Numbers 22:16

Summary

Balak's second set of messengers arrive at Balaam and deliver Balak's message directly, urging him not to refuse to come. The verse reports both the arrival of the envoys and the exact words Balak instructed them to speak.

Key words

• va-yavo'u ("and they came", H0935G) — qal narrative form with vav, marking the next event in the story sequence: the messengers' arrival.
• koh ("thus", H3541) — adverb introducing direct speech, a standard formula for quoting a message verbatim ("thus he says...").
• 'al-na' ("do not, please", H0408 + H4994) — negation combined with the particle na', softening the prohibition into a polite request rather than a blunt command.
• timmana' ("let yourself be restrained", H4513) — niphal jussive of a root meaning "to hold back/withhold"; the niphal gives it a passive/reflexive sense — Balaam is asked not to "be held back" or "hold himself back."
• me-halokh ("from going", H1980H) — qal infinitive with the preposition min ("from"), forming the phrase "from going," i.e., "from coming."

What the text says

The verse opens with two narrative verbs joined by the vav-consecutive chain: va-yavo'u ("and they came") and va-yomeru ("and they said"), which simply move the story forward — the messengers arrive and speak. The quoted message begins with koh 'amar ("thus says"), a formula that frames what follows as a direct, verbatim citation attributed to Balak ben Tzippor ("Balak son of Zippor"), using the construct noun ben ("son of") to identify him by lineage.

The core request is built from 'al-na' timmana' me-halokh 'elai — "do not, please, be restrained from coming to me." The negation 'al with the jussive timmana' (niphal) creates a prohibition softened by na', giving the sense of an entreaty rather than an order. The niphal stem of timmana' allows for a passive or reflexive reading: Balaam is being asked not to let himself be held back, without specifying by whom or what he might be restrained. The infinitive construct halokh with the prefixed preposition min ("from going") complements the verb, and the final 'elai ("to me") with the first-person suffix specifies the destination as Balak himself.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the plea with Ἀξιῶ σε ("I request/entreat you") and μὴ ὀκνήσῃς ἐλθεῖν ("do not hesitate to come"), shifting the Hebrew's passive "be restrained" (timmana') toward an active notion of hesitation. The Vulgate's ne cuncteris venire ("do not delay to come") similarly frames the verb as delay rather than restraint, differing from the Hebrew niphal's connotation of being held back by an external or internal restraint.