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Numbers 23:13

in Numbers 23

Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp—not all of them. And from there, curse them for me.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.

KJV

And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.

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This verse in Numbers 23

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
Balak seems to hope that the prophet’s words in Num 23:10 reflected the impression conveyed by the scene before him at the moment of the augury; and so that the sight of a mere few straggling Israelites in the utmost part of the camp might induce a different estimate of their resources and prospects.

This site's exposition

with me unto another place

on Numbers 23:13-15

Balak's remedy is a shorter view. He wants Balaam to see the utmost part of the camp and not the whole of it, on the theory that a smaller sight will yield a smaller word. Albert Barnes renders the field of Zophim as the field of watchers, a lookout on the ridge of Pisgah. This is the Pisgah where Deuteronomy 34:1 sets Moses to see the land he will not enter, so two men stand on one hill and look at the same people on opposite errands.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And Balak said unto him,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Thou shalt see but the utmost part of them - Balak thought that the sight of such an immense camp had intimidated Balaam, and this he might gather from what he said in the tenth verse: Who can count the dust of Jacob, etc.; he thought therefore that he might get Balaam to curse them in detached parties, till the whole camp should be devoted to destruction by successive execrations.

The words behind it

21 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • אֵלָ֜יוto him

    ʾelavH413 →5510 times

  • בָּלָ֗קBalak

    balakH1111 →43 times

  • לְכָהcome there !

    lekhahH1980 →1546 times

  • נָּ֨אplease

    na'H4994 →404 times

  • אִתִּ֜יwith me

    ʾitiH854 →929 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • מָק֤וֹםa place

    makomH4725 →401 times

  • אַחֵר֙another

    ʾacherH312 →166 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhere

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • תִּרְאֶ֣נּוּyou will see it

    tirenuH7200 →1300 times

  • מִשָּׁ֔םfrom there

    mishamH8033 →834 times

  • אֶ֚פֶסonly

    ʾefesH657 →44 times

  • קָצֵ֣הוּoutskirt[s] its

    katzehuH7097 →97 times

  • תִרְאֶ֔הyou will see

    tirehH7200 →1300 times

  • וְכֻלּ֖וֹand all of it

    vekhuloH3605 →5413 times

  • לֹ֣אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • תִרְאֶ֑הyou will see

    tirehH7200 →1300 times

  • וְקָבְנוֹ־and curse it

    vekavenov-H6895 →14 times

  • לִ֖יfor <the> me

    li

  • מִשָּֽׁם׃from there

    mishamH8033 →834 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

8 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Numbers 22:41The next morning, Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal. From there he could see the outskirts of the camp of the people.4 worksPsalms 109:17The cursing that he loved, may it fall on him; the blessing in which he refused to delight, may it be far from him.3 worksJames 3:9–10With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.3 worksNumbers 23:27“Please come,” said Balak, “I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you curse them for me from there.”3 worksMicah 6:5My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”2 worksJoshua 24:9Then Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you,2 works
The other 2 cross-references, with their words ▾
1 Kings 20:28Then the man of God approached the king of Israel and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not of the valleys, I will deliver all this great army into your hand. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”2 works1 Kings 20:23Meanwhile, the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they prevailed over us. Instead, we should fight them on the plains; surely then we will prevail.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Micah 6:5

    My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”

    it leads to

    • Joshua 5:9–10

      Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So that place has been called Gilgal to this day.

    • Numbers 25:1

      While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,

    • Judges 5:11

      the voices of the singers at the watering places. There they shall recount the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous deeds of His villagers in Israel. Then the people of the LORD went…

    • 2 Peter 2:15

      They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

    • Joshua 4:19

      On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.

  • Through

    Psalms 109:17

    The cursing that he loved, may it fall on him; the blessing in which he refused to delight, may it be far from him.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 7:2

      For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

    • Proverbs 14:14

      The backslider in heart receives the fill of his own ways, but a good man is rewarded for his ways.

  • Through

    Joshua 24:9

    Then Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you,

    it leads to

    • Judges 11:25

      Are you now so much better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them?

Where this verse is studied

About Numbers

The Bronze Serpent, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Bronze Serpent, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Numbers: the study guide →Read Numbers 23 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.

Read on in Numbers 23 →