Numbers 22:4 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Numbers 22:4
And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.
to lick · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
about
סְבִ֣יבֹתֵ֔ינוּse.Vi.vo.Tei.nu
H5439
(as noun) a circle · noun, common both genders plural construct + pronominal suffix
ox
הַשּׁ֔וֹרha.Shor
H7794
a bullock (as a traveller) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
up
כִּלְחֹ֣ךְkil.Chokh
H3897
to lick · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
grass
יֶ֣רֶקYe.rek
H3418
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
field
הַשָּׂדֶ֑הha.sa.Deh
H7704
a field (as flat) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Balak
וּבָלָ֧קu.va.Lak
H1111
Balak · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶּןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Zippor
צִפּ֛וֹרtzi.Por
H6834
Tsippor · proper noun, a man's name
king
מֶ֥לֶךְMe.lekh
H4428
a king · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Moabites
לְמוֹאָ֖בle.mo.'Av
H4124
Moab · preposition + proper noun, a place name
time
בָּעֵ֥תba.'Et
H6256
time · preposition with the article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Numbers 25:15-18 And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midi…
Numbers 31:8 And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings o…
Numbers 22:2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
Numbers 22:7 And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake…
Numbers 24:17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel…
Joshua 13:21-22 And all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses smote with the prin…
Judges 11:25 And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight agains…
Jeremiah 48:38 There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherei…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Numbers 22:1-14
The children of Israel have at length finished their wanderings in the wilderness, out of which they went up (Num 21:18), and are now encamped in the plains of Moab near Jordan, where they continued till they passed through Jordan under Joshua, after the death of Moses. Now we have here,
I. The fright which the Moabites were in upon the approach of Israel, Num 22:2-4. They needed not to fear any harm from them if they knew (and it is probable that Moses let them know) the orders God had given to Israel not to contend with the Moabites, nor to use any hostility against them, Deu 2:9. But, if they had any notice of this, they were jealous that it was but a sham, to make them secure, that they…
elders of Midian--called kings (Num 31:8) and princes (Jos 13:21). The Midianites, a distinct people on the southern frontier of Moab, united with them as confederates against Israel, their common enemy.
John Gill on Numbers 22:4
And Moab said unto the elders of Midian,.... Whom the king of Moab sent for to consult with what to do in the present case, for the good and safety of both people; for, according to the Targum of Jonathan, they were one people and one kingdom unto this time, at least had been confederates, by what is said Genesis 36:35 though Jarchi thinks there was always a mutual hatred of each other, and that Midian now came against Moab to war, but for fear of Israel a peace was made between them, just as it was with Herod and Pontius Pilate in another case, Luke 23:12, however, they were friends as well as neighbours now; and by which it appears, that this Midian was not that where Jethro lived, which w…
And the children, of Israel set forward. This narrative contains many circumstances worthy of record: First, it shews that there is no stone which Satan does not turn for the destruction of the Church, and that, after he has assailed her in vain by force of arms, he attacks her by snares and secret artifices, whilst the ungodly also work under his impulse, as far as they are able, to overthrow her by deceit, and to make the promises of God, and His unchangeable decree for the preservation of the Church which He has chosen, of none effect. But God shews, on the other hand, that He so watches over His own, as to turn to their salvation whatever plots their enemies may devise for their destruct…
The Church Fathers
But that you may know that the king thought something of this sort, understand it from the words of Scripture, which I learned expounded by a certain teacher who had come to believe from among the Hebrews. It is written thus: "And Moab said to the elders of Midian: now this assembly will lick up all who are round about us, as the calf licks up the grass of the field." That teacher, then, who had come to believe from among the Hebrews, would say: why, he says, did he use such an example, saying: as the calf licks up the grass of the field? For this reason, without doubt, because the calf breaks off the grass from the field with its mouth and with its tongue, as with a sickle, cuts whatever it finds; so also this people, like a calf, fights with mouth and lips and has its arms in words and prayers. Knowing this, therefore, the king sends to Balaam, that he too may deliver words contrary to words and prayers against prayers. And do not wonder if there is something of this sort in the magical art; for Scripture too indicates that this art exists, but forbids the use of it. For Scripture indicates also that demons exist, but forbids that they be worshipped and entreated. Rightly, then, it also forbids the use of magic, because the ministers of magicians are apostate angels and malign spirits and unclean demons; for none of the holy spirits obeys a magician. A magician cannot invoke Michael, he cannot invoke Raphael nor Gabriel; much more can a magician not invoke Almighty God nor his Son Jesus Christ our Lord nor his Holy Spirit. We alone have received the power of invoking God the Father; we alone have the power of invoking his only-begotten Jesus Christ. But this is what I say: he who has now received the power of invoking Christ cannot again invoke demons, and he who has been made a partaker of the Holy Spirit ought not further to summon unclean spirits; for if he invokes unclean spirits, the Holy Spirit flees from him. They are magicians who invoke Beelzebul. In fact, that people knew this, and therefore, lying against my Lord Jesus and saying false things, they said: "this man casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons." But the Savior, knowing that it is indeed true that a certain Beelzebul is prince of demons, did not in this convict them of falsehood, but answered them: "if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out?"…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Balak — Empty; spoiler, a son of Zippor, and king of the Moabites (Num. 22:2, 4). From fear of the Israelites, who were encamped near the confines of his territory, he applied to Balaam (q.v.) to curse them;…
Midianite — An Arabian tribe descended from Midian. They inhabited principally the desert north of the peninsula of Arabia. The peninsula of Sinai was the pasture-ground for their flocks. They were virtually the…
Moab — The seed of the father, or, according to others, the desirable land, the eldest son of Lot (Gen. 19:37), of incestuous birth. (2.) Used to denote the people of Moab (Num. 22:3-14; Judg. 3:30; 2 Sam.…
Moabite — The designation of a tribe descended from Moab, the son of Lot (Gen. 19:37). From Zoar, the cradle of this tribe, on the south-eastern border of the Dead Sea, they gradually spread over the region on…
Zippor — A little bird, the father of Balak, king of Moab (Num. 22:2, 4).
Balak · King of Moab — King of Moab
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Caused universal terror and dismay — Caused universal terror and dismay
Grass · Called: Grass of the field — Called: Grass of the field
Herbs, & C · Mentioned in scripture: Grass — Mentioned in scripture: Grass
Midianites · Dwelt east of Jordan, beside Moab — Dwelt east of Jordan, beside Moab
Moabites · Balak was king of — Balak was king of
Ox, The · Rapid manner of collecting its food alluded to
The rapid defeat of the two mighty kings of the Amorites filled the Moabites with such alarm at the irresistible might of Israel, that Balak their king, with the princes of Midian, sought to bring the powers of heathen magic to bear against the nation of God; and to this end he sent messengers with presents to Balaam, the celebrated soothsayer, in Mesopotamia, who had the reputation of being able both to bless and curse with great success, to entreat him to come, and so to weaken the Israelites with his magical curses, that he might be able to smite them, and drive them out of his land (Num 22:1-7). At first Balaam declined this invitation, in consequence of divine instructions (Num 22:8-14)…
Midian: This desert people was descended from Abraham (Gen 25:1-2; Exod 2:15-16). Their alliance with Moab was the beginning of their conflicts with Israel (Num 22:7; see 25:6, 14-18; 31:2-10; Judg 6–8).
Rashi on Numbers 22:4
אל זקני מדין AND MOAB SAID] TO THE ELDERS OF MIDIAN But did not these (Moab and Midian) always hate one another, just as is stated, (Genesis 36:35) “who had smitten Midian in the country of Moab”, from which it is evident that Midian had come against Moab in war? But out of fear of Israel they now made peace between themselves (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 3; cf. Sanhedrin 105a). And what induced Moab to take counsel of Midian? When they saw that Israel was victorious in a supernatural manner they said: the leader of these people grew up in Midian; let us ask them what is his chief characteristic. They replied to them; “His power lies only in his mouth (in prayer)”. Whereupon they said: “Then we…
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
