Numbers 23:27–24:9, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Numbers 23:27–24:9
The Third Oracle Blesses Tents and Foresees Victory
At Peor, Balaam stops seeking enchantments
Balak tries a third place, the top of Peor that looks toward Jeshimon. Seven altars and the same offerings are set again. Balaam sees that it pleases the LORD to bless Israel. He does not go, as before, to seek for enchantments. He sets his face toward the wilderness, sees Israel abiding by tribes, and the Spirit of God comes upon him.
Tents become gardens, then a lion, then a double edge
The oracle opens on the man whose eyes are open, who heard the words of God and saw the vision of the Almighty, falling but having his eyes open. How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob. Valleys, gardens by a river, aloes the LORD planted, cedar beside waters, poured-out buckets, abundant seed, and a king higher than Agag follow. God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a unicorn. They will eat up nations, break bones, pierce with arrows, lie down as a lion. Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.
Balak's anger is kindled. He smites his hands together: I called thee to curse, and thou hast altogether blessed them these three times. The poem's beauty and its violence sit together. Gardens and water do not become a prosperity promise. Lion rest and broken bones do not become a nationalist charter, an ethnic ranking, or a threat that criticizing a modern government brings a curse.
How this should shape us
Receive a blessing that a patron tried to prevent, and still refuse to spend it on conquest talk or a prosperity script. Do not treat 'blessed is he that blesseth thee' as a muzzle on honest judgment of any government.
Teach it back
Explain Numbers 23:27–24:9 in your own words. Include its place in Numbers' movement from Sinai to Moab, both movements within this thought unit, one material uncertainty, one affected person or group, and one use the complete context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Interpreters debate Balaam's origin, the donkey episode's relationship to the prose, oracle age and layers, satire, Deir Alla, textual forms, messianic reception, and the hostile notices in chapters 25 and 31. No model settles supernatural mechanism. For “The Third Oracle Blesses Tents and Foresees Victory,” confidence is strongest in the received unit's stated sequence and literary function; source, date, demography, geography, mechanism, archaeology, and historical reconstruction remain probable, plausible, or uncertain as the evidence warrants.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Numbers 23:27–24:9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, numbers, speeches, poems, legal clauses, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Num.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 23:27–24:9
Supports: Unit-bounded translation, syntax, lexical, ritual, legal, number, name, poetic, and selected textual notes; silence is not evidence.
NET Bible Numbers PDF, complete 134-page PDF, translation and translator notes attached to 23:27–24:9
Supports: Moab movement, law, leadership transition, land, war, women, refuge, and compositional framing.
Yale Bible Study, Numbers Part 2, complete two-page study guide sections on Balaam, Baal Peor, second census, women and inheritance, war with Midian, Transjordan, itinerary, boundaries, Levite and refuge cities, and final inheritance, applied to Numbers 23:27–24:9
Supports: Balaam cycle, extrabiblical name parallel, oracle context, and limits on identification, dating, and historicity.
TheTorah, “Balaam from Divinerville,” complete sections on Numbers 22–24, Deir Alla inscription, Balaam traditions, prophecy and divination, and historical limits, applied to Numbers 23:27–24:9
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Numbers 23:27–24:9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Numbers
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, release 2.2, 2021
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, numbers, speeches, poems, legal clauses, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Num.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 23:27–24:9
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Numbers with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
eBible.org distribution of the NET Bible, source files dated 2026-08-08
Supports: Unit-bounded translation, syntax, lexical, ritual, legal, number, name, poetic, and selected textual notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible Numbers PDF, complete 134-page PDF, translation and translator notes attached to 23:27–24:9
Open source ↗modern critical open study guide
Numbers Part 2
Yale Bible Study
Yale Divinity School, 2023 course edition
Supports: Moab movement, law, leadership transition, land, war, women, refuge, and compositional framing.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Numbers Part 2, complete two-page study guide sections on Balaam, Baal Peor, second census, women and inheritance, war with Midian, Transjordan, itinerary, boundaries, Levite and refuge cities, and final inheritance, applied to Numbers 23:27–24:9
Open source ↗modern jewish scholarly open text and archaeology study
Balaam from Divinerville
TheTorah.com named scholarly contributor
TheTorah.com, 2022; updated 2026
Supports: Balaam cycle, extrabiblical name parallel, oracle context, and limits on identification, dating, and historicity.
Exact location: TheTorah, “Balaam from Divinerville,” complete sections on Numbers 22–24, Deir Alla inscription, Balaam traditions, prophecy and divination, and historical limits, applied to Numbers 23:27–24:9
Open source ↗