Numbers 23

—and said, &c.] The predictions of Balaam are wonderful, whether we consider the matter or the style; as if the same Divine Spirit, that inspired his thoughts, had also raised his language. They are indeed, as the word “parable” implies, a weighty and solemn speech, delivered in figurative and majestic language. We cannot peruse them without being struck with the beauty of them, and perceiving their uncommon force and energy, though we read them only in a translation. Bp. Newton.

— shalt not see them all.] He imagined perhaps, that Balaam was frightened at the sight of their multitude, and therefore durst not meddle with them. Bp. Patrick.

Numbers 23:3

3. — whose eyes are open] Who, when he was awake, received revelations from God, who commonly appeared Balak in anger dismisseth Balaam. He prophesieth Before CHRIST 1452.

Numbers 23:6

6. As the valleys are they spread forth, &c.] The tents of Jacob he compares to things very goodly: such are the far-extended valleys, gardens well watered, trees bearing spices of sweet smell, lofty and tall cedars planted by the waters. Bp. Kidder.

— lign aloes] A very odoriferous tree, growing in India and Arabia. It is often joined with myrrh in the holy Scripture, and was burned as a perfume, and called in Greek by a name, which corresponds with the “lign” or “wood-aloes,” here spoken of. Bp. Patrick.

— which the Lord hath planted.] Which grew naturally of themselves, without any labour, care, or art of man. Bp. Patrick. It may refer to some traditional notion of the garden of Eden, which the Lord planted. Expos. Ind.

— as cedar trees] The cedar was one of the pleasantest trees in Eastern countries, particularly for its fragrancy: the Greeks being accustomed to burn the wood of it on their altars. Bp. Patrick.

Numbers 23:7

7. He shall pour the water &c.] He shall have a plentiful and rich progeny; his issue shall spread abroad over fruitful regions; and the kings, that shall come of

his loins, shall be more mighty than the most flourishing kings of the Amalekites. Bp. Hall. The increase of posterity is in the Scripture represented by the flowing out of waters, Is. xlvii. 1; Prov. v. 15—18. And “many waters” in the Scripture phrase are put for many people, Rev. xvii. 15; Ps. cxliv. 7; Jer. xlvii. 2. Bp. Kidder.

— his king shall be higher than Agag.] Either Agag was prophesied of by name particularly, as Cyrus and Josiah were several years before they were born; or Agag was the general name of the kings of Amalek, as Pharaoh was of the kings of Egypt, and Abimelech of the kings of the Philistines. Amalek was at this time a great and flourishing kingdom; in ver. 20, it is styled “the first of the nations;” and therefore for the king of Israel to be exalted above the king of Amalek was a great exaltation. But it was accomplished by Saul, 1 Sam. xv. 7, 8. The first king of Israel subdued Agag the king of the Amalekites, so that it might truly and properly be said, “his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted,” as it afterwards was greatly by David and Solomon. Bp. Newton. The Jews themselves think this prophecy hath its full completion in the Messiah. Bp. Patrick.

9. — who shall stir him up? Lions do not betake themselves to remote or secret places, when they go to sleep: but lie down any where, as if they understood, that, let them sleep where they pleased, no one durst disturb them. This comparison signifies that the Israelites should have such an absolute and secure possession of the land of Canaan, that none should be hold enough to assault or give them any disquiet. Bp. Patrick.

Numbers 23:9

9. For from the top of the rocks I see him, &c.] I am set upon this high rock and mountain, on purpose that upon the sight of Israel, I might curse him: I do indeed behold him, but I have no power to curse. Lo, this people shall be an entire nation within themselves; and shall be a peculiar people, severed and set apart to God, from all other nations upon earth. Bp. Hall.

—lo, the people shall dwell alone, &c.] How could Balaam, on a distant view only of a people, whom he had never seen or known before, have discovered the genius and manners, not only of the people then living, but of their posterity to the latest generations? What renders it the more extraordinary is, the singularity of the character, that they should differ from all the people in the world, and should dwell by themselves among the nations, without mixing and incorporating with any. The time too, when this was affirmed, increases the wonder; it being before the people were well known in the world, before their religion and government were established, and even before they had obtained a settlement any where. But yet that the character was fully verified in the event, not only all history testifies, but we have even ocular demonstration at this day. The Jews in their religion and laws, their rites and ceremonies, their manners and customs, were so totally different from all other nations, that they had little intercourse or communion with them. There was a general intercommunity among the gods of Paganism; but no such thing was allowed between the God of Israel, and the gods of the nations. There was to be no fellowship between God and Belial, though there might be between Belial and Dagon. And hence the Jews were branded for their inhumanity and unsociableness; and they as generally hated, as they were hated by the rest of mankind. Other nations, the conquerors and the conquered, have often associated and united as one body under the same laws: but the Jews in their captivities

Numbers 23:10

10.—the dust of Jacob.] The posterity of Jacob, which are, and shall continue to be, multiplied, as the dust of the earth. Dr. Wells. See God’s promise to Abraham, Gen. xiii. 16, repeated to Jacob, chap. xxviii. 14.

—Let me die the death of the righteous.] Such a death as those die, who are in covenant with God, and obey His precepts. Bp. Kidder. By the righteous he means Israel; who were now a people free from idolatry, the great crime of those days. Bp. Patrick.

“Let me die in a mature old age, after a life of health and peace, with all my posterity flourishing about me; as was the lot of the righteous observers of the law!” This vain wish, Moses, I suppose, recorded, that the subsequent account of his immature death in battle, chap. xxxi. 8, might make the stronger impression on the serious reader, to warn him against the impiety and folly of expecting the reward of virtue for a life spent in the gratification of every corrupt appetite. Bp. Warburton.

When Balaam poured forth this passionate wish, he had in all probability some forebodings of his own coming to an untimely end, as he really did afterwards, being slain with the five kings of Midian by the sword of Israel. Bp. Newton.

These words may be regarded as a prophecy, foretelling the happy state of future Israel. Balak, alarmed at the success of the Israelites, had sent to Balaam to curse them. A present danger struck him with terror; a present deliverance was the object of all his thoughts: but Balaam’s answer is, “How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?” And then in few words he proceeds to state the multitudes and the growing prosperity of the people, instead of their being cut off and driven out: see ver. 8—10. This is the sum of the blessing which he pronounced. And that it was a blessing directly contrary to what was desired, a curse of immediate discomfiture, the answer of Balak declares. All that Balaam uttered afterwards was rather an amplification of this his first and immediate blessing; which was designed to show that Israel should not be destroyed, but should be of long continuance, and ultimately happy in the blessings of God. “Let me die the death of the righteous,” or, as the righteous ones die, full of days; long life being promised to those who feared God. Bp. Goodenough.

Balaam’s parable. He blesseth Israel. Before CHRIST 1452. Or, the hill. a Chap. 22. 25.

Numbers 23:14

14. — Pisgah.] A high mountain, commanding an extensive view, even of all the parts of Canaan, Deut. iii. 27; xxxiv. 1, 2.

15. — in the latter days.] In time to come, be it more or less remote. Bp. Newton.

Numbers 23:19

19. God is not a man, &c.] God will make good His promises, and particularly that of bringing this people into the promised land; for He is not like a man, who for want of veracity or power fails in the performance of his promise. Bp. Kidder.

Numbers 23:21

21. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, &c.] That is, they were a people of virtue and piety, so far as not to have drawn down by their iniquity that curse, which Balaam was soliciting leave to pronounce upon them. Bp. Butler. The words, which we translate here “iniquity” and “perverseness,” signify frequently in Scripture the highest wickedness, namely, idolatry. So that the reason which Balaam gives, why God had blessed and he could not curse them, is, because they were free from idolatry: unto which unless they could be seduced there was no hope that God would deliver them into the power of their enemies. For which reason Balaam afterwards counselled Balak to entice them to this sin, as the only way to move God’s anger against them. Bp. Patrick. It is weakly inferred from these words, that God sees no sin in His own people: and it is in itself a great untruth. That He hath not knowledge of their sins, no man can affirm: nor ought any man to say, that He approves, or will not punish them. For, 1st, God hath declared otherwise. He said unto Moses, “I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people,” Ex. xxxii. 9; Deut. ix. 13, 14. And by the prophet He said unto the whole family of Israel, whom

He brought out of Egypt, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities,” Amos iii. 2.

2dly, This cannot be the sense of these words; for then Balaam would in vain have given counsel to draw the Israelites into sin, that they might be destroyed; of which see an account, chap. xxv, and compare chap. xxxi. 16. The true sense of these words is, That God would not give up the Israelites to destruction for their sins, which were not like the sins of the neighbouring countries, that were now ready to be destroyed for them. “He hath not beheld,” may be rendered in the present tense, He doth not behold; and, “Neither hath he seen, Neither doth he see.” The word, which we render “iniquity,” is observed to signify an idol in other places; see 1 Sam. xv. 23; Is. lxvi. 3. The ancients understood it of idolatry: and our Church understands this place in the same sense, as appears from the homily against the peril of Idolatry; “There was no idol in Jacob, nor was there any image seen in Israel; and the Lord God was with the people.” Bp. Kidder.

— the Lord his God is with him, &c.] The meaning of the whole verse is briefly this: Since they do not worship idols, but cleave to the Lord their God, and serve Him alone, He is present with them, not only to preserve them from their enemies, but, as a king, to crown them with glorious victories. Bp. Patrick.

— the shout of a king] He alludes to the shouts made, when a king or great captain returns victorious with the spoils of his vanquished enemies. Bp. Patrick.

Numbers 23:22

22. — he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.] He, that is, Israel, hath the strength, or rather the height of an unicorn. It is uncertain, what is the animal, here called reem, and by us translated unicorn. The learned Bochart thinks it most probable that it is a kind of goat called the gazelle, or antelope: which is a tall animal, sometimes as high as a stag, with long and sharp horns. So that Balaam foretells the Israelites should be as eminent among other people, as the reem was among other kinds of goats. This animal’s property of carrying its head very high, and erecting its ears, may be considered as an excellent emblem of the Israelites, released from oppression, and raised by God to a great height of glory. Bp. Patrick.

The name raam, which I apprehend, with the learned Balak bringeth Balaam to Peor. CHAP. XXIII, XXIV. Balaam prophesieth. Before CHRIST 1453. Or, in.

Numbers 23:23

23. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, &c.] In vain do ye carry me from place to place, that I might by my incantations procure some mischief to Israel; for certainly this people is so strong and safe in God’s protection, that no enchantment, or any other evil art, can prevail against them. Bp. Hall. Or, as in the margin, There is no enchantment in Jacob, or among them: they had no need of diviners and magicians, being sufficiently instructed by Divine revelations. Bp. Patrick. — according to this time it shall be said &c.] The time is now at hand, when God shall do great things for Israel. Bp. Kidder.

Numbers 23:24

24. Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, &c.] And to the same purpose, in the following chapter, ver. 8, 9. These passages are a manifest prophecy of the

Numbers 23:27

27. — I will bring thee unto another place;] He fancies, according to the superstition of those days, that there might be something unlucky in the place, to make his prayers unsuccessful. For as the Syrians imagined in alterages, that some gods were powerful in the hills, who could do nothing in the plains, 1 Kings xx. 23, 28; so it seems there was a conceit at this time in those countries, that some gods delighted more in one hill than they did in another. Such a conceit remains to this day in the Romish Church, where the Lady and the Rood of one place are thought far more powerful, and are therefore more frequented, than those of another. Bp. Patrick.

Numbers 23:28

28. — Peor,] The most famous high place in the country of Moab, where Baal had a temple and was worshipped; and thence called Baal-peor. By “Bethpeor,” Deut. xxxiv. 6, which in English is the house of Peor, in the land of Moab, is probably meant the temple of Baal, which stood upon the mountain. — Jeshimon.] That is, the desert or wilderness. Bp. Patrick. Chap. XXIV. ver. 1. — to seek for enchantments,] This implies, that he had hitherto used some wicked arts to effect his ends. But being not able to succeed, he gave himself now wholly up to the conduct of God’s Holy Spirit, and did not so much as offer to seek for enchantments. Bp. Patrick.