Numbers 24:2

2 Bil'am raised his eyes and saw Isra'el encamped tribe by tribe. Then the Spirit of God came upon him,

Numbers 24:2 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 24:2

And Balaam lifted up his eyes
Being on Mount Peor:

and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes;
in that exact order in which they were directed to encamp under four standards, and so many tribes under each standard, ( Numbers 2:1-34 )

and the Spirit of God came upon him;
not in his grace but in his gifts; not as a spirit of sanctification, but as a spirit of prophecy, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan paraphrase it; and so sometimes the Spirit of God in this sense has come upon wicked men, as on Caiaphas and others, ( John 11:51 ) ( Matthew 7:22 Matthew 7:23 ) .

Numbers 24:2 In-Context

1 When Bil'am saw that it pleased ADONAI to bless Isra'el, he didn't go, as at the other times, to make use of divination, but looked out toward the desert.

2 Bil'am raised his eyes and saw Isra'el encamped tribe by tribe. Then the Spirit of God came upon him,

3 and he made his pronouncement: "This is the speech of Bil'am, son of B'or; the speech of the man whose eyes have been opened;

4 the speech of him who hears God's words; who sees what Shaddai sees, who has fallen, yet has open eyes:

5 "How lovely are your tents, Ya'akov; your encampments, Isra'el!