Numbers 24:21

Next he saw the Kenites and lifted up an oracle, saying: “Your dwelling place is secure, and your nest is set in a cliff.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Balaam pronounces an oracle to the Kenites immediately after judging Amalek and before addressing Kain. The words — אֵיתָן ('ei.Tan) means "enduring" and מֽוֹשָׁבֶ֔/ךָ (mo.sha.Ve./kha) translates literally to "your dwelling place." The thread — The Kenites are listed in Genesis 15:19 among the land's original inhabitants and in Judges 1:16 as descendants of Moses’ father-in-law who relocate to the Wilderness of Judah near Arad. Why it lands — The declaration affirms the Kenites' physical security without attaching covenantal conditions, requiring the reader to note that prophetic pronouncements can confirm human settlements independently of Israel's destiny.

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

וַיַּרְא֙va/i.yaR'and/ he saw אֶת־'et-<obj.>הַקֵּינִ֔יha./kei.Nithe/ Kenite[s]וַיִּשָּׂ֥אva/i.yi.Sa'and/ he lifted up מְשָׁל֖וֹme.sha.L/ooracle/ his וַיֹּאמַ֑רva/i.yo.Marand/ he said אֵיתָן֙'ei.Tan[is] enduring מֽוֹשָׁבֶ֔ךָmo.sha.Ve./khadwelling/ your וְשִׂ֥יםve./Simand/ [is] set בַּסֶּ֖לַעba./Se.la'in the/ rock קִנֶּֽךָ׃ki.Ne./chanest/ your

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Genesis 15:19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
Judges 1:16 Now the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms to the Wilderness of Judah in the Negev near Arad. They went to live among the people.
Job 29:18 So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.