Bilangan 23:11-12

Balaam Relocates

23:11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary ¹  you have only blessed them!” ²  23:12 Balaam replied, ³  “Must I not be careful ⁴  to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?” ⁵ 

Bilangan 23:25-26

Balaam Relocates Yet Again

23:25 Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all ⁶  nor bless them at all!” ⁷  23:26 But Balaam replied ⁸  to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord speaks, ⁹  I must do’?”

[23:11]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) here to stress the contrast.

[23:11]  ² tn The construction is emphatic, using the perfect tense and the infinitive absolute to give it the emphasis. It would have the force of “you have done nothing but bless,” or “you have indeed blessed.” The construction is reminiscent of the call of Abram and the promise of the blessing in such elaborate terms.

[23:12]  ³ tn Heb “he answered and said.” The referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:12]  ⁴ tn The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) means “to guard, watch, observe” and so here with a sense of “be careful” or even “take heed” (so KJV, ASV). The nuance of the imperfect tense would be obligatory: “I must be careful” – to do what? to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth. The infinitive construct “to speak” is therefore serving as the direct object of שָׁמַר.

[23:12]  ⁵ tn The clause is a noun clause serving as the direct object of “to speak.” It begins with the sign of the accusative, and then the relative pronoun that indicates the whole clause is the accusative.

[23:25]  ⁶ tn The verb is preceded by the infinitive absolute: “you shall by no means curse” or “do not curse them at all.” He brought him to curse, and when he tried to curse there was a blessing. Balak can only say it would be better not to bother.

[23:25]  ⁷ tn The same construction now works with “nor bless them at all.” The two together form a merism – “don’t say anything.” He does not want them blessed, so Balaam is not to do that, but the curse isn’t working either.

[23:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[23:26]  ⁹ tn This first clause, “all that the Lord speaks” – is a noun clause functioning as the object of the verb that comes at the end of the verse. It is something of an independent accusative case, since it is picked up with the sign of the accusative: “all that the Lord speaks, it I must do.”