Numbers 23:20

20 I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.

Numbers 23:20 in Other Translations

KJV
20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.
ESV
20 Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
NLT
20 Listen, I received a command to bless; God has blessed, and I cannot reverse it!
MSG
20 I was brought here to bless; and now he's blessed - how can I change that?
CSB
20 I have indeed received [a command] to bless; since He has blessed, I cannot change it.

Numbers 23:20 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 23:20

Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless
The people of Israel, to pronounce a blessing upon them, to declare them a happy people:

and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it;
God has blessed them, has determined to bless them, has promised to bless them, has blessed them in the victories he has given them, and will complete the blessing of them, by bringing them into the land he has given them: so the blessings which God has designed for his spiritual Israel, and bestows upon them, are irreversible; they are blessings indeed, spiritual ones, and are for ever; he blesses them with himself, as their covenant; God, their portion here and hereafter, with Christ his Son, and all things with him, with righteousness, peace, and pardon, with his Spirit and the grace thereof, with sonship, heirship, and eternal life.

Numbers 23:20 In-Context

18 Then he spoke his message: “Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me, son of Zippor.
19 God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
20 I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.
21 “No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The LORD their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox.

Cross References 3

  • 1. ver 5,16; Numbers 24:1
  • 2. Genesis 22:17; Numbers 22:12
  • 3. S ver 8; S Job 9:12; Isaiah 43:13
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