Numbers 24:20

KJV1611 – Modern English

And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations, but his latter end shall be that he perish forever.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיַּרְא֙ אֶת־עֲמָלֵ֔ק וַיִּשָּׂ֥א מְשָׁל֖וֹ וַיֹּאמַ֑ר רֵאשִׁ֤ית גּוֹיִם֙ עֲמָלֵ֔ק וְאַחֲרִית֖וֹ עֲדֵ֥י אֹבֵֽד׃

Transliteration

And wayyarʾ ʾet-ʿămālēq, and wayyiśśāʾ his məšālô and wayyōʾmar: rēʾšîṯ gôyim ʿămālēq, and his ʾaḥărîṯô until ʾōḇēḏ.

Grammar Details

• *wayyarʾ*: waw consecutive + qal imperfect 3ms - 'and he saw'
• *ʿămālēq*: proper noun - 'Amalek'
• *wayyiśśāʾ*: waw consecutive + qal imperfect 3ms - 'and he took up'
• *məšālô*: noun ms with 3ms suffix - 'his oracle/proverb'
• *wayyōʾmar*: waw consecutive + qal imperfect 3ms - 'and he said'
• *rēʾšîṯ*: noun fs construct - 'first/beginning of'
• *gôyim*: noun mp - 'nations'
• *ʾaḥărîṯô*: noun fs with 3ms suffix - 'his end'
• *ʾōḇēḏ*: qal participle ms - 'perishing/destruction'

Word Meanings

• *rēʾšîṯ*: first/beginning/chief
• *ʾaḥărîṯô*: his end/his latter state/his posterity
• *ʾōḇēḏ*: perishing/destruction/perdition

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  Then Balaam saw Amalek and spoke his oracle: 'Amalek was first among the nations, but their end will be utter destruction.'

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  And he looked{H7200} on Amalek,{H6002} and took up{H5375} his parable,{H4912} and said,{H559} Amalek{H6002} was the first{H7225} of the nations;{H1471} But his latter{H319} end shall come{H5703} to destruction.{H8}

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  And when he looked{H7200}{(H8799)} on Amalek{H6002}, he took up{H5375}{(H8799)} his parable{H4912}, and said{H559}{(H8799)}, Amalek{H6002} was the first{H7225} of the nations{H1471}; but his latter{H319} end shall be that he perish{H8} for ever{H5703}.

• Tyndale Bible (1526/1534)

  And he loked on Amaleck and began his parable and sayed: Amaleck is the first of the nacions but his latter ende shall perysh utterly.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  And wha he sawe ye Amalechites, he toke vp his parable, & sayde: Amalec the first amoge the Heithe, but at ye last thou shalt perishe vtterly.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  And when he looked on Amalek, he vttered his parable, and sayd, Amalek was the first of the nations: but his latter ende shal come to destruction.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  And when he loked on Amaleck, he toke vp his parable, and said: Amaleck is the first of the nations, but his latter ende shall perishe vtterly.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said, Amalek [was] the first of the nations; but his latter end [shall be] that he perish for ever.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  He looked at Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; But his latter end shall come to destruction.

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  And he seeth Amalek, and taketh up his simile, and saith: `A beginning of the Goyim `is' Amalek; And his latter end -- for ever he perisheth.'

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And he looked on Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; But his latter end shall come to destruction.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And he looked on Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; But his latter end shall come to destruction.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  Then, turning his eyes to Amalek, he went on with his story and said, Amalek was the first of the nations, but his part will be destruction for ever.

• World English Bible (2000)

  He looked at Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, "Amalek was the first of the nations, But his latter end shall come to destruction."

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  Balaam’s Final Prophecies Then Balaam looked on Amalek and delivered this oracle:“Amalek was the first of the nations, but his end will be that he will perish.”

Referenced Verses

• Exod 17:14 : 14 And the LORD said to Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
• Exod 17:16 : 16 For he said, Because the LORD has sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
• Judg 6:3 : 3 And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;
• 1 Sam 14:48 : 48 He gathered an army, struck the Amalekites, and delivered Israel from those who plundered them.
• 1 Sam 15:3-8 : 3 Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. 4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley. 6 And Saul said to the Kenites, Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 And Saul struck the Amalekites from Havilah until you come to Shur, which is opposite Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
• 1 Sam 27:8-9 : 8 And David and his men went up and invaded the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for those nations were the inhabitants of the land from long ago, as you go to Shur, even to the land of Egypt. 9 And David struck the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothes, and returned and came to Achish.
• 1 Sam 30:1 : 1 And it came to pass, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and struck Ziklag, and burned it with fire;
• 1 Sam 30:17 : 17 And David struck them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day: and none of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who rode upon camels, and fled.
• 1 Chr 4:43 : 43 And they smote the rest of the Amalekites that had escaped, and dwelt there to this day.
• Esth 3:1 : 1 After these things, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.
• Esth 7:9-9 : 9 And Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said before the king, Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, stands in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him on it. 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's anger subsided.
• Esth 9:14 : 14 And the king commanded it to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.
• Exod 17:8 : 8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.