Numbers 33:55

Numbers 33:55 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.
• New International Version (NIV)“ ‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell.

Context of Numbers 33:55

53I have given this land to you to live in. So you must win power over the people who live there now. 54You must use lots to choose how to give part of the land to each family. You must give more land to the larger clans and you must give less land to the smaller clans. The lots will decide which piece of land belongs to each family. Each of your ancestors' tribes will get its own part of the land. If any Canaanites remain in the land, they will bring trouble and pain to the Israelites. So you must chase them all away. 56If you do not do that, I will punish you in the way that I wanted to punish them.” ’

Numbers 33:55 word by word

וְאִם־לֹ֨א תוֹרִ֜ישׁוּ אֶת־יֹשְׁבֵ֣י הָאָרֶץ֮ מִפְּנֵיכֶם֒ וְהָיָה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תּוֹתִ֣ירוּ מֵהֶ֔ם לְשִׂכִּים֙ בְּעֵ֣ינֵיכֶ֔ם וְלִצְנִינִ֖ם בְּצִדֵּיכֶ֑ם וְצָרֲר֣וּ אֶתְכֶ֔ם עַל־הָאָ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַתֶּ֖ם יֹשְׁבִ֥ים בָּֽהּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• But if ye will not drive outיָרַשׁyârash yârêsh · to possess: takeH3423
• the inhabitantsיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
• of the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• from beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remainיָתַרyâthar · to remainH3498
• pricksשֵׂךְώêk · thornH7899
• in your eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
• and thornsצָנִיןtsânîyn tsânin · thornH6796
• in your sidesצַדtsad · sideH6654
• and shall vexצָרַרtsârar · to vexH6887

Cross-references for Numbers 33:55

• Exodus 23:33Do not let them live in your land. They would cause you to do bad things against me. If you serve their gods, you will become like their prisoners.’
• Deuteronomy 7:4If that happens, your children may turn away from the Lord. They will start to worship other gods. Then the Lord will be very angry with you. He will immediately destroy you.
• Joshua 23:12You must not turn away from him to join with the other nations that still live near you. Do not marry any of them. Do not live in the way that they live.
• Judges 1:21The men of Benjamin's tribe could not chase out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem. As a result, the Jebusites continue to live in Jerusalem with the people of Benjamin.
• Judges 2:3So now I tell you, I will not chase the Canaanites away so that you can take their land. Instead, they will cause trouble for you. Their false gods will cause you to turn away from me.’
• Psalms 106:34The Lord commanded his people to destroy the nations of Canaan, But they did not obey the Lord's command.
• Ezekiel 28:24Israel will no longer suffer because of the nations that are around them. Those nations will not be like sharp thorns that give the Israelites pain. They will not insult the Israelites any more. Then they will know that I am the Almighty Lord.

Commentaries on Numbers 33:55

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 55Shall be pricks in your eyes - Under these metaphors, the continual mischief that should be done to them, both in soul and body, by these idolaters, is set forth in a very expressive manner. What can be more vexatious than a continual goading of each side, so that the attempt to avoid the one throws the body more forcibly on the other? And what can be more distressing than a continual pricking in the eye, harassing the mind, tormenting the body, and…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 50-56Verses 50-56 The expulsion of the Canaanites and the destruction of their monuments of idolatry had been already enjoined (see the marginal references); and Numbers 33:54 is substantially a repetition from Numbers 33:55-56 is new. A call for it had been furnished by their past transgressions in the matter of Baal-peor, and by their imperfect fulfillment, at the first, of Moses‘ orders in the Midianite war.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 50-56Verses 50-56 Now that they were to pass over Jordan, they were entering again into temptation to follow idols; and they are threatened that, if they spared either the idols or the idolaters, their sin would certainly be their punishment. They would foster vipers in their own bosoms. The remnant of the Canaanites, if they made any peace with them, though but for a time, would be pricks in their eyes, and thorns in their sides. We must expect trouble and…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 55-56Israel did not follow God's instructions. So, they suffered the consequences predicted here (33:51–53; see Judges 1:1–2:5; 2:11–3:6). Israel’s enemies in the period of the judges were like "barbs … and thorns" (Numbers 33:55). Their enemies caused them military and spiritual trouble (compare 2 Corinthians 12:7).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 5555. But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you--No associations were to be formed with the inhabitants; otherwise, "if ye let remain, they will be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides"--that is, they would prove troublesome and dangerous neighbors, enticing to idolatry, and consequently depriving you of the divine favor and blessing. The neglect of the counsel against union with the idolatrous inhabitants became…Read the comment

Topics related to Numbers 33:55

• Company
• Thorn

In the dictionaries

• Dispossess
• Divide
• Draw
• Exodus
• Gibeon
• Thorn
• Aaron
• Encampment By the Red Sea
• Exodus, the
• Exodus, the Book of

Commentaries on Numbers 33

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings