The Church Fathers on this verse

Numbers 23:9Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

I shall see him from the tops of the rocks, and shall consider him from the hills. This people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

Douay-Rheims

כִּֽי־מֵרֹ֤אשׁ צֻרִים֙ אֶרְאֶ֔נּוּ וּמִגְּבָע֖וֹת אֲשׁוּרֶ֑נּוּ הֶן־עָם֙ לְבָדָ֣ד יִשְׁכֹּ֔ן וּבַגּוֹיִ֖ם לֹ֥א יִתְחַשָּֽׁב׃

Hebrew (Masoretic text)

The Church Fathers on this verse

One Church Father comments on this verse

Ambrose of Milan

4th centuryChurch Father

He declared, “From the summit of the mountains, I will behold it, for my eyes cannot grasp this people who will dwell apart, defining their inheritances not by territorial borders, but through the cultivation of virtues and extraordinary moral excellence that lead to eternal life. Who among the other tribes will be recognized, and which of the neighboring nations can measure up to his unparalleled righteousness? Who can grasp the nature of this generation? While we observe that their bodies were born and developed from human seed, it is evident that their souls have flourished in the realm of the highest and most wondrous.”

Cross references

Passages read together with this verse.