KJV King James Version
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.
VERSE STUDY • KJV
Numbers 24:20
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.
Read it in 5 translations
BSB Berean Standard Bible
Then Balaam saw Amalek and lifted up an oracle, saying: “Amalek was first among the nations, but his end is destruction.”
WEB World English Bible
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.”
ASV American Standard Version
And he looked on Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; But his latter end shall come to destruction.
YLT Young’s Literal Translation
And he seeth Amalek, and taketh up his simile, and saith: ‘A beginning of the Goyim is Amalek; And his latter end—for ever he perisheth.’
Surrounding context — Numbers 24
17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
18 And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly.
19 Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.
20 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.
21 And he looked on the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said, Strong is thy dwellingplace, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock.
22 Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.
23 And he took up his parable, and said, Alas, who shall live when God doeth this!
Topics connected to this verse
Original-language word links
These Hebrew/Greek tokens are linked by Strong's number. Click one for its lexicon definition and other occurrences.
וַיַּרְא֙H7200 · ra.ahto see: seeאֶת־H853 · et[Obj.]עֲמָלֵ֔קH6002 · a.ma.leqAmalekוַיִּשָּׂ֥אH5375 · na.sato lift: raiseמְשָׁל֖וֹH4912 · ma.shalproverbוַיֹּאמַ֑רH559 · a.marto sayרֵאשִׁ֤יתH7225 · re.shitfirst: beginningגּוֹיִם֙H1471 · goynationעֲמָלֵ֔קH6002 · a.ma.leqAmalekוְאַחֲרִית֖וֹH319 · a.cha.ritendעֲדֵ֥יH5704 · adtillאֹבֵֽד׃H8 · o.veddestruction
Cross-references
Exodus 17:14And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this [for] a memorial in a book, and rehearse [it] in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.Esther 3:1After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that [were] with him.1 Samuel 30:17And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.Esther 9:14And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman’s ten sons.1 Samuel 14:48And he gathered an host, and smote the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of them that spoiled them.1 Samuel 30:1And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;1 Samuel 27:8-9And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those [nations were] of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.Exodus 17:8Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.1 Samuel 15:3-8Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.Judges 6:3And [so] it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;Exodus 17:16For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn [that] the LORD [will have] war with Amalek from generation to generation.Esther 7:9-10And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.1 Chronicles 4:43And they smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped, and dwelt there unto this day.
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION
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