Numbers 22:22-35 - Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Bible Study & Commentary

Verses 22-35

Numbers 22:22-Habakkuk : . Balaam’ s Journey to Balak without God’ s Consent.— This section is clearly not the sequel of the preceding, but the continuation of Numbers 22:5-2 Chronicles :, and (as far as Numbers 22:34) is derived from J. Balaam disregards the Divine prohibition to go to Balak which is recorded in Numbers 22:12, but is made aware of Yahweh’ s anger in the course of his journey. The ass was the animal commonly used by the Hebrews for riding in times of peace ( Genesis 22:3, Exodus 4:20, Judges 10:4, 1 Kings 2:40, 2 Kings 4:22, Zechariah 9:9). The speaking of a dumb animal (alluded to in 2 Peter 2:16) is paralleled in the OT only by the speaking of the serpent in Genesis 3; but similar fanciful stories of animals that used human language occur in Homer, Il. xix. 407, Livy, iii. 10, xxiv. 10. In Numbers 22:35 the disobedient prophet is apparently allowed to continue his journey; but the words uttered by the angel are virtually identical with God’ s words in Numbers 22:20 (E); so that possibly J’ s version of the angel’ s reply has been lost and replaced by a passage from the other source. It may perhaps be inferred from Numbers 22:37 that Balaam returned home and that Balak went to seek him there.

Numbers 22:32 . thy way is perverse: better (with Syr.), “ thou hast made thy way (or journey) headlong” ( i.e. precipitate).

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

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Arthur Peake

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

Arthur Samuel Peake (1865-1929) was an English biblical scholar, born at Leek, Staffordshire, and educated at St John's College, Oxford. He was the first holder of the Rylands Chair of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis in the University of Manchester, from its establishment as an independent institution in 1904. He was thus the first non-Anglican to become a professor of divinity in an English university.In 1890-92 he was a lecturer at Mansfield College, Oxford, and from 1890 to 1897 held a fellowship at Merton College.In 1892, however, he was invited to become tutor at the Primitive Methodist Theological Institute in Manchester, which was renamed Hartley College in 1906. He was largely responsible for broadening the curriculum which intending Primitive Methodist ministers were required to follow, and for raising the standards of the training.In 1895-1912 he served as lecturer in the Lancashire Independent College, from 1904 to 1912 also in the United Methodist College at Manchester. In 1904 he was appointed Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis in the (Victoria) University of Manchester. (This chair was in the Faculty of Theology established in that year; it was renamed "Rylands Professor, etc." in 1909.)Peake was also active as a layman in wider Methodist circles, and did a great deal to further the reunion of Methodism which took effect in 1932, three years after his death. In the wider ecumenical sphere Peake worked for the National Council of Evangelical Free Churches, serving as president in 1928, and was a member of the World Conference on Faith and Order held in Lausanne in 1927. He published and lectured extensively, but is best remembered for his one-volume commentary on the Bible (1919), which, in its revised form, is still in use.The University of Aberdeen made him an honorary D. D. in 1907. He was a governor of the John Rylands Library.... Show more

First published in 1919, Peake's commentary of the bible was a one-volume commentary that gave special attention to Biblical archaeology and the then-recent discoveries of biblical manuscripts. Biblical quotations in this edition were from the Revised Version of the Bible.... Show more

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