Numbers 23:9

Numbers 23:9 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
• New International Version (NIV)From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him; There! A people dwelling alone, Not reckoning itself among the nations.
• New Living Translation (NLT)I see them from the cliff tops; I watch them from the hills. I see a people who live by themselves, set apart from other nations.

Context of Numbers 23:9

7And Balaam took up his discourse and said, "From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: 'Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!' 8How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced? For 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! 10Who 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."

Numbers 23:9 word by word

כִּֽי־מֵרֹ֤אשׁ צֻרִים֙ אֶרְאֶ֔נּוּ וּמִגְּבָע֖וֹת אֲשׁוּרֶ֑נּוּ הֶן־עָם֙ לְבָדָ֣ד יִשְׁכֹּ֔ן וּבַגּוֹיִ֖ם לֹ֥א יִתְחַשָּֽׁב׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For from the topרֹאשׁrô'sh · head: topH7218
• of the rocksצוּרtsûr tsûr · rockH6697
• I seeרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• him, and from the hillsגִּבְעָהgib‛âh · hillH1389
• I beholdשׁוּרshûr · to seeH7789
• him: lo, the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• shall dwellשָׁכַןshâkan · to dwellH7931
• aloneבָּדָדbâdâd · isolationH910
• and shall not be reckonedחָשַׁבchâshab · to devise: countH2803
• among the nationsגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471

Cross-references for Numbers 23:9

• Exodus 19:5Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;
• Exodus 33:16For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?"
• Deuteronomy 33:28So Israel lived in safety, Jacob lived alone, in a land of grain and wine, whose heavens drop down dew.
• Esther 3:8Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so that it is not to the king's profit to tolerate them.
• 2 Corinthians 6:17Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,
• 1 Peter 2:9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
• Deuteronomy 32:8When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
• Ezra 9:2For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost."
• Jeremiah 46:28Fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the Lord, for I am with you. I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but of you I will not make a full end. I will discipline you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished."
• Amos 9:9"For behold, I will command, and shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
• Romans 15:8For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,
• Ephesians 2:12remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Commentaries on Numbers 23:9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9From the top of the rocks I see him - That is, from the high places of Baal where he went, Numbers 22:41, that he might the more advantageously see the whole camp of Israel. The people shall dwell alone - They shall ever be preserved as a distinct nation. This prophecy has been literally fulfilled through a period of 3300 years to the present day. This is truly astonishing.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9For from the top of the rocks … - The “for” indicates the constraint under which Balaam felt himself. He had been met by God in his own way; from the cliff he had watched for the expected augury; and by the light of this he here interprets, according to the rules of his art, the destiny of Israel. Dwell alone - i. e., apart from others, undisturbed by their tumults, and therefore in safety and just security. Compare the same idea in marginal reference…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. 99. from the top--literally, "a bare place" on the rocks, to which Balak had taken him, for it was deemed necessary to see the people who were to be devoted to destruction. But that commanding prospect could contribute nothing to the accomplishment of the king's object, for the destiny of Israel was to be a distinct, peculiar people, separated from the rest of the nations in government, religion, customs, and divine protection (De 33:28). So that although…Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Count
• Abel-Shittim
• Balaam
• Balak
• Bless
• Charm
• Divination
• Genealogy
• Magic; Magician
• Numbers, Book of

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