And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
The verse stands in the account of Balak carrying Balaam from place to place in repeated attempts to turn Israel's blessing into a curse. Balaam could not curse the people God had blessed, because God placed prophecies in his mouth in their favor. After Balaam had blessed them, Balak gave up his hope of a curse and ordered him to do neither, neither to curse them nor to bless them. Those repeated and fruitless efforts to shift Balaam correspond to the bishop's repeated and equally fruitless efforts to shift Luther from his stand.
The verse stands in the account of Balak carrying Balaam from place to place in repeated attempts to turn Israel's blessing into a curse. Balaam could not curse the people God had blessed, because God placed prophecies in his mouth in their favor. After Balaam had blessed them, Balak gave up his hope of a curse and ordered him to do neither, neither to curse them nor to bless them. Those repeated and fruitless efforts to shift Balaam correspond to the bishop's repeated and equally fruitless efforts to shift Luther from his stand.