4<\/strong>. The parallelism of these opening words with those in Num 24:15-16<\/em><\/span> suggests that the line ‘And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High’ has fallen out of the present passage.<\/p>\n the Almighty<\/em> ] Heb. Shaddai<\/em>. Num 24:16<\/em><\/span> and Gen 49:25<\/span> are probably the only pre-exilic occurrences of the word. In the latter passage the divine title should probably be read ’El Shaddai, which occurs in Exo 6:3<\/span>, Eze 10:5<\/span> and five times in Genesis. Shaddai alone occurs, besides here and Num 24:16<\/em><\/span>, thirty-eight times, of which thirty-one are in Job, and it also forms a part of two or three proper names.<\/p>\n Its original meaning is much disputed; ‘the Almighty’ has become a conventional equivalent, but is in no sense a rendering of the word. It is possible that its true spelling is Shadai. See the writer’s note in Exodus<\/em>, pp. 40 f.<\/p>\n Falling down, and having his eyes<\/em> uncovered<\/strong> ] This is generally understood to mean ‘falling asleep, or into a prophetic trance (A.V. [Note: .V. The Authorised Version.] ), but having the eyes of the mind open to receive God’s revelation.’ Balaam, however, is not represented as receiving his messages in a state of unconsciousness. But there is nothing in the narrative which actually forbids this explanation.<\/p>\n The falling of which Balaam speaks was the condition under which the inward opening of his eyes took place. It indicates the force of the divine inspiration overpowering the seer. The faithful prophets of the Lord do not appear to have been subject to these violent illapses Dan 8:17<\/span>; Rev 1:17<\/span>.<\/P> In Balaam and in Saul 1Sa 19:24<\/span> the word of God could only prevail by first subduing the alien will, and overpowering the bodily energies which the will ordinarily directs.<\/P> <\/p>\n Verse 4<\/span>. Falling into a trance<\/B><\/I>] There is no indication in the Hebrew that he fell into a trance<\/I>; these words are added by our translators, but they are not in the original. nophel<\/I> is the only word used, and simply signifies falling<\/I>, or falling down<\/I>, perhaps in this instance by way of religious prostration.<\/P> <\/p>\n The vision; <\/B>so called either strictly and properly, because he was awake when this was revealed to him; or largely and improperly, for any extraordinary discovery of Gods mind to him, whether sleeping or waking. A trance, or ecstasy, fainting and falling upon the ground, as the prophets used to do. See 1Sa 19:24<\/span>; Eze 1:28<\/span>; 3:23<\/span>; 43:3<\/span>; Dan 8:17<\/span>,18<\/span>; 10:15<\/span>; Rev 1:17<\/span>. Others, falling suddenly into a sleep, as the prophets sometimes did, as Gen 15:12<\/span>; Dan 8:18<\/span>. <\/P> <\/p>\n He hath said, which heard the words of God<\/strong>,…. God speaking to him, which he did several times, and with which he was greatly elated, see Nu 22:9<\/span>:<\/p>\n which saw the vision of the Almighty<\/strong>; not that he had a sight of any similitude of God, though the angel that appeared to him, which was Christ the uncreated angel, might appear in an human form, for some visible form was seen both by the ass and him; but rather this respects the visions of God to him in the night; it may be in a dream, as has been already observed, and which the following words seem to confirm:<\/p>\n falling into a trance, but having his eyes open<\/strong>: or falling into a deep sleep, and yet the eyes of his body open, which sometimes is the case with persons asleep; or the eyes of his mind open, to receive the instructions given him in a dream or vision of the night; unless this is to be understood of his falling on his face, when he had his vision, as sometimes the prophets did, see Eze 1:28<\/span>, so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase it; and the latter says, he prophesied of himself, that he should fall by the sword; which is better than to interpret it of his falling when his ass lay down with him, as some do: so men may have a great deal of light and knowledge in their heads, and yet not have true grace in their hearts; great gifts, which puff up with pride and vanity, but not sanctifying grace, which is of an humbling nature, 1Co 8:1<\/span>, what he said under a spirit of prophecy follows.<\/p>\n (4) Falling into a trance, but having his eyes open.<\/strong>Better, falling <\/em>(upon his face<\/em>), and having his eyes opened. <\/em>The physical effect produced upon Balaam appears to have been the same as that which was produced upon Saul (1Sa. 19:24<\/span>), upon Ezekiel (Num. i 28), upon Daniel (Num. viii, 17. 18). and upon St. John (Rev. 1:17<\/span>). The word which is here rendered open (gelui<\/em>) <\/em>is a different word from that which is so rendered in Num. 24:2<\/span>, and is frequently used in reference to Divine communications and spiritual intuition. There may be a reference to the events which befel Balaam on his journey (Num. 22:31<\/span>).<\/p>\n 4<\/strong>. <\/strong> Falling <\/strong> He was thrown to the ground by the Spirit of God descending mightily upon him. This whole introduction tends to prove that during the time of this inspiration “he was a true prophet of God, and had received the blessing which he uttered from a celestial oracle.” Calvin.<\/p>\n Num 24:4<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>Falling into a trance<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> There is nothing in the original for into a trance; <\/em>which our translators have added, supposing him to have been in a rapture or ecstacy when he had this vision, because it is added, having his eyes open; <\/em>that is, his mind being possessed of a clear apprehension of things, which God revealed to him when his senses were locked up: but Le Clerc takes this expression, as well as the former, to have a reference to what beset him by the way; when, having his eyes open to see the angel, he bowed his head, and fell flat on his face. <\/em>What would lead one to prefer this explanation, is, that it does not appear that Balaam fell into any trance or ecstacy when he delivered the prophecies in this or the foregoing chapter. It is true, he declares himself to have been no more than a passive instrument in the hands of the Lord. See the Sixth Principle <\/em>on ch. 22: Balak and his courtiers might easily perceive this by his manner of acting and speaking, so like what we read was usual, not only with the true prophets among the Jews, as well as the pretended ones who had apostatised to the worship of Baal, both which had the character of madmen <\/em>given them; (see 1Sa 19:23<\/span>. 1Ki 18:28<\/span>. 2Ki 9:11<\/span>; 2Ki 9:37<\/span>.) but was also believed to be the case of the heathen pythonesses, and other oracle-mongers. But the most convincing argument, to them, was his acting a part so contrary to his interest and inclination, and the extreme mortification and displeasure we may reasonably suppose him to have shewn at his disappointment; from all which, Balak, his princes, and allies, might be thoroughly satisfied that their designs against Israel were defeated by a divine and irresistible power, and that all their future attempts would meet with no better, if not worse success than the former had done. However, the divine providence took special care to convince, not only them, but future ages, of Balaam’s prophetic commission, before he left the Moabitish Court; for he had no sooner, in some measure, appeased the King’s anger, (Num 24:12<\/span>, &c.) than he felt himself seized with a fresh prophetic impulse; and, having gained the attention of the whole assembly, began to extend his predictions on sundry kingdoms and people, and to display their various fates by sea and land, in so plain a manner, that however slight an impression they might make on those who then heard them, yet, by their timely accomplishment afterwards, they sufficiently declared that they all flowed from the same divine original; as will abundantly appear in the course of our notes on the present chapter. See Psalmanazar’s Essays. It may be proper just to observe, that a learned writer of our own understands the occurrence of the ass and the angel, &c. in this part of the sacred story, as a vision. See Dr. Jortin’s Dissertations, p. 186. And to the arguments which he uses in defence of his opinion, it may perhaps be thought by some, that the present verse affords an additional one. <\/p>\n Num 24:4 He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling [into a trance], but having his eyes open:<\/p>\n Ver. 4. Falling into a trance.<\/strong> ] As was usual with the prophets; Gen 15:12 Dan 8:17-19<\/span><\/em> <\/em> 2Pe 1:21 See Trapp on “<\/em> 1Pe 1:21 “<\/em> They were carried out of and beyond themselves. And still – <\/p>\n “ Amor Dei est ecstaticus, neque iuris<\/p>\n Se sinit esse sui – ”<\/p>\n of. Genitive of origin = words from God. <\/p>\n GOD = the mighty God. Hebrew. ‘El. App-4. <\/p>\n falling into a trance. The Ellipsis better supplied – “falling [to the ground]”. <\/p>\n falling into <\/p>\n i.e. prostrated by the prophetic impulse. See, 1Sa 19:24; Eze 1:23; Dan 8:18; 2Co 12:2-4; Rev 1:10; Rev 1:17. <\/p>\n saw: Num 12:6, Gen 15:12, Psa 89:19, Dan 8:26, Dan 8:27, Act 10:10, Act 10:19, Act 22:17, 2Co 12:1-4 <\/p>\n falling: Num 22:31, 1Sa 19:24, Eze 1:28, Dan 8:17, Dan 8:18, Dan 10:15, Dan 10:16, Rev 1:10, Rev 1:17 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Gen 46:2 – in the visions Num 10:28 – according Num 24:3 – whose eyes are open hath said Num 24:15 – General Num 24:16 – General 1Sa 9:19 – the seer 1Ki 13:20 – the word of the Lord Isa 1:1 – vision Mat 7:22 – have we 1Co 14:37 – any Rev 1:8 – the Almighty<\/p>\n Num 24:4. The vision of the Almighty So called properly, because he was awake when the following things were revealed to him. Falling into a trance In the Hebrew it is only falling, namely, fainting and falling to the ground, as the prophets sometimes used to do. Our translators supply the words, into a trance, supposing him to have been in an ecstasy or rapture when he had the vision, as it is probable he was; because it follows, having his eyes open Which implies, that when all his outward senses were locked up, his mind had a clear apprehension of the things which God revealed to him.<\/p>\n 24:4 He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, {c} falling [into a trance], but having his eyes open:<\/p>\n (c) Though he lay as in a sleep, yet the eyes of his mind were open.<\/p>\n He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling [into a trance], but having his eyes open: 4. The parallelism of these opening words with those in Num 24:15-16 suggests that the line ‘And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High’ has fallen out of the present … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 24:4”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4459\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"