Passage

Numbers 24.17

Book: Numbers · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

15. And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor saith, And the man whose eye was closed saith; 16. He saith, who heareth the words of God, And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High, Who seeth the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, and having his eyes open:

17. I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh: There shall come forth a star out of Jacob, And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, And shall smite through the corners of Moab, And break down all the sons of tumult.

And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession, who were his enemies; While Israel doeth valiantly. 19. And out of Jacob shall one have dominion, And shall destroy the remnant from the city. (Numbers 24:15-19, ASV)

WEB

15. He took up his parable, and said, “Balaam the son of Beor says, the man whose eyes are open says; 16. he says, who hears the words of God, knows the knowledge of the Most High, and who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, and having his eyes open:

17. I see him, but not now. I see him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel, and shall strike through the corners of Moab, and break down all the sons of Sheth.

Edom shall be a possession. Seir, his enemies, also shall be a possession, while Israel does valiantly. 19. Out of Jacob shall one have dominion, and shall destroy the remnant from the city.” (Numbers 24:15-19, WEB)

KJV

15. And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: 16. He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:

17. I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. ^{smite: or, smite through the princes of}

And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly. 19. Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city. (Numbers 24:15-19, KJV)

YLT

15. And he taketh up his simile, and saith: 'An affirmation of Balaam son of Beor, And an affirmation of the man whose eyes [are] shut 16. An affirmation of him who is hearing sayings of God, And knowing knowledge of the Most High; A vision of the Almighty he seeth, Falling, and eyes uncovered:

17. I see it, but not now; I behold it, but not near; A star hath proceeded from Jacob, And a sceptre hath risen from Israel, And hath smitten corners of Moab, And hath destroyed all sons of Sheth.

And Edom hath been a possession, And Seir hath been a possession, [for] its enemies, And Israel is doing valiantly; 19. And [one] doth rule out of Jacob, And hath destroyed a remnant from Ar.' (Numbers 24:15-19, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Jesus Failed the Messianic Job Description Objection Defeater

Concepts:

Seven Churches of Asia

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.