And the Lord came unto Balaam at night
As before, ( Numbers 22:9 ) it may be in a dream; the Targum of Jonathan is as there,
``a word came from the Lord:''and said unto him, if the men come and call thee, rise up, and go with
they are come to call thee: but yet the word which I shall say unto
thee, that shall thou do;
whether he would or not, he should be forced to do it, as Jarchi; and therefore go not with any intention to curse Israel, which shall never be done; wherefore to go would be vain and fruitless, since he would never be able to answer the design of Balak: but still Balaam hoped, it not being so fully and clearly expressed as before, that he should not curse Israel; that God would say something else unto him, though he had no reason at all for it, but all the reverse; so blinded was he with a greedy desire of riches and honour.