Then he looked on Amalek, and he took up his oracle and said: “Amalek was first among the nations, But shall be last until he perishes.”
Parallel translations
- WEB He looked at Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations, But his latter end shall come to destruction.”
- KJV And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever.
- BSB Then Balaam saw Amalek and lifted up an oracle, saying: “Amalek was first among the nations, but his end is destruction.”
- NASB And he looked at Amalek and took up his discourse and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations, But his end shall be destruction.”
- NLT Then Balaam looked over toward the people of Amalek and delivered this message: “Amalek was the greatest of nations, but its destiny is destruction!”
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
Balaam pronounces that Amalek, first among the nations, will come to ultimate destruction. The oracle foretells the downfall of Israel's ancient enemy.
Overview
Amalek had attacked Israel shortly after the exodus and was marked for judgment. Balaam's words foresee Amalek's eventual ruin, fulfilled over time and decisively in later history. The prophecy shows that those who oppose God's people stand under divine judgment, however prominent they may once have been.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Exod 17:14Yahweh said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.”
- Esth 7:9–10Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king said, “Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman’s house.” The king said, “Hang him on it!”
- 1 Sam 30:17David struck them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped from there, except four hundred young men, who rode on camels and fled.
- Esth 9:14The king commanded this to be done. A decree was given out in Shushan; and they hanged Haman’s ten sons.
- 1 Sam 30:1When David and his men had come to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid on the South, and on Ziklag, and had struck Ziklag, and burned it with fire,
- 1 Sam 27:8–9David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites; for those were the inhabitants of the land, who were of old, on the way to Shur, even to the land of Egypt.
- Esth 3:1After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.
- Judg 6:3So it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the children of the east came up against them.
- Exod 17:8Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
- 1 Sam 14:48He did valiantly, and struck the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who plundered them.
- Exod 17:16He said, “Yah has sworn: ‘Yahweh will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’”
- 1 Chr 4:43They struck the remnant of the Amalekites who escaped, and have lived there to this day.
- 1 Sam 15:3–8Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and don’t spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 24:20 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.