Bible Strands
Numbers 22:20
That night God came to Balaam and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but you must only do what I tell you.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Balaam during the night following the princes' request to wait for further instruction. The exchange occurs between Balaam's initial hesitation and his morning departure with the Moabite delegation.
The words — The phrase אִם־ לִקְרֹא ('im- liqro) literally translates "if to summon," establishing the princes' arrival as the conditional trigger for the divine response. The verb וַיָּבֹא (va/yavo) records God's approach to deliver the directive.
The thread — This explicit limitation on Balaam's actions reappears in Numbers 23:12, Numbers 23:26, and Numbers 24:13, where he consistently references his dependence on the LORD's spoken words.
Why it lands — The text states that permission to act is granted only under the strict condition of following God's specific instructions. It presents prophetic authority as a constrained channel rather than an open invitation for personal negotiation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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 shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.
Cross-references
- Numbers 23:12 But Balaam replied, “Should I not speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?”
- Numbers 23:26 But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?”
- Numbers 24:13 that even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the LORD? I must speak whatever the LORD says.
- Numbers 22:35 But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you are to speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
- Numbers 23:5 Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”
- Numbers 23:16 And the LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak what I tell you.”
- 1 Samuel 8:5 “Look,” they said, “you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to judge us like all the other nations.”
- 1 Samuel 12:12 But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king.
- Psalms 33:10 The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.