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Selected Verse: Numbers 23:7 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Nu 23:7	Strong Concordance	And he took up [05375] his parable [04912], and said [0559], Balak [01111] the king [04428] of Moab [04124] hath brought [05148] me from Aram [0758], out of the mountains [02042] of the east [06924], saying, Come [03212], curse [0779] me Jacob [03290], and come [03212], defy [02194] Israel [03478].
	King James	And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
took up his parable--that is, spoke under the influence of inspiration, and in the highly poetical, figurative, and oracular style of a prophet. brought me from Aram--This word joined with "the mountains of the East," denotes the upper portion of Mesopotamia, lying on the east of Moab. The East enjoyed an infamous notoriety for magicians and soothsayers (Isa 2:6).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

took up his parable--that is, spoke under the influence of inspiration, and in the highly poetical, figurative, and oracular style of a prophet.

brought me from Aram--This word joined with "the mountains of the East," denotes the upper portion of Mesopotamia, lying on the east of Moab. The East enjoyed an infamous notoriety for magicians and soothsayers (Isa 2:6).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Aram - Or, "highland." This term denotes the whole elevated region, from the northeastern frontier of Palestine to the Euphrates and the Tigris. The country between these streams was especially designated "Aram-naharaim," or "Aram of the two rivers:" the Greeks called it Mesopotamia; and here, according to Deu 23:4, was Balaam's home. Compare Num 22:5 note.

The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917]
and said In the prophecies of Balaam God testifies on behalf of His people rather than (as usual) to them. It is the divine testimony to their standing as a redeemed people in view of the serpent "lifted up," and of the water from the smitten rock. (Num 21:5-9); (Num 20:11). Their state was morally bad, but this was a matter concerning the discipline of God, not His judgment. The interpretation of the prophecies is literal as to Israel, typical as to Christians. Through Christ "lifted up" (Joh 3:14) our standing is eternally secure and perfect, though our state may require the Father's discipline; (Co1 11:30-32); (Co2 1:4-9); (Co2 1:10-13) meantime, against all enemies, God is "for us." (Rom 8:31).

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
Balaam's first saying. - Having come back to the burnt-offering, Balaam commenced his utterance before the king and the assembled princes. משׁל, lit., a simile, then a proverb, because the latter consists of comparisons and figures, and lastly a sentence or saying. The application of this term to the announcements made by Balaam (Num 23:7, Num 23:18, Num 24:3, Num 24:15, Num 24:20), whereas it is never used of the prophecies of the true prophets of Jehovah, but only of certain songs and similes inserted in them (cf. Isa 14:4; Eze 17:2; Eze 24:3; Mic 2:4), is to be accounted for not merely from the poetic form of Balaam's utterances, the predominance of poetical imagery, the sustained parallelism, the construction of the whole discourse in brief pointed sentences, and other peculiarities of poetic language (e.g., בּנו, Num 24:3, Num 24:15), but it points at the same time to the difference which actually exists between these utterances and the predictions of the true prophets. The latter are orations addressed to the congregation, which deduce from the general and peculiar relation of Israel to the Lord and to His law, the conduct of the Lord towards His people either in their own or in future times, proclaiming judgment upon the ungodly and salvation to the righteous. "Balaam's mental eye," on the contrary, as Hengstenberg correctly observes, "was simply fixed upon what he saw; and this he reproduced without any regard to the impression that it was intended to make upon those who heard it." But the very first utterance was of such a character as to deprive Balak of all hope that his wishes would be fulfilled. Num 23:7 "Balak, the king of Moab, fetches me from Aram, from the mountains of the East," i.e., of Mesopotamia, which was described, as far back as Gen 29:1, as the land of the sons of the East (cf. Num 22:5). Balaam mentions the mountains of his home in contradistinction to the mountains of the land of the Moabites upon which he was then standing. "Come, curse me Jacob, and come threaten Israel." Balak had sent for him for this purpose (see Num 22:11, Num 22:17). זעמה, for זעמה, imperative (see Ewald, 228, b.). זעם, to be angry, here to give utterance to the wrath of God, synonymous with נקב or קבב, to curse. Jacob: a poetical name for the nation, equivalent to Israel. Num 23:8-10 "How shall I curse whom God does not curse, and how threaten whom Jehovah does not threaten?" Balak imagined, like all the heathen, that Balaam, as a goetes and magician, could distribute blessings and curses according to his own will, and put such constraint upon his God as to make Him subservient to his own will (see at Num 22:6). The seer opposes this delusion: The God of Israel does not curse His people, and therefore His servant cannot curse them. The following verses (Num 23:9 and Num 23:10) give the reason why: "For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him. Lo, it is a people that dwelleth apart, and is not numbered among the heathen. Who determines the dust of Jacob, and in number the fourth part of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the righteous, and my end be like his?" There were two reasons which rendered it impossible for Balaam to curse Israel: (1) Because they were a people both outwardly and inwardly different from other nations, and (2) because they were a people richly blessed and highly favoured by God. From the top of the mountains Balaam looked down upon the people of Israel. The outward and earthly height upon which he stood was the substratum of the spiritual height upon which the Spirit of God had placed him, and had so enlightened his mental sight, that he was able to discern all the peculiarities and the true nature of Israel. In this respect the first thing that met his view was the fact that this people dwelt alone. Dwelling alone does not denote a quiet and safe retirement, as many commentators have inferred from Deu 33:28; Jer 49:31, and Mic 7:14; but, according to the parallel clause, "it is not reckoned among the nations," it expresses the separation of Israel from the rest of the nations. This separation was manifested outwardly to the seer's eye in the fact that "the host of Israel dwelt by itself in a separate encampment upon the plain. In this his spirit discerned the inward and essential separation of Israel from all the heathen" (Baumgarten). This outward "dwelling alone" was a symbol of their inward separation from the heathen world, by virtue of which Israel was not only saved from the fate of the heathen world, but could not be overcome by the heathen; of course only so long as they themselves should inwardly maintain this separation from the heathen, and faithfully continue in covenant with the Lord their God, who had separated them from among the nations to be His own possession. As soon as Israel lost itself in heathen ways, it also lost its own external independence. This rule applies to the Israel of the New Testament as well as the Israel of the Old, to the congregation or Church of God of all ages. יתחשּׁב לע, "it does not reckon itself among the heathen nations," i.e., it does not share the lot of the other nations, because it has a different God and protector from the heathen (cf. Deu 4:8; Deu 33:29). The truth of this has been so marvellously realized in the history of the Israelites, notwithstanding their falling short of the idea of their divine calling, "that whereas all the mightier kingdoms of the ancient world, Egypt, Assyria, Babel, etc., have perished without a trace, Israel, after being rescued from so many dangers which threatened utter destruction under the Old Testament, still flourishes in the Church of the New Testament, and continues also to exist in that part which, though rejected now, is destined one day to be restored" (Hengstenberg). In this state of separation from the other nations, Israel rejoiced in the blessing of its God, which was already visible in the innumerable multitude into which it had grown. "Who has ever determined the dust of Jacob?" As the dust cannot be numbered, so is the multitude of Israel innumerable. These words point back to the promise in Gen 13:16, and applied quite as much to the existing state as to the future of Israel. The beginning of the miraculous fulfilment of the promise given to the patriarchs of an innumerable posterity, was already before their eyes (cf. Deu 10:22). Even now the fourth part of Israel is not to be reckoned. Balaam speaks of the fourth part with reference to the division of the nation into four camps (ch. 2), of which he could see only one from his point of view (Num 22:41), and therefore only the fourth part of the nation. מספּר is an accusative of definition, and the subject and verb are to be repeated from the first clause; so that there is no necessity to alter מספּר into ספר מי. - But Israel was not only visibly blessed by God with an innumerable increase; it was also inwardly exalted into a people of ישׁרים, righteous or honourable men. The predicate ישׁרים is applied to Israel on account of its divine calling, because it had a God who was just and right, a God of truth and without iniquity (Deu 32:4), or because the God of Israel was holy, and sanctified His people (Lev 20:7-8; Exo 31:13) and made them into a Jeshurun (Deu 32:15; Deu 33:5, Deu 33:26). Righteousness, probity, is the idea and destination of this people, which has never entirely lost it, though it has never fully realized it. Even in times of general apostasy from the Lord, there was always an ἐκλογή in the nation, of which probity and righteousness could truly be predicated (cf. Kg1 19:18). The righteousness of the Israelites was "a product of the institutions which God had established among them, of the revelation of His holy will which He had given them in His law, of the forgiveness of sins which He had linked on to the offering of sacrifices, and of the communication of His Spirit, which was ever living and at work in His Church, and in it alone" (Hengstenberg). Such a people Balaam could not curse; he could only wish that the end of his own life might resemble the end of these righteous men. Death is introduced here as the end and completion of life. "Balaam desires for himself the entire, full, indestructible, and inalienable blessedness of the Israelite, of which death is both the close and completion, and also the seal and attestation" (Kurtz). This desire did not involve the certain hope of a blessed life beyond the grave, which the Israelites themselves did not then possess; it simply expressed the thought that the death of a pious Israelite was a desirable good. And this it was, whether viewed in the light of the past, the present, or the future. In the hour of death the pious Israelite could look back with blessed satisfaction to a long life, rich "in traces of the beneficent, forgiving, delivering, and saving grace of God;" he could comfort himself with the delightful hope of living on in his children and his children's children, and in them of participating in the future fulfilment of the divine promises of grace; and lastly, when dying in possession of the love and grace of God, he could depart hence with the joyful confidence of being gathered to his fathers in Sheol (Gen 25:8).

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

Balaam's first saying. - Having come back to the burnt-offering, Balaam commenced his utterance before the king and the assembled princes. משׁל, lit., a simile, then a proverb, because the latter consists of comparisons and figures, and lastly a sentence or saying. The application of this term to the announcements made by Balaam (Num 23:7, Num 23:18, Num 24:3, Num 24:15, Num 24:20), whereas it is never used of the prophecies of the true prophets of Jehovah, but only of certain songs and similes inserted in them (cf. Isa 14:4; Eze 17:2; Eze 24:3; Mic 2:4), is to be accounted for not merely from the poetic form of Balaam's utterances, the predominance of poetical imagery, the sustained parallelism, the construction of the whole discourse in brief pointed sentences, and other peculiarities of poetic language (e.g., בּנו, Num 24:3, Num 24:15), but it points at the same time to the difference which actually exists between these utterances and the predictions of the true prophets. The latter are orations addressed to the congregation, which deduce from the general and peculiar relation of Israel to the Lord and to His law, the conduct of the Lord towards His people either in their own or in future times, proclaiming judgment upon the ungodly and salvation to the righteous. "Balaam's mental eye," on the contrary, as Hengstenberg correctly observes, "was simply fixed upon what he saw; and this he reproduced without any regard to the impression that it was intended to make upon those who heard it." But the very first utterance was of such a character as to deprive Balak of all hope that his wishes would be fulfilled.

Num 23:7

"Balak, the king of Moab, fetches me from Aram, from the mountains of the East," i.e., of Mesopotamia, which was described, as far back as Gen 29:1, as the land of the sons of the East (cf. Num 22:5). Balaam mentions the mountains of his home in contradistinction to the mountains of the land of the Moabites upon which he was then standing. "Come, curse me Jacob, and come threaten Israel." Balak had sent for him for this purpose (see Num 22:11, Num 22:17). זעמה, for זעמה, imperative (see Ewald, 228, b.). זעם, to be angry, here to give utterance to the wrath of God, synonymous with נקב or קבב, to curse. Jacob: a poetical name for the nation, equivalent to Israel.

Num 23:8-10

"How shall I curse whom God does not curse, and how threaten whom Jehovah does not threaten?" Balak imagined, like all the heathen, that Balaam, as a goetes and magician, could distribute blessings and curses according to his own will, and put such constraint upon his God as to make Him subservient to his own will (see at Num 22:6). The seer opposes this delusion: The God of Israel does not curse His people, and therefore His servant cannot curse them. The following verses (Num 23:9 and Num 23:10) give the reason why: "For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him. Lo, it is a people that dwelleth apart, and is not numbered among the heathen. Who determines the dust of Jacob, and in number the fourth part of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the righteous, and my end be like his?" There were two reasons which rendered it impossible for Balaam to curse Israel: (1) Because they were a people both outwardly and inwardly different from other nations, and (2) because they were a people richly blessed and highly favoured by God. From the top of the mountains Balaam looked down upon the people of Israel. The outward and earthly height upon which he stood was the substratum of the spiritual height upon which the Spirit of God had placed him, and had so enlightened his mental sight, that he was able to discern all the peculiarities and the true nature of Israel. In this respect the first thing that met his view was the fact that this people dwelt alone. Dwelling alone does not denote a quiet and safe retirement, as many commentators have inferred from Deu 33:28; Jer 49:31, and Mic 7:14; but, according to the parallel clause, "it is not reckoned among the nations," it expresses the separation of Israel from the rest of the nations. This separation was manifested outwardly to the seer's eye in the fact that "the host of Israel dwelt by itself in a separate encampment upon the plain. In this his spirit discerned the inward and essential separation of Israel from all the heathen" (Baumgarten). This outward "dwelling alone" was a symbol of their inward separation from the heathen world, by virtue of which Israel was not only saved from the fate of the heathen world, but could not be overcome by the heathen; of course only so long as they themselves should inwardly maintain this separation from the heathen, and faithfully continue in covenant with the Lord their God, who had separated them from among the nations to be His own possession. As soon as Israel lost itself in heathen ways, it also lost its own external independence. This rule applies to the Israel of the New Testament as well as the Israel of the Old, to the congregation or Church of God of all ages. יתחשּׁב לע, "it does not reckon itself among the heathen nations," i.e., it does not share the lot of the other nations, because it has a different God and protector from the heathen (cf. Deu 4:8; Deu 33:29). The truth of this has been so marvellously realized in the history of the Israelites, notwithstanding their falling short of the idea of their divine calling, "that whereas all the mightier kingdoms of the ancient world, Egypt, Assyria, Babel, etc., have perished without a trace, Israel, after being rescued from so many dangers which threatened utter destruction under the Old Testament, still flourishes in the Church of the New Testament, and continues also to exist in that part which, though rejected now, is destined one day to be restored" (Hengstenberg).

In this state of separation from the other nations, Israel rejoiced in the blessing of its God, which was already visible in the innumerable multitude into which it had grown. "Who has ever determined the dust of Jacob?" As the dust cannot be numbered, so is the multitude of Israel innumerable. These words point back to the promise in Gen 13:16, and applied quite as much to the existing state as to the future of Israel. The beginning of the miraculous fulfilment of the promise given to the patriarchs of an innumerable posterity, was already before their eyes (cf. Deu 10:22). Even now the fourth part of Israel is not to be reckoned. Balaam speaks of the fourth part with reference to the division of the nation into four camps (ch. 2), of which he could see only one from his point of view (Num 22:41), and therefore only the fourth part of the nation. מספּר is an accusative of definition, and the subject and verb are to be repeated from the first clause; so that there is no necessity to alter מספּר into ספר מי. - But Israel was not only visibly blessed by God with an innumerable increase; it was also inwardly exalted into a people of ישׁרים, righteous or honourable men. The predicate ישׁרים is applied to Israel on account of its divine calling, because it had a God who was just and right, a God of truth and without iniquity (Deu 32:4), or because the God of Israel was holy, and sanctified His people (Lev 20:7-8; Exo 31:13) and made them into a Jeshurun (Deu 32:15; Deu 33:5, Deu 33:26). Righteousness, probity, is the idea and destination of this people, which has never entirely lost it, though it has never fully realized it. Even in times of general apostasy from the Lord, there was always an ἐκλογή in the nation, of which probity and righteousness could truly be predicated (cf. Kg1 19:18). The righteousness of the Israelites was "a product of the institutions which God had established among them, of the revelation of His holy will which He had given them in His law, of the forgiveness of sins which He had linked on to the offering of sacrifices, and of the communication of His Spirit, which was ever living and at work in His Church, and in it alone" (Hengstenberg). Such a people Balaam could not curse; he could only wish that the end of his own life might resemble the end of these righteous men. Death is introduced here as the end and completion of life. "Balaam desires for himself the entire, full, indestructible, and inalienable blessedness of the Israelite, of which death is both the close and completion, and also the seal and attestation" (Kurtz). This desire did not involve the certain hope of a blessed life beyond the grave, which the Israelites themselves did not then possess; it simply expressed the thought that the death of a pious Israelite was a desirable good. And this it was, whether viewed in the light of the past, the present, or the future. In the hour of death the pious Israelite could look back with blessed satisfaction to a long life, rich "in traces of the beneficent, forgiving, delivering, and saving grace of God;" he could comfort himself with the delightful hope of living on in his children and his children's children, and in them of participating in the future fulfilment of the divine promises of grace; and lastly, when dying in possession of the love and grace of God, he could depart hence with the joyful confidence of being gathered to his fathers in Sheol (Gen 25:8).

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
His parable - That is, his oracular and prophetical speech; which he calls a parable, because of the weightiness of the matter, and the liveliness of the expressions which is usual in parables. Jacob - The posterity of Jacob.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
And he took up his parable - משלו meshalo, see on Num 21:27 (note). All these oracular speeches of Balaam are in hemistich metre in the original. They are highly dignified, and may be considered as immediate poetic productions of the Spirit of God; for it is expressly said, Num 23:5, that God put the word in Balaam's mouth, and that the Spirit of God came upon him, Num 24:2.

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⁶ Therefore thou hast forsaken [05203] thy people [05971] the house [01004] of Jacob [03290], because they be replenished [04390] from the east [06924], and are soothsayers [06049] like the Philistines [06430], and they please [05606] themselves in the children [03206] of strangers [05237].

⁵ He sent [07971] messengers [04397] therefore unto Balaam [01109] the son [01121] of Beor [01160] to Pethor [06604], which is by the river [05104] of the land [0776] of the children [01121] of his people [05971], to call [07121] him, saying [0559], Behold, there is a people [05971] come out [03318] from Egypt [04714]: behold, they cover [03680] the face [05869] of the earth [0776], and they abide [03427] over against [04136] me:

⁴ Because [01697] they met [06923] you not with bread [03899] and with water [04325] in the way [01870], when ye came forth [03318] out of Egypt [04714]; and because they hired [07936] against thee Balaam [01109] the son [01121] of Beor [01160] of Pethor [06604] of Mesopotamia [0763], to curse [07043] thee.

³¹ What [5101] shall we [2046] then [3767] say [2046] to [4314] these things [5023]? If [1487] God [2316] be for [5228] us [2257], who [5101] can be against [2596] us [2257]?

¹⁰ Who [3739] delivered [4506] us [2248] from [1537] so great [5082] a death [2288], and [2532] doth deliver [4506]: in [1519] whom [3739] we trust [1679] that [3754] he will [4506] [2532] yet [2089] deliver [4506] us;
¹¹ Ye [5216] also [2532] helping together [4943] by prayer [1162] for [5228] us [2257], that [2443] for the gift [5486] bestowed upon [1519] us [2248] by [1537] the means of many [4183] persons [4383] thanks may be [2168] given [5228] by [1223] many [4183] on our behalf [2257].
¹² For [1063] our [2257] rejoicing [2746] is [2076] this [3778], the testimony [3142] of our [2257] conscience [4893], that [3754] in [1722] simplicity [572] and [2532] godly [2316] sincerity [1505], not [3756] with [1722] fleshly [4559] wisdom [4678], but [235] by [1722] the grace [5485] of God [2316], we have had our conversation [390] in [1722] the world [2889], and [1161] more abundantly [4056] to [4314] you-ward [5209].
¹³ For [1063] we write [1125] none [3756] other things [243] unto you [5213], than [235] [2228] what [3739] ye read [314] or [2228] [2532] acknowledge [1921]; and [1161] I trust [1679] [3754] ye shall acknowledge [1921] even [2532] to [2193] the end [5056];

⁴ Who [3588] comforteth [3870] us [2248] in [1909] all [3956] our [2257] tribulation [2347], that [1519] we [2248] may be able [1410] to comfort [3870] them which are in [1722] any [3956] trouble [2347], by [1223] the comfort [3874] wherewith [3739] we [3870] ourselves [846] are comforted [3870] of [5259] God [2316].
⁵ For [3754] as [2531] the sufferings [3804] of Christ [5547] abound [4052] in [1519] us [2248], so [3779] our [2257] consolation [3874] also [2532] aboundeth [4052] by [1223] Christ [5547].
⁶ And [1161] whether [1535] we be afflicted [2346], it is for [5228] your [5216] consolation [3874] and [2532] salvation [4991], which [3588] is effectual [1754] in [1722] the enduring [5281] of the same [846] sufferings [3804] which [3739] we [2249] also [2532] suffer [3958]: or whether [1535] we be comforted [3870], it is for [5228] your [5216] consolation [3874] and [2532] salvation [4991].
⁷ And [2532] our [2257] hope [1680] of [5228] you [5216] is stedfast [949], knowing [1492], that [3754] as [5618] ye are [2075] partakers [2844] of the sufferings [3804], so [3779] shall ye be also [2532] of the consolation [3874].
⁸ For [1063] we would [2309] not [3756], brethren [80], have [50] you [5209] ignorant [50] of [5228] our [2257] trouble [2347] which [3588] came [1096] to us [2254] in [1722] Asia [773], that [3754] we were pressed [2596] out [916] of measure [5236], above [5228] strength [1411], insomuch [5620] that we [2248] despaired [1820] even [2532] of life [2198]:
⁹ But [235] [846] we had [2192] the sentence [610] of death [2288] in [1722] ourselves [1438], that [3363] we should [3982] not [3363] trust [3982] in [1909] ourselves [1438] [5600], but [235] in [1909] God [2316] which [3588] raiseth [1453] the dead [3498]:

³⁰ For [1223] this [5124] cause [1223] many [4183] are weak [772] and [2532] sickly [732] among [1722] you [5213], and [2532] many [2425] sleep [2837].
³¹ For [1063] if [1487] we would judge [1252] ourselves [1438], we should [302] not [3756] be judged [2919].
³² But [1161] when we are judged [2919], we are chastened [3811] of [5259] the Lord [2962], that [3363] we should [2632] not [3363] be condemned [2632] with [4862] the world [2889].

¹⁴ And [2532] as [2531] Moses [3475] lifted up [5312] the serpent [3789] in [1722] the wilderness [2048], even so [3779] must [1163] the Son [5207] of man [444] be lifted up [5312]:

¹¹ And Moses [04872] lifted up [07311] his hand [03027], and with his rod [04294] he smote [05221] the rock [05553] twice [06471]: and the water [04325] came out [03318] abundantly [07227], and the congregation [05712] drank [08354], and their beasts [01165] also.

⁵ And the people [05971] spake [01696] against God [0430], and against Moses [04872], Wherefore have ye brought us up [05927] out of Egypt [04714] to die [04191] in the wilderness [04057]? for there is no bread [03899], neither is there any water [04325]; and our soul [05315] loatheth [06973] this light [07052] bread [03899].
⁶ And the LORD [03068] sent [07971] fiery [08314] serpents [05175] among the people [05971], and they bit [05391] the people [05971]; and much [07227] people [05971] of Israel [03478] died [04191].
⁷ Therefore the people [05971] came [0935] to Moses [04872], and said [0559], We have sinned [02398], for we have spoken [01696] against the LORD [03068], and against thee; pray [06419] unto the LORD [03068], that he take away [05493] the serpents [05175] from us. And Moses [04872] prayed [06419] for the people [05971].
⁸ And the LORD [03068] said [0559] unto Moses [04872], Make [06213] thee a fiery serpent [08314], and set [07760] it upon a pole [05251]: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten [05391], when he looketh [07200] upon it, shall live [02425].
⁹ And Moses [04872] made [06213] a serpent [05175] of brass [05178], and put [07760] it upon a pole [05251], and it came to pass, that if a serpent [05175] had bitten [05391] any man [0376], when he beheld [05027] the serpent [05175] of brass [05178], he lived [02425].

⁸ Then Abraham [085] gave up the ghost [01478], and died [04191] in a good [02896] old age [07872], an old man [02205], and full [07649] of years; and was gathered [0622] to his people [05971].

¹⁸ Yet I have left [07604] me seven [07651] thousand [0505] in Israel [03478], all the knees [01290] which have not bowed [03766] unto Baal [01168], and every mouth [06310] which hath not kissed [05401] him.

²⁶ There is none like unto the God [0410] of Jeshurun [03484], who rideth [07392] upon the heaven [08064] in thy help [05828], and in his excellency [01346] on the sky [07834].

⁵ And he was king [04428] in Jeshurun [03484], when the heads [07218] of the people [05971] and the tribes [07626] of Israel [03478] were gathered [0622] together [03162].

¹⁵ But Jeshurun [03484] waxed fat [08080], and kicked [01163]: thou art waxen fat [08080], thou art grown thick [05666], thou art covered [03780] with fatness; then he forsook [05203] God [0433] which made [06213] him, and lightly esteemed [05034] the Rock [06697] of his salvation [03444].

¹³ Speak [01696] thou also unto the children [01121] of Israel [03478], saying [0559], Verily [0389] my sabbaths [07676] ye shall keep [08104]: for it is a sign [0226] between me and you throughout your generations [01755]; that ye may know [03045] that I am the LORD [03068] that doth sanctify [06942] you.

⁷ Sanctify [06942] yourselves therefore, and be ye holy [06918]: for I am the LORD [03068] your God [0430].
⁸ And ye shall keep [08104] my statutes [02708], and do [06213] them: I am the LORD [03068] which sanctify [06942] you.

⁴ He is the Rock [06697], his work [06467] is perfect [08549]: for all his ways [01870] are judgment [04941]: a God [0410] of truth [0530] and without iniquity [05766], just [06662] and right [03477] is he.

⁴¹ And it came to pass on the morrow [01242], that Balak [01111] took [03947] Balaam [01109], and brought him up [05927] into the high places [01116] of Baal [01120], that thence he might see [07200] the utmost [07097] part of the people [05971].

²² Thy fathers [01] went down [03381] into Egypt [04714] with threescore and ten [07657] persons [05315]; and now the LORD [03068] thy God [0430] hath made [07760] thee as the stars [03556] of heaven [08064] for multitude [07230].

¹⁶ And I will make [07760] thy seed [02233] as the dust [06083] of the earth [0776]: so that [0834] if a man [0376] can [03201] number [04487] the dust [06083] of the earth [0776], then shall thy seed [02233] also be numbered [04487].

²⁹ Happy [0835] art thou, O Israel [03478]: who is like unto thee, O people [05971] saved [03467] by the LORD [03068], the shield [04043] of thy help [05828], and who is the sword [02719] of thy excellency [01346]! and thine enemies [0341] shall be found liars [03584] unto thee; and thou shalt tread [01869] upon their high places [01116].

⁸ And what nation [01471] is there so great [01419], that hath statutes [02706] and judgments [04941] so righteous [06662] as all this law [08451], which I set [05414] before [06440] you this day [03117]?

¹⁴ Feed [07462] thy people [05971] with thy rod [07626], the flock [06629] of thine heritage [05159], which dwell [07931] solitarily [0910] in the wood [03293], in the midst [08432] of Carmel [03760]: let them feed [07462] in Bashan [01316] and Gilead [01568], as in the days [03117] of old [05769].

³¹ Arise [06965], get you up [05927] unto the wealthy [07961] nation [01471], that dwelleth [03427] without care [0983], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], which have neither gates [01817] nor bars [01280], which dwell [07931] alone [0910].

²⁸ Israel [03478] then shall dwell [07931] in safety [0983] alone [0910]: the fountain [05869] of Jacob [03290] shall be upon a land [0776] of corn [01715] and wine [08492]; also his heavens [08064] shall drop down [06201] dew [02919].

¹⁰ Who can count [04487] the dust [06083] of Jacob [03290], and the number [04557] of the fourth [07255] part of Israel [03478]? Let me die [04191] [05315] the death [04194] of the righteous [03477], and let my last [0319] end be like his!

⁹ For from the top [07218] of the rocks [06697] I see [07200] him, and from the hills [01389] I behold [07789] him: lo, the people [05971] shall dwell [07931] alone [0910], and shall not be reckoned [02803] among the nations [01471].

⁶ Come [03212] now therefore, I pray thee, curse [0779] me this people [05971]; for they are too mighty [06099] for me: peradventure I shall prevail [03201], that we may smite [05221] them, and that I may drive them out [01644] of the land [0776]: for I wot [03045] that he whom thou blessest [01288] is blessed [01288], and he whom thou cursest [0779] is cursed [0779].

⁸ How [04100] shall I curse [05344], whom God [0410] hath not cursed [06895]? or how shall I defy [02194], whom the LORD [03068] hath not defied [02194]?
⁹ For from the top [07218] of the rocks [06697] I see [07200] him, and from the hills [01389] I behold [07789] him: lo, the people [05971] shall dwell [07931] alone [0910], and shall not be reckoned [02803] among the nations [01471].
¹⁰ Who can count [04487] the dust [06083] of Jacob [03290], and the number [04557] of the fourth [07255] part of Israel [03478]? Let me die [04191] [05315] the death [04194] of the righteous [03477], and let my last [0319] end be like his!

¹⁷ For I will promote [03513] thee unto very [03966] great [03513] honour [03513], and I will do [06213] whatsoever thou sayest [0559] unto me: come [03212] therefore, I pray thee, curse [06895] me this people [05971].

¹¹ Behold, there is a people [05971] come out [03318] of Egypt [04714], which covereth [03680] the face [05869] of the earth [0776]: come [03212] now, curse [06895] me them; peradventure I shall be able [03201] to overcome [03898] them, and drive them out [01644].

¹ Then Jacob [03290] went on [05375] his journey [07272], and came [03212] into the land [0776] of the people [01121] of the east [06924].

⁷ And he took up [05375] his parable [04912], and said [0559], Balak [01111] the king [04428] of Moab [04124] hath brought [05148] me from Aram [0758], out of the mountains [02042] of the east [06924], saying, Come [03212], curse [0779] me Jacob [03290], and come [03212], defy [02194] Israel [03478].

¹⁵ And he took up [05375] his parable [04912], and said [0559], Balaam [01109] the son [01121] of Beor [01160] hath said [05002], and the man [01397] whose eyes [05869] are open [08365] hath said [05002]:

³ And he took up [05375] his parable [04912], and said [0559], Balaam [01109] the son [01121] of Beor [01160] hath said [05002], and the man [01397] whose eyes [05869] are open [08365] hath said [05002]:

⁴ In that day [03117] shall one take up [05375] a parable [04912] against you, and lament [05091] with a doleful [05093] lamentation [05092], and say [0559], We be utterly [07703] spoiled [07703]: he hath changed [04171] the portion [02506] of my people [05971]: how hath he removed [04185] it from me! turning away [07725] he hath divided [02505] our fields [07704].

³ And utter [04911] a parable [04912] unto the rebellious [04805] house [01004], and say [0559] unto them, Thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; Set on [08239] a pot [05518], set it on [08239], and also pour [03332] water [04325] into it:

² Son [01121] of man [0120], put forth [02330] a riddle [02420], and speak [04911] a parable [04912] unto the house [01004] of Israel [03478];

⁴ That thou shalt take up [05375] this proverb [04912] against the king [04428] of Babylon [0894], and say [0559], How hath the oppressor [05065] ceased [07673] ! the golden city [04062] ceased [07673] !

²⁰ And when he looked [07200] on Amalek [06002], he took up [05375] his parable [04912], and said [0559], Amalek [06002] was the first [07225] of the nations [01471]; but his latter [0319] end shall be that he perish [08] for ever [05703].

¹⁸ And he took up [05375] his parable [04912], and said [0559], Rise up [06965], Balak [01111], and hear [08085]; hearken [0238] unto me, thou son [01121] of Zippor [06834]:

² And Balaam [01109] lifted up [05375] his eyes [05869], and he saw [07200] Israel [03478] abiding [07931] in his tents according to their tribes [07626]; and the spirit [07307] of God [0430] came upon him.

⁵ And the LORD [03068] put [07760] a word [01697] in Balaam's [01109] mouth [06310], and said [0559], Return [07725] unto Balak [01111], and thus thou shalt speak [01696].

²⁷ Wherefore they that speak in proverbs [04911] say [0559], Come [0935] into Heshbon [02809], let the city [05892] of Sihon [05511] be built [01129] and prepared [03559]: