Then he took up his discourse and said, “Oh, who can live unless God has ordained it?
Parallel translations
- WEB He took up his parable, and said, “Alas, who shall live when God does this?
- KJV And he took up his parable, and said, Alas, who shall live when God doeth this!
- BSB Once more Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Ah, who can live unless God has ordained it?
- NKJV Then he took up his oracle and said: “Alas! Who shall live when God does this?
- NLT Balaam concluded his messages by saying: “Alas, who can survive unless God has willed it?
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 laments who could survive when God brings about these appointed judgments. The line voices awe at the coming upheaval of nations.
Overview
This brief, sobering oracle expresses the gravity of the divine judgments Balaam foresees. The rhetorical question underscores human helplessness before God's sovereign acts in history. It prepares for the final words about distant powers that will rise and fall under God's hand.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Num 23:23Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; Neither is there any divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What has God done!’
- 2 Kgs 5:1Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him Yahweh had given victory to Syria: he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
- Mal 3:2“But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap;
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 24:23 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.