Numbers 23:27 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Numbers 23:27
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.
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Balaam
בִּלְעָ֔םbil.'Am
H1109
Bilam · proper noun, a man's name
Come
יָלַךְyâlak
H3212
to walk (literally or figuratively)
bring
אֶקָּ֣חֲךָ֔'e.Ka.cha.kha
H3947
to take (in the widest variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
another
אַחֵ֑ר'a.Cher
H312
properly · adjective, masculine singular absolute
place
מָק֖וֹםma.Kom
H4725
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
please
יִישַׁר֙yi.Shar
H3474
to be straight or even · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
God
הָאֱלֹהִ֔יםha.'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
curse
וְקַבֹּ֥תוֹve.ka.Bo.tov
H6895
to scoop out · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
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
Romans 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Numbers 23:13 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…
Numbers 23:19-20 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…
Job 23:13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Proverbs 19:21 There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.
Proverbs 21:30 There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.
Isaiah 14:27 For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
Isaiah 46:10-11 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Numbers 23:13–end
Here is, I. Preparation made the second time, as before, for the cursing of Israel. 1. The place is changed, Num 23:13. Balak fancied that Balaam, having so full a prospect of the whole camp of Israel, from the top of the rocks (Num 23:9), was either so enamoured with the beauty of it that he would not curse them or so affrighted with the terror of it that he durst not; and therefore he would bring him to another place, form which he might see only some part of them, which would appear more despicable, and that part at least which would lie in view he hoped he might obtain leave to curse, and so by degrees he should get ground against them, intending, no doubt, if he had gained this point, t…
All that the Lord speaketh, that I must do--a remarkable confession that he was divinely constrained to give utterances different from what it was his purpose and inclination to do.
John Gill on Numbers 23:27
And Balak said unto Balaam, come, I pray thee,.... Come along with me: I will bring thee unto another place: if not better for the view of the people, yet a more religious place, on which account the king hoped for success:
peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence; it may be God will give thee leave to curse the people from that place, being devoted to sacred service: this is the first time that Balak makes mention of the name of God; and he now seems to be satisfied that it was not Balaam's fault that he did not curse Israel, but that he was hindered by God, who would not suffer him to do it.
John Calvin on Numbers 23:26–end
But Balaam answered and said. The mercenary prophet here confesses that he has no more power of himself to be silent than to speak. Nor is there any doubt but that he would excuse himself with servility to the proud king, to whom he would willingly have sold himself; as if, in his desire to avert the odium and blame from himself, he would state that he was carried away against his will by the Divine afflatus. At the same time he throws back the blame on Balak himself, who, though warned in time, had still foolishly sent to fetch him. The rest I have already expounded.
Footnotes:
[153] "The seven stars, or Charles's wain." -- Ainsworth. "Sed ego quidem cum L. Aelio, et M. Varrone sentio, qu…
The Church Fathers
We now have in hand the third prophecy of those which the Word of God brought forth through Balaam, so that concerning it too we may discuss some things, as the Lord shall grant. For that unhappy Balak, supposing that what had been lacking to Balaam for cursing by divine leave was the favorable position of the place rather than the will, and judging it more advantageous if he changed the place, says, "Come and I will lead you to another place, if it please God, and you shall curse it from there." And Balak took Balaam himself to the top of Mount Peor, which looks out over the desert. Those indeed whom God calls, He sets upon the top of Mount Sinai; but this Balak, who is contrary to God, sets Balaam on the top of Mount Peor. Now Peor is interpreted "delight"; upon the top, therefore, of delight and lust this Balak sets men. For he is a lover of pleasure rather than of God, and therefore he places them on the summit and top of pleasure, that he may shut them out from God; for Balak is interpreted "one who shuts out" and "devouring." And so for this reason too Peor looks toward the wilderness, that is, toward those affairs which are wilderness and desert to God. And Balaam said to Balak, "Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven calves and seven rams." And Balak did as Balaam had told him, and he offered a calf and a ram upon the altar. The saying of the Apostle is indeed plain, when he says, "For the things which the nations sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God"; but the prophet likewise says, "They sacrificed to demons and not to God." Yet since the law of God also gives commandment concerning sacrifices and hands down the rite of sacrificing to the sons of Israel, perhaps it may be asked why these things, though they seem dedicated to demons, are also commanded to be offered to God. And there will indeed be a simple and ready answer: that just as in other matters we have shown that the giving of the bill of divorce was not of the will of God — who did not wish that which He had joined to be separated — but Moses wrote these things properly for the hardness of the heart of the Jews, so also concerning this it can be seen that God, as He says through another prophet, "does not eat the flesh of bulls nor drink the blood of goats," and likewise as it is written elsewhere, "For I gave no command there concerning sacrifices and victims…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Balaam's Last Words. - Num 23:25-30. Balak was not deterred, however, from making another attempt. At first, indeed, he exclaimed in indignation at these second sayings of Balaam: "Thou shalt neither curse it, nor even bless." The double גּם with לא signifies "neither - nor;" and the rendering, "if thou do not curse it, thou shalt not bless it," must be rejected as untenable. In his vexation at the second failure, he did not want to hear anything more from Balaam. But when he replied again, that he had told him at the very outset that he could do nothing but what God should say to him (cf. Num 22:38), he altered his mind, and resolved to conduct Balaam to another place with this hope: "perad…
Disappointed with Balaam’s blessing, Balak hoped that yet another change of location would produce different results. Though the location of Mount Peor is unknown, this place was probably near a worship site of Baal of Peor (cp. 25:3, 5) and the Beth-peor of Deut 3:29; 34:6, where Moses was buried.
Rashi on Numbers 23:27
וקבתי לי — This is not a command as is וקבנו (v. 13), but it is a future tense: perhaps it will seem right in His eyes that thou shalt curse them for me from there; malderas in O. F.
