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?”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Context
Balak, king of Moab, has hired the diviner Balaam to curse Israel as they journey toward the promised land. Three times Balaam attempts to curse, and three times God turns his words into blessing. In his second oracle, Balaam declares that God's purpose to bless Israel cannot be reversed.
What Does Numbers 23:19 Mean?
Numbers 23:19 affirms that God is utterly trustworthy -- unlike human beings, He does not lie, and He does not go back on His word. The statement comes from the unlikeliest of mouths: Balaam, a foreign diviner hired by Balak, king of Moab, to curse Israel. Yet God turns the curse into blessing, and Balaam is compelled to speak the truth. The verse contrasts God with humanity: people lie, and people "repent" in the sense of changing their minds, abandoning promises, or reversing course out of weakness or shifting feelings. God does not. "Hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" The rhetorical questions demand the answer: of course He will. What God speaks, He performs; what He promises, He fulfills. This is the bedrock of biblical faith. God's character guarantees His word. He is not fickle, not forgetful, not subject to the second thoughts and broken vows that mark human dealings. When the context is Israel's blessing, the point lands with force: no hired curse can overturn what God has determined to do for His people. His purposes stand because His word is as reliable as He is.
When the Bible elsewhere speaks of God "repenting" or relenting, it describes His genuine responses to human turning -- His consistency in always responding to repentance with mercy and to rebellion with judgment. That is the opposite of fickleness; it is faithfulness. Numbers 23:19 anchors the believer's confidence: because God cannot lie, His promises are sure. We may build our lives on what He has said. In a world of broken commitments and shifting words, here is One whose every promise is as good as accomplished. To know this God is to have a foundation that cannot be moved.
In the Original Language
The Hebrew 'kazab' (lie) means to deceive or prove false, while 'nacham' (repent) here means to change one's mind or relent -- something the unchanging God does not do as fickle men do.
Cross References
“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.”
- Titus 1:2
“And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.”
- 1 Samuel 15:29
“That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation.”
- Hebrews 6:18
Application
Build your life on God's promises, knowing that the One who made them cannot lie or break His word. When circumstances tempt you to doubt, return to what God has actually said, and rest in the certainty that He will surely bring it to pass.