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In the King James Version of the Bible, it is mentioned in Num. 23:19 that God is not a human:

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? KJV, 1769

Now we know that Jesus was a man, being the son of Mary. So, based on Num. 23:19, how can he also be God? I am requesting a Catholic perspective.

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  • As has been noted elsewhere, the Catholic perspective does not do anything "based on X verse"...
    – Michael
    May 11, 2017 at 14:50
  • oh ok then I will edit my question
    – Casanova
    May 11, 2017 at 14:51
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    @Casanova I think a search of the tags "Christology" and "Nature-of-god" will provide you with a number of answers to this. While the "Catholicism" tag may or may not have been useful, lacking further tags might get vote to closes votes due to "too broad" or "opinion based." (Arrgh, the frustrations of how to ask questions to fit the format.) I've added the Christology tag to hopefully aid in that regard.
    – KorvinStarmast
    May 11, 2017 at 14:58
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat.
    – Andrew
    May 11, 2017 at 15:50
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    I follow how the question got to this point, but removing the "Catholicism" tag from it makes it off topic for the site (i.e. you're asking how some Truth can exist from various traditions considering themselves to be the fullness of truth [more or less]) I wouldn't remove asking for a Catholic answer and I wouldn't ask a question unless I wanted an answer from a perspective that I cared about. @Michael is right about Catholicism not having dogmas based on Bible verses alone, but you can ask how something fits or if it even has anything to do with anything the Catholic Church teaches.
    – Peter Turner ♦
    May 11, 2017 at 17:22

2 Answers 2

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Numbers 23:19 doesn't say Yahweh cannot become a human, only that he isn't like humans, who do lie or fail to keep promises. Yahweh is essentially saying he can be trusted. A Catholic perspective teaches that Jesus is fully divine and fully human, and that these two natures are in hypostatic union.

The sinful state would lead humans to sin, but Jesus' humanity can be thought of as Adam's before he disobeyed Yahweh. Thus, being the incarnation of the divine word, Jesus obeyed perfectly even up to his time of death.

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  • “Yahweh cannot become a human, only that he isn't like humans...”—Well, the English (which is properly translated from the Hebrew) states, “God is not a man” (לֹא אִישׁ אֵל). It does not say “like.”
    – user900
    May 11, 2017 at 18:46
  • And in Exodus 15:3, it says, "Yahweh is a man of war; Yahweh is his name." I'm not saying Yahweh is a human, only illustrating that failure to understand the context leads to eisegesis. Yahweh doesn't lie. He doesn't fail to keep his promises. Humans do these. The verse, which Casanova mentioned, says nothing about Yahweh's inability to become a human, i.e., being incarnated. "Like" was merely a simile on my part.
    – Mea quidem sententia
    May 11, 2017 at 19:03
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It is very clear in Hosea, 11:9

I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.

God teaches that he is not a MAN unlike jesus christ who is a Man died in a cross.

John, 8:40

But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

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  • Dear Alden, welcome to Christianity.SE. Please take the tour, and visit the help center, to get an idea for how a Q&A site works in the SE model. Also, please be aware that we don't do denomination wars here. You can read more on that here and here.
    – KorvinStarmast
    May 11, 2017 at 12:23
  • Thanks...but this does not answer the question.
    – user900
    May 11, 2017 at 18:47

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