Bible Strands
Numbers 23:17
So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the princes of Moab. “What did the LORD say?” Balak asked.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Balaam returns to Balak, who is standing by his burnt offering with the Moabite princes, and Balak immediately asks what the LORD said.
The words — נִצָּב (niṣṣāḇ) translates literally as “was standing,” marking Balak’s fixed presence at the sacrificial site as the moment of inquiry.
The thread — The pattern of a ruler pressing a prophet for a divine message recurs in Numbers 23:26, 1 Samuel 3:17, and Jeremiah 37:17.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that ritual and authority cannot extract or control revelation, demanding submission to God’s independent speech.
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 when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the Lord spoken?
Cross-references
- Numbers 23:26 But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?”
- 1 Samuel 3:17 “What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.”
- Jeremiah 37:17 Later, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him in his palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there a word from the LORD?” “There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.”