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THE MESSAGE

Numbers 22:9

Then God came to Balaam. He asked, "So who are these men here with you?"

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Prayer;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Desert, Journey of Israel through the;   Moabites;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Midianites;   Moabites;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Balaam;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Moab;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Balaam;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Transjordan;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Balaam;   Balak;   Moab, Moabites;   Prophecy, Prophets;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Zippor ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Balak;   Midian;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Moab;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - On to Canaan;   Moses, the Man of God;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Balaam;   Numbers, Book of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Hafṭarah;   Joshua, the Samaritan Book of;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
God came to Bil`am, and said, What men are these with you?
King James Version
And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?
Lexham English Bible
And God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men with you?"
English Standard Version
And God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men with you?"
New Century Version
God came to Balaam and asked, "Who are these men with you?"
New English Translation
And God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men with you?"
Amplified Bible
God came to Balaam, and said, "Who are these men with you?"
New American Standard Bible
Then God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men with you?"
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then God came vnto Balaam, and sayde, What men are these with thee?
Legacy Standard Bible
Then God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men with you?"
Contemporary English Version
During the night, God asked Balaam, "Who are these people at your house?"
Complete Jewish Bible
God came to Bil‘am and said, "Who are these men with you?"
Darby Translation
And God came to Balaam, and said, Who are these men with thee?
Easy-to-Read Version
God came to Balaam and asked, "Who are these men with you?"
George Lamsa Translation
And God came to Balaam and said to him, Who are these men that are with you?
Good News Translation
God came to Balaam and asked, "Who are these people that are staying with you?"
Christian Standard Bible®
Then God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”
Literal Translation
And God came to Balaam and said, Who are these men with you?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And God came vnto Balaam, & sayde: What men are these, which are with ye?
American Standard Version
And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?
Bible in Basic English
And God came to Balaam and said, Who are these men with you?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And God came vnto Balaam, and sayd: What men are these with thee?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And God came unto Balaam, and said: 'What men are these with thee?'
King James Version (1611)
And God came vnto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And God came to Balaam, and said to him, Who are these men with thee?
English Revised Version
And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?
Berean Standard Bible
Then God came to Balaam and asked, "Who are these men with you?"
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
What wolen these men at thee `to hem silf?
Young's Literal Translation
And God cometh in unto Balaam, and saith, `Who [are] these men with thee?'
Update Bible Version
And God came to Balaam, and said, What men are these with you?
Webster's Bible Translation
And God came to Balaam, and said, What men [are] these with thee?
World English Bible
God came to Balaam, and said, What men are these with you?
New King James Version
Then God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men with you?"
New Living Translation
That night God came to Balaam and asked him, "Who are these men visiting you?"
New Life Bible
Then God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men with you?"
New Revised Standard
God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men with you?"
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And God came in unto Balaam, - and said, Who are these men with thee?
Douay-Rheims Bible
What mean these men that are with thee?
Revised Standard Version
And God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men with you?"
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men with you?"

Contextual Overview

1 The People of Israel marched on and camped on the Plains of Moab at Jordan-Jericho. 2Balak son of Zippor learned of all that Israel had done to the Amorites. The people of Moab were in a total panic because of Israel. There were so many of them! They were terrorized. 4Moab spoke to the leaders of Midian: "Look, this mob is going to clean us out—a bunch of crows picking a carcass clean." Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent emissaries to get Balaam son of Beor, who lived at Pethor on the banks of the Euphrates River, his homeland. Balak's emissaries said, "Look. A people has come up out of Egypt, and they're all over the place! And they're pressing hard on me. Come and curse them for me—they're too much for me. Maybe then I can beat them; we'll attack and drive them out of the country. You have a reputation: Those you bless stay blessed; those you curse stay cursed." The leaders of Moab and Midian were soon on their way, with the fee for the cursing tucked safely in their wallets. When they got to Balaam, they gave him Balak's message. "Stay here for the night," Balaam said. "In the morning I'll deliver the answer that God gives me." The Moabite nobles stayed with him. Then God came to Balaam. He asked, "So who are these men here with you?" Balaam answered, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent them with a message: ‘Look, the people that came up out of Egypt are all over the place! Come and curse them for me. Maybe then I'll be able to attack and drive them out of the country.'" God said to Balaam, "Don't go with them. And don't curse the others—they are a blessed people." The next morning Balaam got up and told Balak's nobles, "Go back home; God refuses to give me permission to go with you." So the Moabite nobles left, came back to Balak, and said, "Balaam wouldn't come with us." Balak sent another group of nobles, higher ranking and more distinguished. They came to Balaam and said, "Balak son of Zippor says, ‘Please, don't refuse to come to me. I will honor and reward you lavishly—anything you tell me to do, I'll do; I'll pay anything—only come and curse this people.'" Balaam answered Balak's servants: "Even if Balak gave me his house stuffed with silver and gold, I wouldn't be able to defy the orders of my God to do anything, whether big or little. But come along and stay with me tonight as the others did; I'll see what God will say to me this time." God came to Balaam that night and said, "Since these men have come all this way to see you, go ahead and go with them. But make sure you do absolutely nothing other than what I tell you." Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went off with the noblemen from Moab. As he was going, though, God's anger flared. The angel of God stood in the road to block his way. Balaam was riding his donkey, accompanied by his two servants. When the donkey saw the angel blocking the road and brandishing a sword, she veered off the road into the ditch. Balaam beat the donkey and got her back on the road. But as they were going through a vineyard, with a fence on either side, the donkey again saw God 's angel blocking the way and veered into the fence, crushing Balaam's foot against the fence. Balaam hit her again. God 's angel blocked the way yet again—a very narrow passage this time; there was no getting through on the right or left. Seeing the angel, Balaam's donkey sat down under him. Balaam lost his temper; he beat the donkey with his stick. Then God gave speech to the donkey. She said to Balaam: "What have I ever done to you that you have beat me these three times?" Balaam said, "Because you've been playing games with me! If I had a sword I would have killed you by now." The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your trusty donkey on whom you've ridden for years right up until now? Have I ever done anything like this to you before? Have I?" He said, "No." Then God helped Balaam see what was going on: He saw God 's angel blocking the way, brandishing a sword. Balaam fell to the ground, his face in the dirt. God 's angel said to him: "Why have you beaten your poor donkey these three times? I have come here to block your way because you're getting way ahead of yourself. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she hadn't, I would have killed you by this time, but not the donkey. I would have let her off." Balaam said to God 's angel, "I have sinned. I had no idea you were standing in the road blocking my way. If you don't like what I'm doing, I'll head back." But God 's angel said to Balaam, "Go ahead and go with them. But only say what I tell you to say—absolutely no other word." And so Balaam continued to go with Balak's nobles. When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him in the Moabite town that was on the banks of the Arnon, right on the boundary of his land. Balak said to Balaam, "Didn't I send an urgent message for help? Why didn't you come when I called? Do you think I can't pay you enough?" Balaam said to Balak, "Well, I'm here now. But I can't tell you just anything. I can speak only words that God gives me—no others." Balaam then accompanied Balak to Kiriath Huzoth (Street-Town). Balak slaughtered cattle and sheep for sacrifices and presented them to Balaam and the nobles who were with him. At daybreak Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal (The Heights of Baal) so that he could get a good view of some of the people. 6Balaam The People of Israel marched on and camped on the Plains of Moab at Jordan-Jericho. Balak son of Zippor learned of all that Israel had done to the Amorites. The people of Moab were in a total panic because of Israel. There were so many of them! They were terrorized. Moab spoke to the leaders of Midian: "Look, this mob is going to clean us out—a bunch of crows picking a carcass clean." Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent emissaries to get Balaam son of Beor, who lived at Pethor on the banks of the Euphrates River, his homeland. Balak's emissaries said, "Look. A people has come up out of Egypt, and they're all over the place! And they're pressing hard on me. Come and curse them for me—they're too much for me. Maybe then I can beat them; we'll attack and drive them out of the country. You have a reputation: Those you bless stay blessed; those you curse stay cursed." 7The leaders of Moab and Midian were soon on their way, with the fee for the cursing tucked safely in their wallets. When they got to Balaam, they gave him Balak's message. "Stay here for the night," Balaam said. "In the morning I'll deliver the answer that God gives me." The Moabite nobles stayed with him. 9 Then God came to Balaam. He asked, "So who are these men here with you?" 10Balaam answered, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent them with a message: ‘Look, the people that came up out of Egypt are all over the place! Come and curse them for me. Maybe then I'll be able to attack and drive them out of the country.'" 12 God said to Balaam, "Don't go with them. And don't curse the others—they are a blessed people." 13 The next morning Balaam got up and told Balak's nobles, "Go back home; God refuses to give me permission to go with you." 14 So the Moabite nobles left, came back to Balak, and said, "Balaam wouldn't come with us."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

God: Numbers 22:20, Genesis 20:3, Genesis 31:24, Genesis 41:25, Daniel 2:45, Daniel 4:31, Daniel 4:32, Matthew 7:22, Matthew 24:24, John 11:51

What men: Genesis 3:9-11, Genesis 4:9, Genesis 16:8, Exodus 4:2, 2 Kings 20:14, 2 Kings 20:15

Reciprocal: Numbers 23:3 - peradventure Numbers 23:4 - God

Cross-References

Genesis 8:20
Noah built an altar to God . He selected clean animals and birds from every species and offered them as burnt offerings on the altar. God smelled the sweet fragrance and thought to himself, "I'll never again curse the ground because of people. I know they have this bent toward evil from an early age, but I'll never again kill off everything living as I've just done.
Genesis 12:7
God appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your children." Abram built an altar at the place God had appeared to him.
Genesis 22:1
After all this, God tested Abraham. God said, "Abraham!" "Yes?" answered Abraham. "I'm listening."
Genesis 22:2
He said, "Take your dear son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I'll point out to you."
Genesis 22:7
Isaac said to Abraham his father, "Father?" "Yes, my son." "We have flint and wood, but where's the sheep for the burnt offering?"
Genesis 22:8
Abraham said, "Son, God will see to it that there's a sheep for the burnt offering." And they kept on walking together.
Genesis 22:19
Then Abraham went back to his young servants. They got things together and returned to Beersheba. Abraham settled down in Beersheba.
Mark 15:1
At dawn's first light, the high priests, with the religious leaders and scholars, arranged a conference with the entire Jewish Council. After tying Jesus securely, they took him out and presented him to Pilate.
Galatians 3:13
Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse. And now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham's blessing is present and available for non-Jews, too. We are all able to receive God's life, his Spirit, in and with us by believing—just the way Abraham received it.
James 2:21
Wasn't our ancestor Abraham "made right with God by works" when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn't it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are "works of faith"? The full meaning of "believe" in the Scripture sentence, "Abraham believed God and was set right with God," includes his action. It's that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named "God's friend." Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And God came unto Balaam,.... In a dream very probably, as he did to Abimelech and Laban, Genesis 20:3:

and said, what men are these with thee? who lodged with him that night. This he said, not as ignorant who they were, or from whence they came, or what they came about; but in order to lead on to a discourse with Balaam, and to have from him the account of the men, and their business, and to try his fidelity in relating the affair.


 
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