How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom Yahweh has not defied?
Parallel Translations
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How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom Yahweh has not defied?
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How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?
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How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? And how shall I execrate, whom the LORD hath not execrated?
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 Numbers 23:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 23:23 Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; Neither is there any divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What has God done!’
- Numbers 23:20 Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can’t reverse it.
- Isaiah 44:25 who frustrates the signs of the liars, and makes diviners mad; who turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolish;
- Numbers 22:12 God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
- Isaiah 47:12-13 “Stand now with your enchantments and with the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth, as if you might profit, as if you might prevail. You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels. Now let the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators, stand up and save you from the things that will happen to you.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (7 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Num 23:8 How shall I curse, whom God hath…
Num 23:8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, [whom] the LORD hath not defied?
Ver. 8. How shall I curse?] He had a good mind to it, but did not, because he durst not: God stood over him with a whip, as it were; the angel with a sword in his hand could not be forgotten by him. Virtus nolentium nulla est.
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How shall I defy?] How easy a thing is it to wag a wicked tongue? to find good words in mouth of hell?
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 God hath not cursed, but blessed Israel, and therefore…
God hath not cursed, but blessed Israel, and therefore it is a vain and ridiculous attempt for me to curse them in spite of God.
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 How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed?....…
How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed?.... The sense is, that it was impossible for him to curse those that God did not curse himself, or would not have cursed by others; not but that he had a good will to it, to get Balak's money and honour, but he knew not how to accomplish it; yea, he saw it was in vain to attempt it, it was a thing that could not possibly be done: God does not, nor will he curse his spiritual Israel; they are blessed by him in Christ, and they shall be blessed; nor is it in the power of their enemies to curse them, or do them any harm: the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, instead of God and the Lord in this and the following clause, use the phase,"the Word of the Lord;''the essential Word, the Son of God, who is so far from cursing his people, that he has delivered them from the curses of the law, being made a curse for them, that the blessings of the everlasting covenant of grace might come upon them; and they are blessed of God in him, and for his sake, with all spiritual blessings:
or how shall I defy whom the Lord hath not defied? which is the same thing in other words, only this last word is expressive of more contempt and indignation.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. How shall I curse, whom God hath…
Verse 8. How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?] It was granted on all hands that no incantations nor imprecations could avail, unless God concurred and ratified them. From God's communication to Balaam he saw that God was determined to bless and defend Israel, and therefore all endeavours to injure them must be in vain.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?--A…
How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?--A divine blessing has been pronounced over the posterity of Jacob; and therefore, whatever prodigies can be achieved by my charms, all magical skill, all human power, is utterly impotent to counteract the decree of God.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. Whom God hath not cursed — Balaam could…
8. Whom God hath not cursed — Balaam could not curse Israel, because God withheld him from so doing. Thus this master magician confesses that he is neither to help nor to hurt without leave from God. In language strikingly similar is the Babylonian exposed to shame by the prophet. See Isa_47:12-14.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain HOMILIES BY E.S. PROUT Ver. 8. The safety of…
HOMILIES BY E.S. PROUT Ver. 8. The safety of all who enjoy the blessing of God.
God"s "defiance" the signal of destruction; God"s "curse," fatal. But if protected from these we are safe, for "the curse causeless cannot come." We are safe from
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1. Malicious designs. E.g., Balaam"s wish to curse; the plot of the Jews to stone Paul at Iconium, (Act_14:5) and to assassinate him at Jerusalem. (Ac 23)
2. Words of execration. E.g., Shimei; (2Sa 16) the blasphemies spoken against Christ, and the libels uttered against his people. (Mat_10:24-26)
3. Witchcraft and divination. In reply to all such foolish fears let it sufficeto say, "I believe in God". (Isa_8:13, 14 1Pe_3:13)
4. Assaults and all violence. E.g., the various attempts to seize or kill Jesus Christ when "his hour was not yet come." When the hour for suffering "as a Christian is come, let him glorify God". (1Pe_4:12-16) Such calamities are not "curses" from God, and God can change all other curses into blessings, as in the case of Balaam. (Deu_23:5)
5. Every kind of persecution. (Rom_8:35-39) The devil"s curse is a telum imbelle; his defiance an empty threat. The objects of God"s care are invincible, if not invulnerable. P. (Isa_54:17)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.