Numbers 23:1 - Forerunner Commentary

Numbers 23:1

1 Then Balaam said to Balak, ^a“Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

2 And Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam ^aoffered a bull and a ram on each altar.

3 Then Balaam said to Balak, ^a“Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come ^bto meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a desolate height.

4 ^aAnd God met Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”

5 Then the Lord ^aput a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

6 So he returned to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.

7 And he ^atook up his oracle and said:
“Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram,
From the mountains of the east.
^b‘Come, curse Jacob for me,
And come, ^cdenounce Israel!’

8 “How^a shall I curse whom God has not cursed?
And how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?

9 For from the top of the rocks I see him,
And from the hills I behold him;
There! ^aA people dwelling alone,
^bNot reckoning itself among the nations.

10 “Who^a can count the dust of Jacob,
Or number one-fourth of Israel?
Let me die ^bthe death of the righteous,
And let my end be like his!”

11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? ^aI took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them bountifully!”

12 So he answered and said, ^a“Must I not take heed to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?”

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Definitions of words in Numbers 23:1:

A {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

Balaam {Easton's Bible Dictionary}
Balaam {Hitchcock's Bible Names}
Balaam {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

Balak {Easton's Bible Dictionary}
Balak {Hitchcock's Bible Names}
Balak {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

For {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

Here {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

Seven {Easton's Bible Dictionary}
Seven {International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}

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