Bible Strands
Joshua 24:10
but I would not listen to Balaam. So he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you from his hand.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joshua addresses the assembled tribes of Israel at Shechem, concluding his farewell address by recounting how God intervened during Balak’s campaign. The words — אָבִיתִי ('a.Vi.ti) literally means "I was willing," paired with לִ/שְׁמֹ֣עַ (li/sh.Mo.a') "to listen," while בָּרוֹךְ֙ (ba.roKh) conveys a repeated or continuous action of blessing. The thread — The text notes God's refusal to heed Balaam in Deuteronomy 23:5, where the LORD turns a requested curse into a blessing, and aligns with the protective assurance of Isaiah 54:17. Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to acknowledge that God actively blocks hostile schemes, demanding reliance on His intervention rather than human strategy.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.
Cross-references
- Numbers 24:5 How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel!
- Deuteronomy 23:5 Yet the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, and the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.
- Isaiah 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.
- Numbers 22:11 ‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them away.’”
- Numbers 22:35 But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you are to speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
- Numbers 23:3 “Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone,” Balaam said to Balak. “Perhaps the LORD will meet with me. And whatever He reveals to me, I will tell you.” So Balaam went off to a barren height,
- Numbers 23:15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offering while I meet the LORD over there.”
- Numbers 22:18 But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything small or great to go beyond the command of the LORD my God.