Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Studiennotiz
Study Note
Balaam's oracle articulates one of the most theologically compressed statements about divine immutability in the Old Testament: God is not a human that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should change his mind. The contrast between divine and human speech-acts addresses the reliability of prophetic promises — what God has said to bless cannot be revoked by a hired diviner (the context of Balak commissioning Balaam). The verse is cross-referenced in 1 Samuel 15:29 (where Samuel declares God's irrevocable rejection of Saul) and undergirds New Testament assertions of divine faithfulness in Romans 11:29 and 2 Timothy 2:13. Its placement in the mouth of a foreign seer underscores that Israel's God is universally recognized as categorically different from human and pagan deities.
Andere Übersetzungen
God is not a man, that he should lie, Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and will he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and will he not make it good?
God <FI>is<Fi> not a man--and lieth, And a son of man--and repenteth! Hath He said--and doth He not do <FI>it<Fi> ? And spoken--and doth He not confirm it?
God is not a man, to say what is false; or the son of man, that his purpose may be changed: what he has said, will he not do? and will he not give effect to the words of his mouth?
Querverweise
And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should …
And yet this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; for thou hast also spoken of thy servant’s …
Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, …
Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from …
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though …
For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;