7 And he took up his parable, and said, From Aram hath Balak brought me, The king of Moab from the mountains of the East: Come, curse me Jacob, And come, defy Israel.
And he sent messengers unto Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me. Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.
because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.
And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; Hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:
In that day shall they take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, `and' say, We are utterly ruined: he changeth the portion of my people: how doth he remove `it' from me! to the rebellious he divideth our fields.
And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor saith, And the man whose eye was closed saith;
Then said I, Ah Lord Jehovah! they say of me, Is he not a speaker of parables?
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.
Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.
The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram.
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodai the son of an Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away.
And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David's brother, slew him.
Thy servant smote both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said, Strong is thy dwelling-place, And thy nest is set in the rock.
for I will promote thee unto very great honor, and whatsoever thou sayest unto me I will do: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Paddan-aram.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 23
Commentary on Numbers 23 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 23
In this chapter we have Balak and Balaam busy at work to do Israel a mischief, and, for ought that appears, neither Moses nor the elders of Israel know any thing of the matter, nor are in a capacity to break the snare; but God, who keeps Israel, and neither slumbers nor sleeps, baffles the attempt, without any intercession or contrivance of theirs. Here is,
Num 23:1-12
Here is,
Num 23:13-30
Here is,