Numbers 23:7 (YLT)

Passage

And he taketh up his simile, and saith: `From Aram he doth lead me--Balak king of Moab; From mountains of the east: Come--curse for me Jacob, And come--be indignant <FI>with<Fi> Israel.

Nearby Context

Numbers 23:5 and Jehovah putteth a word in the mouth of Balaam, and saith, `Turn back unto Balak, and thus thou dost speak.'

Numbers 23:6 And he turneth back unto him, and lo, he is standing by his burnt-offering, he and all the princes of Moab.

Numbers 23:7 And he taketh up his simile, and saith: `From Aram he doth lead me--Balak king of Moab; From mountains of the east: Come--curse for me Jacob, And come--be indignant <FI>with<Fi> Israel.

Numbers 23:8 What--do I pierce? --God hath not pierced! And what--am I indignant? --Jehovah hath not been indignant!

Numbers 23:9 For from the top of rocks I see it, And from heights I behold it; Lo a people! alone it doth tabernacle, And among nations doth not reckon itself.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "taketh", "simile", "saith", "aram", "doth", "lead", "me--balak", and "king". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "taketh" and "simile", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "And he turneth back unto him and..." into verse 8's "What--do I pierce God hath not pierced...", so "taketh" and "simile" belong inside that flow. In Numbers context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "taketh" and "simile" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.