Numbers 24:2

2 Balaam lift up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to its tribes, and the spirit of God was upon it.

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 And Balaam saw that {it pleased} Yahweh to bless Israel, and he did not go {as other times} {to seek out} sorcery; instead, he set his face toward the desert.

2 Balaam lift up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to its tribes, and the spirit of God was upon it.

3 He {uttered} his oracle and said, "The declaration of Balaam son Beor, the declaration of the man [whose] eyes are closed,

4 the declaration of the hearer of God's words, who sees the revelation of Shaddai, falling down but [whose] eyes are uncovered.

5 How good are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel!

Footnotes

• [a]. That is, Israel