Numbers 23:26

Summary

Balaam answers Balak with a rhetorical question, reminding him that he had already stated his condition: whatever Yehovah (H3068G) speaks, he will do. The verse repeats the verb "to speak" twice, framing Balaam's obedience as bound entirely to the content of Yehovah's utterance.

Key words

• ha.lo (H9008 + H3808) — "is it not": the interrogative particle combined with the negation forms a rhetorical question that expects agreement ("did I not...?").
• di.Bar.ti ("did I speak", H1696G) — piel perfect, first person: a completed, intensive act of speaking, referring back to Balaam's earlier statement to Balak.
• ye.da.Ber ("he will speak", H1696G) — piel imperfect, third person: the same intensive verb, now describing Yehovah's future or ongoing act of speaking, on which Balaam's action depends.
• 'a.Sher ("that/who", H0834A) — relative particle introducing the clause that defines exactly what Balaam commits to doing.
• 'E.'e.Seh ("I will do", H6213A) — qal imperfect, first person: a simple, non-intensive verb of action, contrasting grammatically with the intensive da.Bar verbs used for "speaking."

What the text says

The sentence is built as a chain of narrative verbs (va.Ya'an, "he answered", H6030B; va.Yo.mer, "he said", H0559) introducing direct speech, followed by a rhetorical question. The question itself is structured with ha.lo plus a perfect verb (di.Bar.ti), which in Biblical Hebrew typically implies "surely I have already said this" rather than genuine uncertainty. Balaam's earlier statement is then quoted using the infinitive le.'Mor ("saying", H0559), introducing the content: "all that Yehovah will speak."

The grammar draws a distinction between two verbal roots: the piel form of da.Bar ("to speak", H1696G) used twice — once for Balaam's past declaration (perfect) and once for Yehovah's future utterance (imperfect) — and the qal form of 'a.Sah ("to do", H6213A) describing Balaam's own action. The piel stem intensifies the act of speaking, while the qal stem for "doing" remains grammatically simple, suggesting that the emphasis of the clause falls on the content and force of what is spoken, which Balaam's action merely follows. The object marker 'et with pronominal suffix ('o.T-o, "it", H0853/H9033) refers back to "all that Yehovah will speak," tying the object of Balaam's future action directly to the content of Yehovah's speech, rather than to Yehovah himself.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders Yehovah (H3068G) as "ὁ θεός" ("God"), replacing the divine name with a generic term for deity. The Vulgate follows this same pattern with "Deus" ("God") and further shifts the verb from "speak" to "imperaret" ("command"), where the Hebrew twice uses the piel of da.Bar ("to speak", H1696G). The Hebrew's rhetorical question form (ha.lo + perfect) is preserved as a question in the LXX ("οὐκ ἐλάλησά... λέγων") and in the Spanish/English translations, but the Vulgate frames it as an indirect question ("Nonne dixi... quod quidquid...").