And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams. Ver. 1. _Build me here seven altars._] Here, in Baal's high places. Num 22:41 A sinful mixture, such as was that of those mongrels 2Ki 17:28-29 and their natural nephews, the Samaritans, Joh 4:5 A... [ Continue Reading ]
And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on [every] altar a bullock and a ram. Ver. 2. _And Balak did._] Ready to conform to any religion, so he might obtain his purposes. God abhors these lukewarm neuter passives, that are _inter coelum terramque penduli,_ that halt between... [ Continue Reading ]
And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place. Ver. 3. _Stand by thy burnt offering._] Or, Present thyself, to see if God will accept thy person.... [ Continue Reading ]
And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon [every] altar a bullock and a ram. Ver. 4. _I have prepared seven altars._] He boasts of his devotions, and so thinks to demerit God's favour. So those hypocrites in Isaiah. Isa 58:3 _Non sic deos coluim... [ Continue Reading ]
And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. Ver. 5. And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth.] The words thus put into his mouth, do but pass from him; they are not polluted by him, because they are not his! as the trunk through which a man sp... [ Continue Reading ]
And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, [saying], Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel. Ver. 7. _And he took up his parable._] Or, Pithy and powerful speech, uttered in numerous and sententious terms, and taken... [ Continue Reading ]
How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, [whom] the LORD hath not defied? Ver. 8. _How shall I curse?_] He had a good mind to it, but did not, because he durst not: God stood over him with a whip, as it were; the angel with a sword in his hand could not be forgotten by him.... [ Continue Reading ]
For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Ver. 9. _From the top of the rocks I see him._] And have no power to hurt him. She heard me without daunting; I departed not without terror, when... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth [part] of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!_ Ver. 10. _Let me die the death._] But he was so far from living the life of the righteous, that he gave pestilent counsel against the lives of Go... [ Continue Reading ]
And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed [them] altogether. Ver. 11. _What hast thou done unto me._] Hereby it appears that Balak, in serving of God by building altars and offering sacrifices, did but serve himself up... [ Continue Reading ]
And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth? Ver. 12. _Must I not take heed to speak._] See how those hypocrites mock one with another. _Potest augur augurem videre, et non ridere?_ _a_ said Cato. _ a_ Cic., _De Divinat., _ lib. ii.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence. Ver. 13. _From whence thou mayest see them._] And over-look them, as they say witches do,... [ Continue Reading ]
And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus. Ver. 16. _Put a word._] _See Trapp on "_ Num 23:5 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: Ver. 18. _Rise up, Balak._] The greatest potentate must reverently attend to the word of God. Ehud, though a fat unwieldy man, stood up to hear a message from God. Jdg 3:20 So did Constantine the Gr... [ Continue Reading ]
_God [is] not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do [it]? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?_ Ver. 19. _That he should repent._] When at any time God is said to repent, it is _Mutatio rei, non Dei; effectus non aff... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. Ver. 20. _Behold, I have, &c._] A bad man may bless by command from God, and he say Amen to it. The precious stone Lyncuris may issue out of the body of the lynx, an unclean and spotted beast.... [ Continue Reading ]
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God [is] with him, and the shout of a king [is] among them. Ver. 21. _He hath not beheld iniquity._] Of this place of Scripture we may say as we did of another, This verse had been easy, had not commenta... [ Continue Reading ]
Surely [there is] no enchantment against Jacob, neither [is there] any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought! Ver. 23. _Surely there is no enchantment._] No looking for signs of good luck, as Numbers 24:1. The gates of hell... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat [of] the prey, and drink the blood of the slain. Ver. 24. _Behold the people._] This is chiefly true of God's peculiar people, subduing their spiritual enemies, Mic 5:8-9 being... [ Continue Reading ]
And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. Ver. 25. _Nor bless them at all._] But they are blessed, and they shall be blessed, the one cursing the malice of earth and of hell.... [ Continue Reading ]
But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do? Ver. 26. _That I must do._] Though with no goodwill. Devils and wicked men do God's will; but oft full sore against their own.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence. Ver. 27. _Peradventure it will please God._] Heb., It will be right in the eyes of God. Never think it, man. "He is not a God that hath pl... [ Continue Reading ]
And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon. Ver. 28. _Unto the top of Peor._] An idolatrous and therefore most unlikely place. Deu 3:29... [ Continue Reading ]
And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on [every] altar. Ver. 30. _And Balak did._] How unweariable are wicked men in their ways!... [ Continue Reading ]