Numbers 23:5 (DBY)

Passage

And Jehovah put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.

Nearby Context

Numbers 23:3 And Balaam said to Balak, Stand by thy burnt-offering, and I will go; perhaps Jehovah will come to meet me; and whatever he shews me I will tell thee. And he went to a hill.

Numbers 23:4 And God met Balaam; and [Balaam] said to him, I have disposed seven altars, and have offered up a bullock and a ram upon [each] altar.

Numbers 23:5 And Jehovah put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.

Numbers 23:6 And he returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.

Numbers 23:7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east: Come, curse me Jacob, and come, denounce Israel!

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jehovah", "word", "balaam's", "mouth", "said", "return", "balak", and "thus". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jehovah" and "word", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "And God met Balaam and Balaam said..." into verse 6's "And he returned to him and behold...", so "jehovah" and "word" 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 "jehovah" and "word" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.