23:2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and (a) Balak and
Balaam offered on [every] altar a bullock and a ram.
(a) For among the Gentiles the kings often used to
sacrifice, as did the priests.
23:4 And God b met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have
prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon [every]
altar a bullock and a ram.
(b) Appeared to him.
23:5 And the LORD c put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said,
Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
(c) Taught him what to say.
23:7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of
Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the
east, [saying], Come, curse me Jacob, and come, d defy
Israel.
(d) Cause everyone to hate and detest them.
23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills
I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall
not be reckoned among the e nations.
(e) But shall have religion and laws apart.
23:10 Who can count the f dust of Jacob, and the number of the
fourth [part] of Israel? Let me g die the death of the
righteous, and let my last end be like his!
(f) The infinite multitude, as the dust of the earth.
(g) The fear of God's judgment caused him to wish to be
joined to the household of Abraham: thus the wicked
have their consciences wounded when they consider
God's judgments.
23:19h God [is] not a man, that he should lie; neither the
son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall
he not do [it]? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make
it good?
(h) God's enemies are compelled to confess that his
government is just, constant, and without change or
repentance.
23:21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen
perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God [is] with him,
and the i shout of a king [is] among them.
(i) They triumph as victorious kings over their enemies.
23:23 Surely [there is] no enchantment against Jacob, neither
[is there] any divination against Israel: k according to
this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What
hath God wrought!
(k) Considering what God will work this time for the
deliverance of his people, all the world will wonder.
23:27 And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will
bring thee unto another l place; peradventure it will
please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.
(l) Thus the wicked imagine of God that what he will not
grant in one place, he will do in another.
