Then God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”
Parallel translations
- WEB God came to Balaam, and said, “Who are these men with you?”
- KJV And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?
- NKJV Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”
- NASB Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”
- NLT That night God came to Balaam and asked him, “Who are these men visiting you?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God comes to Balaam and asks who the men with him are. The question is not for God's information but to confront Balaam with his intentions.
Overview
God's question, like His earlier questions to Adam and Cain, invites self-examination rather than supplying God with knowledge. That the true God speaks to a pagan seer underscores His sovereignty over all peoples. It also begins to corner Balaam, who must now reckon openly with the God of Israel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Gen 20:3One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”
- Num 22:20That night God came to Balaam and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but you must only do what I tell you.”
- Gen 4:9And the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I do not know!” he answered. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
- Gen 16:8“Hagar, servant of Sarai,” he said, “where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I am running away from my mistress Sarai,” she replied.
- Exod 4:2And the LORD asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.
- 2 Kgs 20:14–15Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?” “They came from a distant land,” Hezekiah replied, “from Babylon.”
- Gen 3:9–11But the LORD God called out to the man, “Where are you?”
- Dan 4:31–32While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you.
- Gen 31:24But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
- Matt 24:24For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible.
- John 11:51Caiaphas did not say this on his own. Instead, as high priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the nation,
- Gen 41:25At this, Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do.
- Matt 7:22Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
- Dan 2:45And just as you saw a stone being cut out of the mountain without human hands, and it shattered the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold, so the great God has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 22:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.