What Does Numbers 22:9 Mean in the King James?
And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
God’s arrival brings the people beside Balaam into the center of the encounter.
THE MEANING
The question meets you at the edge of God’s arrival: who is alongside you, and what does that company mean? The people beside you are part of what becomes visible in the encounter.
THE ROOT
וַיָּבֹא
wayyavo
GROWS FROM
בוא
b-w-ʾ
To come, enter, or arrive.
“came” in this verse is wayyavo. The verb describes God arriving at Balaam, not speaking from a distance; the question follows that entry directly. The root also carries the sense of bringing something in, so God’s approach and the company around Balaam occupy the same immediate scene.
ALSO GROWS
hovi: Bring; cause to come.
הוֹבִיא
This form makes explicit the root’s link between coming and being brought into a scene.
mavo: Entrance; entryway.
מָבוֹא
The same root names an entrance, joining arrival with the act of entering.
THE PATTERN
A divine question brings a person’s position, relationships, or desire into speech.
And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?THE THREAD
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.The same Hebrew verb בוא (bo, come or enter) describes God’s arrival to Abimelech. There, too, the arrival turns toward a relationship involving another person, showing how the question “who is with thee?” brings human attachments into the encounter.
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