Numbers 24 · Verse 20

Numbers 24:20

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.
Numbers 24:20, King James Version

Numbers 24:20 in other translations

BSBThen Balaam saw Amalek and lifted up an oracle, saying: “Amalek was first among the nations, but his end is destruction.”
WEBHe looked at Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations, but his latter end shall come to destruction.”
ASVAnd he looked on Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; But his latter end shall come to destruction.
YLTAnd he seeth Amalek, and taketh up his simile, and saith: ‘A beginning of the Goyim is Amalek; And his latter end--for ever he perisheth.'
DARBYAnd he saw Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, Amalek is the first of the nations, but his latter end shall be for destruction.
BBEThen, turning his eyes to Amalek, he went on with his story and said, Amalek was the first of the nations, but his part will be destruction for ever.
WebsterAnd 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 shall perish for ever.

What does Numbers 24:20 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
20. Amalek ... his latter end shall be that he perish for ever--Their territory was seen at the remote extremity of the desert. (See on Ex 17:13; also 1Sa 15:1-35).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 20 Amalek was the first of the nations - The most ancient and most powerful of all the nations or states then within the view of Balaam; but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever, or his posterity אחריתו acharitho, shall be destroyed, or shall utterly fail. This oracle began to be fulfilled by Saul, 1Sam 15:7, 1Sam 15:8, who overthrew the Amalekites, and took their king, Agag, prisoner. Afterwards they were nearly destroyed by David, 1Sam 27:8, and they were finally exterminated by the sons of Simeon in the days of Hezekiah, 1Chr 4:41-43; since that time they have ceased to exist as a people, and now no vestige of them remains on the face of the earth; so completely is their posterity cut off, according to this prophecy. The marginal reading does not appear to give the proper sense.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 24:15-25

Under the powerful influence of the Spirit of prophecy, Balaam foretold the future prosperity and extensive dominion of Israel. Balaam boasts that his eyes are open. The prophets were in old times called seers. He had heard the words of God, which many do who neither heed them, nor hear God in them. He knew the knowledge of the Most High. A man may be full of the knowledge of God, yet utterly destitute of the grace…

Read the full comment on Numbers 24:15-25 →

Numbers 24:20 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיַּרְא֙vai.yaR'and he sawH7200
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
עֲמָלֵ֔ק'a.ma.LekAmalekH6002
וַיִּשָּׂ֥אvai.yi.Sa'and he lifted upH5375
מְשָׁל֖וֹme.sha.Looracle hisH4912
וַיֹּאמַ֑רvai.yo.Marand he saidH559
רֵאשִׁ֤יתre.Shit[was the] first ofH7225
גּוֹיִם֙go.Yim[the] nationsH1471
עֲמָלֵ֔ק'a.ma.LekAmalekH6002
וְאַחֲרִית֖וֹve.'a.cha.ri.Toand end itsH319
עֲדֵ֥י'a.Dei[will be] toH5704
אֹבֵֽד\׃'o.VeddestructionH8

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Numbers 24:20

  • Exodus 17:14

    And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

  • Exodus 17:8

    Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

  • Esther 7:9-10

    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. So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.

  • Esther 9:14

    And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman’s ten sons.

  • 1 Samuel 30:1

    And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;

  • Esther 3:1

    After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.

  • 1 Chronicles 4:43

    And they smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped, and dwelt there unto this day.

  • Exodus 17:16

    For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

  • 1 Samuel 14:48

    And he gathered an host, and smote the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of them that spoiled them.

  • Judges 6:3

    And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;

  • 1 Samuel 27:8-9

    And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt. And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.

  • 1 Samuel 15:3-8

    Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the first of the nations. or, the first of the nations thatwarred against Israel.
Ex 17:8,16
his latter end.
Jud 6:3; 1Sa 14:48; 15:3-8; 27:8,9; 30:1,17; 1Ch 4:43; Es 3:1
Es 7:9,10; 9:14
shall be that he perish for ever. or, shall be even todestruction.
Ex 17:14; 1Sa 15:3,8

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Numbers 24:19

    Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.

  • Numbers 24:20

    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.

  • Numbers 24:21

    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.

Read all of Numbers 24

Numbers 24:20 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y viendo á Amalec, tomó su parábola, y dijo: Amalec, cabeza de gentes; mas su postrimería perecerá para siempre.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et il vit Amalek, et proféra son discours sentencieux, et dit: Amalek était la première des nations; et sa fin sera la destruction.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und er sah Amalek und hob seinen Spruch an und sprach: Die erste der Nationen war Amalek, aber sein Letztes wird dem Untergang verfallen. -
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Cumque vidisset Amalec, assumens parabolam, ait: Principium gentium Amalec, cujus extrema perdentur.