Numbers 23:21 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Numbers 23:21
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.
to scan · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
iniquity
אָ֙וֶן֙'a.ven
H205
strictly nothingness · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Jacob
בְּיַעֲקֹ֔בbe.ya.'a.Ko
H3290
Jaakob · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
seen
רָאָ֥הra.'Ah
H7200
to see · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
perverseness
עָמָ֖ל'a.Mal
H5999
toil · noun, common both genders singular absolute
Israel
בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑לbe.Yis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · preposition + proper noun, a place name
LORD
יְהוָ֤הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
God
אֱלֹהָיו֙'e.lo.Hav
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
shout
וּתְרוּעַ֥תu.te.ru.'At
H8643
clamor · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
king
מֶ֖לֶךְMe.lekh
H4428
a king · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort…
Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God wi…
Jeremiah 50:20 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah,…
Romans 4:7-8 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Exodus 29:45-46 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.
Psalms 46:11 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Isaiah 38:17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all m…
Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red lik…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Numbers 23:13–end
Here is, I. Preparation made the second time, as before, for the cursing of Israel. 1. The place is changed, Num 23:13. Balak fancied that Balaam, having so full a prospect of the whole camp of Israel, from the top of the rocks (Num 23:9), was either so enamoured with the beauty of it that he would not curse them or so affrighted with the terror of it that he durst not; and therefore he would bring him to another place, form which he might see only some part of them, which would appear more despicable, and that part at least which would lie in view he hoped he might obtain leave to curse, and so by degrees he should get ground against them, intending, no doubt, if he had gained this point, t…
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob--Many sins were observed and punished in this people. But no such universal and hopeless apostasy had as yet appeared, to induce God to abandon or destroy them.
the Lord his God is with him--has a favor for them.
and the shout of a king is among them--such joyful acclamations as of a people rejoicing in the presence of a victorious prince.
John Gill on Numbers 23:21
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel,.... Not that there was no sin in them, nor any observed by the Lord; yet not so as to mark it in strict justice, and punish for it; but he forgave it, hid his face from it, and did not impute it to them; all the three Targums restrain it to idolatry, that there were none among them that worshipped idols, which was the reason why the Lord could not be prevailed upon to curse them: and Aben Ezra observes, that from hence Balak learnt to send women to the Israelites, to entice them to lewdness, and so to idolatry, that he might be able to carry his point: this is true of the spiritual Israel of God; for though th…
"The Lord his God is with him, the glories of princes are with him." For God never deserts his Israel. But let us see of what princes the glories are with this Israel. The glory of princes is power, principality, and kingdom. But since there are also certain princes who are to be driven from their principality, or perhaps have already been driven out, and into their place and principality are to be introduced those who are truly Israelites — all those glories which those princes had in the heavens, princes who did not keep their principality but forsook their eternal dwellings, this Israel and Jacob, who wrestled and prevailed, shall receive; and thus the glories of princes shall be with him.
After this: "There shall be no labor," he says, "in Jacob, nor shall sorrow be seen in Israel." Openly in these words he announces the state of the life to come; for who is there who passes through this life without labor and sorrow? Not even if one be a Peter or a Paul. How is he not in labor and sorrow, when he is thrice beaten with rods, once stoned, thrice shipwrecked, is in the deep of the sea a day and a night, and endures countless other things which he writes about his labors and sorrows? But this will be fulfilled there, where it is said: "Sorrow and sadness and groaning have fled away." Yet this refers not to all, but only to those who by their merits shall have been Jacob and Israel; as was also that poor Lazarus, who indeed passed the present life in labor and sorrow, but there it is said to the rich man: "Remember, son, that you received your good things in your life, and Lazarus likewise evil things. But now he is at rest here, while you are tormented." He, then, is Israel and Jacob, into whom labor and sorrow do not come. But that rich man was indeed himself also Israel according to the flesh; for it is said to him that his brothers have the law and the prophets, let them hear them; but because he was not Israel according to the spirit, therefore labor and sorrow came upon him.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Vows — Voluntary promises which, when once made, were to be kept if the thing vowed was right. They were made under a great variety of circumstances (Gen. 28: 18-22; Lev. 7:16; Num. 30:2-13; Deut. 23:18;…
Perfection · .Jacob — .Jacob
Pisgah · Balaam prophesies on — Balaam prophesies on
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob. Some understand by 'vn, aven, ml, gnamal, idols, [161] which bring nothing but deadly labor and trouble to their worshippers; as if it were said that Israel was pure and untainted by such offenses, in that they duly served the one true God. But how will it be correct to say that God saw not idolatry in the people, when they had so openly fallen into it? For, although the golden calf was only made on one occasion, still their manifold and almost constant rebellions were such as to forbid these wicked and perverse men from being thus absolved. Since, however, these two words in connection signify all sorts of iniquities, which tend to men's hurt, or to the…
The second saying. - "Up, Balak, and hear! Hearken to me, son of Zippor!" קוּם, "stand up," is a call to mental elevation, to the perception of the word of God; for Balak was standing by his sacrifice (Num 23:17). האזין with עד, as in Job 32:11, signifies a hearing which presses forward to the speaker, i.e., in keen and minute attention (Hengstenberg). בּנו, with the antiquated union vowel for בּן; see at Gen 1:24.
Num 23:19
"God is not a man, that He should lie; nor a son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and should He not do it? and spoken, and should not carry it out?"
Num 23:20
"Behold, I have received to bless: and He hath blessed; and I cannot turn it." Balaam meets Balak's…
Since the Lord would follow through on his promises to bless his people (bringing them no misfortune or trouble), Balaam was in no position to reverse God’s intentions. Though God punished the Hebrews for acts of disobedience, his advocacy of Israel’s cause was evident from the time he delivered them from Egypt.
Rashi on Numbers 23:21
לא הביט און ביעקב וגו׳ HE HATH NOT BEHELD INIQUITY IN JACOB, etc. — Understand this as the Targum has it (“I have seen that there are no worshippers of idols in the house of Jacob”). Another explanation: According to its plain sense it can receive a beautiful exposition:
לא הביט HE DOTH NOT SEE — i. e., the Holy One, blessed be He, doth not see און THE INIQUITY which is IN JACOB: when they transgress His Words He does not deal so strictly with them as to pay regard to their iniquitous doings and their transgression by which they infringe His law (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 14).
עמל denotes transgression, as in (Psalms 7:15): “He conceiveth transgression (עמל)"; (Psalms 10:14) “For thou be…
