Numbers 23:21
There is no idol in Jacob, neither is there an image god to be seen in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, and the sound of the victory of the king in him.
Open Numbers 23:21 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Non est idolum in Jacob, nec videtur simulacrum in Israël. Dominus Deus ejus cum eo est, et clangor victoriæ regis in illo.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- οὐκ ἔσται μόχθος ἐν Ἰακώβ, οὐδὲ ὀφθήσεται πόνος ἐν Ἰσραήλ· Κύριος ὁ θεὸς αὐτοῦ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ, τὰ ἔνδοξα ἀρχόντων ἐν αὐτῷ.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- לֹֽא הִבִּ֥יט אָ֨וֶן֙ בְּיַעֲקֹ֔ב וְלֹא רָאָ֥ה עָמָ֖ל בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹהָיו֙ עִמּ֔וֹ וּתְרוּעַ֥ת מֶ֖לֶךְ בּֽוֹ
Haydock's commentary
Image-god, (simulachrum) "a statue." Chaldean, "falsehood." Hebrew may also signify "perversity, or punishment." As long as Israel refrains from idol-worship, and from other transgressions, as they do at present, God will be so far from punishing them, that he will fight their battles, as their king; (Haydock) and at the sound of the silver trumpets, will grant them victory, chap. x. 9. (Menochius)
The sound. Hebrew, "the shout of a king among them," encouraging his people by his presence and by his words. (Haydock)
"I behold those who do not serve idols in the house of Jacob....the word of the Lord their God is helping them, and the majesty of their king is among them," Chaldean. (Menochius)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Jerome The Letters of St. Jerome, To Oceanus
10. As I pen her praises, my dear Pammachius seems suddenly to rise before me. His wife Paulina sleeps that he may keep vigil; she has gone before her husband that he remaining behind may be Christ’s servant. Although he was his wife’s heir, others, I mean the poor, are now in possession of his inheritance. He and Fabiola contended for the privilege of setting up a tent like that of Abraham at Portus. The contest which arose between them was for the supremacy in shewing kindness. Each conquered and each was overcome. Both admitted themselves to be at once victors and vanquished for what each had desired to effect alone both accomplished together. They united their resources and combined their plans that harmony might forward what rivalry must have brought to nought. No sooner was the scheme broached than it was carried out. …
St Jerome The Letters of St. Jerome, To Demetrius
Love to occupy your mind with the reading of scripture. Do not in the good ground of your breast gather only a crop of darnel and wild oats. Do not let an enemy sow tares among the wheat when the householder is asleep (that is when the mind which ever cleaves to God is off its guard); but say always with the bride in the song of songs: “By night I sought him whom my soul loveth. Tell me where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon;” and with the psalmist: “my soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me;” and with Jeremiah: “I have not found it hard.…to follow thee,” for “there is no grief in Jacob neither is there travail in Israel.” When you were in the world you loved the things of the world. You rubbed your cheeks with rouge and used whitelead to improve your complexion. …