Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 31:8
And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; [namely], Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.
8. The five names of the kings may have been derived from an historical kernel of the story. They occur in the same order in Jos 13:21; but there the tradition is different, since they are not only ‘princes of Midian’ but ‘chiefs of Sihon,’ who were slain in the battle against Sihon. There, as here, Balaam is mentioned in conjunction with them.
Zur ] is mentioned in Num 25:15 as the head of a Midianite family.
Balaam also ] See on Num 25:6.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And they slew … were slain … – Render: And the kings of Midian they put to death, beside those that fell in the battle; namely, etc. From which it would seem that beside these five, put to death after the battle, there were other Midianite kings who perished fighting. The five chieftains here mentioned were vassals of Sihon the Amorite Jos 13:21.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 8. Balaam – they slew with the sword.] This man had probably committed what St. John calls the sin unto death – a sin which God punishes with temporal death, while at the same time he extends mercy to the soul. See Clarke on Nu 24:25.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The kings, called dukes or princes of Sihon, Jos 13:21, because they were subject to him while he lived, but upon his death they resumed their kingly power.
Zur, the father of Cozbi, Num 25:15.
Balaam also.
Object. He was gone and returned to his own place, Num 24:25, which was Aram or Mesopotamia, Num 23:7.
Answ. Either he did go thitherward, but in his journey made some stay in Midian, where he was overtaken by Divine vengeance; or understanding the success of his wicked counsel left with Balaam, in the sin and slaughter of the Israelites, he returned, partly to enjoy the reputation and reward of his counsel which he had lost before, and partly to employ his hellish arts against Israel, now they were, as he thought, forsaken by their God, and exposed to his malice. Here Balaam dies the death of the wicked, and not of the righteous, as he desired, Num 23:10.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. the kings of Midiansocalled, because each was possessed of absolute power within his owncity or district; called also dukes or princes of Sihon (Jos13:21), having been probably subject to that Amorite ruler, as itis not uncommon in the East to find a number of governors or pachastributary to one great king.
Zurfather of Cozbi (Nu25:15).
Balaam also . . . they slewwith the swordThis unprincipled man, on his dismissal fromBalak, set out for his home in Mesopotamia (Nu24:25). But, either diverging from his way to tamper with theMidianites, he remained among them without proceeding farther, toincite them against Israel and to watch the effects of his wickedcounsel; or, learning in his own country that the Israelites hadfallen into the snare which he had laid and which he doubted notwould lead to their ruin, he had, under the impulse of insatiablegreed, returned to demand his reward from the Midianites. He was anobject of merited vengeance. In the immense slaughter of theMidianitish peoplein the capture of their women, children, andproperty and in the destruction of all their places of refugetheseverity of a righteous God fell heavily on that base and corruptrace. But, more than all others, Balaam deserved and got the justreward of his deeds. His conduct had been atrociously sinful,considering the knowledge he possessed, and the revelations he hadreceived, of the will of God. For any one in his circumstances toattempt defeating the prophecies he had himself been the organ ofuttering, and plotting to deprive the chosen people of the divinefavor and protection, was an act of desperate wickedness, which nolanguage can adequately characterize.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain,…. Besides the males of the common people, they slew their kings, who were petty kings or princes, perhaps under the king of Moab, or had reassumed their titles and government after the death of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who, in his time, were called dukes of Sihon, Jos 13:21, namely,
Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian; the Targum of Jonathan says of Zur, this is Balak, which is not probable; it is more likely, what Aben Ezra observes, that he was the father of Cosbi, whom Phinehas slew, Nu 25:15.
Balaam also, the son of Beor, they slew with the sword; so that he died not a natural death, but a violent one, not such an one as he desired, the death of the righteous, but of bloody and deceitful men, who do not live out half their days; for if the Jewish writers c are to be credited, he was but thirty four years of age when he was slain, which is not quite half the age of man, that being seventy, Ps 90:10, it appears by this that he was among the Midianites at the time of this war; either he stayed here till this time, when he went from Balak with an intention to go into his own country; or he had returned hither, being either sent for, by the princes of Midian, on this occasion; or, as some say, as Aben Ezra observes, that he came to Midian after he returned to his place, on hearing the plague that came upon Israel through his counsel, to receive the money of the elders of Midian for it; and so Chaskuni.
c Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 7. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(8) And they slew the kings of Midian . . . Those persons who are here described as kings appear to have been chiefs of the more powerful Midianitish tribes, just in the same way as Zur is represented in Num. 25:15. They are described in Jos. 13:21 as princes or chiefs, and as dukes or princes of Sihon, by which expression it appears that they were his vassals.
Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.The death of Balaam by the sword of the Israelites presents a strange and instructive contrast to the prayer which he uttered that he might die the death of the righteous (Num. 23:10). Few of the ancient prophecies are more remarkable, as Bishop Wordsworth has observed, than those of Balaam for spirituality of conception and sublimity of expression. And if, as some think, we are to understand Mic. 6:8 as containing the actual words which were addressed by Balaam to Balak, few men possessed a clearer perception of moral truth than that which is expressed in the words, He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? And yet, notwithstanding the light which Balaam possessed, the sublimity of the prophecies which he uttered, and the purity of the motives by which he professed to be actuated, he loved the wages of unrighteousness, and gave himself up to do Satans bidding in casting a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, and miserably perished amongst the enemies of God and of His people. Bishop Wordsworth draws a striking and instructive contrast between Balaam and Moses, both of whom had visions of Christ and prophesied of Him, whilst one loved the wages of unrighteousness, and the other did all for Gods glory.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. Slew the kings of Midian “Our translators have not exhibited the distinction between the two Hebrew words here employed. Render thus: And the kings of Midian they put to death, besides those that fell in battle; namely, etc. From which it would seem that besides these five, put to death after battle, there were other Midianitish kings who perished fighting; and also that Balaam (chap. xxii-xxiv, notes) did not fall in battle, but was judicially executed.” Canon Cook.
Five kings Vassals of Sihon, the Amorite. Jos 13:21, note. These, together with Balaam, were reserved for a more formal execution because they were instigators (Num 31:16) of the wicked plot to draw Israel into the pollution of idolatry and whoredom.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Num 31:8. And they slew the kings This would be more intelligible, if rendered, after Houbigant, “and in the midst of the slaughter, they slew five kings of Midian, Evi, &c.”
REFLECTIONS.The success was answerable to their wishes. Their enemies fell before them, and justly suffered for the evil they had seduced Israel to commit. Note; God will often make the tempters to sin to be tormented of those whom they deceived. They slew all the males, not all in the nation, but, probably, all they met with in that part of the country where they made their attack. Among them, five kings or princes of Midian fell; and, as an instance of especial judgment, Balaam, the author of all the mischief, was among the slain. God will take severe vengeance on those who have been the introducers of corruption among the people. If judgment overtake them not on this side the grave, it infallibly will on the other.
See commentary on Num 31:7
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Reader! pause over the death of this wretched character, and remark the sure destruction of the ungodly. The man whose eyes he confessed were open, but whose heart never was influenced by grace. Devils are of this stamp. They cannot but believe, because they know who CHRIST is; but never love, and therefore tremble. Jas 2:19 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
VIII
BALAAM: HIS IMPORTANT PROPHECIES, HIS CHARACTER, AND HIS BIBLE HISTORY
Numbers 22-24; Num 31:8
These scriptures give you a clue to both Balaam’s history and character: Numbers 22-24; Num 31:8 , and especially Num 31:16 ; Deu 23:4-5 ; Jos 13:22 ; Jos 24:9-10 ; Mic 6:5 ; Neh 13:2 ; Jud 1:2 ; 2Pe 2:15 ; and, most important of all, Rev 2:14 . Anybody who attempts to discuss Balaam ought to be familiar with every one of these scriptures.
Who was Balaam? He was a descendant of Abraham, as much as the Israelites were. He was a Midianite and his home was near where the kinsmen of Abraham, Nahor and Laban, lived. They possessed from the days of Abraham a very considerable knowledge of the true God. He was not only a descendant of Abraham and possessed the knowledge of the true God through traditions handed down, as in the case of Job and Melchizedek, but he was a prophet of Jehovah. That is confirmed over and over again. Unfortunately he was also a soothsayer and a diviner, adding that himself to his prophetic office for the purpose of making money. People always approach soothsayers with fees.
His knowledge of the movements of the children of Israel could easily have been obtained and the book of Exodus expressly tells that that knowledge was diffused over the whole country. Such a poem as Jacob’s dying blessing on his children would circulate all over the Semitic tribes, and such an administration as that of Joseph would become known over all the whole world, such displays of power as the miracles in Egypt, the deliverance at the Red Sea and the giving of the law right contiguous to the territory of Balaam’s nation make it possible for him to learn all these mighty particulars. It is a great mistake to say that God held communication only with the descendants of Abraham. We see how he influenced people in Job’s time and how he influenced Melchizedek, and there is one remarkable declaration made in one of the prophets that I have not time to discuss, though I expect to preach a sermon on it some day, in which God claims that he not only brought Israel out of Egypt but the Philistines out of Caphtor and all peoples from the places they occupied (Amo 9:7 ). We are apt to get a very narrow view of God’s government of the human race when we attempt to confine it to the Jews only.
Next, we want to consider the sin of Balaam. First, it was from start to finish a sin against knowledge. He had great knowledge of Jehovah. It was a sin against revelation and a very vile sin in that it proceeded from his greed for money, loving the wages of unrighteousness. His sin reached its climax after he had failed to move Jehovah by divinations, and it was clear that Jehovah was determined to bless these people, when for a price paid in his hand be vilely suggested a means by which the people could be turned from God and brought to punishment. That was about as iniquitous a thing as the purchase of the ballots in the late prohibition election in Waco, for the wages of unrighteousness. His counsel was (Num 31:16 ) to seduce the people of Israel by bringing the Moabitish and Midianite evil women to tempt and get them through their lusts to attend idolatrous feasts.
In getting at the character of this man, we have fortunately some exceedingly valuable sermon literature. The greatest preachers of modern times have preached on Balaam, and in the cross lights of their sermons every young preacher ought to inform himself thoroughly on Balaam. The most famous one for quite a while was Bishop Butler’s sermon. When I was a boy, everybody read that sermon, and, as I recall it, the object was to show the self-deception which persuaded Balaam in every case that the sin he committed could be brought within the rules of conscience and revelation, so that he could say something at every point to show that he stood right, while all the time he was going wrong.
Then the great sermon by Cardinal Newman: “The dark shadow cast over a noble course by standing always on the ladder of advancement and by the suspense of a worldly ambition never satisfied.” He saw in Balaam one of the most remarkable men of the world, high up on the ladder and the way to the top perfectly open but shaded by the dark shadow of his sin. Then Dr. Arnold’s sermon on Balaam, as I recall, the substance being the strange combination of the purest form of religious belief with action immeasurably below it. Next the great sermon by Spurgeon with seven texts. He takes the words in the Bible, “I have sinned,” and Balaam is one of the seven men he discusses. Spurgeon preached Balaam as a double-minded man. He could see the right and yet his lower nature turned him constantly away from it, a struggle between the lower and higher nature. These four men were the greatest preachers in the world since Paul. I may modestly call attention to my own sermon on Balaam; that Balaam was not a double-minded man; that from the beginning this man had but one real mind, and that was greed and power, and he simply used the religious light as a stalking horse. No rebuff could stop him long. God might say, “You shall not go,” and he would say, “Lord, hear me again and let me go.” He might start and an angel would meet him and he might hear the rebuke of the dumb brute but he would still seek a way to bring about evil. I never saw a man with a mind more single than Balaam.
I want you to read about him in Keble’s “Christian Year.” Keble conceives of Balaam as standing on the top of a mountain that looked over all those countries he is going to prophesy about and used this language:
O for a sculptor’s hand,
That thou might’st take thy stand
Thy wild hair floating in the eastern breeze,
Thy tranc’d yet open gaze
Fix’d on the desert haze,
As one who deep in heaven some airy pageant aeea.
In outline dim and vast
Their fearful shadows cast
The giant forms of empires on their way
To ruin: one by one
They tower and they are gone,
Yet in the Prophet’s soul the dreams of avarice stay.
That is a grand conception. If he just had the marble image of a man of that kind, before whose eyes, from his lofty mountain pedestal were sweeping the pageants of mighty empires and yet in whose eyes always stayed the dreams of avarice. The following has been sculptured on a rock:
No sun or star so bright
In all the world of light
That they should draw to Heaven his downward eye:
He hears th’ Almighty’s word,
He sees the Angel’s sword,
Yet low upon the earth his heart and treasure lie.
That comes nearer giving a true picture of Balaam. That shows you a man so earth bound in his heart’s desire, looking at low things and grovelling that no sun or star could lift his eye toward heaven. Not even God Almighty’s word could make him look up, without coercion of the human will.
Now, you are to understand that the first two prophecies of Balaam came to him when he was trying to work divinations on God. In those two he obeys as mechanically as a hypnotized person obeys the will of the hypnotist. He simply speaks under the coercive power of God. In these first two prophecies God tells him what to say, as if a mightier hand than his had dipped the pen in ink and moved his hand to write those lines.
At the end of the second one when he saw no divination could possibly avail against those people, the other prophecies came from the fact that the Spirit of the Lord comes on him just like the Spirit came on Saul, the king of Israel, and he prophesied as a really inspired man. In the first prophecy he shows, first, a people that God has blessed and will not curse; second, he is made to say, “Let me die the death of the righteous and let my, last end at death and judgment be like his.” That shows God’s revelation to that people. The second prophecy shows why that is so: “God is not a man that he should repent.” “It is not worth while to work any divination. He has marked out the future of this nation.” Second, why is it that he will not regard iniquity in Jacob? For the purpose he has in view he will not impute their trespasses to them. The prophecy stops with this thought, that when you look at what this people have done and will do, you are not to say, “What Moses did, nor Joshua did, nor David,” but you are to say, “What God hath wrought!”
The first time I ever heard Dr. Burleson address young preachers, and I was not even a Christian myself, he took that for his text. He commenced by saying, “That is a great theme for a preacher. Evidently these Jews had not accomplished all those things. They were continually rebelling and wanting to go back, and yet you see them come out of Egypt, cross the Sea, come to Sinai, organized, fed, clothed, the sun kept off by day and darkness by night, marvellous victories accomplished and you are to say, ‘What God hath wrought!’ “
When the spiritual power comes on him he begins to look beyond anything he has ever done yet, to messianic days. There are few prophecies in the Bible more far-reaching than this last prophecy of Balaam. When he says of the Messiah, “I shall see him but not now,” it is a long way off. “My case is gone, but verily a star” the symbol of the star and sceptre carried out the thought of the power of the Messiah. So much did that prophecy impress the world that those Wise Men who came right from Balaam’s country when Jesus was born, remember this prophecy: “We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
He then looks all around and there are the nations before him from that mountain top, and he prophesies about Moab and Amalek and passes on beyond, approaching even to look to nations yet unborn. He looks to the Grecian Empire arising far away in the future, further than anybody but Daniel. He sees the ships of the Grecians coming and the destruction of Asshur and the destruction of Eber, his own people. Then we come to the antitypical references later.
If you want a comparison of this man, take Simon Magus who wanted to purchase the power of the Holy Spirit so as to make money. That is even better than Judas, though Judas comes in. Judas had knowledge, was inspired, worked miracles, and yet Judas never saw the true kingdom of God in the spirit of holiness, and because he could not bring about the kingdom of which he would be treasurer for fifteen dollars he sold the Lord Jesus Christ. Those are the principal thoughts I wanted to add.
QUESTIONS
1. Who was Balaam?
2. How did he obtain his knowledge of God?
3. What was the sin of Balaam?
4. What was the climax of his sin?
5. What five sermons on Balaam are referred to? Give the line of thought in each.
6. Give Keble’s conception of Balaam.
7. What was the testimony sculptured on a rock?
8. Now give your own estimate of the character of Balaam.
9. How do you account for the first two prophecies?
10. How do you account for the other two?
11. In the first prophecy what does he show, what is he made to say and what does that show?
12. Give a brief analysis of the second prophecy.
13. Of what does the third prophecy consist?
14. Give the items of the fourth prophecy.
15. How did his messianic prophecy impress the world?
16. When was this prophecy concerning Amalek fulfilled? Ana. In the days of Saul. (1Sa 15 ).
17. Who was Asshur and what was his relation to the Kenites?
18. What reference here to the Grecians?
19. Who was Eber?
20. With what two New Testament characters may we compare?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Num 31:8 And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; [namely], Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.
Ver. 8. And Zur. ] The father of Cozbi, that noble harlot. Dignitas in indigno est ornamentum in luto. Sedes prima, et vita ima, is but golden rubbish, eminent infamy, noble dishonour.
Balaam, also, the son of Beor.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Numbers
AN UNFULFILLED DESIRE
Num 23:10
Ponder these two pictures. Take the first scene. A prophet, who knows God and His will, is standing on the mountain top, and as he looks down over the valley beneath him, with its acacia-trees and swift river, there spread the tents of Israel. He sees them, and knows that they are ‘a people whom the Lord hath blessed.’ Brought there to curse, ‘he blesses them altogether’; and as he gazes upon their ordered ranks and sees somewhat of the wondrous future that lay before them, his mind is filled with the thought of all the blessedness of that righteous nation, and the sigh of longing comes to his lips, ‘May I be with them in life and death; may I have no higher honour, no calmer end, than to lie down and die as one of the chosen people, with memories of a divine hand that has protected me all through the past, and quiet hopes of the same hand holding me up in the great darkness!’ A devout aspiration, a worthy desire!
Look at the other picture. Midian has seduced Israel to idolatry and its constant companion, sensual sin. The old lawgiver has for his last achievement to punish the idolater. ‘Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites, afterwards thou shalt be gathered to thy people.’ So each tribe gives its contingent to the fight, and under the fierce and prompt Phinehas, whose javelin had already smitten one of the chief offenders, they go forth. Fire and sword, devastation and victory, mark their track. The princes of Midian fall before the swift rush of the desert-born invaders. And-sad, strange company!-among them is the ‘man who saw the vision of the Almighty, and knew the knowledge of the Most High’ ! he who had taught Moab the purest lessons of morality, and Midian, alas! the practice of the vilest profligacy; he who saw from afar ‘the sceptre arise out of Israel and the Star from Jacob’; he who longed to ‘die the death of the righteous’ ! The onset of the avenging host, with the ‘shout of a king’ in their midst; the terror of the flight, the riot of havoc and bloodshed, and, finally, the quick thrust of the sharp Israelite sword in some strong hand, and the grey hairs all dabbled with his blood-these were what the man came to who had once breathed the honest desire, ‘Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his’ !
I. There is surely a solemn lesson for us all here -as touching the danger of mere vague religious desires and convictions which we do not allow to determine our conduct.
Balaam had evidently much knowledge. Look at these points-
a His knowledge of the covenant-name of God.
b His knowledge of a pure morality and a spiritual worship far beyond sacrificial notions, and in some respects higher than the then Old Testament standpoint.
c The knowledge which is implied in the text of a future state, which had gone far into the background, even if it had not been altogether lost, among the Israelites. Is it not remarkable that the religious ideas of this man were in advance of Israel’s at this time; that there seems to have lingered among these ‘outsiders’ more of a pure faith than in Israel itself?
What a lesson here as to the souls led by God and enlightened by Him beyond the pale of Judaism!
But all this knowledge, of what use was it to Balaam? He knows about God: does he seek to serve Him? He preaches morality to Moab, and he teaches Midian to ‘teach the children of Israel to commit fornication.’ He knows something of the blessedness of a ‘righteous man’ s’ death, and perhaps sees faintly the shining gates beyond-but how does it all end? What a gulf between knowledge and life !
What is the use of correct ideas about God? They may be the foundations of holy thoughts, and they are meant to be so. I am not setting up emotion above principle, or fancying that there can be religion without theology; but for what are all our thoughts about God given us?
a That they may influence our hearts.
b That they may subdue our wills.
c That they may mould our practical life.
If they do not do that-then what do they do?
They constitute a positive hindrance-like the dead lava-blocks that choke the mouth of a crater, or the two deposits on the bottom of a boiler, soot outside and crust inside, which keep the fire from getting at the water. They have lost their power because they are so familiar. They are weakened by not being practised. The very organs of intelligence are, as it were, ossified. Self-complacency lays hold on the possession of these ideas and shields itself against all appeals with the fact of possessing them. Many a man mistakes, in his own case, the knowledge of the truth for obedience to the truth. All this is seen in everyday life, and with reference to all manner of convictions, but it is most apparent and most fatal about Christian truth. I appeal to the many who hear and know all about ‘the word,’ What more is needed? That you should do what you know ‘Be not hearers only’; that you should yield your whole being to Christ, the living Word.
II. Balaam is an example of convictions which remain inefficacious.
I suppose that every man who hears the gospel proclaimed is, at some time or other, conscious of dawning thoughts which, if followed, would lead him to decision for Christ. I suppose that every man among us is conscious of thoughts visiting him many a time when he least expects them, which, if honestly obeyed, would work an entire revolution in his life.
I do not wish to speak as if unbelieving men were the only people who were unfaithful to their consciences, but rather to deal with what is a besetting sin of us all, though it reaches its highest aggravation in reference to the gospel.
Such stings of conviction come to us all, but how are they deadened?
a By simple neglect. Pay no attention to them; do not do anything in consequence, and they will gradually disappear. The voice unheard will cease to speak. Non-obedience to conscience will in the end almost throttle conscience.
b By angry rejection.
c By busy occupation with the outer world.
d By sinful occupation with it.
Then consider that such dealing with our convictions leaves us far worse men than before, and if continued will end in utter insensibility.
What should we do with such convictions? Reverently follow them. And in so doing they will grow and increase, and lead us at last to God and peace.
Special application of all this to our attitude towards Christian truth.
III. Balaam is an instance of wishes that are never fulfilled.
1 Because his wish was deficient in character.
It was one among a great many, feeble and not predominant, occasioned by circumstances, and so fading when these disappeared. Like many men’s relation to the gospel who would like to be Christians, and are not. These vagrant wishes are nothing; mere ‘catspaws’ of wind, not a breeze. They are not real, even while they last, and so they come to nothing.
2 Because it was partially wrong in its object.
He was willing to die the death, but not to live the life, of the righteous; like many men who would be very glad to ‘go to heaven when they die,’ but who will not be Christians while they live.
Now, God forbid that I should say that his wish was wrong! But only it was not enough. Such a wish led to no action.
Now, God hears the faintest wish; He does not require that we should will strongly, but He does require that we should desire, and that we should act according to our desires.
Let the close be a brief picture of a righteous death. And oh! if you feel that it is blessed, then let that desire lead you to Christ, and all will be well. Remember that Bunyan saw a byway to hell at the door of the celestial city. Remember how Balaam ended, and stands gibbeted in the New Testament as an evil man, and the type of false teachers. Finally, beware of knowledge which is not operative in conduct, of convictions which are neglected and pass away, of vague desires which come to nought.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Evi. Compare Jos 13:21.
five kings: called princes or dukes of Sihon, Jos 13:21.
Balaam. Compare Jos 13:22.
slew. Balaam thus did not “die the death of the righteous”. Compare Num 23:10.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the kings: Num 22:4, Jos 13:21, Jos 13:22
Zur: Num 25:15, Num 25:18
Balaam: Num 22:10, Num 24:25, Jos 13:22, Psa 9:16, Psa 10:2, 1Ti 6:9, 1Ti 6:10, 2Pe 2:15, Jud 1:11, Rev 2:14, Rev 19:20
Reciprocal: Gen 25:2 – Midian Gen 37:28 – Midianites 1Ki 22:25 – Behold Psa 68:12 – Kings Psa 83:9 – as unto Mic 6:5 – Balaam Mat 7:22 – have we
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
31:8 And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; [namely], Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: {c} Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.
(c) The false prophet who gave counsel how to cause the Israelites to offend their God.