Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 22:15

And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honorable than they.

15. Balak treats the prophet’s reason for not coming as a mere excuse. Balaam, being a famous diviner, required, as he thought, to be treated with greater respect.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Balak, like the ancient pagan world generally, not only believed in the efficacy of the curses and incantations of the soothsayers, but regarded their services as strictly venal. Hence, when his first offer was declined, he infers at once that he had not bid high enough.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Num 22:15-35

If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them.

No contradiction between Gods two answers to Balaam

The first time God tells him not to go; the second time He bids him go, but is angry with him because he goes. What dues this contradiction mean? There is no meaning in it till we drop the external shell of the story, and look at the moral working of Balaams mind, when all becomes orderly and natural. There is here no contradiction. Between the first and second asking there is a change in his moral attitude. In the first he is docile and obedient, and the voice of conscience, which is the voice of God, prevails and decides his conduct. He enters into the second already half won by Balak, dislodged from his old sympathies, restless under the comparison between his old life and that laid open to him. When men revolve moral questions in such a temper, they commonly reach a decision that accords with their wish rather than with their conscience. Balaam has abandoned the field of simple duty–duty so plain that there is no need of second thoughts. It is clear enough that in no way could it be right to curse those whom God had blessed; this he well knows, and the spontaneous verdict of his conscience is Gods first answer But, brooding over the matter and sore pressed by temptation, he begins to contrive ways in which he may win the gifts and honours of Balak, and also remain an honest prophet. Here is his mistake. Duty is no longer a simple, imperative thing, but something that may be conjured with, a subordinate, unstable tool instead of an absolute law. Having thus blinded himself as to the nature of duty, there will no longer be any certainty in his moral operations; confusion of thought leads to confusion of action; in his own transformation he transforms God; he now hears God bidding him do what he desires to do. Still, at times, conscience revives, his judgment returns, and then he knows that God is angry with him for doing what he had brought himself to think he might rightly do. This is every-day experience put into this ancient story in a dramatic yet real way. When a man has thus trifled with himself and with his duty, God does indeed seem to say to him, Go on in your chosen course. He serves God in the externals of religion, but in business cheats and lies in what he calls business ways, and grinds the faces of the poor under some theory of competition, yet God prospers him; no hindering word comes to him from Providence or from the insulted Spirit of truth. It may be better, it may be, in a certain sense, the command of God, that one who starts on such a path shall follow it to the end, and find out by experience what he has rejected as an intuition. With the froward God shows Himself froward. To those who have pleasure in unrighteousness God sends a strong delusion that they should believe a lie. This is the concrete way of stating how the moral nature acts when it is led by double motives. It comes into bewilderment; it gets no true answers when it appeals to God; its own sophistries seem to it the voice of God. It can no longer tell the voice of God from its own voice. Fair is foul, and foul is fair. (T. T. Manger.)

God answers men as they wish

It is not unusual with God to grant, not only the desires of an holy and upright mind, but also our desires for inferior things, when the heart is set upon them in preference to Himself. For instance, a man is on his guard against the dangers of wealth and station; but by degrees he thinks whether he cannot obtain them lawfully, and by and by he is engaged in the pursuit, and in such a ease God gives the man usually that for which he craves. He seeks, he obtains; God seems to say, Go on. There is no greater danger than for God to answer a man according to the desires of his own heart; and therefore Job says, If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands towards Him; if iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away (Job 11:14). And in Ezekiel God says, if a man comes to inquire of Him with idols in his heart, and setting the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, He will answer him according to his idols, he will be taken in his own heart. If that prophet be deceived, it is added in very remarkable words, I the Lord have deceived him, and I will punish him (Eze 14:4-5; Eze 14:9). But yet in this case God does not give us up altogether. As when Israel asked for a king, He gave indeed what they desired–but He expostulated, He warned, He sent them a token of His displeasure. So will He show us by His Providence that He is displeased with us; in the way that we go, His angel with the sword in his hand will meet us, i.e., some calamity, some accident, some grief, is sure to cross our way to remind us from God that the way that we are going is not the way of holiness or of peace. And these are all calls from God, not at all the less so because when a mans eyes are blinded with worldly business and covetousness he does not see them to be such. (Isaac Williams, B. D.)

Balaam; or, spiritual influence, human and Divine

I. The influence of a bad man upon society.

1. A mans influence in this world is no proof of his moral worth. The millions of all ages readily accede to the claims of the pretender, however lofty; and the more lofty the better, if the claimant can manage to keep his countenance while the admiring dupes look on.

2. Society, in relation to true intelligence and right sympathy, is in a very lamentable state. A true education, involving the harmonious unfolding of the feeling as well as knowing faculties of the soul, will make a man a discerner of spirits.

3. The high probability of a future retributive economy. Does not the mutual relation between empty pretenders and the ignorant victims of all ages predict a reckoning day, and cry out for a judgment?

II. The influence of the great God upon a bad man (Num 22:18).

1. God does exert a spiritual influence over the minds of bad men.

2. The spiritual influence He exerts over the minds of bad men is of a restraining character.

(1) External difficulties.

(2) Inward pressure upon the spirit.

3. Gods restraining influence upon a bad man is for the good of society. (Homilist.)

Balaks second application to Balaam; or, the decrease of resistance to evil

I. The repetition with increased force of the request of Balak to Balaam.

1. The embassage was more influential.

2. The message was more urgent.

3. The inducements were stronger.

Learn: that temptations which have been declined half-heartedly are presented again, and with greater force. The manner of Balaams dismissal of the former messengers prepared the way for a repetition of their mission.

II. The repetition under aggravating circumstances of guilty delay by Balaam.

1. He had been challenged by God as to the presence of the former messengers.

2. He had already been prohibited from complying with the request of Balak.

3. He himself felt arid plainly declared that he was bound by the word of the Lord in the matter.

III. The repetition of the Divine visit to Balaam.

1. The permission granted.

2. The condition enforced.

IV. The setting out of Balaam on the journey. (W. Jones.)

The character of Balaam

We take this to be the great crisis in Balaams life. We take this act, which to many appears so excellent, to be the first step in his downward course. It was not only the day of Gods power towards Israel, but a day of grace to Balaam; but, alas! he knew it not. The precious moment on which so much depended was lost; henceforth his downward course was rapid. He perished in the rejection of grace and mercy. There is a crisis in our histories as in Balaams, a time, perhaps a moment, on which our eternity depends. There may be nothing to mark it out as a great crisis at the time. The Spirit of God may strive with you, gently strive. There may be some conviction in your mind, and all may depend on your yielding up your heart to Christ, and acting upon that conviction at once. If you waver when you ought to act; wait for more light, when you have light enough; if you allow any second thought to come in to determine what you shall do, anything selfish or worldly, when you ought to act simply for God, then the Spirit may leave you; your day of grace, like Balaams, may pass by, or it may be some temptation which is presented to you. We do not mean any awful temptation, one which the world itself would counsel you to resist. It may be some offer which you would be deemed foolish in rejecting, something that the world thinks an advantage; and yet if you do give way to the temptation, oh, what unforeseen consequences may follow, step by step, with unerring certainty! Let it now be impressed upon your hearts what great and eternal consequences may depend upon one little act. Oh, be faithful to God, faithful in apparently little things, as well as in great. But we must go a step further and ask, What was it that gave this bias to Balaams will, and led him still to inquire, when he ought to have felt, God has revealed His will; it is enough. I will not move from my place? Scripture gives a complete answer to that question. It was a besetting sin, and we are told what it was. It was the sin of covetousness (2Pe 3:15). There are two most solemn lessons which this ought to rivet on our hearts. First, we see the amazing power and awful effects of one besetting sin. We see how it perverts the will, how it keeps the heart from resting on the plain word of God–how it leads to neglect, yea, not even to know, the day of visitation–and how it hurries the soul onward, blinded and debased, to a point at which at first it would have shuddered. The other lesson is the deceitfulness of the human heart. Its wishes may be quite opposite to its most solemn professions; and at the very moment when it seems to be guided by the will of God it may be following some device or desire of its own. To what earnest self-inspection should this character lead us, lest our hearts, too, should be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin–lest, satisfied with a decided profession, we forget that God is the searcher of the heart, and that He deals and will deal with us, not according to what we profess to be, but according to what we are, according to the real state of our hearts. (G. Wagner.)

Perversion as shown in the character of Balaam

I. Perversion of great gifts.

1. By turning them to purposes of self-aggrandisement. Balak struck the keynote of his character when he said, Am I not able to promote thee unto honour? Herein, then, lies the first perversion of glorious gifts: that Balaam sought not Gods honour, but his own.

2. By making those gifts subservient to his own greed.

II. Perversion of conscience.

1. The first intimation we have of the fact that Balaam was tampering with his conscience, is in his second appeal to God. There is nothing like the first glance we get at duty, before there has been any special pleading of our affections or inclinations. Duty is never uncertain at first. It is only after we have got involved in the sophistries of wishing that things were otherwise than they are that it seems indistinct. Considering a duty is often only explaining it away. Deliberation is often only dishonesty. Gods guidance is plain, when we are true.

2. The second stage is a state of hideous contradictions: God permits Balaam to go, and then is angry with him for going. There is nothing here which cannot be interpreted by bitter experience. We must not explain it away by saying that these were only the alternations of Balaams own mind. They were; but they were the alternations of a mind with which God was expostulating, and to which God appeared differently at different times; the horrible mazes and inconsistencies of a spirit which contradicts itself, and strives to disobey the God whom yet it feels and acknowledges. To such a state of mind God becomes a contradiction. With the forward–oh, how true! – Thou wilt show Thyself froward.

3. We notice next the evidences in him of a disordered mind and heart. It is a strange, sad picture. The first man in the land, gifted beyond most others, conscious of great mental power, going on to splendid prospects, yet with hopelessness and misery working at his heart. Who would have envied Balaam if he could have seen all the hell that was working at his heart?

4. Lastly, let us consider the impossibility under such circumstances of going back. Balaam offers to go back. The angel says, Go on. There was yet one hope for him, to be true, to utter Gods wolds careless of the consequences; but he who had been false so long, how should he be true? It was too late. In the ardour of youth you have made perhaps a wrong choice, or chosen an unfit profession, or suffered yourself weakly and passively to be drifted into a false course of action, and now, in spite of yourself, you feel there is no going back. To many minds, such a lot comes as with the mysterious force of a destiny. They see themselves driven, and forget that they put themselves in the way of the stream that drives them. They excuse their own acts as if they were coerced. They struggle now and then faintly, as Balaam did–try to go back–cannot–and at last sink passively in the mighty current that floats them on to wrong. And thenceforth to them all Gods intimations will come unnaturally. His voice will sound as that of an angel against them in the way. Spectral lights will gleam, only to show a quagmire from which there is no path of extrication. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)

Obedience without love, as instanced in the character of Balaam

I. Balaam was blessed with Gods especial favour.

1. He had the grant of inspiration.

2. The knowledge of Gods will.

3. An insight into the truths of morality, clear and enlarged, such as we Christians even cannot surpass.

4. He was admitted to conscious intercourse with God, such as even Christians have not.

II. Balaam was a very conscientious man.

1. When sought by Balak he prayed to God for direction.

2. When forbidden to go, he refused to go.

3. Only when God gave him leave did he go.

4. And when he was come to Balak he strictly adhered to Gods orders. Balaam was certainly high-principled, honourable, conscientious. He said, and he did; he professed, and he acted according to his professions.

III. Yet, while in one sense in Gods favour, he was in another and higher sense under Gods displeasure. He was displeasing to God amid his many excellences. So that, in Balaams history, we seem to have the following remarkable case–i.e., remarkable according to our customary judgment of things–a man Divinely favoured, visited, influenced, guided, protected, eminently honoured, illuminated–a man possessed of an enlightened sense of duty, and of moral and religious acquirements, educated, high-minded, conscientious, honourable, firm; and yet on the side of Gods enemies, personally under Gods displeasure, and in the end (if we go on to that) the direct instrument of Satan, and having his portion with the unbelievers. This surely is most fearful to every one of us–the more fearful the more we are conscious to ourselves in the main of purity of intention in what we do, and conscientious adherence to our sense of duty.

IV. What is the meaning of this startling exhibition of Gods ways?

1. It is possible to be generally conscientious, or what the world calls honourable and high-principled, yet to be destitute of that religious fear and strictness which God calls conscientiousness, but which the world calls superstition or narrowness of mind.

2. God gave Balaam leave to go to Balak, and then was angry with him for going, because his asking twice was tempting God. God is a jealous God. We may not safely intrude upon Him, and make free with Him.

Concluding lessons:

1. We see how little we can depend, in judging of right and wrong, on the apparent excellence and high character of individuals.

2. Observe the wonderful secret providence of God, while all things seem to go on according to the course of this world.

3. When we have begun an evil course we cannot retrace our steps.

4. God gives us warnings now and then, but does not repeat them. Balaams sin consisted in not acting upon what was told him once for all. Beware of trifling with conscience. May He give you grace so to hear as you will wish to have heard when life is over–to hear in a practical way, with a desire to profit–to learn Gods will and to do it! (J. H. Newman, D. D.)

Balaam

We, in these days, are accustomed to draw a sharp line between the good and the bad, the converted and the unconverted, the children of God and the children of his world, those who have Gods Spirit and those who have not, which we find nowhere in Scripture; and therefore when we read of such a man as Balaam we cannot understand him. He knows the true God. More, be has the Spirit of God in him, and thereby utters wonderful prophecies; and yet he is a bad man. How can that be? Now bear in mind, first, theft Balaam is no impostor or magician. He is a wise man, and a prophet of God. God really speaks to him, and really inspires him. And bear in mind, too, that Balaams inspiration did not merely open his mouth to say wonderful words which he did not understand, but opened his heart to say righteous and wise things which he did understand. What, then, was wrong in Balaam? This, that he was double-minded. He wished to serve God. True. But he wished to serve himself by serving God, as too many do in all times. That was what was wrong with him–self-seeking; and the Bible story brings out that self seeking with a delicacy, and a perfect knowledge of human nature, which ought to teach us some of the secrets of our own hearts. But what may we learn from this ugly story? Recollect what I said at first, that we should find Balaam too like many people nowadays; perhaps too like ourselves. Too like indeed. For never were men more tempted to sin as Balaam did than in these days, when religion is all the fashion, and pays a man, and helps him on in life; when, indeed, a man cannot expect to succeed without professing some sort of religion or other. Thereby comes a terrible temptation to many men. I do not mean to hypocrites, but to really well-meaning men. They like religion. They wish to be good; they have the feeling of devotion. They pray, they read their Bibles, they are attentive to services and to sermons, and are more or less pious people. But soon–too soon–they find that their piety is profitable. Their business increases. Their credit increases. They gain power over their fellow men. What a fine thing it is, they think, to be pious! Then creeps in the love of the world; the love of money, or power, or admiration; and they begin to value religion because it helps them to get on in the world. Aye, they are often more attentive than ever to religion, because their consciences pinch them at times, and have to be drugged by continual church-goings and chapel-goings, and readings and prayings, in order that they may be able to say to themselves with Balaam, Thus saith Balaam, he who heard the word of God, and had the knowledge of the Most High. So they say to themselves, I must be right. How religious I am; how fond of sermons, and of church services, and missionary meetings, and charitable institutions, and everything that is good and pious. I must be right with God. Deceiving their own selves, and saying to themselves, I am rich and increased with goods, I have need of nothing, and not knowing that they are wretched, and miserable, and blind, and naked. Would God that such people, of whom there are too many, would take St. Johns warning and buy of the Lord gold tiled in the fire–the true gold of honesty–that they may be truly rich, and anoint their eyes with eye-salve that they may see themselves for once as they are. (C. Kingsley, M. A.)

Trifling with conscience

What was Balaams prime mistake? I think it was this, that he trifled with his conscience. God speaks once to the human soul, and speaks loudly; but if you disobey His voice, it soon sinks to a whisper. When I was a little boy, said Theodore Parker, in my fourth year, one fine day in spring my father led me by the hand to a distant part of the farm, but soon sent me home alone. On the way I had to pass a little pond, then spreading its waters wide; a rhodora in full bloom, a rare flower which grew only in that locality, attracted my attention, and drew me to the spot. I saw a little spotted tortoise sunning itself in the shallow water at the root of the flowering shrub. I lifted the stick I had in my hand to strike the harmless reptile; for though I had never killed any creature, yet I had seen other boys out of sport destroy birds and squirrels and the like, and I felt a disposition to follow their wicked example. But all at once something checked my little arm, and a voice within me said, clear and loud, It is wrong. I held my uplifted stick in wonder at the new emotion, the consciousness of an involuntary but inward check upon my actions, till the tortoise and the rhodora both vanished from my sight. I hastened home, and told the tale to nay mother, and asked what it was that told me it was wrong. She wiped a tear from her eye, and taking me in her arms said: Some men call it conscience, but I prefer to call it the voice of God in the soul of man. If you listen and obey it, it will speak clearer and clearer, and always guide you right; but if you turn a deaf ear and disobey, then it will fade out little by little, and leave you in the dark and without a guide. Your life depends on heeding that little voice. This is the truth, let me say again, of Balaams history; and having so shown it to you, or tried to make you see it, I might almost leave it to your reflection without a word. But as I want you to realise what the human conscience is, and how responsible you all are for your mode of treating it, there are just two or three remarks which I will make.

1. Firstly, there are some people who make a boast, as it were, of having what I may call a loose or easy conscience. They think it a sign of intellectual light to be free from conscientious scruples. They say, Oh, yes, no doubt there was a time when it was thought wrong to touch or to read newspapers and secular books on Sundays, or to go to a theatre, or to participate in dancing or card-playing or any such thing; but these were Puritan days, and we have outlived them, we have learned to laugh at them, we do nowadays pretty much as we like. This is the sort of language which is often heard in the world. Now what I say to you about it shall be simple common sense. I agree to some extent with the people who so speak. It is a mistake, I think, to multiply the number of sins. There are so many things which are wrong in the world, and it is so hard for most of us to keep from doing them, that I should say we make a mistake if we involuntarily add to the number of things which we may not do. Only forgive my saying that, if one must make a mistake, then it is better to err on the side of abstaining from good than on the side of running heedlessly into wrong. It is better to have a weak conscience than a wicked one. Do not you think that for one person who violates the Sunday from a religious motive, there are twenty who violate it because they do not care for religion at all? And is it not likely–ah! how likely–that, if we are not careful to cherish the means of grace and of religious practice, if we do not go to church and to the Holy Communion, we shall gradually sink into a worldly way of looking at things, and our religion will die away altogether?

2. Again, let me impress upon you that your conscience is plastic; you are always forming it, always making it better or worse. If you listen to it when it speaks, it speaks more plainly; if you neglect it, it will simply cease to speak. Ought it not to be your prayer, your daily effort, to see good and evil as God sees them? For, believe me, I am telling you what I know, when you grow up and go out into the world, you will hear people saying of even the vilest sins, What does it matter? I do not see the wrong of it. There is a blindness of the soul as well as of the body; and although the blinded soul cannot behold the Sun of Righteousness, the Sun is shining in the heaven all the same.

3. Lastly, follow your conscience, and it shall lead you to God. Believe me, the only way to get more spiritual light is to live according to the light you have. It may be only a ray that breaks athwart the darkness; make the most of it, and some day you shall have more. There may be hereafter only one duty which is clear to you, only one friend or kinsman whom you can help, only one boy whom you can keep from evil, only one piece of work which you alone can do. Well, do that. Try to accomplish that one object. Try to save just that one human soul. Gradually, it may be after many a day, the clouds will break. You will know more of Gods will. He will seem nearer to you. His voice will sound more clearly in your soul. You shall enter into that Divine peace which the world may neither give nor take away. (J. E. C. Welldon, M. A.)

Balaam, an instance of moral perversion

How came it that Balaam acted so inconsistently with his knowledge and convictions, and succeeded for the time, as we may say, in juggling with his conscience? The answer is not hard to find. He loved money. His heart was set on gold. He had allowed the passion of covetousness to become the ruling principle of his nature. I have somewhere read of one who, having found a young leopard, petted it, and trained it to be his daily companion in his chamber. It grew up to maturity, but still it was kept beside him, and men wondered at his foolhardiness in permitting it to go unchained. But he would not be advised. One day, however, as it licked his hand with its rough tongue, it ruffled the skin, and tasted his blood; and then all the savage nature of the brute came out, and there was a fearful struggle between them, from which he escaped only by destroying it. So it was, in some respects, in this case. Balaam had nurtured his covetousness into strength; and now, at the offer of Balaks rewards, its full force came out; but, instead of fighting with it and slaying it, he yielded to it and was destroyed. What a terrible passion is this of covetousness! and how dangerous it is, especially to those who wish to preserve a fair appearance! For in mens estimation it is, at least in its beginnings, a respectable thing. Nor is its respectability its only danger, for in the minds of many it is associated only with large sums of money; whereas in reality it may be as strong in the heart of him whose dealings are carried on in cents as in that of one whose transactions are concerned with hundreds of thousands of dollars. No one of us, whether rich or poor, whether minister or layman, has a right to say that there is no fear of him in this matter; for if the love of money takes possession of the heart, it will blind the eyes, and harden the conscience, and become a root of evil, so that we shall fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts that war against the soul. But what is true of covetoushess is true also of every evil principle, so that we may generalise the lesson here, and say that if the heart be fixed on any object as its God, other than the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we may expect in the end, whatever may be our knowledge, and whatever our scruples in other respects, that we shall act against our convictions, and make shipwreck not only of the faith, but also of ourselves, without possibility of salvage. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

Balaam the man of double mind

He was one of those unstable men whom the apostle calls doubleminded–an ambidexter in religion, like Redwald, king of the East Saxons, the first who was baptized, who, as Camden relates, had, in the same church, one chapel for the Christian religion, and another for sacrificing to devils. A loaf of the same leaven was our resolute Rufus, who painted God on one side of his shield and the devil on the other, with the desperate inscription in Latin–I am ready for either. (C. Ness.)

Balaams protest

A brave speech, certainly! Yes, no doubt it was true that Balaam felt that even for a house full of silver and gold he could not go beyond the word of the Lord. But, in the first place, why protest so much concerning silver and gold? Balaks message had not mentioned silver and gold–it spoke specially of honour. Surely it must have been because the mind of Balaam was so much preoccupied with thoughts of silver and gold that he thus spake; answering himself rather than others. And then, why does Balaam say, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord? Why does he not roundly say, I will not go beyond the word of the Lord? As it is he only speaks of inability; he does not mention such a thing as personal disinclination. These flaws we notice in his words. But still, upon the whole, his speech was brave, just, perhaps, as one may say, one whit too bold. For if there be one thing that we have need to stand in doubt of, in moments of temptation, it is high sounding phrases of determination. For, as a rule, we may be sure the courage of the heart is in an inverse proportion to the valour of the lip. Balaam was conscious of an inward faltering in reference to that which lay before him, and he sought to veil the weakness of his purpose by the vigour of his protestations. (W. Roberts.)

Dallying with temptation

Balaam is very sure that he shall confine himself to the word of the Lord, but he, himself, out of his own heart, has begun to entertain the purpose of getting upon the scene of these glittering temptations. He proposes to remain a true man, but he enjoys the company of these honourable princes. He will remain a true man, but he would like to be near a king who can send such presents. He will remain a true man, but, once in Moab, his wit will stand him in hand better than in these dull regions where he dwells. It is the old, old story of humanity–dallying with temptation in the field of the imagination, bribing conscience with fair promises, yet all the while moving up to the forbidden thing. It is a history not seldom repeated. Oh, no! I shall never become a miser, but I propose to be exceedingly prudent. I shall never throw away my reputation, my character, but I will feed eye and ear and imagination with pictures of forbidden pleasure. I shall never become a drunkard, but I will drink in moderation. I shall never permit myself to be called a selfish man, but I will take good care of myself in this rough world. I shall never become dishonest, but I will keep a keen eye for good chances. Thus it is that men are passing to ruin over a path paved with double purposes. Balaam now gets a different answer. The first time he is honest and open, and is told to remain; the next time he takes into the interview his own desires, which are against his convictions, and a half-formed purpose, and he comes out of it with the answer he wants; desire has taken the lead of conscience. He starts on his ill-fated journey, meets with strange, confounding experiences–reflections of the moral confusion into which he has fallen–experiences, however, that serve to steady and buttress him on his professional side, but are not able to prevent his fall as a man. (T. T. Munger.)

On tampering with conscience

Is this conduct of Balaams strange or unusual? Have we none of us done exactly as Balaam did? I protest that men are doing precisely as Balaam did every day. Yes, and every day are meeting with the selfsame punishment, and braving the selfsame anger. Temptation to self-aggrandisement of various kinds comes before us, there is a prospect of a brilliant success, there is the hope of some tempting reward; the only condition is a course of action about the lawfulness of which we are in doubt. Then comes the trial–we ponder: on one side is the bait glittering–we long for so great a prize. But God comes to us–speaks to us in our consciences–speaks to us by His Word–speaks to us by His Spirit, saying, Forbear! there is sin in the doing of that which must be done ere the end you long for can be attained. And at first we acquiesce. Clearly it has been shown to us, that though ease and pleasure be sweet, duty is stern and may not be gainsaid; that though success be exquisite delight, unfairness is always vile and bad; that though fame and position be longed for never so eagerly, yet to depart from truth or honesty is to depart from God. But by and by the temptation is looked at again and again–the thing we long for is always before us, the thing we fear is far; and we begin to ask whether our first impression was really quite so unmistakably right as we believed it. We look to see if for some little swerving from the rigorous path of virtue some excuse may not be found. And we question whether the end may not be attained without quite using all the means. We seek to know if our consciences cannot allow us to grasp the thing we wish, and for its sake bear us blameless for once in doing the thing we shrink from; and, in short, little by little, we give ourselves to be deceived as Balaam did. We ask for guidance, perchance with a divided heart; we pray God to teach us how to act, when we have already more than half decided. We pretend to leave ourselves in His hands, and yet we are only pretending; and then if He speaks to us at all, it is a voice which speaks to a conscience that has become confused, and a judgment that has suffered itself only too willingly to be disjointed; and though the voice seems to be, and in some sense is the voice of God, yet it is, indeed, only a lie. (A. Jessopp, M. A.)

Withstanding temptation

That was a bright suggestion of a little boy who made the following answer to the question of a passer-by. Seeing the little fellow patting his fathers horse, that was standing in front of his house, the man asked, Can your horse go fast, my boy? No, not very, he replied, but he can stand fast. That is a virtue not to be despised in a horse; a faithful animal that can be trusted to remain in his tracks without pulling down the hitching post or breaking his halter is to be coveted. Can it be said of you, boys, that you can stand fast? Are you firm when tempted to do wrong? Are you easily led astray? Put yourself on the right side, and when urged to step aside from it remember always to stand fast. (Juvenile Templar.)

Gold an ignoble motive for service

The noblest deeds which have been done on earth have not been done for gold. It was not for the sake of gold that our Lord came down and died, and the apostles went out to preach the good news in all lands. The Spartans looked for no reward in money when they fought and died at Thermopyhae; and Socrates the wise asked no pay from his countrymen, but lived poor and barefoot all his days, only caring to make men good. And there are heroes in our days also, who do noble deeds, but not for gold. Our discoverers did not go to make themselves rich when they sailed out one after another into the dreary frozen seas; nor did the ladies who went out to drudge in the hospitals of the East, making themselves poor, that they might be rich in noble works; and young men, too, did they say to themselves, How much money shall I earn when they went to the war, leaving wealth and comfort, and a pleasant home, to face hunger and thirst, and wounds and death, that they might fight for their country and their Queen? No, children, there is a better thing on earth than wealth, a better thing than life itself, and that is, to have done something before you die, for which good men may honour you, and God your Father smile upon your work. (C. Kingsley.)

No without any Yes in it

Many a promising youth has been ruined because he did not know how to say No. There are many people who say No, but so faintly that there seems a Yes in it, so that it only invites further persuasion. Many a man, tempted by appetite within, and by companions without, says No feebly and faintly. His No has a Yes in it. A lad was coming along the street one day with a young man who lived near him who was somewhat excited by strong drink, and after walking along awhile with his companion he drew a bottle from his pocket, and said, Have some? Well, hand it over, replied the lad. The bottle was passed to him, and raising it aloft he hurled it with a crash against the stone wall, and turning to his astonished companion, he said, Dont you ever put a bottle to my lips again. The young man was inclined to be irritated, but he had sense enough to retain his anger. The lads No had not any Yes in it There are scores of young men who need the decision which this lad had. (S. S. Chronicle.)

A rotting conscience

I think no man could have his arm rot and drop away, from wrist to shoulder, and not know it; but you shall find numberless men whose consciences have rotted, from circumference to core, and they know nothing about it, They are less concerned about themselves than when the corruption first began. This silence of the hollowing out of a man–this noiseless process of preparing him for destruction, is an element of very great fearfulness. It fills me with grief and sadness, as I look on men, to know that as the snow falls, flake by flake, and no sound tells of its accumulation–that as the dust sifts in, and no noise warns of its choking rise, so silently, so surely, man is heaping to himself wrath against the day of wrath, and does not know it. (H. W. Beecher.)

Something wrong with conscience

A steamboat going at full speed approached a bridge. The pilot saw that the draw was not open, and rang his bell to have the engines reversed. There was ample time to bring the vessel to a stand, if the signal had been obeyed. But, in spite of it, the boat went crashing through the bridge, causing great, damage and much peril, though, as it happened, no actual loss of life. It was found afterwards that the bell-wire was broken, so that the bell did not ring in the engineers room. Something like this often happens to that safeguard of our soul which we call conscience. It gets disordered in one way or another and doesnt work. A danger is perceived. We see plainly the course we ought to take. Conscience warns us that we are on the wrong road. Why dont we stop, and turn into the way we know is safe? Because conscience has lost its power. In the engine-room of our ship of life, where Will presides, the voice of conscience is unheard, or, if heard at all, is unheeded. Instead of being a recognised and regarded imperative, as it ought to be, it has become impotent. The instinct that tells us to do what is right and to shun what is wrong is one of the highest faculties of the human soul. Like all our powers, both of mind and body, it may be blunted and withered and deadened until it is practically lost. Youth is the time to watch against and avert this awful disaster. We cannot too carefully cherish the first and quick sensitiveness which gives to conscience its proper mastery, and causes it to be obeyed as Gods own voice speaking in the heart of man. (Christian Age.)

Parallels to the case of Balaam

Parallels to the case of Balaam are not difficult to find. Cardinal Wolsey, dispensing ecclesiastical ban and blessing, at the mandate of Henry the Eighth; Richelieu and Mazarin, each betraying his churchly trust for the sake of political power–are well-known instances. Contrast with these Ambroses stern arraignment of Theodosius, an account of which will be found in any good ecclesiastical history. The schoolboy who sneers at religion, hoping to gain thereby the favour of his companions, is unconsciously following in the footsteps of Balaam. The demons gave good testimony to Christ (Luk 8:28-29) and to His apostles (Act 19:15), but that did not render them any the less demons. So Balaam, himself a wicked man, prophesied of the coming Messiah. Compare the case of Caiaphas the high priest (Joh 11:50-51). Recall Christs description of the judgment, where many who have prophesied the truth in His name will be told that they are none of His (Mat 7:22-23). Balaam fell, though his eyes were open. (American S. S. Times.)

Gods anger was kindled because he went.

God permits Balaam to go, and yet is angry

Go, said the Voice; but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. Was this merely the echo of the Divine word in a hollow, bewildered conscience? That is not a full explanation of the fact, though it is one which we must not disregard. Balaam did go, and was intended to go. He would not have learned the lesson which he was to learn if he had not gone. And yet his going was a wilful act. It was the struggle of one determined to have his own way, claiming the privilege of a man, while he was reducing himself into the condition of an animal, one that mast be held in with bit and bridle, because he will not be guided and governed as a spiritual creature. You are puzzled at the language of Scripture about Gods permitting Balaam to go, and then being displeased at him for going. You may well be puzzled. For what are so utterly bewildering as the mazes and contradictions of a human will, confessing a Master, struggling to disobey Him? But would you rather that the Bible left this fact unnoticed? Would you rather that it described human actions and events without reference to it? Is that the proof which you demand that it was written by God and for men? You will not have that sign if you ask for it ever so much. Not here alone, but everywhere, you will be met with these contradictions; man striving with God, God dealing with him as a voluntary creature, such as He had made him to be, not crushing his will by an act of omnipotence, but teaching it to feel its own impotency and madness. (F. D. Maurice, M. A.)

The Divine permission of self-will

I do not see how any thoughtful man can consider this story without discovering why God allows men to enter on ways which are not good, and which are therefore full of peril, and why He nevertheless withstands them when they walk in them. He allows them to enter on such ways that they may come to know themselves as they are, in their weakness as well as in their strength, that they may see clearly what is evil in their nature as well as what is good; and He withstands them in order that they may become aware of the perils to which they are unconsciously exposing themselves, may feel their need of His guidance and help, and may suffer Him to save them from their sins, and out of weakness make them strong. (S. Cox, D. D.)

The cause of Gods anger with Balaam

God is not angry without cause; and the one cause which makes Him angry with men is some unrighteousness in them, or some inward leaning toward unrighteousness. And what could the unrighteous leaning of Balaam be but that, in the conflict between his own interests and desires and the will of God, he was permitting his interests and desires to prevail over his sense of duty, suffering the baser elements of his nature to override the promptings of that in him which was highest and best, giving way, in short, to the temptation which Balak had held out before him, and scheming how he might please man without altogether breaking with God. So absorbed is he in his schemes, so preoccupied, that this man, ordinarily so alert, so quick to discern omens, so sensitive to spiritual intimations, so proud of his open eye, actually does not see the angel who stands full in his path, with his sword drawn in his hand. This inward preoccupation and deterioration was the madness which the dumb ass forbad and rebuked. And how severe and humiliating, yet how merciful, the rebuke! How humiliating that he who prided himself on being the man whose eyes are open, who heareth the words of God and seeth the vision of the Almighty, should find himself outdone by the very beast he rode, blind to what even his ass could see; so insensate, so transported from himself as that he had sought to slay the very creature who had saved him! And yet what a wonder of mercy and grace was it that even while, as the angel told him, his way was rash, foolhardy, full of hidden perils which he ought never to have affronted, God had not forgotten or forsaken him, but had miraculously interposed to warn him that the course he was meditating could only lead him to destruction, to arrest him in his downward path, to quicken his attention, to open his eyes to the spiritual facts and omens of which he had lost ken, and to call him back to the allegiance he so loudly professed! (S. Cox, D. D.)

The opposition of Gods angel

Is not this opposition of the angel to Balaam a picture and a symbol of the way in which God is evermore withstanding evil courses? When Jacob was at Peniel, we read, there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day (Gen 32:24). That man, also, was the angel of the Lord (Hos 12:4), come forth to withstand Jacob in his crooked ways, until Jacob should surrender them, and win a blessing from his adversary. And so God was, by His angel, opposing Balaams evil way, until he should abandon it, and thus be blessed of God (Num 22:32). And see, in this symbolic action of the angel of the Lord, how the resistances of God to evil thicken on us in our sinful paths. At first the ass swerves only from the beaten track; then she injures Balaams foot; then she falls down under him. And is not this a picture, to the very life, of things that happen every day to evil-doers? They find instruments and agencies, on which they have implicitly relied, betraying them or failing them. They find themselves injured or maimed in their endeavours to press forward in their mad career. And suddenly life perfectly breaks down with them, and leaves them prostrate on the earth. And is not Balaams blindness to the angel of the Lord a picture of the blindness to the course of Providence which evil-doers not unfrequently display? Things which one would think must cause reflection, come and go without exciting even notice. Bent on their own self-willed career, they are completely blind to all besides, till presently disaster overtakes them, and they narrowly escape destruction. And does not the insensate rage of Balaam fitly typify the wrath and anger that we feel at all the opposition we encounter in an evil way? What savage thoughts breed in our hearts, and cruel words breathe from our lips, in moments such as these! We are ready to destroy the very things that serve us; aye, the very things that save us! Balaam would have slain his ass, though she had served him many years, and though she now preserved his life by her sagacity. Brethren, let us rather be thankful for the oppositions of the angel of the Lord, when we are in an evil way; for these opposing providences are designed for our salvation and deliverance. (W. Roberts.)

Gods opposition to Balaam

We have here an account of the opposition God gave to Balaam in his journey towards Moab; probably the princes were gone before, or gone some other way, and Balaam had appointed where he would meet them, or where they would stay for him, for we read nothing of them in this encounter; only that Balaam, like a person of some quality, was attended with his two men;–honour enough, one would think, for such a man, he needed not be beholden to Balak for promotion.

1. Here is Gods displeasure against Balaam for undertaking this journey, Gods anger was kindled because he went (Num 22:22). Note–

(1) The sin of sinners is not to be thought the less provoking to God for His permitting it. We must not think that because God doth not by His providence restrain men from sin, therefore He approves of it; or that it is therefore net hateful to Him; He suffers sin, and yet is angry at it.

(2) Nothing is more displeasing to God than malicious designs against His people; he that touches them touches the apple of His eye.

2. The way God took to let Balaam know His displeasure against him. An angel stood in the way for an adversary. Now God fulfilled His promise to Israel, I will be an enemy to thine enemies (Exo 23:22). The holy angels are adversaries to sin, and perhaps are employed more than we are aware of in preventing it, particularly in opposing those that have any ill designs against Gods Church and people, for whom Michael, our prince, stands up (Dan 12:1; Dan 10:21). What a comfort is this to all that wish well to the Israel of God, that He never suffers wicked men to form any attempt against them, but He sends His holy angels forth to break the attempts, and secure His little ones! This angel was an adversary to Balaam, because Balaam counted him his adversary; otherwise those are really our best friends, and we are so to reckon them that stop our progress in a sinful way. The angel stood with his sword drawn (Num 22:23), a flaming sword, like that in the hands of the cherub (Gen 3:24), turning every way. Note, the holy angels are at war with those with whom God is angry, for they are the ministers of His justice. Balaam has notice given him of Gods displeasure–

3. By the ass, and that did not startle him. The ass saw the angel (Num 22:23). How vainly did Balaam boast that he was a man whose eyes were open, and that he saw the vision of the Almighty (Num 24:3-4), when the ass he rode on saw more than he did, his eyes being blinded with covetousness and ambition, and dazzled with the rewards of divination! Note, many have God against them, and His holy angels, but are not aware of it.

4. Balaam at length had notice of Gods displeasure by the angel, and that did startle him. When God opened his eyes he saw the angel (Num 22:31), and then he himself fell flat upon his face, in reverence of that glorious messenger, and in fear of the sword he saw in his hand. God has many ways of breaking and bringing down the hard and unhumbled heart.

(1) The angel reproved him for his outrageousness: Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass? (Num 22:32-33). Whether we consider it or no, it is certain God will call us to account for the abuses done to His creatures. Note, when our eyes are opened we shall see what danger we are in, in a sinful way; and how much it was for our advantage to be crossed in it, and what fools we were to quarrel with our crosses which helped to save our lives.

(2) Balaam then seemed to relent, I have sinned (Num 22:34); sinned in undertaking this journey, sinned in pushing on so violently; but he excuses it with this, that he saw not the angel, but now he did see him he was willing to go back again. That which was displeasing to God was not so much his going, as his going with a malicious design against Israel, and a secret hope, that notwithstanding the proviso with which his permission was clogged, he might prevail to curse them, and so gratify Balak, and get preferment under him. Now this wickedness of his heart it doth not appear that he is sensible of, or willing to own; but if he finds he cannot go forward, he will be content (since there is no remedy) to go back. Here is no sign that his heart is turned, but if his hands be tied he cannot help it. Thus many leave their sins, only because their sins have left them. There seems to be a reformation of the life, but what will that avail if there be no renovation of the heart?

5. The angel, however, continued his permission, Go with the men (Num 22:35). Go, if thou hast a mind to be made a fool of, and to be made ashamed before Balak, and all the princes of Moab. Go, but the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak, whether thou wilt or no. For this seems not to be a precept, but a prediction of the event, that he should not only not be able to curse Israel, but he should be forced to bless them; which would be more for the glory of God, and his own confusion, than if he had turned back. Thus God gave him fair warning, but he would not take it; he went with the princes of Balak. For the iniquity of Balaams covetousness God was wroth and smote him, but he went on frowardly (Isa 57:17). (Matthew Henry, D. D.)

Restraints from sin

I. The forms of restraint from sin.

1. They appear in external appliances. The revealed Word of God stands in the way as a hindrance to what is wrong, and a guide to good-will to man and obedience to the Lord, if only fairly consulted.

2. In addresses to the understanding. The remembrance of some words of God, or the words of some man, overheard or directly spoken to you, may be the means of placing in light some dark feature of thought, or some evil action.

3. In stirrings of conscience. These are graduated from an almost insuperable prohibition to the scarcely perceptible whisper of doubt.

4. In excite-merits of the emotions. Each pang of remorse, and each thrill of fear, utter, in different forms, Keep back from sin.

II. The characteristics of restraints from sin.

1. They are frequent.

2. They are progressive. If being turned aside will not induce a retreat, there will be a crushing of the foot.

3. They are near, though oft unnoticed. (D. G. Watt, M. A.)

God withstanding sinners

No longer are there miracles performed to intimate to the ungodly man that it shall not fare well with him, and that he shall but eat the fruit of what he sowed. But heaven and earth, the dead and those who live, nature and grace, appear as if they now and then combined in earnest supplication to exclaim, Stop, sinner, stop! Who has not some time, like Balaam, come face to face with God, upon the path of sin, when He made known His terrors and His threatening? And what man dares affirm that there has been too little effort made to lead him from the broad way to the narrow path of life? Nay, more; Balaams brief experience is, in a certain sense, as nothing when compared with that long labour of love which God in Christ has most unweariedly bestowed upon us, that we might be saved. Nay, God has no delight in any sinners death, but spares when He could smite; nor does He ever suffer us to hold on in the way to death, without affording us a last, loud warning, that not seldom comes on us as if it were an angels sword piercing our very bones. Blessed, thrice blessed he who, with a more unfeigned humility than that of Balaam, can acknowledge, I have sinned, and who does not grow hard in sin, but lets himself be led. Soon shall he learn, with deep astonishment, that Gods good angels round encircle him in all his ways; and that far more is to be gained in serving Him than the disgraceful pittance offered by the Balak-hand of a vain world. But if, like Balaam, you still kick against the pricks, the time is drawing nigh when you, like him, shall be cast from the presence of the God of everlasting righteousness, and given over to that death which you so obstinately choose before the life now offered you. (J. J. Van Oosterzee, D. D.)

Balaams vision

1. In looking at this passage we must make every allowance for the difference between those times and ours. I do not know any valid reason why God in the accomplishment of His infinitely wise designs might not employ the means here described, and miraculously impart to the ass the organs of articulation, and a knowledge of their use.

2. After the most close and candid attention, however, which I have been able to give to the subject, I am led to the conclusion that the occurrence here related was a dream, or vision, which took place on the night previous to his journey. He knew that he was doing wrong; for, although he had permission to go, yet it was not permitted him to do so with the wicked design which he cherished in his heart–that of cursing the people. On this account his guilty conscience tormented him, and, in his sleep, vividly presented to his mind the scene here recorded. At the end of Num 22:35 (after the scene is finished) the words, So Balaam went with the princes of Balak, seem to refer to his setting out on his journey.

3. There is one objection which may be urged to this view. St. Peter says, The dumb ass, &c. To this it may be replied, that the occurrence, though happening only in a dream, appeared as real to the mind of the prophet as though it had actually taken place, and was designed to have all the force and effect of a real transaction.

4. In favour of the hypothesis the reasons are, I think, numerous and satisfactory.

(1) In the prophecies many accounts of visions are given which are not formally introduced as such (Isa 6:1-13.).

(2) Balaam expressed no surprise at being addressed by the animal. In dreaming we feel no surprise at the most astonishing occurrences.

(3) The narrative of this transaction appears to intimate that the prophet was nearly alone: two servants were with him. In his real journey, however, he was accompanied by the princes of Moab, who had, no doubt, a great number of attendants.

(4) He had received permission to go, whereas, in this account, the angel appears angry with him for going in compliance with that permission. Strong presumptive proof that the workings of a guilty conscience wrought on his mind during sleep, and produced a vivid dream or vision.

(5) In chap. 23 it is repeatedly said, He hath said which heard the words of God, which saw the visions of the Almighty; falling into a trance, but having his eyes open. May not this refer to the vision, or trance, or dream, of which we have been speaking? (J. P. Smith, LL. D.)

Obstructive providences

I. The lessons it taught Balaam.

1. It convinced him of spiritual blindness.

2. It taught absolute submission to God.

II. Lessons to us.

1. We often go on wrong errands, or on right errands in a wrong spirit.

2. God cheeks us in His providence and in love to our souls. Illness; raising up of insuperable difficulties; falling off of friends; superior success to rivals, &c.

3. We are apt to fret and be angry at the instruments of our disappointment. We cast our spite and blame on second causes.

4. We should seek spiritual enlightenment to see that it is Gods doing. Be not angry and resentful, but give yourselves to prayer; else, like Balaam, you will not see it is God who opposes you (Num 22:34).

5. We can only be permitted to go forward when we are brought to a state of perfect subjection to God. Two things are here included–a perfect purity of motive and freedom from worldly self-seeking, and an entire acquiescence in whatever God appoints, desires, or does. (T. G. Horton.)

Balaam stopped by an angel

1. It lies quite within our experience that we do get our own way, and yet have a sense of burning and judgment, of opposition and anger all the time. Men forget that there is a time when they need not ask the Lord any questions. Never trouble the Lord to knew whether you cannot do just a little wrong; He is not to be called upon in relation to business of that kind. He does not pray who palters with moral distinctions, who wants to make compromises, who is anxious to find some little crevice or opening through which he can pass into the land of his own desire.

2. Men are stopped in certain courses without being able to tell the reason why. That also is matter of experience. The wind seems to be a wall before us; the road looks quite open, and yet we can make no progress in it. The business stands still; we have risen at the same hour in the morning, carried out the usual arrangements, been apparently on the alert all the time, and yet not one inch farther are we permitted to go. Suppose we have no God, no altar, no Church limitations, no ghostly ministry exerting itself upon our life and frightening us with superstition and spectre–we are healthy reasoners, downright robust rationalists–men who can take things up and set them down, square-headed men–yet there is the fact, that even we, such able-bodied rationalists, such healthy souls that any society would insure us on the slightest inquiry–there we are, puzzled, mystified, perplexed, distracted.

3. It also lies within the region of experience that men are rebuked by dumb animals. That is odd, but it is true. The whole Scripture is charged with that statement, and so charged with it as to amount to a practical philosophy in daily life: But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee. The stork in heaven knoweth her appointed times. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his masters crib. Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Dumb creatures are continually teaching us. They keep law with wondrous obedience. The poorest brutes are really very faithful to the rude legislation under which they live. In temperance, in acceptance of discipline, in docility, I know not any beast that is ever used by man that may not teach some men, very distinctly, helpful and useful lessons.

4. Then, again, it does lie within our cognition that men do blame second causes for want of success. Balaam blamed the ass. That is what we are always doing. There is nothing exceptional in this conduct of the soothsayer. We want to get on–it is the beast that will not go. Who ever thought that an angel was confronting him–that a distinct ghostly purpose was against him?

5. Does it not also lie within the range of our experience that men do want to get back sometimes but are driven forward? Did not Balaam want to return when he said, If it displease Thee, I will get me back again? We cannot. Life is not a little trick, measurable by such terms, h man cannot make a fool of himself, and instantly turn round as if nothing had happened; we cannot drive a nail into a tree and take it out without leaving a wound behind. Conduct is of greater consequence than we imagine. Humanity is a sublime mystery, as well as God; and there is no way backward, unless it be in consent with the Mind that constructed and that rules creation.

6. But there is a difficulty about the dumb ass rebuking the perverse prophet. So there is. I would be dismayed by it if I were not overwhelmed by greater miracles still. This has come to be but a small thing–a very momentary wonder–as compared with more astounding circumstances. A. more wonderful thing than that an ass should speak is that a man should forget God. The miracles of a physical and historical kind may admit of postponement as to their consideration; but that men should have forgotten God, and insulted law, and done unrighteously–these are mysteries which must not be delayed in their explanation and settlement.

7. So we come again and again to the great practical inquiry–Being on the wrong road, how shall we get back? There is no answer in man. If Balaam could have retraced his steps, put up his ass in the stable and gone about his business as if nothing had occurred, it would have been but a paper universe. That he could not do so, that he was under the pressure of mightier forces, indicates that the universe is itself a tragedy, and that the explanation of every character, every incident, and every flush of colour, must be left for another time, when the light is stronger and the duration is assured. Meanwhile, we can pray, we can look up, we can say, each for himself, I have sinned. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Balaams ass

I. The historic character of the miracle here recorded.

II. The miracle itself.

III. The object of the miracle.

1. It was calculated to humble him in relation to a gift of God upon which he probably prided himself. It is likely he was an eloquent man. He would now see that God could endow a brute with the gift of speech.

2. He would also see that an ass could discern a messenger from heaven, where he, blinded by his desire for gain, could see nothing but empty space.

3. He might also have learned that all speech was under Divine control, and that he would be able to utter only such words as God would permit. (W. Jones.)

Obstacles to vision

A revelation of the truth is not enough. There must be an inner sympathy with the truth. Light avails not where there are no eyes to see. Take a blind man into a tunnel, and you have a symbol of the natural man without a Divine revelation. There are two obstacles to vision; first, the darkness around him, and then his own blindness. Lead him forth under the open firmament of revealed truth. Still he does not see. You have done something towards his enlightenment, you have given him knowledge, doctrine, the form of truth. But that is not enough. He lacks spiritual understanding. The scales must fall from his eyes. The Divine Spirit alone can accomplish this. (J. Halsey.)

The way of the perverse

For the man who neglects salvation there is no rescue. Everything will plead against him. The waters will say, We told him of the living stream where he might wash all his sins away, but he would not come. The rocks will say, We told him of a shelter and defence to which he might run. The sun will say, We told him of the Dayspring from on high, but he shut his eyes. The Bible will say, I called him by a thousand invitations, and warned him with a thousand alarms. The throne of judgment will say, I have but two sentences–that to the friends of God, and that to His rejecters. Escape he must not, Jesus will say. I called on him for many years, but he turned his back on My tears and blued. Then God will speak; and with a voice that shall ring through the heights and depths and lengths of His universe, say, Escape he shall not. May the Lord God avert such a catastrophe! (T. De Witt Talmage.)

Balaam rebuked, but not checked

Balaam is doing what he knows he ought not to do; there is a great wrong in his heart sending up its protests to the brain. The man is at cross purposes, and vents his unrest and ill-feeling upon outward objects. How often it happens! One in ill-humour often curses the tools he is using–the dulness of a saw, the waywardness of a shuttle, the knife that wounds his hand; he beats his horse or dog; he scolds his children. Here we come nigh the very heart of the story. When, in some fit of ill-temper brought on by our own wrongdoing, we have beaten an animal, or spoken roughly to a child, and then have noticed the humble patience of the brute under our anger, or the meek undesert of the child reflected from its upturned eyes, there comes over us a sense of shame and an inward confession that the wrong is not in the brute or in the child, but in us. The beast or the child speaks back to us; its very bearing and looks become audible voices of rebuke. When a great man like Balaam gets involved in wrong-doing, all nature is changed to him, and from all things come rebuking voices. When Macbeth returns from the murder of the king, a simple knocking at the gate appals him and deepens the colour of his blood-stained hands; one sense runs into and does the office of another. To a harassed and guilty conscience the light comes with a condemnation; every true and orderly thing meets it with reproof–angels of God that confront it, but do not turn it from its fatal course. Balaam would have turned back, but he is told to go on. This is only another stage of the moral confusion into which he has fallen, lie would go back, but the spirit of sophistry again begins to work, and he goes forward, but he will speak only the true word-evil drawing him on, while he excuses it with the plea of right intentions–a daily history on every side! Why did Balaam not go back? He could not. When a man does wrong in a simple and impulsive way under the direct force of temptation, he can retrace his steps; but when he has found what seems to him a safe path to a coveted end, he seldom gives over. Many men with scrupulous consciences do not regret being yoked with partners who are less particular; and many men do, as a corporation, what not one of them would do as an individual. Balaam could not avail himself of these modern methods, and so made a partnership and corporation of his own divided nature; reaping speedily in himself the bitter consequences of such action that overtake the modern man slowly but no less surely. (T. T. Munger.)

The talking ass, and what it taught Balaam

The real difficulty of the incident to those who feel a special difficulty in it consists, I suppose, in the alleged fact that the ass spoke, spoke in apparently human words and with a human voice. And this difficulty has, to say the least of it, been very neatly turned by many of our ablest critics and commentators, some of whom have as little love for miracles as the veriest sceptic. They say, Balaam, the soothsayer and diviner, was trained to observe and interpret the motions and cries of beasts and birds, and especially anything that was exceptional in them; to draw auguries and portents from them, to see in them the workings of a Divine power, to infer from them indications of the Divine will. Here was a portent indeed, and he must interpret it. And to him it seemed that the ass was striving and remonstrating with him; that, conscious of a presence of which he himself was unaware, it was seeking to save him from a doom which he was heedlessly provoking. And so, with the dramatic instinct of an Oriental poet, either Balaam himself or the original writer of the chronicle translated these subjective impressions into external facts, and made the ass speak the meaning which he read in its motions and groans. For myself, indeed, I care very little what interpretation may be placed on this singular passage in Balaams story, and would as soon believe that the mouth of the dumb ass was really opened to utter articulate human words as that Balaams sensitive and practised ear heard these words into his groans and cries. Put what construction on the talking ass you will; call it fact, call it fable, or say that Balaam read an ominous rebuke into the natural cries of the beast on which he rode–whatever the construction you put upon it, you will be little the wiser for it, little the better, unless you listen to the appeal, to the rebuke, which Balaam heard from the mouth of the ass or put into it. That lesson may be, and is, a very simple one; but its very simplicity at once makes it the more valuable, and renders it the more probable that, much as we need to learn it, we may have overlooked it. What, then, was this lesson or rebuke? The ass said, or Balaam took her to say, Wherefore smite me? Have I not served you faithfully ever since I was thine? Am I wont to rebel against you? How could Balaam fail to look for an ethical meaning in this appeal, or fail either to find it, or to find how heavy a rebuke it carried for himself? He too had a Master, a Master in heaven, and was loud and frequent in his protestations of loyalty to Him. Yet could he look up to heaven and say to his Master, Why hast Thou checked and rebuked me? Have not I served Thee faithfully ever since I was Thine unto this day? Am I wont to disobey Thy word? Why, at that very moment he was untrue, disloyal, to his Master; he was plotting how he might speak other words than those which God had put into his mouth, and serve his own will rather than the Divine will! Might he not, then, well hear in the rebuke of the ass some such appeal as this: Have you been as true to your Master as I to mine? Have you been as mindful of the heavenly vision as I of the heavenly apparition which I have seen? Has your service been as faithful, as patient, as disinterested as mine? The lesson is simple enough, I admit; but is it not also most necessary and valuable? He is convicted–

1. Of having cruelly wronged the innocent creature who had saved him from the sword.

2. Of having failed at his strongest point and lost the open eye of which he was wont to boast; and–

3. Of not being as true to his Master in heaven, despite his loud professions of loyalty and obedience, as she had been to her master on earth. If no rebuke could be more severe and humbling, none surely could have been more kind and merciful. For if men are not to be held back from evil by an angel, is it not well that they should be held back even by an ass? If the gentler strokes of correction fail, is it not well that they should be followed by severer and more effectual strokes? If appeals to our higher nature do not suffice to arrest us, is it not well that we should be arrested by appeals to our lower nature? (S. Cox, D. D.)

Balaams ass, or cruelty rebuked

How many just and good men have been remarkable for their tenderness to animals! Tradition tells us of the partridge of St. John, the tame lion of St. Jerome; we find in St. Francis an enthusiastic love of birds; and to come to modern days, in the letters of Bishop Thirlwall, thought to be a man of giant intellect, we read that often he could not sleep at night, because he was haunted by some story of cruelty to animals which he had heard, whilst the writings of Sir Arthur Helps, the most charming essayist of our age, tells us that he would not live his life over again, if the chance was offered, for he had suffered so much from indignation and sympathy with the sufferings of animals. Often cruelty arises from thoughtlessness. Children do not reflect on what they are doing, and it is the duty of all persons to teach, in every way, humanity and kind feeling to the animals around us. A disposition which practises cruelty towards animals will not stop there, for it is only a training for the bad treatment of human beings. It was remarked of Domitian, the cruel Emperor of Rome, that he spent his leisure moments in killing flies. Who can doubt but that it was the horrible taste for wild beast fights that led to the still more horrible conflicts of gladiators in the Roman amphitheatres? And so, too, in Spain, the savage excitement of the populace in the bull fights led even religious men to witness unmoved the auto-da-es of the Inquisition. Ever should we recollect that these creatures belong to God, constructed by His wondrous skill, watched over by His gracious care, and not to be ill-treated or tormented without incurring His vengeance. A boy was once teasing a poor kitten. Dont! said his little sister, it is Gods kitten. Her remark fell upon the ear of her father, a careless drunkard, as he was turning out of the door, and like an arrow from a bow there struck into his conscience the thought, If this little creature belongs to God, how much more a soul like mine! And the arrow of conviction lodged in his heart, and gave him no rest till he entered on a better life, as belonging to God. Let us, then, strive to make all Gods creatures around us as happy as we can, find in them loving friends and companions, and thank God for giving us the animals as our humble friends and loyal servants; ever remembering, as a forcible preacher has said, There is no sin that will sink a soul so low in hell as cruelty to helpless creatures. (J. W. Hardman, LL. D.)

Sin perverse

That Balaam answered the ass when he heard her speak, and rather stood not amazed at the strange work of God, note earnestly with yourself what a strong possession covetousness had taken of his heart, so holding of him captive that he was not able to observe this strange thing, but blind and besotted with hope of worldly honour and gain, feedeth still upon that, and admitteth no stop nor stay of this journey by his good will. Such is the power of any sin if it once rule in a man or woman, it bereaveth them of all judgment to see their estate, or the love of them that persuade them otherwise. How blockish was Pharaoh till he was overthrown! How senseless the Jews till Jerusalem and they tasted of extremity! Swearers and swaggerers, drunkards and whoremongers, liars and libellers, railers and slanderers, with all the rest, are as blind and blockish as Balaam here, doting upon their own course tilt they smart for it, or the Lord open their eyes to see Him against them as at last here He did Balaams eyes to see the angel with drawn sword against him. When the ass saith, Did I ever serve thee thus before? it may admonish us not to be too rash with our neighbours and brethren, who have never been noted to be such offenders, but ever of good and virtuous behaviour. (Bp. Babington.)

I have sinned.—

Balaams I have sinned

Balaam was a man who had frequent and extraordinary communications with God. Balaam was undoubtedly a man of great light; and his gifts were rare and transcendent. If you ask, Were they from God or from the Evil One? I do not know. I should say both. If God endowed him, certainly Satan occupied him: if Satan taught him, as certainly God used him. The light and the darkness were in tremendous nearness and antagonism in that one breast. The restraining power was very large; the determination of will was stronger still. He had very soft seasons: but they passed like April gleams! His convictions were real and deep; but they proved quite barren. His aspirations were beautiful and holy: Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his! but his faith never grasped, and his life never followed, those high desires. He acknowledged fully the blessedness of the people of God: God hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob: Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee; but he never tried to be one of those happy ones. Israels future was clear and bright to him–in all its safety and its joy–but it was never more than a confession, which played before his fancy! He saw the Lord Jesus Himself–as in a vista–but ii was a Jesus seen, but not known; admired, but never felt. See, then, the exact position of Balaam. On his lips, I have sinned; probably in his heart a condemning sense that he was wrong; a conviction that he had made a great mistake; but his passions high wrought; a resolute will and purpose in direct antagonism to the known will of God; one sin, all the while, tightly grasped; and a worldly, covetous affection in the ascendant! This was Balaam, as he went out at Pethor that early morning, through the vineyards of the city. I need not follow him further. You remember how his gifts grew greater, and his prescience grew clearer, and his language grew lovelier, and his pretensions grew loftier–just in the same proportion as his determination grew sterner, and his desires more grovelling–till the sure end came at last, and he became carnal, his counsel was gross, his wisdom diabolical, and he laid, with his own hand, the scheme to his own destruction; and his unsanctified and debased talent was his own scourge, and his own ruin! Reduce the picture to the scale of ordinary life, and it is the life of many. A man of religious knowledge–very impulsive and feeling–a clever man, with strong inward conflict–conversant with God–with the language of piety on his lips–speaking, not without some reality, the words of true penitence, and yet, at the very same time, with a direct hostility to God–harbouring a secret, evil appetite in his heart–and bent only upon selfishness! Draw near, and say whether you see yourself anywhere in the portrait? There is an acknowledgment of sin, under sorrow, which often clothes itself in very strong expressions, even to tears, and which is little else than a passion. It is not altogether an hypocrisy. At the moment it is sincere, very earnest. But it is an emotion–only an emotion. There is no real love to God in it, no true sense of sin, no relation to Christ. It does not go on to action. I have known a person–whose wonder and regret was that his penitence never seemed to deepen or increase; yet he said, and said often, and said truly, I have sinned. The reason was, he never put the I have sinned upon the right thing. He said it about his sins generally, or he said it about some particular sin; but, all the while, there was another sin behind, about which he did not say it. The sin he willingly forgot–he connived at it–he allowed it I All the rest he was willing to give up, but not that. And that was his sin. And that sin reserved and in the background, poisoned and deadened the repentance of all other sins! The I have sinned fell to the ground impotent–like a withered blossom. That was Balaam–and that may be you! Or is it thus? You have an object in life very dear. You know that the object is not after Gods will, but still you pursue it. You recur to it again and again–after voices-after providences–which have all told you that it is wrong. But you will have your darling object at any cost–even though it forfeit peace of mind, and though you lose Gods favour. This, again, is Balaam. Can you wonder if the I have sinned goes for nothing at all, and if you are left to your own rash, reckless way? There is many a man who says, in his own room, very often, and at church, I have sinned; but throughout the week, every day, and all the day, he is grasping in his business, he is anxious in his home, he is occupied in his thoughts about money. It is money, money everywhere. Money gives its tone and colour to his whole life. That is Balaam to the very letter. (James Vaughan, M. A.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

And Balak sent yet again princes more, and more honourable than they. More in number, and greater in quality, princes of the first rank in his court; supposing that Balaam thought he was not treated with respect enough, they being princes of the meaner sort, and but few, that were sent unto him before, which he imagined was the reason, at least one reason, why he refused to come with them; persons of Balaam’s character in those days being highly revered.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Balak’s Second Message to Balaam.

B. C. 1452.

      15 And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they.   16 And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me:   17 For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.   18 And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.   19 Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more.   20 And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.   21 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.

      We have here a second embassy sent to Balaam, to fetch him over to curse Israel. It were well for us if we were as earnest and constant in prosecuting a good work, notwithstanding disappointments, as Balak was in pursuing this ill design. The enemies of the church are restless and unwearied in their attempts against it; but he that sits in heaven laughs at them. Observe,

      I. The temptation Balak laid before Balaam. He contrived to make this assault more vigorous than the former. It is very probable that he sent double money in the hands of his messengers; but, besides that, now he tempted him with honours, laid a bait not only for his covetousness, but for his pride and ambition. How earnestly should we beg of God daily to mortify in us these two limbs of the old man! Those that know how to look with a holy contempt upon worldly wealth and preferment will find it not so hard a matter as most men do to keep a good conscience. See how artfully Balak managed the temptation. 1. The messengers he sent were more, and more honourable, v. 15. He sent to this conjurer with as great respect and deference to his quality as if he had been a sovereign prince, apprehending perhaps that Balaam had thought himself slighted in the fewness and meanness of the former messengers. 2. The request was very urgent. This powerful prince becomes a suitor to him: “Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee (v. 16), no, not God, nor conscience, nor any fear either of sin or shame.” 3. The proffers were high: “I will promote thee to very great honour among the princes of Moab;” nay, he gives him a blank, and he shall write his own terms: I will do whatsoever thou sayest, that is, “I will give thee whatever thou desirest, and observe whatever thou orderest; thy word shall be a law to me,” v. 17. Thus sinners stick at no pains, spare no cost, and care not how low they stoop, for the gratifying either of their luxury or of their malice; shall we then be stiff and strait-handed in our compliance with the laws of virtue? God forbid.

      II. Balaam’s seeming resistance of, but real yielding to, this temptation. We may here discern in Balaam a struggle between his convictions and his corruptions. 1. His convictions charged him to adhere to the command of God, and he spoke their language, v. 18. Nor could any man have said better: “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, and that is more than he can give or I can ask, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God.” See how honourably he speaks of God; he is Jehovah, my God. Note, Many call God theirs that are not his, not truly because not only his; they swear by the Lord, and by Malcham. See how respectfully he speaks of the word of God, as one resolved to stick to it, and in nothing to vary from it, and how slightly of the wealth of this world, as if gold and silver were nothing to him in comparison with the favour of God; and yet, at the same time, the searcher of hearts knew that he loved the wages of unrighteousness. Note, It is an easy thing for bad men to speak very good words, and with their mouth to make a show of piety. There is no judging of men by their words. God knows the heart. 2. His corruptions at the same time strongly inclined him to go contrary to the command. He seemed to refuse the temptation, v. 18. But even then he expressed no abhorrence of it, as Christ did when he had the kingdoms of the world offered him (Get thee hence Satan), and as Peter did when Simon Magus offered him money: Thy money perish with thee. But it appears (v. 19) that he had a strong inclination to accept the proffer; for he would further attend, to know what God would say to him, hoping that he might alter his mind and give him leave to go. This was a vile reflection upon God Almighty, as if he could change his mind, and now at last suffer those to be cursed whom he had pronounced blessed, and as if he would be brought to allow what he had already declared to be evil. Surely he thought God altogether such a one as himself. He had already been told what the will of God was, in which he ought to have acquiesced, and not to have desired a re-hearing of that cause which was already so plainly determined. Note, It is a very great affront to God, and a certain evidence of the dominion of corruption in the heart, to beg leave to sin.

      III. The permission God gave him to go, v. 20. God came to him, probably by an anger, and told him he might, if he pleased, go with Balak’s messengers. So he gave him up to his own heart’s lust. “Since thou hast such a mind to go, even go, yet know that the journey thou undertakest shall not be for thy honour; for, though thou hast leave to go, thou shalt not, as thou hopest, have leave to curse, for the word which I shall say unto thee, that thou shalt do.” Note, God has wicked men in a chain; hitherto they shall come by his permission, but no further that he does permit them. Thus he makes the wrath of man to praise him, yet, at the same time, restrains the remainder of it. It was in anger that God said to Balaam, “Go with them,” and we have reason to think that Balaam himself so understood it, for we do not find him pleading this allowance when God reproved him for going. Note, As God sometimes denies the prayers of his people in love, so sometimes he grants the desires of the wicked in wrath.

      IV. His setting out in the journey, v. 21. God gave him leave to go if the men called him, but he was so fond of the journey that we do not find he staid for their calling him, but he himself rose up in the morning, got every thing ready with all speed, and went with the princes of Moab, who were proud enough that they had carried their point. The apostle describes Balaam’s sin here to be that he ran greedily into an error for reward, Jude 11. The love of money is the root of all evil.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Verses 15-21:

Balaam’s initial reply to Balak indicated that he was not unwilling to grant his request and come to Moab, but that God prohibited him from doing so. Balak reasoned that he could persuade Balaam to do his bidding, by conferring additional wealth and honor upon him. He appealed to the soothsayer’s greed.

Balaam’s statement, “The Lord my God,” does not necessarily mean that he was saved. It merely means that he recognized the power of Jehovah God. His faith was from the head, not from the heart. He obeyed because he feared, not because he loved.

Balak offered what Balaam wanted: money and fame. Balsam returned to God with Balak’s message, and the Lord granted him permission to accompany the Moabite delegation. There was one absolute reservation: Balaam could speak only what God allowed.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

15. And Balak sent yet again princes. Here we see that, however humbly ungodly men implore God’s grace, still they do not lay aside their pride; as if their grandeur could avail to dazzle the eyes of God. In order, therefore, to make Him comply with their wishes, they think it enough to display their magnificent ceremonies; and, indeed, whatever modesty superstition may pretend, it always swells with secret confidence Thus Balak, in order to obtain favor, makes a show of his dignity and power, and deems that Balaam will be thus at his service. Although, however, the impostor shews much more spirit in this his second reply than before, still his hypocrisy is soon discovered, and he betrays the duplicity of his mind. It is, indeed, a noble speech, and indicative of much magnanimity, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I will not disobey the command of God:” but why does he not instantly banish from him altogether these unholy traffickers, who are instigating him to transgression? We see, then, that he speaks rather in a spirit of boasting, than to ascribe to God the glory due to Him; for his desire was to acquire for himself the title and credit of a holy Prophet by this parade of obedience. In the meantime, when he begs that a season of delay should be granted him for the purpose of inquiring what God’s pleasure was, he is convicted of impious rebellion. He does not dare openly, and in flagrant contempt of God, to put himself forward for the purpose of cursing God’s people: and so far well: but why does he not acquiesce in the Divine decision? why, when he has been assured whether a matter was lawful or not, does he still doubtingly inquire? For thus does he deliberate, and question whether that which God has once prescribed ought to be certain and unchangeable; nay, he endeavors to force God to alter His determination. From the time that he had heard, “Thou shalt not go,” upon what pretense was it permissible to continue the controversy? This, then, is the object of Balaam’s endeavor, that God, by withdrawing the decision which He had pronounced, should deny Himself; and this was an act of most blasphemous impiety. Still many such persons will be found now-a-days, who, though fully assured of the will of God, cease not nevertheless to countermine it, so that they may at length attain the end, towards which they are hurried by their lawless cupidity. At the outset, it is anything but their desire to know what is right; or, when they know it, to follow it: but ambition instigates some, lust inflames others, and others are urged forward by avarice: in a word, evil affections preside over every deliberation. Straightway God interposes some obstacle, and compels them, whether they will or no, to understand what they ought to do. They proceed, however, notwithstanding; and, inasmuch as the way is closed, they endeavor by subterfuges, by crooked paths or evasions, to elude the sure word of God; and, although they appear to do this modestly, because they hesitate until permission shall have been obtained from God, yet herein does their impudence betray itself, that they do not cease to importune God and His prophets, until they have extorted what they have already heard to be unlawful. It is plain, therefore, that all those are disciples of Balaam, who try the indulgence, of God, that He may at length permit them to attempt what; He has once refused.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

C. BALAAM YIELDS TO BALAK vv. 1541
TEXT

Num. 22:15. And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honorable than they. 16. And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, let no thing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me: 17. For I will promote thee unto very great honor, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people. 18. And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more. 19. Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more. 20. And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. 21. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.

22. And Gods anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him, Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. 2 3. And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way. 24. But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side, 25. And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaams foot against the wall: and he smote her again. 26. And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 27. And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaams anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. 28. And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smittem me these three times? 29. And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me; I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now I would kill thee. 30. And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay. 31. Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in his way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face. 32. And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? Behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me: 33. And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive. 34. And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displeases thee, I will get the princes of Balak.
36. And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto a city of Moal, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast. 37. And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honor? 38. And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak. 39. And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjath-huzoth. 40. And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him. 41. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people.

PARAPHRASE

Num. 22:15. Once more Balak sent princes, more and more honorable than they. 16. And they came to Balaam and said to him, Thus says Balak, the son of Zippor: Let nothing prevent you from coming to me: 17. for I will promote you to a very high position, and I will do whatever you say to me; come and curse this people for me, I beg you. 18. But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, Even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do more or less. 19. Please, now, stay here tonight also so that I may know what more the Lord will say to me. 20. And God came to Balaam at night and said unto him, If the men come to call you, rise up, go with them. But say only what I tell you; that is what you are to do. 21. So Balaam rose up in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.

22. But Gods anger burned because he went; and the angel of the Lord stood in the way as his adversary. Now Balaam was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23. And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the path, with his sword drawn in his hand; and the donkey turned aside out of the road, and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her back to the road. 24. Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on each side. 25. And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against the wall, and crushed Balaams foot against the wall; so he struck her again. 26. Then the angel of the Lord went on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. 27. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaams anger burned, and he struck the donkey with a rod. 28. Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, What have I done to you that you have struck me these three times? 29. And Balaam said, Because you mocked me, I wish I had a sword in my hand? then I would kill you. 33. And the donkey replied to Balaam. Am I not your donkey, upon which you have ridden all your life until today? Have I ever been disposed to do this way to you? And he said, No. 31. Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the path, with drawn sword in hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face. 32. And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to confront you because your actions are against me; 33. and the donkey saw me, and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, I would surely have killed you now and let her live. 34. Then Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned, because I did not know you stood in the path against me; therefore, if it displeases you now, I will go back again. 35. And the angel of the Lord said, to Balaam, Go with the men; but you shall only speak the words which I speak unto you. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
36. Now when Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, on the boundary of Arnon, at the farthest border. 37. And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not send and call for you? Why did you not come to me? Am I unable to honor you? 38. Balaam said to Balak, Lo, I have come to you! Do I have any power to speak to you at all? The message God puts in my mouth is what I must speak. 39. Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzzoth. 40. And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep and sent to Balaam and the princes who were with him. 41. And on the next day Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal; and from that point he could see the greatest number of the people.

COMMENTARY

We may assume that Balak, unwilling to believe that Balaam would refuse his request entirely, has supposed the refusal is based upon his not offering a sufficient reward. He therefore sends a second set of messengers, of a higher station than the first, with a virtual blank check offer to do whatever Balaam may ask if he will curse Israel. To Balak, it is simply the second stage in the common Oriental process of haggling for a price. The use of flattery is as much a part of this process as is the increase of the price; and his using the more honorable princes is to the same purpose. To what honor could Balak have promoted Balaam? The offer is not specific, but it might have been the customary unto one-half of my kingdom such monarchs were wont to offer; or he might have had in mind a special place of well-paid service in the practice of his auguries. In any event, the request has not changed: he wants the Israelites cursed.
The reply of Balaam seems convincing enough. He will abide by the instructions of God, regardless of the offer. If his words were sincerely spoken, it is exceedingly difficult to understand the incidents which follow. His later actions are better understood if we adopt the analysis of KD: His thirst for honour and wealth was not so overcome by the revelations of the true God, that he could bring himself to give up his soothsaying, and serve the living God with an undivided heart. Thus it came to pass, that through the appeal addressed to him by Balak, he was brought into a situation in which, although he did not venture to attempt anything in opposition to the will of Jehovah, his heart was never thoroughly changed; so that, whilst he refused the honours and rewards that were promised by Balak, and pronounced blessings upon Israel in the strength of the Spirit of God that came upon him, he was overcome immediately afterwards by the might of the sin of his own unbroken heart, fell back into the old heathen spirit, and advised the Midianites to entice the Israelites to join in the licentious worship of Baal Peor (chapt. Num. 31:16), pp. 162, 163.

For the second time, Balaam extends the hospitality of his home to the kings legates. But what more could he expect God to say which had not already been said? Must God repeat His instructions again and again to confirm the details? Unless Balaam had been susceptible to coveting the reward, on the remote hope that God had changed His will, he would have needed no further word whatever. But on matters of this kind, it is totally inconceivable that God should have changed the message in any details whatever. To insure that His will is known to Balaam, He appears during the night. The instructions, while superficially different in allowing Balaam to go with the kings messengers, yet retains the firm instructions that the seer is to speak nothing more nor less than he is told by Jehovahhardly what the man had wanted.
It is inferred (RCP p. 167), that there is great significance in the fact that Balaam saddled his animal himself: he arose in great haste, eager to set forth on the journey, and still hoping for some consideration which would favor his own will. PC hypothesizes that Balaam was permitted to go with the men in order that he might eventually be punished for his covetousness and his longing to disobey God, (p. 292).

Gods use of the ass in the manner which follows should not surprise us unduly, however unnatural it might seem at first glance, we must confess its effectiveness. If the event is unique, this fact alone in no way mitigates against the account itself. The angel, invisible to Balaam, is observed by the ass. The seers eyes had been momentarily rendered incapable of seeing Gods messenger (see Num. 22:31). Something of Balaams haste in the trip is indicated by his anger in beating the animal (Num. 22:23). He would brook no delay; but the Lord had other plans. The impatience of Balaam is indicated again when he attempts to ride through the blocked path, much against the wish of the ass, whose reaction results in crushing the foot of Balaam against the vineyard wall beside the road. In a final move to resist the angel, the ass balks, falling to the road. It is the final indignity, and God speaks through the mouth of the steed; Balaam engages it in conversation. This is not as strange as it might seem at first thought, since Balaam, as a prophet, had heard God speak in various means in the past; he may have used such a method himself, by some sort of trickery, to impress his clientele; and, being bitterly angry at the moment, he might have responded without any deep thought whatever to the astonishing circumstances (see PC, p. 293).

The appearance of the angel of God is made possible at this time when the eyes of Balaam are opened. Balaam does not need to ask his identity or, in fact, his mission. He has come, not to rebuke the seer for his cruelty to a dumb animal, but to chastise him for his perversity. Balaam is by no means flattered to learn that the ass has been more responsive to the manifestation of Gods influence than has he. Now he learns that God is not displeased that he should go with the men of Balak. His intentions and his hope for evil gain are at the seat of his problem. Ideally, his conscience should have been awakened by the episode. Perhaps he struggled within himself whether or not to continue his trip; or, he may have so hoped to profit from his visit to Balak that his reaction was but momentary. With the stern warning of the angel that he is to speak nothing excepting what he is told, he is sent on his way.
When Balaam arrived in Moab, Balak might logically assume that he had come for one reasonto do as he was bidden. Balak hurried to meet his distinguished guest as soon as he reached the northern border at the River Arnon. He issued a mild rebuke that Balaam had not come at the first summons, but was pleased that he had come at all. Immediately Balaam repeated what he had been told to say: he would say nothing except the words God put in his mouth. Then together they proceeded to Kirjath-huzoth, where the king had large herds of animals slaughtered as a sacrifice in honor of Balaam and the honorable men, in anticipation of a favorable verdict from the seer. The following day he was brought to look out upon all the people he had been asked to curse.

QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS

422.

Can you give any reason that Balak had not sent his most important princes to ask for Balaams service the first time he made the contact?

423.

Why might he expect Balaam to change his mind upon the second contact?

424.

How does Balaks offer this time differ from the first?

425.

The answer Balaam gives seems quite convincing. Compare it with his words to the first messengers.

426.

Was it wrong for Balaam to extend an over-night invitation to the princes? why or why not?

427.

Has God changed his mind about the message He will have delivered to Balak?

428.

God appeared to Balaam during the night, and instructed him to return to Moab with his guests. Later He sent His angel to intervene on the trip. How can you reconcile these facts?

429.

Why did Balaam not see the angel which appeared in the road.

430.

How does the man show his impatience to resume his journey?

431.

Explain how the ass was able to talk, and what was the gist of what it said?

432.

Of what actions was Balaam guilty in bringing the Lord to confront him?

433.

Balaks actions prove he was eager to meet Balaam and hear his prophecies. What did he do?

434.

How resolute was the seer in claiming that he could speak nothing excepting what God revealed to him? Give proof.

435.

Suggest the primary reason Balak might have wanted Balaam to see the multitude of the people in Moab.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

THE SECOND MESSAGE TO BALAAM, Num 22:15-35.

15. Princes, more, and more honourable Balak was encouraged to send the second embassy because of the implied wish of Balaam to accompany the first messengers, a wish that was overridden by his high sense of obligation to God. To reinforce this wish in Balaam’s heart, and to make it dominant, a larger and more honourable delegation is sent, who are instructed to present the motive of promotion and great honour. Balaam’s words, as reported to Balak, instead of dulling his purpose, were a whetstone for sharpening it. Says Dr. W.M. Thomson: “In the East every thing is done by mediation, and I have often been pressed and annoyed by such mediating ambassadors. Their importunity will take no denial.” It is still the custom to send the less honourable first, and, on their failure, the “more honourable.”

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Balak’s Second Entreaty to Balaam Followed By The Threefold Activity of Balaam’s Ass ( Num 22:15-40 ).

No doubt feeling that the reason why Balaam had not come was because he was not satisfied with the price offered, ‘the rewards of divination’ (Num 22:7) that he had previously sent, Balak sent even more important messengers to Balaam, offering him even greater rewards. He could not see why Balaam, the manipulator of gods, could not manipulate this one for him.

While what follows might seem strange to most of us, it would not seem so strange to those who are involved in spiritism and the occult. Evil spirits are still open to being contacted by humans, and although more modern ‘diviners’ might talk with their cat rather than their ass, they would in many cases tell you that their cat spoke back to them. They are used to hearing what they consider to be voices from ‘the other side’. (How it is to be interpreted is another matter. Scripture indicates that such activities are connected with devilry – Deu 32:17; 1Co 10:20).

But the description of Balaam’s dealings with his ass are not just a matter of that, nor are they as trivial as they might appear. They are intended to bring out the extremely important point that while Balaam was mighty in dreams and visions of the night, in the broad light of day he was blinder than his ass. For in what next occurred it was not Balaam who took the central stage, but his ass. This put Balaam right into perspective. His powers were limited. At times even his ass saw more than he did.

Analysis of the passage.

Note the threefold consecutive pattern in the middle which is also repeated in the next series. There could have been no more emphatic way than this to indicate that Balaam was behaving like his noble ass when he three times sought to use his powers against Israel. To retain the perfect chiastic pattern the threefold activity g h, g h, g h could be treated as one, (as one large g). The threefoldness is deliberately inserted for the purposes of emphasis and in order to indicate completeness.

a Chieftains are sent from Balak (Num 22:15).

b They bring Balak’s word to Balaam (Num 22:16).

c He offers great reward which Balaam is not convinced by (Num 22:17-18).

d Balaam tells the men to wait while he receives Yahweh’s word (Num 22:19).

e Yahweh permits Balaam to go but is angry at his willingness to do so (Num 22:20-21).

f Balaam’s meets the angel of Yahweh in the way (Num 22:22).

g The ass sees the angel and refuses to move forward (Num 22:23 a).

h Balaam beats the ass (Num 22:23 b)

g The ass again sees the angel of Yahweh and cowers into a wall (Num 22:24-25 a)

h Balaam beats the ass again (Num 22:25 b)

g The ass collapses to the ground in fear because there is nowhere to turn (Num 22:26-27 a)

h Balaam berates and beats the ass for refusing to move forwards and is answered (Num 22:28-30).

f Balaam’s eyes are opened and he is aware of the angel of Yahweh in the way (Num 22:31-33).

e Balaam admits his guilt and is permitted to go forward (Num 22:34-35).

d Balaam meets Balak and receives Balak’s word (Num 22:36).

c Balak points out he can give Balaam great reward (Num 22:37).

b Balaam says that he can only speak Yahweh’s word (Num 22:38).

a Balak sends provisions to Balaam and the chieftains (Num 22:39-40).

Balak Sends Even More Important Messengers To Persuade Balaam To Come ( Num 22:15 ).

Num 22:15

‘And Balak sent yet again chieftains, more, and more honourable than they.’

Balak now set out to impress. In his next deputation he sent a more numerous delegation made up of even more powerful chieftains. The large party would have been an impressive sight, and that was Balak’s intention.

Balak Offers Balaam Great Reward For His Assistance ( Num 22:16-19 ).

Num 22:16-17

‘And they came to Balaam, and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray you, hinder you from coming to me, for I will promote you to very great honour, and whatever you say to me I will do. Come therefore, I pray you, curse me this people.” ’

Balak was now desperate. Note the formal style of the diplomatic message. ‘Thus says’ (compare Num 20:14). Then the title of honour and identification, ‘Balak the son of Zippor’. Then the plea and offer of great reward. Then the statement of what was required.

Thus he courteously, but firmly, strongly expressed his desire for Balaam to come, with promises that he would promote him to very great honour. He assured him that he would fall in line with all his requirements. Nothing more could have been offered. He was at his wit’s end. He made it clear that all he wanted was that Balaam would come and curse ‘this people’, and that he was willing to pay any price to achieve it.

Num 22:18

‘And Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Yahweh my God, to do less or more.” ’

Note the change of description, ‘the servants of Balak’. To Balaam this impressive deputation were but lackeys to a petty king. He had dealt with higher than these, and he was Balaam. He assured them loftily that wealth mattered nothing if the gods were not responsive. Balak could offer him all his treasure house, but it could not alter the situation. In this particular case where Yahweh was involved he could only act if Yahweh was responsive. He was not at the behest of kings, he was a servant of the gods.

“Yahweh my God.” This cannot mean that he was a worshipper of Yahweh for he was later found meddling again along with the Midianites (Num 31:8) seeking to subvert the children of Israel. What he was doing was pointing out to Balak that while he was on reasonable terms with Yahweh he was not Yahweh’s master, but that Yahweh was his master. (To Babylonians he would have said, ‘Marduk my god’.) By ‘my elohim’ he also possibly had in mind one of the particular ‘contacts’ he would use through whom he expected Yahweh would speak to him. But either way he was stressing by it that he responded to gods, not simply made them do what he wanted. Like men gods had to be persuaded, and until they were persuaded he was powerless.

Num 22:19

“ Now therefore, I pray you, tarry you also here this night, that I may know what Yahweh will speak to me more.”

So he informed the delegation that they must once again stay overnight in order that he might consult Yahweh and learn more from Him.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Second Invitation Accepted

v. 15. And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honorable than they. So he had taken the hint which was conveyed to him by his messengers; he felt that it was merely a matter of coaxing the reluctant wizard by means of greater presents.

v. 16. And they came to Balaam and said to him, Thus saith Balak, the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me;

v. 17. for I will promote thee unto very great honor, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me, thus practically giving Balaam leave to mention his own reward. Come, therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people. As a true heathen Balak apparently believed himself able to influence not only Balaam, but also that mysterious god that was directing Balaam’s affairs.

v. 18. And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot g-o beyond the word of the Lord, my God, to do less or more. These words sound very pious, but they merely reveal Balaam’s real character. Much as he desired distinction before men, he coveted wealth still more, and his answer was merely intended as a feeler, in order to find out just how far the messengers were permitted to go.

v. 19. Now, therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more.

v. 20. And God came unto Balaam at night and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. This was not a concession due to a change of mind, for God expressly stipulates that only that saying dared to be pronounced over Israel which He would give to Balaam. It was God’s way of dealing with Balaam’s defiant mood. Jehovah’s purpose may have been, as one commentator has it, to reveal Himself in such a mighty manner before the eyes of Balaam as to cause him to turn to the true God in real change of heart. But one fact is clear, namely, that through the disobedience of Balaam the Lord brought a blessing upon His people and caused one of the most beautiful Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament to be spoken.

v. 21. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with. the princes of Moab. Balaam is an example of warning, both in his attitude toward God, from whom he obtained permission to go with the Moabitish princes only by his defiant persistence, and in his love of filthy lucre. Truly, the love of money is a root of all evil and has caused many men to err from the faith and to be drowned in destruction and perdition, 1Ti 6:9-10.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Num 22:15-19. And Balak sent yet again princes Balak, apprehensive that his first deputation to Balaam was not honourable enough, and that his presents and promises were not sufficiently large, made a second deputation, and sent persons more eminent, with the highest promises, Num 22:17. This proposal was at first displeasing to the prophet; at least he returned a noble answer, Num 22:18. But it appears from the next verse, that this motion proceeded less from a sincere and solid piety, than a servile fear, and a virtue merely transient and superficial, Num 22:19.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

C.BALAKS SECOND MESSAGE, BALAAMS WAVERING, AND THE BEGINNING OF THE JUDGMENT OF GOD UPON HIM IN PERMITTING THE JOURNEY

Num 22:15-21

15And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they. 16And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let 3 nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me: 17For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people. 18And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can not go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more. 19Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more. 20And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I 21shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. And Baalam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

The politic Balak saw clearly through the answer of Balaam, and knew how to approach him. A more stately embassy, flattering his love of distinction, a confidential alluring prayer of the king (), the prospect of high honor or rich rewards suited to his strong desire would prevail. Balaam understands the courtly message well, when he say: If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, etc.[Hirsch: Balaams answer betrays his real character. However much he seeks honor, he seeks wealth still more. Balak had not intimated in his message anything about gold. He has spoken only of great distinction, and said that every wish should be gratified. But Balaam immediately translates honor into gold. This is the supreme good with him.A. G.]. The real thought of his heart shines out clearly through this seemingly strong resolution. Still more when he asks them to tarry another night, as if to ascertain in a second nightly vision what more Jehovah would say to him, he intimates that he deemed it possible that He would decide differently this time. Knobel says, there are other instances in the Old Testament in which God changes His mind when besought to do so (Num 16:21 sqq.; Exo 32:14; Jon 3:10). Knobel ignores entirely the distinction between the merely seeming changes of mind in the way of mercy, and the still more apparent change of mind in judgment. He regards Balaam in a very favorable light. But one has examined the passage very superficially if he regards the second command of God as a concession. Now indeed the consequences of his character and conduct begin to gather around him, so that he goes on involved in inconsistencies, until the final disruption and ruin takes place. It had been easier for him to refuse Balak positively, than to make use of the permission to go, coupled with a condition which must entirely defeat his object. But yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. The deceitful heart allowed him to hope that Jehovah would at last grant him his wish, while the grand irony of the divine providence went on, giving him over to the judgment of his own double-heartedness. He might have been saved if now, when God tried or tested him, because he had sought to tempt God, he had sought permission to remain. [Upon the apparent contradiction between the prohibition, Num 22:12, and the permission, Num 22:20, and the anger of God at his going, Num 22:22, See Hengstenberg, Beitrge 3, 469; History of Balaam, p. 44, Note. The whole difficulty vanishes at once when we consider that the prohibition was to go and curse Israel, and in the permission to go he is still forbidden to curse. The curse was that for which Balak sent for him. That is forbidden throughout. The permission, or rather the command to go, for as Hengstenberg well says, that which he sought to do in the service of his own sinful lusts, he must now do after any such hope has vanished, in the service of God, was in fulfilment of the divine purpose and given partly with reference to Balaam himself, and partly through Balaams blessings to bless His own people, and to glorify His name among the heathen and in Israel. Balaam now became the unwilling instrument in the execution of the divine purpose. The anger of God was kindled against him, not because he went merely, but because he was going with a blind and persistent adherence to his own plan, under the control of his own lusts, and probably in the hope that in some way he would secure his own distinction and wealth. God holds His instruments in His own hands.A. G.].

Footnotes:

[3]Marg. Be not thou letted from.

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

Observe the gradations of sin. First, Balaam’s heart was tempted with the offer of money; now there is added to it worldly honour. And the argument is strengthened with the consideration, let nothing hinder: no, neither GOD nor conscience; and like another impious monarch of antiquity, his heart challengeth compliance, for who is the LORD that his voice should be obeyed? Exo 5:2 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Num 22:15 And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they.

Ver. 15. And Balak sent yet again. ] So unweariable are wicked men in pursuing and practising their evil designs. This is check to our dulness for the good of our souls. Oh, how soon said and sated are we! Felix trembles, and yet at the same instant covets and expects a bribe from Paul, who had some occasion to expect repentance of Felix.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

princes: Num 22:7, Num 22:8, Act 10:7, Act 10:8

Reciprocal: Gen 34:19 – honourable

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Num 22:15-21. Balaks second Summons to Balaam, and Yahwehs Consent that he should Go.This section probably comes from E, and represents not a change of purpose on the part of God, but a difference of attitude ascribed to Him by the second of the two sources here used, Balaam being allowed to go but not to curse.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible