Numbers 22:38

22:38 Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you. Now, am I able ¹  to speak ²  just anything? I must speak ³  only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

Numbers 23:5

23:5 Then the Lord put a message ⁴  in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” ⁵ 

Numbers 23:20

23:20 Indeed, I have received a command ⁶  to bless;

he has blessed, ⁷  and I cannot reverse it. ⁸ 

Numbers 24:10-13

24:10 Then Balak became very angry at Balaam, and he struck his hands together. ⁹  Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have done nothing but bless ¹⁰  them these three times! 24:11 So now, go back where you came from! ¹¹  I said that I would greatly honor you; but now the Lord has stood in the way of your honor.”

24:12 Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not also tell your messengers whom you sent to me, 24:13 ‘If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond ¹²  the commandment ¹³  of the Lord to do either good or evil of my own will, ¹⁴  but whatever the Lord tells me I must speak’?

Job 1:10

1:10 Have you ¹⁵  not made a hedge ¹⁶  around him and his household and all that he has on every side? You have blessed ¹⁷  the work of his hands, and his livestock ¹⁸  have increased ¹⁹  in the land.

[22:38]  ¹ tn The verb is אוּכַל (’ukhal) in a question – “am I able?” But emphasizing this is the infinitive absolute before it. So Balaam is saying something like, “Can I really say anything?”

[22:38]  ² tn The Piel infinitive construct (without the preposition) serves as the object of the verb “to be able.” The whole question is rhetorical – he is saying that he will not be able to say anything God does not allow him to say.

[22:38]  ³ tn The imperfect tense is here taken as an obligatory imperfect.

[23:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “word.”

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

[23:20]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text simply has “I have received [to] bless.” The infinitive is the object of the verb, telling what he received. Balaam was not actually commanded to bless, but was given the word of blessing so that he was given a divine decree that would bless Israel.

[23:20]  ⁷ sn The reference is probably to the first speech, where the Lord blessed Israel. Balaam knows that there is nothing he can do to reverse what God has said.

[23:20]  ⁸ tn The verb is the Hiphil of שׁוּב (shuv), meaning “to cause to return.” He cannot return God’s word to him, for it has been given, and it will be fulfilled.

[24:10]  ⁹ sn This is apparently a sign of contempt or derision (see Job 27:23; and Lam 2:15).

[24:10]  ¹⁰ tn The construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the perfect tense for “bless.”

[24:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “flee to your place.”

[24:13]  ¹² tn Heb “I am not able to go beyond.”

[24:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “mouth.”

[24:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from my heart.”

[1:10]  ¹⁵ tn The use of the independent personal pronoun here emphasizes the subject of the verb: “Have you not put up a hedge.”

[1:10]  ¹⁶ tn The verb שׂוּךְ (sukh) means “to hedge or fence up, about” something (BDB 962 s.v. I שׂוּךְ). The original idea seems to have been to surround with a wall of thorns for the purpose of protection (E. Dhorme, Job, 7). The verb is an implied comparison between making a hedge and protecting someone.

[1:10]  ¹⁷ sn Here the verb “bless” is used in one of its very common meanings. The verb means “to enrich,” often with the sense of enabling or empowering things for growth or fruitfulness. See further C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church (OBT).

[1:10]  ¹⁸ tn Or “substance.” The herds of livestock may be taken by metonymy of part for whole to represent possessions or prosperity in general.

[1:10]  ¹⁹ tn The verb פָּרַץ (parats) means “to break through.” It has the sense of abundant increase, as in breaking out, overflowing (see also Gen 30:30 and Exod 1:12).