Numbers 23:10

Numbers 23:10 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!
• New International Version (NIV)Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my final end be like theirs!”
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number one-fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, And let my end be like his!”
• New Living Translation (NLT)Who can count Jacob’s descendants, as numerous as dust? Who can count even a fourth of Israel’s people? Let me die like the righteous; let my life end like theirs.”

Context of Numbers 23:10

8How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced? 9For from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I behold him; behold, a people dwelling alone, and not counting itself among the nations! Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!" 11And Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them." 12And he answered and said, "Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?"

Numbers 23:10 word by word

מִ֤י מָנָה֙ עֲפַ֣ר יַעֲקֹ֔ב וּמִסְפָּ֖ר אֶת־רֹ֣בַע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל תָּמֹ֤ת נַפְשִׁי֙ מ֣וֹת יְשָׁרִ֔ים וּתְהִ֥י אַחֲרִיתִ֖י כָּמֹֽהוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Who can countמָנָהmânâh · to countH4487
• the dustעָפָר‛âphâr · dustH6083
• of Jacobיַעֲקֹבya‛ăqôb · JacobH3290
• and the numberמִסְפָּרmispâr · numberH4557
• of the fourthרֹ֫בַעrôba‛ · fourthH7255
• of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• Let me dieנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: myselfH5315
• Let me dieמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
• the deathמָ֫וֶתmâveth · deathH4194
• of the righteousיָשָׁרyâshâr · uprightH3477
• and let my lastאַחֲרִית'achărîyth · endH319

Cross-references for Numbers 23:10

• Genesis 13:16I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.
• Genesis 22:17I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,
• Genesis 28:14Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
• Numbers 2:9All those listed of the camp of Judah, by their companies, were 186,400. They shall set out first on the march.
• Psalms 37:37Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace.
• Psalms 116:15Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
• Proverbs 14:32The wicked is overthrown through his evildoing, but the righteous finds refuge in his death.
• Isaiah 57:1The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity;
• Luke 2:29"Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word;
• 1 Corinthians 3:21So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours,
• 1 Corinthians 15:53For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
• 2 Corinthians 5:1For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
• Philippians 1:21For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
• 2 Timothy 4:6For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
• 2 Peter 1:13I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder,
• Revelation 14:13And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!"

Commentaries on Numbers 23:10

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 10Let me die the death of the righteous - Probably Balaam had some presentiment that he should be taken off by a premature death, and therefore he lodges this petition against it. The death of the righteous in those times implied being gathered to one's fathers in a good old age, having seen his children, and children's children; and to this, probably, the latter part of this petition applies: And let my last end be like his, (כמהו אחריתי ותהי uthehi…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 10The fourth part of Israel - i. e., each one of the four camps, into which the host of Israel was divided (see Genesis 13:16; Genesis 28:14. The righteous - i. e., the ancestors of Israel, who “died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off” Hebrews 11:13. With their histories Balaam was familiar, particularly with that of Abraham, “the righteous man” whom God had “raised up from the east (and) called to His foot” Isaiah…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-10In his first message from God, Balaam reviewed why he had come to Moab (23:5, 16). He explained how Balak had called him. He also stressed that God had a special relationship with Israel. Balaam made clear that he could not harm Israel because God was protecting them. These messages are written as poetry. Hebrew poetry often uses parallelism. Parallelism places two similar lines together. The second line repeats or strengthens the first line in a clear…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1010. Who can count the dust of Jacob?--an Oriental hyperbole for a very populous nation, as Jacob's posterity was promised to be (Ge 13:16; 28:14). the number of the fourth part of Israel--that is, the camp consisted of four divisions; every one of these parts was formidable in numbers. Let me die the death of the righteous--Hebrew, "of Jeshurun"; or, the Israelites. The meaning is: they are a people happy, above all others, not only in life, but at death…Read the comment

Topics related to Numbers 23:10

• Death

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Jacob
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Fourth Part
• Count
• Abel-Shittim
• Balaam
• Balak
• Bless

Commentaries on Numbers 23

• 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
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings