Numbers 24:2

2 and lyfte vpp his eyes and loked apon Israel as he laye with his trybes and the spirite of God came apon 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 Balam sawe that it pleased ye Lorde that he shulde blesse Israel he went not as he dyd twyse before to fett sothsayenge but sett his face towarde ye wildernesse

2 and lyfte vpp his eyes and loked apon Israel as he laye with his trybes and the spirite of God came apon him.

3 And he toke vp his parable and sayed: Bala the sonne of Beor hath sayed

4 and the man whose eye is open hath sayed: he hath sayed which heareth the wordes of God and seeth the visions of the allmightie which falleth downe and his eyes are opened.

5 How goodly are the tentes of Iacob and thine habitacions Israel