Numbers 23 - Introduction
_BALAK OFFERS SACRIFICES ACCORDING TO THE ORDERS OF BALAAM; WHO, BY THE IMPULSE OF GOD, PROPHESIES IN FAVOUR OF THE ISRAELITES._ _Before Christ 1452._... [ Continue Reading ]
_BALAK OFFERS SACRIFICES ACCORDING TO THE ORDERS OF BALAAM; WHO, BY THE IMPULSE OF GOD, PROPHESIES IN FAVOUR OF THE ISRAELITES._ _Before Christ 1452._... [ Continue Reading ]
BUILD ME HERE SEVEN ALTARS, &C.— That is, say some, in honour of that God who had consecrated the number _seven_ by ceasing from his works of creation on the seventh day. That Balaam sacrificed to Jehovah, the true God, there can be no question; but Psalmanazar's reasons why he erected seven altars... [ Continue Reading ]
STAND BY THY BURNT-OFFERING— By which he means not any particular offering, but the whole sacrifice offered on the seven altars. _And I will go,_ says Balaam, i.e. I will _retire into solitude_ and _silence_ to meet the Lord, Numbers 23:15. (see the note on chap. Numbers 24:1.) _peradventure the Lor... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD PUT A WORD IN BALAAM'S MOUTH— _Jehovah,_ in the original; which abundantly proves Balaam to have been a prophet of the true God. Concerning the word _parable_ in the 7th verse, see the note on chap. Numbers 21:27.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR FROM THE TOP OF THE ROCKS I SEE HIM, &C.— That is, from the top of the rocks on which he then stood: this, and the next expression, may relate not only to the present view he had of the camp of the Israelites, but to their future settlement in Canaan, wherein they were represented to his "mind's... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO CAN COUNT THE DUST OF JACOB? &C.— God promised to Abraham, first, that his posterity should inherit the land of Canaan; and secondly, that they should be as _numerous_ as the dust of the earth, Genesis 13:15. Balaam confirms this double promise: the first part in the preceding verse, the second... [ Continue Reading ]
BALAK SAID,—COME—WITH ME UNTO ANOTHER PLACE— Balak seems to believe, that the sight of such a numerous people had an effect upon the prophet; and therefore he wishes him now to pass to another place, that he might see only _a part_ of them: whence it seems probable, that they conceived it necessary... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FIELD OF ZOPHIM TO THE TOP OF PISGAH— _Zophim,_ signifies _watchmen; and the field of Zophim_ seems to have been a plain on the top of the mountain, where watchmen were placed in order to give a signal upon the approach of enemies. See Isaiah 21:11; Isaiah 52:8. Pisgah was a very high mountain i... [ Continue Reading ]
RISE UP, BALAK, AND HEAR, &C.— The repetitions are of the most noble and sublime kind; and this introduction to his discourse, full of fire and grandeur, was truly worthy of a prophet actually charged to pronounce the oracles of a God, in whose presence kings and nations themselves are nothing. Bala... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD IS NOT A MAN— The prophet is here compelled, in the strongest manner, to proclaim his own folly, and the vain expectation of the king of Moab; asserting, that it is not to be imagined that the high God is subject to the uncertain humours and fluctuating passions of weak mortals; or that he can b... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HATH NOT BEHELD INIQUITY IN JACOB, &C.— _One shall not behold affliction in Jacob, nor see vexation in Israel._ Waterland. Houbigant renders this, _I shall not see iniquity,_ &c. The words will certainly bear the interpretation which Dr. Waterland has given them, and which some of the versions co... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD BROUGHT THEM OUT OF EGYPT; HE HATH, &C.— The alteration of the numbers in our translation renders the meaning sometimes perplexed. It would be better to read the foregoing verse as above; and the present, _God brought them out of Egypt; their strength is as the strength of the unicorn._ Concerni... [ Continue Reading ]
SURELY THERE IS NO ENCHANTMENT AGAINST JACOB, &C.— Here the prophet bursts forth in a noble rapture, and declares to Balak, and the nobles around, that all their impious machinations were in vain against a people whom the Lord had determined to bless. So in Proverbs, ch. Numbers 21:30 it is said, _T... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL BRING THEE UNTO ANOTHER PLACE— As the Syrians imagined that some gods were powerful in the hills, who could do nothing in the plains, 1 Kings 20:23; 1 Kings 20:28 so it seems there was such a conceit at this time in these countries, that some gods had more power on one hill than on another. T... [ Continue Reading ]
UNTO THE TOP OF PEOR— Which was the most famous high place in all the country of Moab; and where, Selden conjectures, Baal had a temple, and was thence called Baal-peor; just as Jupiter, worshipped at Olympus, was called Jupiter Olympius. See Deuteronomy 34:6. REFLECTIONS.—Balak is now quite dispiri... [ Continue Reading ]