Numbers 23:7
in Numbers 23And Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘put a curse on Jacob for me; come and denounce Israel!’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he took up his parable, and said, From Aram hath Balak brought me, The king of Moab from the mountains of the East: Come, curse me Jacob, And come, defy Israel.
KJV
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.
⋯
This verse in Numbers 23
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
hath brought me from Aram
on Numbers 23:7-8
He takes up his parable, and the first oracle opens by quoting the contract back, come curse me Jacob, and come defy Israel. The answer in verse 8 is the Abrahamic promise turned on the man who paid for it, since Genesis 12:3 had said God would curse him that curseth the seed of Abraham. Deuteronomy 23:5 says the Lord turned the curse into a blessing, and Joshua 24:10, Nehemiah 13:2 and Micah 6:5 all recall this hill as the day it happened. Aram and the mountains of the east put his home far to the northeast, which Albert Barnes identifies with the Aram of the two rivers named at Deuteronomy 23:4.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
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.
And he took up his parable, and said,....
The message sent to him was, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel. Balak intended to make war upon them, and he would have Balaam to bless his arms, and to prophesy and pray for the ruin of Israel. [2.] He owns the design defeated, and his own inability to accomplish it.
He pronounces Israel safe and happy, and so blesses them. (1.) He pronounces them safe, and out of the reach of his envenomed darts. [1.] He owns that the design was to curse them, that Balak sent for him out of his own country, and that he came, with that intent,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּשָּׂ֥א | vaiyisa' | and he lifted up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| מְשָׁל֖וֹ | meshalo | oracle his | H4912 → | 39 times |
| וַיֹּאמַ֑ר | vaiyomar | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| אֲ֠רָם | ʾarom | Aram | H758 → | |
| יַנְחֵ֨נִי | yancheni | he led me | H5148 → | |
| בָלָ֤ק | valak | Balak | H1111 → | 43 times |
| מֶֽלֶךְ־ | melekh- | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| מוֹאָב֙ | moav | Moab | H4124 → | 181 times |
| מֵֽהַרְרֵי־ | meharei- | from [the] mountains of | H2042 → | |
| קֶ֔דֶם | kedem | [the] east | H6924 → | 87 times |
| לְכָה֙ | lekhah | come ! | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אָֽרָה־ | ʾarah- | curse ! | H779 → | 63 times |
| לִּ֣י | li | for <the> me | ||
| יַעֲקֹ֔ב | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| וּלְכָ֖ה | ulekhah | and come ! | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| זֹעֲמָ֥ה | zoamah | denounce ! | H2194 → | 12 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וַיִּשָּׂ֥אand he lifted up
vaiyisa'H5375 →656 times
מְשָׁל֖וֹoracle his
meshaloH4912 →39 times
וַיֹּאמַ֑רand he said
vaiyomarH559 →5305 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
אֲ֠רָםAram
ʾaromH758 →
יַנְחֵ֨נִיhe led me
yancheniH5148 →
בָלָ֤קBalak
valakH1111 →43 times
מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of
melekh-H4428 →2525 times
מוֹאָב֙Moab
moavH4124 →181 times
מֵֽהַרְרֵי־from [the] mountains of
meharei-H2042 →
קֶ֔דֶם[the] east
kedemH6924 →87 times
לְכָה֙come !
lekhahH1980 →1546 times
אָֽרָה־curse !
ʾarah-H779 →63 times
לִּ֣יfor <the> me
li
יַעֲקֹ֔בJacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
וּלְכָ֖הand come !
ulekhahH1980 →1546 times
זֹעֲמָ֥הdenounce !
zoamahH2194 →12 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
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 78:2I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,
it leads to
- Matthew 13:34–35
Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable.
- Mark 4:34
He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples.
- Matthew 13:11–13
He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
- Psalms 49:4
I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle with the harp:
- Proverbs 1:6
by understanding the proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.
- Matthew 13:34–35
Through
Deuteronomy 23:4For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 13:2
because they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but had hired Balaam to call down a curse against them (although our God had turned the curse into a blessing).
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 2:28–29
You can sell us food to eat and water to drink in exchange for silver. Only let us pass through on foot,
- Nehemiah 13:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
Who and where
3 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJacobThe heel-grasping supplanter reshaped at Peniel into 'Israel, he who strives with God' — father of the twelve tribes.
- PersonWildernessBalakKing of Moab who hired Balaam against the camp on his border and got four blessings and a prophecy of his own destroyer for his fe…
- PlaceTransjordanMoabThe high country east of the Dead Sea, home of Lot's descendants, where Balak hired Balaam, where Ruth was born, and where Moses l…
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; 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.