Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have altogether blessed them these three times.
World English Bible
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Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have altogether blessed them these three times.
World English Bible
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Numbers 23-24 tells the story straight: Balaam was hired to curse Israel, but each time he opened his mouth God forced blessings out instead. Balak fumes that he hired Balaam to curse and got blessings three times.
Critical scholarship: Leans toward a genuine contradiction.
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Each section sets the viewpoints side by side; you weigh the evidence. Here, "critical scholarship" means academic study, not a value judgment. How this is built →
Within each section, grouped by shared field or question type — not a cross-section comparison.
This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"Numbers 24:10 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/numbers/24/10?version=WEB (retrieved 27 August 2026).