Numbers 22:17
For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
Numbers 22:17 in other translations
| BSB | for I will honor you richly and do whatever you say. So please come and put a curse on this people for me!’” |
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| WEB | for I will promote you to very great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Please come therefore, and curse this people for me.’” |
| ASV | for I will promote thee unto very great honor, and whatsoever thou sayest unto me I will do: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people. |
| YLT | for very greatly I honour thee, and all that thou sayest unto me I do; and come, I pray thee, pierce for me this people.' |
| DARBY | for very highly will I honour thee, and whatever thou shalt say to me will I do; come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people. |
| BBE | For I will give you a place of very great honour, and whatever you say to me I will do; so come, in answer to my prayer, and put a curse on this people. |
| Webster | For I will promote thee to very great honor, and I will do whatever thou sayest to me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse this people for me. |
What does Numbers 22:17 mean?
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 22:15-21
A second embassy was sent to Balaam. It were well for us, if we were as earnest and constant in prosecuting a good work, notwithstanding disappointments. Balak laid a bait, not only for Balaam's covetousness, but for his pride and ambition. How earnestly should we beg of God daily to mortify such desires in us! Thus sinners stick at no pains, spare no cost, and care not how low they stoop, to gratify their luxury…
Numbers 22:17 in the original Hebrew
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Cross references for Numbers 22:17
- Numbers 24:11
Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honour.
- Matthew 4:8-9
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
- Numbers 23:2-3
And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram. And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the Lord will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.
- Esther 7:9
And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.
- Deuteronomy 16:9
Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.
- Matthew 14:7
Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.
- Numbers 23:29-30
And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams. And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.
- Numbers 22:6
Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.
- Matthew 16:26
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Esther 5:11
And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.
- Numbers 22:37
And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
24:11; De 16:9; Es 5:11; 7:9; Mt 4:8,9; 16:26
and I will do.
23:2,3,29,30; Mt 14:7
come.
6
curse me.An erroneous opinion prevailed, both in those days and in after ages, that some men had the power, by the help of their gods, to devote, not only particular persons, but cities and whole armies, to destruction. This they are said to have done sometimes by words of imprecation; of which there was a set form among some people, which Æschines calls [diorizomenen aran ,] "the determinate curse." Macrobius has a whole chapter on this subject. He gives us two of the ancient forms used in reference to the destruction of Carthage; the first, which was only pronounced by the dictator, or general, was to call over the protecting deities to their side, and the other to devote the city to destruction, which they were supposed to have abandoned. The Romans held, that no city would be taken till its tutelary god had forsaken it; or if it could be taken, it would be unlawful, as it would be sacrilege to lead the gods into captivity. Virgil intimates, that Troy was destroyed because {Excessere omnes adytis, arisque relictis dii, quibus imperium hoc steterat,} "All the gods, by whose assistance the empire had hitherto been preserved, forsook their altars and temples." See more on this subject in Dr. A. Clarke, Bp. Patrick, and Burder's Oriental Customs, No. 734.
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain
Context
- Numbers 22:16
And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me:
- Numbers 22:17
For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
- Numbers 22:18
And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more.
Numbers 22:17 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Porque sin duda te honraré mucho, y haré todo lo que me dijeres: ven pues ahora, maldíceme á este pueblo. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | car je te comblerai d’honneurs, et tout ce que tu me diras, je le ferai; viens donc, je te prie, maudis-moi ce peuple. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | denn sehr hoch will ich dich ehren, und alles, was du mir sagen wirst, will ich tun; so komm doch, verwünsche mir dieses Volk! |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | paratus sum honorare te, et quidquid volueris, dabo tibi: veni, et maledic populo isti. |