Numbers 23:8 (DRB)

Passage

How shall I curse him, whom God hath not cursed? By what means should I detest him, whom the Lord detesteth not?

Nearby Context

Numbers 23:6 Returning he found Balac standing by his burnt offering, with all the princes of the Moabites:

Numbers 23:7 And taking up his parable, he said: Balac king of the Moabites hath brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east: Come, said he, and curse Jacob: make haste and detest Israel.

Numbers 23:8 How shall I curse him, whom God hath not cursed? By what means should I detest him, whom the Lord detesteth not?

Numbers 23:9 I shall see him from the tops of the rocks, and shall consider him from the hills. This people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

Numbers 23:10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and know the number of the stock of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the just, and my last end be like to them.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "curse", "hath", "cursed", "means", "should", "detest", and "lord". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "curse", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "And taking up his parable he said..." into verse 9's "I shall see him from the tops...", so "shall" and "curse" 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 "shall" and "curse" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.