Numbers 22:8

Summary

Balaam answers the Moabite officials sent by Balak, instructing them to spend the night while he consults Yehovah. He states that he will report back to them according to whatever Yehovah tells him, and the officials comply by staying with him.

Key words

• liNu ("lodge", H3885A) — qal imperative plural, a direct command addressed to the group of officials ("lodge!").
• hashivoTi ("I will bring back", H7725G) — hiphil (causative) form with sequential vav, continuing the narrative sequence; the causative stem gives the sense "cause [word] to return," i.e., "report back."
• dabar ("word", H1697G) — masculine singular noun, the object of hashivoTi; together the phrase functions as "I will bring back a word/report."
• yedaBer ("he will speak", H1696G) — piel (intensive) imperfect, describing an action not yet completed, referring to Yehovah's future speech.
• Yehovah (H3068G) — the divine name, subject of the verb yedaBer, marking the source of the word Balaam will relay.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative vav on va-yomer ("and he said," H0559), continuing the story sequence, followed by Balaam's direct speech introduced by 'alei-hem ("to them," H0413 + suffix). His command linu foh ha-laylah ("lodge here, the night," H3885A + H6311 + H3915) uses a plain imperative, giving a simple directive without elaboration.

The second clause, va-hashivoti 'et-khem dabar, uses the hiphil perfect with vav-consecutive (hashivoti), a form that in narrative sequence carries future sense: "I will bring back to you a word." The causative stem of the root shuv (H7725G, "to return") turns a simple motion verb into "cause to return," i.e., "report" or "relay." The object dabar (H1697G) is singular, not plural, indicating a single reply rather than a set of "matters."

The comparative clause ka'asher yedaber Yehovah 'elai ("as/according to what Yehovah will speak to me") uses the piel imperfect yedaber (H1696G), the intensive stem of dabar, describing an act of speaking that is future and repeated or emphatic in nuance. This ties Balaam's forthcoming answer directly to a yet-unspoken divine communication, syntactically subordinating his own initiative to Yehovah's word.

The final clause, va-yeshvu sarei-Moav 'im-Bil'am ("and the officials of Moab remained with Balaam," H3427 + H8269 + H4124G + H1109A), uses a narrative qal verb to report the compliance of the officials, with sarei in construct state ("officials of") linking them to Moab.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders hashivoti dabar as ἀποκριθήσομαι ὑμῖν πράγματα ("I will answer you matters"), using a plural noun (πράγματα) where the Hebrew dabar (H1697G) is singular. The Vulgate compresses the clause into "respondebo quidquid mihi dixerit Dominus" ("I will answer whatever the Lord will have said to me"), merging Balaam's reply and Yehovah's speech into one clause rather than keeping them as two coordinated clauses as in the Hebrew. The SBLIBRE Spanish translation adds "mañana" ("tomorrow"), a temporal specification not present in the Hebrew, LXX, or Vulgate texts given.