Numbers 24:11
in Numbers 24Therefore, flee at once to your home! I said I would richly reward you, but instead the LORD has denied your reward.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honor; but, lo, Jehovah hath kept thee back from honor.
KJV
Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honour.
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This verse in Numbers 24
Commentary
5 notes on this verseLo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honor - A bitter and impious sarcasm. “Hadst thou cursed this people, I would have promoted thee to great honor; but thou hast chosen to follow the directions of Jehovah rather than mine, and what will he do for thee?”
This 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 Awakening2 voices
): " The Lord hath kept thee back from honour. See what thou gettest by pleasing the Lord, instead of pleasing me; thou has hindered thy preferment by it." Thus those who are any way losers by their duty are commonly upbraided with it, as fools, for preferring it before their interest in the world.
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Therefore now flee thou to thy place,....
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;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
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.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
[AND BALAAM SAID UNTO BALAK]: ‘SPOKE I NOT ALSO TO THY MESSENGERS ETC.?’ Balaam was now defending himself on the basis of what he had told Balak’s messengers when they came back to him, before he knew what the Eternal would speak unto him more; 225 Above,:19.
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
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּ֖ה | veatah | and therefore | H6258 → | 433 times |
| בְּרַח־ | berach- | flee | H1272 → | |
| לְךָ֣ | lekha | for <the> yourself | ||
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מְקוֹמֶ֑ךָ | mekomecha | place your | H4725 → | 401 times |
| אָמַ֙רְתִּי֙ | ʾamarti | I said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כַּבֵּ֣ד | kabed | surely <honor> | H3513 → | 113 times |
| אֲכַבֶּדְךָ֔ | ʾakhabedkha | I will honor you | H3513 → | 113 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֛ה | vehineh | and here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| מְנָעֲךָ֥ | menaakha | he has withheld you | H4513 → | |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מִכָּבֽוֹד׃ | mikavod | from honor | H3519 → | 200 times |
וְעַתָּ֖הand therefore
veatahH6258 →433 times
בְּרַח־flee
berach-H1272 →
לְךָ֣for <the> yourself
lekha
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מְקוֹמֶ֑ךָplace your
mekomechaH4725 →401 times
אָמַ֙רְתִּי֙I said
ʾamartiH559 →5305 times
כַּבֵּ֣דsurely <honor>
kabedH3513 →113 times
אֲכַבֶּדְךָ֔I will honor you
ʾakhabedkhaH3513 →113 times
וְהִנֵּ֛הand here!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
מְנָעֲךָ֥he has withheld you
menaakhaH4513 →
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מִכָּבֽוֹד׃from honor
mikavodH3519 →200 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
Acts 8:20But Peter replied, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!
it leads to
- Daniel 5:17
In response, Daniel said to the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the inscription for the king and interpret it for…
- Acts 2:38
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- Matthew 10:8
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
- Revelation 18:15
The merchants who sold these things and grew their wealth from her will stand at a distance, in fear of her torment. They will weep and mourn,
- 1 Timothy 6:9
Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
- Daniel 5:17
Through
Numbers 22:37And he said to Balaam, “Did I not send you an urgent summons? Why did you not come to me? Am I really not able to richly reward you?”
it leads to
- John 5:44
How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
- Psalms 75:6
For exaltation comes neither from east nor west, nor out of the desert,
- John 5:44
Through
Numbers 22:17for I will honor you richly and do whatever you say. So please come and put a curse on this people for me!’”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 16:9
You are to count off seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain.
- Deuteronomy 16:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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.