Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him.
Parallel Translations
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Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him.
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And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.
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And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling tribe by tribe; and the spirit of God came upon him.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Numbers 24:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Samuel 19:20 Saul sent messengers to seize David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, God’s Spirit came on Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied.
- 2 Chronicles 15:1 The Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded:
- 1 Samuel 10:10 When they came there to the hill, behold, a band of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came mightily on him, and he prophesied among them.
- 1 Samuel 19:23 He went there to Naioth in Ramah. Then God’s Spirit came on him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.
- Numbers 2:2-34 “The children of Israel shall encamp every man by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall encamp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance from it.” Those who encamp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah, according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Judah shall be Nahshon the son of Amminadab. His division, and those who were counted of them, were seventy-four thousand six hundred. Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar. The prince of the children of Issachar shall be Nethanel the son of Zuar. His division, and those who were counted of it, were fifty-four thousand four hundred. The tribe of Zebulun: the prince of the children of Zebulun shall be Eliab the son of Helon. His division, and those who were counted of it, were fifty-seven thousand four hundred. All who were counted of the camp of Judah were one hundred eighty-six thousand four hundred, according to their divisions. They shall set out first. “On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur. His division, and those who were counted of it, were forty-six thousand five hundred. “Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon. The prince of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. His division, and those who were counted of them, were fifty-nine thousand three hundred. “The tribe of Gad: the prince of the children of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel. His division, and those who were counted of them, were forty-five thousand six hundred fifty. “All who were counted of the camp of Reuben were one hundred fifty-one thousand four hundred fifty, according to their armies. They shall set out second. “Then the Tent of Meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the middle of the camps. As they encamp, so shall they set out, every man in his place, by their standards. “On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud. His division, and those who were counted of them, were forty thousand five hundred. “Next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh. The prince of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. His division, and those who were counted of them, were thirty-two thousand two hundred. “The tribe of Benjamin: the prince of the children of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni. His army, and those who were counted of them, were thirty-five thousand four hundred. “All who were counted of the camp of Ephraim were one hundred eight thousand one hundred, according to their divisions. They shall set out third. “On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. His division, and those who were counted of them, were sixty-two thousand seven hundred. “Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher. The prince of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ochran. His division, and those who were counted of them, were forty-one thousand and five hundred. “The tribe of Naphtali: the prince of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan. His division, and those who were counted of them, were fifty-three thousand four hundred. “All who were counted of the camp of Dan were one hundred fifty-seven thousand six hundred. They shall set out last by their standards.” These are those who were counted of the children of Israel by their fathers’ houses. All who were counted of the camps according to their armies were six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty. But the Levites were not counted among the children of Israel, as Yahweh commanded Moses. Thus the children of Israel did. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so they encamped by their standards, and so they set out, everyone by their families, according to their fathers’ houses.
- Numbers 11:25-29 Yahweh came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did so no more. But two men remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad; and the Spirit rested on them. They were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran, and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!” Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered, “My lord Moses, forbid them!” Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all Yahweh’s people were prophets, that Yahweh would put his Spirit on them!”
- Numbers 23:9-10 For from the top of the rocks I see him. From the hills I see him. Behold, it is a people that dwells alone, and shall not be listed among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, or count the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous! Let my last end be like his!”
- Numbers 24:5 How goodly are your tents, Jacob, and your dwellings, Israel!
- Song of Solomon 6:4 You are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners.
- Song of Solomon 6:10 Who is she who looks out as the morning, beautiful as the moon, clear as the sun, and awesome as an army with banners?
- Matthew 7:22 Many will tell me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?’
- Matthew 10:4 Simon the Zealot; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
- Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. Freely you received, so freely give.
- Luke 10:20 Nevertheless, don’t rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
- John 11:49-51 But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is advantageous for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” Now he didn’t say this of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Num 24:2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and…
Num 24:2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding [in his tents] according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.
Ver. 2. And the spirit of God came upon him.] A common spirit, a spirit of prophecy: "Have not we prophesied in thy name?," {Mat 7:22} said those castaways. In impiis quandoque sunt dona Dei, sine Deo. God gives gifts to men, "yea to the rebellious," {Psa 68:18} for the use of his Church. A blind man may bear a torch in his hand, whereby others may receive benefit, though himself receive none; so here.
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 According to their tribes; in the order appointed, Num…
According to their tribes; in the order appointed, Num 2.
Came upon him, i.e. inspired him to speak the following words, and so constrained him again to bless those whom he desired to curse.
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 And Balaam lifted up his eyes,.... Being on Mount…
And Balaam lifted up his eyes,.... Being on Mount Peor:
and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; in that exact order in which they were directed to encamp under four standards, and so many tribes under each standard, Num 2:1.
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and the Spirit of God came upon him; not in his grace but in his gifts; not as a spirit of sanctification, but as a spirit of prophecy, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan paraphrase it; and so sometimes the Spirit of God in this sense has come upon wicked men, as on Caiaphas and others, Joh 11:51.
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 Came upon him - Inspired him to speak the…
Came upon him - Inspired him to speak the following words.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. The Spirit of God came upon him.]…
Verse 2. The Spirit of God came upon him.] This Divine afflatus he had not expected on the present occasion, but God had not yet declared the whole of his will.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Num 24:2-3. The Spirit of God came upon him…
Num 24:2-3. The Spirit of God came upon him — And is it likely that the Spirit of God would have come upon a sorcerer or enchanter? A prophetic influence from God came upon him, whereby he was enabled to foresee future events, and inspired to utter the following words: The man whose eyes are open — Some, confounding שׁתםshetum, with סתם, or שׂתםsetum, would translate the words, Whose eyes are or were shut, for which there does not seem to be sufficient authority. The Seventy render them, ο αληθινως ορων, seeing truly. His eyes indeed had been shut, and he had been blind and stupid, having eyes but not seeing, nor understanding; but God had opened them in a peculiar and prophetical manner. Hence the prophets were called seers, from God’s having opened their eyes.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Balaam gazed over the camp of Israel that stretched…
Balaam gazed over the camp of Israel that stretched before him, and allowed the spectacle to work its own influence upon him.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to…
he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes--that is, in the orderly distribution of the camp (Num. 2:1-34).
the spirit of God came upon him--Before the regular ministry of the prophets was instituted, God made use of various persons as the instruments through whom He revealed His will, and Balaam was one of these (Deu 23:5).
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 2. The Spirit of God came upon him —…
2. The Spirit of God came upon him — The inlet of God into the soul is through the truth as a medium. The orderly aspect of the Hebrew camp encircling the tabernacle — the abode of Jehovah — signalized by the cloudy pillar, awakened faith in the mind of Balaam; not, indeed, a personal and saving trust in Jehovah, but a realization of the truth of his claims and of Israel’s election. This faith prepared Balaam for the incoming of the inspiring Spirit. This is not said of his two former speeches, which were put into his mouth without his being thrown into a state of ecstasy; but this utterance resembles the predictions of true prophets: the inner ear is opened to hear the voice of God, and the spiritual eye, purged by the Spirit of God, sees the substance of the revelation.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) Abiding in his tents . . . —i.e.,…
(2) Abiding in his tents . . . —i.e., encamped according to the order prescribed for the respective tribes. The cognate noun is rendered tabernacles in Num_24:5.
And the spirit of God came upon him.—In regard to the two former utterances, it is said that Jehovah put a word in the mouth of Balaam (Num_23:5; Num_23:15). In the present case the Spirit of God came upon (or, over) him. The same expression is used of the messengers of Saul (1Sa_19:20), and of Saul himself (Ibid, Num_24:23). The prophecy of Caiaphas (Joh_11:15) affords another instance of the sovereign power of the Spirit as displayed through the medium of wicked men.
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 The spirit of God came upon him. This seems…
The spirit of God came upon him. This seems to intimate a higher state of inspiration than the expression, "God put a word into his mouth". (Num_23:5, Num_23:16)
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 He raised his eyes
He raised his eyes
Here "raised his eyes" is an idiom that means to look up. AT: "He looked up" (See: Idiom)
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Spirit of God came on him
This mean's God's Spirit took control of him to prophesy.
He received this prophecy
This can be stated in active form. AT: "God gave him this prophecy" (See: Active or Passive)
Balaam son of Beor
Beor was Balaam's father. See how you translated this in Numbers 22:5.
whose eyes are wide open
This idiom means he sees and understands clearly. (See: Idiom)
translationWords
tribe
Holy Spirit
receive
prophet
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.