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The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 23:15
While I meet the Lord yonder. Rather, "and I will go and meet thus." וְאָנֹכִי אִקָּרֶה כֹּה. Balaam does not say whom or what he is going to meet, but from the use of the same term in Numbers 24:1-25. I it is evident t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 23:20
I have received commandment to bless. The word "commandment "is not wanted here. Balaam had received, not instructions, but an inward revelation of the Divine will which he could not contravene.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 23:21
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob. The subject of this and the parallel clause is left indefinite. If it is God, according to the A.V then it means that God in his mercy shut his eyes to the evil which did exist in i…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 23:22
God. אֵל, and also at the end of the next verse, and four times in the next chapter (Numbers 23:4, Numbers 23:8, Numbers 23:16, Numbers 23:23). The use seems to be poetic, and no particular signification can be attached…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 23:23
Enchantment, נָחַשׁ. Rather, "augury." Septuagint, οἰωνισμός. See on Le 19:26, where the practice is forbidden to Israel. Against Jacob, or, "in Jacob," as the marginal reading, and this is favoured by the Septuagint…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 23:24
As a great lion. לָבִיא, generally translated "old lion," as in Genesis 49:9. By some it is rendered lioness (cf. Job 4:11; Nahum 2:12). As a young lion. אַרִי, the ordinary term for a lion without further distinction.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 23:27
I will bring thee unto another place. At first (Numbers 23:25) Balak had in his vexation desired to stop the mouth of Balaam, but afterwards he thought it wiser to make yet another attempt to change the mind of God; as…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 23:28
Unto the top of Peer. On the meaning of Peer see on Numbers 25:3. This Peer was a summit of the Abarim ranges northwards from Pisgah, and nearer to the Israelites. The adjacent village, Beth-Peer, was near the place of…
Matthew Henry on Numbers 24:1-9
Now Balaam spake not his own sense, but the language of the Spirit that came upon him. Many have their eyes open who have not their hearts open; are enlightened, but not sanctified. That knowledge which puffs men up wit…
Balaam Blesses Israel a Third Time. (b. c. 1452.)
BALAAM BLESSES ISRAEL A THIRD TIME. (B. C. 1452.) The blessing itself which Balaam here pronounces upon Israel is much the same with the two we had in the foregoing chapter; but the introduction to it is different. I. T…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 24:1-9
BALAAM-THE THIRD PARABLE This passage marks the period at which Balaam becomes finally convinced that it is vain for him to attempt to satisfy Balak, or to carry out the baser promptings of his own heart. He confesses h…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 24:1
As at other times, or, "as (he had done) time after time." Septuagint, κατὰ τὸ εἰωθός. To seek for enchantments. Rather, "for the meeting with aunties." לִקְמראת נְחַשִׁים. Septuagint, to συνάντησιν τοῖς οἰωνοῖς…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 24:2
The spirit of God came upon him. This seems to intimate a higher state of inspiration than the expression, "God put a word into his mouth" (Numbers 23:5, Numbers 23:16).
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 24:3
Balaam … hath said. Rather, "the utterance of Balaam." נְאֻם is constantly used, as in Numbers 14:28, for a Divine utterance, effatum Dei, but it does not by itself, apart from the context, claim a superhuman origin. Th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 24:4
Falling into a trance. Rather, "falling down." Qui cadit, Vulgate. The case of Saul, who "fell down naked all that day" (1 Samuel 19:24), overcome by the illapse of the Spirit, affords the best comparison. Physically, i…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 24:6
As the valleys, or, "as the torrents" ( נְחָלִים), which pour down in parallel courses from the upper slopes. As gardens by the river's side. The river ( נָהָר), as in Numbers 22:5) means the Euphrates. Balaam combines…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 24:7-10
BALAAM-THE FIRST PARABLE The word "parable" is used here in a somewhat peculiar sense. It is not, as in the New Testament, a fictitious narrative embodying and enforcing some moral truth, but a "dark saying," a mystic p…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 24:7
He shall pour the water, or, "the water shall overflow." Out of his buckets. דָּלְיָו is the dual, "his two buckets." The image, familiar enough to one who lived in an irrigated land, is of one carrying two buckets on t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 24:8
And shall break their bones. יְגָרֵם (cf. Ezekiel 23:34) seems to mean "crush" or "smash." The Septuagint has ἐκμυελιεῖ, "shall suck out," i.e; the marrow, but the word does not seem to bear this meaning. Pierce them…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 24:8
THE SAFETY OF ALL WHO ENJOY THE BLESSING OF GOD God's "defiance" the signal of destruction; God's "curse," fatal. But if protected from these we are safe, for "the curse causeless cannot come." We are safe from— 1. Mali…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 24:9
A lion. אַרִי. A great lion. לָבִיא. See on Numbers 23:24, and Genesis 49:9. Blessed is he that blesseth thee, &c. In these words Balaam seems to refer to the terms of Balak's first message (Numbers 22:6). Far from bein…
Matthew Henry on Numbers 24:10-14
This vain attempt to curse Israel is ended. Balak broke out into a rage against Balaam, and expressed great vexation. Balaam has a very full excuse; God restrained him from saying what he would have said, and constraine…
Balak's Remonstrance. (b. c. 1452.)
BALAK'S REMONSTRANCE. (B. C. 1452.) We have here the conclusion of this vain attempt to curse Israel, and the total abandonment of it. 1. Balak made the worst of it. He broke out into a rage against Balaam (Numbers 24:1…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 24:10
LET ME DIE THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS, AND LET MY LAST END, BE LIKE HIS! THE SECRET OF ISRAEL'S PROSPERITY This certainly appears an extraordinary wish when we bear in mind the position and character of the man who utte…