Then the Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Go back to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.”
- KJV And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.
- BSB And the LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak what I tell you.”
- NASB Then the Lord met Balaam and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.”
- NLT And the Lord met Balaam and gave him a message. Then he said, “Go back to Balak and give him my message.”
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
Yahweh meets Balaam and puts another word in his mouth to deliver to Balak. God again seizes control of the message.
Overview
As before, God directly supplies the oracle, ensuring it expresses His will. The repeated divine initiative removes any doubt about whose word will be spoken. Balaam is merely the mouthpiece for a blessing he cannot withhold.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Num 23:5Yahweh put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”
- Num 22:35Yahweh’s angel said to Balaam, “Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak to you, that you shall speak.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
- Num 24:1When Balaam saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel, he didn’t go, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.
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 23:16 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
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