Numbers 23:16

. And he brought him into the field of Zophim,.... Or Sede Tzophim, as Hillerus {i} reads it, so called from the watch tower, and watchmen in it: Jarchi says, it was a high place, where a watchman stood to observe if an army came against a city, and so a very proper place to take a view of the armies of Israel from: to the top of Pisgah; a high hill in this place, where perhaps the watch tower was, or, however, the watchman stood: this looked towards Jeshimon or Bethjesimoth, in the plain of Moab, where Israel lay encamped, see Numbers 21:20: and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar: as he had done before, Numbers 23:2. {i} Onomastic Sacr. p. 935. Numbers 23:15 Ver. 15. And he said unto Balak, stand here by thy burnt offering,.... As he had before directed him, Numbers 23:3 while I meet the Lord yonder; pointing to some place at a little distance, where he expected to meet the Lord, and have some instructions from him, which he seemed confident of, having met with him once already. Numbers 23:16 Ver. 16. And the Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth,.... As he did before, Numbers 23:5. and said, go again unto Balak, and say thus; the words which are expressed in Numbers 23:18. Numbers 23:17 Ver. 17. And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering,....

yonder. 16 And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus. 17 And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken? 18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: 19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? 20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. 21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. 22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. 23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought! 24 Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain. 25 And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. 26 But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?

23:11-30 Balak was angry with Balaam. Thus a confession of God's overruling power is extorted from a wicked prophet, to the confusion of a wicked prince. A second time the curse is turned into a blessing; and this blessing is both larger and stronger than the former. Men change their minds, and break their words; but God never changes his mind, and therefore never recalls his promise. And when in Scripture he is said to repent, it does not mean any change of his mind; but only a change of his way. There was sin in Jacob, and God saw it; but there was not such as might provoke him to give them up to ruin. If the Lord sees that we trust in his mercy, and accept of his salvation; that we indulge no secret lust, and continue not in rebellion, but endeavour to serve and glorify him; we may be sure that he looks upon us as accepted in Christ, that our sins are all pardoned. Oh the wonders of providence and grace, the wonders of redeeming love, of pardoning mercy, of the new-creating Spirit! Balak had no hope of ruining Israel, and Balaam showed that he had more reason to fear being ruined by them. Since Balaam cannot say what he would have him, Balak wished him to say nothing. But though there are many devices in man's heart, God's counsels shall stand. Yet they resolve to make another attempt, though they had no promise on which to build their hopes. Let us, who have a promise that the vision at the end shall speak and not lie, continue earnest in prayer, Lu 18:1.

The field of Zophim - Or, "of watchers." It lay upon the top of Pisgah, north of the former station, and nearer to the Israelite camp; the greater part of which was, however, probably concealed from it by an intervening spur of the hill. Beyond the camp Balaam's eye would pass on to the bed of the Jordan. It was perhaps a lion coming up in his strength from the swelling of that stream (compare Jeremiah 49:19 ) that furnished him with the augury he awaited, and so dictated the final similitude of his next parable.

Upon Pisgah, Balak and Balaam made the same preparations for a fresh revelation from God as upon Bamoth-baal ( Numbers 23:1-6 ). כּה in Numbers 23:15 does not mean "here" or "yonder," but "so" or "thus," as in every other case. The thought is this: "Do thou stay (sc., as thou art), and I will go and meet thus" (sc., in the manner required). אקּרה (I will go and meet) is a technical term here for going out for auguries ( Numbers 24:1 ), or for a divine revelation.

[Bible] 23:8. How shall I curse him, whom God hath not cursed? By what means should I detest him, whom the Lord detesteth not? 23:9. I shall see him from the tops of the rocks, and shall consider him from the hills. This people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. 23:10. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and know the number of the stock of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the just, and my last end be like to them. 23:11. And Balac said to Balaam: What is this that thou dost? I sent for thee to curse my enemies: and thou contrariwise blessest them. 23:12. He answered him: Can I speak any thing else but what the Lord commandeth? 23:13. Balac therefore said: Come with me to another place from whence thou mayest see part of Israel, and canst not see them all: curse them from thence. 23:14. And when he had brought him to a high place, upon the top of mount Phasga, Balaam built seven altars, and laying on every one a calf and a ram, 23:15. He said to Balac: Stand here by thy burnt offering while I go to meet him. 23:16. And when the Lord had met him, and had put the word in his mouth, he said: Return to Balac, and thus shalt thou say to him. 23:17. Returning he found him standing by his burnt sacrifice, and the princes of the Moabites with him. And Balac said to him: What hath the Lord spoken? 23:18. But he taking up his parable, said: Stand, O Balac, and give ear: hear, thou son of Sephor: 23:19. God is not a man, that he should lie, nor is the son of man, that he should be changed. Hath he said then, and will he not do? hath he spoken, and will he not fulfil? 23:20. I was brought to bless, the blessing I am not able to hinder. 23:21. There is no idol in Jacob, neither is there an image god to be seen in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, and the sound of the victory of the king in him. 23:22. God hath brought him out of Egypt, whose strength is like to the rhinoceros.

[Reformed Biblical] ## According to this time; not only in succeeding times and ages, of which he speaks, Num_24:17, &c., but even now, in this time and age, and so forward. ## What hath God wrought!, i.e. how wonderful and glorious are those works which God is now about to do for Israel, by drying up Jordan, by subduing the Canaanites, &c.! These things will be matter of discourse and admiration to all ages. Numbers 23:24 As a lion rouseth up himself to fight, or to go out to the prey; so shall Israel stir up themselves to warlike attempts against all their enemies, as occasion shall offer itself. ## He shall not lie down, i.e. not rest or cease from fighting and pursuing. Numbers 23:25 Numbers 23:26 Numbers 23:27 Numbers 23:28 ## Peor, a high place called Beth-peor , Deu_3:29, i.e. the house or temple of Peer, because there they worshipped Baal-peor . Numbers 23:29 Numbers 23:30 ## Numbers 24:1 NUMBERS CHAPTER 24 Balaam lays aside his sorceries, and the Spirit of God comes upon him; his eyes are open; hears the words of God, and sees the vision of the Almighty, Num_24:1-4; prophesies of Israel’s prosperity, Num_24:5-9. Balak is angry; commands him to flee; his answer, Num_24:10-14. He prophesies of the Messias the King, and of the destruction of the nations, Num_24:15-24. He returns to his place; and Balak goes his way, Num_24:25. ## To seek for enchantments, i.e.

[Reformed Biblical] 4:20 . But the first sense seems the most true, because it agrees best with the usage of Scripture to repeat the same thing in other words, and this includes the third sense, to wit, the reward, which is here supposed to follow death; and for posterity, it doth not appear that he had any, or, if he had, that he was so very solicitous for them; or that he knew the tenor of God’s covenant with Abraham and his posterity. Nay, he rather seems to have had some hope of ruining Abraham’s posterity, which he attempted both here and afterwards. Numbers 23:11 Numbers 23:12 I speak not these words by my own choice, but by the constraint of a higher power, which I cannot resist. Numbers 23:13 ## He thought the sight of the people necessary both to excite Balaam’s passions, and to strengthen and direct his conjurations; but he would now have him see but a part of the people, and not all, because the sight of all of them might dismay and discourage him, and, as it did before, raise his fancy to an admiration of the multitude and of the felicity of the people, Num_23:9 ,10 . Numbers 23:14 ## Zophim, a pl