Numeri 22:38 Commento

At this chapter begins the famous story of Balak and Balaam, their attempt to curse Israel, and the baffling of that attempt; God's people are long afterwards told to remember what Balak the king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, that they might know the righteousness of the Lord, Mic 6:5. In this chapter we have, I. Balak's fear of Israel, and the plot he had to get them cursed (Num 22:1-4). II. The embassy he sent to Balaam, a conjurer, to fetch him for that purpose, and the disappointment he met with in the first embassy (Num 22:5-14). III. Balaam's coming to him upon his second message (Num 22:15-21). IV. The opposition Balaam met with by the way (Num 22:22-35). V. The interview at length between Balak and Balaam (Num 22:36, etc.).

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 22 The children of Israel being come into the plains of Moab, put the king of Moab into a panic, who expressed his fears to the elders of Midian, Num 22:1 and sent for Balaam the soothsayer to curse the people of Israel, but he, upon consulting the Lord refused to come, Num 22:5, on which the king of Moab sent to him a second time, making large promises of preferment to him, and who at this time got leave from the Lord to go with the messengers, Num 22:15, but was met with in the way by an angel of the Lord, who would have slain him had it not been for his ass, of which a very wonderful revelation is given, Num 22:22, and the chapter is closed with the interview between Balak king of Moab and Balaam, and an account of what passed between them, and what was done by them, Num 22:36.

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" (y) 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 places of Baal; where groves were planted, and altars erected to that "idol" and which the Targum of Jonathan calls the idol Peor, the same with Baalpeor, Num 25:3 which might be their god Chemosh, the same with Bacchus or Priapus: that thence he might see the utmost part of the people; the whole host of Israel, even to the extreme part of it; the camp of Dan, as the Targum of Jonathan, which brought up the rear; he had him to those high places, both that he might have a better view of the whole body of the people, and know how they lay, and to direct his curses at them, and that success might attend the undertaking, these being places of religious worship. Josephus says (z) those high places were sixty furlongs or seven and one half miles from the camp of Israel. (y) in matutino, Montanus; mane, V. L. Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. (z) Antiqu. l. 4. c. 6. sect. 4. Next: Numbers Chapter 23

Ordinances relative to strayed cattle and lost goods, Deu 22:1-3. Humanity to oppressed cattle, Deu 22:4. Men and women shall not wear each other's apparel, Deu 22:5. No bird shall be taken with her nest of eggs or young ones, Deu 22:6, Deu 22:7. Battlements must be made on the roofs of houses, Deu 22:8. Improper mixtures to be avoided, Deu 22:9-11. Fringes on the garments, Deu 22:12. Case of the hated wife, and the tokens of virginity, and the proceedings thereon, Deu 22:13-21. The adulterer and adulteress to be put to death, Deu 22:22. Case of the betrothed damsel corrupted in the city, Deu 22:23, Deu 22:24. Cases of rape and the punishment, Deu 22:25-27; of fornication, Deu 22:28, Deu 22:29. No man shall take his father's wife, Deu 22:30.

The word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak - Here was a noble resolution, and he was certainly faithful to it: though he wished to please the king, and get wealth and honor, yet he would not displease God to realize even these bright prospects. Many who slander this poor semi-antinomian prophet, have not half his piety.

BALAK'S FIRST MESSAGE FOR BALAAM REFUSED. (Num. 22:1-20) Israel . . . pitched in the plains of Moab--so called from having formerly belonged to that people, though wrested from them by Sihon. It was a dry, sunken, desert region on the east of the Jordan valley, opposite Jericho.

the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak--This appears a pious answer. It was an acknowledgment that he was restrained by a superior power.

But Balaam, being still mindful of the warning which he had just received from God, replied, "Lo, I am come unto thee now: have I then any power to speak anything (sc., of my own accord)? "The word which God puts into my mouth, that will I speak." With this reply he sought, at the very outset, to soften down the expectations of Balak, inasmuch as he concluded at once that his coming was a proof of his willingness to curse (Hengstenberg). As a matter of fact, Balaam did not say anything different to the king form what he had explained to his messengers at the very first (cf. Num 22:18). But just as he had not told them the whole truth, but had concealed the fact that Jehovah, his God, had forbidden the journey at first, on the ground that he was not to curse the nation that was blessed (Num 22:12), so he could not address the king in open, unambiguous words.