1 And Balaam seeth that `it is' good in the eyes of Jehovah to bless Israel, and he hath not gone as time by time to meet enchantments, and he setteth towards the wilderness his face;
For no enchantment `is' against Jacob, Nor divination against Israel, At the time it is said of Jacob and Israel, What hath God wrought!
and Balaam saith to Balak, `Station thyself by thy burnt-offering and I go on, it may be Jehovah doth come to meet me, and the thing which He sheweth me -- I have declared to thee;' and he goeth `to' a high place.
And Balaam riseth in the morning, and saith unto the princes of Balak, `Go unto your land, for Jehovah is refusing to suffer me to go with you;'
Lo, to bless I have received: Yea, He blesseth, and I `can'not reverse it.
lo, they -- they have been to the sons of Israel, through the word of Balaam, to cause a trespass against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and the plague is in the company of Jehovah.
`And, now, lo, I have known that thou dost certainly reign, and the kingdom of Israel hath stood in thy hand;
And Saul saith unto David, `Blessed `art' thou, my son David, also working thou dost work, and also prevailing thou dost prevail.' And David goeth on his way, and Saul hath turned back to his place.
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.