Numbers 23:10
in Numbers 23Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous; let my end be like theirs!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, And let my last end be like his!
KJV
Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!
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This verse in Numbers 23
Commentary
10 notes on this verseYou have caused me, my brother, not to fear death, and I only would that my life might die with yours! This Balaam wished for as the greatest good for himself, when, inspired by the spirit of prophecy, he said, "Let my soul die in the souls of the righteous, and let my seed be like the seed of them."
This site's exposition
Who can count the dust
The dust of Jacob answers Genesis 13:16 and 28:14, where the seed was promised as the dust of the earth, so a hired seer recites the covenant back to Moab. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take the fourth part of Israel as one of the four camp standards of Numbers 2, which makes him count a quarter of the camp and find it past counting. Then he asks for the end of a righteous man without asking for the life, and Numbers 31:8 records how he did die, killed with the sword among the kings of Midian.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The dust - The numberless people of Jacob or Israel, who according to God's promise, are now become as the dust of the earth. Of the righteous - Of this righteous and holy people.
Who can count, the dust of Jacob,....
He takes notice of the number, First, Of the dust of Jacob; that is, the people of Jacob, concerning whom it was foretold that they should be as the dust for number, Gen. xxviii. Thus he owns the fulfilling of the promise made to the fathers, and expects that it should be yet further accomplished.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Let me die the death of the righteous - Probably Balaam had some presentiment that he should be taken off by a premature death, and therefore he lodges this petition against it. The death of the righteous in those times implied being gathered to one’s fathers in a good old age, having seen his children, and children’s children; and to this, probably, the latter part of this petition applies: And let my last end be like his, (ותהי אחריתי כמהו uthehi acharithi chamohu, And let my Posterity be like his).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Who can count the dust of Jacob?--an Oriental hyperbole for a very populous nation, as Jacob's posterity was promised to be (Ge 13:16; 28:14). the number of the fourth part of Israel--that is, the camp consisted of four divisions; every one of these parts was formidable in numbers. Let me die the death of the righteous--Hebrew, "of Jeshurun"; or, the Israelites.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
CARLYLE, in his "History of the French Revolution," tells us of a Duke of Orleans who did not believe in death. And when his secretary stumbled on the words, "The late King of Spain," he angrily demanded what he meant by it. The flattering attendant replied, "My Lord, it is a title which some of the kings of Spain have taken." In all this assembly I have not such a lunatic! For you unanimously believe that the entire race of men await alike the inevitable hour. We know that all our paths, wind as they may, will lead to the grave. A certain king of France believed in death, but forbade that it should ever be mentioned in his presence. "And if," said he, "I at any time look pale, no courtier must dare, on pain of my displeasure, to mention it in my presence." Thus imitating the foolish ostrich, which, when pursued by the hunter, and utterly unable to escape, is said to hide its head in the sand fancying that it is secure from the enemy which it cannot see. I trust I do not address today any men so idiotic as to desire to forget the certainty of death, or to thrust the fact from their remembrance. I trust that, being sane men, you desire to look in the face the whole of your future history, both in the present world and in worlds beyond the region of sight. And, foreseeing that soul and body must part in the article of death, you are desirous to consider that event that you may be prepared for it. You desire to take death into your reckoning that it may not surprise you. He who should go upon a long journey and provide for every difficulty on the road but one, would probably find the journey a failure. If, with a rolling chariot for the solid ways, he had forgotten to find the means of crossing the last river which would divide him from the country which he sought, he would be disappointed after all his pains.
CARLYLE, in his "History of the French Revolution," tells us of a Duke of Orleans who did not believe in death. And when his secretary stumbled on the words, "The late King of Spain," he angrily demanded what he meant by it. The flattering attendant replied, "My Lord, it is a title which some of the kings of Spain have taken." In all this assembly I have not such a lunatic! For you unanimously believe that the entire race of men await alike the inevitable hour.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The fourth part of Israel - i. e., each one of the four camps, into which the host of Israel was divided (see Num. 2), seemed to swarm with innumerable multitudes. Possibly Balaam could only see one camp. Balaam bears testimony in this verse to the fulfillment of the promises in Gen 13:16; Gen 28:14. The righteous - i. e., the ancestors of Israel, who “died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off” Heb 11:13. With their histories Balaam was familiar, particularly with that of Abraham, “the righteous man” whom God had “raised up from the east (and) called to His foot” Isa 41:2. Let my last end be like his - Render rather, “last estate,” for the reference is not so much to the act of death, as to all that followed upon it - to the future, in which the name and influence of the deceased person would be perpetuated.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
WHO HATH COUNTED THE DUST OF JACOB? Balaam is saying: “I see them from the top of the rocks dwelling alone, and I cannot count them for they alone are like the dust of the earth, and no man can number the dust of the earth; 134 See Genesis:16.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִ֤י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| מָנָה֙ | manah | has he counted | H4487 → | |
| עֲפַ֣ר | ʾafar | [the] dust of | H6083 → | 110 times |
| יַעֲקֹ֔ב | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| וּמִסְפָּ֖ר | umispar | and a number | H4557 → | 134 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| רֹ֣בַע | roa' | [the] fourth part of | H7255 → | |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| תָּמֹ֤ת | tamot | let it die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| נַפְשִׁי֙ | nafshi | self my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| מ֣וֹת | mot | [the] death of | H4194 → | 156 times |
| יְשָׁרִ֔ים | yesharim | upright [people] | H3477 → | |
| וּתְהִ֥י | utehi | and let it be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אַחֲרִיתִ֖י | ʾachariti | end my | H319 → | 61 times |
| כָּמֹֽהוּ׃ | kamohu | like his | H3644 → |
מִ֤יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
מָנָה֙has he counted
manahH4487 →
עֲפַ֣ר[the] dust of
ʾafarH6083 →110 times
יַעֲקֹ֔בJacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
וּמִסְפָּ֖רand a number
umisparH4557 →134 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
רֹ֣בַע[the] fourth part of
roa'H7255 →
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
תָּמֹ֤תlet it die
tamotH4191 →839 times
נַפְשִׁי֙self my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
מ֣וֹת[the] death of
motH4194 →156 times
יְשָׁרִ֔יםupright [people]
yesharimH3477 →
וּתְהִ֥יand let it be
utehiH1961 →3559 times
אַחֲרִיתִ֖יend my
ʾacharitiH319 →61 times
כָּמֹֽהוּ׃like his
kamohuH3644 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 116:15Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.
it leads to
- Psalms 72:14
He will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their blood is precious in his sight.
- Psalms 72:14
Through
2 Corinthians 5:1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
it leads to
- Job 19:25–26
But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.
- 1 John 3:2
Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as…
- 2 Peter 1:13–14
I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of my body,
- Job 19:25–26
Through
Psalms 37:37Consider the blameless and observe the upright, for posterity awaits the man of peace.
it leads to
- Isaiah 32:17
The work of righteousness will be peace; the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever.
- Isaiah 32:17
Through
Revelation 14:13And I heard a voice from heaven telling me to write, “Blessed are the dead—those who die in the Lord from this moment on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors,…
it leads to
- Revelation 20:6
Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:10
He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.
- 2 Timothy 4:7–8
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
- Revelation 20:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On the Death of Satyrus 2.43; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 746: “The End of the Righteous Desired” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.