Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 24:11
Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honor; but, lo, the LORD hath kept thee back from honor.
Verse 11. Lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honour.] A bitter and impious sarcasm. “Hadst thou cursed this people, I would have promoted thee to great honour; but thou hast chosen to follow the directions of Jehovah rather than mine, and what will he do for thee?”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Flee thou to thy place, whence I sent for thee, Num 22:5. The Lord, whose commands thou hast preferred before my desires and interest; and therefore seek thy recompence from him, and not from me.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Therefore now flee thou to thy place,…. His own country, from whence Balak had sent for him, and he came; begone directly, make all haste away; he speaks as one so provoked, that he could not bear him in his presence, and as threatening him if he did not at once get out of his sight:
I thought to promote thee unto great honour; to bestow much wealth and riches upon him, and to prefer him in his court to high offices of honour and dignity; he had promised that he would, and he thought as he said, he was determined upon it, had he performed as he expected:
but, lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honour; the Lord thou hast so much talked of, and at whose beck and command thou hast been, and by whom thou hast been checked and controlled, he has hindered thee from riches and honour; see what thou hast got, or rather lost, by hearkening to him, and how he will pay thee for it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(11) The Lord hath kept thee back from honour.These words may have been spoken ironically, or Balak may have been convinced of the supernatural influence under which the words of Balaam were uttered. (See Num. 23:27, and Note.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Now flee Away with you immediately! Here is no threat, but rather disgust. Balaam did not obey. Num 31:8.
The Lord hath kept thee back A piece of stinging irony, scoffing at Balaam’s trust in Jehovah.
Honour Promised in Num 22:17.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“ Therefore now flee you to your place. I thought to promote you to great honour, but, lo, Yahweh has kept you back from honour.”
Then he warned him to flee before vengeance overtook him. He had been given hospitality and could therefore not be harmed, but let him not assume that he would be safe if he stayed around. And he reminded him that he had intended to give him great honour and that Yahweh had kept him back from it. So he would do well to offer less of these eulogies about Yahweh Who had robbed him of so much.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Num 24:11. The Lord hath kept thee back from honour Pyle has paraphrased this very well: “The God you seem to be so great withal has deprived you of the best post in my court, for the service you have done him:” for it is not to be imagined that Balak would have been in this passion with Balaam, had he really believed that he acted under the influence of the Supreme God, Creator and Sovereign of the universe; he probably considered Jehovah only as a national God, according to the prevailing opinion of those times. So that certainly we should rather read, Jehovah hath kept thee back from honour; which carries a vile insinuation, that he had acted in concert with the Israelites, and been more careful to please their God Jehovah, than Baal-peor, and the other gods of the Moabites.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
promote thee unto great honour. See note on Num 22:17, Num 22:37.
lo. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I thought: Num 22:17, Num 22:37
the Lord: Mat 19:28-30, Act 8:20, Phi 3:8, Heb 11:24-26, 1Pe 5:2, 1Pe 5:3, 2Jo 1:8
Reciprocal: Num 24:25 – General 2Ki 5:5 – and took Dan 2:6 – ye shall Dan 2:48 – a great Dan 5:7 – be clothed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
MAN PROPOSES: GOD DISPOSES
Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, to, the Lord hath kept thee back from honour.
Num 24:11
Balaam, it need hardly be said, was a very eminent, he was even an extraordinary, man. He lived largely among the wild race of the Midianites, but he had gifts and powers which, so far as we know, were entirely unshared by those among whom he dwelt.
I. (1) He was a careful observer of contemporary events; he was a man of trained political sagacity. (2) He was in possession of a truth which, quite apart from its awful and intrinsic value, gave purpose and meaning to a human life: he believed in one God. (3) He was endowed in a high degree with the gift of supernatural prophecy. Of this gift his closing words to Balak afford one remarkable specimen. His prediction of the star and sceptre that were to arise out of Jacob is not fully satisfied by the conquests of David, of Omri, of John Hyrcanus; it points to the spiritual empire of Jesus Christ. Balaam was in one age what Melchisedek had been in another, and Job in a thirdan organ of truth beyond the frontiers of the kingdom of truth.
II. With gifts like these, Balaam was naturally a person of great public consideration.Balak, the king of Moab, seems to have looked upon him as a very powerful wizard. Balaks view of Balaam illustrates the way in which in all ages statesmen are apt to look upon religion and its representatives. They see in it only one of the great forces which modify or control human life, and they desire, by whatever means, to enlist it on the side of the policy or the government which they for the moment represent.
III. The real character of Balaam was a very mixed one.On the one hand, he was a man with a clear idea of duty, based on a certain knowledge of God; on the other, we find that his notion of duty was clearly not what he could discover to be Gods will, but only what God would not allow him to ignore. It was a minimising rule of duty.
IV. There are two or three considerations which the history suggests: (1) The ministry of grace and truth to others may be quite independent of the personal character of the minister. (2) It is possible to know a great deal about truth, to make sacrifices for it, to be kept back from honour out of deference to its requirements, and yet to be at heart disloyal to it. (3) The only true safeguard against such a fate as Balaams is the love of God.
Canon Liddon.
Illustration
(1) An embassy waited on Balaam from Balak, the king of the Moabites, with presents and proffered honours, but at first he refused to come. He knew enough of Jehovahs will for that, and is an example of one having a real prophetic gift, which he misused to his own ruin. He allowed himself to be persuaded, being influenced by those bribes which the New Testament calls the wages of unrighteousness. His history is a warning against hesitation and delay in obeying the first dictates of conscience.
(2) The Lord hath kept thee back from honour. This is the language of earth and earthliness, addressed continually to those who would go Heavenward. This you might have beenand that you might have donethis you will forfeit, that you will loseyour religion mars your success, blights your prospects, conceals your advantages;but for this, you might be distinguished, admired, beloveddoes God thus deprive His friends of honour?
This is the languagebut oh, believe it not! Especially let those, who have yet not made the trial, believe it not. For it makes the young to falter in their choice, and leads to a dangerous equivocation between the world and God, trying to please both for fear of what may follow on a more determined course: and thus in fact deprives them of the honour and the bliss, above all that earth can offer, which awaits a settled habit of piety and devotion. Of what value are the honours and distinctions of the world, to one who knows them scarcely worth the having? Of what value its admiration and applause, when we have learned to consider them the meed of iniquity rather than of merit? The child of God does in fact not want these things or value them. He does not know them to be honour; but very generally looks upon them as a danger, a temptation, and a snaremeretricious ornaments at best, unworthy to mix with the brighter jewels of his crown. He feels no greater for their possession, and no meaner for the want of them.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
24:11 Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the {g} LORD hath kept thee back from honour.
(g) Thus the wicked burden God when they cannot carry out their wicked enterprises.