Numbers 23:26 (DRB)

Passage

And he said: Did I not tell thee, that whatsoever God should command me, that I would do?

Nearby Context

Numbers 23:24 Behold the people shall rise up as a lioness, and shall lift itself up as a lion: it shall not lie down till it devour the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

Numbers 23:25 And Balac said to Balaam: Neither curse, nor bless him.

Numbers 23:26 And he said: Did I not tell thee, that whatsoever God should command me, that I would do?

Numbers 23:27 And Balac said to him: Come and I will bring thee to another place; if peradventure it please God that thou mayest curse them from thence.

Numbers 23:28 And when he had brought him upon the top of mount Phogor, which looketh towards the wilderness,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "tell", "thee", "whatsoever", "should", and "command". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "tell", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 25's "And Balac said to Balaam Neither curse..." into verse 27's "And Balac said to him Come and...", so "said" and "tell" 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 "said" and "tell" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.