Micah 6:5

Bible in Basic English (1941)

O my people, keep in mind now what was designed by Balak, king of Moab, and the answer which Balaam, son of Beor, gave him; the events, from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may be certain of the upright acts of the Lord.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

עַמִּ֗י זְכָר־נָא֙ מַה־יָּעַ֗ץ בָּלָק֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ מוֹאָ֔ב וּמֶה־עָנָ֥ה אֹת֖וֹ בִּלְעָ֣ם בֶּן־בְּע֑וֹר מִן־הַשִּׁטִּים֙ עַד־הַגִּלְגָּ֔ל לְמַ֕עַן דַּ֖עַת צִדְק֥וֹת יְהוָֽה׃

Transliteration

ʿammî zəkār-nāʾ mah-yāʿaṣ bālāq melek môʾāb û-meh-ʿānāh ʾōtô bilʿām ben-bəʿôr min-haššiṭṭîm ʿad-haggilgāl ləmaʿan daʿat ṣidqôt YHWH

Grammar Details

• *ʿammî*: noun + 1st person singular suffix - my people
• *zəkār*: imperative, masculine singular - remember
• *nāʾ*: particle of entreaty - please/now
• *mah*: interrogative pronoun - what
• *yāʿaṣ*: qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular - he advised/planned
• *bālāq*: proper noun - Balak
• *melek*: noun, masculine singular construct - king of
• *môʾāb*: proper noun - Moab
• *û-meh*: conjunction + interrogative pronoun - and what
• *ʿānāh*: qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular - he answered
• *ʾōtô*: direct object marker + 3rd person masculine singular suffix - him
• *bilʿām*: proper noun - Balaam
• *ben*: noun, masculine singular construct - son of
• *bəʿôr*: proper noun - Beor
• *min*: preposition - from
• *haššiṭṭîm*: definite article + proper noun - the Shittim
• *ʿad*: preposition - to/until
• *haggilgāl*: definite article + proper noun - the Gilgal
• *ləmaʿan*: conjunction - in order that/so that
• *daʿat*: infinitive construct - to know
• *ṣidqôt*: noun, feminine plural construct - righteous acts of
• *YHWH*: proper noun - divine name

Word Meanings

• *yāʿaṣ*: advised/planned/plotted/schemed
• *ʿānāh*: answered/responded/replied
• *ṣidqôt*: righteous acts/vindications/deliverances/saving deeds

Referenced Verses

• Num 25:1 : 1 Now when Israel was living in Shittim the people became false to the Lord, doing evil with the daughters of Moab:
• Judg 5:11 : 11 Give ear to the women laughing by the water-springs; there they will give again the story of the upright acts of the Lord, all the upright acts of his arm in Israel.
• Josh 5:9-9 : 9 And the Lord said to Joshua, Today the shame of Egypt has been rolled away from you. So that place was named Gilgal, to this day. 10 So the children of Israel put up their tents in Gilgal; and they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, in the lowlands of Jericho.
• Josh 4:19 : 19 So on the tenth day of the first month the people came up out of Jordan, and put up their tents in Gilgal, on the east side of Jericho.
• Josh 10:42-43 : 42 And all these kings and their land Joshua took at the same time, because the Lord, the God of Israel, was fighting for Israel. 43 Then Joshua and all Israel with him went back to their tents at Gilgal.
• Josh 24:9-9 : 9 Then Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, went up to war against Israel; and he sent for Balaam, the son of Beor, to put a curse on you: 10 But I did not give ear to Balaam; and so he went on blessing you; and I kept you safe from him.
• Num 22:1-9 : 1 Then the children of Israel, journeying on, put up their tents in the lowlands of Moab, on the other side of Jordan at Jericho. 2 Now Balak, the son of Zippor, saw what Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And in Moab there was great fear of the people, because their numbers were so great: and the feeling of Moab was bitter against the children of Israel. 4 Then Moab said to the responsible men of Midian, It is clear that this great people will be the destruction of everything round us, making a meal of us as the ox does of the grass of the field. At that time Balak, the son of Zippor, was king of Moab. 5 So he sent men to Balaam, son of Beor, at Pethor by the River in the land of the children of his people, saying to him, See, a people has come out of Egypt, covering all the face of the earth, and they have put up their tents opposite to me: 6 Come now, in answer to my prayer, and put a curse on this people, for they are greater than I: and then I may be strong enough to overcome them and send them out of the land: for it is clear that good comes to him who has your blessing, but he on whom you put your curse is cursed. 7 So the responsible men of Moab and Midian went away, taking in their hands rewards for the prophet; and they came to Balaam and said to him what Balak had given them orders to say. 8 And he said to them, Take your rest here tonight, and I will give you an answer after hearing what the Lord says; so the chiefs of Moab kept there with Balaam that night. 9 And God came to Balaam and said, Who are these men with you? 10 And Balaam said to God, Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent them to me, saying, 11 See, the people who have come out of Egypt are covering all the earth: now, put a curse on this people for me, so that I may be able to make war on them, driving them out of the land. 12 And God said to Balaam, You are not to go with them, or put a curse on this people, for they have my blessing. 13 In the morning Balaam got up and said to the chiefs of Balak, Go back to your land, for the Lord will not let me go with you. 14 So the chiefs of Moab went back to Balak and said, Balaam will not come with us. 15 So Balak sent more chiefs, greater in number and of higher position than the others. 16 And they came to Balaam and said, Balak, son of Zippor, says, Let nothing keep you from coming to me: 17 For I will give you a place of very great honour, and whatever you say to me I will do; so come, in answer to my prayer, and put a curse on this people. 18 But Balaam, in answer; said to the servants of Balak, Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, it would not be possible for me to do anything more or less than the orders of the Lord my God. 19 So take your rest here this night, till I have knowledge what more the Lord has to say to me. 20 And that night God came to Balaam and said to him, If these men have come for you, go with them: but do only what I say to you. 21 So in the morning Balaam got up and, making his ass ready, went with the chiefs of Moab. 22 But God was moved to wrath because he went: and the angel of the Lord took up a position in the road to keep him from his purpose. Now he was seated on his ass, and his two servants were with him. 23 And the ass saw the angel of the Lord waiting in the road with his sword in his hand; and turning from the road, the ass went into the field; and Balaam gave the ass blows, to get her back on to the road. 24 Then the angel of the Lord took up his position in a narrow road through the vine-gardens, with a wall on this side and on that. 25 And the ass saw the angel of the Lord, and went near the wall, crushing Balaam's foot against the wall; and he gave her more blows.
• Num 22:41 : 41 And in the morning Balak took Balaam up to the high places of Baal, and from there he was able to see the outer limits of the people.
• Num 23:13-14 : 13 And Balak said to him, Come with me now into another place from which you will not be able to see them all, but only the outskirts of them; and you will send curses on them from there. 14 So he took him into the country of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and there they made seven altars, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar.
• Num 23:27 : 27 Then Balak said to Balaam, Come now, I will take you to another place; it may be that God will let you put a curse on them from there.
• 1 Sam 12:7 : 7 Keep your places now, while I take up the argument with you before the Lord, and give you the story of the righteousness of the Lord, which he has made clear by his acts to you and to your fathers.
• Ps 36:10 : 10 O let there be no end to your loving mercy to those who have knowledge of you, or of your righteousness to the upright in heart.
• Ps 71:15-16 : 15 My mouth will make clear your righteousness and your salvation all the day; for they are more than may be measured. 16 I will give news of the great acts of the Lord God; my words will be of your righteousness, and of yours only.
• Ps 71:19 : 19 Your righteousness, O God, is very high; you have done great things; O God, who is like you?
• Ps 103:1-2 : 1 <Of David.> Give praise to the Lord, O my soul; let everything in me give praise to his holy name. 2 Give praise to the Lord, O my soul; let not all his blessings go from your memory.
• Ps 111:4 : 4 Certain for ever is the memory of his wonders: the Lord is full of pity and mercy.
• Ps 143:11 : 11 Give me life, O Lord, because of your name; in your righteousness take my soul out of trouble.
• Rom 3:25-26 : 25 Whom God has put forward as the sign of his mercy, through faith, by his blood, to make clear his righteousness when, in his pity, God let the sins of earlier times go without punishment; 26 And to make clear his righteousness now, so that he might himself be upright, and give righteousness to him who has faith in Jesus.
• Eph 2:11 : 11 For this reason keep it in mind that in the past you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are looked on as being outside the circumcision by those who have circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands;
• 2 Pet 2:15 : 15 Turning out of the true way, they have gone wandering in error, after the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who was pleased to take payment for wrongdoing;
• 1 John 1:9 : 9 If we say openly that we have done wrong, he is upright and true to his word, giving us forgiveness of sins and making us clean from all evil.
• Jude 1:11 : 11 A curse on them! They have gone in the way of Cain, running uncontrolled into the error of Balaam for reward, and have come to destruction by saying evil against the Lord, like Korah.
• Rev 2:14 : 14 But I have some things against you, because you have with you those who keep the teaching of Balaam, by whose suggestion Balak made the children of Israel go out of the right way, taking food which was offered to false gods, and going after the desires of the flesh.
• Num 31:8 : 8 They put the kings of Midian to death with the rest, Evi and Reken and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian: and Balaam, the son of Beor, they put to death with the sword.
• Num 31:16 : 16 It was these who, moved by Balaam, were the cause of Israel's sin against the Lord in the question of Peor, because of which disease came on the people of the Lord.
• Num 33:49 : 49 Planting their tents by the side of Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim in the lowlands of Moab.
• Deut 8:2 : 2 And keep in mind the way by which the Lord your God has taken you through the waste land these forty years, so that he might make low your pride and put you to the test, to see what was in your heart and if you would keep his orders or not.
• Deut 8:18 : 18 But keep in mind the Lord your God: for it is he who gives you the power to get wealth, so that he may give effect to the agreement which he made by his oath with your fathers, as at this day.
• Deut 9:7 : 7 Keep well in mind how you made the Lord your God angry in the waste land; from the day when you went out of Egypt till you came to this place, you have gone against the orders of the Lord.
• Deut 16:3 : 3 Take no leavened bread with it; for seven days let your food be unleavened bread, that is, the bread of sorrow; for you came out of the land of Egypt quickly: so the memory of that day, when you came out of the land of Egypt, will be with you all your life.
• Deut 23:4-5 : 4 Because they gave you no bread or water on your way, when you came out of Egypt: and they got Balaam, the son of Peor, from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to put curses on you. 5 But the Lord your God would not give ear to Balaam, but let the curse be changed into a blessing to you, because of his love for you.