New English Translation
Numbers 24:23
23Then he uttered this oracle: “O, who will survive when God does 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 looked on the Kenites and uttered this oracle: “Your dwelling place seems strong, and your nest is set on a rocky cliff. 22Nevertheless the Kenite will be consumed. How long will Asshur take you away captive?” Then he uttered this oracle: “O, who will survive when God does this! 24Ships will come from the coast of Kittim, and will afflict Asshur, and will afflict Eber, and he will also perish forever.” 25Balaam got up and departed and returned to his home, and Balak also went 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 10:4The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim, and the Dodanim.
- Isaiah 23:1Here is a message about Tyre: Wail, you large ships, for the port is too devastated to enter! From the land of Cyprus this news is announced to them.
- Daniel 7:19“Then I wanted to know the meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others. It was very dreadful, with two rows of iron teeth and bronze claws, and it devoured, crushed, and trampled anything that was left with its feet.
- Daniel 8:5While I was contemplating all this, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of all the land without touching the ground. This goat had a conspicuous horn between its eyes.
- Daniel 10:20He said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Now I am about to return to engage in battle with the prince of Persia. When I go, the prince of Greece is coming.
- Daniel 11:30The ships of Kittim will come against him, leaving him disheartened. He will turn back and direct his indignation against the holy covenant. He will return and honor those who forsake the holy covenant.
- Genesis 10:21And sons were also born to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), the father of all the sons of Eber.
- Genesis 14:13A fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and Aner. (All these were allied by treaty with Abram.)
- Daniel 9:26Now after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing. As for the city and the sanctuary, the people of the coming prince will destroy them. But his end will come speedily like a flood. Until the end of the war that has been decreed there will be destruction.
- Matthew 24:15“So when you see the abomination of desolation – spoken about by Daniel the prophet – standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
- Luke 20:24“Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” They said, “Caesar’s.”
- Luke 23:29For this is certain: The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never nursed!’
- John 11:48If we allow him to go on in this way, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away our sanctuary and our nation.”
- Daniel 2:35Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were broken in pieces without distinction and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors that the wind carries away. Not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a large mountain that filled the entire earth.
- Daniel 7:23“This is what he told me: ‘The fourth beast means that there will be a fourth kingdom on earth that will differ from all the other kingdoms. It will devour all the earth and will trample and crush it.
- Daniel 11:45He will pitch his royal tents between the seas toward the beautiful holy mountain. But he will come to his end, with 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
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