Numbers 23:6 (DBY)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

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!

Numbers 23:8 How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I denounce whom Jehovah doth not denounce?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "returned", "behold", "standing", "burnt-offering", "princes", and "moab". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "returned" and "behold", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "And Jehovah put a word in Balaam's..." into verse 7's "And he took up his parable and...", so "returned" and "behold" 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 "returned" and "behold" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.