Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 22:9
And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men [are] these with thee?
God came unto Balaam, not to gratify his covetous desire, but to advance his own honour and service, even by the counsels of his enemies. He asketh not for his own information, but partly that Balaam by repeating the thing in Gods presence might be convinced and ashamed of his sin and folly in offering his service in such a cursed business; and partly for a foundation to the following answer.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And God came unto Balaam,…. In a dream very probably, as he did to Abimelech and Laban, Ge 20:3:
and said, what men are these with thee? who lodged with him that night. This he said, not as ignorant who they were, or from whence they came, or what they came about; but in order to lead on to a discourse with Balaam, and to have from him the account of the men, and their business, and to try his fidelity in relating the affair.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(9) What men are these with thee?This inquiry, like that addressed to Elijah, What doest thou here? (1Ki. 19:9), or that to Hezekiah, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? and What have they seen in thine house? (Isa. 39:3-4) was calculated to arouse the slumbering conscience of Balaam, and to open his eyes to a perception of his sin and of his danger.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. What men are these with thee Says Calvin, “By asking the question, ‘Who are these men?’ God indirectly rebukes Balaam’s perverse inclination to go with the messengers.” But Knobel sees no reproof in these words, which he thinks only served to introduce the dialogue.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Yahweh Comes with Words For Balaam ( Num 22:9 ).
Balaam wasted no time. That night he sought to make contact with Yahweh. We are not informed of what methods he used, but they were seemingly successful, for ‘God came to Balaam’. (Not just another god, but the only God).
Num 22:9
‘And God came to Balaam, and said, “What men are these who are with you?”
Starting by using his own methods of divination in order to ‘contact’ Yahweh, Balaam became aware that Someone was there and ready to speak to him. Then God came up with a question. ‘Who are these men who are with you and what is their status and purpose?’ (Balaam was used to ‘hearing voices’).
Note that Yahweh was now described in terms of ‘God’. It was important that it was recognised that He alone was God, not just one among a number of ‘gods’ contacted by Balaam. And that to Him, Yahweh, those who came to Balaam were but ‘men’ (see also Num 22:20; Num 22:35. Note the threefoldness). It was a conflict between ‘God’ and ‘man’. (See Num 23:19). So the writer makes clear that Balaam was not here just contacting his usual spiritual ‘contacts’. It was God Himself Who came to him.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Num 22:9. And God came unto Balaam That is, he manifested or revealed himself to him in a dream, as he had manifested himself to Abimelech, Gen 20:3. This is the reason why Balaam said to the envoys from the two nations, tarry here this night. All the known nations of the world have believed that the Deity frequently manifested himself, especially to the first men, and particularly by the ministry of angels. Among the proofs which the celebrated Huet has collected of this truth, there is none more express than the testimony of Catullus (de Nupt. Pelei. & Thetid. 61: ver. 384); and indeed one cannot conceive that Homer would so frequently have introduced the gods shewing themselves to his heroes, had it not been a thing well known, that God anciently revealed himself to the Gentiles as well as to the Israelites, before his making choice of the latter for his people. The idea of these appearances would never have been so generally received, had not the philosophers and people in all parts of the world been convinced that the Deity did reveal himself in this manner. Abaris, the Hyperhorean, and Zamolxis the Getan, were quite as famous among the northern nations, as the Egyptian and Chaldean prophets were among the nations of the south. In process of time, men being corrupted and having abandoned the true God, he also abandoned them, and, permitting evil angels to assume the place of the good, in order to seduce, men fell by degrees into the most shameful excesses of idolatry and vice. Balaam is a proof of this. Honoured, at first, with the revelation of the true God, and of his angels, the abuse which he made of them to gratify his avarice induced the Lord to withdraw from him his spirit, and to send to him a spirit of lying, which taught him the art of enchantments. At present, nevertheless, God works anew upon him by his spirit, with a view to check his evil inclinations; and this it is that hinders him from recurring as formerly to his incantations.
What men are these “Those who are ever so little versed in the style and genius of the Hebrew and other Oriental tongues,” says Mr. Psalmanazar, “will never misunderstand such questions as these; much less believe them to imply, that God wanted to be informed about those messengers, and the occasions of their errand, any more than when he asked Adam in Paradise, Where art thou?or Cain,where is thy brother Abel?Hagar, Sarah’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? Abraham, where is Sarah thy wife? The like may be said of the question with which the prophet Isaiah prefaced his message from God to Hezekiah, upon his reception of the Babylonish ambassadors, What said these men? Whence came they unto thee? What have they seen in thine house? &c. of all which he was fully apprised before he came to him. Of the same kind are the questions asked of some of the prophets: Jeremiah what seest thou? and many more which need not here be cited.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
B.BALAAMS FORMAL BUT HEARTLESS REFUSAL
Num 22:9-14
9And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee? 10And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent 11unto me, saying, Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now, curse me them; peradventure 2I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out. 12And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed. 13And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you. 14And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[Num 22:11. from a root which signifies to hollow out; to pierce, perforate, and so curse from the penetrating power of the curse. Hirsch regards it as an anomalous form used in the sense of curse only in this narrative, and signifying to hollow, make empty, to take away the whole contents of its objectto make it as chaffor a shadow.A. G.].
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
God (Elohim) the writer tells us comes to Balaam in the night. Balaam speaks of Jehovah as if he knew the God of Salvation. [He had this knowledge partly from the primeval traditions which were probably preserved more fully and clearly in his native region than elsewhere, but mainly from the report of the great things which God had done in the deliverance and leading of His people, which had spread far and wide and produced a deep impression on all the neighboring tribes. Balaam was prepared to welcome the report and turn it to his own selfish ends, if possible. See Kurtzs History.A. G.]. What men are these with thee? asks Jehovah, so that his vague, uneasy suspicion that these guests might bring him to ruin, might work itself out clearly. [Hengstenberg: The question was intended to awaken the slumbering conscience of Balaam, to lead him to reflect upon the proposal which they had made, and to break the force of his sinful inclination.A. G.]. Balak had said He whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed. But God speaks otherwise. Thou shalt not curse the people, for they are blessed, i.e., thy curses would have no effect. The cunning seer, however, tells them nothing of this; he simply says: The lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you.The answer was intelligible to the Moabitish courtiers. [Their report to Balak shows clearly that they understood the position and inclination of Balaam. They saw that he wished to come, and that a larger bribe would probably bring him. Balaam does not appear to have sought the counsel of God. When asked, Who are those men with thee? the question was a surprise to him. And he fails intentionally to give to the messengers the very gist and kernel of the announcement God made to him. That would have defeated his secret plan and hopes. It would have convinced Balak and Midian that their effort was useless.A. G.].
Footnotes:
[2]Marg. I shall prevail in fighting against them.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
If the Reader be surprised that GOD should visit such a character as Balaam, let him recollect that the LORD will work by whom he will work. It was the evident intention of GOD, as the sequel of the history proves, to make this time-serving wretch, an instrument of mercy and comfort to his people: witness these scriptures, which the LORD by the ministry of this man, hath blessed his church with in all ages since that period. See Num_23:18-24; Num_24:4-9; Num_24:15-19 .-If the Reader be at a loss to explain, wherefore GOD should make use of such instruments, he should be told, that it hath pleased the divine mind in all ages, to do the same. Rather than his children shall want bread, JESUS will feed them even from his enemies table. Sweet thought to the believer! and especially to the humble and unlearned believer. Cherish it, Reader, in your heart. But it is an awful consideration, and enough to make the ears of the unawakened to tingle, that many who have cast out devils in JESUS’S name, will have their portion with devils in the world to come. See what the LORD JESUS saith on this subject: Mat 7:22-23 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Num 22:9 And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men [are] these with thee?
Ver. 9. And God came to Balaam. ] So he came to Abimelech, to Laban, &c. He never credited his word to these, as he did to the holy prophets, of whom it is said, “The word of the Lord came to them.”
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
God . . . said. Note the change to ‘Elohim. said. Only four times: in verses: Num 9:12, Num 9:20 in connection with Balaam. See App-4, and notes on Num 1:1; Num 3:40.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
God: Num 22:20, Gen 20:3, Gen 31:24, Gen 41:25, Dan 2:45, Dan 4:31, Dan 4:32, Mat 7:22, Mat 24:24, Joh 11:51
What men: Gen 3:9-11, Gen 4:9, Gen 16:8, Exo 4:2, 2Ki 20:14, 2Ki 20:15
Reciprocal: Num 23:3 – peradventure Num 23:4 – God
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Num 22:9. What men are these? He asks this that Balaam, by repeating the thing in Gods presence, might be convinced and ashamed of his sin and folly, in offering his service in such a business, and for a foundation to the following answer.