7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east: Come, curse me Jacob, and come, denounce Israel!
And he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is on the river in the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, a people is come out from Egypt; behold, they cover the face of the land, and they abide over against me. And now come, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are mightier than I: perhaps I may be able to smite them, and 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 on the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor, of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.
Then he took up his parable and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear! hearken unto me, son of Zippor!
In that day shall they take up a proverb concerning you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, [and] say, We are utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! He hath distributed our fields to the rebellious.
And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor saith, and the man of opened eye saith,
And I said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?
so that that should be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from [the] world's foundation.
He spoke another parable to them: The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until it had been all leavened.
The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel,
And after him, Eleazar the son of Dodo the son of an Ahohite: he was one of the three mighty men with David, when they had defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone up.
And he defied Israel; but Jonathan the son of Shimea David's brother smote him.
Thy servant smote both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.
And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that comes up? for to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who smites him, him will the king enrich with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. And David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that smites this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
And he saw the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said, Firm is thy dwelling-place, and thy nest fixed in the rock;
for very highly will I honour thee, and whatever thou shalt say to me will I do; come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
and [that] Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padan-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,