Numbers 22:35

Summary

The angel of Yehovah permits Balaam to continue on with the men, but restricts him to speaking only the word that Yehovah will speak to him. Balaam then goes on with the leaders of Balak.

Key words

• mal'akh ("angel/messenger of", H4397H) — masculine singular construct, linking to Yehovah: "the messenger of Yehovah," the subject who speaks.
• lekh ("go", H1980G) — qal imperative, a direct command to Balaam to proceed with the men.
• 'efes ("only", H0657A) — a noun functioning adverbially to mark a restriction ("only/nevertheless"), introducing the limitation on what follows.
• 'adabber ("I will speak", H1696G) — piel imperfect, first person, intensive stem denoting deliberate or emphatic speech, referring to Yehovah's future speech to Balaam.
• tedabber ("you will speak", H1696G) — piel imperfect, second person masculine, same intensive stem, denoting Balaam's required speech — restricted to reproducing only what was spoken to him.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative va-yomer ("and he said", H0559) construction typical of Hebrew storytelling, introducing direct speech from mal'akh Yehovah ("the angel/messenger of Yehovah", H4397H + H3068G) to Bil'am ("Balaam", H1109A). The command itself is short: lekh 'im-ha'anashim ("go with the men"), using the qal imperative lekh (H1980G) for direct instruction.

The restriction is built through ve-'efes ("and only", H0657A) followed by the object marker 'et (H0853) and ha-davar ("the word", H1697G). This davar is qualified by the relative clause 'asher-'adabber 'eleikha ("which I will speak to you"), using the piel imperfect 'adabber (H1696G) for Yehovah's future speech. The corresponding instruction to Balaam uses the same piel stem, tedabber ("you will speak", H1696G), placed in emphatic position before the verb in the Hebrew word order (oto tedabber, "it you shall speak"), underscoring that Balaam's speech is limited strictly to reproducing this specific davar.

The concluding clause repeats the earlier narrative pattern: va-yelekh Bil'am 'im-sarei Valak ("and Balaam went with the leaders of Balak"), using sarei ("leaders of", H8269), a masculine plural construct noun, to specify the group Balaam accompanies.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text specifies mal'akh Yehovah ("the messenger of Yehovah," H4397H + H3068G), while the LXX renders this as ho angelos tou theou ("the angel of God"), substituting theou ("God") for the divine name Yehovah. The Vulgate simplifies further, using only angelus ("the angel") without specifying whose messenger he is, relying on context. The Vulgate also condenses the restriction clause into a warning ("cave ne aliud... loquaris" — "take care not to speak anything other than what I command you"), differing stylistically from the Hebrew's parallel construction using 'adabber and tedabber.