And Balak said unto him,.... Seemingly satisfied with his answer, however, he could not help himself, and was willing to make the best of him he could, and try what he could do with him another time and elsewhere:come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; for he had a mighty notion that both the sight of the people, and the place from whence they were seen, would greatly contribute to answer the end he had in view, cursing the people:thou shall see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all; for he thought, either that he was so charmed with so glorious a sight as the regular encampment of such a body of people was, that he could not find in his heart to curse them; or that he was so terrified at the sight of such a vast number of people, that he dared not attempt it; and therefore Balak proposed to have him to a place where he could only see a part of them and not the whole:and curse me them from thence: that part, hoping that when he had cursed them he would gradually go on till he had cursed them all: but there is this objection to our version, and the sense it directs to, that Balaam had been brought to a place already, where he had seen the utmost part of the people, Nu 22:41 wherefore some read the middle clause in a parenthesis, and in the past tense "(for thou hast seen but the utmost part of them, and hast not seen them all)"; and therefore would have him come to a place where he might see them all, and curse them from thence.
Bible Commentary
Numbers 23:13
Numbers 23:13
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible · John Gill (1697–1771) · Public Domain
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Numbers 23 — OverviewNumbers 23 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleIn this chapter we have Balak and Balaam busy at work to do Israel a
mischief, and, for ought that appears, neither Moses nor the elders of
Israel know any thing of the matter, nor are in a capacity to break the…Numbers 23 — OverviewNumbers 23 · Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeNumbers 23:1, Balak’s sacrifices; Numbers 23:7, Balaam’s parables; Numbers 23:13, Balak’s sacrifices; Numbers 23:18, Balaam’s parables; Numbers 23:25, Balak’s sacrifices.Numbers 23 — OverviewNumbers 23 · John Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleThis chapter gives an account of the sacrifices offered by Balak and Balaam, and how God met Balsam, and put a word into his mouth, which he delivered in the presence of the king of Moab and his princes, Nu 23:1, the…Numbers 23:13-17Numbers 23:13-17 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleHere is, I. Preparation made the second time, as before, for the
cursing of Israel. 1. The place is changed, v. 13. Balak fancied that
Balaam, having so full a prospect of the whole camp of Israel, from the
top…Numbers 23:13Numbers 23:13 · The Pulpit CommentaryCome … unto another place. Balak attributed the miscarriage of his enterprise thus far to something inauspicious in the locality. Thou shalt see but the utmost part of them. אֶפֶס קָצֶהוּ תִרְאֶה. Both the meaning of…Numbers 23:13Numbers 23:13 · Treasury of Scripture Knowledgeunto: 1 Kings 20:23, 1 Kings 20:28; Micah 6:5
utmost: Numbers 22:41
and curse me: Joshua 24:9; Psalms 109:17; James 3:9-10
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