Numbers 23:12 (DBY)

Passage

And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Jehovah puts in my mouth?

Nearby Context

Numbers 23:10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!

Numbers 23:11 And Balak said to Balaam, What hast thou done to me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.

Numbers 23:12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Jehovah puts in my mouth?

Numbers 23:13 And Balak said to him, Come, I pray thee, with me to another place, from whence thou wilt see them; thou shalt see only the extremity of them and shalt not see them all, and curse me them from thence.

Numbers 23:14 And he took him to the watchmen's field, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on [each] altar.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "answered", "said", "must", "take", "heed", "speak", "jehovah", and "puts". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "answered" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "And Balak said to Balaam What hast..." into verse 13's "And Balak said to him Come I...", so "answered" and "said" belong inside that flow. In Numbers context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "answered" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.