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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge: Numbers 23

Chapter 23

And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.

Build me

29 Ezekiel 33:31 Jude 1:11

seven altars

Exodus 20:24 27:1-8 1 Samuel 15:22 2 Kings 18:22 Psalms 50:8,9 Proverbs 15:8 Isaiah 1:11-15 Matthew 23:14

seven oxen

29:32 1 Chronicles 15:26 2 Chronicles 29:21 Job 42:8 Ezekiel 45:23

And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.

offered

14,30

And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.

Stand

burnt

Genesis 8:20 22:2,7,8,13 Exodus 18:12 Leviticus 1:1

peradventure

15 22:8,9,31-35 24:1

went to an high place

or, went solitary.

And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.

God

16 22:9,20

I have prepared

1 Isaiah 58:3,4 Matthew 20:12 Luke 18:12 John 16:2 Romans 3:27 Ephesians 2:9

And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.

16 22:35 Deuteronomy 18:18 Proverbs 16:1,9 Isaiah 51:16 59:21 Jeremiah 1:9 Luke 12:12 John 11:51

And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.

he took

18 24:3,15,23 Job 27:1 29:1 Psalms 78:2 Ezekiel 17:2 20:49 Micah 2:4 Habakkuk 2:6 Matthew 13:33,35 Mark 12:12

parable

The word mashal, which as a verb is to rule, have authority, and also to compare, as a noun signifies whatever is expressed in parabolic or figurative language. All these oracular speeches of Balaam are in hemistich metre in the original. They are highly dignified and sublime; and may be considered as immediate poetic productions of the Spirit of God. (ch. 24:2.)

Aram

22:5 Genesis 10:22 28:2,7 Deuteronomy 23:4

Come

22:6,11,17 Proverbs 26:2

defy Israel

1 Samuel 17:10,25,26,36,45 2 Samuel 21:21 23:9

How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?

20,23 Isaiah 44:25 47:12,13

For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

the people

They shall ever be a distinct nation. This prophecy has been literally fulfilled, through a period of 3,300 years, to the present day.

dwell alone

Exodus 19:5,6 33:16 Deuteronomy 33:28 Esther 3:8 2 Corinthians 6:17 Titus 2:14 1 Peter 2:9

shall not

Deuteronomy 32:8 Ezra 9:2 Jeremiah 46:28 Amos 9:9 Romans 15:8-10 Ephesians 2:12-14

Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!

can count

Genesis 13:16 22:17 28:14

the dust

i.e., The posterity of Jacob, which was to be so numerous as to resemble the dust.

the fourth

2:9,16,24,31

me

Heb. my soul, or, my life. the death.

Psalms 37:37 116:15 Proverbs 14:32 Isaiah 57:1,2 Luke 2:29,30 1 Corinthians 3:21,22 1 Corinthians 15:53-57 2 Corinthians 5:1 Philippians 1:21-23 2 Timothy 4:6-8 2 Peter 1:13-15 Revelation 14:13

And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.

7,8 22:11,17 24:10 Psalms 109:17-20

And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?

20,26 22:38 24:13 Proverbs 26:25 Romans 16:18 Titus 1:16

And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.

unto

1 Kings 20:23,28 Micah 6:5

utmost

22:41

and curse me

Joshua 24:9 Psalms 109:17 James 3:9,10

And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.

Pisgah

or, the hill.

21:20 Deuteronomy 3:27 *marg:; Deuteronomy 4:49 34:1 *marg:

built seven

1,2,29 Isaiah 1:10,11 46:6 Hosea 12:11

And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.

3 22:8

And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.

5 22:35 24:1

And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken?

What

26 1 Samuel 3:17 Jeremiah 37:17

And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:

Rise up

Judges 3:20

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

God

1 Samuel 15:29 Psalms 89:35 Habakkuk 2:3 Malachi 3:6 Luke 21:33 Romans 11:29 Titus 1:2 Hebrews 6:18 James 1:17

or hath he

1 Chronicles 17:17 Micah 7:20

Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

he hath

22:12 Genesis 12:2 22:17

I cannot

22:18,38 John 10:27-29 Romans 8:38,39 1 Peter 1:5

He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.

hath not

Psalms 103:12 Isaiah 1:18 38:17 Jeremiah 50:20 Hosea 14:2-4 Micah 7:18-20 Romans 4:7,8 6:14 8:1 2 Corinthians 5:19

the Lord

Exodus 13:21 29:45,46 33:14-16 34:9 Judges 6:13 2 Chronicles 13:12 Psalms 23:4 Psalms 46:7,11 Isaiah 8:10 12:6 41:10 Ezekiel 48:35 Matthew 1:23 2 Corinthians 6:16

the shout

Psalms 47:5-7 89:15,18 97:1 118:15 Isaiah 33:22 Luke 19:37,38 2 Corinthians 2:14

God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.

God

22:5 24:8 Exodus 9:16 14:18 20:2 Psalms 68:35

the strength

Deuteronomy 33:17 Job 39:10,11 Psalms 22:21

unicorn

The reaim, most probably denotes the rhinoceros, so called from the horn on its nose. In size he is only exceeded by the elephant; and in strength and power inferior to none. He is at least twelve feet in length, from the snout to the tail; six or seven feet in height; and the circumference of the body is nearly equal to his length. He is particularly distinguished from all other animals by the remarkable and offensive weapon he carries on his nose; which is very hard horn, solid throughout, directed forward. He principally feeds upon large succulent plants, prickly shrubs, and branches; and delights in marshy places.

Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!

no enchantment

22:6 24:1 Genesis 3:15 Matthew 12:25,27 16:18 Luke 10:18,19 Romans 16:20 Revelation 12:9

against

or, in. according.

Psalms 44:1-3 136:13-20 Isaiah 63:9-12 Daniel 9:15 Micah 6:4,5 7:15

What hath

Psalms 31:19 64:9 126:2,3 Isaiah 41:4 John 11:47 Acts 4:16 5:12,14 Acts 10:38 15:12 Galatians 1:23,24 1 Thessalonians 1:8,9

Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

as a great

24:8,9 Genesis 49:9 Deuteronomy 33:20 Psalms 17:12 Proverbs 30:30 Isaiah 31:4 Amos 3:8 Revelation 5:5

he shall

24:17 Genesis 49:27 Daniel 2:44 Micah 5:8,9 Zechariah 10:4,5 12:6 Revelation 19:11-21

And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.

Psalms 2:1-3

But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?

12,13 22:18,38 24:12,13 1 Kings 22:14 2 Chronicles 18:13 Acts 4:19,20 5:29

And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.

Come

peradventure

19,20 Job 23:13 Proverbs 19:21 21:30 Isaiah 14:27 46:10,11 Malachi 3:6 Romans 11:29

And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.

Jeshimon

21:20

And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.

1,2

And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.