Numbers 23:11 Study Bible: Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them altogether."

◄ Numbers 23:11 ►

Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and behold, you have only blessed them!"

Study Bible

Then Balak said to Balaam
Balak, the king of Moab, is speaking to Balaam, a non-Israelite prophet. This interaction occurs during Israel's journey to the Promised Land. Balak, fearing the Israelites due to their numbers and recent victories, seeks Balaam's help to curse them. Balaam's presence highlights the belief in the power of spoken blessings and curses in the ancient Near East. This reflects the cultural and religious practices of the time, where kings often sought spiritual means to secure military success.

What have you done to me?
Balak's question reveals his frustration and disbelief. He hired Balaam with the expectation of a curse, not a blessing. This phrase underscores the tension between human plans and divine intervention. It also illustrates the theme of God's sovereignty, as God's will prevails despite human intentions. This echoes the biblical principle found in Proverbs 19:21, where human plans are subject to God's purposes.

I brought you here to curse my enemies
Balak's intent was clear: he wanted to use Balaam's reputed spiritual power to weaken Israel through a curse. This reflects the ancient belief in the efficacy of curses and blessings, which were thought to influence the physical and spiritual realms. The historical context shows that kings often employed prophets or seers to gain an advantage over their enemies, believing that divine favor or disfavor could determine the outcome of conflicts.

and behold, you have only blessed them!
Balaam's blessing instead of a curse is a direct result of God's intervention. Despite Balak's desires, Balaam can only speak what God commands. This highlights the theme of divine control over human affairs and the futility of opposing God's will. The blessing of Israel is consistent with God's covenant promises to Abraham, as seen in Genesis 12:3, where God promises to bless those who bless Abraham's descendants. This also foreshadows the ultimate blessing through Jesus Christ, a descendant of Israel, who brings salvation to all nations.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Balak
The king of Moab who is fearful of the Israelites and seeks to curse them through Balaam.

2. Balaam
A non-Israelite prophet or diviner hired by Balak to curse the Israelites, but who ultimately speaks blessings over them as directed by God.

3. Moab
The region ruled by Balak, located east of the Dead Sea, representing opposition to Israel.

4. Israelites
The people of God, journeying to the Promised Land, whom Balak perceives as a threat.

5. The Blessing
Despite Balak's intentions, Balaam is compelled by God to bless the Israelites instead of cursing them.

Teaching Points

God's Sovereignty Over Human Intentions
Despite human plans and intentions, God's will prevails. Balak's desire to curse Israel is overridden by God's blessing.

The Power of God's Word
Balaam's inability to curse Israel demonstrates the power and authority of God's word. When God speaks, His word accomplishes His purpose.

Divine Protection and Favor
The Israelites are protected by God's covenant promises. Believers today can trust in God's protection and favor in their lives.

The Futility of Opposing God's People
Balak's efforts to harm Israel are futile, reminding us that opposition to God's people is ultimately ineffective when God is on their side.

Faithfulness in Following God's Direction
Balaam's account encourages believers to remain faithful to God's direction, even when pressured by others to act contrary to His will.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does the account of Balaam and Balak illustrate the principle found in Genesis 12:3 regarding God's protection over His people?

2. In what ways can we see God's sovereignty at work in our own lives, similar to how He directed Balaam's words?

3. How can we apply the lesson of divine protection from this passage to situations where we feel threatened or opposed?

4. What does Balaam's experience teach us about the importance of speaking only what God has instructed, even when it goes against human expectations?

5. How can we find encouragement in Romans 8:31 when facing challenges, knowing that God is for us as He was for the Israelites?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Genesis 12:3
God's promise to Abraham that He will bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him, highlighting the divine protection over Israel.

Deuteronomy 23:5
A reminder that God turned Balaam's intended curse into a blessing because of His love for Israel.

Proverbs 16:9
Illustrates how human plans are subject to God's sovereign will, as seen in Balaam's inability to curse Israel.

Romans 8:31
Emphasizes that if God is for us, no one can be against us, reflecting the protection over Israel in this account.

Sermons

An Appeal in Behalf of the Society for Promoting Christianity Among the Jews	J. W. Cunningham, M. A.	Numbers 23:5-12
Balaam's Eulogy on Israel	Henry, Matthew	Numbers 23:5-12
Balaam's First Parable	W. Jones.	Numbers 23:5-12
Balaam's Vision and Prayer	W. V. Young.	Numbers 23:5-12
Israel Dwelling Alone	H. Hutton, M. A.	Numbers 23:5-12
The Distinctive Character of God's People	J. J. Eastmead.	Numbers 23:5-12
The True Israel Dwelling Alone	W. Taylor.	Numbers 23:5-12
The Vision from the Rocks	H. Bonar, D. D.	Numbers 23:5-12

People

Aram, Balaam, Balak, Jacob, Moses, Zippor

Places

Aram, Bamoth-baal, Egypt, Moab, Peor, Pisgah

Topics

Actually, Altogether, Balaam, Balak, Behold, Bless, Blessed, Blessing, Certainly, Curse, Cursed, Enemies, Hast, Haters, Nothing, Pierce

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Numbers 23:3-12

1421 oracles

Library

An Unfulfilled Desire
'... Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!'--NUM. xxiii. 10. '... Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.'--NUM. xiii. 8. Ponder these two pictures. Take the first scene. A prophet, who knows God and His will, is standing on the mountain top, and as he looks down over the valley beneath him, with its acacia-trees and swift river, there spread the tents of Israel. He sees them, and knows that they are 'a people whom the Lord hath blessed.' Brought there …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Philo of Alexandria, the Rabbis, and the Gospels - the Final Development of Hellenism in Its Relation to Rabbinism and the Gospel According to St. John.
It is strange how little we know of the personal history of the greatest of uninspired Jewish writers of old, though he occupied so prominent a position in his time. [173] Philo was born in Alexandria, about the year 20 before Christ. He was a descendant of Aaron, and belonged to one of the wealthiest and most influential families among the Jewish merchant-princes of Egypt. His brother was the political head of that community in Alexandria, and he himself on one occasion represented his co-religionists, …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Balaam's Wish Num 23:10
…
John Newton—Olney Hymns

The Night of Miracles on the Lake of Gennesaret
THE last question of the Baptist, spoken in public, had been: Art Thou the Coming One, or look we for another?' It had, in part, been answered, as the murmur had passed through the ranks: This One is truly the Prophet, the Coming One!' So, then, they had no longer to wait, nor to look for another! And this Prophet' was Israel's long expected Messiah. What this would imply to the people, in the intensity and longing of the great hope which, for centuries, nay, far beyond the time of Ezra, had swayed …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Nature of Spiritual Hunger
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness Matthew 5:6 We are now come to the fourth step of blessedness: Blessed are they that hunger'. The words fall into two parts: a duty implied; a promise annexed. A duty implied: Blessed are they that hunger'. Spiritual hunger is a blessed hunger. What is meant by hunger? Hunger is put for desire (Isaiah 26:9). Spiritual hunger is the rational appetite whereby the soul pants after that which it apprehends most suitable and proportional …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Memoir of John Bunyan
THE FIRST PERIOD. THIS GREAT MAN DESCENDED FROM IGNOBLE PARENTS--BORN IN POVERTY--HIS EDUCATION AND EVIL HABITS--FOLLOWS HIS FATHER'S BUSINESS AS A BRAZIER--ENLISTS FOR A SOLDIER--RETURNS FROM THE WARS AND OBTAINS AN AMIABLE, RELIGIOUS WIFE--HER DOWER. 'We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.'--2 Cor 4:7 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.'--Isaiah 55:8. 'Though ye have lien among the …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

How those are to be Admonished who Abstain not from the Sins which they Bewail, and those Who, Abstaining from Them, Bewail them Not.
(Admonition 31.) Differently to be admonished are those who lament their transgressions, and yet forsake them not, and those who forsake them, and yet lament them not. For those who lament their transgressions and yet forsake them not are to be admonished to learn to consider anxiously that they cleanse themselves in vain by their weeping, if they wickedly defile themselves in their living, seeing that the end for which they wash themselves in tears is that, when clean, they may return to filth. …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Fragrant Spices from the Mountains of Myrrh. "Thou Art all Fair, My Love; There is no Spot in Thee. " --Song of Solomon iv. 7.
FRAGRANT SPICES FROM THE MOUNTAINS OF MYRRH. HOW marvellous are these words! "Thou art all fair, My love; there is no spot in thee." The glorious Bridegroom is charmed with His spouse, and sings soft canticles of admiration. When the bride extols her Lord there is no wonder, for He deserves it well, and in Him there is room for praise without possibility of flattery. But does He who is wiser than Solomon condescend to praise this sunburnt Shulamite? Tis even so, for these are His own words, and were …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come

Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners Or, a Brief Relation of the Exceeding Mercy of God in Christ, to his Poor Servant, John Bunyan
In this my relation of the merciful working of God upon my soul, it will not be amiss, if in the first place, I do in a few words give you a hint of my pedigree, and manner of bringing up; that thereby the goodness and bounty of God towards me, may be the more advanced and magnified before the sons of men. 2. For my descent then, it was, as is well known by many, of a low and inconsiderable generation; my father's house being of that rank that is meanest, and most despised of all the families in …
John Bunyan—Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners

Christ a Complete Saviour:
OR, THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST, AND WHO ARE PRIVILEGED IN IT. BY JOHN BUNYAN Advertisement by the Editor. However strange it may appear, it is a solemn fact, that the heart of man, unless prepared by a sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, rejects Christ as a complete Saviour. The pride of human nature will not suffer it to fall, as helpless and utterly undone, into the arms of Divine mercy. Man prefers a partial Saviour; one who had done so much, that, with the sinner's aid, the work might be …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Of the Decrees of God.
Eph. i. 11.--"Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."--Job xxiii. 13. "He is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth." Having spoken something before of God, in his nature and being and properties, we come, in the next place, to consider his glorious majesty, as he stands in some nearer relation to his creatures, the work of his hands. For we must conceive the first rise of all things in the world to be in this self-being, the first conception …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Heavenly Footman; Or, a Description of the Man that Gets to Heaven:
TOGETHER WITH THE WAY HE RUNS IN, THE MARKS HE GOES BY; ALSO, SOME DIRECTIONS HOW TO RUN SO AS TO OBTAIN. 'And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain: escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.'--Genesis 19:17. London: Printed for John Marshall, at the Bible in Gracechurch Street, 1698. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. About forty years ago a gentleman, in whose company I had commenced my …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Desire of the Righteous Granted;
OR, A DISCOURSE OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN'S DESIRES. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR As the tree is known by its fruit, so is the state of a man's heart known by his desires. The desires of the righteous are the touchstone or standard of Christian sincerity--the evidence of the new birth--the spiritual barometer of faith and grace--and the springs of obedience. Christ and him crucified is the ground of all our hopes--the foundation upon which all our desires after God and holiness are built--and the root …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Thirdly, for Thy Actions.
1. Do no evil, though thou mightest; for God will not suffer the least sin, without bitter repentance, to escape unpunished. Leave not undone any good that thou canst. But do nothing without a calling, nor anything in thy calling, till thou hast first taken counsel at God's word (1 Sam. xxx. 8) of its lawfulness, and pray for his blessings upon thy endeavour; and then do it in the name of God, with cheerfulness of heart, committing the success to him, in whose power it is to bless with his grace …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Unchangeableness of God
The next attribute is God's unchangeableness. I am Jehovah, I change not.' Mal 3:3. I. God is unchangeable in his nature. II. In his decree. I. Unchangeable in his nature. 1. There is no eclipse of his brightness. 2. No period put to his being. [1] No eclipse of his brightness. His essence shines with a fixed lustre. With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.' James 1:17. Thou art the same.' Psa 102:27. All created things are full of vicissitudes. Princes and emperors are subject to …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Numbers
Like the last part of Exodus, and the whole of Leviticus, the first part of Numbers, i.-x. 28--so called,[1] rather inappropriately, from the census in i., iii., (iv.), xxvi.--is unmistakably priestly in its interests and language. Beginning with a census of the men of war (i.) and the order of the camp (ii.), it devotes specific attention to the Levites, their numbers and duties (iii., iv.). Then follow laws for the exclusion of the unclean, v. 1-4, for determining the manner and amount of restitution …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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