Numbers 23:11

11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!”

Numbers 23:11 in Other Translations

11 And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.

11 And Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them."

11 Then King Balak demanded of Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies. Instead, you have blessed them!”

11 Balak said to Balaam, "What's this? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and all you've done is bless them."

11 "What have you done to me?" Balak asked Balaam. "I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed [them]!"

Numbers 23:11 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 23:11

And Balak said unto Balaam, what hast thou done unto me?
&c.] Or "for me" ^F6; nothing at all, to answer his purpose, or his end in sending for him;

I took thee to curse mine enemies:
so he calls the Israelites, though they had never done him any wrong; nor committed any acts of hostility against him, nor showed any intention to commit any; nay, were forbidden by the Lord their God to contend in battle with him and his people;

and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether;
or, "in blessing blessed" ^F7, done nothing but bless them, and that with many blessings, or pronounced them blessed, and prophesied of their blessedness, for their number, their safety, and of their happiness, not only in life, but at and after death.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 (yl) "pro me".
F7 (Krb tkrb) "benedixisti benedicendo", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator.

Numbers 23:11 In-Context

9 From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations.

10 Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my final end be like theirs!”

11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!”

12 He answered, “Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

13 Then Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place where you can see them; you will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp. And from there, curse them for me.”

Cross References

• 1. S Numbers 22:6
• 2. Numbers 24:10; Joshua 24:10; Nehemiah 13:2