Numbers 24 · Verse 5

Numbers 24:5

How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!
Numbers 24:5, King James Version

Numbers 24:5 in other translations

BSBHow lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel!
WEBHow goodly are your tents, Jacob, and your dwellings, Israel!
ASVHow goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, Thy tabernacles, O Israel!
YLTHow good have been thy tents, O Jacob, Thy tabernacles, O Israel;
DARBYHow goodly are thy tents, Jacob, and thy tabernacles, Israel!
BBEHow fair are your tents, O Jacob, your houses, O Israel!
WebsterHow goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!

What does Numbers 24:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 24:5-7
5-7. How goodly are thy tents, ... O Israel!--a fine burst of admiration, expressed in highly poetical strains. All travellers describe the beauty which the circular area of Bedouin tents impart to the desert. How impressive, then, must have been the view, as seen from the heights of Abarim, of the immense camp of Israel extended over the subjacent plains.

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

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 24:1-9

Now Balaam spake not his own sense, but the language of the Spirit that came upon him. Many have their eyes open who have not their hearts open; are enlightened, but not sanctified. That knowledge which puffs men up with pride, will but serve to light them to hell, whither many go with their eyes open. The blessing is nearly the same as those given before. He admires in Israel, their beauty. The righteous…

Read the full comment on Numbers 24:1-9 →

Numbers 24:5 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.

מַה\־mah-how!H4100
טֹּ֥בוּTouthey are goodH2895
אֹהָלֶ֖יךָ'o.ha.Lei.khatents yourH168
יַעֲקֹ֑בya.'a.KoO JacobH3290
מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶ֖יךָmish.ke.no.Tei.khadwelling places yourH4908
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל\׃Yis.ra.'ElO IsraelH3478

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

Context

  • Numbers 24:4

    He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:

  • Numbers 24:5

    How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!

  • Numbers 24:6

    As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.

Read all of Numbers 24

Numbers 24:5 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		¡Cuán hermosas son tus tiendas, oh Jacob, tus habitaciones, oh Israel!
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Que tes tentes sont belles, ô Jacob! et tes demeures, ô Israël!
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wie schön sind deine Zelte, Jakob, deine Wohnungen, Israel!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Quam pulchra tabernacula tua, Jacob, et tentoria tua, Israël!