Numbers 23

Nu 23:1-30.

BALAK'S

SACRIFICES.

1. Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars--Balak, being a

heathen, would naturally suppose these altars were erected in honor of

Baal, the patron deity of his country. It is evident, from

Nu 23:4

that they were prepared for the worship of the true God; although in

choosing the high places of Baal as their site and rearing a number of

altars

(2Ki 18:22;

Isa 17:8;

Jer 11:13;

Ho 8:11; 10:1),

instead of one only, as God had appointed, Balaam blended his own

superstitions with the divine worship. The heathen, both in ancient and

modern times, attached a mysterious virtue to the number seven;

and Balaam, in ordering the preparation of so many altars, designed to

mystify and delude the king.

3. Stand by thy burnt offering--as one in expectation of an important

favor.

peradventure the Lord will come to meet me: and whatsoever he showeth

me--that is, makes known to me by word or sign.

he went to an high place--apart by himself, where he might practise

rites and ceremonies, with a view to obtain a response of the oracle.

4-6. God met Balaam--not in compliance with his incantations, but

to frustrate his wicked designs and compel him, contrary to his desires

and interests, to pronounce the following benediction

[Nu 23:8-10].

7. took up his parable--that is, spoke under the influence of

inspiration, and in the highly poetical, figurative, and oracular style

of a prophet.

brought me from Aram--This word joined with "the mountains of the

East," denotes the upper portion of Mesopotamia, lying on the east of

Moab. The East enjoyed an infamous notoriety for magicians and

soothsayers

(Isa 2:6).

8. How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?--A divine blessing has

been pronounced over the posterity of Jacob; and therefore, whatever

prodigies can be achieved by my charms, all magical skill, all human

power, is utterly impotent to counteract the decree of God.

9. from the top--literally, "a bare place" on the rocks, to which

Balak had taken him, for it was deemed necessary to see the people who

were to be devoted to destruction. But that commanding prospect could

contribute nothing to the accomplishment of the king's object, for the

destiny of Israel was to be a distinct, peculiar people, separated from

the rest of the nations in government, religion, customs, and divine

protection

(De 33:28).

So that although I might be able to gratify your wishes against other

people, I can do nothing against them

(Ex 19:5;

Le 20:24).

10. Who can count the dust of Jacob?--an Oriental hyperbole for

a very populous nation, as Jacob's posterity was promised to be

(Ge 13:16; 28:14).

the number of the fourth part of Israel--that is, the camp consisted

of four divisions; every one of these parts was formidable in numbers.

Let me die the death of the righteous--Hebrew, "of Jeshurun"; or,

the Israelites. The meaning is: they are a people happy, above all

others, not only in life, but at death, from their knowledge of the

true God, and their hope through His grace. Balaam is a representative

of a large class in the world, who express a wish for the blessedness

which Christ has promised to His people but are averse to imitate the

mind that was in Him.

13-15. Come, . . . with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest

see them--Surprised and disappointed at this unexpected eulogy on

Israel, Balak hoped that, if seen from a different point of

observation, the prophet would give utterance to different feelings;

and so, having made the same solemn preparations, Balaam retired, as

before, to wait the divine afflatus.

14. he brought him into the field of Zophim . . . top of Pisgah--a flat

surface on the summit of the mountain range, which was cultivated land.

Others render it "the field of sentinels," an eminence where some of

Balak's guards were posted to give signals [CALMET].

18, 19. Rise up--As Balak was already standing

(Nu 23:17),

this expression is equivalent to "now attend to me." The counsels and

promises of God respecting Israel are unchangeable; and no attempt to

prevail on Him to reverse them will succeed, as they may with a

man.

21. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob--Many sins were observed and

punished in this people. But no such universal and hopeless apostasy

had as yet appeared, to induce God to abandon or destroy them.

the Lord his God is with him--has a favor for them.

and the shout of a king is among them--such joyful acclamations as

of a people rejoicing in the presence of a victorious prince.

22. he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn--Israel is not as

they were at the Exodus, a horde of poor, feeble, spiritless people,

but powerful and invincible as a reem--that is, a rhinoceros

(Job 39:9;

Ps 22:21; 92:10).

23. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob--No art can ever

prevail against a people who are under the shield of Omnipotence, and

for whom miracles have been and yet shall be performed, which will be a

theme of admiration in succeeding ages.

26. All that the Lord speaketh, that I must do--a remarkable confession

that he was divinely constrained to give utterances different from what

it was his purpose and inclination to do.

28. Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor--or, Beth-peor

(De 3:29),

the eminence on which a temple of Baal stood.

that looketh toward Jeshimon--the desert tract in the south of

Palestine, on both sides of the Dead Sea.