Balaam Tells The Messengers To Return Home, And They Return (Numbers 22:13-14)
‘And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the nobles/chieftains of Balak, “Get you into your land, for Yahweh refuses to give me leave to go with you.” '
Next morning therefore Balaam told ‘the nobles/chieftains of Balak' to return to their land because he had been consulting Yahweh, (he recognised the One Who had come as Yahweh) and Yahweh had refused to permit him to go. The chieftains would be suitably impressed. Once they had told Balak this he would know that he was dealing with the right man for the job. Here was someone in touch with Yahweh, Israel's God. They may well have thought inwardly that Balaam was simply delaying in order to seek a better price.
Note that ‘the elders' who were sent were ‘nobles' or ‘chieftains' (the word sar can indicate princes, rulers, nobles, chieftains, or captains depending on context). A good impression had to be made on Balaam. He was not just anyone.
“In the morning.” This phrase is another feature of the narrative. It occurs here and in Numbers 22:21; Numbers 22:41. We can compare a similar idea (but not the same phrase) in the story in Numbers 16-17. See Numbers 16:5; Numbers 16:7; Numbers 16:41; Numbers 17:8.
‘And the chieftains of Moab rose up, and they went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”
So the chieftains rose and returned to Balak, and informed him that Balaam refused to come with them.