Numbers 22

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 22:35

And the angel of the Lord said unto Balaam, go with the men ,.... Which was not a command, but a concession, or rather a permission, leaving him to go if he would, suffering him to follow his own heart's lusts, and giving him up to them to his own destruction; and besides, it was not his going barely that was displeasing to God, but his going with such a bad intention: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak ; which expresses not only what he ought to do,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 22:36

And when Balak heard that Balaam was come ,.... Messengers being sent to acquaint him with it, either by Balaam, or by the princes: he went out to meet him ; overjoyed at the news that his princes had succeeded, and to show him respect, and do him honour, and all to encourage him to do his utmost for him: unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast ; by the situation of it, being on the border of the river Arnon, which river was in the extreme... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 22:37

And Balak said unto Balaam ,.... Upon their meeting together: did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee ? or "in sending send" F21 שלח שלחתי "mittendo misi", Pagninus, Montanus. ; the first messengers in a very pressing manner, with great importunity, to give thee an invitation to come to me, and those men of rank and quality, with rewards of divination in their hands, and yet the invitation was rejected; and after them other messengers, more in number and greater in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 22:38

And Balaam said unto Balak, lo, I am come unto thee ,.... And therefore let nothing more be said of what is past: and as for future things: have I now any power at all to say anything ? that would be agreeable to the king, and answer his purpose in sending for him, namely, to curse the people of Israel; he suggests that he had not, he was under the powerful restraint of God; he could not say what he himself was inclined to say, and what the king would have him say, and he expected he... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 22:39

And Balaam went with Balak ,.... From Ar of Moab, or, however, from the place where they met, to the royal city where Balak had his palace, and seems to be the place following: and they came to Kirjathhuzoth ; which Jarchi interprets a city full of streets, a populous place, having a multitude of men, women, and children in the streets of it; and the same writer suggests as if Balak's view in this was to move the pity of Balaam, that such a number of people might not be rooted out and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 22:40

And Balak offered oxen and sheep ,.... Or "slew" F23 ויזבח "cuinque occidisset", V. L. them, either for sacrifice; and if so Balak was the sacrificer, as it was common for kings to be priests; and then Balaam, who was sent for, was the prophet, that was to observe and explain any omen at the time of sacrificing, as Calchas did, when the chiefs of Greece sacrificed F24 Homer. Iliad. 1. : or rather for a feast, as the following words seem to show; though it might be for both, it... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 22:41

And it came to pass on the morrow ,.... The day after the arrival of Balaam at Balak's royal seat, and after the entertainment given him, and the princes, "on the morning" F25 בבקר in matutino, Montanus; mane, V. L. Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. of that day, as the word signifies; and perhaps early in the morning, the king eager to be about business, and get the people of Israel cursed if possible as soon as could be: that Balak took Balaam and brought him up into the high... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 22

The Israelites pitch in the plains of Moab, Numbers 22:1 . Balak, king of Moab, is greatly terrified, Numbers 22:2-4 ; and sends to Balaam, a diviner, to come and curse them, Numbers 22:5 , Numbers 22:6 . The elders of Moab take a reward and carry it to Balaam, Numbers 22:7 . He inquires of the Lord, and is positively ordered not to go with them, Numbers 22:8-12 . He communicates this to the elders of Moab, Numbers 22:13 . They return to Balak with this information, Numbers... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 22:1

And pitched in the plains of Moab - They had taken no part of the country that at present appertained to the Moabites; they had taken only that part which had formerly belonged to this people, but had been taken from them by Sihon, king of the Amorites. On this side Jordan - On the east side. By Jericho, that is, over against it. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 22:5

To Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people - Dr. Kennicott justly remarks, that "the description now given of Balaam's residence, instead of being particular, agrees with any place in any country where there is a river; for he lived by Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people. But was Pethor then near the Nile in Egypt? Or in Canaan, near Jordan? Or in Mesopotamia, near the Euphrates, and belonging to the Ammonites? This last was... read more

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