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Numbers 22:38

Context
22:38 Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you. Now, am I able 1  to speak 2  just anything? I must speak 3  only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

1 tn The verb is אוּכַל (’ukhal) in a question – “am I able?” But emphasizing this is the infinitive absolute before it. So Balaam is saying something like, “Can I really say anything?”

2 tn The Piel infinitive construct (without the preposition) serves as the object of the verb “to be able.” The whole question is rhetorical – he is saying that he will not be able to say anything God does not allow him to say.

3 tn The imperfect tense is here taken as an obligatory imperfect.



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