Bible Strands
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.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD meets Balaam after Balaam goes aside to encounter Him (Numbers 23:15). Yahweh then commands Balaam to return to Balak and deliver the specific message He provides.
The words — The phrase דָּבָר בְּפִי (da.Var be./Fi/v) translates literally to "a word in his mouth," describing the divine imposition of speech. This matches the identical wording in Numbers 23:5.
The thread — This command echoes the angel’s earlier directive in Numbers 22:35 to speak only what God tells Balaam. The pattern repeats in Numbers 24:1 when Balaam again turns to receive a direct word from the LORD.
Why it lands — The text requires Balaam to abandon his own agenda and transmit only the message assigned to him. A reader must recognize that prophetic authority depends on receiving and delivering the exact word given, not personal interpretation.
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 the Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.
Cross-references
- Numbers 23:5 Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”
- 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.
- Numbers 24:1 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not seek omens as on previous occasions, but he turned his face toward the wilderness.