John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Numbers 22:1



INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 22



The children of Israel being come into the plains of Moab, put the king of Moab into a panic, who expressed his fears to the elders of Midian, Nu 22:1 and sent for Balaam the soothsayer to curse the people of Israel, but he, upon consulting the Lord refused to come, Nu 22:5, on which the king of Moab sent to him a second time, making large promises of preferment to him, and who at this time got leave from the Lord to go with the messengers,

Nu 22:15, but was met with in the way by an angel of the Lord, who would have slain him had it not been for his ass, of which a very wonderful revelation is given, Nu 22:22, and the chapter is closed with the interview between Balak king of Moab and Balaam, and an account of what passed between them, and what was done by them,

Nu 22:36.



Ver. 1. And the children of Israel set forward,.... From the country of Bashan, where we read of them last, after they had conquered Og the king of it, and also Sihon king of the Amorites, and settled some of their tribes in both kingdoms; the particular place from whence they came hither, according to the account of their journeys, were the mountains of Abarim, Nu 33:48:



and pitched in the plains of Moab the part of them they encamped in reached from Bethjesimoth to Abelshittim, Nu 33:49,



on this side Jordan by Jericho; or Jordan of Jericho, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; a river that flowed near to Jericho, running between the plains of Moab and the plains of Jericho; according to Josephus {u} it was sixty furlongs, or seven miles and a half from Jericho; but, according to Jerome {w}, it was but five miles: or rather, as some versions render it, "over against Jericho" {x}; for Jericho was on the other side of the river Jordan, and the plains of Moab, or that part of them where Israel now pitched, were right against that city; and so Josephus says {y}.



{u} Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 4. {w} De locis Heb. fol. 87. G. {x} kata iericw Sept. "ex opposito Heiricho", Tigurine version. {y} Antiqu. l. 4. c. 6. sect. 1.





Numbers 22:2



Ver. 2. And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. The word "Amorites" being particularly pointed, shows, as Aben Ezra observes, that Sihon and Og are both meant, and that there were not among the kings of the land of Canaan any so great as they; wherefore when Balak, who was the present king of Moab, saw what Israel had done to them, that they had conquered them, and seized upon their kingdoms: he reasoned within himself, and said, as Jarchi represents him, that if they could not stand before Israel, much less could he and his people; and the rather, since those kings Israel had subdued were too powerful for the king of Moab, and had taken part of his country from him, and yet Israel was too strong for them.





Numbers 22:3



Ver. 3. And Moab was sore afraid of the people,.... Lest they should enter into their country and do to them as they had done to Sihon and Og, and their countries; on this account the king of Moab, his nobles, and the people of the land, were in an exceeding great panic, which was a fulfilling of the prophecy of Moses in Ex 15:15:



because they were many the number of them taken a little after in this place, where they now were, in the plains of Moab, even after 24,000 had died of the plague, was 601,730, Nu 25:9:



and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel; though they had no reason for it, had they considered their relation to them, being the descendants of Abraham, the uncle of Lot, whose posterity they were; and that the Israelites had done them service in delivering them from such bad neighbours, who had taken much of their country from them, and were doubtless making continual encroachments on them; and especially had they known the orders the Israelites had from the Lord not to distress them, nor contend with them in battle, De 2:9, but this they were ignorant of, and being of a different religion from the Israelites, had them in abhorrence, or loathed them, as the word signifies; though the meaning rather seems to be, that they had a nausea, a loathing in their stomachs, and could not eat their food, because of the dread of the Israelites that was upon them; or they were weary of their lives, as Jarchi interprets it, and as the word is used,

Ge 27:46.





Numbers 22:4



Ver. 4. And Moab said unto the elders of Midian,.... Whom the king of Moab sent for to consult with what to do in the present case, for the good and safety of both people; for, according to the Targum of Jonathan, they were one people and one kingdom unto this time, at least had been confederates, by what is said Ge 36:35 though Jarchi thinks there was always a mutual hatred of each other, and that Midian now came against Moab to war, but for fear of Israel a peace was made between them, just as it was with Herod and Pontius Pilate in another case, Lu 23:12, however, they were friends as well as neighbours now; and by which it appears, that this Midian was not that where Jethro lived, which was on the Red sea, near Mount Sinai, in Arabia Felix; this was near the river Arnon, and the Moabites in Arabia Petraea; and though both the one and the other descended from Midian, the son of Abraham by Keturah, yet they had spread themselves, or the one was a colony from the other, and might be distinguished into southern and northern Midianites; the latter were those near Moab; and these elders of Midian, addressed by the king of Moab, being now at his court, whether sent for or not, are the same with the five kings or princes of Midian, as they are called, Nu 31:8 as Aben Ezra observes:



now shall this company lick up all [that are] round about us; consume us, and all our people, and all adjoining to us, and depending on us:



as the ox licketh up the grass of the field; as easily, and as soon, and as completely and entirely; nor are we any more able to oppose them than the grass of the field is to resist and hinder the ox from devouring it:



and Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time; according to the Targum of Jonathan, Midianites and Moabites reigned by turns so long a time; and that Balak was a Midianite, and so says Jarchi, and unfit for the kingdom, and was set over them through necessity for a time: but it seems rather that he was king in succession after his father Zippor; and the design of the expression is only to show, that he who was before mentioned, Nu 22:2 was the then reigning prince when this affair happened.





Numbers 22:5



Ver. 5. He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor,.... In consequence of the consultation held by the king of Moab with the elders of Midian; and very probably through a motion of theirs, and by advice they gave, Balak dispatched messengers of both people to the person here described by his name and parentage; but who he was is not easy to say: the Jews sometimes make him to be a magician in Pharaoh's court, at the time when Moses was born {z}, which is not probable; and it is still more improbable that he should be Laban the Syrian, as the Targum of Jonathan here, and the Targum on 1Ch 1:44 though others say {a} he was the son of Beor, the son of Laban, and so was the grandson of Laban; and with as little probability is he said to be Elihu, that answered Job according to a tradition of the Jews, mentioned by Jerom {b}; nor is there any reason to believe that he was ever a good man, and a true prophet of the Lord; he is expressly said to be a diviner or a soothsayer, Jos 13:22, a sort of men abhorred of God, and not to be suffered to be among his people, De 18:10 but were of great credit and esteem among the Heathens, for their pretensions to foretell things to come, or to discover lost goods, and the like; and by their enchantments to drive away evils, or bring on curses, for which Balaam was famous: and therefore, by the advice of the Midianites, Balak sent for him



to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people; the land of his people, of his birth or habitation, was Aram or Syria, Nu 23:7 that is, Aram Naharaim, which lay between the two rivers Tigris and Euphrates, or what is sometimes called Mesopotamia, as is clear from De 23:4, and the river of that land, which was eminently so called, is the river Euphrates, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it here, and by that river was Pethor, where Balaam now lived; and is by some thought to be the same with the Pacoria of Ptolemy {c}, which was by that river: the messengers were sent



to call him: to invite him to Balak's court:



saying, behold, there is a people come out from Egypt; Balak speaks of them, as if he knew not who they were, only that they were come from Egypt, and were seeking a new habitation to settle in, and so were in danger from them, lest they should invade his country, and settle there:



behold, they cover the face of the earth; not the face of the whole earth, unless an hyperbolical expression is supposed, to set forth the greatness of their numbers; but a large part of the earth, all within sight almost, even the plains of Moab:



and they abide over against me; were very near him, lay encamped before his country, and his metropolis, and so he thought himself in great danger, and threatened with an invasion, as the pitching of their tents so near made him surmise.



{z} Dibre Hayamim Shekmoaseh, fol. 3. 2. {a} Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 7. 2. {b} Quaest. "see Traditiones" in Gen. fol. 69. D. {c} Geograph. l. 5. c. 18.





Numbers 22:6



Ver. 6. Come now, therefore, I pray thee,.... To my country, city, and court:



curse me this people; by imprecations on them; and which being attended with various rites and ceremonies, brought calamities on persons, which men of Balaam's character were supposed to have power to do:



for they are too mighty for me; to oppose and subdue by force of arms; and therefore was obliged to have recourse to such arts and methods he was master of; suggesting, that he was able to do more by his divinations than could be effected by an army of men:



peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land; there is hope, by taking such measures, that they may be prevailed over and conquered; and that, together with your curses, and my army, we may be able to smite them, and destroy them; you with your tongue, and I and my people with the sword, and so drive them quite out of the land, and get a clear riddance of them:



for I wot that he whom thou blessest [is] blessed, and he whom thou cursest [is] cursed; so high an opinion had the king of Moab of this soothsayer and diviner, from the report he had had of the mighty feats done by him; as, that those for whom he asked for blessings from heaven had them, and those on whom he imprecated evils, they came upon them; and this was a prevailing custom among the Heathens in later times, and particularly the Romans; not only to endeavour to get the gods of the people from them they were at war with, and whose cities they besieged, praying that they would leave such places, cities, and their temples; but also wished evils to cities and armies, and prayed the gods to fill them with flight, fear, and terror, and that such evils might come upon them, which had on others {d}.



{d} Vid. Macrob. Saturnal. l. 3. c. 9.





Numbers 22:7



Ver. 7. And the elders of Moab, and the elders of Midian, departed,.... By which it appears that they were princes and nobles; for such the elders were, that were sent on this errand to Balaam; and that they were some of both people, Midian and Moab, that went upon it, see

Nu 22:14 which shows, that if they were not one people, under one king, which yet seems likely, nevertheless they made a common cause of it, and joined in this expedient to save their country:



with the rewards of divination in their hands; not that diviners were sent along with them to Balsam, as Aben Ezra interprets it, that he might not deceive them, and put them off, by saying it was not a fit and proper day or hour to go out and curse, which these men would be able to refute; but if they were skilled in the art of divination as well as he, what need was there to send to him, when they had such at hand? nor instruments of divination, as Jarchi, which so famous a soothsayer could not be thought to be without; but, as we rightly render it, the rewards of divination, which were either fixed or left to the generosity of those that had recourse to such persons, and were presents which they brought them, in order to engage them to use the utmost of their art for them; and this sense is confirmed by the Apostles Peter and Jude, see 2Pe 2:15:



and they came unto Balaam; at Pethor:



and spake unto him the words of Balak: told him the errand they were sent on to him by the king of Moab.





Numbers 22:8



Ver. 8. And he said unto them, lodge here this night,.... Which shows that he was at once inclined to do their business for them, and would readily engage in it if he could be permitted; and it looks as if it was in the night season that he got knowledge of things, either in dreams, or by familiar spirits, or by consulting the stars, or other methods used by him at such seasons; or it may be, this was only said to get time before he gave them a peremptory answer, that he might, if he could, get leave to do what they desired, to which he showed a good inclination:



and I will bring you word again, as the Lord shall speak unto me; by which it appears he had some knowledge of the true God, and pretended great familiarity with him, thereby to make himself the more respectable; and indeed he was surprisingly favoured with some degree of intimacy with him, which, for the sake of Israel, he was now admitted to; whether at any other time, or on any other occasion, is not certain; however, he promised the princes he would let them know the next morning what was said to him, and so accordingly what he should or could do:



and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam; that is, that night, and so very probably the princes of Midian likewise; though some of the Jewish writers think {e} they departed as soon as they heard Balaam say he would consult the Lord about this matter; from whence they concluded there was no room to hope for success, since he would never consent to destroy a nation so dear unto him, and for whose sake he had wrought so many miracles; but if this was the case, how came the princes of Moab to stay, with whom the same objection would have place? but the reason why they only are named may be what Aben Ezra gives an hint of, that these were the principal persons in the embassy, in whom the rest were included, as Balak their king was the principal person that sent them.



{e} Jarchi, Ramban, & Isaac Arama, apud Muis in loc.





Numbers 22:9



Ver. 9. And God came unto Balaam,.... In a dream very probably, as he did to Abimelech and Laban, Ge 20:3:



and said, what men are these with thee? who lodged with him that night. This he said, not as ignorant who they were, or from whence they came, or what they came about; but in order to lead on to a discourse with Balaam, and to have from him the account of the men, and their business, and to try his fidelity in relating the affair.





Numbers 22:10



Ver. 10. And Balaam said unto God,.... In answer to the question he put to him:



Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me; these men, and a message by them:



saying; as follows.





Numbers 22:11



Ver. 11. Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt,.... In this, and the following part of the verse, he faithfully and punctually relates the words of Balak to him by his messengers, as well knowing he could not deceive the omniscient God, or hide anything from him, though he could deceive men; and conceal the truth from them, to serve a purpose;

See Gill on "Nu 22:5" see Gill on "Nu 22:6".





Numbers 22:12



Ver. 12. And God said unto Balaam, thou shalt not go with them,.... Which is a denial of the first thing Balak requested, "come now, therefore", &c. Nu 22:6



thou shall not curse the people; which was the principal thing desired, and in order to which he was solicited to go with the messengers; but this is absolutely forbidden:



for they are blessed; by the Lord himself, with an irrevocable blessing, and therefore it would be vain and fruitless, as well as dangerous for him to attempt to curse them, Ge 12:3 this may have a special respect to the blessing of Jacob by Isaac, which could not be reversed by the solicitations of Esau, and which descended to Jacob's posterity, the Israelites, Ge 27:33.





Numbers 22:13



Ver. 13. And Balaam rose up in the morning,.... With the impression of the dream upon his mind, and of what had passed between God and him in it:



and said unto the princes of Balak; which shows what the elders were that were sent, of what honour and dignity, and may include both those of Moab and of Midian:



get you into your land; as soon as you can; set forward on your journey, it is to no purpose to stay here:



for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you; he only relates one part of the answer he had from the Lord, respecting his going with them, but says not a word of his being forbid to curse Israel, and of the reason given why he should not; had he reported this, in all probability it would have prevented any further application to him, and so any attempt to get this done, which Balaam seemed aware of; and therefore, by concealing this, hoped for fresh solicitations and entreaties, and that in time the Lord might be prevailed on to let him go and curse them; he having a covetous desire of riches, honour, and preferment, in Balak's court.





Numbers 22:14



Ver. 14. And the princes of Moab rose up,.... And the princes of Midian also, immediately, without entering into a parley with him, to persuade him to go with them; perceiving by his answer that it would be to no purpose, and that he was determined to do as the Lord directed him:



and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us; as Balaam told them less than what God had said to him, so they related less to Balak than what Balaam had said to them; saying nothing of the Lord's refusing to let him go with them, but represent it as a piece of pride and obstinacy in Balaam, and which Balak was left to understand; and it seems as if he did understand it as a piece of policy in Balaam, to get a larger offer of money or honour, or both, from him, and which the following account seems to confirm.





Numbers 22:15



Ver. 15. And Balak sent yet again princes more, and more honourable than they. More in number, and greater in quality, princes of the first rank in his court; supposing that Balaam thought he was not treated with respect enough, they being princes of the meaner sort, and but few, that were sent unto him before, which he imagined was the reason, at least one reason, why he refused to come with them; persons of Balaam's character in those days being highly revered.





Numbers 22:16



Ver. 16. And they came to Balaam,.... Though men of such rank and dignity, they did not decline the embassy, being sent by their king; nor did they think it below them to wait upon this soothsayer:



and said unto him, thus saith Balak the son of Zippor; representing their master, and addressing the diviner in his name, as his ambassadors; at the same time doing honour to Balak that sent them, of whom they speak respectfully, and to Balaam, to whom they were sent:



let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me; no business, though ever so important, that might be upon his hands; nor any want of respect to him he might imagine; nor if the rewards offered were not thought sufficient; nor any persuasions of men to the contrary; and if it could be thought he knew anything of the prohibition of God, that may be included; so urgent was he upon his coming to him.





Numbers 22:17



Ver. 17. For I will promote thee unto very great honour,.... In his court, by making him some great officer there, perhaps his prime minister; so that as before he laid a bait for his covetousness, sending him large presents, and rewards of divination; here, for his pride and ambition, promising him court preferment; though Aben Ezra interprets it of mammon or riches, of which he could give him an immense sum: "in honouring I will exceedingly honour thee" {f}; or load thee with wealth and riches; and so Balaam seems to understand it, since in his answer he says, "if Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold"; both civil honour and worldly wealth may be taken into the account, since they are both heavy and weighty things, and very desirable and ensnaring:



and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me; give him what money he should ask of him, put him into whatsoever place and office he should desire; and though he was a sovereign prince, would be at his beck and command, and do whatever he should direct him to do in his kingdom, as well as in what concerned the affair of cursing Israel; as we find he afterwards did, with respect to sacrifices and rites relative thereunto:



come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; renewing the request made in the first embassy with great importunity, Nu 22:6 but using here a different word for "cursing"; there, as Munster observes, the word signifies to curse lightly; here, to blaspheme and utterly devote to ruin; to which may be added, to curse expressly and by name, to pierce through and through, to deprive of all benefits, and to destroy utterly.



{f} dam Kdbka dbk "honorando honorabo te valde", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator.





Numbers 22:18



Ver. 18. And Balaam answered, and said unto the servant's of Balak,.... Who were not only princes of the land, but officers of state in the court of Balak:



if Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more; which is well spoken, had it been from his heart: he speaks very respectfully of God, calling him by his great and incommunicable name Jehovah, the Being of beings; representing him as the object of his worship and adoration, as he might be along with other gods, which was the practice of the Heathens in those times, particularly the Syrians, among whom Balaam lived; so did Laban and others before him: likewise he makes a profession of him, and claims an interest in him, which he might the rather do, to make himself look greater, as being the servant of the most high God; for the Gentiles in those times, and indeed in later times, had a notion of one supreme God, superior to all the rest; and this Jehovah Balaam claimed as his God: he speaks very well of the word of God, to which he pretended so strict a regard, that he would not transgress it in the least, for all that Balak could give him or more, no, not for all the money in the world; and yet his heart at the same time went after his covetousness, and he was eagerly desirous and greedy of getting the advantages into his hands that were offered him; for he hoped that God would change his mind, and alter his word, and give him leave to go and get the money, as appears by what follows.





Numbers 22:19



Ver. 19. Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night,.... As the former messengers had; this shows his strong inclination to go along with them, and do what was desired of him, could he be permitted; otherwise he might and ought to have told the messengers at once that Balak needed not to have given himself and them so much trouble, since it was not in his power to do for him what he requested; nor would he attempt it, as being contrary to the will of God, and therefore it would be their best way to return as soon as they could; but instead of that, he desires them to stay that night, which must give them some hope of succeeding in their embassy:



that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more; he hoped he would change his mind, and say something to him different from, and contrary to what he had before declared unto him, which to suppose of God is great vileness and wickedness; to such a pitch did his greedy desire after riches and honour work him up into; he ought to have been satisfied with the answer already given him, and not to have inquired more.





Numbers 22:20



Ver. 20. And the Lord came unto Balaam at night,.... As before,

Nu 22:9 it may be in a dream; the Targum of Jonathan is as there,



"a word came from the Lord:''



and said unto him, if the men come and call thee, rise up, and go with them; this was said, as some think, not seriously, but sarcastically, or rather in an angry manner, bidding him go, if he would; so giving him up to his own heart's lusts, or, at most; only permitting him to go with them, but not to curse Israel; and this permission to go seems to be on this condition, if the princes first called him, and were urgent on him to go with them: this was a trial of Balaam, whether he would be eager and forward to go, or patiently wait until he should be called; or the words may be rendered, "seeing", or because {g},



they are come to call thee: but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shall thou do; whether he would or not, he should be forced to do it, as Jarchi; and therefore go not with any intention to curse Israel, which shall never be done; wherefore to go would be vain and fruitless, since he would never be able to answer the design of Balak: but still Balaam hoped, it not being so fully and clearly expressed as before, that he should not curse Israel; that God would say something else unto him, though he had no reason at all for it, but all the reverse; so blinded was he with a greedy desire of riches and honour.



{g} Ma "quandoquidem", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so Noldius, p. 88. & Ainsworth.





Numbers 22:21



Ver. 21. And Balaam rose up in the morning,.... Early, not waiting for the call of the princes, which showed how eager he was to be gone, and how intent upon the journey:



and saddled his ass; which, if he did himself, as Jarchi suggests, this is a further proof of the haste he was in; though, as he had two servants with him, it is more likely that they did it by his order: the same is said of Abraham, Ge 22:3, it was usual for persons of note and figure, in those times and countries, to ride on asses, Jud 5:10 and went with the princes of Moab; in company with them, and with as good a will as they, his heart and theirs being alike, as Jarchi notes; though it seems by what follows that by some means or another they soon parted company; for when the affair of the ass happened, Balaam was alone, only attended by his two servants.





Numbers 22:22



Ver. 22. And God's anger was kindled because he went,.... Though he had given him leave to go; but then it was upon condition that the princes called him to go with them, whereas he went without their call, and did not wait for it; and besides, he did not acquaint them, as he did not the messengers before, of what God had said, that he should not curse Israel, nor say anything contrary to this his will, which, had he told them, they would not have taken him with them; moreover, he went with an intention, with a good will to curse Israel, which must be displeasing to God, who knew his heart; so the Targum of Jonathan,



"and the anger of the Lord was strong, because he went to curse them;''



likewise, though he had a permission to go, it was in an angry manner, and was not agreeable to the Lord he should go, and therefore should not have gone notwithstanding; or, at least, he might expect some marks of the divine displeasure; so Jarchi observes, he saw that the thing was evil in the eyes of the Lord, or displeasing to him, and yet he desired it; just as the people of Israel, when the Lord bid them go up and possess the land, which case Aben Ezra instances in; they desired persons might be sent before hand to spy out the land, which, though permitted, they smarted for it: for not whatsoever God permits is well pleasing to him; besides, the words may be rendered {h}, "when he went", or, "as he was going"; and so not a reason of the Lord's anger, but expresses when it was kindled or broke forth:



and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him; that this was not a created angel, one of the ministering spirits, but the eternal one, the angel of Jehovah's presence, appears from

Nu 22:35 that went before the people of Israel in the wilderness, not only to guide but to guard and protect them; and who was an adversary to their adversaries, and at all times stood up for their help and assistance against all those that hated and opposed them: Jarchi calls him an angel of mercy, who would have restrained Balaam from sinning, that he might not sin and perish, and so was rather a friend than an adversary, had he attended to him:



now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him; who, the Targum of Jonathan says, were Jannes and Jambres, the magicians of Egypt, of whom see 2Ti 3:8 these only were with him, the princes of Midian on some account or another being separated from him.



{h} Klwh yk "quum iret", Noldius, p. 403.





Numbers 22:23



Ver. 23. And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way,.... Which Balaam did not; his eyes being held from seeing him by the power and providence of God, that he might be reproved and rebuked by his ass, to whom God gave power to see, more than to him, as Jarchi notes, so that he had little reason to boast of his visions and revelations, and that he was the man whose eyes were open: the angel stood in the very pathway on which the ass was carrying Balaam: and his sword drawn in his hand; as threatening to destroy him, and as if he was just about to push at him, and signifying hereby not only that he deserved to die, but what death he should die of, namely, by the sword, as he did, Nu 31:8



and the ass turned aside out of the way; out of the common road, to save its master and itself, from a natural principle of self-preservation: and went into the field; adjoining to, and that lay along the road side:



and Balaam smote the ass to turn her into the way; with his staff, as in Nu 22:27 to bring her into the common road again.





Numbers 22:24



Ver. 24. But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyard,..... Which were in the field into which the ass went, and before Balaam could turn her back she got into a narrow path, between the vineyards, as the Targum of Jonathan; a footpath which lay between them, or a footpath where foxes ran and had their holes, who used to lie near vineyards and among them, see So 1:14 however, it was a very narrow path, and here the angel placed himself, so that there was no passage for Balaam and his ass, at least not without great difficulty and danger;



a wall [being] on this side, and a wall on that side; and therefore there was no going out into the field, as before, to avoid the difficulty and danger; this being, as Jarchi observes, a stone wall that was on each side.





Numbers 22:25



Ver. 25. And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord,.... In the same position as before, with a drown sword in his hand, and being frightened again, and in a narrow path, and no way to turn aside:



she thrust herself unto the wall; to one of the walls, as close as she could, in order to get by the angel:



and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall; running up so very closely to it:



and he smote her again; having done it once before, Nu 22:23 the times of smiting are observed, for the sake of what the ass after said, and for the confirmation of it.





Numbers 22:26



Ver. 26. And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place,.... More narrow than the other, at a further distance:



where was no way to turn, either to the right hand or to the left; it was so strait and close a place that the angel filled the whole breadth of it, that there was no passing him; so that there was no getting forward nor backward; not forward, because the angel filled up the way, and there was no slipping by him; nor backward, because it could not turn itself to the right or left.





Numbers 22:27



Ver. 27. And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord,.... The third time; for it seems that he was not always in sight, but disappeared as he removed from place to place, and at every new place where he stood the ass saw him, though her master did not:



she fell down under Balaam; upon her knees on the ground, not being able to go backwards nor forwards, nor to turn out of the way to the right or left:



and Balaam's anger was kindled; he was displeased and out of humour before, when it turned into the field, and when it squeezed his foot against the wall, and therefore he smote it; but now falling down with him, he was in a fume and fury, quite enraged:



and he smote the ass with a staff; which he rode with, perhaps his divining staff, see Ho 4:12, it is not said what he smote it with before but probably with the same: Aben Ezra says, at the first and second time he smote it with a small stick, or with a thong.





Numbers 22:28



Ver. 28. And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam,.... This was a very extraordinary and miraculous affair, and effected by a supernatural power, that a dumb creature, which had not organs endued with speech, should speak so plainly and distinctly, as is after expressed; and yet it should not be thought incredible, for what is it that Omnipotence cannot do? wherefore there is no need to say, as some Jewish writers {i}, that this was all done in a visionary way, and not really and literally performed; nor can Heathens well object to the verity of it, if they believe what they themselves report concerning one of the asses which carried Bacchus over a river, to which, for reward, he gave the power of speaking with an human voice {k}; though it is very probable the fable was framed from this story, and frequently do their writers speak of other brute creatures endued with speech; so Homer {l} represents Xanthus, the horse of Achilles, having the faculty of speech given it by Juno: Pliny says {m}, it is commonly reported among the wonderful things of the ancients, that an ox spoke; and Livy {n} frequently makes mention of an ox spoke speaking in divers places, and of one particularly that said,



"Rome, take heed to thyself;''



not to take notice of a lamb in Egypt in the times of Bocchoris that spoke, related by Aelianus {o} and others; nor of the ram of Phrixus, or the dog at Ariminum, and the elephant of Porus in India, with others Bochart {p} has collected together: the words spoken by the ass were as follow:



what have l done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? and just so many times she had been smitten by him,

Nu 22:23.



{i} Maimon. Moreh Nevochim, par. 2. c. 42. Ben Gersom in loc. {k} Hygin. Poet. Astronomic. l. 2. c. 23. "Lactant, de falsa Relig". l. 1. c. 21. {l} Iliad. 19. "prope finem". {m} Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 45. {n} Hist. l. 24. c. 10. l. 27. c. 11. l. 28. c. 11. and l. 35. c. 21. {o} De Animal. l. 12. c. 3. {p} Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 14. col. 197, 198.





Numbers 22:29



Ver. 29. And Balaam said unto the ass, because thou hast mocked me,.... Or rather "defiled me", as the word is rendered in Job 16:15 by running with him against a wall, and by lying down with him in the dust and dirt, and so the Arabic version renders it,



"because thou hast rolled me in the dirt;''



the sense of mocking is not easy to be understood, unless it be that it exposed him to be mocked and laughed at by others, by turning aside, and lying down, and being so unruly; but then there were only his servants with him, to whom only he could be exposed in such a manner, which one would think would not have given him so much concern, and put him into such a passion: the word sometimes is used for seeking occasion, and such a sense it may have here, as that it sought an opportunity or occasion to throw him, and so to kill him, or at least to do him harm, see Da 6:4



I would there were a sword in my hand, for now would I kill thee: so enraged was he, and his passion was so great, that he was not at all frightened and amazed to hear the ass speak, though Josephus {q} represents him as disturbed and astonished at it; but some think, he being used to converse with spirits in the shapes of various creatures, it was no surprise to him to hear it speak.



{q} Antiqu. l. 4. c. 6. sect. 3.





Numbers 22:30



Ver. 30. And the ass said unto Balaam,.... Made a reply to him, as if it understood what he said, and had the faculty of reasoning and discoursing, as well as of speaking, which is very amazing:



am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? or rather, "ever since thou wast"; not ever since he was in being, but ever since he could ride, so Aben Ezra; according to which, it seems that this was the first he rode upon, and which he had always been used to; hence the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase it,



"upon which thou hast rode from thy youth unto this day;''



and be it that Balaam was a man pretty well advanced in years, an ass is a creature that lives a long time: Pliny says {r} it lives thirty years; and an Arabic writer {s} makes mention of an ass that the owner of it rode on forty years:



was I ever wont to do so unto thee? to start out of the way, or lie down with him, could anyone instance be given of it? suggesting that she was a sure footed creature, and had always carefully and safely carried him, for which it appeals to him:



and he said, nay; she had never been used to serve him in such a manner as she had now, and therefore he might have concluded that something more than ordinary was the matter; and it is much his conscience had not accused him that he was wrong in coming with the princes, taking the alarm from these circumstances, had he not been an hardened creature, or, at least, had he not been so eagerly bent on riches and honour.



{r} Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 43. {s} Algiahid in Damir. apud Bochart, ut supra, (Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 14.) col. 195.





Numbers 22:31



Ver. 31. Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam,.... Who either was struck with blindness, as the men of Sodom were, so some think, or rather his eyes were held, that he could not see the angel; he could see other objects, as his ass, but he could not see that; as Elisha's servant could see the host that compassed the city, but not the chariots and horses of fire about Elisha, till his eyes were opened, 2Ki 6:15 and so it was with Balaam until the Lord uncovered his eyes, or rolled away the vail over them, or took that off which by his power and providence hindered his sight:



and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand; in the same position as in Nu 22:23



and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face; from off his ass upon the ground, in reverence of the illustrious object before him, and through fear of being slain by his sword in his hand.





Numbers 22:32



Ver. 32. And the angel of the Lord said unto him,.... When risen up, and standing before him:



wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? the brute creatures are not to be beaten without cause, nor to be misused and abused by men, even their owners:



behold, I went out to withstand thee; the ass was not to be blamed, nor to be beaten for turning aside, or lying down, it was I that stood in the way, and hindered its going forward, and this was done by me on purpose to oppose and stop thee:



because thy way is perverse before me; the journey he took was not with his good liking and approbation, and especially seeing he went with an intention, if possible, to serve Balak, and curse Israel; the way of his heart was bad, which the Lord knew; it was not directed according to his will, but swerved from it; the Targum of Jonathan is,



"it is manifest before me that thou seekest to go and curse the people, and the thing is not agreeable to me.''





Numbers 22:33



Ver. 33. And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times,.... The ass saw the angel when Balaam did not, and that was the reason of its turning aside; and it was well for him it did, and therefore he should not have smote it:



unless she had turned from me; if she had pushed on, endeavouring to make her way:



surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive; had certainly and only slain him, and not the ass; and from hence the Jewish writers {t} gather, that the ass was now slain, lest it should be said, this is the ass that spoke, and so be made an idol of.



{t} Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 20. fol. 227. 4. Aben Ezra in loc.





Numbers 22:34



Ver. 34. And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned,.... That is, in beating the ass; not that he was sensible of his sin of covetousness, and of the evil disposition of his mind, and of his wicked intention in going along with the princes to curse Israel, if possible, and get Balak's presents and preferments:



for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me; signifying, that if he had known it, he should not have smitten the ass, but submitted himself to the will of the angel:



now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again; which he spoke very coldly and faintly, not caring heartily to go back, unless forced to it; for seeing a drawn sword in his hand, he might be afraid of his life should he persist in his journey, and therefore feigns a readiness to go back, quitting it on condition that his going forwards was displeasing; whereas he knew it was, especially his going with an evil mind to hurt Israel if possible.





Numbers 22:35



Ver. 35. And the angel of the Lord said unto Balaam, go with the men,.... Which was not a command, but a concession, or rather a permission, leaving him to go if he would, suffering him to follow his own heart's lusts, and giving him up to them to his own destruction; and besides, it was not his going barely that was displeasing to God, but his going with such a bad intention:



but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak; which expresses not only what he ought to do, but what he should be obliged to do, even to bless the people against his will, when his mind was to curse them, it being for his worldly interest; and therefore it is suggested he had better not go at all, since he never would be able to carry his point, yea, would be brought to shame and confusion before Balak and his nobles: the angel speaking in the same language as God did before to Balaam, Nu 22:20 shows that not a created angel, but a divine Person, is here meant:



so Balaam went with the princes of Balak; whom after this he quickly overtook, or they him, or they met together at some appointed place, and proceeded on in their journey.





Numbers 22:36



Ver. 36. And when Balak heard that Balaam was come,.... Messengers being sent to acquaint him with it, either by Balaam, or by the princes:



he went out to meet him; overjoyed at the news that his princes had succeeded, and to show him respect, and do him honour, and all to encourage him to do his utmost for him:



unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast; by the situation of it, being on the border of the river Arnon, which river was in the extreme parts of Moab, and divided between the Moabites and Amorites, it is generally thought to be the city Ar, called "Ar of Moab", see Nu 21:13, and the king coming to meet Balaam so far as the uttermost border of his dominions showed the greater respect to him.





Numbers 22:37



Ver. 37. And Balak said unto Balaam,.... Upon their meeting together:



did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? or "in sending send" {u}; the first messengers in a very pressing manner, with great importunity, to give thee an invitation to come to me, and those men of rank and quality, with rewards of divination in their hands, and yet the invitation was rejected; and after them other messengers, more in number and greater in dignity, with larger offers and promises; and now indeed thou art come, but with much ado, what is the meaning of all this?



wherefore camest thou not unto me? at first, without showing so much indifference and reluctance, and which obliged me to send another message to thee:



am I not able to promote thee to honour? to give thee wealth and riches, and put thee into high places of honour and profit? hadst thou any doubt in thy mind about it, either concerning my ability or will to do it?



{u} ytxlv xlv "mittendo misi", Pagninus, Montanus.





Numbers 22:38



Ver. 38. And Balaam said unto Balak, lo, I am come unto thee,.... And therefore let nothing more be said of what is past: and as for future things,



have I now any power at all to say anything? that would be agreeable to the king, and answer his purpose in sending for him, namely, to curse the people of Israel; he suggests that he had not, he was under the powerful restraint of God; he could not say what he himself was inclined to say, and what the king would have him say, and he expected he should; he could not say as some in Ps 12:4: the word



that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak; whether agreeable to Balak's will and design or not, and whether for or against Israel: however, it being expressed in such indefinite terms might leave room for Balak to hope it might answer his expectations and wishes.





Numbers 22:39



Ver. 39. And Balaam went with Balak,.... From Ar of Moab, or, however, from the place where they met, to the royal city where Balak had his palace, and seems to be the place following:



and they came to Kirjathhuzoth; which Jarchi interprets a city full of streets, a populous place, having a multitude of men, women, and children in the streets of it; and the same writer suggests as if Balak's view in this was to move the pity of Balaam, that such a number of people might not be rooted out and destroyed.





Numbers 22:40



Ver. 40. And Balak offered oxen and sheep,.... Or "slew" {w} them, either for sacrifice; and if so Balak was the sacrificer, as it was common for kings to be priests; and then Balaam, who was sent for, was the prophet, that was to observe and explain any omen at the time of sacrificing, as Calchas did, when the chiefs of Greece sacrificed {x}: or rather for a feast, as the following words seem to show; though it might be for both, it being usual, when sacrifices were offered to idols, to eat part of them in a festival way, in imitation of the peace offerings of the Jews, see Nu 25:2:



and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him; either part of it to them, or he sent for them to come, and partake of the feast, he and the princes of Moab and Midian, that had been to fetch him, and still attended him; and this the king did in a way of rejoicing, being glad that Balaam was come, and as expressing his well pleasedness with the conduct of the princes, and their success, as well as to keep Balaam in high spirits, hoping to have his end answered by him.



{w} xbzyw "cuinque occidisset", V. L. {x} Homer. Iliad. 1.





Numbers 22:41



Ver. 41. And it came to pass on the morrow,.... The day after the arrival of Balaam at Balak's royal seat, and after the entertainment given him, and the princes, "on the morning" {y} of that day, as the word signifies; and perhaps early in the morning, the king eager to be about business, and get the people of Israel cursed if possible as soon as could be:



that Balak took Balaam and brought him up into the high places of Baal; where groves were planted, and altars erected to that "idol" and which the Targum of Jonathan calls the idol Peor, the same with Baalpeor,

Nu 25:3 which might be their god Chemosh, the same with Bacchus or Priapus:



that thence he might see the utmost part of the people; the whole host of Israel, even to the extreme part of it; the camp of Dan, as the Targum of Jonathan, which brought up the rear; he had him to those high places, both that he might have a better view of the whole body of the people, and know how they lay, and to direct his curses at them, and that success might attend the undertaking, these being places of religious worship. Josephus says {z} those high places were sixty furlongs or seven and one half miles from the camp of Israel.



{y} rqbb in matutino, Montanus; mane, V. L. Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. {z} Antiqu. l. 4. c. 6. sect. 4.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Numbers 23:1



INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 23



This chapter gives an account of the sacrifices offered by Balak and Balaam, and how God met Balsam, and put a word into his mouth, which he delivered in the presence of the king of Moab and his princes,

Nu 23:1, the substance of which are, the separate state and condition of Israel from other nations, their number, and the happiness of the righteous at death, Nu 23:8, which made Balak uneasy, since instead of cursing he blessed Israel, and therefore he had him to another place to take a view of the people,

Nu 23:11 where having offered sacrifices, another word was put into the mouth of Balaam, and which he also delivered before the king and his nobles, Nu 23:14, in which were expressed the unchangeableness of God, the irreversibleness of the blessing of Israel, the strength, safety, happiness, and glory of that people, Nu 23:19 which made Balak more uneasy still; but willing to try him a third time, he carried him to another place, and there built altars, and offered sacrifices, the consequence of which is related in the next chapter, Nu 23:25.



Ver. 1. And Balaam said unto Balak,.... When upon one of the high places of Baal, and after having taken a view of the people of Israel as they lay encamped:



build me here seven altars; this was purely Heathenish; for not only the Israelites after the law of Moses had but one altar, but the patriarchs before that never built but one altar at a time. Some have thought regard is had to the seven planets worshipped by Heathens; though no doubt Balaam pretended to sacrifice to Jehovah the true God, in order to gain him over to him to agree to it to curse Israel, and persuaded Balak, though an idolater, to join with him; and, the more easily to bring him to it, mixes Heathen rites and customs in sacrifice to him:



and prepare me here seven oxen, and seven rams; which were creatures offered in sacrifice according to the law of Moses, and before that was given, and by persons who were not under it; and even by seven of each sort, and that by the express command of God, Job 42:8. It may be observed, that both in this, and the preceding clause, the word here is carefully expressed, namely, in one of the high places; there the altars were erected, and thither the oxen were brought to be sacrificed; so that both the place, and the number of the altars, savoured of Heathenish worship, in which he complied to induce the king to sacrifice to Jehovah.





Numbers 23:2



Ver. 2. And Balak did as Balaam had spoken,.... Ordered seven altars to be built, and prepared seven bullocks and rams for sacrifice:



and Balak and Balsam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram; both seem to be concerned in offering the sacrifices; Balak, though a king, it being usual for kings to be priests also, as Melchizedek was, and Balaam as a prophet; and these sacrifices were offered to the true God, as seems clear from Nu 23:4 and to which Balak, at the direction of Balaam, agreed, in order to gain the Lord on his side, that he might prevail over the people of Israel.





Numbers 23:3



Ver. 3. And Balaam said unto Balak, stand by thy burnt offering,.... By which it appears that the sacrifices offered were of this sort, and there might be one, which was more peculiarly the burnt offering of Balak; though he might be more or less with Balaam concerned in them all; at which he was directed to stand while it was burning, presenting that and himself to the Lord, that he would have respect to both:



and I will go; depart from thence, at some little distance, unto some private place:



peradventure the Lord will come to meet me; upon the offering of these sacrifices to him, though he could not be certain of it, he having lately shown some displeasure and resentment unto him; and this was also in the daytime, when it was in the night he usually came unto him:



and whatsoever he showeth me I will tell thee; the whole of it, truly as it is, whether agreeable or not:



and he went to an high place; but he was in one already, and therefore if this is the sense of the word, he must go to another, into a grove in one of the high places, where he might be retired, and so fit for a divine converse; and the Targum of Onkelos renders it alone: but rather the sense is, that he went into a plain, as De Dieu has shown from the use of the word in the Syriac language; he was upon a high place, and he went down from thence into the plain, perhaps into a cave at the bottom of the hill, a retired place, where he hoped the Lord would meet him, as he did.





Numbers 23:4



Ver. 4. And God met Balaam,.... Not in a kind and gracious manner; not out of any respect to him and his offerings; not to indulge him with any spiritual communion with him; nor to communicate his mind and will to him as a friend of his; not to gratify his desires, and grant the request of the king of Moab, or to smile upon and succeed the scheme that they had concerted; but for the sake of his people Israel, to counterwork the designs of their enemies; to blast and confound them, and turn their curses into blessings; and particularly to oblige Balaam to bless the people he was so desirous of cursing for the sake of gain:



and he said unto him; in a bragging boasting way, in order to gain his favour, and carry his point:



I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram: that is, to him the Lord; for had they been offered to Baal, he could never have had the nerve to have spoken of them to God; and which he could never have proposed as a reason why he should be regarded by him, or expect on account of them any favour from him: and indeed these altars and sacrifices were not at his expense, though they were prepared and offered at a motion of his; nor were they offered in a right manner, nor with a right end, nor from a right principle, and were far from being acceptable unto God, yea, were abominable unto him; see Pr 21:27.





Numbers 23:5



Ver. 5. And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth.... Not grace into his heart, nor the fear of God within him, but suggested to him what to say; impressed it strongly on him, that he could not forget it, and with such power and weight, that he was obliged to deliver it:



and said, return unto Balak, and thus shalt thou speak; that is, unto him, and what is expressed in Nu 22:7.





Numbers 23:6



Ver. 6. And he returned unto him,.... Immediately, as soon as he was told what to say:



and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice; continued in his devotions, hoping for success, and waiting for Balaam's return:



he and all the princes of Moab; not only those that were sent to Balaam, but perhaps all the princes of the kingdom who were got together on this occasion, and by reason of the imminent danger they apprehended the nation was in on account of Israel.





Numbers 23:7



Ver. 7. And he took up his parable, and said,.... Pronounced the word, the prophetic word, which God had put into his mouth; so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem call it, the parable of his prophecy; so called, because, in prophecies, often figurative and enigmatical expressions are used, and also sententious and weighty ones, either of which are sometimes called parables; see Ps 78:2,



Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram; or Syria, that is, from Mesopotamia, as the Septuagint translate it; and so the Targum of Jonathan, from Aram or Syria, which is by Euphrates:



out of the mountains of the east: it being the mountainous part of Mesopotamia or Chaldea, where Balaam dwelt, which lay to the east of the land of Moab:



saying, come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel; he owns that this was Balak's view in sending for him; nor does he deny that be himself came with such an intention, could he be able to execute it; even curse the people of Israel, with the utmost abhorrence and detestation of them, and in the most furious and wrathful manner, as the last word used signifies.





Numbers 23:8



Ver. 8. How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed?.... The sense is, that it was impossible for him to curse those that God did not curse himself, or would not have cursed by others; not but that he had a good will to it, to get Balak's money and honour, but he knew not how to accomplish it; yea, he saw it was in vain to attempt it, it was a thing that could not possibly be done: God does not, nor will he curse his spiritual Israel; they are blessed by him in Christ, and they shall be blessed; nor is it in the power of their enemies to curse them, or do them any harm: the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, instead of God and the Lord in this and the following clause, use the phase,



"the Word of the Lord;''



the essential Word, the Son of God, who is so far from cursing his people, that he has delivered them from the curses of the law, being made a curse for them, that the blessings of the everlasting covenant of grace might come upon them; and they are blessed of God in him, and for his sake, with all spiritual blessings:



or how shall I defy whom the Lord hath not defied? which is the same thing in other words, only this last word is expressive of more contempt and indignation.





Numbers 23:9



Ver. 9. For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him,.... That is, Israel in their camps; Balaam being at this time on the top of a rock, or on an high hill, from whence he had a view of Israel, encamped in the plains of Moab below him:



lo, the people shall dwell alone; this certainly respects their dwelling in the land of Canaan, where they dwelt a separate people from all others, distinguished by their language, religion, laws, customs, and manner of living, being different both in their clothing, and in their food, from other people; nor had they dealings, nor did they company with those of other nations; see Es 3:8 "or shall dwell safely" {z}, or securely, not so much because of the situation of their country, but because of the protection of the Almighty; see De 33:28



and shall not be reckoned among the nations; as belonging to them, shall not be made of any account by them, but be despised and reproached for their religion chiefly; nor reckon themselves of them, nor mix with them; so the Targum of Jerusalem,



"they shall not be mixed;''



or, as Jonathan,



"they shall not be led in the laws of the people;''



and though they are now scattered among the people and nations of the world, yet they are not mixed with them, nor reckoned to be a part of them; nor do they reckon themselves to be of them, but are a separate distinct people from them. Thus Israel, or the people of God in a spiritual sense, dwell alone; not solitarily, or without company, in every sense, for they have the company of Father, Son, and Spirit, of angels and saints; but they dwell in God, in Christ, in the house of God, and with one another, separately and distinctly from the world: they are a separate people in the love of God; in the choice of them in Christ; in the covenant of grace made with them in him; in redemption by him; in his intercession for them; in effectual calling; as they will be in the resurrection morn, and in heaven to all eternity: and they shall dwell safely, God being around them; Christ the rock and fortress of them; the Spirit in them being greater than he that is in the world; angels their guardians, and they in a strong city, whose walls and bulwarks are salvation: nor are they reckoned among the nations; they are chosen, redeemed, and called out of them, and are not accounted of by them any other than the refuse and offscouring of all things; nor do they reckon themselves to be of the world, but as pilgrims and strangers in it. Baal Hatturim refers this prophecy to the days of the Messiah; see Jer 23:5.



{z} rdbl "confidenter", Pagninus; "securus", Vatablus.





Numbers 23:10



Ver. 10. Who can count, the dust of Jacob,.... The people of Israel, their posterity so called, not because of their original, the dust of the earth, but because of their numbers, being as numerous as the dust of the earth, or sand of the sea, as it was promised they should be,

Ge 28:14 and which is here confirmed by the prophecy of Balaam:



and the number of the fourth part of Israel; one of the four camps of Israel, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; for this people was divided into four camps, under so many standards, which were those of Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan, see Nu 2:1, and one of them is represented by Balaam as so numerous, as not to be counted, or should be so, see Ho 1:10. The spiritual Israel of God, though comparatively few, are in themselves, and will be when all together, a great number, which no man can number, Re 7:9:



let me die the death of the righteous; which are among them, as Jarchi, among the Israelites; for they were not all righteous, nor are any, of themselves, or by their own works, but by the righteousness of Christ: or the death of the upright ones {a}; such as are upright in heart and life, who have right spirits renewed in them, and walk uprightly according to the rule of the divine word; such as are Israelites indeed, in whom there is no guile; the word used is pretty near, in sound and signification, to Jeshurun, one of the names of Israel,

De 32:15, the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem render it,



"the death of the true ones,''



who are truly righteous and upright, truly gracious persons; who have the truth of grace, and the root of the matter in them: these die as well as others, yet their death is different from others, not in the thing itself, but in the concomitants and consequences of it; they die in the Lord, in union to him, in faith of him, in hope of eternal life by him, and their death is precious to him; and in consequence of this they are carried by angels to glory at death are immediately in heaven with Christ, and it will be well with them to all eternity. Balaam had some notion of this; and though he did not care to live the life of such, he wished to die their death, or that he might be as happy at death as they; by which he bears a testimony to the immortality of the soul, to a future state after death, and to an eternal life and happiness to be enjoyed by good men:



and let my last end be like his; which is a phrase expressive of much the same thing as before: death is the end of a man in this world; and the end of a righteous man in it is peace, rest, salvation, and eternal life, or is what follows upon it, and he then enters into: some render it, "my reward" {b}, which comes to much the same sense, the above being the righteous man's reward, not in a way of debt, but grace; others render the word, "my posterity" {c}; but it is not certain Balaam had any, and if he had, his concern seems to be more for himself than for them.



{a} Myrvy rectorum, Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator. {b} ytyrxa see Prov. xxiv. 20. {c} to sperma mou Sept.





Numbers 23:11



Ver. 11. And Balak said unto Balaam, what hast thou done unto me?.... Or "for me" {f}; nothing at all, to answer his purpose, or his end in sending for him;



I took thee to curse mine enemies: so he calls the Israelites, though they had never done him any wrong; nor committed any acts of hostility against him, nor showed any intention to commit any; nay, were forbidden by the Lord their God to contend in battle with him and his people;



and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether; or, "in blessing blessed" {g}, done nothing but bless them, and that with many blessings, or pronounced them blessed, and prophesied of their blessedness, for their number, their safety, and of their happiness, not only in life, but at and after death.



{f} yl "pro me". {g} Krb tkrb "benedixisti benedicendo", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator.





Numbers 23:12



Ver. 12. And he answered and said,.... By reply to Balak:



must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth? pretending a great regard to the word of God, and to great carefulness to speak it, exactly and punctually as he received it, whereas he was forced to it, and could not do otherwise.





Numbers 23:13



Ver. 13. And Balak said unto him,.... Seemingly satisfied with his answer, however, he could not help himself, and was willing to make the best of him he could, and try what he could do with him another time and elsewhere:



come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; for he had a mighty notion that both the sight of the people, and the place from whence they were seen, would greatly contribute to answer the end he had in view, cursing the people:



thou shall see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all; for he thought, either that he was so charmed with so glorious a sight as the regular encampment of such a body of people was, that he could not find in his heart to curse them; or that he was so terrified at the sight of such a vast number of people, that he dared not attempt it; and therefore Balak proposed to have him to a place where he could only see a part of them and not the whole:



and curse me them from thence: that part, hoping that when he had cursed them he would gradually go on till he had cursed them all: but there is this objection to our version, and the sense it directs to, that Balaam had been brought to a place already, where he had seen the utmost part of the people, Nu 22:41 wherefore some read {h} the middle clause in a parenthesis, and in the past tense "(for thou hast seen but the utmost part of them, and hast not seen them all)"; and therefore would have him come to a place where he might see them all, and curse them from thence.



{h} So Vatablus.





Numbers 23:14



Ver. 14. And he brought him into the field of Zophim,.... Or Sede Tzophim, as Hillerus {i} reads it, so called from the watch tower, and watchmen in it: Jarchi says, it was a high place, where a watchman stood to observe if an army came against a city, and so a very proper place to take a view of the armies of Israel from:



to the top of Pisgah; a high hill in this place, where perhaps the watch tower was, or, however, the watchman stood: this looked towards Jeshimon or Bethjesimoth, in the plain of Moab, where Israel lay encamped, see Nu 21:20: and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar: as he had done before, Nu 23:2.



{i} Onomastic Sacr. p. 935.





Numbers 23:15



Ver. 15. And he said unto Balak, stand here by thy burnt offering,.... As he had before directed him, Nu 23:3



while I meet the Lord yonder; pointing to some place at a little distance, where he expected to meet the Lord, and have some instructions from him, which he seemed confident of, having met with him once already.





Numbers 23:16



Ver. 16. And the Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth,.... As he did before, Nu 23:5.



and said, go again unto Balak, and say thus; the words which are expressed in Nu 23:18.





Numbers 23:17



Ver. 17. And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering,.... As before; Nu 23:6 and the princes of Moab with him; Jarchi observes, that before it is said, all the princes of Moab, but not so here; for when they saw there was no hope of succeeding, some of them went away, and only some were left:



and Balak said unto him, what hath the Lord spoken? being in haste to know what it was, whether agreeable or not.





Numbers 23:18



Ver. 18. And he took up his parable,.... Pronounced the word put into his mouth,



and said, rise up Balak, and hear; not from his seat, as Eglon a successor of his did, Jud 3:20 for he was now standing by his burnt offering; but the sense is, that he would raise his attention, and stir up himself with all diligence to hear what he was about to say:



hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor; or to his word, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, which follow.





Numbers 23:19



Ver. 19. God is not a man, that he should lie,.... Man is a creature consisting of a body of flesh and blood, and of a soul, a created and finite spirit; but God, though he has the parts of an human body ascribed to him in a figurative sense, yet is not to be conceived of in a corporeal manner; and though he is a Spirit, yet eternal, immense, and infinite; and much less is as a sinful man, who goes astray from the womb speaking lies; no, let God be true, and every man a liar: he is God, that cannot lie; his counsels of old are faithfulness and truth; his promises yea and amen in Christ; the Scriptures inspired by him are true, and the prophecies of them are punctually accomplished, particularly what he foretold of the people of Israel, and promised unto them; that they should be happy, and inherit the land of Canaan; that be would be true and faithful to them, and there could be no hope, by any means whatever, to make him false and unfaithful to his word: neither the son of man, that he should repent; repentance is found in men, who repent for what they have done, or change their minds, as to what they intended to do or set about; perceiving it to be wrong to do it, or that they are able to do it, some unforeseen thing turning up they were not aware of: but nothing of this kind belongs to God, or can befall him; he never changes his mind, alters his counsels, purposes, and decrees, and never varies in his affections to his people, nor makes void his choice of them, or covenant with them; and his calling of them by his grace, and his gifts of grace bestowed upon them, are without repentance: and particularly with respect to the people of Israel, there was no reason to hope or believe that God would change his purposes or promises respecting their outward happiness, and enjoyment of the land of Canaan; or that ever he would be prevailed upon to curse them, or admit them to be cursed, when he was determined, and had so peremptorily promised that he would bless them:



hath he said, and shall he not do it? or "hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" whether it be with regard to things temporal, spiritual, or eternal; for there is no variableness nor shadow of turning in his mind; he never forgets his word, he foresees all events, he is able to perform, and is true and faithful; and therefore whatever is gone out of his lips will never be altered, but will be most certainly fulfilled, Ps 89:34 Isa 14:24.





Numbers 23:20



Ver. 20. Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless,.... The people of Israel, to pronounce a blessing upon them, to declare them a happy people:



and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it; God has blessed them, has determined to bless them, has promised to bless them, has blessed them in the victories he has given them, and will complete the blessing of them, by bringing them into the land he has given them: so the blessings which God has designed for his spiritual Israel, and bestows upon them, are irreversible; they are blessings indeed, spiritual ones, and are for ever; he blesses them with himself, as their covenant; God, their portion here and hereafter, with Christ his Son, and all things with him, with righteousness, peace, and pardon, with his Spirit and the grace thereof, with sonship, heirship, and eternal life.





Numbers 23:21



Ver. 21. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel,.... Not that there was no sin in them, nor any observed by the Lord; yet not so as to mark it in strict justice, and punish for it; but he forgave it, hid his face from it, and did not impute it to them; all the three Targums restrain it to idolatry, that there were none among them that worshipped idols, which was the reason why the Lord could not be prevailed upon to curse them: and Aben Ezra observes, that from hence Balak learnt to send women to the Israelites, to entice them to lewdness, and so to idolatry, that he might be able to carry his point: this is true of the spiritual Israel of God; for though there is sin in them, and which is continually done by them, yet their sins are removed from them, and have been laid on Christ, and he has bore them, and made reconciliation for them, and made an end of them, and has redeemed and saved them from them; and God, by imputing his righteousness to them, has justified them from all their sins, has forgiven all their iniquities, and blotted out all their transgressions, and has cast them behind his back, and into the depths of the sea, and has removed them as far from them as the east is from the west: and when God is said not to see or behold iniquity in his people, it is to be understood, not of his eye of Omniscience, with which he sees not only the sins of all men, but those of his own people also, and takes notice of them in a providential way, and chastises them for them; but of his eye of avenging justice, and purity regards the article of justification, which is a full discharge from all sin, and a perfect covering of it from the justice of God, see Jer 50:20,



the Lord his God is with him and which is his protection and defence, and in vain it is for any to be against him, or seek to hurt him; nothing is a greater happiness, or can be a greater safety, than to have the presence of God; it is this makes ordinances pleasant and delightful; by this saints are assisted in duty, and supported under trials; it is an instance of distinguishing and amazing goodness, and is what will make heaven be the happy place and state it is: all the three Targums interpret it of the Word of the Lord that is with them, and for their help; who is the Angel of God's presence, Immanuel, God with us; and who has promised to be with his churches and ministers to the end of the world, and will be with them through life, at death, and to all eternity:



and the shout of a king is among them; of God their King, the Shechinah of their King, as the Targum of Onkelos; his glorious Majesty, to whom they make their joyful acclamations, upon his appearing among them, and on the account of the victories he gives them over their enemies: or of the King Messiah, as the Targum of Jonathan, the King of kings, the Lord of lords; and so, in an ancient writing of the Jews {k}, this passage is referred to the days of the Messiah: and this shout may respect the joyful sound of the Gospel, one part of which is, that Zion's King reigns, and which proclaims him to be King, and speaks of the things concerning his kingdom, both the kingdom of grace, and the kingdom of glory; some respect may be had to the sounding of the silver trumpets by the priests on various occasions in Israel; see

Nu 10:1.



{k} Pesikta in Ketoreth Hassamim in Numb. fol. 25. 4.





Numbers 23:22



Ver. 22. God brought them out of Egypt,.... With a mighty hand and stretched out arm, and he will conduct them through the wilderness, and bring them safe to Canaan's land; he that brought them from thence will not suffer them to perish by any means; it is in vain to attempt to curse a people that is in such hands, and for whom he has done such great things: Jarchi thinks this stands opposed to what Balak had said,

Nu 22:5, thou sayest, "lo, a people is come out of Egypt";



"they did not come out of themselves, but God brought them:''



he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn; that is, not God, but the people he brought out of Egypt, being a mighty people, able to push their enemies and subdue them, being numerous and strong, especially as strengthened by the mighty God of Jacob; and therefore their strength is expressed by the strength of this creature; for be it what it will, whether the rhinoceros or the wild ox, or one kind of goats, as Bochart {l} thinks; whatever is meant by the term here must be a strong creature, see De 33:17 and great is the strength of the spiritual Israel of God, which they have from him to exercise grace, perform duty, withstand and overcome all their spiritual enemies, sin, Satan, and the world.



{l} Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 3. c. 27. col. 965.





Numbers 23:23



Ver. 23. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel,.... Balaam here owns, that all his enchantments and divinations signified nothing, and would never prevail to bring a curse upon Israel; it was a vain thing for him to use them, and as vain for Balak to expect anything from them; neither he nor any other enchanter and soothsayer, using all the arts they are masters of, could ever do any hurt to such a people, who were the peculiar care of God, and were his church, against which the gates of hell could not prevail: or "in Jacob" and "in Israel" {m}; and this is the sense of all the Targums, that there are no enchantments nor enchanters, no divinations nor diviners in Israel; these were not agreeable to them, nor suffered among them, and therefore they were acceptable and well pleasing in the sight of God and indeed this sense agrees both with the literal version of the words, and is the sense Jarchi gives of them; that these people were fit for the blessing, because there were no enchanters and diviners among them; though he mentions another, and that is, that Israel had no need of enchanters and diviners, and of their enchantments and divinations, because they had the prophets to inform them, and the Urim and Thummim to declare things unto them:



according to this time it shall be said of Jacob, and of Israel, what hath God wrought! as with respect to this time as well as to time past, and with respect to time to come, even with respect to all times; it shall be said with wonder and amazement, what great things has God done for this people! as bringing them out of the land of Egypt, leading them through the Red sea, feeding and supplying them in the wilderness, protecting them from their enemies there, expelling the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, and setting them there in their stead; and wonderful things has God done for his spiritual Israel, in the redemption of them by Christ, in the beginning and carrying on the work of grace upon their hearts, by his Spirit; and at last he will bring them all to the heavenly Canaan of rest and happiness, and where this will be matter of admiration with them to all eternity, what has God done for us!



{m} larvyb bqeyb "in Jahacob, in Israel", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.





Numbers 23:24



Ver. 24. Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion,.... Or rather, "as the lioness" {n}, which, as Aelianus says {o}, is the strongest and most warlike beast, the most fierce and furious, as is believed both by Greeks and Barbarians; and he mentions the heroism of Perdiccas the Macedonian, and Semiramis the Assyrian, in engaging with and killing, not the lion or leopard, but lioness:



and shall lift up himself as a young lion; both phrases denoting the courage and strength of the people of Israel, in attacking their enemies and engaging them:



he shall not lie down; being once roused up and engaged in war:



until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain; as the lion does when it has seized on a creature, tears it to pieces, eats its flesh and drinks its blood: this may refer to the slaughter of the Midianites that would be quickly made, and among the slain of whom Balaam himself was, Nu 31:7, and to the slaughter and conquest of the Canaanites under Joshua, and taking their spoils.



{n} ayblk "ut leaena", V. L. Tigurine version. {o} Var. Hist. l. 12. c. 39. Vid. Herodot. Thalia, sive, l. 3. c. 108.





Numbers 23:25



Ver. 25. And Balak said unto Balaam, neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. Signifying that it would be as well or better to do nothing at all, than to do what he did; but the sense is not, that he would not have him curse them, that he could never say, since he had pressed it both before and after this; wherefore the words should be rendered, as they are by some {p}, "if in cursing thou dost not curse", or will not curse, "neither in blessing bless", or, however, do not bless: if he could not or would not curse Israel, he would not have him bless them on any account; if he could do him and his people no good in ridding them of their enemies, yet he desires him by no means to do them any harm by discouraging them and encouraging Israel.



{p} So Fagius, Vatablus; with which agree the Arabic version, and Noldius, p. 221. No. 1024.





Numbers 23:26



Ver. 26. But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, told not I thee,.... He appeals to him for his honesty and faithfulness, for honest and faithful he would be thought to be, both to God and man; that when he first met him, he plainly told him what he must expect: from him:



saying, all that the Lord speaketh, that I must do; which was very true, he was obliged to do as he had bid him, and speak what he had said unto him, though it was sore against his will; he would fain both have spoken and done otherwise, if he might have been permitted.





Numbers 23:27



Ver. 27. And Balak said unto Balaam, come, I pray thee,.... Come along with me: I will bring thee unto another place: if not better for the view of the people, yet a more religious place, on which account the king hoped for success:



peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence; it may be God will give thee leave to curse the people from that place, being devoted to sacred service: this is the first time that Balak makes mention of the name of God; and he now seems to be satisfied that it was not Balaam's fault that he did not curse Israel, but that he was hindered by God, who would not suffer him to do it.





Numbers 23:28



Ver. 28. And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor,.... The name of an high mountain in Moab, so called from a gap or opening in it; here the idol Baal was worshipped, and from hence had the name of Baalpeor,

Nu 25:3 and here, very probably, was a temple built to the honour of him, called Bethpeor, the house or temple of Baalpeor, De 34:6,



that looketh towards Jeshimon; as Pisgah also did, and very likely it was not far from it, since from thence they came hither,

Nu 23:14. Jeshimon is the same with Bethjesimoth, and so the Targum of Jonathan here calls it, a part of the plains of Moab, where Israel lay encamped, Nu 33:49 so that from hence Balaam could have a full view of them.





Numbers 23:29



Ver. 29. And Balaam said unto Balak,.... Being willing to try again what could be done, and to gratify the king, and especially to get the wages of unrighteousness, if possible, which he dearly loved, as the apostle says, 2Pe 2:15



build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams; which had been done in two places before, Nu 23:1 the same sort of creatures, and the same number here as there, and these only clean creatures, such as were used in sacrifice by the true worshippers of God, and which, no doubt, Balaam had knowledge of, and therefore judged that those would be most acceptable to the Lord.





Numbers 23:30



Ver. 30. And Balak did as Balaam had said,.... Though the sacrifices were expensive, he did not grudge them; he spared no cost to gain his point, though he now could have but little hope of it: and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar; as he had done before, Nu 23:2.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Numbers 24:1



INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 24



In this chapter we are told, that Balaam leaving his enchantments, the Spirit of God came on him, and he spake of the happiness of Israel, and prophesied of their future greatness and glory, Nu 24:1 which so exasperated Balak, that he ordered him at once to depart from him,

Nu 24:10. Balaam justified himself in what he said and did, and suggested that before they parted, he had something to say in a prophetic manner, concerning what Israel should do to Moab in "future" times, Nu 24:12 and then prophesies concerning the Messiah, and the destruction of Moab, and of some neighbouring nations, and even of some at a greater distance, as the Assyrians and Romans,

Nu 24:15.



Ver. 1. And when Balsam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel,.... That it was good in his sight, what he approved of, and was well-pleasing to him, and that it was his determined mind that Israel should be blessed, and not cursed, from which there was no turning him, by offering sacrifices to him, and much less by his sorceries and divinations:



he went not as at other times; or, "as at a time in a time" {q}, at two times, of which see Nu 23:3, he abode in the place where the sacrifices were offered, and did not depart to another at some distance, as he had twice before done:



to seek for enchantments; which it seems he used before, for he not only offered sacrifices to the true God, which yet were attended with superstitious rites, but he made use of his divining art also; and not only went to meet with God, and hear what he would say to him, but consulted the devil also, being willing to have two strings to his bow, and that, if possible, he might carry his point, and get what his covetous and ambitious mind was desirous of: the words may be literally rendered, "to meet enchantments" {r}; but what should be meant by the phrase is not easy to say; I should rather choose to render them, "to meet serpents", and make use of them in his divinations, make observations on them, and predictions from them: one sort of divination is called "ophiomancy", or divining by serpents; so Calchas, on seeing a serpent devour eight sparrows with their dam, foretold the duration of the siege of Troy {s}:



but he set his face towards the wilderness: where the people of Israel lay encamped, not with an intention to bless them, though he saw it pleased the Lord, but to take an opportunity, if he could, without his leave, to curse them; and therefore he did not go out as he did before, to know his will, but stood by the sacrifice, with his face to the wilderness, where the people were, to take any advantage that offered.



{q} Mepb Mepk "sicut vice in vice", Montanus, Vatablus. {r} Myvxn tarql "in occursum auguriorum", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus. {s} Homer. Iliad. 2. see more instances in Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 1. c. 3. col. 21, 22.





Numbers 24:2



Ver. 2. And Balaam lifted up his eyes,.... Being on Mount Peor:



and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; in that exact order in which they were directed to encamp under four standards, and so many tribes under each standard, Nu 2:1



and the Spirit of God came upon him; not in his grace but in his gifts; not as a spirit of sanctification, but as a spirit of prophecy, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan paraphrase it; and so sometimes the Spirit of God in this sense has come upon wicked men, as on Caiaphas and others, Joh 11:51.





Numbers 24:3



Ver. 3. And he took up his parable,.... His parable of prophecy, as the Targums, his prophetic speech, which, with a loud voice, he expressed in the hearing of Balak and his nobles:



and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said; the preface to his prophecy is pompous, and seems to be full of pride and vanity, and so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem represent him;



"the man who is more excellent than his father hath said, to whom hidden secrets, even what was hidden from the prophets is revealed to him;''



and the Jews have a saying {t} that he that has an evil eye, a haughty spirit, and a large soul, or is covetous, is one of the disciples of Balaam the wicked:



and the man whose eyes are open hath said; or, as some {u} render it, whose eyes were shut, but now open; either the eyes of his body, which were shut when the angel met him, and the ass saw him and not he, but afterwards were open, and he saw him also; or the eyes of his understanding blinded with ambition and covetousness, but were open to see his mistake, at least so far as to be sensible that he could never prevail upon God to allow him to curse Israel; or rather open, by the spirit of prophecy coming on him, whereby he saw and foretold things to come.



{t} Pirke Abot, c. 5. sect. 19. {u} So V. L. Montanus, Tigurine version, &c.





Numbers 24:4



Ver. 4. He hath said, which heard the words of God,.... God speaking to him, which he did several times, and with which he was greatly elated, see Nu 22:9:



which saw the vision of the Almighty; not that he had a sight of any similitude of God, though the angel that appeared to him, which was Christ the uncreated angel, might appear in an human form, for some visible form was seen both by the ass and him; but rather this respects the visions of God to him in the night; it may be in a dream, as has been already observed, and which the following words seem to confirm:



falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: or falling into a deep sleep, and yet the eyes of his body open, which sometimes is the case with persons asleep; or the eyes of his mind open, to receive the instructions given him in a dream or vision of the night; unless this is to be understood of his falling on his face, when he had his vision, as sometimes the prophets did, see Eze 1:28, so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase it; and the latter says, he prophesied of himself, that he should fall by the sword; which is better than to interpret it of his falling when his ass lay down with him, as some do: so men may have a great deal of light and knowledge in their heads, and yet not have true grace in their hearts; great gifts, which puff up with pride and vanity, but not sanctifying grace, which is of an humbling nature, 1Co 8:1, what he said under a spirit of prophecy follows.





Numbers 24:5



Ver. 5. How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,.... Not that the matter of which they were made was so rich, or their structure so admirable, but the order in which they were placed was so beautiful and agreeable:



and thy tabernacles, O Israel; which is the same thing in other words, and which may be applied figuratively to the church of God, which often goes by the names of Jacob and Israel; and agrees with particular congregations and assemblies of saints, where they dwell as in tents in a movable state, like pilgrims and sojourners; and which are the dwelling places of Father, Son, and Spirit, and of the people of God with one another; and are goodly, pleasant, and delightful, because of the presence of God with them, and on account of the provisions there made for them, and the company they there enjoy; see Ps 84:1.





Numbers 24:6



Ver. 6. As the valleys are they spread forth,.... Long and broad, lying between several mountains, and reaching from hill to hill; so the armies of Israel lay encamped in the plains and villages of Moab, making a very considerable length and breadth; the camp of Israel is said to be twelve miles long, and twelve miles broad; so the Targum on Nu 2:3 and this may denote the lowness of the saints and people of God in their own eyes, and their largeness in themselves; and especially when the place of their tents shall be enlarged, and the curtains of their habitations be stretched forth in the latter day; and also their fruitfulness, meads, and valleys abounding with herbs and flowers, as the churches of God do with the fruits of the Spirit, grace, and righteousness, and with plants of the Lord's right hand planting. Some render it as brooks and torrents of water, so the Targum of Jonathan; which diffuse and spread themselves, and on the banks of which stand beautiful trees in goodly order:



as gardens by the river's side: laid out in a delightful manner, full of flowers, plants, and trees, and well watered; like to these, in several spots, were the people of Israel formed into several camps; and to these may the churches of God be compared, who are distinguished and enclosed by sovereign grace, full of trees of righteousness of the Lord's planting, watered by the river of divine love, and from Christ the fountain of gardens; see So 4:12:



as the trees of lign aloes, which the Lord hath planted: which are not planted and raised by the art and industry of man, but grow up without culture, as the mere produce of nature, under a divine providence; these are called lign wood or tree aloes, to distinguish them from another sort of aloes, which are no other than plants; but these are what the Indians call Calambra or Calembac, and, physicians Xyloaloes and Agallochium, and are of a very aromatic and fragrant scent. This tree is said to be about eight or ten feet high; at the head of it is a large bunch of leaves, which are thick and indented, broad at bottom, but growing narrower towards the point, and about four feet in length; the blossom of it is red, intermixed with yellow, and double like a pink; from this blossom comes fruit, round like a large pea, white and red; the juice of these leaves is drawn out by cutting them with a knife, and received into bottles; the smell of the wood is exquisite {w}. P. Martyr {x} speaks of a trunk of lign aloes, which being cut, a sweet savour proceeds from it. It may be observed what Isidore {y} remarks, that it grows in Arabia, as well as in India, and so might be well known to Balaam. And to these the Israel of God may be compared for their fragrancy, being clothed with the righteousness of Christ, all whose garments smell of or like these aloes, Ps 45:8 and having the graces of the Spirit of God in them, the smell of which is preferable to all spices, and they themselves are signified by the same, So 4:10:



and as cedar trees beside the waters; which are tall and high, large and spreading, durable lasting, to which the righteous are compared,

See Gill on "Ps 92:12".



{w} See Calmet's Dictionary, and the Supplement to Chamber's Dictionary, in the word "Aloes". {x} Decad. 1. l. 2. {y} Origin. l. 17. c. 8.





Numbers 24:7



Ver. 7. He shall pour the water out of his buckets,.... That is, God shall plentifully send down rain out of the clouds upon these valleys, gardens, and trees, and make them fruitful; and this may be a figure of the grace of God, with which his churches are watered, and become fruitful by means of the word and ordinances, which is conveyed through them out of the fulness which is in Christ:



and his seed [shall be] in many waters; the seed and offspring of Israel shall be in a place of many waters, in a land of brooks and waters, shall dwell in a well watered land, the land of Canaan, De 8:7 or shall be like seed sown near water, or in well watered places, which springs up and brings forth much fruit, see Isa 32:20 or shall become, or be over many waters, to which people, kingdoms, and nations, are sometimes compared; and so may denote the multitude of Israel, and the large extent of their dominions, see Re 17:1:



and his king shall be higher than Agag; who might be the then present king of Amalek, reckoned one of the greatest kings on earth; and this name, some think, was common to all the kings of Amalek, as Pharaoh to the kings of Egypt; and according to Jarchi and Aben Ezra, this is a prophecy of the first king of Israel, Saul, and of his conquering Agag king of Amalek, for there was one of this name in his time, 1Sa 15:7:



and his kingdom shall be exalted; that is, the kingdom of the people of Israel, as it was more especially in the days of David and Solomon; and will be abundantly more in the days of the Messiah, when his kingdom shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth, and the kingdoms of this world shall become his, and he shall reign over all the earth; and so the Jerusalem Targum,



"and the kingdom of the King Messiah shall become very great;''



and so other Jewish writers {z} refer this prophecy to the days of the Messiah.



{z} Pesikta in Ketoreth Hassamim, fol. 27. 2. Vid. Philo. de Praemiis, p. 925. Sept. vers. & Targum Jon. in loc.





Numbers 24:8



Ver. 8. God brought him forth out of Egypt, he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn,.... Here he repeats what he had said in a former prophecy, See Gill on "Nu 23:22": he shall eat up the nations his enemies: the seven nations of Canaan, which should be subdued by Israel, and that with as much ease as a lion devours its prey; nor would the Canaanites be able to make any more resistance to them than a creature in the paws of a lion; and the phrase denotes the utter destruction of them:



and shall break their bones; as the lion breaks the bones of such creatures that fall a prey to him; signifying that all their strength should be taken from them, their mighty men slain, and their fortified cities taken:



and pierce [them] through with his arrows: slay them utterly.





Numbers 24:9



Ver. 9. He couched,.... Which may respect the posture of the armies of Israel in the plains of Moab:



he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion; as he would do, and did in the land of Canaan, when conquered by Israel; they took up their residence on it quietly, and dwelt in it securely, and in no more fear of their enemies than a lion, which lays itself down and sleeps without concern anywhere:



who shall stir him up? who dare do it? as it would be a very rash, bold, daring, and dangerous thing to rouse up a lion lying down; so it is suggested it would be alike to provoke Israel to war at some certain times, in the days of David more especially:



blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee; which are the very words in which Isaac blessed Jacob, the ancestor of these people, Ge 27:29 and which blessing is confirmed by Balaam against his will, and whereby he cursed himself instead of Israel; for though he could not curse him with words, he had cursed him in his heart, and would have done it verbally if he could {a}.



{a} "Qui, quia non licuit, non facit, ille facit". Ovid.





Numbers 24:10



Ver. 10. And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam,.... He had bore much and long, but he could bear no longer, he was quite impatient, his last words more especially must exceedingly nettle him:



and he smote his hands together; as expressive of his indignation, vexation, and disappointment:



and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse my enemies; he had sent princes to him, one set of them after another, to invite him into his country, and to his court, with great promises of reward to curse Israel, whom he reckoned his enemies, and not to bless them:



and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times; done nothing else but bless them with blessing upon blessing, time after time; even everyone of the three times he opened his mouth, as Balak expected, to have cursed them.





Numbers 24:11



Ver. 11. Therefore now flee thou to thy place,.... His own country, from whence Balak had sent for him, and he came; begone directly, make all haste away; he speaks as one so provoked, that he could not bear him in his presence, and as threatening him if he did not at once get out of his sight:



I thought to promote thee unto great honour; to bestow much wealth and riches upon him, and to prefer him in his court to high offices of honour and dignity; he had promised that he would, and he thought as he said, he was determined upon it, had he performed as he expected:



but, lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honour; the Lord thou hast so much talked of, and at whose beck and command thou hast been, and by whom thou hast been checked and controlled, he has hindered thee from riches and honour; see what thou hast got, or rather lost, by hearkening to him, and how he will pay thee for it.





Numbers 24:12



Ver. 12. And Balaam said unto Balak,.... In order to mitigate his wrath, and bring him into a better temper:



spake I not also to thy messengers which thou sentest unto me: those that came to him a second time; for to the first he said nothing of what is after related, but to the last he did much the same as he had afterwards said to Balak himself: saying,





Numbers 24:13



Ver. 13. If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold,.... Which are the very words he said to the princes of Moab, Nu 22:18,



I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do either good or bad; for though here it is the "commandment", and there the "word" of the Lord, yet it is the same word in both places in the original text: indeed, here he omits the relation to the Lord he there claims, saying "my God"; and instead of "little or great", here it is "good or bad", but the sense is the same: and he adds, for explanation sake,



of mine own mind: or out of my heart, which was disposed well enough to serve Balak, but was laid under a restraint by the Lord:



but what the Lord said, that will I speak; and he had not only said this to the messengers, but to the king himself, and therefore he thought, that as he had openly and honestly told him this at first, he had no reason to be so angry with him; see Nu 22:38.





Numbers 24:14



Ver. 14. And now, behold, I go unto my people,.... According to thine order, I shall not stay to make thee uneasy with my company, only I crave thy patience to hear me a little before we part:



come therefore, and I will advertise thee; about some things that shall come to pass in future time, respecting this people, and thine, and other nations, both near and remote; and he hoped by this to bring him into a better temper, and part good friends: or "I will counsel thee"; what thou shall do, as the Targum of Onkelos, and so makes a sentence of this of itself, independent of, and distinct from what follows, beginning the next clause thus,



and I will show them what this people, &c. referring the former to the counsel Balaam gave to Balak, how to seduce the people into idolatry; and the Targum of Jonathan expresses it at large;



"come, I will counsel thee, go and prepare victualling houses, and place lewd women there to sell food and drink at a low price, and bring this people to eat, and drink, and be drunken; and let them lie with them, and deny their God, and they will be delivered into thine hands in a little time, and many of them will fall;''



which advice was followed, Nu 25:1 and is referred to,

Nu 31:16 but though Balaam did give him such advice before he left him, which is highly probable, yet it is not what is intended here, since what follows is closely connected with the above clause, and contains the thing he advertised or advised him of:



what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days; not what the Moabites should do to the Israelites now, as the Vulgate Latin version, quite contrary to the original text, but what the Israelites should do to the Moabites in future times; not only in the times of David, by whom they were subdued, 2Sa 8:2 but in much later times, even in the times of Alexander, or King Jannaeus, who overcame them, as Josephus {b} relates. Now this might be said to Balak to make him easy, that it would not be until the latter days, many hundreds of years hence, ere the people of Israel would fight with Moab, and subdue it; and therefore he need be under no concern about them, since he would meet with no trouble from them in his time, nor his people for years to come.



{b} Antiqu. l. 13. c. 13. sect. 5.





Numbers 24:15



Ver. 15. And he took up his parable, and said,.... In this and the following verse; the same preface, in the same words, is made to his prophecy as before, See Gill on "Nu 24:3" see Gill on "Nu 24:4"; only one clause is added, "and knew the knowledge of the Most High"; that Balaam had some knowledge of God is certain from the names by which he calls him, being such that he made himself known by to the patriarchs, and by which he is frequently called in the sacred writings; but then this knowledge of his was merely notional and speculative, and not spiritual and supernatural, and was such as men may have who are destitute of the grace of God: he was one that professed to know him in words, but in works denied him, see 1Co 13:2 and he also was admitted to much nearness to God, and converse with him, of which he boasted; but then this was not for his own sake, or as a mark of friendship to him, but for the sake of the people of Israel, and to prevent his doing them mischief. His prophecy follows.





Numbers 24:16



Ver. 16. See Gill on "Nu 24:15"





Numbers 24:17



Ver. 17. I shall see him, but not now,.... Meaning not Israel, for he now saw him encamped, and at no great distance; but one that should descend from him, a famous and excellent person, and who is no other than the Messiah, as appears by what follows; him he should see, not spiritually with an eye of faith, nor corporeally with his bodily eyes in his state of incarnation, but at the day of judgment; and now, indeed, he saw him by a spirit of prophecy:



I shall behold him, but not nigh; signifying, that the coming of this illustrious Person, who should smite the borders of Moab, was not near, and therefore Balak had no reason to indulge any present fears; and that when he was come either into the world to save men, or to judgment, Balaam would have no nearness to him, nor interest in him; he would see him at the last day, but not for himself, as Job says he should, Job 19:25



there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel; which Aben Ezra interprets of David, though he says many interpret it of the Messiah; and there are some writers, both Jewish and Christian, that understand it partly of David, and partly of Christ, and chiefly of him, and of David as a type of him; the fulfilment of which was only in part in David, but principally and completely in Christ. Maimonides {c} parts the prophecy between them: the whole undoubtedly agrees with Christ, and belongs unto him: the "star" and "sceptre" may be considered as names and titles of the Messiah; he is called the "morning star", Re 22:16 for his glory, brightness, and splendour, and for the light that comes by him, and the influence of his grace, and the blessings of it on the sons of men; and hence a false Messiah took the name of Bar Cochab, the son of a star, to answer to this prophecy; and he may be called a "sceptre", that is, a sceptre bearer, because of his royalty; he not only has the name of a king, but has a kingdom, both of nature, providence, and grace, and rules with a sceptre of grace, mercy, and righteousness; and as he was to spring from Jacob or Israel, so he did, being a son of Abraham, a descendant of Jacob, of the tribe of Judah, and family of David, Mt 1:1, but I rather think that the star is to be considered as a sign and circumstance of his coming, and that the words may be rendered, "when a star steers its course from Jacob", or "unto Jacob, then a sceptre", or "sceptre bearer",



shall rise out of Israel, or "rise up unto Israel"; for the particle

m sometimes signifies "unto" {d}; and that the appearance of a star in Israel was a sign of the Messiah's coming is certain from Mt 2:1 of which the Magi were informed by Zoroastres {e} their founder, who, being of Jewish extract, had got it from this prophecy of Balaam; and it is as evident that the Jews expected the appearance of an extraordinary star at the time of the Messiah's coming; for so they say more than once, in an ancient book of theirs {f}, that when the



"Messiah shall be revealed, a bright and shining star shall arise in the east;''



which expectation must be founded on this prophecy:



and shall smite the corners of Moab; not only the corners of their houses and cities, but the extreme parts and borders of the land, even all the sides, and the whole of it; or the princes and great men of the land, sometimes called "corners", see Zec 10:4 and so the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan,



and shall kill the princes of Moab or the mighty ones of Moab, as the Jerusalem Targum; this was literally fulfilled in David, 2Sa 8:2

Ps 60:1 and figuratively and mystically in Christ, by subduing his enemies, signified by Moabites, as being the enemies of Israel; either by reducing them through the power of his grace to obedience to him, or by smiting and breaking them in pieces with a rod of iron; and which will be more plainly and fully accomplished when he shall destroy those Moabites, the antichristian nations, Re 19:15



and destroy all the children of Sheth; some take Sheth to be the name of some famous king among the Moabites, as Grotius; others, the name of some city of Moab, which David utterly destroyed, as R. Nathan {g}; others suppose some particular nations are meant, as either the Edomites, so called because they put confidence in their foundations, and fortified places, so Vitringa {h}; or the Egyptians, from Seth or Sethos, one of their kings, who was known by the name Egyptus, as a late learned writer {i} of ours conjectures; but rather by the children of Seth are meant all nations, as Jarchi observes, for all come from Seth, the son of the first man; and so the words may be rendered, as they are by Onkelos,



"he shall rule over all the children of men;''



which will be fulfilled in Christ, when he shall have put down all rule and authority, and all will be subject to him, and his kingdom be from sea to sea, and his dominion from the river to the ends of the earth; unless rather by the children of Seth are meant the special people of God, in distinction from others, and in allusion to the distinction between the Sethites and Cainites, the one being the people of God, the other not; and so it may be interpreted of Christ's gathering them to him, by clucking as it were for them, as a hen gathers her chickens; so the word is used in Jewish writings, and of God himself; for it is said {k} the holy blessed God rqrqm, clucks over them, as hens do, which is the simile our Lord himself uses, Mt 23:37 the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan interpret this prophecy of the Messiah by name; and so do many other Jewish writers, both ancient {l} and modern {m}.



{c} Hilchot Melachim, c. 11. sect. 1. {d} Vid. Nold. Concord. Ebr. part. p. 545. {e} Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. p. 54. {f} Zohar in Exod. fol. 3. 3, 4. & in Numb fol. 85. 4. & 86. 1. {g} Apud Lyram in loc. {h} Comment. in Isa. xxii. 5. {i} Clayton's Chronology of the Hebrew Bible, &c. p. 445. {k} T. Bab. Taanith, c. 4. in En Jacob, par. 1. fol. 143. 4. {l} Debarim Rabba, fol. 234. 4. Pesikta in Kettoreth Hassammim in Numb. fol. 27. 3. & 28. 1. {m} Abarbinel. Mashmiah Jeshuah, fol. 4. 2, 3. Abendana in loc. R. Isaac Chizzuk Emunah, p. 71, 72.





Numbers 24:18



Ver. 18. And Edom shall be a possession,.... Of the children of Israel, which was fulfilled in part when the Edomites became the servants of David, 2Sa 8:14 and when they were smitten and spoiled by Judas Maccabeus,



them a great overthrow, and abated their courage, and took their spoils.'' (1 Maccabees 5:3)



and still more so when all the Edomites or the Idumaeans were subdued by Hyrcanus, and they became one people with the Jews, and conformed to their religious rites; which is not only related by Josephus {n}, but by Strabo {o}, an Heathen historian, who says, that they joined themselves to the Jews, and embraced their laws: but in a spiritual sense this has had a greater accomplishment in the calling of the Gentiles, and introducing them into the church of God; see Am 9:12 compared with Ac 15:14.



Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; which was a mount in the land of Edom where Esau formerly dwelt, and so signifies the same as before: and also that the most strong and fortified places of the land should fall into the hands of their enemies; See Gill on "Ob 1:17" See Gill on "Ob 1:18" See Gill on "Ob 1:19"



Israel shall do valiantly; in fighting with and conquering the Edomites, or shall get much wealth and riches by the spoil of them, see

Ps 60:9. This, and the following verse, are in some ancient writings of the Jews {p} interpreted of the times of the Messiah.



{n} Antiqu. l. 13. c. 9. sect. 1. {o} Geograph. l. 16. p. 523. {p} Zohar in Numb. fol. 85. 4. & 86. 1.





Numbers 24:19



Ver. 19. Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion,.... Meaning either David, or rather the Messiah; and so Jarchi interprets this of another ruler out of Jacob, even of the Messiah, of whom it is said, he shall have dominion from sea to sea; Ps 72:8,



and shall destroy him, that remaineth of the city; chief city of Edom, or of any of the cities of it, signifying that there should be none left, see Ob 1:18, this is also applied to the days of the Messiah, in the ancient writings of the Jews {q}.



{q} Bemidbar Rabba, fol. 179. 3.





Numbers 24:20



Ver. 20. And when he looked on Amalek,.... The country of Amalek, which lay to the south of the land of Canaan, Nu 13:29 and which Balaam had a view of from the mountain of Peor, where he now was:



and he took up his parable, and said; the parable of his prophecy, as the Targum of Jonathan, and pronounced it aloud:



Amalek was the first of the nations; not the first nation in the world, nor the chief and principal for numbers, riches, or strength, but the first that made war with Israel, as all the three Targums paraphrase it, as they did, see Ex 17:8,



but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever; this was threatened to them by the Lord upon that battle, and is confirmed by this prophecy of Balaam: and after this, orders were given to Israel to blot out their remembrance, De 25:19, and which, in a good measure, though not completely, was done in the times of Saul, 1Sa 15:8 and after that they were distressed by David, 1Sa 27:9 and the rest of them were smitten by the sons of Simeon, in the days of Hezekiah, 1Ch 4:41, after which we hear of them no more: Amalek may be considered as a type of antichrist, the son of perdition, who shall go into it, shall come to his end, and there shall be none to help him; which will be true of all the antichristian party, the enemies of Christ, who will be destroyed by him, and perish eternally; see Da 11:45.





Numbers 24:21



Ver. 21. And he looked on the Kenites,.... Not the family and posterity of Jethro, as Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Abendana; for they were not a people by themselves, but were now encamped with Israel, and went with them into the land of Canaan, and were not carried captive with the ten tribes, though some might that dwelt in Naphtali, Jud 9:4, for they after that remained with Judah under the name of Rechabites, Jer 35:2 and returned with the two tribes, being carried captive with them, 1Ch 2:55 but they were a people, though of the same original and family Jethro descended from, which dwelt near, and afterwards among the Amalekites, and therefore were seen by Balaam, and taken notice of at the same time they were; see 1Sa 15:6. Abarbinel takes them to be the same with those in Ge 15:19



and took up his parable; or prophecy concerning them, and delivered it:



and said, strong is thy dwelling place, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock, they dwelling in craggy rocky places, where they thought themselves secure and out of danger; and this their habitation he calls "Ken", a nest, in allusion to their name Kenites.





Numbers 24:22



Ver. 22. Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted,.... Though they were so strongly fortified, and closely immured and surrounded with rocks and mountains, yet they should gradually waste away, as they were but few in Saul's time, 1Sa 15:6



until Ashur shall carry thee away captive; Tiglathpileser, king of Assyria, when he carried captive the people of Syria, took these with them, 2Ki 16:9, though Jarchi thinks they were carried captives with the ten tribes, that is, by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria; and the Targum of Jonathan, by Sennacherib, king of Assyria; and others think by Nebuchadnezzar, who was sometimes reckoned a king of Assyria; taking them to be the same with the Amalekites, who were carried captives and returned with the two tribes.





Numbers 24:23



Ver. 23. And he took up his parable, and said,.... Or delivered another prophecy, having made some little pause:



alas, who shall live when God doeth this? referring not to what goes before, but to what follows; though Jarchi and Aben Ezra think it refers to the Assyria conquering and carrying captive, not only the Kenites, but all the nations of the world, so that there was no living comfortably in it on his account; but this is said after Balaam had taken up his parable again, and so respects what follows, as the destruction of the Persian empire by Alexander, in which Ashur or the Assyrians were included; and the destruction of the Jews by the Romans more especially; which was such as had not been the like from the beginning of the world, Mt 24:21, and perhaps may have a further respect to the affliction of the witnesses and church of Christ by antichrist; see Da 12:1.





Numbers 24:24



Ver. 24. And ships [shall come] from the coast of Chittim,.... Kittim was the son of Javan, Ge 10:4 and so designs some part of Greece: Josephus {r} says that Kittim possessed the island now called Cyprus, in which was a city now called Citium, after his name; Macedonia, a considerable part of Greece, is called the land of Cittim,



"And it happened, after that Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, who came out of the land of Chettiim, had smitten Darius king of the Persians and Medes, that he reigned in his stead, the first over Greece,'' (1 Maccabees 1:1)



"Beside this, how they had discomfited in battle Philip, and Perseus, king of the Citims, with others that lifted up themselves against them, and had overcome them:'' (1 Maccabees 8:5)



but the Targum of Jonathan interprets it, of the country of Italy; the Jerusalem Targum, of the Roman legions; and perhaps both Greeks and Romans are intended, and so ships from Cittim, in Da 11:30, design Romans in Grecian ships; for in such were the Roman ambassadors carried, who distressed Antiochus, king of Syria,

See Gill on "Da 11:30"; and both may be intended here: it is affirmed {s} that Noah with his son Japheth, came into the country now called Italy, and built a city, and gave it the name of Cethim, since called Volterra, and was the metropolis of Etruria, and gave name to all Italy; and that in the year two hundred and twenty from the building of that city, Cethim the son of Javan, and grandson of Noah, took two colonies with him, and sailed to an island which he called after his own name Cethim, now Cyprus:



and shall afflict Ashur; which being a part of the Persian empire, was afflicted, conquered, and subdued by Alexander the Macedonian, who is said to come out of the land of Cittim,



"And it happened, after that Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, who came out of the land of Chettiim, had smitten Darius king of the Persians and Medes, that he reigned in his stead, the first over Greece,'' (1 Maccabees 1:1)



and shall afflict Eber; or the Hebrews, as the Septuagint version; not that the Grecians or Macedonians should do this, for they under Alexander did not afflict the Jews; unless this is to be understood of the Seleucidae, the kings of Syria, the successors of Alexander, who did distress the Jews; but rather this respects the Romans under Pompey, and especially under Titus Vespasian, who destroyed their city, and carried them captive, and who ever since have been dispersed among the nations:



and he also shall perish for ever: not Eber, but those that afflicted him, even the Romans; and indeed both monarchies, Grecian and Roman, are prophesied of as what should be destroyed, and that by a son of Eber, the Messiah; the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, said to break in pieces all these kingdoms, Da 2:44 and not Rome Pagan only, but Rome Papal also, antichrist and all the antichristian powers, 2Th 2:8. and so the Targum of Jonathan says, that the end both of the one and the other, that is, that shall afflict Eber, shall be, to fall by the hand of the King Messiah, and they shall perish for ever.



{r} Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1. {s} Inghiram. Etrusc. Antiqu. apud Dickinson. Delph. Phaenic. Append. p. 153. Vid. p. 77.





Numbers 24:25



Ver. 25. And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place,.... The country from whence he came, that is, he went from Balak, according to his command, in order to return to his own land; for he seems not to have reached it, but stayed by the way among the Moabites and Midianites, and was slain in a battle between Israel and them,

Nu 31:8, or if he did reach Mesopotamia, he returned again, as Chaskuni says; and either before he left Balak, or in his journey homewards, or when he returned, he gave that advice, to seduce the Israelites first to whoredom, and by that to idolatry, the effects of which are observed in the following chapter, see Gill "Nu 24:14" and Balak also went his way; to his royal city, court, and family, attended, very probably, by the princes of Moab, who had been with him all this while; though how long these things were transacting is not certain.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Numbers 25:1



INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 25



The contents of this chapter are, the sin of the people of Israel, their whoredom and idolatry, Nu 25:1, their punishment for it, multitudes being slain, Nu 25:4, whose number is given,

Nu 25:9, the zeal of Phinehas in slaying two notorious offenders,

Nu 25:6, whose names are observed, Nu 25:14 for which he is commended, and the covenant of priesthood was given and confirmed unto him, Nu 25:10, and the chapter is concluded with an order to vex the Midianites, for vexing Israel with their wiles, Nu 25:16.



Ver. 1. And Israel abode in Shittim,.... A place in the plains of Moab, so called from the shittim wood, which grew here in great abundance, so often mentioned in the building of the tabernacle; which was a sort of white thorn, or rather the acacia tree, since there was scarcely any thing else grew in the deserts of Arabia, See Gill on "Ex 25:5" its full name was Abelshittim, Nu 33:49, here the Israelites abode even to the death of Moses, for this was their last station in the wilderness; they were now on the borders of the land of Canaan, and just ready to enter into it, which is an aggravation of the sins they here fell into, and are next observed:



and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab; and of Midian also, as appears from Nu 25:6 by the advice of Balaam, the Moabites and Midianites found ways and means to become familiar with the Israelites, and to introduce their daughters into their company and conversation, and being ensnared and enamoured with them, they were drawn to commit lewdness with them, and hereby were led on to commit other abominations, which brought the divine displeasure upon them; so that what they dared not attempt by war, and could not effect by sorceries and divinations, they accomplished by those iniquitous arts, namely, bringing the wrath, the curse, and plague of God upon them.





Numbers 25:2



Ver. 2. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods,.... That is, the daughters of Moab and Midian, with whom the children of Israel carried on an unlawful correspondence, invited them, their gallants, to come and partake of the feasts which attended the sacrifices of their idols; for part of what was offered to idols a feast was kept with, to which great numbers were invited, and which was observed with all the circumstances of joy and pleasure imaginable, and which was very ensnaring, especially to young people; and the children of Israel being so much enamoured with the beauty of the Moabitish women, and so strong were their lusts and passions, that they could not refuse the invitation:



and the people did eat: of the things sacrificed to idols, and so became guilty of idolatry, even by so doing, and then when they had eaten and drank, and were merry, they were led on to other acts of idolatry:



and bowed down to their gods: which was a plain and open act of idolatry, whereby they testified their faith in their divinity, their reverence of them, and their homage and obedience to them: Jarchi says, when the evil concupiscence or lust was strong in them, and they solicited the daughters of Moab to hearken to them, and comply with them, they used to take the image of Peor out of their bosom, and said, worship this, signifying that on that condition they would gratify them; and thus whoredom led them on to idolatry, and they committed the one for the sake of being indulged in the other.





Numbers 25:3



Ver. 3. And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor,.... The name of an idol; one of the Baals, Baal being a general name for an idol; and, to distinguish this from other Baals or idols, it was called Peor, either from its opening its mouth in prophecy, as Ainsworth; or from some obscene posture and action used in the worship of it, being, as it is by many thought to be, the same with Priapus; or rather from the mountain Peor, where it was worshipped, as Jupiter is called Jupiter Olympius, Capitolinus, &c. from the mountains where he had a temple, or was worshipped; or from the name of some great personage, called Lord Peor, who was deified after his death; hence these Israelites are said to "eat the sacrifices of the dead", Ps 106:28. Mr. Bedford {t} takes him to be Mizraim the son of Ham, the Osiris of the Egyptians, and the Priapus of other Heathens: and Father Calmet {u} is of opinion that he is the same with Orus, Osiris, and Adonis; and that Pe is only a prepositive article, and that Or is the name, and no other than Orus; but such a criticism the word will not bear: this idol, the chief god of the Moabites, was, in all probability, the same with Chemosh, who is expressly called the abomination of Moab, 1Ki 11:7 of whom

See Gill on "Jer 48:7" so Chemosh and Peor are thought to be the same by our English poet {w}: to him the Israelites joined themselves, forsook the true God in a great measure, and were initiated into the rites of this deity, and constantly attended the worship of it, and cleaved unto it with their hearts and directions, and joined with their harlots in all parts of service performed unto it; See Gill on "Ho 9:10",



and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel; for no sin is more provoking to God than idolatry, that being so directly opposite to his nature, honour, and glory, as well as to his will and worship; and hereby the end of Balaam and Balak was, in a great measure, answered, and Balaam obtained that by his evil counsel which he could not by all his conjuring; this was seen by the plague sent among them;

See Gill on "Nu 24:14".



{t} Scripture Chronology, p. 267. {u} Dictionary, on word "Baal". {w} "Next Chemos, the obscene dread of Moab's sons, Peor his other name, -----" Milton, B. 1. l. 406, 412.





Numbers 25:4



Ver. 4. And the Lord said unto Moses,.... Being provoked with the sins of the people, he called to him out of the tabernacle, or out of the cloud:



take all the heads of the people, the princes of the tribes, not to hang them, but to judge those that worshipped Peor, as Jarchi interprets it; though some think that these having sinned, were ordered to be taken and hanged, and made public examples of; but it can hardly be thought, though there were some that might be guilty of the above sins, as Zimri, yet not all of them:



hang them up before the Lord against the sun; that is, those that were guilty of idolatry: the meaning is, and which all the Targums give into, that these heads of the people were to assemble at some proper place, the court of judicature, and order the delinquents to be brought before them, and try, judge, and condemn those they found guilty, and cause them to be hanged somewhere near the tabernacle, and before it, having neglected the worship of God there, and served an idol; and this was to be done openly in the daytime, that all might see and fear; and if it was the sun that was worshipped in this idol, as some think, they were hanged against the sun, to show that the idol they worshipped was not able to deliver them; but, in the face of it, and as it were in defiance of it, they were ordered to be hanged up; and this, according to the Targum of Jonathan, was in the morning against the rising sun, and where they hung all day, and were taken down at sun setting:



that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel; when justice had taken place, and proper punishment was inflicted upon the criminals, whereby a just resentment was made against sin, and God glorified.





Numbers 25:5



Ver. 5. And Moses said unto the judges of Israel,.... Either the same with the heads of the people, or the rulers of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, according to the distribution by the advice of Jethro:



slay ye everyone his men, that were joined unto Baalpeor; all that were under their several districts and jurisdictions, that were found guilty of that crime; these they are ordered to slay, either with their own hands, or rather cause to be slain by proper persons they should appoint to be executioners.





Numbers 25:6



Ver. 6. And, behold, one of the children of Israel came,.... From one of the cities of Moab or Midian, the latter rather, by what follows; where he had been, very probably, to an idolatrous feast, and had eaten of the sacrifices, and worshipped idols, and committed fornication with the daughters of the land; and not content with indulging himself with those impurities at a distance and where he was less known:



brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman; into his father's family, into a tent where his brethren dwelt:



in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel; in the most open and undisguised manner, into the midst of the camp, passing by Moses, and a great number of the people, who were gathered together on this solemn occasion, to seek the Lord, and humble themselves before him:



who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; the place where the people used to assemble together for religious exercises; here they were weeping and mourning for the sins and abominations that were committed among them, and on account of the punishment inflicted on many of them, by the hand of the civil magistrate, and because of the plague that was broke out upon them, from an angry God; by which it appears, that though there were many who had fallen into those foul sins, yet there were a great number which were not defiled with them, and sighed and cried for the abominations in the midst of them: and because the fact here recorded was such an amazing piece of impudence, the word "behold" is prefixed to the account of it, it being done in such a public, bold, and audacious manner, and at such a time, when so many had been hanged up for it, and the plague of God was broke out among the people on account of it, and good men were bewailing the sin, and the punishment of it; and if this was on a sabbath day, as the Samaritan Chronicle {x} relates, it was a further aggravation of it.



{x} Apud Hottinger. Smegma Oriental. l. 1. c. 8. p. 448.





Numbers 25:7



Ver. 7. And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it,.... Saw the man pass by in this impudent manner, and his whore with him; his spirit was stirred up, he was filled and fired with zeal for the glory of God, and with an holy indignation against the sin and sinner, and with a just concern for the honour of the righteous law of God; and, to prevent others from falling into the same sin, led by the public example of so great a personage, as it appears afterwards this man was:



he rose up from among the congregation; who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle, or from the midst of the court of judicature, set for trying and judging such persons who were charged with idolatry; for he was not only the son of the high priest and his successor, but a ruler over the Korahites, and had, besides his priestly office, a civil authority, 1Ch 9:20



and took a javelin in his hand; a spear or pike; the Jews say {y} he snatched it out of the hand of Moses; and, according to Josephus {z}, it was a sword; but the word rather signifies an hand pike; this being ready at hand, he took it up and pursued the criminal.



{y} Pirke Eliezer, c. 47. fol. 56. 1. {z} Antiqu. l. 4. c. 6. sect. 12.





Numbers 25:8



Ver. 8. And he went after the man of Israel into the tent,.... Into which he went with his harlot; the word here used is different from what is commonly used for a tent: Aben Ezra observes that in the Kedarene or Arabic language there is a word near to it, which Bochart, putting the article "al" to it, says {a}, is "alkobba", from whence is the word "alcove" with us; and Aben Ezra says, there was some little difference between the form of a tent and this, as well as others observe {b} there was in the matter of it, this being of skins and leather, and the other of hair, boughs of trees, &c. the author of Aruch {c} says, it was short, or narrow above and broad below, and interprets it a place in which whores were put; and so it is used in the Talmud {d} for a brothel house, and is so translated here by some interpreters {e}:



and thrust both of them through; with his javelin, spear, or pike;



the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly; by which, it seems, they were killed in the very act of uncleanness; this was an extraordinary action, done by a person of public authority, and under a more than common emotion of spirit, and not to be drawn into an example by persons of a private character:



so the plague was stayed from the children of Israel; which had broke out among them and carried off many; even a disease, the pestilence, according to Josephus {f}; it ceasing upon this fact of Phinehas, shows that that was approved of by the Lord.



{a} "conclave est camerati operis, quo lectus circumdatur", Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 4. c. 8. col. 1092. Vid. Schultens Animadv. Philolog. in Job. p. 183. {b} Castel. Lex. Heptaglot. col. 3261. {c} Baal Aruch, fol. 133. 4. {d} T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 17. 2. {e} hbqh la "in lupanar", V. L. "ad lupanar", Montanus; "in lupanar ipsum", Junius & Tremellius; "in fornicem", Tigurine version. {f} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 4. c. 6. sect. 12.)





Numbers 25:9



Ver. 9. And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. The apostle says 23,000 1Co 10:8. Moses includes those that were hanged against the sun, in the time of the plague, as well as those that were taken off by it, even all that died on this account; the apostle only those that "fell", which cannot with propriety be said of those that were hanged, who might be 1000 and so their numbers agree; but of this and other ways of removing this difficulty

See Gill on "1Co 10:8".





Numbers 25:10



Ver. 10. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Out of the cloud, or out of the tabernacle, at the door of which Moses now was, Nu 25:6, this was after so many had died of the plague, and after the fact of Phinehas, by which it was stopped: saying; as follows.





Numbers 25:11



Ver. 11. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest,.... His descent and genealogy is observed as before, partly to show that he was not a private person, but a man of public authority that did the above fact; perhaps one of the judges that Moses ordered to slay every man his man, and therefore what he did by the order of the supreme magistrate; and partly to show that he was heir apparent to the office of high priest, who in course was to succeed in it; nor should this action of his hinder it, but rather serve to secure and confirm it to him:



hath turned away my wrath from the children of Israel; caused the effects of it to cease, by slaying the two persons, as before related:



while he was zealous for my sake among you; for the glory of God, the honour of his law, the credit of religion, and the good of his people, which is a good cause to be zealously affected in, Ga 4:18 in which he was a type of Christ, whose zeal for the house of God, for the doctrine, discipline, and worship of it, for the salvation of his people, and the glory of God thereby, ate him up, Ps 69:9 as well as in his turning away wrath from Israel; sin is the cause of wrath, and for it is revealed from heaven; the people of God are deserving of it as others; but Christ has bore it for them, and so has delivered them from it and all the effects of it, and they are secure from its coming upon them:



that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy; by the plague sent among them, being so highly provoked with their shocking abominations.





Numbers 25:12



Ver. 12. Wherefore say,.... Moses is bid to tell what follows to Phinehas himself, for his comfort and encouragement, and to the people of Israel, that they might take notice of it, and give him honour and respect, as one highly esteemed by the Lord:



behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace; not only hereby assuring him that he had nothing to fear from the brethren and relations of the person he had slain, as Aben Ezra; but that he should enjoy all peace and happiness, external, internal, and eternal: Baal Hatfurira on the place says, that "Shalom", peace, is by geometry, or numerically, the Messiah; who is the peace, the peace maker, and peace giver, and in whom all the blessings of grace and peace are: and if this covenant is the same with the covenant of the priesthood in the next verse, it may be so called, because the priests had a peculiar nearness to God, and enjoyed his friendship, favour, and peace with him, and because the right administration of their office was the means of peace between God and his people; in this also Phinehas was a type of Christ; the covenant of grace made with him is called the covenant of peace,

Isa 54:10 for in this covenant the scheme of peace and reconciliation was formed, agreed to, and settled; Christ was appointed the peace maker, which he agreed to be; and in consequence of it was sent and obtained peace by the blood of his cross, which is published in the everlasting Gospel, called therefore the Gospel of peace.





Numbers 25:13



Ver. 13. And he shall have it, and his seed after him,.... The covenant, and all the blessings of it; so the covenant stands fast with Christ, and all his spiritual seed, Ps 89:28:



even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; or this may be read in connection with the preceding words, and the sense be, and he and his shall have the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, beside the covenant of peace before promised to him: the Aaronic priesthood is called everlasting, because it was to continue, and did continue, throughout the whole Jewish dispensation, unto the coming of the Messiah, in whom it had its fulfilling end. Now though Phinehas in course was to have the priesthood at his father's death, yet it is here promised him on account of his zeal, both to assure him that he should survive his father, and that nothing should befall him that should render him incapable of the priesthood; and moreover, that he should have a seed in whom it should be continued; there was indeed an interruption of it in his line for a little while, on some account or other, it being translated into the family of Eli, a son of Ithamar; but then it was restored again in the time of Solomon to the family of Phinehas, where it continued unto the captivity, and even to the times of Herod, and so of the Messiah: in this also Phinehas was a type of Christ, the covenant made with him not only being from everlasting and to everlasting, a covenant that cannot be broken, and will never be removed; but the priesthood founded on it is so too, being established by the oath of God, who swore to him, "thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek": Christ's priesthood is an unchangeable one, and does not pass from one to another; his sacrifice has a perpetual virtue and efficacy in it to take away sin, and he ever lives to make intercession for his people, Heb 7:21:



because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel; by executing judgment upon the delinquents, as Christ has made atonement for the sins of his people by satisfying law and justice: and, besides what has been observed, it may be remarked, that there is an agreement between Phinehas and Christ in his very name; Phinehas signifies either "the face of him that spares", that is, of God, that spares; Christ is the face of God, the express image of his person, even of him, who, though he spared not Christ himself, yet he spares his people for Christ's sake; or else "he shall look that spares", or "and spare" {g}; that is, God, who looks upon the person, righteousness, blood, and sacrifice of his Son, and spares his people.



{g} Vid. Hiller. Onomastic. Sacr. p. 476.





Numbers 25:14



Ver. 14. Now the name of the Israelite that was slain,.... By Phinehas, as before related:



[even] that was slain with the Midianitish woman; who was slain also, both together with one thrust:



was Zimri, the son of Sela, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites; or a prince of his father's house, or family; there were five families of the Simeonites, and this man was a prince of one of them, see Nu 26:12 though Josephus {h}, and so the Samaritan Chronicle {i}, make him to be a prince of the tribe of Simeon. His name is mentioned partly to the reproach of him, and partly for the honour of Phinehas, whose zeal and courage were such, that he feared not to take away the life of a person of such figure, authority, and interest among the people.



{h} Antiqu. l. 4. c. 6. sect. 10. {i} Apud Hottinger, Smegma Oriental, l. 1. c. 8. p. 448.





Numbers 25:15



Ver. 15. And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur,.... One of the five kings of Midian,

Nu 31:8 and so the Samaritan Chronicle says {k}, it was the daughter of a king that came to a prince of the tribe of Simeon, and enticed him to eat of her food, and worship her idols. The Targum of Jonathan says she was called Selonae, the daughter of Balak, chief of the nation of Moab, whose habitation was in Midian:



he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian; that is, Zur, the father of Cozbi, was; there were five sons of Midian, whose names are given, Ge 25:4 from whence Jarchi concludes, that there were five principal families in Midian, and that this man was the head or chief of one of them, which is not improbable; and that also makes for the honour of Phinehas, that he spared not any for their rank and quality, of whatsoever nation they were.



{k} Apud Hottinger, ut supra. (Smergma Oriental, l. 1. c. 8. p. 448.)





Numbers 25:16



Ver. 16. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... This was some time after the above affair happened; how long it was is not certain; and a little time before the death of Moses, see Nu 31:1:



saying; as follows.





Numbers 25:17



Ver. 17. Vex the Midianites, and smite them. Go to war with them, and smite them with the sword; not the Moabites, but the Midianites, though they were both confederates against Israel; but God had given a charge not to contend in battle with Moab, De 2:9, they were spared for the sake of Lot, from whom they sprang; and, as Jarchi says, for the sake of Ruth, who was to come from them; and so in the Talmud {l}; though they did not entirely escape the divine resentment, as appears from

De 23:3 but the Midianites were the first that advised to send for Balaam, and with them he stayed and was entertained, after he had been dismissed by Balak; and it seems as if it was to them he gave the wicked counsel, to draw Israel into fornication, and so into idolatry, and thereby bring the curse of God upon them; which advice they communicated to the Moabites, and both were concerned in putting it into execution; see Nu 22:4.



{l} T. Bab. Bava Kama, fol. 38. 2.





Numbers 25:18



Ver. 18. For they vex you with their wiles,.... Not with wars, but with wiles, with cunning stratagems, and artful methods to draw them into sin, that thereby they might be exposed to the wrath of God:



wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor; the idol Peor, that is, Baalpeor; which seems to countenance the notion that Peor was the name of a man, some great personage, who was deified after his death; now the Midianites beguiled the Israelites, by sending their daughters among them, with whom they committed fornication, and by whom they were inveigled to worship the idol Peor:



and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister; their countrywoman, as it was common with eastern people to call those of the same country with them their brethren and sisters: now the Midianites beguiled the Israelites, by prostituting a person of such quality to a prince of theirs, which was setting an example to other daughters of Midian to follow her, and so hereby many of the children of Israel were ensnared into whoredom, and into idolatry:



which was slain in the day of the plague, for Peor's sake: or for the business of Peor, as the Targum of Jonathan, because of the worship of that idol; not that Cozbi was slain upon that account, but the plague came upon Israel by reason of their worshipping of it, and it was on the day that the plague was that she was slain; by which it seems that the plague lasted but one day.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

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