Numbers 23:13-30

Balaam's Second Oracle

13 And Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there."

14 And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, ¹and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar

15 Balaam said to Balak, ²"Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD over there."

16 And the LORD met Balaam and ³put a word in his mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak."

17 And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, "What has the LORD spoken?"

18 And Balaam took up his discourse and said, "Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, O son of Zippor:

19 ⁴God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

20 Behold, I received a command to bless: ⁵he has blessed, and ⁶I cannot revoke it.

21 ⁷He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them.

22 ⁸God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like ⁹the horns of the wild ox.

23 For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no ¹⁰divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, ¹¹'What has God wrought!'

24 Behold, a people! ¹²As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself; ¹³it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain."

25 And Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all."

26 But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell you, ¹⁴'All that the LORD says, that I must do'?"

27 And Balak said to Balaam, ¹⁵"Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there."

28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of ¹⁶Peor, which overlooks ¹⁷the desert.^[a]

29 And Balaam said to Balak, ¹⁸"Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams."

30 ¹⁹And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Numbers 23:13-30 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 23

This chapter gives an account of the sacrifices offered by Balak and Balaam, and how God met Balsam, and put a word into his mouth, which he delivered in the presence of the king of Moab and his princes, Nu 23:1-7, the substance of which are, the separate state and condition of Israel from other nations, their number, and the happiness of the righteous at death, Nu 23:8-10, which made Balak uneasy, since instead of cursing he blessed Israel, and therefore he had him to another place to take a view of the people, Nu 23:11-13 where having offered sacrifices, another word was put into the mouth of Balaam, and which he also delivered before the king and his nobles, Nu 23:14-18, in which were expressed the unchangeableness of God, the irreversibleness of the blessing of Israel, the strength, safety, happiness, and glory of that people, Nu 23:19-24 which made Balak more uneasy still; but willing to try him a third time, he carried him to another place, and there built altars, and offered sacrifices, the consequence of which is related in the next chapter, Nu 23:25-30.

Cross References

• 1. ver. 1, 2
• 2. ver. 3
• 3. ver. 5, 12
• 4. 1 Samuel 15:29; Malachi 3:6; Romans 11:29; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18; James 1:17
• 5. Numbers 22:12; Genesis 12:2; Genesis 22:17
• 6. Numbers 22:18
• 7. [Jeremiah 50:20]
• 8. Numbers 24:8
• 9. Deuteronomy 33:17; Job 39:9-12; Psalms 22:21; Psalms 92:10
• 10. Numbers 22:7
• 11. Psalms 44:1
• 12. Genesis 49:9
• 13. Genesis 49:27
• 14. See Numbers 22:18
• 15. ver. 13
• 16. Numbers 25:18; Numbers 31:16; Joshua 22:17; Psalms 106:28, 29; Hosea 9:10; [Numbers 25:3, 5]
• 17. See Numbers 21:20
• 18. ver. 1
• 19. ver. 2

Footnotes

• [a]. Or Jeshimon