กันดารวิถี 22:39 วิจารณ์

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.

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.

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.

Kirjath-huzoth--that is, "a city of streets."

He then went with Balak to Kirjath-Chuzoth, where the king had oxen and sheep slaughtered in sacrifice, and sent flesh to Balaam as well as to the princes that were with him for a sacrificial meal, to do honour to the soothsayer thereby. The sacrifices were not so much thank-offerings for Balaam's happy arrival, as supplicatory offerings for the success of the undertaking before them. "This is evident," as Hengstenberg correctly observes, "from the place and time of their presentation; for the place was not that where Balak first met with Balaam, and they were only presented on the eve of the great event." Moreover, they were offered unquestionably not to the Moabitish idols, from which Balak expected no help, but to Jehovah, whom Balak wished to draw away, in connection with Balaam, from His own people (Israel), that he might secure His favour to the Moabites. The situation of Kirjath-Chuzoth, which is only mentioned here, cannot be determined with absolute certainty. As Balak went with Balaam to Bamoth-baal on the morning following the sacrificial meal, which was celebrated there, Kirjath-Chuzoth cannot have been very far distant. Knobel conjectures, with some probability, that it may have been the same as Kerioth (Jer 48:24), i.e., Kereijat or Krriat, at the foot of Jebel Attarus, at the top of which Bamoth-baal was situated (see at Num 21:19).