Bilangan 22:35

22:35 But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you may only speak ¹  the word that I will speak to you.” ²  So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

Bilangan 22:12

22:12 But God said to Balaam, “You must not go with them; you must not curse the people, ³  for they are blessed.” ⁴ 

Bilangan 23:5

23:5 Then the Lord put a message ⁵  in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” ⁶ 

Bilangan 23:11

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 ⁷  you have only blessed them!” ⁸ 

[22:35]  ¹ tn The imperfect tense here can be given the nuance of permission.

[22:35]  ² tn The Hebrew word order is a little more emphatic than this: “but only the word which I speak to you, it you shall speak.”

[22:12]  ³ tn The two verbs are negated imperfects; they have the nuance of prohibition: You must not go and you must not curse.

[22:12]  ⁴ tn The word בָּרוּךְ (barukh) is the Qal passive participle, serving here as the predicate adjective after the supplied verb “to be.” The verb means “enrich,” in any way, materially, spiritually, physically. But the indication here is that the blessing includes the promised blessing of the patriarchs, a blessing that gave Israel the land. See further, C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church (OBT).

[23:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “word.”

[23:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “and thus you shall speak.”

[23:11]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) here to stress the contrast.

[23:11]  ⁸ 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.