CHAPTER XXIII _Being arrived at the high places of Baal_, (Numbers 22:41,) _Balaam orders Balak to build seven altars, and prepare oxen and_ _rams for sacrifice_, 1, 2. _Balaam inquires of the Lord, receives an answer, with which he_ _returns to Balak_, 3-10. _Balak, finding that this was a pr... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 23:3. _STAND BY THY BURNT-OFFERING_] We have already seen that blessing and cursing in this way were considered as religious rites, and therefore must be always preceded by sacrifice. See this exemplified in the case of _Isaac_, before he blessed Jacob and Esau, Genesis 27:19; Genesis... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 23:7. _AND HE TOOK UP HIS PARABLE_] משלו _meshalo_, see on Numbers 21:27. All these oracular speeches of Balaam are in _hemistich_ metre in the original. They are highly dignified, and may be considered as immediate _poetic_ productions of the Spirit of God; for it is expressly said, N... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 23:8. _HOW SHALL I CURSE, WHOM GOD HATH NOT CURSED?_] It was granted on all hands that no _incantations_ nor imprecations could avail, unless God concurred and ratified them. From God's communication to Balaam he saw that God was determined to bless and defend Israel, and therefore all... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 23:9. _FROM THE TOP OF THE ROCKS I SEE HIM_] That is, from the high places of Baal where he went, Numbers 22:41, that he might the more advantageously see the _whole_ camp of Israel. _THE PEOPLE SHALL DWELL ALONE_] They shall ever be preserved as a _distinct nation_. This prophecy has... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 23:10. _LET ME DIE THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS_] Probably Balaam had some presentiment that he should be taken off by a premature death, and therefore he lodges this petition against it. The death of the righteous in those times implied _being gathered_ _to one's fathers in a good old... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 23:13. _THOU SHALT SEE BUT THE UTMOST PART OF THEM_] Balak thought that the sight of such an immense camp had intimidated Balaam, and this he might gather from what he said in the tenth verse: _Who can count the dust of Jacob_, c. he thought therefore that he might get Balaam to curse... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 23:17. _WHAT HATH THE LORD SPOKEN?_] Balak himself now understood that Balaam was wholly under the influence of _Jehovah_, and would say nothing but what God commanded him; but not knowing Jehovah as Balaam did, he hoped that he might be induced to change his mind, and curse a people w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 23:19. _GOD_ IS _NOT A MAN, THAT HE SHOULD LIE_] This seems to be spoken to correct the foregoing supposition of Balak that God could change his mind. Even the heathen would not allow that their supreme god could be caught in a falsity. Hence AESCHYLUS, in _Prometh. vinct_. 1068: - Ψε... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 23:21. _HE HATH NOT BEHELD INIQUITY IN JACOB, NEITHER HATH_ _HE SEEN PERVERSENESS IN ISRAEL_] This is a difficult passage; for if we take the words as spoken of the _people_ Israel, as their _iniquity_ and their _perverseness_ were almost unparalleled, such words cannot be spoken of _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 23:22. _THE STRENGTH OF A UNICORN._] ראם _reem_ and ראים _reim_. It is generally allowed that there is no such beast in nature as the _unicorn_; i. e., a creature of the horse kind, with one long rich curled horn in the forehead. The creature painted from fancy is represented as one o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 23:23. There is _NO ENCHANTMENT, C._] Because God has determined to save them, therefore no enchantment can prevail against them. _ACCORDING TO THIS TIME, C._] I think this clause should be read thus: "As at this time it shall be told to Jacob and to Israel what God worketh" i. e., th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 23:24. _BEHOLD, THE PEOPLE SHALL RISE UP AS A GREAT LION_] לביא _labi_, the _great, mighty_, or _old lion_, the king of the forest, who is feared and respected by all the other beasts of the field; so shall Israel be the subduer and possessor of the whole land of Canaan. And _as a youn... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 23:28. _UNTO THE TOP OF PEOR_] Probably the place where the famous Baal-peor had his chief temple. He appears to have been the Priapus of the Moabites, and to have been worshipped with the same obscene and abominable rites.... [ Continue Reading ]