EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Numbers 23:12
12Balaam answered, ‘I can only speak the message that the Lord has told me.’
Numbers 23:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth?
- New International Version (NIV)He answered, “Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And he answered and said, "Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?"
- New King James Version (NKJV)So he answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?”
Context of Numbers 23:12
10Nobody can count Jacob's descendants. They are as many as the dust on the ground! It would be too difficult to count even a quarter of the Israelites. I would like to die in peace like those righteous people!’ 11Balak said to Balaam, ‘You have not done what I wanted you to do! I brought you here to curse my enemies. But you have blessed them!’ Balaam answered, ‘I can only speak the message that the Lord has told me.’ 13Then Balak said to Balaam, ‘Please come with me to another place where you can see the Israelites. You will not see all of them from there. Then curse those people for me.’ 14Balak took Balaam to the field of Zophim. It was at the top of Pisgah mountain. Balak built seven altars there. He offered a bull and a male sheep on each altar as sacrifices.
Read all of Numbers 23Numbers 23:12 word by word
וַיַּ֖עַן וַיֹּאמַ֑ר הֲלֹ֗א אֵת֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יָשִׂ֤ים יְהוָה֙ בְּפִ֔י אֹת֥וֹ אֶשְׁמֹ֖ר לְדַבֵּֽר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Numbers 23:12
- Numbers 23:20He told me that I must bless the Israelites. He has blessed them, so I must do it too.
- Numbers 22:38Balaam said to Balak, ‘Anyway, I have come to you now! But I cannot choose to say anything. I can only say the words that God tells me to speak.’
- Numbers 24:13I told them, “I can only speak the message that the Lord tells me. I cannot do good things or bad things just because I want to do them. Even if Balak gives his palace full of silver and gold to me, I cannot do anything different. I have to obey the Lord's command.”
- Romans 16:18People who are like that are not servants of our Lord Christ. Instead, they are doing the things which please themselves. They speak words that seem very nice, but they deceive people who easily accept a false message.
Commentaries on Numbers 23:12
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-30Verses 11-30 Balak was angry with Balaam. Thus a confession of God's overruling power is extorted from a wicked prophet, to the confusion of a wicked prince. A second time the curse is turned into a blessing; and this blessing is both larger and stronger than the former. Men change their minds, and break their words; but God never changes his mind, and therefore never recalls his promise. And when in Scripture he is said to repent, it does not mean any…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-30As a diviner, Balaam carried out rituals to look for signs about the future of Israel (compare 23:23; 24:1). Balak had called him to curse Israel, but God repeatedly stopped him. These sacrifices might have related to extispicy. This was the practice of examining animal livers or other organs to predict the future. Ancient Near Eastern texts show that this fortune-telling method was common and well-developed. God had forbidden Israel from such practices…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-301. Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars--Balak, being a heathen, would naturally suppose these altars were erected in honor of Baal, the patron deity of his country. It is evident, from Nu 23:4 that they were prepared for the worship of the true God; although in choosing the high places of Baal as their site and rearing a number of altars (2Ki 18:22; Is 17:8; Jr 11:13; Ho 8:11; 10:1), instead of one only, as God had appointed, Balaam blended…Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 23:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Numbers 23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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