Numbers 23:5

Summary

The verse narrates that Yehovah placed a specific word in Balaam's mouth, then instructs him through direct speech to return to Balak and speak accordingly. The sentence combines a narrative action (placing a word) with a reported command (returning and speaking).

Key words

• va-Yasem ("and he put", H7760) — qal narrative form, sequential past action: Yehovah's active placement of content.
• Yehovah ("Yehovah", H3068) — proper name, subject of the placing action.
• davar ("a word", H1697) — masculine singular noun, the direct object placed in Balaam's mouth; unspecified content until the following command.
• pi ("mouth of", H6310) — construct form, linking to Bil'am, literally "the mouth of Balaam," indicating the locus where the word is set.
• tedaBer ("you will speak", H1696) — piel imperfect, second person masculine singular; the piel stem intensifies the act of speaking, and the imperfect aspect points to an action still to unfold, not yet completed.

What the text says

The verse opens with two consecutive narrative verbs joined by the vav conversive: va-Yasem ("and he put") and va-Yomer ("and he said"), both qal forms marking sequential past actions typical of Hebrew narrative prose. The first clause states that Yehovah placed davar ("a word") be-pi Bil'am ("in the mouth of Balaam") — a construct phrase where pi ("mouth of") binds directly to the proper name Bil'am, expressing physical/verbal location rather than possession in a broader sense.

The second clause shifts to direct speech introduced by va-Yomer ("and he said"). Within this speech, two verb forms appear: shuv ("return"), a qal imperative giving a direct command, and tedaBer ("you will speak"), a piel imperfect. The piel stem here intensifies the ordinary act of speaking (compared to a simple qal), and the imperfect aspect indicates an action projected into the near future — what Balaam is to say once he arrives, rather than something already spoken. The adverb koh ("thus") introduces the manner of speaking without yet specifying the words, which are given in the following verses.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders Yehovah (H3068) as ho theos ("the God") rather than transliterating the divine name, differing from the Hebrew's explicit Yehovah. The Vulgate uses Dominus ("the Lord"), similarly substituting a title for the personal name. The Hebrew davar ("a word", H1697) is rendered as rhēma in the LXX and verbum in the Vulgate, both closely matching "word," while the BSB gives "a message," a slightly broader interpretive gloss for the same noun.