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THE MESSAGE

Numbers 23:13

Balak said to him, "Go with me to another place from which you can only see the outskirts of their camp—you won't be able to see the whole camp. From there, curse them for my sake."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Thompson Chain Reference - Balaam;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Desert, Journey of Israel through the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Camp, Encampments;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Balaam;   Pisgah;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Balaam;   Balak;   Kibroth-Hattaavah;   Moab, Moabites;   Prophecy, Prophets;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - On to Canaan;   Moses, the Man of God;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Numbers, Book of;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Balak said to him, Please come with me to another place, from whence you may see them; you shall see but the utmost part of them, and shall not see them all: and curse me them from there.
King James Version
And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.
Lexham English Bible
Then Balak said, "Please walk with me to another place where you will see them, but you will only see part of them and will not see all of them; and curse them for me from there."
English Standard Version
And Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there."
New Century Version
Then Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place, where you can also see the people. But you can only see part of them, not all of them. Curse them for me from there."
New English Translation
Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there."
Amplified Bible
Balak said to him, "Come with me, I implore you, to another place from where you can see them, although you will see only the nearest and not all of them; and curse them for me from there."
New American Standard Bible
Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not see all of them; and put a curse on them for me from there."
Geneva Bible (1587)
And Balak sayde vnto him, Come, I pray thee, with mee vnto another place, whence thou mayest see them, & thou shalt see but the vtmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: therefore curse them out of that place for my sake.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, but you will only see the end of them and will not see all of them; and curse them for me from there."
Contemporary English Version
Balak said to Balaam, "Let's go somewhere else. Maybe if you see a smaller part of the Israelites, you will be able to curse them for me."
Complete Jewish Bible
(LY: v) Balak said to him, "All right, come with me to another place where you can see them. You will see only some of them, not all; but you can curse them for me from there."
Darby Translation
And Balak said to him, Come, I pray thee, with me to another place, from whence thou wilt see them; thou shalt see only the extremity of them and shalt not see them all, and curse me them from thence.
Easy-to-Read Version
Then Balak said to him, "So come with me to another place. At that place you can see more of these people. You cannot see all of them—you can only see part of them. Maybe from that place you can curse them for me."
George Lamsa Translation
And Balak said to him, Come with me to another place, from which you may see them; but you shall see the utmost part of them, and shall not see them all; and curse them for me from thence.
Good News Translation
Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come with me to another place from which you can see only some of the Israelites. Curse them for me from there."
Christian Standard Bible®
Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp; you won’t see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me.”
Literal Translation
And Balak said to him, Now come with me to another place where you will see it; only you will see its edge and shall not see all of it; and curse it for me there.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Balac saide vnto him: Come wt me yet vnto another place, fro whence thou mayest se ye vttemost parte of them, & not se them all, and curse me them there.
American Standard Version
And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.
Bible in Basic English
And Balak said to him, Come with me now into another place from which you will not be able to see them all, but only the outskirts of them; and you will send curses on them from there.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Balac sayde vnto hym: Come I pray thee with me vnto another place, whence thou mayest see them, and thou shalt see but the vtmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: curse them out of that place for my sake.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Balak said unto him: 'Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all; and curse me them from thence.'
King James Version (1611)
And Balak said vnto him, Come, I pray thee, with me, vnto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the vtmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Balac said to him, Come yet with me to another place where thou shalt not see the people, but only thou shalt see a part of them, and shalt not see them all; and curse me them from thence.
English Revised Version
And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.
Berean Standard Bible
Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp-not all of them. And from there, curse them for me."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor Balaach seide to Balaam, Come with me in to anothir place, fro whennus thou se a part of Israel, and mayst not se al; fro thennus curse thou hym.
Young's Literal Translation
And Balak saith unto him, `Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, whence thou dost see it, only its extremity thou dost see, and all of it thou dost not see, and pierce it for me thence;'
Update Bible Version
And Balak said to him, Come, I pray you, with me to another place, from where you may see them; you shall see but the utmost part of them, and shall not see them all: and curse them for me from there.
Webster's Bible Translation
And Balak said to him, Come, I pray thee, with me to another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and from thence curse them for me.
World English Bible
Balak said to him, Please come with me to another place, from whence you may see them; you shall see but the utmost part of them, and shall not see them all: and curse me them from there.
New King James Version
Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only the outer part of them, and shall not see them all; curse them for me from there."
New Living Translation
Then King Balak told him, "Come with me to another place. There you will see another part of the nation of Israel, but not all of them. Curse at least that many!"
New Life Bible
Balak said to him, "I beg you, come with me to another place from where you will see them. But you will only see a part of them and not all of them. Curse them for me from there."
New Revised Standard
So Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only part of them, and shall not see them all; then curse them for me from there."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Balak unto him - Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see him, nothing but his utmost part, shalt thou see, but all of him, shalt thou not see, - and so revile me him from thence.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Balac therefore said: Come with me to another place from whence thou mayest see part of Israel, and canst not see them all: curse them from thence.
Revised Standard Version
And Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place, from which you may see them; you shall see only the nearest of them, and shall not see them all; then curse them for me from there."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not see all of them; and curse them for me from there."

Contextual Overview

13 Balak said to him, "Go with me to another place from which you can only see the outskirts of their camp—you won't be able to see the whole camp. From there, curse them for my sake." 14 So he took him to Watchmen's Meadow at the top of Pisgah. He built seven altars there and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Balaam said to Balak, "Take up your station here beside your Whole-Burnt-Offering while I meet with him over there." 16 God met with Balaam and gave him a message. He said, "Return to Balak and give him the message." 17Balaam returned and found him stationed beside his Whole-Burnt-Offering and the nobles of Moab with him. Balak said to him, "What did God say?" Then Balaam spoke his message-oracle: On your feet, Balak. Listen, listen carefully son of Zippor: God is not man, one given to lies, and not a son of man changing his mind. Does he speak and not do what he says? Does he promise and not come through? I was brought here to bless; and now he's blessed—how can I change that? He has no bone to pick with Jacob, he sees nothing wrong with Israel. God is with them, and they're with him, shouting praises to their King. God brought them out of Egypt, rampaging like a wild ox. No magic spells can bind Jacob, no incantations can hold back Israel. People will look at Jacob and Israel and say, "What a great thing has God done!" Look, a people rising to its feet, stretching like a lion, a king-of-the-beasts, aroused, Unsleeping, unresting until its hunt is over and it's eaten and drunk its fill. 25 Balak said to Balaam, "Well, if you can't curse them, at least don't bless them." 26 Balaam replied to Balak, "Didn't I tell you earlier: ‘All God speaks, and only what he speaks, I speak'?" 27Balak said to Balaam, "Please, let me take you to another place; maybe we can find the right place in God's eyes where you'll be able to curse them for me." So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, with a vista over the Jeshimon (Wasteland). 29 Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for sacrifice." 30 Balak did it and presented an offering of a bull and a ram on each of the altars.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

unto: 1 Kings 20:23, 1 Kings 20:28, Micah 6:5

utmost: Numbers 22:41

and curse me: Joshua 24:9, Psalms 109:17, James 3:9, James 3:10

Reciprocal: Numbers 22:12 - thou shalt not curse Numbers 23:26 - General Numbers 23:27 - Come

Cross-References

Genesis 23:5
The Hittites responded, "Why, you're no mere outsider here with us, you're a prince of God! Bury your dead wife in the best of our burial sites. None of us will refuse you a place for burial."
2 Samuel 24:24
But the king said to Araunah, "No. I've got to buy it from you for a good price; I'm not going to offer God , my God, sacrifices that are no sacrifice." So David bought the threshing floor and the ox, paying out fifty shekels of silver. He built an altar to God there and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. God was moved by the prayers and that was the end of the disaster.
Romans 13:8
Don't run up debts, except for the huge debt of love you owe each other. When you love others, you complete what the law has been after all along. The law code—don't sleep with another person's spouse, don't take someone's life, don't take what isn't yours, don't always be wanting what you don't have, and any other "don't" you can think of—finally adds up to this: Love other people as well as you do yourself. You can't go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love.
Colossians 4:5
Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don't miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.
Hebrews 13:5
Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote, God is there, ready to help; I'm fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Balak said unto him,.... Seemingly satisfied with his answer, however, he could not help himself, and was willing to make the best of him he could, and try what he could do with him another time and elsewhere:

come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; for he had a mighty notion that both the sight of the people, and the place from whence they were seen, would greatly contribute to answer the end he had in view, cursing the people:

thou shall see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all; for he thought, either that he was so charmed with so glorious a sight as the regular encampment of such a body of people was, that he could not find in his heart to curse them; or that he was so terrified at the sight of such a vast number of people, that he dared not attempt it; and therefore Balak proposed to have him to a place where he could only see a part of them and not the whole:

and curse me them from thence: that part, hoping that when he had cursed them he would gradually go on till he had cursed them all: but there is this objection to our version, and the sense it directs to, that Balaam had been brought to a place already, where he had seen the utmost part of the people, Numbers 22:41 wherefore some read h the middle clause in a parenthesis, and in the past tense "(for thou hast seen but the utmost part of them, and hast not seen them all)"; and therefore would have him come to a place where he might see them all, and curse them from thence.

h So Vatablus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Balak seems to hope that the prophet’s words in Numbers 23:10 reflected the impression conveyed by the scene before him at the moment of the augury; and so that the sight of a mere few straggling Israelites in the utmost part of the camp might induce a different estimate of their resources and prospects.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Numbers 23:13. Thou shalt see but the utmost part of them — Balak thought that the sight of such an immense camp had intimidated Balaam, and this he might gather from what he said in the tenth verse: Who can count the dust of Jacob, c. he thought therefore that he might get Balaam to curse them in detached parties, till the whole camp should be devoted to destruction by successive execrations.


 
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