Worthy.Bible » YLT » Numbers » Chapter 22 » Verse 20

Numbers 22:20 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

20 And God cometh in unto Balaam, by night, and saith to him, `If to call for thee the men have come, rise, go with them, and only the thing which I speak unto thee -- it thou dost do.'

Cross Reference

Numbers 23:12 YLT

and he answereth and saith, `That which Jehovah doth put in my mouth -- it do I not take heed to speak?'

Numbers 23:26 YLT

and Balaam answereth and saith unto Balak, `Have I not spoken unto thee, saying, All that Jehovah speaketh -- it I do?'

Numbers 24:13 YLT

If Balak doth give to me the fulness of his house of silver and gold, I am not able to pass over the command of Jehovah, to do good or evil of mine own heart -- that which Jehovah speaketh -- it I speak?

Numbers 22:35 YLT

And the messenger of Jehovah saith unto Balaam, `Go with the men; and only the word which I speak unto thee -- it thou dost speak;' and Balaam goeth with the princes of Balak.

Numbers 23:5 YLT

and Jehovah putteth a word in the mouth of Balaam, and saith, `Turn back unto Balak, and thus thou dost speak.'

Numbers 23:16 YLT

and Jehovah cometh unto Balaam, and setteth a word in his mouth, and saith, `Turn back unto Balak, and thus thou dost speak.'

1 Samuel 8:5-9 YLT

and say unto him, `Lo, thou hast become aged, and thy sons have not walked in thy ways; now, appoint to us a king, to judge us, like all the nations.' And the thing is evil in the eyes of Samuel, when they have said, `Give to us a king to judge us;' and Samuel prayeth unto Jehovah. And Jehovah saith unto Samuel, `Hearken to the voice of the people, to all that they say unto thee, for thee they have not rejected, but Me they have rejected, from reigning over them. According to all the works that they have done from the day of My bringing them up out of Egypt, even unto this day, when they forsake Me, and serve other gods -- so they are doing also to thee. And now, hearken to their voice; only, surely thou dost certainly protest to them, and hast declared to them the custom of the king who doth reign over them.'

1 Samuel 12:12-19 YLT

`And ye see that Nahash king of the Bene-Ammon hath come against you, and ye say to me, Nay, but a king doth reign over us; and Jehovah your God `is' your king! And, now, lo, the king whom ye have chosen -- whom ye have asked! and lo, Jehovah hath placed over you a king. `If ye fear Jehovah, and have served Him, and hearkened to His voice, then ye do not provoke the mouth of Jehovah, and ye have been -- both ye and the king who hath reigned over you -- after Jehovah your God. `And if ye do not hearken to the voice of Jehovah -- then ye have provoked the mouth of Jehovah, and the hand of Jehovah hath been against you, and against your fathers. `Also now, station yourselves and see this great thing which Jehovah is doing before your eyes; is it not wheat-harvest to-day? I call unto Jehovah, and He doth give voices and rain; and know ye and see that your evil is great which ye have done in the eyes of Jehovah, to ask for you a king.' And Samuel calleth unto Jehovah, and Jehovah giveth voices and rain, on that day, and all the people greatly fear Jehovah and Samuel; and all the people say unto Samuel, `Pray for thy servants unto Jehovah thy God, and we do not die, for we have added to all our sins evil to ask for us a king.'

Psalms 33:10-11 YLT

Jehovah made void the counsel of nations, He disallowed the thoughts of the peoples. The counsel of Jehovah to the age standeth, The thoughts of His heart to all generations.

Psalms 78:30-31 YLT

They have not been estranged from their desire, Yet `is' their food in their mouth, And the anger of God hath gone up against them, And He slayeth among their fat ones, And youths of Israel He caused to bend.

Psalms 81:12 YLT

And I send them away in the enmity of their heart, They walk in their own counsels.

Isaiah 37:29 YLT

Because of thy anger towards Me, And thy noise -- it came up into Mine ears, I have put My hook in thy nose, And My bridle in thy lips, And I have caused thee to turn back In the way in which thou camest.

Ezekiel 14:2-5 YLT

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, `Son of man, these men have caused their idols to go up on their heart, and the stumbling-block of their iniquity they have put over-against their faces; am I inquired of at all by them? `Therefore, speak with them, and thou hast said unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Every one of the house of Israel who causeth his idols to go up unto his heart, and the stumbling-block of his iniquity setteth over-against his face, and hath gone in unto the prophet -- I Jehovah have given an answer to him for this, for the abundance of his idols, in order to catch the house of Israel by their heart, in that they have become estranged from off me by their idols -- all of them.

Hosea 13:11 YLT

I give to thee a king in Mine anger, And I take away in My wrath.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 YLT

`him,' whose presence is according to the working of the Adversary, in all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and in all deceitfulness of the unrighteousness in those perishing, because the love of the truth they did not receive for their being saved, and because of this shall God send to them a working of delusion, for their believing the lie, that they may be judged -- all who did not believe the truth, but were well pleased in the unrighteousness.

Commentary on Numbers 22 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 22

Nu 22:1-20. Balak's First Message for Balaam Refused.

1. Israel … pitched in the plains of Moab—so called from having formerly belonged to that people, though wrested from them by Sihon. It was a dry, sunken, desert region on the east of the Jordan valley, opposite Jericho.

2. Balak—that is, "empty." Terrified (De 2:25; Ex 15:15) at the approach of so vast a multitude and not daring to encounter them in the field, he resolved to secure their destruction by other means.

4. elders of Midian—called kings (Nu 31:8) and princes (Jos 13:21). The Midianites, a distinct people on the southern frontier of Moab, united with them as confederates against Israel, their common enemy.

5. He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam—that is, "lord" or "devourer" of people, a famous soothsayer (Jos 13:22).

son of Beor—or, in the Chaldee form, Bosor—that is, "destruction."

Pethor—a city of Mesopotamia, situated on the Euphrates.

6. Come … curse me this people—Among the heathen an opinion prevailed that prayers for evil or curses would be heard by the unseen powers as well as prayers for good, when offered by a prophet or priest and accompanied by the use of certain rites. Many examples are found in the histories of the Greeks and Romans of whole armies being devoted to destruction, and they occur among the natives of India and other heathen countries still. In the Burmese war, magicians were employed to curse the British troops.

7. the elders of Moab and … of Midian departed with the rewards of divination—like the fee of a fortune teller, and being a royal present, it would be something handsome.

8-14. Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the Lord shall speak unto me, &c.—God usually revealed His will in visions and dreams; and Balaam's birth and residence in Mesopotamia, where the remains of patriarchal religion still lingered, account for his knowledge of the true God. His real character has long been a subject of discussion. Some, judging from his language, have thought him a saint; others, looking to his conduct, have described him as an irreligious charlatan; and a third class consider him a novice in the faith, who had a fear of God, but who had not acquired power over his passions [Hengstenberg].

13-15. the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you—This answer has an appearance of being good, but it studiously concealed the reason of the divine prohibition [Nu 22:12], and it intimated his own willingness and desire to go—if permitted. Balak despatched a second mission, which held out flattering prospects, both to his avarice and his ambition (Ge 31:30).

19, 20. tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more—The divine will, as formerly declared, not being according to his desires, he hoped by a second request to bend it, as he had already bent his own conscience, to his ruling passions of pride and covetousness. The permission granted to Balaam is in accordance with the ordinary procedure of Providence. God often gives up men to follow the impulse of their own lusts; but there is no approval in thus leaving them to act at the prompting of their own wicked hearts (Jos 13:27).

Nu 22:21-41. The Journey.

21. Balaam … saddled his ass—probably one of the white sprightly animals which persons of rank were accustomed to ride. The saddle, as usually in the East, would be nothing more than a pad or his outer cloak.

22. God's anger was kindled because he went—The displeasure arose partly from his neglecting the condition on which leave was granted him—namely, to wait till the princes of Moab "came to call him" [Nu 22:20], and because, through desire for "the wages of unrighteousness" [2Pe 2:15], he entertained the secret purpose of acting in opposition to the solemn charge of God.

24. the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards—The roads which lead through fields and vineyards are so narrow that in most parts a man could not pass a beast without care and caution. A stone or mud fence flanks each side of these roads, to prevent the soil being washed off by the rains.

28. the Lord opened the mouth of the ass—to utter, like a parrot, articulate sounds, without understanding them. That this was a visionary scene is a notion which seems inadmissible, because of the improbability of a vision being described as an actual occurrence in the middle of a plain history. Besides, the opening of the ass's mouth must have been an external act, and that, with the manifest tenor of Peter's language, strongly favors the literal view [2Pe 2:15, 16]. The absence of any surprise at such a phenomenon on the part of Balaam may be accounted for by his mind being wholly engrossed with the prospect of gain, which produced "the madness of the prophet" [2Pe 2:16]. "It was a miracle, wrought to humble his proud heart, which had to be first subjected in the school of an ass before he was brought to attend to the voice of God speaking by the angel" [Calvin].

34, 35. I have sinned … if it displease thee, I will get me back again—Notwithstanding this confession, he evinced no spirit of penitence, as he speaks of desisting only from the outward act. The words "go with the men" was a mere withdrawal of further restraint, but the terms in which leave was given are more absolute and peremptory than those in Nu 22:20.

36, 37. when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him—Politeness requires that the higher the rank of the expected guest, greater distance is to be gone to welcome his arrival.

38. the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak—This appears a pious answer. It was an acknowledgment that he was restrained by a superior power.

39. Kirjath-huzoth—that is, "a city of streets."

40. Balak offered oxen and sheep—made preparations for a grand entertainment to Balaam and the princes of Midian.

41. high places of Baal—eminences consecrated to the worship of Baal-peor (see on Nu 25:3) or Chemosh.