Numbers 22:41

41 And on the morrow Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-ba'al; and from there he saw the nearest of the people.

Numbers 22:41 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 22:41

And it came to pass on the morrow
The day after the arrival of Balaam at Balak's royal seat, and after the entertainment given him, and the princes, "on the morning" F25 of that day, as the word signifies; and perhaps early in the morning, the king eager to be about business, and get the people of Israel cursed if possible as soon as could be:

that Balak took Balaam and brought him up into the high places of Baal;
where groves were planted, and altars erected to that "idol" and which the Targum of Jonathan calls the idol Peor, the same with Baalpeor, ( Numbers 25:3 ) which might be their god Chemosh, the same with Bacchus or Priapus:

that thence he might see the utmost part of the people;
the whole host of Israel, even to the extreme part of it; the camp of Dan, as the Targum of Jonathan, which brought up the rear; he had him to those high places, both that he might have a better view of the whole body of the people, and know how they lay, and to direct his curses at them, and that success might attend the undertaking, these being places of religious worship. Josephus says F26 those high places were sixty furlongs or seven and one half miles from the camp of Israel.


FOOTNOTES:

F25 (rqbb) in matutino, Montanus; mane, V. L. Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
F26 Antiqu. l. 4. c. 6. sect. 4.

Numbers 22:41 In-Context

39 Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kir'iath-hu'zoth.
40 And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam and to the princes who were with him.
41 And on the morrow Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-ba'al; and from there he saw the nearest of the people.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.