Numbers 24:14

12 So Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not also speak to your messengers whom you sent to me, saying,

13 ‘If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord, to do good or bad of my own will. What the Lord says, that I must speak’?

14 And now, indeed, I am going to my people. Come, ^aI will advise you what this people will do to your people in the ^blatter days.”

Balaam’s Fourth Prophecy

15 So he took up his oracle and said:
“The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor,
And the utterance of the man whose eyes are opened;

16 The utterance of him who hears the words of God,
And has the knowledge of the Most High,
Who sees the vision of the Almighty,
Who falls down, with eyes wide open:

17 “I^a see Him, but not now;
I behold Him, but not near;
^bA Star shall come out of Jacob;
^cA Scepter shall rise out of Israel,
And¹ batter the brow of Moab,
And destroy all the sons of¹ tumult.

18 “And ^aEdom shall be a possession;
Seir also, his enemies, shall be a possession,
While Israel does¹ valiantly.

19 ^aOut of Jacob One¹ shall have dominion,
And destroy the remains of the city.”

20 Then he looked on Amalek, and he took up his oracle and said:
“Amalek was first among the nations,
But shall be last until he perishes.”

21 Then he looked on the Kenites, and he took up his oracle and said:
“Firm is your dwelling place,
And your nest is set in the rock;

22 Nevertheless Kain shall be burned.
How long until Asshur carries you away captive?”

23 Then he took up his oracle and said:
“Alas! Who shall live when God does this?

24 But ships shall come from the coasts of ^aCyprus,
And they shall afflict Asshur and afflict ^bEber,
And so shall¹ Amalek, until he perishes.”

25 So Balaam rose and departed and ^areturned to his place; Balak also went his way.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
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<< Numbers 24:13

Numbers 24:15 >>

What Does Numbers 24:14 Mean?

Numbers 24:13-14

Balak, of course, is furious with Balaam for thrice predicting such a rosy future for Israel. The soothsayer reminds him that he warned him from the start that he "could not go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of [his] own will; but what the LORD says, that [he] must speak" (Numbers 24:13). It is difficult to decide which of these two characters is more ludicrous: Balaam, for thinking that God would give in and let him curse Israel—or at least put in a good word for Moab; or Balak, for listening to and putting up with Balaam!

As if trying to mollify his employer, Balaam adds, "Come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the latter days" (verse 14), but his words are hardly comforting to the Moabite king.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Prophecies of Balaam (Part Two)

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Balaam’s Fourth Prophecy

What Does Numbers 24:14 Mean?

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