8 God bringeth him forth out of Egypt; He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox: He shall eat up the nations his adversaries, And shall break their bones in pieces, And smite `them' through with his arrows.
God bringeth them forth out of Egypt; He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox.
Thine arrows are sharp; The peoples fall under thee; `They are' in the heart of the king's enemies.
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
Israel is a hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
I quieted `myself' until morning; as a lion, so he breaketh all my bones: From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
For, lo, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man; none shall return in vain.
When Jehovah thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and shall cast out many nations before thee, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
I will heap evils upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them:
For thou wilt make them turn their back; Thou wilt make ready with thy bowstrings against their face.
And the king commanded, and they brought those men that had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces, before they came to the bottom of the den.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 24
Commentary on Numbers 24 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 24
This chapter continues and concludes the history of the defeat of the counsels of Balak and Balaam against Israel, not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts; and as great an instance it is of God's power over the children of men, and his favour towards his own children, as any of the victories recorded in the book of the wars of the Lord. What preparation was made the third time for the cursing of Israel we read of in the close of the foregoing chapter. In this chapter we are told,
Num 24:1-9
The blessing itself which Balaam here pronounces upon Israel is much the same with the two we had in the foregoing chapter; but the introduction to it is different.
Num 24:10-14
We have here the conclusion of this vain attempt to curse Israel, and the total abandonment of it.
Num 24:15-25
The office of prophets was both to bless and to prophesy in the name of the Lord. Balaam, as a prophet, per force had blessed Israel; here he foretels future events.