Numbers 23:18 (WEB)

Passage

He took up his parable, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor.

Nearby Context

Numbers 23:16 Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.”

Numbers 23:17 He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh spoken?”

Numbers 23:18 He took up his parable, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor.

Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?

Numbers 23:20 Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can’t reverse it.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "took", "parable", "said", "rise", "balak", "hear", "listen", and "zippor". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "took" and "parable", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "He came to him and behold he..." into verse 19's "God is not a man that he...", so "took" and "parable" 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 "took" and "parable" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.