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Read the Bible

Complete Jewish Bible

Numbers 24:2

Bil‘am raised his eyes and saw Isra'el encamped tribe by tribe. Then the Spirit of God came upon him,

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Balaam;   Holy Spirit;   Prophets;   Thompson Chain Reference - Balaam;   Holy Spirit;   Power;   Spirit;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Prophecy;   Tents;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Prophets;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Balaam;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Holy Spirit;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Oracles;   Peor;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Balaam;   Balak;   Moab, Moabites;   Prophecy, Prophets;   Targums;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Camp;   Jephthah;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - On to Canaan;   Moses, the Man of God;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Balaam;   Holy Spirit;   Prophecy;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Aloes;   Holy Spirit;   Inspiration;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Bil`am lifted up his eyes, and he saw Yisra'el dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him.
King James Version
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.
Lexham English Bible
Balaam lift up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to its tribes, and the spirit of God was upon it.
English Standard Version
And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him,
New Century Version
When Balaam saw the Israelites camped in their tribes, the Spirit of God took control of him,
New English Translation
When Balaam lifted up his eyes, he saw Israel camped tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him.
Amplified Bible
And Balaam raised his eyes and he saw Israel living in their tents tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came on him.
New American Standard Bible
And Balaam raised his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And Balaam lift vp his eyes, & looked vpon Israel, which dwelt according to their tribes, and the Spirit of God came vpon him.
Legacy Standard Bible
And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel dwelling tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him.
Contemporary English Version
and saw the tribes of Israel camped below. Just then, God's Spirit took control of him,
Darby Translation
And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel dwelling [in tents] according to his tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him.
Easy-to-Read Version
He looked out across the desert and saw all the Israelites. They were camped with the tribes in their different areas. Then the Spirit of God came on him,
George Lamsa Translation
And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel encamping, tribe by tribe; and the spirit of God came upon him.
Good News Translation
and saw the people of Israel camped tribe by tribe. The spirit of God took control of him,
Christian Standard Bible®
When Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came on him,
Literal Translation
And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping, by its tribes. And the Spirit of God was on him.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
lifte vp his eyes, and sawe Israel, how they laye acordinge to their trybes, and the sprete of God came vpon him,
American Standard Version
And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him.
Bible in Basic English
And lifting up his eyes, he saw Israel there, with their tents in the order of their tribes: and the spirit of God came on him.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Balaam lift vp his eyes, and loked vpon Israel as he lay accordyng to his tribes, and the spirite of God came vpon hym.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling tribe by tribe; and the spirit of God came upon him.
King James Version (1611)
And Balaam lift vp his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents, according to their Tribes: and the Spirit of God came vpon him.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and sees Israel encamped by their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him.
English Revised Version
And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.
Berean Standard Bible
When Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came upon him,
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and reiside iyen, and siy Israel dwellynge in tentis bi hise lynagis. And whanne the Spirit of God felde on hym, and whanne a parable was takun,
Young's Literal Translation
and Balaam lifteth up his eyes, and seeth Israel tabernacling, by its tribes, and the Spirit of God is upon him,
Update Bible Version
And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him.
Webster's Bible Translation
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.
World English Bible
Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him.
New King James Version
And Balaam raised his eyes, and saw Israel encamped according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him.
New Living Translation
where he saw the people of Israel camped, tribe by tribe. Then the Spirit of God came upon him,
New Life Bible
Balaam looked up and saw Israel living in their tents by their families. And the Spirit of God came upon him.
New Revised Standard
Balaam looked up and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. Then the spirit of God came upon him,
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel, dwelling, according to his tribes, - then came upon him the Spirit of God;
Douay-Rheims Bible
And lifting up his eyes, he saw Israel abiding in their tents by their tribes: and the spirit of God rushing upon him,
Revised Standard Version
And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and saw Israel encamping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him.

Contextual Overview

1 When Bil‘am saw that it pleased Adonai to bless Isra'el, he didn't go, as at the other times, to make use of divination, but looked out toward the desert. 2 Bil‘am raised his eyes and saw Isra'el encamped tribe by tribe. Then the Spirit of God came upon him, 3 and he made his pronouncement: "This is the speech of Bil‘am, son of B‘or; the speech of the man whose eyes have been opened; 4 the speech of him who hears God's words; who sees what Shaddai sees, who has fallen, yet has open eyes: 5 "How lovely are your tents, Ya‘akov; your encampments, Isra'el! 6 They spread out like valleys, like gardens by the riverside, like succulent aloes planted by Adonai , like cedar trees next to the water. 7 "Water will flow from their branches, their seed will have water aplenty. Their king will be higher than Agag and his kingdom lifted high. 8 God, who brought them out of Egypt, gives them the strength of a wild ox. They will devour the nations opposing them, break their bones, pierce them with their arrows. 9 "When they lie down they crouch like a lion, or like a lioness — who dares to rouse it? Blessed be all who bless you! Cursed be all who curse you!"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

abiding: Numbers 24:5, Numbers 2:2-34, Numbers 23:9, Numbers 23:10, Song of Solomon 6:4, Song of Solomon 6:10

the spirit: Numbers 11:25-29, 1 Samuel 10:10, 1 Samuel 19:20, 1 Samuel 19:23, 2 Chronicles 15:1, Matthew 7:22, Matthew 10:4, Matthew 10:8, Luke 10:20, John 11:49-51

Reciprocal: Leviticus 23:42 - General Numbers 1:52 - General Numbers 2:34 - so they Numbers 23:7 - parable 1 Kings 13:11 - an old prophet 2 Chronicles 20:14 - came the Spirit Daniel 8:3 - I lifted John 11:51 - he prophesied

Cross-References

Genesis 15:2
Avram replied, " Adonai , God, what good will your gifts be to me if I continue childless; and Eli‘ezer from Dammesek inherits my possessions?
Genesis 24:4
but that you will go to my homeland, to my kinsmen, to choose a wife for my son Yitz'chak."
Genesis 24:6
Avraham said to him, "See to it that you don't bring my son back there.
Genesis 24:8
But if the woman is unwilling to follow you, then you are released from your obligation under my oath. Just don't bring my son back there."
Genesis 24:9
The servant put his hand under the thigh of Avraham his master and swore to him concerning the matter.
Genesis 24:10
(iii) Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and all kinds of gifts from his master, got up and went to Aram-Naharayim, to Nachor's city.
Genesis 44:1
Then he ordered the manager of his household, "Fill the men's packs with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money just inside his pack.
Genesis 47:29
The time came when Isra'el was approaching death; so he called for his son Yosef and said to him, "If you truly love me, please put your hand under my thigh and pledge that, out of consideration for me, you will not bury me in Egypt.
1 Chronicles 29:24
All the leaders, the warrior-heroes and likewise the sons of King David submitted themselves to Shlomo the king.
1 Timothy 5:17
The leaders who lead well should be considered worthy of double honor, especially those working hard at communicating the Word and at teaching.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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, Numbers 2:1

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, John 11:51.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Balaam gazed over the camp of Israel that stretched before him, and allowed the spectacle to work its own influence upon him.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Numbers 24:2. 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.


 
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