God’s Word Translation
Numbers 24:23
23He delivered this message: “Oh no! Who will live when God decides to do this?
Numbers 24:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And he took up his parable, and said, Alas, who shall live when God doeth this!
- New International Version (NIV)Then he spoke his message: “Alas! Who can live when God does this?
- English Standard Version (ESV)And he took up his discourse and said, "Alas, who shall live when God does this?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then he took up his oracle and said: “Alas! Who shall live when God does this?
Context of Numbers 24:23
21Then he saw the Kenites and delivered this message: “You have a permanent place to live. Your nest is built in a rock. 22But it is destined to be burned, you ⌞descendants of⌟ Cain, when Assyria takes you as prisoners of war.” He delivered this message: “Oh no! Who will live when God decides to do this? 24Ships will come from the shores of Cyprus. They will conquer Assyria and Eber. But they, too, will be totally destroyed.” 25Then Balaam got up and went back home, and Balak also went on his way.
Read all of Numbers 24Numbers 24:23 word by word
וַיִּשָּׂ֥א מְשָׁל֖וֹ וַיֹּאמַ֑ר א֕וֹי מִ֥י יִחְיֶ֖ה מִשֻּׂמ֥וֹ אֵֽל׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Numbers 24:23
- Genesis 10:4Javan’s descendants were the people from Elishah, Tarshish, Cyprus, and Rhodes.
- Isaiah 23:1This is the divine revelation about Tyre. Cry loudly, you ships of Tarshish! Your port at Tyre is destroyed. Word has come to the ships from Cyprus.
- Daniel 7:19Then I wanted to know the truth about the fourth animal, which was so different from all the others. It was very terrifying and had iron teeth and bronze claws. It devoured and crushed its victims, and trampled whatever was left.
- Daniel 8:5As I was watching closely, I saw a male goat coming from the west. It crossed the whole earth without touching it. This goat had a prominent horn between its eyes.
- Daniel 10:20He asked, “Do you know why I have come to you? Now I will return to fight the commander of Persia. When I go, the commander of Greece will come.
- Daniel 11:30Ships will come from the west to attack him, and he will be discouraged and turn back. Angry at the holy promise, he will return, take action, and favor those who abandon the holy promise.
- Genesis 10:21Shem, Japheth’s older brother, also had children. ⌞Shem was⌟ the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.
- Genesis 14:13Then a soldier who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew what had happened. He was living next to the oak trees belonging to Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner. (These men were Abram’s allies.)
- Daniel 9:26But after the sixty-two sets of seven time periods, the Anointed One will be cut off and have nothing. The city and the holy place will be destroyed with the prince who is to come. His end will come with a flood until the end of the destructive war that has been determined.
- Matthew 24:15“The prophet Daniel said that the disgusting thing that will cause destruction will stand in the holy place. When you see this (let the reader take note),
- Luke 20:24“Show me a coin. Whose face and name is this?” They answered, “The emperor’s.”
- Luke 23:29The time is coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the women who couldn’t get pregnant, who couldn’t give birth, and who couldn’t nurse a child.’
- John 11:48If we let him continue what he’s doing, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will take away our position and our nation.”
- Daniel 2:35Then all at once, the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were smashed. They became like husks on a threshing floor in summer. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a large mountain which filled the whole world.
- Daniel 7:23He said, “The fourth animal will be the fourth of these kingdoms on earth. It will be different from all other kingdoms. It will devour, trample, and crush the whole world.
- Daniel 11:45He will pitch his royal tents between the seas at a beautiful holy mountain. When he comes to his end, there will be no one to help him.”
Commentaries on Numbers 24:23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23Who shall live when God doeth this! - There are two senses in which these words may be taken: - That the event is so distant that none then alive could possibly live to see it. That the times would be so distressing and desolating that scarcely any should be able to escape. The words are very similar to those of our Lord, and probably are to be taken in the same sense: "Wo to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days."Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23When God doeth this - The eventual carrying away of the allies of Israel by Assyria presented itself to Balaam as the ruin of all peace and safety upon earth. One prediction was howerer, yet wanting, and is next given, namely, that the conquerors of the Kenites should fare no better than the Kenites themselves.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-25Verses 15-25 Under the powerful influence of the Spirit of prophecy, Balaam foretold the future prosperity and extensive dominion of Israel. Balaam boasts that his eyes are open. The prophets were in old times called seers. He had heard the words of God, which many do who neither heed them, nor hear God in them. He knew the knowledge of the Most High. A man may be full of the knowledge of God, yet utterly destitute of the grace of God. He calls God the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23This verse is similar to 22:12 and summarizes the lesson of the entire event.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. who shall live when God doeth this!--Few shall escape the desolation that shall send a Nebuchadnezzar to scourge all those regions.Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 24:23
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Numbers 24
- 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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