Numbers 23:12

And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
answered	וַיַּ֖עַן vai.Ya.'an	H6030	properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
said	וַיֹּאמַ֑ר vai.yo.Mar	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
heed	אֶשְׁמֹ֖ר 'esh.Mor	H8104	properly · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
speak	לְדַבֵּֽר le.da.Ber	H1696	perhaps properly · preposition + verb, piel infinitive construct
LORD	יְהוָה֙ Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
put	יָשִׂ֤ים ya.Sim	H7760	to put (used in a great variety of applications · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
mouth	בְּפִ֔י be.Fi	H6310	the mouth (as the means of blowing) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Numbers 22:38 And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, th…
Numbers 23:20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.
Numbers 23:26 But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?
Numbers 24:13 If 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 o…
Proverbs 26:25 When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart.
Numbers 22:20 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 shal…
Romans 16:18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the s…
Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 23:1-12

Here is, I. Great preparation made for the cursing of Israel. That which was aimed at was to engage the God of Israel to forsake them, and either to be on Moab's side or to stand neuter. O the sottishness of superstition, to imagine that God will be at men's beck! Balaam and Balak think to bribe him with altars and sacrifices, offered without any warrant or institution of his: as if he would eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats. Ridiculous nonsense, to think that these would please God, and gain his favour, when there could be in them no exercise either of faith or obedience! Yet, it should seem, they offered these sacrifices to the God of heaven the supreme Numen - Divinity, a…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 23:10

Who can count the dust of Jacob?--an Oriental hyperbole for a very populous nation, as Jacob's posterity was promised to be (Gen 13:16; Gen 28:14). the number of the fourth part of Israel--that is, the camp consisted of four divisions; every one of these parts was formidable in numbers. Let me die the death of the righteous--Hebrew, "of Jeshurun"; or, the Israelites. The meaning is: they are a people happy, above all others, not only in life, but at death, from their knowledge of the true God, and their hope through His grace. Balaam is a representative of a large class in the world, who express a wish for the blessedness which Christ has promised to His people but are averse to imitate…

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John Gill on Numbers 23:12

And he answered and said,.... By reply to Balak: must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth? pretending a great regard to the word of God, and to great carefulness to speak it, exactly and punctually as he received it, whereas he was forced to it, and could not do otherwise.

John Calvin on Numbers 23:11-12

And Balak said unto Balaam. The proud man again reproaches the false prophet, as if he had fairly purchased of him the right of prophecy. [159] Behold how the reprobate seek God by crooked paths, and desire to have nothing to do with Him, unless He yields to their improper wishes -- in a word, unless they render Him submissive to them. Balaam, therefore, is compelled to repress this stupid arrogance, by pleading God's command, and declaring that nothing more was allowed him than to announce what God prescribed. But we must remember that this was only spoken in reference to a particular act, when, as far as his words went, he acted the part of a true prophet, although his feelings were altoge…

The Church Fathers

But what did he answer him — he in whose mouth God had placed the word? "Shall I not," he says, "take care to speak whatever God puts into my mouth?"
— Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 16.1

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Numbers 23:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 23:1-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 23:10

John Gill on Numbers 23:12

John Calvin on Numbers 23:11-12

The Church Fathers

Numbers 23:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 23:1-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 23:10

John Gill on Numbers 23:12

John Calvin on Numbers 23:11-12

The Church Fathers

Keil & Delitzsch on Numbers 23:11-17

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Numbers 23:7-10

Rashi on Numbers 23:10