Bible Strands
Numbers 24:20
Then Balaam saw Amalek and lifted up an oracle, saying: “Amalek was first among the nations, but his end is destruction.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Balaam speaks an oracle upon seeing the Amalekites during his fourth prophetic vision at the edge of Moab. He addresses the surrounding nations and Israel’s leadership by declaring God’s judgment on Amalek.
The words — The Hebrew רֵאשִׁית (re'shit) literally means “first” or “beginning,” and גּוֹיִם (goyim) translates to “nations.” These terms establish Amalek’s historical precedence before the text pronounces its ultimate ruin.
The thread — This oracle echoes the divine command to erase Amalek’s memory recorded in Exodus 17:14 and aligns with the perpetual conflict declared in Exodus 17:16. The passage frames Amalek’s destruction as the direct fulfillment of that earlier covenant judgment.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that early prominence or military advantage does not shield a people from divine judgment. It requires a reader to acknowledge that historical precedence is irrelevant to final accountability.
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
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.
Cross-references
- Exodus 17:14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
- Exodus 17:8 After this, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.
- Exodus 17:16 “Indeed,” he said, “a hand was lifted up toward the throne of the LORD. The LORD will war against Amalek from generation to generation.”
- Judges 6:3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them,
- 1 Samuel 14:48 He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of its plunderers.
- 1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
- 1 Samuel 27:8 Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these people had inhabited the land extending to Shur and Egypt.)
- 1 Samuel 30:1 On the third day David and his men arrived in Ziklag, and the Amalekites had raided the Negev, attacked Ziklag, and burned it down.
- 1 Samuel 30:17 And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man escaped, except four hundred young men who fled, riding off on camels.
- 1 Chronicles 4:43 and struck down the remnant of the Amalekites who had escaped. And they have lived there to this day.