“Hehas not observed iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, And the shout of a King is among them.
Parallel translations
- WEB He has not seen iniquity in Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. Yahweh his God is with him. The shout of a king is among them.
- KJV 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.
- BSB He considers no disaster for Jacob; He sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of the King is among them.
- NASB “He has not looked at misfortune in Jacob; Nor has He seen trouble in Israel; The Lord his God is with him, And the joyful shout of a king is among them.
- NLT No misfortune is in his plan for Jacob; no trouble is in store for Israel. For the Lord their God is with them; he has been proclaimed their king.
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 has not seen iniquity in Jacob; Yahweh is with them as their King. Israel is secure under God's presence and reign.
Overview
This declaration speaks not of Israel's sinlessness but of their justified standing before God, who covers and does not impute iniquity to His covenant people (compare Psalm 32:1-2; Romans 4:7-8). 'The shout of a king' affirms that Yahweh reigns among them as their royal protector. It foreshadows the gospel reality of those whom God justifies and dwells with through Christ the King.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 35
- Ps 23:4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
- Matt 1:23“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel”; which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”
- Jer 50:20In those days, and in that time,” says Yahweh, “the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there will be none; also the sins of Judah, and they won’t be found; for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant.
- Rom 4:7–8“Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
- Exod 29:45–46I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.
- Ps 46:11Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
- Isa 38:17Behold, for peace I had great anguish, but you have in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
- Mic 7:18–20Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger forever, because he delights in loving kindness.
- Isa 8:10Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand: for God is with us.”
- Hos 14:2–4Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, “Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good: so we offer our lips like bulls.
- Isa 1:18“Come now, and let us reason together,” says Yahweh: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
- Isa 33:22For Yahweh is our judge. Yahweh is our lawgiver. Yahweh is our king. He will save us.
- Rom 6:14For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace.
- Deut 33:5He was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together.
- Isa 41:10Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.
- Ps 118:15The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous. “The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly.
- Ps 97:1Yahweh reigns! Let the earth rejoice! Let the multitude of islands be glad!
- Luke 19:37–38As he was now getting near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works which they had seen,
- Ps 32:5I acknowledged my sin to you. I didn’t hide my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
- Judg 6:13Gideon said to him, “Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, ‘Didn’t Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.”
- 2 Chr 13:12Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with the trumpets of alarm to sound an alarm against you. Children of Israel, don’t fight against Yahweh, the God of your fathers; for you will not prosper.”
- Ps 46:7Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
- Ps 47:5–7God has gone up with a shout, Yahweh with the sound of a trumpet.
- Ps 89:15–18Blessed are the people who learn to acclaim you. They walk in the light of your presence, Yahweh.
- Ps 103:12As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
- Ps 32:2Blessed is the man to whom Yahweh doesn’t impute iniquity, in whose spirit there is no deceit.
- Exod 33:14–16He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
- Ezek 48:35It shall be eighteen thousand reeds around: and the name of the city from that day shall be, Yahweh is there.
- Exod 34:9He said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go among us; although this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
- Exod 13:21Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that they might go by day and by night:
- Rom 8:1There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
- 2 Cor 6:16What agreement has a temple of God with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
- 2 Cor 2:14Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and reveals through us the sweet aroma of his knowledge in every place.
- Isa 12:6Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion; for the Holy One of Israel is great among you!”
- 2 Cor 5:19namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 23:21 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.