Bible Strands
Numbers 23:21
He considers no disaster for Jacob; He sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of the King is among them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Balaam, the hired diviner, speaks to Balak from a high vantage point, delivering his second oracle. He has been commanded to bless and cannot reverse it (23:20).
The words — The perfect-tense verbs הִבִּיט ("he has looked at") and רָאָה ("he has seen") mark completed acts of inspection: Balaam has already searched and found nothing. The objects of that search are אָוֶן ('a.ven, "disaster") and עָמָל ('a.Mal, "trouble"), both negated by לֹא.
The thread — The "shout of the King" and "God is with them" echo the Immanuel promise (Matthew 1:23) and the shepherd's presence in the valley (Psalm 23:4). Jeremiah 50:20 parallels the negation: a search is made for Israel's guilt, but there will be none.
Why it lands — The verse grounds the absence of disaster not in Israel's merit but in God's presence; the reader is asked to test whether they locate security in their own standing or in who is with them.
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
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.
Cross-references
- Psalms 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
- Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).
- Jeremiah 50:20 In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, a search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for Judah’s sins, but they will not be found; for I will forgive the remnant I preserve.
- Romans 4:7 “Blessed are they whose lawless acts are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
- Exodus 29:45 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.
- Psalms 46:11 The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
- Isaiah 38:17 Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
- Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
- Isaiah 8:10 Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not happen. For God is with us.”
- Isaiah 33:22 For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our King. It is He who will save us.