Numbers 23:19

23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie,

nor a human being, ¹  that he should change his mind.

Has he said, and will he not do it?

Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? ² 

Numbers 23:1

Balaam Blesses Israel

23:1 ³ Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

Numbers 15:29

15:29 You must have one law for the person who sins unintentionally, both for the native-born among the Israelites and for the resident foreigner who lives among them.

Psalms 33:9

33:9 For he spoke, and it ⁴  came into existence,

he issued the decree, ⁵  and it stood firm.

Isaiah 55:11

55:11 In the same way, the promise that I make

does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. ⁶ 

No, it is realized as I desire

and is fulfilled as I intend.” ⁷ 

Jeremiah 23:20

23:20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back

until he has fully carried out his intended purposes. ⁸ 

In days to come ⁹ 

you people will come to understand this clearly. ¹⁰ 

Matthew 24:35

24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. ¹¹ 

[23:19]  ¹ tn Heb “son of man.”

[23:19]  ² tn The verb is the Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “to cause to rise; to make stand”). The meaning here is more of the sense of fulfilling the promises made.

[23:1]  ³ sn The first part of Balaam’s activity ends in disaster for Balak – he blesses Israel. The chapter falls into four units: the first prophecy (vv. 1-10), the relocation (vv. 11-17), the second prophecy (vv. 18-24), and a further location (vv. 25-30).

[33:9]  ⁴ tn That is, “all the earth” in the first line of v. 8. The apparent antecedent of the masculine subject of the verbs in v. 9 (note וַיֶּהִי [vayyehiy] and וַיַּעֲמֹד [vayya’amod]) is “earth” or “world,” both of which are feminine nouns. However, כָּל (kol, “all”) may be the antecedent, or the apparent lack of agreement may be explained by the collective nature of the nouns involved here (see GKC 463 §145.e).

[33:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “he commanded.”

[55:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “so is the word which goes out from my mouth, it does not return to empty.” “Word” refers here to divine promises, like the ones made just prior to and after this (see vv. 7b, 12-13).

[55:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “but it accomplishes what I desire, and succeeds [on the mission] which I send it.”

[23:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “until he has done and until he has carried out the purposes of his heart.”

[23:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the latter days.” However, as BDB 31 s.v. אַחֲרִית b suggests, the meaning of this idiom must be determined from the context. Sometimes it has remote, even eschatological, reference and other times it has more immediate reference as it does here and in Jer 30:23 where it refers to the coming days of Babylonian conquest and exile.

[23:20]  ¹⁰ tn The translation is intended to reflect a Hebrew construction where a noun functions as the object of a verb from the same root word (the Hebrew cognate accusative).

[24:35]  ¹¹ sn The words that Jesus predicts here will never pass away. They are more stable and lasting than creation itself. For this kind of image, see Isa 40:8; 55:10-11.