Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.
Parallel translations
- WEB Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted, until Asshur carries you away captive.”
- BSB Yet Kain will be destroyed when Asshur takes you captive.”
- NKJV Nevertheless Kain shall be burned. How long until Asshur carries you away captive?”
- NASB “Nevertheless Kain will suffer devastation; How long will Asshur keep you captive?”
- NLT But the Kenites will be destroyed when Assyria takes you captive.”
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
Despite their stronghold, the Kenites will be ravaged and eventually carried away captive by Assyria. Even secure nations fall under God's appointed judgments.
Overview
Balaam foretells that the Kenites' apparent safety will not save them from being swept away when Assyria rises to power. The prophecy looks far ahead to the imperial conquests that would reshape the region. It reinforces that no human security can stand against the unfolding of God's sovereign purposes in history.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Gen 10:11Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,
- Ps 83:8Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.
- Ezra 4:2Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.
- Gen 10:22The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
- Hos 14:3Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
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 24:22 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.