Numbers 22:20

Summary

The text narrates that God came to Balaam at night and told him that, since the men had come to summon him, he could rise and go with them — but with the restriction that he must do only what God would tell him to say.

Key words

va.Yavo ("he came", H0935G) — qal narrative verb, third person masculine singular; the vav-consecutive form marks this as the next event in the story sequence ("and then he came").

'Elohim ("God", H0430G) — masculine plural noun used here as the grammatical subject of a singular verb (va.Yavo), a common pattern in Biblical Hebrew for this divine name.

'im ("if", H0518A) — conditional particle introducing the clause about the men's arrival; it frames Balaam's permission to go as contingent on the stated circumstance ("since/if the men have come to summon you").

qum...lekh ("arise...go", H6965B / H1980G) — two qal imperatives in sequence, both second person masculine singular, forming a direct command construction typical of Hebrew narrative speech.

'akh ("only", H0389) — adverb that restricts or limits the scope of the permission just granted, introducing the condition that follows.

ta'aseh ("you will do", H6213A) — qal imperfect, second person masculine singular, expressing a future/ongoing obligation: the action of doing is tied to what God "will speak" ('adabber, piel imperfect, H1696G).

What the text says

The verse is built as a narrative sequence using vav-consecutive verbs (va.Yavo, "he came"; va.Yomer type structure implied by "he said") that move the story forward: God arrives, then speaks. The speech itself contains an 'im ("if") clause reporting the men's arrival as the stated reason for the permission that follows, expressed through two stacked imperatives, qum ("arise") and lekh ("go"), both second-person masculine singular commands directed at Balaam.

The second half of the verse pivots on the adverb 'akh ("only", H0389), which narrows the preceding permission. The object of the restriction is ha-davar ("the word", H1697G), qualified by the relative clause 'asher-'adabber ("which I will speak", piel imperfect H1696G) — a piel form conveying an intensified or directive sense of speaking, distinct from a simple qal "to say." The clause closes with 'oto ta'aseh ("it you will do", qal imperfect H6213A), where the direct object marker 'oto ("it", H0853+suffix) picks up ha-davar and places the verb ta'aseh at the end, giving grammatical emphasis to "the word" as the sole permitted content of Balaam's action.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the imperative lekh ("go", H1980G) as ἀκολούθησον ("follow"), a more specific verb than the Hebrew's general "go." The Vulgate's vade corresponds more directly to the Hebrew lekh. Where the Hebrew uses the piel imperfect 'adabber ("I will speak", H1696G) tied to ha-davar ("the word", H1697G), the LXX uses λαλήσω with ῥῆμα, and the Vulgate uses præcepero ("I shall have commanded"), a verb of commanding rather than speaking, differing in nuance from the Hebrew's verb of speech.