Numbers 24:10
in Numbers 24Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together and said to Balaam, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together; and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times.
KJV
And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times.
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This verse in Numbers 24
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
anger was kindled against Balaam
on Numbers 24:10-11
Balak smites his hands together, a gesture Ezekiel 21:14 uses for a sword about to fall and Job 27:23 uses for scorn at a ruined man. His complaint keeps a count of three, and the ass had asked Balaam at 22:28 why he had smitten her these three times, so the number he throws at Balaam is the number Balaam earned from an animal. Then he says the Lord hath kept thee back from honour, which names the fee openly and lays the loss of it on God.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together--The "smiting of the hands together" is, among Oriental people, an indication of the most violent rage (see Eze 21:17;
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How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
ברח לך, the use of the word ברח does not refer to escape from a pursuer, but refers to abandoning a certain place because of fear of what might happen there in the future.
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. 5 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
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּֽחַר־ | vaiyichar- | and it burned | H2734 → | 91 times |
| אַ֤ף | ʾaf | [the] anger of | H639 → | 276 times |
| בָּלָק֙ | balak | Balak | H1111 → | 43 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | on | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בִּלְעָ֔ם | bilam | Balaam | H1109 → | 61 times |
| וַיִּסְפֹּ֖ק | vaiyispok | and he clapped | H5606 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כַּפָּ֑יו | kapav | hands his | H3709 → | 192 times |
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בָּלָ֜ק | balak | Balak | H1111 → | 43 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בִּלְעָ֗ם | bilam | Balaam | H1109 → | 61 times |
| לָקֹ֤ב | lako | to curse | H6895 → | 14 times |
| אֹֽיְבַי֙ | ʾoyevai | enemies my | H341 → | 282 times |
| קְרָאתִ֔יךָ | keraticha | I summoned you | H7121 → | 733 times |
| וְהִנֵּה֙ | vehineh | and here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| בֵּרַ֣כְתָּ | berakhta | you have blessed | H1288 → | 330 times |
| בָרֵ֔ךְ | varekh | actually <bless> | H1288 → | 330 times |
| זֶ֖ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| שָׁלֹ֥שׁ | shalosh | three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| פְּעָמִֽים׃ | peamim | times | H6471 → | 118 times |
וַיִּֽחַר־and it burned
vaiyichar-H2734 →91 times
אַ֤ף[the] anger of
ʾafH639 →276 times
בָּלָק֙Balak
balakH1111 →43 times
אֶל־on
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בִּלְעָ֔םBalaam
bilamH1109 →61 times
וַיִּסְפֹּ֖קand he clapped
vaiyispokH5606 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כַּפָּ֑יוhands his
kapavH3709 →192 times
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
בָּלָ֜קBalak
balakH1111 →43 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בִּלְעָ֗םBalaam
bilamH1109 →61 times
לָקֹ֤בto curse
lakoH6895 →14 times
אֹֽיְבַי֙enemies my
ʾoyevaiH341 →282 times
קְרָאתִ֔יךָI summoned you
keratichaH7121 →733 times
וְהִנֵּה֙and here!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
בֵּרַ֣כְתָּyou have blessed
berakhtaH1288 →330 times
בָרֵ֔ךְactually <bless>
varekhH1288 →330 times
זֶ֖הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
שָׁלֹ֥שׁthree
shaloshH7969 →432 times
פְּעָמִֽים׃times
peamimH6471 →118 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
Ezekiel 21:17I too will strike My hands together, and I will satisfy My wrath.’ I, the LORD, have spoken.”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 21:14
‘So then, son of man, prophesy and strike your hands together. Let the sword strike two times, even three. It is a sword that slays, a sword of great slaughter closing in on every…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 5:13
And when My anger is spent and I have vented My wrath against them, I will be appeased. And when I have spent My wrath on them, they will know that I, the LORD,…
- Ezekiel 21:14
Through
Numbers 23:11Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and behold, you have only blessed them!”
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).
- Psalms 109:17–20
The cursing that he loved, may it fall on him; the blessing in which he refused to delight, may it be far from him.
- Numbers 22:17
for I will honor you richly and do whatever you say. So please come and put a curse on this people for me!’”
- Nehemiah 13:2
Through
Job 27:23It claps its hands at him and hisses him out of his place.
it leads to
- Lamentations 2:15
All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the…
- Lamentations 2:15
Through
Ezekiel 22:13Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst.
it leads to
- Isaiah 33:15
He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—
- Isaiah 33:15
Through
Ezekiel 21:14‘So then, son of man, prophesy and strike your hands together. Let the sword strike two times, even three. It is a sword that slays, a sword of great slaughter closing in on every…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 24:1
During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded. So Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years, until he turned and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.
- 2 Kings 24:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.