Numbers 23 commentary

With the camps of Israel full in view, Balaam ordered seven altars to be built, and a bullock and a ram to be offered on each. Oh the sottishness of superstition, to imagine that God will be at man's beck! The curse is turned into a blessing, by the overruling power of God, in love to Israel. God designed to serve his own glory by Balaam, and therefore met him. If God put a word into the mouth of Balaam, who would have defied God and Israel, surely he will not be wanting to those who desire to glorify God, and to edify his people; it shall be given what they should speak. He who opened the mouth of the ass, caused the mouth of this wicked man to speak words as contrary to the desire of his heart, as those of the ass were to the powers of the brute. The miracle was as great in the one case as in the other. Balaam pronounces Israel safe. He owns he could do no more than God suffered him to do. He pronounces them happy in their distinction from the rest of the nations. Happy in their numbers, which made them both honourable and formidable. Happy in their last end. Death is the end of all men; even the righteous must die, and it is good for us to think of this with regard to ourselves, as Balaam does here, speaking of his own death. He pronounces the righteous truly blessed, not only while they live, but when they die; which makes their death even more desirable than life itself. But there are many who desire to die the death of the righteous, but do not endeavour to live the life of the righteous; gladly would they have an end like theirs, but not a way like theirs. They would be saints in heaven, but not saints on earth. This saying of Balaam's is only a wish, not a prayer; it is a vain wish, being only a wish for the end, without any care for the means. Many seek to quiet their consciences with the promise of future amendment, or take up with some false hope, while they neglect the only way of salvation, by which a sinner can be righteous before God.

Balak was angry with Balaam. Thus a confession of God's overruling power is extorted from a wicked prophet, to the confusion of a wicked prince. A second time the curse is turned into a blessing; and this blessing is both larger and stronger than the former. Men change their minds, and break their words; but God never changes his mind, and therefore never recalls his promise. And when in Scripture he is said to repent, it does not mean any change of his mind; but only a change of his way. There was sin in Jacob, and God saw it; but there was not such as might provoke him to give them up to ruin. If the Lord sees that we trust in his mercy, and accept of his salvation; that we indulge no secret lust, and continue not in rebellion, but endeavour to serve and glorify him; we may be sure that he looks upon us as accepted in Christ, that our sins are all pardoned. Oh the wonders of providence and grace, the wonders of redeeming love, of pardoning mercy, of the new-creating Spirit! Balak had no hope of ruining Israel, and Balaam showed that he had more reason to fear being ruined by them. Since Balaam cannot say what he would have him, Balak wished him to say nothing. But though there are many devices in man's heart, God's counsels shall stand. Yet they resolve to make another attempt, though they had no promise on which to build their hopes. Let us, who have a promise that the vision at the end shall speak and not lie, continue earnest in prayer, Lu 18:1.

1. Build me here seven altars. We more positively conclude from hence that this degenerate prophet had been by no means wont to prophesy in accordance with pure revelations from God, but that the art of divination, in which he boasted, had some affinity to magical exorcisms, and was infected with many errors and deceptions. Still this did not prevent him from being sometimes a true prophet by the inspiration of God’s Spirit; because, as has been already said, whilst the world was plunged in darkness, it was God’s will that some little sparks of light should still shine, in order to render even the most ignorant inexcusable. Since, therefore, Balaam was only endowed with a special gift, he borrowed devices in various directions, which savored of nothing but the illusions of the devil, and were utterly foreign to the true and legitimate method of consulting (God.) Hence came the seven victims and the seven altars; for, although God, by consecrating the seventh day unto Himself, as also in the seven lamps, and other things, indicated that there was something of perfection in that number; nevertheless, afterwards, many strange superstitions were invented, and under this pretense Satan cunningly deluded wretched men, by persuading them that secret virtues were contained in this number seven. This frivolous subtlety prevailed also among profane writers, so that they sought the confirmation of the error throughout all nature. Thus they allege the seven planets, as many Pleiades, the Septemtriones, “The seven stars, or Charles’s wain.” — Ainsworth. “Sed ego quidem cum L. Aelio, et M. Varrone sentio, qui triones rustico certo vocabulo boves appellatos scribunt, quasi quosdam terriones, hoc est, arandae colendaeque terrae idoneos. Itaque hoc sidus, quod a figura posituraque ipsa, quia simile plaustro videtur, antiqui Graecorum, αμαξαν dixerunt, nostri quoque veteres a bubus junctis septemtriones appellarunt; id est, a septem stellis, ex quibus quasi juncti triones figurantur.” — A. Gell. 2:21. and as many circles or zones; and again, that infants do not come into the world alive till the seventh month. Many such things they heap together in order to prove that some hidden mystery is implied in the number seven. This contagion reached the Christians also: for on this point the ancients “Les anciens docteurs.” — Fr. sometimes philosophize too refinedly, and have in general preferred to corrupt (Scripture) rather than not to restrict the gifts of the Spirit to this number, and to establish the sevenfold grace of the Holy Ghost. It is plain that Balaam was infected by this fanciful notion, when he endeavours to draw down God by seven altars, and twice seven sacrifices. Let us, however, learn from Balak’s prompt compliance, that the superstitious neither spare expense, nor refuse anything which is demanded by the masters of their errors. Wherefore we must beware lest we be rashly credulous; whilst at the same time we take care lest, when it is clear what we ought to do, we should be withheld by discreditable supineness, when unbelievers hasten so eagerly and speedily to their own destruction.

3. And Balaam said unto Balak. In this respect, also, he imitates the true servants of God: for he seeks retirement, because God has almost always appeared unto His servants when they have been separated from the company of men. You would say that he was another Moses, when he exhorts the king to persevering prayer, and, in order that he may be more earnest in supplication, bids him remain perfectly still by the altars. Meanwhile he withdraws himself from the crowd, and the eyes of the witnesses, so that he may be more ready to receive the revelation. Since, however, there was no sincerity in him, we may probably conclude, that in vain ostentation he imitated the servants of God, that, like one of God’s councillors, he might bring forth the secrets from the shrines of heaven. I know not why some render the word שפי, shephi, alone, others, sad; A.V. “an high place.” Margin, “he went solitary.” “Onkelos explains the word שפי as יחידי alone; but Kimchi interprets it as גכוח a high place. Rabbi Jehuda expounds is it as נשבר affected with grief; etc.” — S.M. There is a curious error in the Fr., evidently arising from its dictation to an amanuensis, “le mot que j’ay translate Amen,” i.e., “a mont,” as it stands in the Fr. Text. it is more suitable to take it for a high place; which other similar passages confirm. The impostor, therefore, retired into a higher place, or summit, in order that he might come forth from thence more surely established as a prophet by his familiar intercourse with God.

4. And God met Balaam. It is wonderful that God should have determined to have anything in common with the pollutions of Balaam; since there is no communion between light and darkness, and He detests all association with demons; but, however hateful to God the impiety of Balaam was, this did not prevent Him from making use of him in this particular act. This meeting him, then, was by no means a proof of His favor, as if he approved of the seven altars, and sanctioned these superstitions; but as He well knows how to apply corrupt instruments to His use, so by the mouth of this false prophet, He promulgated the covenant, which He had made with Abraham, to foreign and heathen nations.

In truth, he boasts of his seven altars, as if he had duly propitiated God. Thus do hypocrites arrogantly trust that they deserve well of God, when they do but provoke His anger. God, however, passes over this corrupt worship, and proceeds with what He had determined; for He sends Balaam to be a proclaimer and witness of the sureness of His grace towards His chosen people. He supplies, indeed, His servants with what they speak, and controls their tongues; for neither would they be sufficient to think anything, unless the ability were bestowed by Him; and no one can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Still the holy Prophets were in suchwise organs of the Spirit, that they gave forth from the heart the treasures which God had deposited with them. In this view, Jeremiah says that he “did eat the words of God,” (Jeremiah 15:16;) and Ezekiel, that he ate the roll on which his prophecies were written. (Ezekiel 3:1.) For we must not conceive an inspiration (ἐνθουσιασμὸς) such as that by which the heathens supposed their diviners to be carried away, so that the heavenly afflatus transported them, or threw them into ecstasies; but rather did that take place in them, which David declares of himself: “I believed, therefore have I spoken,” (Psalm 116:10:) and God illuminated their senses before He guided their tongues. The case of Balaam was different, whose mind was alienated while he delivered the words which were put into his mouth. Addition in Fr.; “comme une pie en cage, ainsi qu’on dit;” like pie in a cage, as they say.

7. And he took up his parable and said. The word משל, mashal, signifies all weighty and notable sayings, especially when expressed in exalted language. The meaning, therefore, is, that Balaam began to speak eloquently, and in no ordinary strain. Nor can it be doubted but that he aroused Balak’s attention by this grandeur of language through God’s secret influence; that the wretched man might acknowledge that Balaam now spoke in no mortal fashion, but that there was something of divine inspiration in his words, so that his mind might be the more deeply affected by the revelation. The sum of what he said was to this effect, that there was not merely perversity and folly in Balak’s design to curse the people, but that whatever he attempted would be vain and useless, since he was fighting against God. At the same time, he renounces for himself that power, which Balak was persuaded that he eminently possessed: for Moses has already recorded the words of Balak before spoken, “I know that he whom thou cursest is cursed,” as if the power of God were transferred to him, so that he might exercise it according to his will. But what was this, but to depose God from His supremacy? Consequently this abominable imagination is refuted by the mouth of Balaam, when he attributes the right of blessing to God alone. “How (he says) should I curse except according to God’s command?” not that God always restrains the wicked from declaring what is opposed to His truth: for we know that they often prate at random, vomit forth their blasphemies by the mouthful, obscure the light by their falsehoods, and endeavor, as far as in them lies, to overthrow the faithfulness of God. But inasmuch as Balaam was compelled to play a different part, viz., to proclaim the revelation suggested to him by God, he confesses that his tongue was tied, so that he could not utter a single syllable against God’s command.

Since mention is made of Syria, some have supposed that Balaam was fetched from Mesopotamia; and some color was given to this mistake, because the art of divination had its rise amongst the Chaldeans. But, as has been said before, it is not credible that the fame of the man should have extended so far; and again, in the short time during which the people remained there, how could an embassy have been twice sent to a distant country? for they would have occupied at least six months. Besides, we shall soon see that he was slain among the Midianites. But it is very probable that the country was included under the name of Aram or Syria, which even profane authors describe as contiguous to Arabia, towards the Red Sea. Now, since, in reference to the land of Moab, Midian was to the eastward, and, moreover, was high and mountainous, it is rightly added that he was called “from the mountains of the east;” and thus does he designate a place well known to the Moabites, on account of its neighborhood to them.

9 For from the top of the rocks I see him. Unless I am mistaken, the meaning is that, although he only beheld the people from afar, so that he could not accurately perceive their power from so high and distant a spot, still they portended to him something great and formidable. A closer view generally intimidates men; besides, a body of twenty thousand men then dazzles our sight, as if the number were five times as great: whilst the real extent of a thing is also more accurately ascertained. But Balaam declares, in the spirit of prophecy, that he sees far more in the people of God than their distance from him would allow; for, posted as he was on a high eminence, he would have only belleld them as dwarfs with the ordinary vision of men. He says, that “the people shall dwell alone,” as being by no means in want of external support: for לבדד, lebadad, is equivalent to solitarily or separately. It is said of the people, therefore, that they shall dwell in such a manner as to be content with their own condition, neither desiring the wealth or power of others, nor seeking their aid. The fact that the people had recourse at one time to the Egyptians, at another to the Assyrians, and entangled themselves in improper alliances, is not repugnant to this prophecy, in which the question is not as to the virtue of the people, but only as to the blessing of God, which is again celebrated in the same words in Deuteronomy 33:28

What follows, that “they shall not be reckoned among the nations,” must not be understood in depreciation of them, as if it were said that they should be of no credit or position; but the elect people is exalted above all others in dignity and excellence, as though he had said that there should be no nation under heaven equal to or comparable with them. And, although there were other kingdoms more illustrious for the flourishing condition of their people, and superior both in the number of their inhabitants, and in all kinds of prosperity, still this people never forfeited their pre-eminence, since they were distinguished, not so much by wealth and external endowments, as by the adoption of God. Thus, Mount Sion is called noble above all other mountains, because God had there chosen to make His abode. Others explain it that the people should be alone, so as not to be brought into comparison with the Gentiles, inasmuch as its religion should be separate from the whole world, and unmingled with heathen corruptions. The exposition which I have given is, however, more simple.

10. Who can count the dust of Jacob? Hence it is plain that what Balaam was to say was suggested to him by God, since he quotes the words of God’s solemn promise, wherein the seed of Abraham is compared to the dust of the earth. Still, we must bear in mind what I have just adverted to, that, although that multitude was reduced to a small number by the sin of the people, nevertheless this was not declared in vain, inasmuch as that little body at length expanded itself so as to fill the whole world. Speaking by hyperbole, then, he says that their offspring would be infinite, since the fourth part will be almost innumerable. His aspiration at the conclusion is more emphatic than a simple affirmation. “I would (he says) that I might share with them their last end!” Corn. a Lapide has a curious note on “the death of the righteous,” contrasting the happy deaths of some, whom he deemed righteous, with those of others, whom he counted enemies of the Church. Amongst the latter he refers to Calvin himself. “Calvin, excruciated, according to Beza, by divers diseases, was in addition preyed upon by lice, as Jerome Bolsec, a physician of Lyons, and formerly his disciple, reports in his Life, ch. 22. Hence observe, that those who persecute the Church, were, by God’s just judgment, eaten by worms. Such was the case with Huneric, Herod, Antiochus, the emperors Maximinianus and Arnulphus, and Calvin.” For, in the first place, every one longs for what is most for his good; and again, Balaam confesses himself unworthy to be reckoned among the elect people of God. Hence it might be easily inferred how foolishly Balak trusted to his curse. Further, in these words he refers to everlasting felicity; as much as to say that (Israel) would be blessed in death as in life. At the same time he is a witness to our future immortality; not that he had reflected in himself wherefore the death of the righteous would be desirable, but God extorted this confession from an unholy man, so that, either unwillingly or thoughtlessly, he exclaimed that God so persevered in the extension of His paternal favor towards His people, that He did not cease to be gracious to them even in their death. Hence it follows, that the grace of God extends beyond the bounds of this perishing life. Wherefore this declaration contains a remarkable testimony to our future immortality. For although Balaam, perhaps, did not thoroughly consider what he desired, still, there is no doubt but that he truly professed that he wished it for himself. Nevertheless, as hypocrites are wont to do, he did but conceive an evanescent wish, for it was in no real seriousness that he sought what he was convinced was best. “Qu’il desireroit d’estre en pare’le condition avecques le peuple d’Israel;” that he desired to be in a like condition with the people of Israel. — Fr.

The Israelites are called righteous (recti,) as also in other places, not on account of their own righteousness, but in accordance with God’s good pleasure, who had deigned to separate them from the unclean nations.

11. And Balak said unto Balaam. The proud man again reproaches the false prophet, as if he had fairly purchased of him the right of prophecy. L’authorite de le faire parler comme il veudroit;” the authority to make him speak whatever he chose. — Fr Behold how the reprobate seek God by crooked paths, and desire to have nothing to do with Him, unless He yields to their improper wishes — in a word, unless they render Him submissive to them. Balaam, therefore, is compelled to repress this stupid arrogance, by pleading God’s command, and declaring that nothing more was allowed him than to announce what God prescribed. But we must remember that this was only spoken in reference to a particular act, when, as far as his words went, he acted the part of a true prophet, although his feelings were altogether on the other side.

13. And Balac said unto him. Balak did, as almost all superstitious persons usually do; for, because with them nothing is certain or established, they are carried about from one speculation to another, and try now this and now that expedient. But especially do they imagine that there is some magical power in the sight, as if the eyes contributed partly to the efficacy of their incantations. It appears from profane writers that this was formerly a commonly received opinion, that the gaze of the enchanter had much effect upon his art. Balak, therefore, removes his sorcerer to another place, that there he might the better exercise his divinations. There is some ambiguity in the words. Some render them thus, “Come to another place, that thou mayest see from thence, So A. V., after the LXX. and V. Marckius comes to the conclusion that there is no sufficient reason for C.’s proposed alteration of the Hebrew tense, in the latter clauses of the verse; for he thinks that Balaam’s expression in verse 9, “For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him,” is rather to be understood of a more complete, than of an obscurer view. mayest see a part, and not the whole,” as if Balak feared that the multitude itself frightened Balaam, or diminished the power of his incantations. Their opinion, however, is the more probable, who take the verb see, where it is used the second time, in the perfect tense, so that the sense is, “Come to a place where thou mayest behold them; for as yet thou hast not seen the whole, but only a part;” for we know how common a thing with the Hebrews is such an employment of one tense for another. With respect to the place to which Balaam was taken, it little matters whether we believe שדה צפים, sedeh tzophim and פסגה pis’gah, to be nouns proper or appellative, since it is sufficiently clear that, if they were given to the place, it was on account of its position; for it is very likely that there was a level place upon the hill, which might justly be called “The hill of the spies.”

17. And when he came to him. Balak inquires what God had answered, although he had rejected the previous revelation. Thus do hypocrites profess anxious solicitude in inquiring the will of God, whilst the knowledge of it is intolerable to them. Therefore their extreme earnestness in inquiry is nothing but mere dissimulation. Besides, Balak hunts, as it were, for the answer of God by a distant divination, whereas a testimony to God’s will was all the time engraven upon his heart. But this is the just punishment of perverse curiosity, when the wicked endeavor to impose a law upon God, that he may submit to their wishes. Balak omits nothing in regard to outward ceremonies; he humbly attends upon the altars for the purpose of propitiating God; but in the meantime he would have Him obedient to himself, and cannot endure to listen to Him, unless He speaks to him in flattering and deceptive terms.

18. And he took up his parable and said. We have already explained the meaning of this expression, namely, to make use of glowing and elevated language, in order the more to awaken the attention of the hearer. The same also is the object of the preface, “Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor;” for such repetitions are mostly emphatic, and indicate something uncommon.

When he declares that “God cannot lie, because he is not like men,” it is a severe kind of censure, as much as to say, “Would you make God a liar?“ for it became requisite that the frantic eagerness of Balak should be repressed, and prevented from proceeding any further. Hence, however, a lesson of supreme utility may be extracted, namely, that men are altogether wrong when they form their estimate of God from their own disposition and habits. Still, almost all men labor under this mistake. For how comes it that we are so prone to waver, except because we weigh God’s promises in our own scale? In order, therefore, that we may learn to lift up our minds above the world, whenever the faithfulness and certainty of God’s word are in question, it is well for us to reflect how great the distance is between ourselves and God. Men are wont to lie, because they are fickle and changeable in their plans, or because sometimes they are unable to aceomplish what they have promised; but change of purpose arises either from levity or bad faith, or because we repent of what we have spoken foolishly and inconsiderately. But to God nothing of this sort occurs; for He is neither deceived, nor does He deceitfully promise anything, nor, as James says, is there with Him any “shadow of turning.” (James 1:7.) We now understand to what this dissimilitude between God and men refers, namely, that we should not travesty God according to our own notions, but, in our consideration of His nature, should remember that he is liable to no changes, since He is far above all heavens. As to the meaning of the repentance of God, of which mention is often made, let my readers seek it elsewhere in its proper place. We must, however, at the same time, observe the application of the lesson; for the words “God is true,” would have no efficacy in themselves, unless they are applied to their appropriate use, i.e., that we should with unhesitating faith acquiesce in His promises, and seriously tremble at His threats. For with the same object it is said that the word of God is pure and perfect, and is compared with gold refined seven times in the fire; and this also is the tendency of the conclusion, which is presently added: “Shall He not fulfill what He has spoken?” Balak desired to have the people cursed, whom God had adopted: Balaam declares that this is impossible, because God is unchangeable in that which he has decreed. In a word, he teaches us the same truth as Paul does, that the election of his people is “without repentance,” because it is founded on the gratuitous liberality of God. (Romans 11:29.) If, then, this saying was extorted from the hireling false prophet, how inexcusable will be our stupidity, if our minds vary and waver in embracing God’s word, as if He Himself were variable.

20. Behold I have received commandment to bless. He signifies that a command to bless had been given him, antl a positive law laid down for him. For, as has been said, he was not free and independent in this matter; but God had bound him to exercise the prophetic office, even against his own will. Hence he declares that it is not in his power to alter the revelation, of which he is the minister and witness. But there is a remarkable expression introduced in the midst of his declaration, viz., that God himself had blessed; whereby he intimates that the lot of men, whether adverse or prosperous, depends on the authority of God alone; and that no other commission is given to the prophets, except to promulgate what God has appointed; as if he had said, It belongs to God alone to decree what the condition of men is to be; He has chosen me to proclaim His blessing; it is not in my power either to reverse or withdraw it. Now, since Balaam here sustains the character of a true Prophet, we may gather from his words that no other power of binding or loosing is given to the ministers of the Word, except that they should faithfully bring forward what they may have received from God.

21. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob. Some understand by און, aven, עמל, gnamal, idols, So the V., “Non est idolum in Jacob, nec videtur simulachrum in Israel.” which bring nothing but deadly labor and trouble to their worshippers; as if it were said that Israel was pure and untainted by such offenses, in that they duly served the one true God. But how will it be correct to say that God saw not idolatry in the people, when they had so openly fallen into it? For, although the golden calf was only made on one occasion, still their manifold and almost constant rebellions were such as to forbid these wicked and perverse men from being thus absolved. Since, however, these two words in connection signify all sorts of iniquities, which tend to men’s hurt, or to the infliction of harm and loss, a more proper meaning will be, that such iniquity is not seen in Jacob as to include him with the nations that are given to violence and crime. Nevertheless, even if we take it thus, the former question still arises; for we know that the Israelites were scarcely better than the worst of mankind. Some reply feebly, that it was not seen, because God did not impute it; but, in my opinion, nothing else is meant by these words but that the people were pleasing to God, because He had sanctified them. If any object, that they were not therefore any the more just or innocent, the answer is easy — that it is not here declared what they were, but only God’s grace is magnified, who deigned to exalt them as a holy nation. In this way Jerusalem was the holy city and the royal abode of God, though it was a den of thieves. On this ground Paul says that the children of Abraham were “holy branches,” (Romans 11:16,) because they sprang from a holy root. In the same sense they are everywhere called God’s Children, however degenerate they might be. God, therefore, is said to have seen no iniquity in them, with reference to His adoption; not that they were worthy of such exalted praise, as if a distinction were drawn between them and the other nations — not on account of their deserts, but from the mere good pleasure of God. Thus Paul elsewhere, after he has compared them with the Gentiles, and has shewn that they are their superiors in no respect, at length adds, “What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much (he says) every way; “and adduces a mark of distinction which does not proceed from themselves, i.e., “That unto them were committed the oracles of God.” (Romans 3:1.) In a word, because it had pleased God to choose that people, He rather manifested His love towards Himself and His own grace, than towards their life and conduct.

Others take this passage otherwise, viz., that God did not behold iniquity, nor see perverseness in Jacob, because He was not willing that he should be unrighteously grieved or afflicted; as if it were said, If any one should wish unjustly to injure this people, God will permit no violence or injustice to be done to them, but will rather defend them as their shield. But if this sense be preferred, I should rather be disposed to take the vero indefinitely, as if it were said, Perverseness shall not be seen in Jacob; for when the Hebrews use the verb without a nominative, they extend the matter in question into a general proposition, and then the verb in the active voice may be suitably resolved into the passive. And thus the context will run better, since it is added immediately afterwards, “The Lord his God is with him,” whereby the reason seems to be given why perverseness (molestia) should not be seen against Jacob, viz., because God would be at hand to render him aid. For we know that His infinite power suffices to defend the safety of His Church, so that not even the gates of hell should prevail against it.

What follows directly afterwards, “The shout or the rejoicing of a king is among them,” I understand to be that God will always give them cause for triumph; for the word which the old interpreter elsewhere renders rejoicing (jubilationem,) seems here to be used for songs of rejoicing; but, since it also signifies the sound of a trumpet, it will not be inappropriate to take it as that the people shall be terrible to their enemies, because they shall boldly rush forward, or go down to the battle, as if God sounded the trumpet.

22. God brouqht them out of Egypt. He assigns a reason for their constant success, i.e., because God has once redeemed this people, He will not forsake the work which He has begun. The argument is drawn from the continued course of God’s blessings; for, since they flow from an inexhaustible fountain, their progress is incessant. This, however, specially refers to the state of the Church, for He will never cease to be gracious to His children, until He has led them to the very end of their course. Rightly, therefore, does Balaam conclude that, because God has once redeemed His people, He will be the perpetual guardian of their welfare. He afterwards teaches that the power wherewith God defends His people shall be invincible, for this is the meaning of the similitude of the unicorn.

23. Surely there is no enchantment. This passage is commonly expounded as an encomium on the people, because they are not given to enchantments and magical superstitions, as God also had strictly enjoined upon them in His law that they should not pollute themselves by such defilements. Others thus explain it, The Israelites shall not want enchanters, because by the Urim and Thummim, or by the Prophets, God would reveal to them whatever should be profitable for them. Their opinion is more correct who thus interpret it, No enchantment and no divination avails against the Israelites. Let us now proceed to explain this more clearly. Balaam, in my judgment, confesses that there is no room for His enchantments, or that his customary arts fail him now, because their efficacy and power cannot affect the Israelites. And this confession harmonizes with the words of Pharaoh’s magicians, when they said, “This is the finger of God,” (Exodus 8:19;) after they had pertinaciously contended, until God compelled them to yield. Thus now Balaam declares that the elect people were defended from on high, so that his divinations were ineffectual, and his enchantments vain.

The other clause of the verse appears to me to be simply to this effect, that God would henceforth perform mighty works for the defense of His people which should be related with admiration. The translation which some give is constrained and far-fetched, “As at this time it shall be said, What has God wrought in Israel?” for Balaam rather would say, that great should be the progress of God’s grace, the beginnings only of which then appeared; and in short, he declares that henceforth memorable should be the performances of God in behalf of His people, which should supply abundant subjects for history.

24. Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion. This comparison is not in every respect accurate; for it does not signify that the Israelites should be cruel or rapacious, but merely bold and strong, and prompt in their resistance if any should provoke them. In the next chapter, it will occur again with a slight change in the words. What Balaam here predicates generally of the whole people, is applied in the blessings of Jacob to the tribe of Judah alone, (Genesis 49:9,) because it especially excelled in bravery. The sum is, that however the people of Israel might be attacked on every side, it should be endued with invincible fortitude, to overcome all assaults, or to repel them vigorously. Let us, finally, remember that this courage, wherewith Israel was to defend itself against all its enemies, was counted amongst the gifts of God; as: if Balaam had said that they should be preserved by the help of God.

25. And Balak said unto Balaam. Here we may behold as in a mirror how wretchedly unbelievers are driven to and fro, so as to alternate between vain hopes and fears, though by their changes of purpose they are still brought back to the same errors, as if their blind passion led them through a labyrinth. When Balak sees that he is deceived in his opinion, he seeks at least that the hireling prophet should neither profit nor injure. This, however, is exactly as if he would have God to lie idle; but presently he recovers his spirits, and endeavors to repurchase the curse, which in his penitence he had abandoned. For this cause he drags Balaam to another place, although he had already discovered that this was in vain. But thus pertinaciously do unbelievers prosecute their wicked efforts: whilst, at the same time, the disquietude which agitates them with doubts is the just reward of their temerity.

26. But Balaam answered and said. The mercenary prophet here confesses that he has no more power of himself to be silent than to speak. Nor is there any doubt but that he would excuse himself with servility to the proud king, to whom he would willingly have sold himself; as if, in his desire to avert the odium and blame from himself, he would state that he was carried away against his will by the Divine afflatus. At the same time he throws back the blame on Balak himself, who, though warned in time, had still foolishly sent to fetch him. The rest I have already expounded.

Numbers 24

Numbers 24:1-25

1. And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.

1. Quum autem videret Balaam qued placeret Jehovae, ut benediceret Israeli, non abiit sicut semel et iterum in occursum auguriorum: sed posuit versus desertum faciem suam.

2. And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him.

2. Ac quum elevasset oculos suos, vidit Israelem dispositum per tribus suas: fuitque super eum Spiritus Dei.

3. And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beer hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:

3. Tunc assumpsit parabolam suam, et ait, Dicit Balaam filius Beor, dicit vir reconditus oculo.

4. He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:

4, Dicit qui audivit eloquia Dei, qui visionem Omnipotentis vidit, qui cadit et aperiuntur oeuli ejus.

5. How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob! and thy tabernacles, O Israel!

5. Quam pulchra tabernacula tua Jacob, habitacula tua Israel!

6. As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign-aloes, which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar-trees beside the waters.

6. Sicut valles diffusae, sicut horti juxta flumen, sicut arbores aloes, quas plantavit Jehova, sicut cedri juxta aquas.

7. He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters; and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.

7. Defluet aqua e situla ejus, et semen ejus in aquis multis, et elevabitur rex ejus super Agag, et extolletur regnum ejus.

8. God brought him forth out of Egypt: he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.

8. Deus eduxit eum ex AEgypto: sicut vires unicornis ei. Consumet gentes hostes suos, et ossa eorum conteret, et sagittis suis confodiet (vel, sagittas suas tinget sanguine.)

9. He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.

9. Incurvabit se ut accubet tanquam leo minor, et tanquam leo major: quis excitabit eum? Quisquis benedixerit tibi, erit benedictus: et quisquis maledixerit tibi; erit maledictus.

10. And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times.

10 Et excanduit furor Balac contra Balaam, et percussit manus suas, ac dixit ipsi Balaam, Ut maledicercs inimicis meis vocavi te, et ecce, benedixisti benedicendo jam tribus vicibus.

11. Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honor; but, lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honor.

11. Nunc ergo fuge in locum tuum: dixeram, Honorando honorabo te, et ecce, privavit te Jehova gloria.

12. And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers, which thou sentest unto me, saying,

12. Cui respondit Balaam, Annon etiam nuntiis tuis quos miseras ad me loquutus sum, dicendo:

13. If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; but what the Lord saith, that will I speak?

13. Si dederit mihi Balac plenam domum suam argento et auro, non potero transgredi sermonem Jehovae, ut faciat bonum sive malum e corde meo: quod loquetur Jehova, illud loquar?

14. And now, behold, I go unto my people: come therefore, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days.

14. Nunc itaque ecce, ego discedo ad populum meum: age, consulam tibi quid facturus sit populus iste populo tuo in novissimis diebus.

15. And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said;

15. Tunc assumpsit parabolam suam, et dixit, Dixit Balaam filius Beor, dixit, inquam, vir apertum habens oculum.

16. He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open.

16. Dixit audiens eloquia Dei, et sciens scientiam Excelsi, videns visionem Omnipotentis: cadens, et discoopertum habens oculum.

17. I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.

17. Video eum: sed non modo: intueor illum: sed non prope: procedet stella ex Jacob, et surget sceptrum ex Israele: et confodiet principes (vel, angulos) Moab, et destruct omnes filios Seth.

18. And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies: and Israel shall do valiantly.

18. Et erit Edom possessa et possidebitur Seir ab inimicis Seir, et Israel faciet virtutem.

19. Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.

19. Et dominabitur ex Jacob, et perdet reliquias ex civitate.

20. And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever.

20. Et quum vidisset Amalec, assumpsit parabolam suam, et dixit, Principium gentium Amalec, ideo novissimum ejus usque ad perditionem.

21. And he looked on the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said, Strong is thy dwelling-place, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock:

21. Viso etiam Cenaeo, assumpsit parabolam suam, et dixit, Robustum habitaculum tuum, et ponis in petra nidum tuum.

22. Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.

22. Certe expelletur Cain, usquequo Assur captivum te ducet.

23. And he took up his parable, and said, Alas! who shall live when God doeth this?

23. Assumpsit item parabolam, et dixit, Vae quis vivet quum statuerit istud?

24. And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.

24. Et naves e littore Chitthim quae affligant Assur, affligent Heber, sed hoc quoque usque ad perditionem.

25. And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.

25. Surrexit itaque Balaam, et abiit, reversusque est in locum suum: atque etiam Balacabiit in viam suam.

CHAPTER 23

Nu 23:1-30. Balak's Sacrifices.

1. Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars--Balak, being a heathen, would naturally suppose these altars were erected in honor of Baal, the patron deity of his country. It is evident, from Nu 23:4 that they were prepared for the worship of the true God; although in choosing the high places of Baal as their site and rearing a number of altars (2Ki 18:22; Is 17:8; Jr 11:13; Ho 8:11; 10:1), instead of one only, as God had appointed, Balaam blended his own superstitions with the divine worship. The heathen, both in ancient and modern times, attached a mysterious virtue to the number seven; and Balaam, in ordering the preparation of so many altars, designed to mystify and delude the king.

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

peradventure the Lord will come to meet me: and whatsoever he showeth me--that is, makes known to me by word or sign.

he went to an high place--apart by himself, where he might practise rites and ceremonies, with a view to obtain a response of the oracle.

4-6. God met Balaam--not in compliance with his incantations, but to frustrate his wicked designs and compel him, contrary to his desires and interests, to pronounce the following benediction [Nu 23:8-10].

7. took up his parable--that is, spoke under the influence of inspiration, and in the highly poetical, figurative, and oracular style of a prophet.

brought me from Aram--This word joined with "the mountains of the East," denotes the upper portion of Mesopotamia, lying on the east of Moab. The East enjoyed an infamous notoriety for magicians and soothsayers (Is 2:6).

8. How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?--A divine blessing has been pronounced over the posterity of Jacob; and therefore, whatever prodigies can be achieved by my charms, all magical skill, all human power, is utterly impotent to counteract the decree of God.

9. from the top--literally, "a bare place" on the rocks, to which Balak had taken him, for it was deemed necessary to see the people who were to be devoted to destruction. But that commanding prospect could contribute nothing to the accomplishment of the king's object, for the destiny of Israel was to be a distinct, peculiar people, separated from the rest of the nations in government, religion, customs, and divine protection (De 33:28). So that although I might be able to gratify your wishes against other people, I can do nothing against them (Ex 19:5; Le 20:24).

10. Who can count the dust of Jacob?--an Oriental hyperbole for a very populous nation, as Jacob's posterity was promised to be (Ge 13:16; 28:14).

the number of the fourth part of Israel--that is, the camp consisted of four divisions; every one of these parts was formidable in numbers.

Let me die the death of the righteous--Hebrew, "of Jeshurun"; or, the Israelites. The meaning is: they are a people happy, above all others, not only in life, but at death, from their knowledge of the true God, and their hope through His grace. Balaam is a representative of a large class in the world, who express a wish for the blessedness which Christ has promised to His people but are averse to imitate the mind that was in Him.

13-15. Come, ... with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them--Surprised and disappointed at this unexpected eulogy on Israel, Balak hoped that, if seen from a different point of observation, the prophet would give utterance to different feelings; and so, having made the same solemn preparations, Balaam retired, as before, to wait the divine afflatus.

18-19. Rise up--As Balak was already standing (Nu 23:17), this expression is equivalent to "now attend to me." The counsels and promises of God respecting Israel are unchangeable; and no attempt to prevail on Him to reverse them will succeed, as they may with a man.

21. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob--Many sins were observed and punished in this people. But no such universal and hopeless apostasy had as yet appeared, to induce God to abandon or destroy them.

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

and the shout of a king is among them--such joyful acclamations as of a people rejoicing in the presence of a victorious prince.

22. he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn--Israel is not as they were at the Exodus, a horde of poor, feeble, spiritless people, but powerful and invincible as a reem--that is, a rhinoceros (Job 39:9; Psa 22:21; 92:10).

23. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob--No art can ever prevail against a people who are under the shield of Omnipotence, and for whom miracles have been and yet shall be performed, which will be a theme of admiration in succeeding ages.

26. All that the Lord speaketh, that I must do--a remarkable confession that he was divinely constrained to give utterances different from what it was his purpose and inclination to do.

28. Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor--or, Beth-peor (De 3:29), the eminence on which a temple of Baal stood.

that looketh toward Jeshimon--the desert tract in the south of Palestine, on both sides of the Dead Sea.

Build me here seven altars, etc. - The oxen and the rams were such as the Mosaic law had ordered to be offered to God in sacrifice; the building of seven altars was not commanded. Some think that these seven altars were built to the seven planets: this is most gratuitously said; of it there is no proof whatever; it is mere trifling, even with conjecture. As seven was a number of perfection, Balaam chose it on this occasion, because he intended to offer a grand sacrifice, and to offer a bullock and a ram upon each of the altars; the whole to be made a burnt-offering at the same time. And as he intended to offer seven bullocks and seven rams at the same time, it could not be conveniently done on one altar, therefore he ordered seven to be built. We need go no farther to find out his reasons.

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 (note), and the notes there. The venison that was brought to Isaac, of which he did eat, was properly the preparatory sacrifice.

And he took up his parable - משלו meshalo, see on Num 21:27 (note). 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, Num 23:5, that God put the word in Balaam's mouth, and that the Spirit of God came upon him, Num 24:2.

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 endeavors to injure them must be in vain.

From the top of the rocks I see him - That is, from the high places of Baal where he went, Num 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 been literally fulfilled through a period of 3300 years to the present day. This is truly astonishing.

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 age, having seen his children, and children's children; and to this, probably, the latter part of this petition applies: And let my last end be like his, (ותהי אחריתי כמהו uthehi acharithi chamohu, And let my Posterity be like his). It has been generally supposed that Balaam is here praying for a happy death, such as true Christians die who die in the Lord; and in this way his words are generally applied; but I am satisfied this is not their meaning. The prayer, however, understood in the common way, is a good one, and may be offered to God profitably. A righteous man is one who is saved from his sins, who is justified and sanctified through the blood of the covenant, and who lives, not only an innocent, but also a holy and useful life. He who would die well should live well; for a bad death must be the issue of a bad life.

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, etc.; he thought therefore that he might get Balaam to curse them in detached parties, till the whole camp should be devoted to destruction by successive execrations.

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 whom he had hitherto determined to bless.

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: - Ψευδηγορειν γαρ ουκ επισταται στομα Το Διον, αλλα παν επος τελει. "The mouth of Jove knows not to frame a lie;

But every word finds full accomplishment."

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 them with strict truth. If we consider them as spoken of the patriarch Jacob and Israel, or of Jacob after he became Israel, they are most strictly true, as after that time a more unblemished and noble character (Abraham excepted) is not to be found in the page of history, whether sacred or profane; and for his sake, and for the sake of his father Isaac, and his grandfather Abraham, God is ever represented as favoring, blessing, and sparing a rebellious and undeserving people; see the note on Gen 49:33. In this way, I think, this difficult text may be safely understood.

There is another way in which the words may be interpreted, which will give a good sense. און aven not only signifies iniquity, but most frequently trouble, labor, distress, and affliction; and these indeed are its ideal meanings, and iniquity is only an accommodated or metaphorical one, because of the pain, distress, etc., produced by sin. עמל amal, translated here perverseness, occurs often in Scripture, but is never translated perverseness except in this place. It signifies simply labor, especially that which is of an afflictive or oppressive kind. The words may therefore be considered as implying that God will not suffer the people either to be exterminated by the sword, or to be brought under a yoke of slavery. Either of these methods of interpretation gives a good sense, but our common version gives none.

Dr. Kennicott contends for the reading of the Samaritan, which, instead of לא הביט lo hibbit, he hath not seen, has לא אבט lo abbit, I do not see, I do not discover any thing among them on which I could ground my curse. But the sense above given is to be preferred.

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 of the supporters of the royal arms of Great Britain. It is difficult to say what kind of beast is intended by the original word. The Septuagint translate the word μονοκερως, the unicorn, or one-horned animal; the Vulgate, sometimes, unicornus; and in the text rhinocerotis, by which the rhinoceros, a creature which has its name from the horn on its nose, is supposed to be meant. That no single-horned animal can be intended by the reem of Moses, is sufficiently evident from this, that Moses, speaking of Joseph, says, "he has the Horns of A unicorn," or reem, where the horns are spoken of in the plural, the animal in the singular. The creature referred to is either the rhinoceros, some varieties of which have two horns on the nose, or the wild bull, urus, or buffalo; though some think the beast intended is a species of goat; but the rhinoceros seems the most likely. There is literally a monoceros, or unicorn, with one large curled ivory horn growing horizontally out of his snout; but this is not a land animal, it is the modiodan or nurwal, a marine animal of the whale kind, a horn of which is now before me, measuring seven feet four inches; but I believe the rhinoceros is that intended by the sacred writers.

There is no enchantment, etc. - Because God has determined to save them, therefore no enchantment can prevail against them.

According to this time, etc. - 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., this people shall always have prophetic information of what God is about to work. And indeed, they are the only people under heaven who ever had this privilege. When God himself designed to punish them because of their sins, he always forewarned them by the prophets; and also took care to apprise them of all the plots of their enemies against them.

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 young lion, ארי ari from ארה arah, to tear off, the predatory lion, or the lion in the act of seizing and tearing his prey; - the nations against whom the Israelites are now going shall be no more able to defend themselves against their attacks, than the feeblest beasts of the forest are against the attacks of the strong lion.

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.

Build seven altars - To the true God, otherwise he would not have mentioned it to God, as an argument why he should grant his requests, as he doth, Nu 23:4. And though Balak was averse from God and his worship, yet he would be easily overruled by Balaam, who doubtless told him that it was in vain to make an address to any other than the God of Israel, who alone was able either to bless or curse them as he pleased. Seven - This being the solemn and usual number in sacrifices.

Stand by thy burnt - offering - As in God's presence, as one that offers thyself as well as thy sacrifices to obtain his favour. I will go - To some solitary and convenient place, where I may prevail with God to appear to me. Sheweth me - Reveals to me, either by word or sign. An high place - Or, into the plain, as that word properly signifies.

His parable - That is, his oracular and prophetical speech; which he calls a parable, because of the weightiness of the matter, and the liveliness of the expressions which is usual in parables. Jacob - The posterity of Jacob.

The rocks - Upon which I now stand. I see him - I see the people, according to thy desire, Nu 22:41, but cannot improve that sight to the end for which thou didst design it, to curse them. The people shall dwell alone - This people are of a distinct kind from others, God's peculiar people, separated from all other nations, as in religion and laws, so also in divine protection; and therefore enchantments cannot have that power against them which they have against other persons and people.

The dust - The numberless people of Jacob or Israel, who according to God's promise, are now become as the dust of the earth. Of the righteous - Of this righteous and holy people. The sense is, they are not only happy above other nations in this life, and therefore in vain should I curse them, but they have this peculiar privilege, that they are happy after death: their happiness begins where the happiness of other people ends; and therefore I heartily wish that my soul may have its portion with theirs when I die. Was not God now again striving with him, not only for the sake of Israel, but of his own soul?

Must I not - Ought I not? Is it not my duty? Canst thou blame me for it?

Thou shalt not see them all - Perhaps he thought the sight of all them might discourage him, or as it did before, raise his fancy to an admiration of the multitude and felicity of the people.

While I meet the Lord - To consult him, and to receive an answer from him.

Rise up - This word implies the diligent attention required; rouse up thyself and carefully mind what I say.

That he should lie - Break his promises made to his people for their preservation and benediction. Repent - Change his counsels or purposes; unless he see iniquity in Jacob.

Iniquity - Not such as in the Canaanites: Such as he will punish with a curse, with utter destruction. The Lord is with him - He hath a favour for this people, and will defend and save them. The shout of a king - That is, such joyful and triumphant shouts as those wherewith a people congratulate the approach and presence of their King: when he appears among them upon some solemn occasion, or when he returns from battle with victory. This expression implies God's being their King and ruler, and their abundant security and confidence in him.

Out of Egypt - Namely, by a strong hand, and in spite of all their enemies, and therefore it is in vain to seek or hope to overcome them. He - Israel, whom God brought out of Egypt, such change of numbers being very common in the Hebrew language. The sense is, Israel is not now what he was in Egypt, a poor, weak, dispirited, unarmed people, but high and strong and invincible. An unicorn - The word may mean either a rhinoceros, or a strong and fierce kind of wild goat. But such a creature as an unicorn, as commonly painted, has no existence in nature.

Against Jacob - Nor against any that truly believe in Christ. What hath God wrought - How wonderful and glorious are those works which God is now about to do for Israel! These things will be a matter of discourse and admiration to all ages.

As a great Lion - As a lion rouseth up himself to fight, or to go out to the prey, so shall Israel stir up themselves to warlike attempts against their enemies. He shall not lie down - Not rest or cease from fighting and pursuing.

Peor - An high place called Beth - peor, Deu 3:29. That is, the house or temple of Peor, because there they worshipped Baal - peor.

1 AND Balaam said upto Balak, Build me here seven altars , and prepare me here seven oxen, and seven rams .

Either 1. To Baal, in whose high places this was done, and to whom alone Balak used to sacrifice. Or rather 2. To the true God, otherwise he would not have mentioned it to God as an argument why he should grant his requests, as he doth ver. 4. And though Balak was averse from God and his Worship, yet he would be easily over-ruled by Balaam, who doubtless told him that it was in vain to make an address to any other than the God of Israel, who alone was able either to bless or curse them, as he pleased. And therefore when Balaam lost his design this way, he tried it another way with greater success, but still used the same method, in provoking their own God to destroy the Israelites. Numb. 25. But though he direct his sacrifices to a right object, he chuseth a wrong place, and, to comply with Balaks desire, makes use of the high places of Ba[illegible: 1+ letters]l for this end, and mingles his own superstitions with the Worship of God, in erecting divers Altars, according to the manner of Heathens and Idolaters, 2 King. 18. 22. Isa. 17. 8. I[illegible: 1+ letters]r. 11. 13. Hos. 8. 11. and 10. 1. and 12. 11. whereas God appointed and holy men used but one Altar, though many sacrifices were to be offered upon it, Gen. 8. 20. Exod. 17. 15. and 24. 4.

This being the solemn and usual number in sacrifices, 1 Chron. 15. 26. 2 Chron. 29. 21. Iob 42. 8.

2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.

Balak by procuring them, and Balaam by offering them: though in antient times Kings were Priests also, and so might perform a Priestly work, as this was.

3 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 .

As in Gods presence, as one that offers thy self as well as thy sacrifices to obtain his favour.

To some solitary and convenient place, where I may by my inchantments prevail with God to appear to me and to answer thy and my desires in cursing this people.

(i. e.) Reveals to me either by word or sign.

Or, into the plain, as that word properly signifies, for he was now in an high place, Numb. 22. 41. But this is not material, it was doubtless some solitary place, where he might use some gestures and ceremonies which he would not have others see, and where he might more reasonably expect to meet with God, for both good and evil spirits most commonly appeared to persons in such places.

Marginal references: Or, he went solitary.

4 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 .

Not to comply with Balaams charmes, nor to gratifie, but to oppose, his wicked desires, and to force him against his own inclination and interest to utter the following words.

Which I pray thee accept, and give me leave to curse thy people, as their abundant wickedness deserves.

5 And the LORD put a word in Balaams mouth , and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak,

He suggested what he should say, even those words, ver. 8. 9, 10.

7 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, defie Israel.

To wit. into his mouth, he expressed or spoke.

(i. e.) His oracular and prophetical speech, which he calls a parable, because of the weightiness of the matter, and the majesty and smartness of the expressions, which is usual in parables.

From Aram Naharaim, or Mesopotania, Deut. 23. 4. See Gen. 10. 22.

In which quarter Aram lay. The East was infamous for charmers or soothsayers, Isa. 2. 6.

The posterity of Iacob, i. e. Israel, as it here follows.

8 How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed ? or how shall I defie, whom the LORD hath not defied?

God hath not cursed but blessed Israel, and therefore it is a vain and ridiculous attempt for me to curse them in spight of God.

Marginal references: Heb. cursed him.

9 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 .

Upon which I now stand.

I see the people according to thy desire, chap. 22. 41. but cannot improve that sight to the end for which thou didst design it, to wit, to curse them.

This people are of a distinct kind from others, Gods peculiar people, separated from all other nations as in Religion and Laws, so also in divine protection, and therefore my inchantments cannot have that power against them which they have against other persons and people. See Exod. 19. 5. Levit. 20. 24, 26.

Marginal references: Deut. 33 28.

10 Who can count the dust of Jacob , and the number of the fourth part of Israel : Let me dye the death of the righteous , and let my last end be like his.

(i. e.) The numberless people of Iacob or Israel, who according to Gods promise, Gen. 13. 16. and 28. 14. are now become as the dust of the Earth.

(i. e.) Of one of the camps of Israel, for they were divided into four camps, Numb. 2. which Balaam from this height could easily discover, much less can any man number all their host.

(i. e.) Of this righteous and holy people, the Israelites called Iesurun, Deut. 32. 15. which word signifies upright or righteous. The sense is, they are not onely happy above other Nations in this life, as I have said, and therefore in vain should I curse them, but they have this peculiar priviledge, that they are happy after death, their happiness begins where the happiness of other peoples ends, and therefore I heartily wish that my soul may have its portion with theirs when I die. But it was a vain wish, for as he would not live as Gods people did, so he died by the sword, as others of Gods enemies did, Numb. 31. 8. Ios. 13. 22.

(i. e.) My death, as the word is used. Or, My posterity, as this Hebrew word signifies, Psal. 109. 13. Dan. 11. 4. Amos 4. 2. And as the covenant and blessing of God given to Abraham did reach to his posterity, so this might not be unknown to Balaam, which might give him occasion for this wish. Or, my reward, as the word is taken, Prov. 23. 18. and 24. 20. But the first sence seems the most true, because it agrees best with the usage of Scripture to repeat the same thing in other words, and this includes the third sense, to wit, the reward, which is here supposed to follow death, and for posterity, it doth not appear that he had any, or, if he had, that he was so very solicitous for them; or that he knew the tenour of Gods covenant with Abraham and his posterity. Nay he rather seems to have had some hope of ruining Abrahams posterity, which he attempted both here and afterwards.

Marginal references: Heb. my soul or my life.; Psal. 116. 15.

12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth ?

I speak not these words by my own choice, but by the constraint of an higher power which I cannot resist.

13 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.

He thought the sight of the people necessary both to excite Balaams passions, and to strengthen and direct his conjurations, but he would now have him see but a part of the people and not all, because the sight of all of them might dismay and discourage him, and, as it did before, raise his fancy to an admiration of the multitude and of the felicity of the people, ver. 9, 10.

14 And he brought him into the field of Zophim to the top of Pisgah and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.

A place so called from the spies and watches which were kept there.

An high Hill in the land of Moab so called, Deut. 3. 27. and 34. 1.

Marginal references: Or, the hill▪

15 And he said unto Balak, stand here by thy burnt-offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.

To consult him, and to receive an answer from him, if peradventure those renewed sacrifices will melt him into some compliance with our desires.

16 And the LORD met Balaam and put a word in his mouth, and said, go again to Balak, and say thus.

See above on verse 4. and Numb. 22. 35.

Marginal references: chap. 22. [illegible: 1+ letters].

18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up , Balak, and hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:

This word implies, either 1. The reverence wherewith he should hear and receive Gods message, as Ehud did, Iudg. 3. 20. which might have been probable, if Balak had been now sitting, as Ehud there was: but he was standing, ver. 15. or rather 2. The diligent attention required, rouse up thy self and carefully mind what I say.

19 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?

(i. e.) Break his Faith and Promises made to his people for their preservation and benediction.

(i. e.) Change his counsels or purposes, which men do, either because they are not able to execute them, or because they are better informed and their minds changed by some unexpected occurrent, or by their lusts and passions, none of which have place in God. And therefore I plainly see that all our indeavours and repeated sacrifices are to no purpose and can make no impression in God nor induce him to curse those whom he hath purposed and solemnly and frequently promised to bless.

Is he like a man that oft speaks and promises what he either never intends, or cannot or will not perform?

Marginal references: 1 Sam. 15. 2[illegible: 1+ letters]. Mal. 3. 6. Rom. 11. 2[illegible: 1+ letters]. Jam. 1. 17.

20 Behold, I have received commandement to bless : and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

Or, I have received a blessing, to wit, a sentence of blessing, which God hath put into my mind and mouth, and which I cannot forbear to utter. Heb. I have recieved to bless. The infinitive put for the noun, as is frequent.

21 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 .

He▪ (i. e.) God, understood v. 20. and expressed v. 19. hath not or doth not behold or see iniquity or perverseness, i. e. any sin, in Iacob or Israel, which cannot be meant of a simple seeing or knowing of him, for so God did see and observe, yea and chastise their sins, as is manifest Exod. 32. 9. Deut. 9. 13. but of such a sight of their sins as should provoke God urterly to forsake and curse and destroy them, which was Balaks desire and Balaams hope and design. For as Balaam knew that none but Israels God could curse or destroy Israel, so he knew, that nothing but their sin could move him so to do, and therefore he took a right though wicked course afterwards, to tempt them to sin, and thereby to expose them to ruine, Numb. 25. And Balaam had now hoped that God was incensed against Israel for their sins, and therefore would be prevailed with to give them up to the curse and spoil. But, saith he, I was mistaken, I see God hath a singular favour to this people, and though he sees and punisheth sin in other persons and people with utter destruction, as he hath now done in Sihon and Og and the Amorites, yet he will not do so with Israel, he winks at their sins, forgets and forgives them, and will not punish them as their iniquities deserve. In this sense God is said not to see sin, as elsewhere he is said to forget them, Isa. 43. 25. Ier. 31. 34. and, to cover them, Psal. 32. 1. which keeps them out of sight and so out of mind, and to blot them out, Psal. 51. 1, 9. and to cast them behind his back, Is[illegible: 1+ letters]. 3[illegible: 1+ letters]. 17. or, into the depth of the sea, Mi[illegible: 1+ letters]. 7. 19. in which cases they cannot be seen nor read. And men are oft said not to know or see those sins in their children or others which they do not take notice of so as to punish them. And this sence best agrees with the context, God hath decreed and promised to bless this people, and he hath blessed them, and I cannot reverse it, ver. 20. and he will not reverse it, though provoked to do so by their sins, which he will take no notice of. Others thus, He hath not beheld, as hitherto he hath not, so for the future he will not behold, i. e. so as to approve it, as that word is oft used, as Gen. 7. 1. Isa. 66. 2. Hab. 1. 13. or so as to suffer it, injury against Iacob, &c. For av[illegible: 1+ letters]n here rendred iniquity, is oft used in that sence, as Iob 5. 6, 7. Prov. 12. 21. & 22. 8. And the other word amal rendred perverseness oft notes vexation and trouble, as Iob 5. 6, 7. Psal. 25. 17. and 36. 4. and the particle b[illegible: 1+ letters]th rendred in is oft used for against, as Exod. 14. 25 and 20. 16. Numb. 12. 1. So the sence is, God will not see them wronged or ruined by any of their adversaries, whereof the following words may be a good reason, for God is with him, &c.

(i. e.) He hath a favour for this people and will defend and save them. So the phrase of Gods being with a person or people signifies, as Iudg. 6. 13. Psal. 46. 7. Isa. 8. 10.

(i. e.) Such joyful and triumphant shouts as those wherewith a people congratulate the approach and presence of their King when he appears among them upon some solemn occasion, or when he returns from battel with victory and spoils. The expression implies Gods being their king and ruler, and their abundant security and just confidence in him as such. And here is an allusion to the silver trumpets which were made by Gods command and used upon great solemnities, in which God their king was present in a special manner, Numb. 10. 9. Ios. 6. 16, 20. 1 Sam. 4. 5. 2 Chron. 13. 12.

22 God brought them out of Egypt : he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn .

To wit, by a strong hand and in spight of all their enemies, and therefore it is in vain to seek or hope to overcome them.

Either 1. God, last mentioned. But so the comparison is mean and unbecoming. Or rather 2. Israel, whom God brought out of Egypt, such change of numbers being very common in the Hebrew language. The sence is, Israel is not now, what he was in Egypt, a poor, weak, dispirited, unarmed people, but high and strong and invincible.

Whose great strength and fierceness is celebrated in Scripture, Numb. 24. 8. Deut. 33. 17. Iob 39. 9. Psal. 22. 21. and 92. 10. But whether it be an Unicorn, or a Rhinoceros, or a strong and fierce kind of wild goat, which is here called reem, it is not needful here to determine.

Marginal references: chap. 24. 8.

23 Surely there is no inchantment 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 ?

I find by experience and serious consideration that all mine and thine endeavours to enchant Israel are in vain, being frustrated by their omnipotent God. I can do thee no service by my art against them.

Not onely in succeeding times and ages, of which he speaks chap. 24. 17, &c. but even now, in this time and age, and so forward.

(i. e.) How wonderfull and glorious are those works which God is now about to do for Israel, by drying up Iordan, by subduing the Canaanites, &c. These things will be matter of discourse and admiration to all ages.

Marginal references: Or, in.

24 Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down , untill he eat of the prey and drink the bloud of the slain.

As a lion rowzeth up himself to fight or to go out to the prey, so shall Israel stir up themselves to warlike attempts against all their enemies, as occasion shall offer it self.

(i. e.) Not rest or cease from fighting and pursuing.

Marginal references: Gen. 49. 9.

28 And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, , that looketh toward Jeshimon.

An high place called Beth-peor, Deut. 3. 29. i. e. the house or temple of Peor, because there they worshipped Baal-peor.

Num 23:1-2

Balaam’s First Words. - Num 23:1-3. Preparations for the first act, which was performed at Bamoth-baal. At Balaam’s command Balak built seven altars, and then selected seven bullocks and seven rams, which they immediately sacrificed, namely, one bullock and one ram upon each altar. The nations of antiquity generally accompanied all their more important undertakings with sacrifices, to make sure of the protection and help of the gods; but this was especially the case with their ceremonies of adjuration. According to Diod. Sic. ii. 29, the Chaldeans sought to avert calamity and secure prosperity by sacrifices and adjurations. The same thing is also related of other nations (see Hengstenberg, Balaam, p. 392). Accordingly, Balaam also did everything that appeared necessary, according to his own religious notions, to ensure the success of Balak’s undertaking, and bring about the desired result. The erection of seven altars, and the sacrifice of seven animals of each kind, are to be explained from the sacredness acquired by this number, through the creation of the world in seven days, as being the stamp of work that was well-pleasing to God. The sacrifices were burnt-offerings, and were offered by themselves to Jehovah, whom Balaam acknowledged as his God.

Num 23:3-4

After the offering of the sacrifices, Balaam directed the king to stand by his burnt-offering, i.e., by the sacrifices that had been offered for him upon the seven altars, that he might go out for auguries. The meaning of the words, “I will go, peradventure Jehovah will come to meet me,” is apparent from Num 24:1 : and “he went no more to meet with the auguries” (נחשׁים, see at Lev 19:26). Balaam went out to look for a manifestation of Jehovah in the significant phenomena of nature. The word which Jehovah should show to him, he would report to Balak. We have here what is just as characteristic in relation to Balaam’s religious stand-point, as it is significant in its bearing upon the genuine historical character of the narrative, namely, an admixture of the religious ideas of both the Israelites and the heathen, inasmuch as Balaam hoped to receive or discover, in the phenomena of nature, a revelation from Jehovah. Because heathenism had no “sure word of prophecy,” it sought to discover the will and counsel of God, which are displayed in the events of human history, through various signs that were discernible in natural phenomena, or, as Chryssipus the Stoic expresses it in Cicero de divin. ii. 63, “Signa quae a Diis hominibus portendantur.”See the remarks of Nägelsbach and Hartung on the nature of the heathen auspices, in Hengstenberg’s Balaam and his Prophecies (pp. 396-7). Hartung observes, for example: “As the gods did not live outside the world, or separated from it, but the things of time and space were filled with their essence, it followed, as a matter of course, that the signs of their presence were sought and seen in all the visible and audible occurrences of nature, whether animate or inanimate. Hence all the phenomena which affected the senses, either in the elements or in the various creatures, whether sounds or movements, natural productions or events, of a mechanical or physical, or voluntary or involuntary kind, might serve as the media of revelation.” And again (p. 397): “The sign in itself is useless, if it be not observed. It was therefore necessary that man and God should come to meet one another, and that the sign should not merely be given, but should also be received.”

To look for a word of Jehovah in this way, Balaam betook himself to a “bald height.” This is the only meaning of שׁפי, from שׁפה, to rub, to scrape, to make bare, which is supported by the usage of the language; it is also in perfect harmony with the context, as the heathen augurs were always accustomed to select elevated places for their auspices, with an extensive prospect, especially the towering and barren summits of mountains that were rarely visited by men (see Hengstenberg, ut sup.). Ewald, however, proposes the meaning “alone,” or “to spy,” for which there is not the slightest grammatical foundation.

Num 23:7-10

Balaam’s first saying. - Having come back to the burnt-offering, Balaam commenced his utterance before the king and the assembled princes. משׁל, lit., a simile, then a proverb, because the latter consists of comparisons and figures, and lastly a sentence or saying. The application of this term to the announcements made by Balaam (Num 23:7, Num 23:18, Num 24:3, Num 24:15, Num 24:20), whereas it is never used of the prophecies of the true prophets of Jehovah, but only of certain songs and similes inserted in them (cf. Isa 14:4; Eze 17:2; Eze 24:3; Mic 2:4), is to be accounted for not merely from the poetic form of Balaam’s utterances, the predominance of poetical imagery, the sustained parallelism, the construction of the whole discourse in brief pointed sentences, and other peculiarities of poetic language (e.g., בּנו, Num 24:3, Num 24:15), but it points at the same time to the difference which actually exists between these utterances and the predictions of the true prophets. The latter are orations addressed to the congregation, which deduce from the general and peculiar relation of Israel to the Lord and to His law, the conduct of the Lord towards His people either in their own or in future times, proclaiming judgment upon the ungodly and salvation to the righteous. “Balaam’s mental eye,” on the contrary, as Hengstenberg correctly observes, “was simply fixed upon what he saw; and this he reproduced without any regard to the impression that it was intended to make upon those who heard it.” But the very first utterance was of such a character as to deprive Balak of all hope that his wishes would be fulfilled. Num 23:7

“Balak, the king of Moab, fetches me from Aram, from the mountains of the East,” i.e., of Mesopotamia, which was described, as far back as Gen 29:1, as the land of the sons of the East (cf. Num 22:5). Balaam mentions the mountains of his home in contradistinction to the mountains of the land of the Moabites upon which he was then standing. “Come, curse me Jacob, and come threaten Israel.” Balak had sent for him for this purpose (see Num 22:11, Num 22:17). זעמה, for זעמה, imperative (see Ewald, §228, b.). זעם, to be angry, here to give utterance to the wrath of God, synonymous with נקב or קבב, to curse. Jacob: a poetical name for the nation, equivalent to Israel.

Num 23:11-17

Balak reproached Balaam for this utterance, which announced blessings to the Israelites instead of curses. But he met his reproaches with the remark, that he was bound by the command of Jehovah. The infinitive absolute, בּרך, after the finite verb, expresses the fact that Balaam had continued to give utterance to nothing but blessings. לדבּר שׁמר, to observe to speak; שׁמר, to notice carefully, as in Deu 5:1, Deu 5:29, etc. But Balak thought that the reason might be found in the unfavourable locality; he therefore led the seer to “the field of the watchers, upon the top of Pisgah,” whence he could see the whole of the people of Israel. The words וגו תּראנּוּ אשׁר (Num 23:13) are to be rendered, “whence thou wilt see it (Israel); thou seest only the end of it, but not the whole of it” (sc., here upon Bamoth-baal). This is required by a comparison of the verse before us with Num 22:41, where it is most unquestionably stated, that upon the top of Bamoth-baal Balaam only saw “the end of the people.” For this reason Balak regarded that place as unfavourable, and wished to lead the seer to a place from which he could see the people, without any limitation whatever. Consequently, notwithstanding the omission of כּי (for), the words קצהוּ אפס can only be intended to assign the reason why Balak supposed the first utterances of Balaam to have been unfavourable. קצהוּ = העם קצה, the end of the people (Num 22:41), cannot possibly signify the whole nation, or, as Marck, de Geer, Gesenius, and Kurtz suppose, “the people from one end to the other,” in which case העם קצה (the end of the people) would signify the very opposite of קצהוּ (the end of it); for העם קצה is not interchangeable, or to be identified, with מקּצה כּל־העם (Gen 19:4), “the whole people, from the end or extremity of it,” or from its last man; in other words, “to the very last man.” Still less does העם קצה אפס signify “the uttermost end of the whole people, the end of the entire people,” notwithstanding the fact that Kurtz regards the expression, “the end of the end of the people,” as an intolerable tautology. קבנו, imperative with nun epenth., from קבב. The “field of the watchers,” or “spies (zophim), upon the top of Pisgah,” corresponds, no doubt, to “the field of Moab, upon the top of Pisgah,” on the west of Heshbon (see at Num 21:20). Mount Nebo, from which Moses surveyed the land of Canaan in all its length and breadth, was one summit, and possibly the summit of Pisgah (see Deu 3:27; Deu 34:1). The field of the spies was very probably a tract of table-land upon Nebo; and so called either because watchers were stationed there in times of disturbance, to keep a look-out all round, or possibly because it was a place where augurs made their observations of the heavens and of birds (Knobel). The locality has not been thoroughly explored by travellers; but from the spot alluded to, it must have been possible to overlook a very large portion of the Arboth Moab. Still farther to the north, and nearer to the camp of the Israelites in these Arboth, was the summit of Peor, to which Balak afterwards conducted Balaam (Num 23:28), and where he not only saw the whole of the people, but could see distinctly the camps of the different tribes (Num 24:2).

Num 23:19

“God is not a man, that He should lie; nor a son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and should He not do it? and spoken, and should not carry it out?”

Num 23:20

“Behold, I have received to bless: and He hath blessed; and I cannot turn it.” Balaam meets Balak’s expectation that he will take back the blessing that he has uttered, with the declaration, that God does not alter His purposes like changeable and fickle men, but keeps His word unalterably, and carries it into execution. The unchangeableness of the divine purposes is a necessary consequence of the unchangeableness of the divine nature. With regard to His own counsels, God repents of nothing; but this does not prevent the repentance of God, understood as an anthropopathic expression, denoting the pain experienced by the love of God, on account of the destruction of its creatures (see at Gen 6:6, and Exo 32:14). The ה before הוּא Num 23:19) is the interrogative ה (see Ges. §100, 4). The two clauses of Num 23:19, “Hath He spoken,” etc., taken by themselves, are no doubt of universal application; but taken in connection with the context, they relate specially to what God had spoken through Balaam, in his first utterance with reference to Israel, as we may see from the more precise explanation in Num 23:20, “Behold, I have received to bless’ (לקח, taken, accepted), etc. השׁיב, to lead back, to make a thing retrograde (Isa 43:13). Samuel afterwards refused Saul’s request in these words of Balaam (Num 23:19), when he entreated him to revoke his rejection on the part of God (1Sa 15:29).

Num 23:21

After this decided reversal of Balak’s expectations, Balaam carried out still more fully the blessing which had been only briefly indicated in his first utterance. “He beholds not wickedness in Jacob, and sees not suffering in Israel: Jehovah his God is with him, and the shout (jubilation) of a king in the midst of him.” The subject in the first sentence is God (see Hab 1:3, Hab 1:13). God sees not און, worthlessness, wickedness, and עמל, tribulation, misery, as the consequence of sin, and therefore discovers no reason for cursing the nation. That this applied to the people solely by virtue of their calling as the holy nation of Jehovah, and consequently that there is no denial of the sin of individuals, is evident from the second hemistich, which expresses the thought of the first in a positive form: so that the words, “Jehovah his God is with him,” correspond to the words, “He beholds not wickedness;” and “the shout of a king in the midst of it,” to His not seeing suffering. Israel therefore rejoiced in the blessing of God only so long as it remained faithful to the idea of its divine calling, and continued in covenant fellowship with the Lord. So long the power of the world could do it no harm. The “shout of a king” in Israel is the rejoicing of Israel at the fact that Jehovah dwells and rules as King in the midst of it (cf. Exo 15:18; Deu 33:5). Jehovah had manifested Himself as King, by leading them out of Egypt.

Num 23:22

“God brings them out of Egypt; his strength is like that of a buffalo.” אל is God as the strong, or mighty one. The participle מוציאם is not used for the preterite, but designates the leading out as still going on, and lasting till the introduction into Canaan. The plural suffix,  ם-, is used ad sensum, with reference to Israel as a people. Because God leads them, they go forward with the strength of a buffalo. תּועפות, from יעף, to weary, signifies that which causes weariness, exertion, the putting forth of power; hence the fulness of strength, ability to make or bear exertions. ראם is the buffalo or wild ox, an indomitable animal, which is especially fearful on account of its horns (Job 39:9-11; Deu 33:17; Psa 22:22).

Num 23:23

The fellowship of its God, in which Israel rejoiced, and to which it owed its strength, was an actual truth. “For there is no augury in Jacob, and no divination in Israel. At the time it is spoken to Jacob, and to Israel what God doeth.” כּי does not mean, “so that, as an introduction to the sequel,” as Knobel supposes, but “for,” as a causal particle. The fact that Israel was not directed, like other nations, to the uncertain and deceitful instrumentality of augury and divination, but enjoyed in all its concerns the immediate revelation of its God, furnished the proof that it had its God in the midst of it, and was guided and endowed with power by God Himself. נחשׁ and קסם, οἰωνισμός and μαντεία, augurium et divinatio (lxx, Vulg.), were the two means employed by the heathen for looking into futurity. The former (see at Lev 19:26) was the unfolding of the future from signs in the phenomena of nature, and inexplicable occurrences in animal and human life; the latter, prophesying from a pretended or supposed revelation of the Deity within the human mind. כּעת, “according to the time,” i.e., at the right time, God revealed His acts, His counsel, and His will to Israel in His word, which He had spoken at first to the patriarchs, and afterwards through Moses and the prophets. In this He revealed to His people in truth, and in a way that could not deceive, what the heathen attempted in vain to discover through augury and divination (cf. Deu 18:14-19).“What is here affirmed of Israel, applies to the Church of all ages, and also to every individual believer. The Church of God knows from His word what God does, and what it has to do in consequence. The wisdom of this world resembles augury and divination. The Church of God, which is in possession of His word, has no need of it, and it only leads its followers to destruction, from inability to discern the will of God. To discover this with certainty, is the great privilege of the Church of God” (Hengstenberg).

Num 23:24

Through the power of its God, Israel was invincible, and would crush all its foes. “Behold, it rises up, a people like the lioness, and lifts itself up like the lion. It lies not down till it eats dust, and drinks the blood of the slain.” What the patriarch Jacob prophesied of Judah, the ruler among his brethren, in Gen 49:9, Balaam here transfers to the whole nation, to put to shame all the hopes indulged by the Moabitish king of the conquest and destruction of Israel.

Num 23:25-28

Balaam’s Last Words. - Num 23:25-30. Balak was not deterred, however, from making another attempt. At first, indeed, he exclaimed in indignation at these second sayings of Balaam: “Thou shalt neither curse it, nor even bless.” The double גּם with לא signifies “neither - nor;” and the rendering, “if thou do not curse it, thou shalt not bless it,” must be rejected as untenable. In his vexation at the second failure, he did not want to hear anything more from Balaam. But when he replied again, that he had told him at the very outset that he could do nothing but what God should say to him (cf. Num 22:38), he altered his mind, and resolved to conduct Balaam to another place with this hope: “peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.” Clericus observes upon this passage, “It was the opinion of the heathen, that what was not obtained through the first, second, or third victim, might nevertheless be secured through a fourth;” and he adduces proofs from Suetonius, Curtius, Gellius, and others.

Num 23:29-30

He takes the seer “to the top of Peor, which looks over the face of the desert” (Jeshimon: see at Num 21:20), and therefore was nearer to the camp of the Israelites. Mount Peor was one peak of the northern part of the mountains of Abarim by the town of Beth-peor, which afterwards belonged to the Reubenites (Jos 13:20), and opposite to which the Israelites were encamped in the steppes of Moab (Deu 3:29; Deu 4:46). According to Eusebius (Onom. s. v. Φογώρ), Peor was above Libias (i.e., Bethharam),Ὑυπέρκειται δὲ τῆς νῦν Λιβαίδος καλουμένης. Jerome has “in supercilio Libiados.” which was situated in the valley of the Jordan; and according to the account given under Araboth Moab,Καὶ ἔστι τόπος εἰς δεῦρο δεικνύμενος παρὰ τῷ ὄρει Φογώρ ὁ παράκειται ἀνιόντων ἀπὸ Λιβίαδος ἐπὶ Ἐσσεβοὺς (i.e., Heshbon) τῆς Ἀραβίας ἀντικρὺ Ἰεριχώ. it was close by the Arboth Moab, opposite to Jericho, on the way from Libias to Heshbon. Peor was about seven Roman miles from Heshbon, according to the account given s. v. Danaba; and Beth-peor (s. v. Bethphozor) was near Mount Peor, opposite to Jericho, six Roman miles higher than Libias, i.e., to the east of it (see Hengstenberg, Balaam, p. 538).

The sacrifices offered in preparation for this fresh transaction were the same as in the former cases (Num 23:14, and Num 23:1, Num 23:2).

Balaam Constrained to Bless Israel; The Blessing Pronounced on Israel. (b. c. 1452.)

1 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams. 2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram. 3 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 showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place. 4 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. 5 And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. 6 And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab. 7 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. 8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied? 9 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. 10 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! 11 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. 12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth?

Here is, I. Great preparation made for the cursing of Israel. That which was aimed at was to engage the God of Israel to forsake them, and either to be on Moab's side or to stand neuter. O the sottishness of superstition, to imagine that God will be at men's beck! Balaam and Balak think to bribe him with altars and sacrifices, offered without any warrant or institution of his: as if he would eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats. Ridiculous nonsense, to think that these would please God, and gain his favour, when there could be in them no exercise either of faith or obedience! Yet, it should seem, they offered these sacrifices to the God of heaven the supreme Numen—Divinity, and not to any of their local deities. But the multiplying of altars was an instance of their degeneracy from the religion of their ancestors, and their apostasy to idolatry; for those that multiplied altars multiplied gods. Ephraim made many altars to sin, Hos. viii. 11. Thus they liked not to retain God in their knowledge, but became vain in their imaginations; and yet presumptuously expected hereby to gain God over to them from Israel, who had his sanctuary among them, and his anointed altar. Observe here, 1. How very imperious Balaam was, proud to have the command of a king and to give law to princes. Such is the spirit of that wicked one who exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped. With what authority does Balaam give orders! Build me here (in the place I have pitched upon) seven altars, of stone or turf. Thus he covers his malice against Israel with a show of devotion, but his sacrifice was an abomination, being brought with such a wicked mind, Prov. xxi. 27. That which he aimed at was not to honour God with the sacrifices of righteousness, but to enrich himself with the wages of unrighteousness. 2. How very obsequious Balak was. The altars were presently built, and the sacrifices prepared, the best of the sort, seven bullocks and seven rams. Balak makes no objection to the charge, nor does he snuff at it, or think it either a weariness or a disparagement to stand by his burnt-offering as Balaam ordered him.

II. The turning of the curse into a blessing, by the overruling power of God, in love to Israel, which is the account Moses gives of it, Deut. xxiii. 5.

1. God puts the blessing into the mouth of Balaam. While the sacrifices were burning, Balaam retired; he went solitary, into some dark grove on the top of the high place, v. 3, marg. Thus much he knew, that solitude gives a good opportunity for communion with God; those that would meet with him must retire from the world, and the business and conversation of it, and love to be private, reckoning themselves never less alone than when alone, because the Father is with them. Enter therefore into thy closet, and shut the door, and be assured that God will meet thee if thou seek him in the due order. But Balaam retired with a peradventure only, having some thoughts that God might meet him; but being conscious to himself of guilt, and knowing that God had lately met him in anger, he had reason to speak doubtfully: Peradventure the Lord will come to meet me, v. 3. But let not such a man think that he shall receive any favour from God. Nay, it should seem, though he pretended to go and meet with God, he really designed to use enchantments; see ch. xxiv. 1. But, whatever he intended. God designed to serve his own glory by him, and therefore met Balaam, v. 4. What communion has light with darkness? No friendly communion, we may be sure. Balaam's way was still perverse, and God was still an adversary to him; but, Balak having chosen him for his oracle, God would constrain him to utter such a confession, to the honour of God and Israel, as should render those for ever inexcusable who should appear in arms against them. When Balaam was aware that God met him, probably by an angel, he boasted of his performances: I have prepared seven altars, and offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram. How had he done it? It cost him nothing; it was done at Balak's expense; yet, (1.) He boasts of it, as if he had done some mighty thing. The acts of devotion which are done in hypocrisy are commonly reflected upon with pride and vain glory. Thus the Pharisee went up to the temple to boast of his religion, Luke xviii. 11, 12. (2.) He insists upon it as a reason why God should gratify him in his desire to curse Israel, as if now he had made God his debtor, and might draw upon him for what he pleased. He thinks God is so much beholden to him for these sacrifices that the least he can do in recompense for them is to sacrifice his Israel to the malice of the king of Moab. Note, It is a common cheat that wicked people put upon themselves, to think that by the shows of piety they may prevail with God to countenance them, and connive at them, in their greatest immoralities, especially in persecution, Isa. lxvi. 5. However, thought the sacrifice was an abomination, God took the occasion of Balaam's expectation to put a word into his mouth (v. 5); for the answer of the tongue if from the Lord, and thus he would show how much those are mistaken who say, With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are our own, Ps. xii. 4. He that made man's mouth knows how to manage it, and to serve his own purposes by it. This speaks terror to daring sinners, that set their mouth against the heavens. God can make their own tongues to fall upon them, Ps. lxiv. 8. And it speaks comfort to God's witnesses, whom at any time he calls out to appear for him; if God put a word into the mouth of Balaam, who would have defied God and Israel, surely he will not be wanting to those who desire to glorify God and edify his people by their testimony, but it shall be given them in that same hour what they should speak.

2. Balaam pronounces the blessing in the ears of Balak. He found him standing by his burnt-sacrifice (v. 6), closely attending it, and earnestly expecting the success. Those that would have an answer of peace from God must abide by the sacrifice, and attend on the Lord without distraction, not weary in well doing. Balaam, having fixed himself in the place appointed for his denouncing curses against Israel, which perhaps he had drawn up in form ready to deliver, takes up his parable, and it proves a blessing, v. 7. He pronounces Israel safe and happy, and so blesses them.

(1.) He pronounces them safe, and out of the reach of his envenomed darts. [1.] He owns that the design was to curse them, that Balak sent for him out of his own country, and that he came, with that intent, v. 7. The message sent to him was, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel. Balak intended to make war upon them, and he would have Balaam to bless his arms, and to prophesy and pray for the ruin of Israel. [2.] He owns the design defeated, and his own inability to accomplish it. He could not so much as give them an ill word or an ill wish: How shall I curse those whom God has not cursed? v. 8. Not that therefore he would not do it, but therefore he could not do it. This is a fair confession, First, Of the weakness and impotency of his own magic skill, for which others valued him so much, and doubtless he valued himself no less. He was the most celebrated man of that profession, and yet owns himself baffled. God had warned the Israelites not to use divination (Lev. xix. 31), and this providence gave them a reason for that law, by showing them the weakness and folly of it. As they had seen the magicians of Egypt befooled, so, here, the great conjurer of the east. See Isa. xlvii. 12-14. Secondly, It is a confession of the sovereignty and dominion of the divine power. He owns that he could do no more than God would suffer him to do, for God could overrule all his purposes, and turn his counsels headlong. Thirdly, It is a confession of the inviolable security of the people of God. Note, 1. God's Israel are owned and blessed of him. He has not cursed them, for they are delivered from the curse of the law; he has not defied them, nor rejected or abandoned them, though mean and vile. 2. Those that have the good-will of Heaven have the ill-will of hell; the serpent and this seed have an enmity to them. 3. Though the enemies of God's people may prevail far against them, yet they cannot curse them; that is, they cannot do them any real mischief, much less a ruining mischief, for they cannot separate them from the love of God, Rom. viii. 39.

(2.) He pronounces them happy in three things:—

[1.] Happy in their peculiarity, and distinction from the rest of the nations: From the top of the rock I see him, v. 9. And it seems to have been a great surprise to him that whereas, it is probable, they were represented to him as a rude and disorderly rabble, that infested the countries round about in rambling parties, he was them a regular incorporated camp, in which appeared all the marks of discipline and good order; he saw them a people dwelling alone, and foresaw they would continue so, and their singularity would be their unspeakable honour. Persons of quality we call person of distinction; this was Israel's praise, though their enemies turned it to their reproach, that they differed from all the neighbouring nations, not only in their religion and sacred rites, but in their diet, and dress, and common usages, as a people called out of the world, and not to be conformed to it. They never lost their reputation till they mingled among the heathen, Ps. cvi. 35. Note, It is the duty and honour of those that are dedicated to God to be separated from the world, and not to walk according to the course and custom of it. Those who make conscience of peculiar duties may take the comfort of peculiar privileges, which it is probable Balaam has an eye to here. God's Israel shall not stand upon a level with other nations, but be dignified above them all, as a people near to God, and set apart for him.

[2.] Happy in their numbers, not so few and despicable as they were represented to him, but an innumerable company, which made them both honourable and formidable (v. 10): Who can count the dust of Jacob? The number of the people was the thing that Balak was vexed at (ch. xxii. 3): Moab was afraid of them, because they were many; and God does here by Balaam promote that fear and vexation, foretelling their further increase. Balak would have him see the utmost part of the people (ch. xxii. 41), hoping the more he saw of them the more he would be exasperated against them, and throw about his curses with the more keenness and rage; but it proved quite contrary: instead of being angry at their numbers, he admired them. The better acquainted we are with God's people the better opinion we have of them. He takes notice of the number, First, Of the dust of Jacob; that is, the people of Jacob, concerning whom it was foretold that they should be as the dust for number, Gen. xxviii. 14. Thus he owns the fulfilling of the promise made to the fathers, and expects that it should be yet further accomplished. Perhaps it was part of David's fault in numbering the people that he offered to count the dust of Jacob, which God had said should be innumerable. Secondly, Of the fourth part of Israel, alluding to the form of their camp, which was cast into four squadrons, under four standards. Note, God's Israel are a very great body, his spiritual Israel are so, and they will appear to be so when they shall all be gathered together unto him in the great day, Rev. vii. 9.

[3.] Happy in their end: Let me die the death of the righteous Israelites, that are in covenant with God, and let my last end, or future state, be like theirs, or my recompence, namely, in the other world. Here, First, It is taken for granted that death is the end of all men; the righteous themselves must die: and it is good for us to think of this with application, as Balaam himself does here, speaking of his own death. Secondly, he goes upon the supposition of the soul's immortality, and a different state on the other side death, to which this is a noble testimony, and an evidence of its being anciently known and believed. For how could the death of the righteous be more desirable than the death of the wicked upon any other account than as it involved happiness in another world, since in the manner and circumstances of dying we see all things come alike to all? Thirdly, He pronounces the righteous truly blessed, not only while they live, but when they die, which makes their death not only more desirable than the death of others, but even more desirable than life itself; for in that sense his wish may be taken. Not only, "When I do die, let me die the death of the righteous;" but, "I could even now be willing to die, on condition that I might die the death of the righteous, and reach my end this moment, provided it might be like his." Very near the place where Balaam now was, on one of the mountains of Moab, not long after this, Moses died, and to that perhaps God, who put this word into his mouth, designed it should have a reference, that by it Moses might be encouraged to go up and die such a death as Balaam himself wished to die. Fourthly, He shows his opinion of religion to be better than his resolution; there are many who desire to die the death of the righteous, but do not endeavour to live the life of the righteous. Gladly would they have their end like theirs, but not their way. They would be saints in heaven, but not saints on earth. This is the desire of the slothful, which kills him, because his hands refuse to labour. This of Balaam's is only a wish, not a prayer, and it is a vain wish, being only a wish for the end, without any care for the means. Thus far this blessing goes, even to death, and beyond it, as far as the last end. Now,

III. We are told, 1. How Balak fretted at it, v. 11. He pretended to honour the Lord with his sacrifices, and to wait for the answer God would send him; and yet, when it did not prove according to his mind, he forgot God, and flew into a great passion against Balaam, as if it had been purely his doing: "What hast thou done unto me! How hast thou disappointed me!" Sometimes God makes the enemies of his church a vexation one to another, while he that sits in heaven laughs at them, and the efforts of their impotent malice. 2. How Balaam was forced to acquiesce in it. He submits because he cannot help it, and yet humours the thing with no small address, as if he had been peculiarly conscientious, answering Balak with the gravity of a prophet: Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord has put in my mouth? v. 12. Thus a confession of God's overruling power is extorted from a wicked prophet, to the further confusion of a wicked prince.

Balaam Again Blesses Israel. (b. c. 1452.)

13 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. 14 And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar. 15 And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the Lord yonder. 16 And the Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus. 17 And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the Lord spoken? 18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: 19 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? 20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. 21 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. 22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. 23 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! 24 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. 25 And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. 26 But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the Lord speaketh, that I must do? 27 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. 28 And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon. 29 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams. 30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.

Here is, I. Preparation made the second time, as before, for the cursing of Israel. 1. The place is changed, v. 13. Balak fancied that Balaam, having so full a prospect of the whole camp of Israel, from the top of the rocks (v. 9), was either so enamoured with the beauty of it that he would not curse them or so affrighted with the terror of it that he durst not; and therefore he would bring him to another place, form which he might see only some part of them, which would appear more despicable, and that part at least which would lie in view he hoped he might obtain leave to curse, and so by degrees he should get ground against them, intending, no doubt, if he had gained this point, to make his attack on that part of the camp of Israel which Balaam now had in his eye, and into which he was to throw the fireballs of his curses. See how restless and unwearied the church's enemies are in their malicious attempts to ruin it; they leave no stone unturned, no project untried, to compass it. O that we were as full of contrivance and resolution in prosecuting good designs for the glory of God! 2. The sacrifices are repeated, new altars are built, a bullock and a ram offered on every altar, and Balak attends his sacrifice as closely as ever, v. 14, 15. Were we thus earnest to obtain the blessing as Balak was to procure a curse (designedly upon Israel, but really upon himself and his people), we should not grudge the return both of the charge and of the labour of religious exercises. 3. Balaam renews his attendance on God, and God meets him the second time, and puts another word into his mouth, not to reverse the former, but to ratify it, v. 16, 17. If God said not to Balaam, Seek in vain, much less will he say so to any of the seed of Jacob, who shall surely find him, not only as Balaam, their instructor and oracle, but their bountiful rewarder. When Balaam returned Balak was impatient to know what message he had: "What hath the Lord spoken? Are there any better tidings yet, any hopes of speeding?" This should be our enquiry when we come to hear the word of God. See Jer. xxiii. 35.

II. A second conversion of the curse into a blessing by the overruling power of God; and this blessing is both larger and stronger than the former, and quite cuts off all hopes of altering it. Balak having been so forward to ask what the Lord had spoken (v. 17), Balaam now addresses himself particularly to him (v. 18): Rise up, Balak, and hear. It was a message from God that he had to deliver, and it is required of Balak, though a king, that he attend (hear and hearken, with a close application of mind, let not a word slip), and also that he attend with reverence: Rise up, and hear. His successor Eglon, when he was to receive a message from God, rose out of his seat, Judg. iii. 20.

1. Two things Balaam in this discourse informs Balak of, sorely to his grief and disappointment:—

(1.) That he had no reason to hope that he should ruin Israel.

[1.] It would be to no purpose to attempt to ruin them, and he would deceive himself if he expected it, for three reasons:—

First, Because God is unchangeable: God is not a man that he should lie, v. 19. Men change their minds, and therefore break their words; they lie, because they repent. But God does neither. He never changes his mind, and therefore never recalls his promise. Balaam had owned (v. 8) that he could not alter God's counsel, and thence he infers here that God himself would not alter it; such is the imperfection of man, and such the perfection of God. It is impossible for God to lie, Heb. vi. 18. And, when in scripture he is said to repent, it is not meant of any change of his mind (for he is in one mind, and who can turn him?) but only of the change of his way. This is a great truth, that with God there is no variableness nor shadow of turning. Now here, 1. He appeals to Balak himself concerning it: "Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Said it in his own purpose, and shall he not perform it in his providence, according to the counsel of his will? Hath he spoken in his word, in his promise, and shall he not make it good? Can we think otherwise of God than that he is unchangeably one with himself and true to his word? All his decrees are unalterable, and all his promises inviolable." 2. He applies this general truth to the case in hand (v. 20): He hath blessed and I cannot reverse it, that is, "I cannot prevail with him to reverse it." Israel were of old a blessed people, a seed that the Lord had blessed; the blessing of Abraham came upon them; they were born under the blessing of the covenant, and born to the blessing of Canaan, and therefore they could not be cursed, unless you could suppose that the God of eternal truth should break his word, and become false to himself and his people.

Secondly, Because Israel are at present unblamable: he has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, v. 21. Not but that there was iniquity in Jacob, and God saw it; but, 1. There was not such a degree of iniquity as might provoke God to abandon them and give them up to ruin. As bad as they were, they were not so bad as this. 2. There was no idolatry among them, which is in a particular manner called iniquity and perverseness; we have found nothing of that kind in Israel since the golden calf, and therefore, though they were in other instances very provoking, yet God would not cast them off. Balaam knew that nothing would separate between them and God but sin. While God saw no reigning sin among them, he would send no destroying curse among them; and therefore, as long as they kept in with God, he despaired of ever doing them any mischief. Note, While we keep from sin we keep from harm. Some give another sense of those words; they read it thus: He has not beheld wrong offered to Jacob, nor will he see any grievance done to Israel, that is, "He has not nor will he permit it, or allow it; he will not see Israel injured, but he will right them, and avenge their quarrel." Note, God will not bear to see any injury done to his church and people; for what is done against them he takes as done against himself, and will reckon for it accordingly.

Thirdly, Because the power of both was irresistible. He shows Balak that there was no contending with them, it was to no purpose to attempt it; for, 1. They had the presence of God with them: "The Lord his God is with him in a particular manner, and not provoked to withdraw from him." 2. They had the joy of that presence, and were always made to triumph in it: The shout or alarm of a king is among them. They shout against their enemies, as sure of victory and success, glorying continually in God as their King and conqueror for them. 3. They had had the experience of the benefit of God's presence with them, and his power engaged for them; for God brought them out of Egypt, v. 22. The power which had done that could never be restrained, never resisted; and, having begun so gloriously, he would no doubt finish gloriously. 4. While they had God's presence with them they had the strength of a unicorn, able to make head against all that opposed them. See ch. xxiv. 8. Such is the strength which the God of Israel gives unto his people.

[2.] From all this he infers that it was to no purpose for him to think of doing them a mischief by all the arts he could use, v. 23. First, He owns himself baffled. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob so as to prevail. The curses of hell can never take place against the blessings of heaven. Not but that attempts of this kind would be made, but they would certainly be fruitless and ineffectual. Some observe that Jacob denotes the church low and afflicted, Israel denotes it prosperous and advanced; but be the church high or low, be her friends few or many, let second causes smile or frown, it comes all to one: no weapon formed against it shall prosper. Note, God easily can, and certainly will, baffle and disappoint all the devices and designs of the powers of darkness against his church, so that they shall not prevail to destroy it. Secondly, He foresees that this would be remembered in time to come. According to this time, that is, with reference to this we are now about, it shall be said concerning Jacob and Israel, and said by them, What hath God wrought! What great things hath God done for his people! It shall be said with wonder, joy, and thankfulness, and a challenge to the neighbouring nations to produce any similar instances of the care of their gods for them. Note, The defeating of the designs of the church's enemies ought to be had in everlasting remembrance to the glory of God. There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun. What Balaam says here concerning the pre-eminence of the God of Israel above all the gods of the Gentiles perhaps Moses refers to when he says (Deut. xxxii. 31), Their rock is not as our rock, even our enemies themselves being judges, Balaam particularly. Balak therefore has no hopes of ruining Israel. But,

(2.) Balaam shows him that he had more reason to fear being ruined by them, for they were likely to make bloody work among his neighbours; and, if he and his country escaped, it was not because he was too great for them to meddle with, but because he fell not within their commission v. 24. Behold, and tremble; the people that now have lain for some time closely encamped do but repose themselves for a while like a lion couchant, but shortly they shall rise up as a great lion, a lion rampant, that shall not lie down till he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain. This seems to point at the victories he foresaw they would obtain over the Canaanites, that they would never lay down their arms till they had made a complete conquest of the land they had now in view; and, when his neighbour's house was on fire, he had reason to think his own in danger.

2. Now what was the issue of this disappointment?

(1.) Balak and Balaam were both of them sick of the cause. [1.] Balak is now willing to have his conjurer silenced. Since he cannot say what he would have him, he wishes him to say nothing: "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all, v. 25. If thou canst not curse them, I beseech thee not to bless them. If thou canst no assist and encourage my forces, yet do not oppose and dispirit them" Note, God can make those that depart from him weary of the multitude of their counsels, Isa. xlvii. 13; lvii. 10. [2.] Balaam is still willing to own himself overruled, and appeals to what he had said in the beginning of this enterprise (ch. xxii. 38): All that the Lord speaketh, that I must do, v. 26. This sows, First, In general, that the way of man is not in himself; there are many devices in man's heart, but God's counsels shall stand. Secondly, In particular, that, as no weapon formed against the church shall prosper, so every tongue that rises against her in judgment God will control and condemn, Isa. liv. 17.

(2.) Yet they resolve to make another attempt. They think it scorn to be baffled, and therefore pursue the design, though it be only to their further confusion. And now the third time, [1.] They change the place. Balak is at last convinced that it is not Balaam's fault, on whom, before, he had laid the blame, but that really he was under a divine check, and therefore now he hopes to bring him to a place whence God might at least permit him to curse them, v. 27. Probably he and Balaam were the more encouraged thus to repeat their attempt because God had the second time allowed Balaam to go, though he had forbidden him the first time. Since by repeated trials they had carried that point, they hope in like manner to carry this. Thus because sinners are borne with, and sentence against their evil works is not executed speedily, their hearts are the more fully set in them to do evil. The place to which Balak now took Balaam was the top of Peor, the most eminent high place in all his country, where, it is probable, Baal was worshipped, and it was thence called Baal-peor. He chose this place with a hope, either, First, That it being the residence (as he fancied) of Baal, the god of Moab, Jehovah the God of Israel would not, or could not, come hither to hinder the operation; or, Secondly, That, it being a place acceptable to his god, it would be so to the Lord, and there he would be brought into a good humour. Such idle conceits have foolish men of God, and so vain are their imaginations concerning him. Thus the Syrians fancied the Lord to be God of the hills, but not of the valleys (1 Kings xx. 28), as if he were more powerful in one place than he is in every place. [2.] They repeat their sacrifice, seven bullocks and seven rams, upon seven altars, v. 29, 30. Thus do they persevere in their expensive oblations, though they had no promise on which to build their hopes of speeding. Let not us therefore, who have a promise that the vision at the end shall speak and not lie, be discouraged by delays, but continue instant in prayer, and not faint, Luke xviii. 1.

CHAP. XXIII.

ANd Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks, and seven [illegible: 1 letter]ams. And Balak did as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered a bullock and a ram on an altar. And Balaam said unto Balak; Stand by thy Burnt-offering, and I will goe, peradventure Iehovah will come to meet me, and what word soever hee sheweth me, I will tell thee: and hee went to an high place. And God met Balaam, and he said unto him, I have prepared seven alta[illegible: 1 letter]s, and I have offered a bullocke and a ram on an altar. And Iehovah put a word in Balaams mouth, and said, Returne unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speake. And he returned unto him, and loe he stood by his Burnt-offering; he, and all the Princes of Moab. And he tooke up his parable, and said, Balak the King of Moab hath brought mee from Aram, from the mountains of the East, (saying;) Come curse me Iakob, and come de[illegible: 1 letter]ie Israel. How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed, and how shall I de[illegible: 2 letters]e whom Iehovah hath not defied? For from the top of the [illegible: 1 letter]ocks I see him, and from the hi[illegible: 1 letter]s I behold him: loe the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be r[illegible: 1 letter]ckoned among the Nations. Who can count the dust of Iakob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let my soule die the death of the righteous men, and let my last end be like his. And Balak said unto Balaam; What hast thou done unto me? I tooke thee to curse mine enemies; and behold, blessing thou hast blessed them. And he answered, and said, Must I not take heed to speake that which Iehovah hath put in my mouth?

And Balak said unto him, Come I pray thee with me unto another place, that thou maist see them from thence; thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all, and curse me them from thence.

And he tooke him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah; and he built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on an altar. And he said unto Balak; Stand here, by thy Burnt-offering, and I will meet yonder. And Iehovah met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Returne unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speake. And he came unto him, and lo he stood by his burntoffering, and the Princes of Moab with him; and Balak said unto him, What hath Iehovah spoken? And he tooke up his parable, and said, Rise up Balak, and heare▪ hearken unto me thou son of Zippor. God is not a man that hee should lie, or a son of Adam that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not doe? and hath he spoken, and shall hee not confirme it? Behold I have received to blesse, and he hath blessed, & I can not reverse it. He hath not beheld iniquitie in Iakob, neither hath he seene perversenesse in Israel: Iehovah his God is with him, and the showt of a King is among them. God brought them forth out of Egypt; hee hath as the strengths of an Vnicorne. Surely there is no inchantment against Iakob, nor divination against Israel; according to this time, it shal be said of Iakob, and of Israel, What hath God wrought? Behold, the people shall rise up as a couragious Lion, and lift up himselfe as a renting lion: he shall not lie downe untill he eat the prey, and drinke the bloud of the slaine. And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither cursing curse him, nor blessing blesse him. And Balaam answered and said unto Balak; Spake I not unto thee, saying; All that Iehovah speaketh that I must doe? And Balak said unto Balaam; Come I pray thee, I will take thee unto another place; peradventure it will be right in the [illegible: 1 letter]ies of God, that thou shalt curse me them from thence.

And Balak tooke Balaam unto the top of Peor that looketh toward Ieshimon. And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams. And Balak did as Balaam had said, and hee offered a bullocke and a ram on an altar.

Annotations. BVild me here] or, Build for me in this place seven altars. Balaam here bewraieth his impiety, when in stead of disswading the king from his evill enterprise, by the word of God, who had forbidden him to curse Israel, Num. 22. 12. hee attempteth together with him, to effect his wicked purpose; and that (which is worst of all) under the colour of religious actions, building altars, and offering sacrifices to God, hereby to intreat and obtaine leave of him to curse his people. For it was the manner in those dayes to seeke the Lord, and obtaine his favour by sacrifice, Gen. 46. 1, 2. &c. 1 Sam. 13. 9, 12. Hos. 5. 6. Thus Balaam hath soone forgotten the Oracle of God, the sword of the Angell, and dangers that hee so hardly escaped by the way, and greedily runneth after the errour of his evill heart, fulfilling the saying of the Prophet, Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learne righteousnesse, Esai. 26. 10. prepare me] or, prepare for me. As Balak said, Curse me Iakob, and de[illegible: 1 letter]ie Israel: so Balaam saith, Build me altars, and prepare me sacrifices; his intent being not to honour God, but to curse his people. Thus religion is made a cloke of wickednesse. The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more when he bringeth it with a wicked minde, Prov. 21. 27. God desireth mercie and not sacrifice, Hos. 6. 6. But Balaam was of their religion which thinke that gaine is godlinesse, 1 Tim. 6. 5. and for the wages of iniquitie, abuseth the ordinances of the blessed God, unto cursing and crueltie. seven bullocks] as bullocks and rammes were sacrifices which God himselfe required in the Law, Levit. 1. and which the Patriarchs had learned from God of old, Gen. 15. 9. so seven was a number sanctified of God for many mysteries, (as is noted on Levit. 4. 6.) and particularly in sacrifices, as he said to Iobs friends, Take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rammes, and goe to my servant Iob, and offer up for your selves a Burnt-offering, Iob 42. 8. So at the bringing up of the Arke, David and the Elders of Israel offered seven bullocks and seven rams, 1 Chron. 15. 26. and Ezekias with the rulers brought seven bullocks, & seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven hee-goats for a Sin-offering for the kingdome, &c. 2 Chron. 29. 21. Wherefore the Aramites, Moabites, and other nations, having learned from their ancestors the manner of sacrificing unto God, retained it till Moses time, and long after, though corrupted with their owne superstitions, and abused to much impietie. Hereupon Balaam sacrificeth to the Lord in this sort, to purchase favour of him, and vainly boasteth unto God him-selfe of his good worke, v. 4. And according to this number, it is seven times said of Balaam, that he took up his parable, Num. 23. 7. 18. and Num. 24. 3. 15. 20. 21, 23. Vers. 2. Balak did] Though Chemosh was Balaks God, Num. 21. 29. yet now by Balaams counsell he sacrificeth to Iehovah the God of Israel v. 3. 17. as unstable men in hope to obtaine their purposes are easily drawn to communicate with all religions true or false, & to make a sinfull mixture of them, 2 King. 17. 28, 29,—33. Ezr. 4. 1. 2. Act. 17. 23. on an altar] that is, as the Chaldee explaineth it, on every altar. The altar being an holy ordinance, wch sanctified the offering, Matth. 23. 19. and a figure of Christ, Heb. 13. 10. Ioh. 17. 19. they (for the more sanctimony) offer their gifts on severall altars. Wherein they adde superstition to the religion received from the fathers: for holy men used one altar in a place, though many sacrifices, [illegible: 1 word]. 8. 20. & 12. 7. and 13. 4. 18. and 26. 25. and 33. 20. and 35. [illegible: 1 word] Exod. 17. 15. and 24. 4. but Idolaters accustomed themselves to many altars, 2 Kings 18. 22. Ier. 11. 13. Hos. 10. 1. & 12. 11. Amos 3. 14. Esa. 17. 8. such many altars were multiplied to sin, Hos. 8. 11. Vers. 3. Stand] or, Present thy selfe, to wit, unto God, here by thy burnt-offering, and goe not with me: as they were wont to stand by their sacr[illegible: 1 letter]fices whiles they burned, and present themselves there unto the Lord, who first had respect unto the offerer, and then unto the gift, Gen. 4. 4, 5. so Balak and his princes were to stay there, if perhaps God would respect their persons. peradventure Iehovah [illegible: 1 word] come] or, as the Greeke translateth, if perhaps the Lord will appeare. Balaam went now to meet with inchantments, or signes of good luck, Num. 24. 1. wch after the manner of false Prophets, hee coloureth with the name of the Lord. what word] or, what thing soever. to an high place] to a cliffe o[illegible: 1 letter] the rock: or, solitarie, to a solitarie place: and thus the Chaldee expounds it, he went alone. He went as sooth sayers were wont, to an high & solitary place, to make his prayers, and to observe signes if any should appeare. Vers. 4. God met Balaam] in Greeke, God appeared to Balaam; in Chaldee, the word from before the LORD met (or came unto) Balaam: and so againe in v. 16. Though he sought the Lord both by an unlawfull means of inchantment, Num. 24. 1. Deu. 18. 10. and to a wicked end, that he might curse Israel, Deut. 23. 4, 5. yet the Lord meeteth with him, and putteth his word in his mouth, for the good of his people. So when Nebuchadnezzar used divinations, and consulted with Idols, being unresolved whether he should first warre against the Iewes or the Ammonites, the Lord so disposed of it, that he first fell upon the Iewes, and signified the same to his Prophet, Ezek. 21. 19.—23. he said] that is, as the Greeke explaineth it, Balaā said. I have prepared] or, I have ordered. He vainly glorieth of his religious works before God, supposing that he would be pleased with his many altars and sacrifices wherewith he honoured him; and with all implying his request, that he might have leave to curse Israel: but the Lord would not heare Balaam, Deut. 23. 5. for he hath not so great delight in Burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obedience to his voyce, 1 Sam. 15. 22. To doe justice and judgement, is more acceptable to the LORD, than sacrifice, Prov. 21. 3. Vers. 5. put a word in Balaams mouth] The Lord giveth no answer to Balaams boasting speech, nor sheweth any regard of his altars and sacrifices, (which were an abomination unto him, Prov. 15. 8.) but sendeth him backe with a blessing upon his people, contrary to his owne and the kings desire and expectation. The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue from the LORD, Prov. 16. 1. Vers. 7. he tooke up his parable] the parable of his prophesie, saith Targum Ionathan. By taking up, is meant apronouncing with an high voice; so God would have them all take knowledge of his word against them, and for his people. By a parable or proverbe, is meant a grave speech, which groweth into common use among men. And it is used both in the good part, for excellent matter of doctrine and comfort, as Iob 27. 1. and 29. 1. Prov. 1. 1. and in the evill part, for proverbs of reproach and reprehension, as in Deut. 28. 37. Esay 14. 4. Parables also are opposed to plaine and familiar speeches easie to be understood, Ezek. 20. 49. Ioh. 16. 25. so now God speaketh by Balaam to the wicked Moabites, but in parables; that seeing, they might not see; and hearing, they might not understand, as in Luke 8. 10. brought me from Aram] to wit, frō Aram naharajim, or Mesopotamia, as Moses sheweth in Deut. 23. 4. and so the Greeke here translateth, sent for me out of Mesopotamia; and Targum Ionathan explaineth it, Aram which is by Euphrates. See the notes on Gen. 24. 10. and Numb. 22. 5. of the east] situate eastward from Moabs and Israels land: that country was infamous for sorcery and divination, Esay 2. 6. defie] or, detest, with angry threats, and hatefull indignation, as the word signifieth in Dan. 11. 30. The Greeke translateth it Acourse. Vers. 8. whom God hath not cursed?] Thus the Greeke also readeth, adding the word whom: such wants the Seripture sometime supplieth; as, this house is high, 1 King. 9. 8. for this house which is high, 2 Chron. 7 21. Otherwise it may be translated, How shall I curse? God hath not cursed. Targum Ionathan explaineth it, How shall I curse, when the word of the Lord blessed them? Here God by Balaams owne mouth reproveth the errour of the King, who had sent so farre twice to fetch him, that of himselfe was able to doe nothing in this businesse; and taxeth the vanitie of this Art of Magicke or divination, which is not able either to helpe or hurt any without leave from God. So the Babylonian is convinced by the prophet, saying, Stand now with thine inchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth, if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevaile. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels; let now the Astrologers, the Star-gaz[illegible: 1 letter]rs, the monethly Prognosticators stand up, and sav thee from those things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble, the fire shall burne them, &c. Esay 47. 12, 13, 14. Vers. 9. For from the top] or, when from the top (Hebr. the head) of the rockes, I see him, meaning, the people, spoken of as one body. I behold him] in Greeke, I consider him, speaking againe of the people: as Targum Ionathan explaineth it, I consider this people. Balak brought him to the mountaines, that seeing the people from thence, hee might the more easily curse them: but the sight of them did so amaze him, as he blessed them. Thus all occasions and circumstances which the wicked chuse for their advantage, God turneth against them, and for the accomplishment of his owne wil. shall dwell alone] separated from other peoples. And this further signifieth, how they should be sufficiently provided for of God, having neither need nor feare of other peoples; for so dwelling alone, implieth a security from evill; as in Ier. 49. 31. And thus Moses blessing them, said, Israel shall dwell in confident safety alone, Deut. 33. 28. shall not be reckoned] or, shall not reckon themselves: this respecteth their faith in God, and service of him, whereby they were his peculiar, and separated from other peoples, as Exod. 19. 5. Lev. 20. 24, 26. Ezr. 9. 2. So Christ hath chosen his Church out of the world, Ioh. 15. 19. 1 Pet. 2. 9. and this grace the faithful apply unto themselves, as it is said, We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickednesse, 1 Ioh. 5. 19. Vers. 10. Who can count] that is, None can count, they are so many, Heb. Who counteth; which the Chaldee expoundeth, who can (or is able to) count. And thus the Scripture somtime explaineth it selfe; as, Not that which goeth into the mouth, defileth a man, Matth. 15. 11. that is, can defile him, Mark. 7. 15. See the Annotations on Gen. 13. 6. So after in vers. 20. the dust of Iakob] that is, the children of Iakob; as the Greeke translateth it, the seed of Iakob. Here Balaams mouth confirmeth the promise which God made of old unto Iakob, saying, Thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, Gen. 28. 14. and the like was before unto Abraham, I will multiply thy seed as the starres of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore, Gen. 22. 17. And thus the Chaldee here expoundeth it, Who can count the little ones of the house of Iakob, of whom it was said, they shall be multiplied as the dust of the earth. of the fourth part] or, of a quarter, as the Chaldee explaineth it, of one of the foure campes of Israel: for they camped about the Tabernacle in foure quarters, Numb. 2. Whereas the promise of the blessing to Abraham consisted of two branches; 1. that God would give the land of Canaan to him and to his seed for ever: 2. and that he would make his seed as the dust of the earth, Gen. 13. 15, 16. under which, spirituall graces in Christ were also comprehended: the Lord causeth Balaam here to ratifie them both, for their dwelling alone in the land, and for their innumerable increase. And whereas Balak envied their multitude, and would therefore have them cursed, that they might be diminished, Num. 22. 3, 5, 6. Balaam is here forced to utter a blessing for their further increase. Thus God resisteth him in all his counsels and enterprises. Let my soule die] that is, Let me die: an Hebrew phrase, whereby the soule is put for the person, I, thou, or he: and death is the departure of the soule from the body, Gen. 35. 18. Then dust returneth unto the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth to God that gave it, Eccles. 12. 7. So Samson said, Let my soule die with the Philistines, Iudg. 16. 30. the death of the righteous men] the Greek translateth, with the soules of the just men; meaning the righteous of Israel, as the Chaldee explaineth it, the death of the just men thereof, that is, of that people. Balaam, who lived the life of the wicked, desireth (as many doe) to die the death of the righteous: but as he lived, so he died among the enemies of God, by the sword of Israel, Numb. 31. 8. Howbeit he pronounceth here a greater blessing upon Israel, as they that were happie not only in life, but in death. For, righteousnesse (which is by faith in Christ, Phil. 3. 9.) delivereth from death; but when a wicked man dieth, his expectation perisheth, Prov. 11. 4, 7. Here also Balaam testifieth of the soules immortality, and different case of good & bad: for otherwise what were the death of the righteous better than of the wicked? let my last end] or, let my posterity. The originall word sometime signifieth the end, opposed to the beginning, as in Deut. 11. 12. Prov. 19. 20. and so the Chaldee translateth it here, let my end be like theirs: sometime it is the posteritie, or children which come after; as in Dan. 11. 4. Amos 5. 2. Psal. 109. 13. and in this sense the Greeke Interpreters understood it here, saying, and let my seed be like their seed: thus Balaam prophesieth a blessing also to the seed of every righteous Israelite, according to the promise made unto Abraham and his seed after him, Gen. 17. 7. And further, this word, end, is often used for reward, which is after labours, Prov. 23. 18. and 24. 20. 1 Pet. 1. 9. which also may be implied here, of a blessed reward which the righteous have after this life in heaven, Mat. 5. 12. But Balaam being a minister of Satan, though transformed as a minister of righteousnesse, his end was according to his workes, as the Apostle telleth us of all such, 2 Cor. 11. 15. Vers. 11. I tooke thee to curse mine enemies] Balak who had before builded altars, and offered sacrifices, as to serve the Lord with great devotion, being now crossed in his purpose, manifesteth his hypocrisie, pride, malice, and notorious prophanation of religious exercises; in that he regarded not, nor rested in the answer of Godby Balaam, but opposed his owne will, as that which the Prophet should have fulfilled; unjustly calleth the Israelites his enemies, who passed by him in peace; repineth against their blessing, and blameth the Prophet for pronouncing it. Vers. 12. Must I not take heed to speake] or, Shall I not observe to speake. Though Balaams will was bent to curse Israel for Balaks wages, yet could he not, because God restrained him: wherefore hee bare his blame at the King's hand. And now to excuse himselfe, he signifieth not onely the necessitie laid upon him by the Lord, but a pretended care and observance in himselfe to speake his word only: thus the hypocrites mocked one with another; and hee that sitteth in the heavens, laughed; the Lord had them both in derision, Psal. 2. 4. Vers. 13. see but the utmost part of them] or, but a part of him, and shalt not see him all: speaking of Israel, as one body. The King gathered from Balaams words, in vers. 9. that by seeing the whole multitude, he was dismayed; (so looking to the secondary cause, not to God the principall:) wherefore though he failed of his purpose at the first, he secōdeth it in another place, with hope to prevaile; as the Syrians being foiled by Israel in the mountaines, would fight against them in the plaine, hoping there to be strōger than they, 1 King. 20. 20.—23. And when he could not have the whole people cursed, he bringeth Balaam to see a part of them as when the Dragon could not hurt the Woman (the Church) that escaped his persecution with her Eagles wings; he being wroth, went to make war with the remnant of her seed, Rev. 12. 13.—17. and as Amalek, who smote the hindmost of Israel, even all that were feeble behinde them, Deut. 25. 17, 18. Vers. 14. field of Zophim] that is by interpretation, of the Spies (or Scout-watches:) and the Greeke interpreteth it, the Scout-watch of the field: it seemeth to be a place where they kept the watch of the countrey against enemies; as Sol. Iarchi here saith, It was an high place, where the Spie stood to watch whether any forces came against the citie▪ of Pisgah] or, of the hill, which the Chaldee expoundeth of the high place. Such hils and high places idolaters used to sacrifice upon, Deut. 12. 2. And Balak thought them luckie to atchieve his purposes, but all in vaine; as it is written, Truly in vaine is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountaines: truly in [illegible: 1 letter]ehovah our God is the salvation of Israel, Ier. 3. 23. seven altars] so prosecuting their wickednesse still, under colour of religion: see the notes on vers. 1. 2. Vers. 15. I will meet yonder] to wit, with Iehovah; and so the Greeke explaineth it, I will goe to enquire of God. See before in vers. 3, 4, &c. Vers. 18. Rise up Balak] to heare the word of God with reverence; for at it even Kings were wont to rise up, when it was spoken: as afterward Eglon King of Moab also did, in Iudg. 3. 20. [illegible: 1 letter]eark is unto me] that is, as the Chaldee explaineth it, unto my word. Vers. 19. God is not a man, &c.] The Chaldee paraphraseth thus, The word of God is not like the speeches of the sonnes of man; for the sons of man doe say and lye. By lying is meant failing in the performance of that which is spoken, as in Habak. 2. 3. Psal. 89. 35, 36. 2 King. 4. 16. that he should repent] The like testimony Samuel beareth of God before King Saul, The strength of Israel will not lie, nor repent; for he is not a man that he should repext, 1 Sam. 15. 25. Though the Scripture speaketh sometime of God, that he repenteth, as in Amos 7. 3, 6. [illegible: 1 letter]er. 18. 8. yet that is spoken of him, according to our capacitie, because his worke is changed, when he himselfe continueth unchangeable, for with him is no variablenesse, neither shadow of turning, Iam. 1. 17. See the notes on Gen. 6. 6. In this speech of Balaam there is a reproofe of Balaks [illegible: 1 word], who thought by his endeuours to turne Gods affection from Israel, and therefore rested not in the word before revealed, but strugled against it still, as if God were false or variable. shall he not confirme it?] meaning, he will doubtlesse confirme and stablish it; as the Chaldee expoundeth it, hee confirmeth all his words. The Greeke translateth, shall he speake, and shall he not continue? that is, constantly performe it? So to confirme a thing, is by the holy Ghost expounded, to continue to doe it, Gal. 3. 10. from. Deut. 27. 26. Vers. 20. I have received to blesse] understand, received a commandement to blesse. See the Annotations on Gen. 24. 33. and I can not reverse it] or, shall not turne it away; which the Chaldee explaineth, and I shall not turne my blessing from them. The Greeke translateth, I shall blesse, and shall not reverse. Here Balaam preacheth the stablenesse of Gods love unto his people; and how all powers and potentates, all magicall inchantments and divinations, and what things else soever, are not able to separate Gods people from his love and blessing in Christ. Vers. 21. He hath not beheld] or, He (that is, God) be holdeth not iniquitie. Here Balaam blesseth Israel the second time, pronouncing first their justification in the sight of God, even that blessednesse which they have, whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sinnes are covered, Rom. 4. 7. For not to behold, or see iniquitie in sinfull men, is (as David speaketh) to hide his face from their sinnes, and to blot out all their iniquities, Psal. 51. 11. the contrary whereof is, when God setteth mens iniquities before him, and to the light of his face, Psal. 90. 8. and 109. 14, 15. And this is opened by the Prophet, when the Lord saith, The iniquitie of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Iudah, and they shall not be found: for I will pard[illegible: 1 letter]m them whom I reserve, Ier. 50. 20. iniquity] this word, in Hebrew Aven, is of large signification, applied to all kinde of sinne, which causeth paine, sorrow, and misery; and in particular to idolatry, 1 Sam. 15. 22. and Aven is an idoll, in Esay 66. 3. and to this the Chaldee here referreth it, saying, no servers of Idols in the house of Iacob; so doth Targum Ionathan likewise; and the old Latine version saith, There is no Idoll in Iakob, meaning among the Israelites, the posterity of Iakob. But the word being more generall, implieth this and all other iniquity, originall or actuall, all which God in mercy pardoned to his people, that it was no more seene of him, to be imputed unto them. And as iniquity is often used for the punishment of the same, so is this word Aven in Psal. 90. 10. Hab. 1. 3. in which meaning the Greeke Interpreters translate it here, There shall be no painfulnesse (or misery) in Iakob. perversnesse] or molestation: a word which signifieth both sinne and affliction for sinne, Psal. 94. 20. and 25. 18. and 73. 5. The Chaldee taketh it in the first sense, for them that do [illegible: 1 word]; and this is most fit: but the Greeke translateth it paine. his God is with him] this the Chaldee expoundeth, the word of the LORD their God is for their helpe. Hereby is signified the cause and author of their former blessednesse, to be God himselfe in the midst of them; as Moses said, Let the Lord now goe amongst us; for it is a stiffe-necked [illegible: 1 word]; and pardon thou our iniquitie and our sin, &c. Exod. 34. 9. And his presence with them was a signe of their estate in grace, otherwise they could have had no communion with him, 1 Ioh. 1. 6, 7. as himselfe said, whiles they were in their sinnes, I will not goe up in the midst of thee, for thou art a stiffe-necked people, lest I consume thee in the way, Exod. 33. 3. and by his being with them, they were secured both from Balaams curse, and from all feare of evill, Psal. 23. 4. and 91. 15. the shout of a King] or the alarme (the sounding shout) of a king, that is, of God. He hath reference to the silver trumpets which Israel used in their warres, by the ordinance of God, who also promised, that they should be remembred before the Lord their God, and saved from their enemies, Num. 10. 9. Whereupon Abijah said, Behold, God is with us for a captaine, and his Priests with sounding trumpets to crie alarme against you: ô sons of Israel, fight yee not against the LORD the God of your fathers, for yee shall not pr[illegible: 1 letter]sper, 2 Chron. 13. 12. So by the shout or alarme of this King among his people, they now were saved from the evils that Balak and Balaam conspired against them. Herewith also may be compared the sounding of trumpets, and shout at the singe of Iericho, Ios. 6. 16. 20. and in the battell of G[illegible: 1 letter]deon, Iudg. 7. 20. And thus Iesus Christ, the King and defender of the Church, causeth continuall joy and triumph in the hearts of his people, justifying, sanctifying, and preserving them in peace with God, who alwayes causeth them to triumph in Christ, 2 Cor. 2. 14. and giveth them salvation from the hands of their enemies. Wherein they rejoyce and say, Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect? It is God that justifieth: who is he that condemneth? Rom. 8. 33, 34. among them] Hebr. in him, that is, in Iakob: which phrase may also signifie the faith that his people have in God their King. The Chaldee expoundeth it, The presence (or habitation) of their King is among them. Vers. 22. God brought them] or, God the bringer of them. This answereth Balaks complaint, there is a people come out of Aegypt, Numb. 22. 5. Balaam telleth him, they came not of themselves, (as he imputed unto them for evill,) but they were brought up of God. So againe in Numb. 24. 8. he hath] or, to him is. It may be understood first of God, and then of Israel, unto whom God giveth strength, Psal. 68. 36. the strengths of an Vnicorne] or, as the Greeke translateth it, the glory of an Vnicorne. The Vnicorne is a beast commended in the Scripture for the excellencie of his horne: whereupon the Prophet saith, My horne shall be exalted as the Unicornes, Psal. 92. 11. and for his strength; as it is said, Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? Iob 39. 11. Therfore the prowesse of a people against their enemies is set forth by this similitude; as Moses saith of Ioseph, His hornes, the hornes of an Vnicorne, with them he shal push the peoples together, Deut. 33. 17. And in this sense Balaam speaketh here of Israel, as in his third blessing he explaineth it, He hath as the strengths of an Vnicorne, hee shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall breake their bones, &c. Numb. 24. 8. And Christ being delivered from the power of his enemies, faith, Thou hast answered me from the hornes of Vnicornes, Psal. 22. 22. And God himselfe sheweth the nature of this beast to be such, as he will not be tamed, or made serviceable to man, nor bide by the crib, nor plough, or harrow, or bring home the seed into the barne, Iob 39. 9, 10, 12. The originall word of strengths here used, (which the Greeke translateth glory, the Chaldee, strength;) is properly such lustinesse, courage and prowesse, as whereby one endureth labour without wearinesse or fainting. Hereby then is signified, that as God himselfe is Almighty, so of his grace he communicateth to his people such strength, as whereby they shall vanquish their enemies, but shall be vanquished of none, for being strong in faith, and the word of God abiding in them, they overcome the world, and the wicked one (Satan,) 1 [illegible: 1 letter]oh. 5. 4. and 2. 14. sin shall not have dominion over them, Rom. 6. 14. neither are they the servants of men, 1 Cor. 7. 23. they renew their strength, they runne and are not weary, they walke and faint not, Esay 40. 31. Vers. 23. Surely there is] or, as the Greeke and Chaldee interpret it, For there is: so making this that followeth a reason of the former comparison. And whereas humane Writers report a speciall vertue to be in the Vnicornes horne against poison, some apply that to the poison of inchantment and divination next spoken of, which could not prevaile against Israel, because of the vertue of Gods grace given to his people. no inchantment] or, no observing of fortunes; a sinfull art, when by observing the events of things, they gathered signes of good or evill lucke to themselves or others: see the Annotations on Lev. 19. 26. and Deut. 18. 10. against Iakob] or, in Iakob: but in is often used for against, as in Numb. 12. 1. In this sense he teacheth that no devillish arts could hurt Gods people, for the gates of hell shall not prevaile against the Church of Christ, Matth. 16. 18. Although therefore Balak had led him from place to place, to trie if one were more luckie for him than another, that Israel might be cursed; and Balaam had now twice gone to meet with inchantments, that hee might have cursed them, Num. 24. 1. yet all was in vaine, for God would not suffer it. But the Chaldee giveth the latter sense, as if no such inchantments were pleasing unto, or in use among this people, being forbidden them of God, Levit. 19. Deut. 18. divination] that is, presaging or soretelling of things to come: see the notes on Deut. 18. 10. according to this time] or, even at this time it shall be said: that is, not hereafter only, but even now, it shall be said by me, who am to prophesie of this people, what great things God hath wrought and will worke for them. It may also be referred unto time to come, as Chazkuni expoundeth it, The next yeare, after they are gone over Iordan, about this time, it shall be said concerning Iakob and Israel, how many (great) workes the holy blessed (God) hath wrought for them. See the like phrase in the Annotations on Gen. 18. 10. and 25. 31. what hath God wrought!] that is, how wonderfull things God hath wrought for them. The Greeke translateth it, What God shall performe. He teacheth that all the valiant acts of Israel should not be done by themselves, but by God for them, as it is shewed in Psal. 44. 1, 2, &c. Wherefore it is written, Lord thou wilt ordaine peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our workes in us, Esay 26. 12. And so the Apostle saith, It is God which worketh in you both to will, and to doe, of his good pleasure, Philip. 2. 13. and, he which hath begun a good worke in you, will performe it, untill the day of Iesus Christ, Phil. 1. 6. Vers. 24. as a couragious Lion] Of these names of Lions, see the Annotations on Gen. 49. 9. Of the Lions nature, Solomon saith, it is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any, Prov. 30. 30. Here, the blessing which was specially given to the tribe of Iudah, Gen. 49. is applied to all Israel, which were in Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Iudah, Rev. 5. 5. for, just men are bold as a Lion, Prov. 28. 1. lift up himselfe] a signe of stoutnesse, courage, and Majestie. By this, and the former rising up, is meant the valiant onset which they should make upon their enemies the Canaanites, whereof the booke of Iosua is a testimony: and under them were figured the spirituall enemies of the salvation of Israel; Satan, sinne, the world, &c. which the Church of Christ should resist and overcome by faith, 1 Pet. 5. 9. and 2. 11. 1 Ioh. 5. 4. untill he cat the prey] that is, as the Chaldee, and Targum Ionathan expound it, untill he have killed his enemies. Signifying hereby Israels constant fighting of the Lords battels, not lying downe, or giving themselves rest, till they had gotten a full victory. This was in part fulfilled in the conquest of Canaan, at the end whereof the two tribes and an halfe returned with much riches, cattell, silver, gold, &c. to divide the spoile of their enemies, with their brethren, Ios. 22. 3, 4, 8. And when David having fought the battels of the Lord, sang unto his praise, I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them, and turned not againe, untill I had consumed them, 2 Sam. 22. 38. But chiefly it is performed by the grace of God in Christ, against the enemies of our soules; whereof it is thus prophes[illegible: 1 letter]ed, And the remnant of Iakob shall be among the nations, in the middest of many peoples, as a renting Lion among the beasts of the forrest, as a young Lion among the flockes of sheepe; who if he goe thorow, both treadeth downe, and teareth in pecces, and none can deliver. Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off, Mic. 5. 8, 9. And this spirituall warfare is not like the battels of the world, with confused noise, and garments rolled in bloud, Esay 9. 5. but with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, Ephes. 6. 17. in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tossings to and fro, in labours, in watchings, in fastings, by purenesse, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindnesse, by the holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousnesse on the right hand, and on the left, &c. 2 Cor. 6. 4.—7. For even Christ himselfe, whē he was called the Lion of the tribe of Iuda, appeared like a Lamb as it had been slaine, Revel. 5. 5, 6. and his people for his sake are killed all the day long, are counted as s[illegible: 2 letters]epe for [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 span]ghter; and yet in all these things, are more than [illegible: 1 span]qutrours, through him that loved them, Rom. 8. 36, 37. Vers. 25. Neither cursing curse him] in Greeke, Neither curse mee him with curses, neither blessing blesse him: that is, neither curse Israel at all, nor blesse him at all. Here Balaks indignation against Balaam, and sinne against God, is increased: rejecting his owne Prophet, resisting the word of the Lord now the second time: and when hee could doe no evill to Israel, he would hinder them from good. Vers. 27. per adventure it will be right in the eyes of God] that is, it will please God, as the Chaldee expoundeth it; and so the Greeke saith, if it may please God. This is Balaks third and last attempt against the Church of Christ in another place; as Satan tempted Christ himselfe thrice in three severall places, which not succeeding, he then left him, Matth. 4. 1,—11. And whereas before, the King supposed that Balaams seeing of the whole multitude, was the let why hee did not curse them; hee now perceiveth God to be the cause, and therefore by sacrifices in a place idolatrous, he seeketh to obtaine his favour. Vers. 28. the top of Pe[illegible: 1 letter]r] the name of a mountaine, called in Greeke Phogor; and in Chaldee, the top of the high-place of Peor, where the Moabites used to sacrifice unto their idoll, called Baal▪peor, Num. 25. 2. 3. 18. and there they had a temple called Beth-peor, or the house of Peor, Deut. 3. 29. and neare it was a citie called Beth-peor, which the Israelites had taken from King Sihon, and it was after given for a possession to the Reubenites, Ios. 13. 15, 20. In this idolatrous mountaine, the King hoping to be heard of God, maketh supplication with new altars and sacrifices: so continuing the abuse of his religion, bent against the wil of God, and to the destruction of his people.