Bible Strands
Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Balaam, the diviner hired by Balak to curse Israel, delivers an oracle to Balak (son of Zippor) affirming what he has been commanded to speak.
The words — יִתְנֶחָם (yitne'ham), "he may change his mind," is the verb the verse denies of God; the parallel structure pairs it with כָּזֵב (khazev), "lie," so that both falsehood and reversal are attributed to human limitation, not divine nature.
The thread — The same formula appears in 1 Samuel 15:29 ("the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind"), and the principle is echoed in Malachi 3:6 and James 1:17.
Why it lands — It places the reliability of God's word on the same footing as His nature: if He speaks, it happens. The reader is asked to treat divine promises as settled facts, not possibilities.
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
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 15:29 Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”
- James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- Malachi 3:6 “Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.
- Hebrews 6:18 Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
- Titus 1:2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
- Luke 21:33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
- Romans 11:29 For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.
- Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay.
- Psalms 89:35 Once and for all I have sworn by My holiness—I will not lie to David—
- Hosea 11:9 I will not execute the full fury of My anger; I will not destroy Ephraim again. For I am God and not man—the Holy One among you—and I will not come in wrath.