Numbers 24:24
New International Version
Ships will come from the shores of Cyprus; they will subdue Ashur and Eber, but they too will come to ruin.”

New Living Translation
Ships will come from the coasts of Cyprus; they will oppress Assyria and afflict Eber, but they, too, will be utterly destroyed.”

English Standard Version
But ships shall come from Kittim and shall afflict Asshur and Eber; and he too shall come to utter destruction.”

Berean Standard Bible
Ships will come from the coasts of Cyprus; they will subdue Asshur and Eber, but they too will perish forever.”

King James Bible
And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.

New King James Version
But ships shall come from the coasts of Cyprus, And they shall afflict Asshur and afflict Eber, And so shall Amalek, until he perishes.”

New American Standard Bible
“But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, And they shall oppress Asshur and oppress Eber; So they also will come to destruction.”

NASB 1995
“But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, And they shall afflict Asshur and will afflict Eber; So they also will come to destruction.”

NASB 1977
“But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, And they shall afflict Asshur and shall afflict Eber; So they also shall come to destruction.”

Legacy Standard Bible
But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, And they shall afflict Asshur and will afflict Eber; So they also will come to destruction.”

Amplified Bible
“But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, And shall afflict Asshur (Assyria) and Eber; So they (the victors) also will come to destruction.”

Christian Standard Bible
Ships will come from the coast of Kittim; they will carry out raids against Asshur and Eber, but they too will come to destruction.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Ships will come from the coast of Kittim; they will afflict Asshur and Eber, but they too will come to destruction.

American Standard Version
But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, And they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber; And he also shall come to destruction.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And a legion shall proceed from the land of Khethites and they shall destroy Assyria and they shall destroy also the Hebrews; also those shall be destroyed for eternities.”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And one shall come forth from the hands of the Citians, and shall afflict Assur, and shall afflict the Hebrews, and they shall perish together.

Contemporary English Version
Ships will come from Cyprus, bringing people who will invade the lands of Assyria and Eber. But finally, Cyprus itself will be ruined."

Douay-Rheims Bible
They shall come in galleys from Italy, they shall overcome the Assyrians, and shall waste the Hebrews, and at the last they themselves also shall perish.

English Revised Version
But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, And they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, And he also shall come to destruction.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Ships will come from the shores of Cyprus. They will conquer Assyria and Eber. But they, too, will be totally destroyed."

Good News Translation
Invaders will sail from Cyprus; They will conquer Assyria and Eber, But they, in turn, will perish forever."

International Standard Version
Ships under control of Kittim will devastate Asshur and Eber, until they are permanently destroyed."

JPS Tanakh 1917
But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, And they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, And he also shall come to destruction.

Literal Standard Version
But ships [come] from the side of Chittim, | And they have humbled Asshur, | And they have humbled Eber, | But it is also perishing forever.”

Majority Standard Bible
Ships will come from the coasts of Cyprus; they will subdue Asshur and Eber, but they too will perish forever.”

New American Bible
to deliver them from the hands of the Kittim? When they have conquered Asshur and conquered Eber, They too shall perish forever.

NET Bible
Ships will come from the coast of Kittim, and will afflict Asshur, and will afflict Eber, and he will also perish forever."

New Revised Standard Version
But ships shall come from Kittim and shall afflict Asshur and Eber; and he also shall perish forever.”

New Heart English Bible
But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim. They shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber. He also shall come to destruction."

Webster's Bible Translation
And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Ashur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.

World English Bible
But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim. They shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber. He also shall come to destruction.”

Young's Literal Translation
And -- ships are from the side of Chittim, And they have humbled Asshur, And they have humbled Eber, And it also for ever is perishing.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Balaam's Final Three Oracles
23Once more Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Ah, who can live unless God has ordained it? 24Ships will come from the coasts of Cyprus; they will subdue Asshur and Eber, but they too will perish forever.” 25Then Balaam arose and returned to his homeland, and Balak also went on his way.…

Cross References
Genesis 10:4
And the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites, and the Rodanites.

Genesis 10:21
And sons were also born to Shem, the older brother of Japheth; Shem was the forefather of all the sons of Eber.

Numbers 24:20
Then Balaam saw Amalek and lifted up an oracle, saying: "Amalek was first among the nations, but his end is destruction."

Numbers 24:23
Once more Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: "Ah, who can live unless God has ordained it?

Ezekiel 27:6
Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars; of wood from the coasts of Cyprus they made your deck, inlaid with ivory.

Daniel 11:30
Ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and rage against the holy covenant and do damage. So he will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.


Treasury of Scripture

And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.

Numbers 24:11
Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the LORD hath kept thee back from honour.

Numbers 31:8
And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.

Joshua 13:22
Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them.

Jump to Previous
Afflict Ashur Asshur Chittim Coast Destruction Direction Eber Humbled Kittim Others Perish Perishing Ruin Shores Side Subdue Troubling
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Afflict Ashur Asshur Chittim Coast Destruction Direction Eber Humbled Kittim Others Perish Perishing Ruin Shores Side Subdue Troubling
Numbers 24
1. Balaam, leaving divinations, prophesies the happiness of Israel
10. Balak, in anger, dismisses him
15. He prophesies of the Star of Jacob, and the destruction of some nations














(24) And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim.--The Chittim (or, Kittim) are said to have migrated from Ph?nicia to Cyprus, and there founded the city of Citium, the modern Chitti. (See Josephus, "Antiq." i.6, 1.) The name probably applies to the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean generally. The rendering of the Vulgate is Venient in trieribus de Italia; and in Daniel 11:30, which is obviously founded upon this verse, the Vulgate identifies the Kittim with the Romans.

And shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber.--Some understand by Eber the Hebrews only. The word, however, appears to be used in a wider signification, as comprising "all the children of Eber" (Genesis 10:21). Perhaps the word Asshur may here be used to denote the Eastern Shemites, and Eber the Western Shemites.

And he also shall perish for ever--i.e., the victorious power which was to afflict Asshur and Eber. "The overthrow of this last power of the world," says Keil, in loc., "concerning which the prophet Daniel was the first to receive and proclaim new revelations, belongs 'to the end of the days,' in which the star out of Jacob is to rise upon Israel as 'a bright morning-star'" (Revelation 22:16). There is no evidence as to the manner in which Balaam's prophecies came into the hands of the Israelites. It is possible that he may have communicated them to Moses, in the expectation of receiving from him the reward which he had failed to obtain from Balak, or, if captured, in the hope of thereby saving his life.

Verse 24. - Chittim. Cyprus (see on Genesis 10:4). The "isles of Chittim are mentioned by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 2:10) and by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 27:6) in the sense apparently of the western islands generally while in Daniel 11:30 "the ships of Chittim, may have an even wider reference. Indeed the Targum of Palestine makes mention of Italy here, and the Vulgate actually translates "venient in trieribus de Italia." There is, however, no reason to suppose that Balaam knew or spoke of anything further than Cyprus. It was "from the side of" (מִיַּד) Cyprus that the ships of his vision came down upon the Phoenician coasts, wherever their original starting-point may have been. Shall afflict, or, "shall bring low." The same word is used of the oppression of Israel in Egypt (Genesis 15:13). Eber. The Septuagint has here 'Αβραίους, and is followed by the Peschito and the Vulgate. It is not likely, however, that Balaam would have substituted "Eber" for the "Jacob" and "Israel" which he had previously used. The Targum of Onkelos paraphrases "Eber" by "beyond the Euphrates," and that of Palestine has "all the sons of Eber." From Gem 10:21 it would appear that "the children of Eber" were the same as the Shemites; Asshur, therefore, was himself included in Eber, but is separately mentioned on account of his fame and power. And he also shall perish forever. The subject of this prophecy is left in obscurity. It is difficult on grammatical grounds to refer it to Asshur, and it does not seem appropriate to "Eber." It may mean that the unnamed conquering race which should overthrow the Asian monarchies should itself come to an end for evermore; or it may be that Balaam added these words while he beheld with dismay the coming destruction of his own Shemitic race, and their final subjugation by more warlike powers. It must be remembered that the Greek empire, although overthrown, did not by any means "perish for ever" in the same sense as the previous empires of the East.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Ships
וְצִים֙ (wə·ṣîm)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 6716: A ship

[will come] from the coast
מִיַּ֣ד (mî·yaḏ)
Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 3027: A hand

of Kittim;
כִּתִּ֔ים (kit·tîm)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3794: Kittim -- a son of Javan, also his descendants and their land

they will subdue
וְעִנּ֥וּ (wə·‘in·nū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 6031: To be bowed down or afflicted

Asshur
אַשּׁ֖וּר (’aš·šūr)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 804: Ashshur

and Eber,
עֵ֑בֶר (‘ê·ḇer)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 5677: Eber -- 'region beyond', a descendant of Shem, also the name of several Israelites

but they
ה֖וּא (hū)
Pronoun - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

too
וְגַם־ (wə·ḡam-)
Conjunctive waw | Conjunction
Strong's 1571: Assemblage, also, even, yea, though, both, and

will perish
אֹבֵֽד׃ (’ō·ḇêḏ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8: Wretched, destruction

forever.”
עֲדֵ֥י (‘ă·ḏê)
Preposition
Strong's 5703: A, terminus, duration, advance, perpetuity


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OT Law: Numbers 24:24 But ships shall come from the coast (Nu Num.)
Numbers 24:23
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