The Lord gave Balaam a message for King Balak. Then he said, “Go back to Balak and give him my message.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”
- KJV And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
- BSB Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”
- NKJV Then the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”
- NASB Then the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.”
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 puts a word in Balaam's mouth and sends him back to speak it to Balak. God directly controls the content of the oracle.
Overview
This verse makes explicit that the message comes from Yahweh, not from Balaam's craft. God commandeers the mouth of the hired seer to declare His own purpose. It guarantees that what follows will be God's blessing on Israel rather than Balak's desired curse.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Jer 1:9Then Yahweh stretched out his hand, and touched my mouth. Then Yahweh said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
- Deut 18:18I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.
- Isa 59:21“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says Yahweh. “My Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your offspring, nor out of the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says Yahweh, “from henceforth and forever.”
- Isa 51:16I have put my words in your mouth, and have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and tell Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
- Num 23:16Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.”
- Luke 12:12for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that same hour what you must say.”
- Prov 16:1The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh.
- Prov 16:9A man’s heart plans his course, but Yahweh directs his steps.
- 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.
- John 11:51Now he didn’t say this of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,
- 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.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 23:5 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.