Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. He sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you,
Parallel Translations
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Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. He sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you,
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Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:
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Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel; and he sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Joshua 24:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Judges 11:25 Now are you anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them?
- Micah 6:5 My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of Yahweh.”
- Numbers 22:2 Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
- Deuteronomy 23:4-5 because they didn’t meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. Nevertheless Yahweh your God wouldn’t listen to Balaam, but Yahweh your God turned the curse into a blessing to you, because Yahweh your God loved you.
- Numbers 22:5-21 He sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, “Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt. Behold, they cover the surface of the earth, and they are staying opposite me. Please come now therefore, and curse this people for me; for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall prevail, that we may strike them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand. They came to Balaam, and spoke to him the words of Balak. He said to them, “Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as Yahweh shall speak to me.” The princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. God came to Balaam, and said, “Who are these men with you?” Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has said to me, ‘Behold, the people that has come out of Egypt covers the surface of the earth. Now, come curse me them. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.’ ” God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your land; for Yahweh refuses to permit me to go with you.” The princes of Moab rose up, and they went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.” Balak again sent princes, more, and more honorable than they. They came to Balaam, and said to him, “Balak the son of Zippor says, ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me, for I will promote you to very great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Please come therefore, and curse this people for me.’ ” Balaam answered the servants of Balak, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond the word of Yahweh my God, to do less or more. Now therefore please stay here tonight as well, that I may know what else Yahweh will speak to me.” God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak to you, that you shall do.” Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jos 24:9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king…
Jos 24:9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:
Ver. 9. Then Balak … arose and warred against Israel.] He did not actually war against them. {Jdg 11:25} Sed fieri dicitur quod tentatur aut intenditur, saith Ribera upon Amo 9:5. He did not, because he durst not. Howbeit, because he intended, if he could have compassed it, to fight with Israel, and prepared for that purpose, it is spoken of as a done thing. So Haman is said to have "laid his hands upon the Jews," because he attempted it; {Est 8:7} and the Jews to have stoned Christ, because they could have found in their hearts to have done it. {Joh 10:31-33}
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“Qui, quid non potuit, non facit, ille facit.”
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Balak warred against Israel.
Balak warred against Israel.
Quest. How is this true, when
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Balak did never fight against Israel, Jdg 11:25?
Answ. One prince may commence a war against another, though he never come to a battle, nor strike one stroke; so Balak warred, though not by open force, yet by crafty counsel and warlike stratagems, by magical arts, by wicked devices, by making bate betwixt them and God their confederate; or by warlike preparations, in case Balaam’s charms had succeeded, as may be gathered from Num 22:11; or at least by design or intention; things being oft said to be done both in Scripture and other authors which were only designed or intended, as here. Jos 24:11; Gen 37:21; Eze 24:13; Mat 5:28; Joh 10:32,33. And the old lawyers note,
That he is rightly called a thief or an adulterer, & c., who wanted nothing but occasion to be so.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Then Balak the son of Zippor, the king of…
Then Balak the son of Zippor, the king of Moab, arose,.... Being alarmed with what Israel had done to the two kings of the Amorites, and by their near approach to the borders of his kingdom:
and warred against Israel; he fully designed it, and purpose is put for action, as Kimchi observes; he prepared for it, proclaimed war, and commenced it, though he did not come to a battle, he made use of stratagems and wiles, and magical arts, to hurt them, and sent for Balaam to curse them, that they both together might smite the Israelites, and drive them out of the land, Num 22:6; so his fighting is interpreted by the next clause:
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and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you; by which means he hoped to prevail in battle, and get the victory over them; but not being able to bring this about, durst not engage in battle with them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Balak warred - Balak warred, tho' not by open…
Balak warred - Balak warred, tho' not by open force, yet by crafty counsel and warlike stratagems, by wicked devices.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. Then Balak - arose and warred against…
Verse 9. Then Balak - arose and warred against Israel] This circumstance is not related in Nu 22:1-41, nor does it appear in that history that the Moabites attacked the Israelites; and probably the warring here mentioned means no more than his attempts to destroy them by the curses of Balaam, and the wiles of the Midianitish women.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jos 24:9-10. Balak warred against Israel — Not indeed…
Jos 24:9-10. Balak warred against Israel — Not indeed by open force, but by crafty counsels, warlike stratagems, and wicked devices. I would not hearken unto Balaam — It appears by this that Balaam had a great inclination to do what Balak desired, and that he asked leave of God to curse Israel; and therefore it is not strange that God, who permitted him simply to go, was highly angry with him for going with so wicked an intent, Num 22:22; Num 22:32. So I delivered you — From Balak’s malicious designs against you.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Fought, not perhaps with the sword, but by endeavouring…
Fought, not perhaps with the sword, but by endeavouring to get Israel cursed, that so he might be unable to make any resistance. He had the will to fight, and in this sense princes are said to be at war, though they never come to an engagement, 3 Kings xiv. 38. (Calmet) --- Balac shut his gates against Israel. (St. Augustine, q. 26.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 9. Balak, king of the Moabites, wished to injure…
9. Balak, king of the Moabites, wished to injure and destroy Israel, but there is no account of an actual attack by him. Numbers 23, 24; Jdg_11:25.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. Then Balak the son of Zippor] He is…
9. Then Balak the son of Zippor] He is also mentioned in Jdg_11:25; Mic_6:5; Rev_2:14. The Israelites were at this time encamped in the plains of Shittim, “the meadow of the Acacias.”
and warred against Israel] In conjunction with the Midianites (Num_22:1 ss).
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sent and called Balaam] (Num_22:5) from Pethor, far away from the encampment of the Israelites, beyond the Euphrates, among the mountains of the east, whence his fame had spread, across the Assyrian desert, to the shores of the Dead Sea. “As warrior chief (by that combination of soldier and prophet already seen in Moses himself) he ranked with the five kings of Midian” (Num_31:8).
to curse you] For he was regarded throughout the whole East as a Prophet, whose blessing or whose curse was irresistible. Balak, who lacked the courage to meet the Israelites in arms, thought to lay upon them the powerful ban of the mighty seer. “Even at the present day the pagan Orientals, in their wars, have always their magicians with them to curse their enemies, and to mutter incantations for their ruin. In our own war with the Burmese, the generals of the natives had several magicians with them, who were much engaged in cursing our troops.” Kitto’s Bible Illustr. ii. 214.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9) Warred against Israel.—The sending for Balaam was a…
(9) Warred against Israel.—The sending for Balaam was a distinct act of hostility. Whether Balak himself ever led an army against Israel we are not informed. In the war with the Midianites, Balaam was slain; and there may have been Moabites allied and acting with the Midianites in the war in Numbers 31.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Then Balak, son of Zippor. We have here the…
Then Balak, son of Zippor. We have here the chronological order, as well as the exact historical detail, of the events carefully preserved. Warred against Israel. The nature of the war is indicated by the rest of the narrative, and this tallies completely with that given in the Book of Numbers. Balak would have fought if he dared, but as he feared to employ temporal weapons he essayed to try spiritual ones in their stead. But even these were turned against him. The curse of God"s prophet was miraculously turned into a blessing.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Joshua continues quoting what Yahweh said about his dealings with his people.
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Balak ... Zippor
men's names (See: How to Translate Names)
you
The word "you" is plural throughout this speech and refers to the entire nation of Israel. (See: Forms of You)
rescued you out of his hand
Here "hand" refers to power. AT: "enabled you to overcome him" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
king
Moab
Balaam
curse
bless
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 24:9-10 See Num 22–25; 31:1-54.
24:9-10 See Num 22–25; 31:1-54.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.