- BSB But Balaam replied, “Should I not speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?”
- NASB He replied, “Must I not be careful to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
- NLT But Balaam replied, “I will speak only the message that the Lord puts in my mouth.”
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
Balaam answers that he must speak only what Yahweh puts in his mouth. He pleads compulsion as his defense.
Overview
Balaam's reply restates the controlling theme: God governs his words. Though his heart still leans toward Balak's reward, he cannot alter the divine message. The verse reinforces that God's purposes cannot be overturned by human desire or pressure.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Num 22:38Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you. Have I now any power at all to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that shall I speak.”
- Num 24:13‘If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond Yahweh’s word, to do either good or bad of my own mind. I will say what Yahweh says’?
- Num 23:20Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can’t reverse it.
- Prov 26:25When his speech is charming, don’t believe him; for there are seven abominations in his heart.
- Num 23:26But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that Yahweh speaks, that I must do?’”
- Titus 1:16They profess that they know God, but by their deeds they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.
- Num 22:20God 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.”
- Rom 16:18For those who are such don’t serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 23:12 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.