18 And Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, If Balak give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the commandment of Jehovah my God, to do less or more.
If Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the commandment of Jehovah to do good or bad out of my heart: what Jehovah shall say, that will I speak?
And Micah said, As Jehovah liveth, even what Jehovah shall say to me, that will I speak.
And Balaam answered and said to Balak, Did I not tell thee, saying, All that Jehovah shall speak, that will I do?
And Balaam said to Balak, Lo, I am come to thee; but shall I now be able at all to say anything? the word that God puts in my mouth, that shall I speak.
And Peter said to him, Thy money go with thee to destruction, because thou hast thought that the gift of God can be obtained by money.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 22
Commentary on Numbers 22 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 22
At this chapter begins the famous story of Balak and Balaam, their attempt to curse Israel, and the baffling of that attempt; God's people are long afterwards told to remember what Balak the king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, that they might know the righteousness of the Lord, Mic. 6:5. In this chapter we have,
Num 22:1-14
The children of Israel have at length finished their wanderings in the wilderness, out of which they went up (ch. 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,
Num 22:15-21
We have here a second embassy sent to Balaam, to fetch him over to curse Israel. It were well for us if we were as earnest and constant in prosecuting a good work, notwithstanding disappointments, as Balak was in pursuing this ill design. The enemies of the church are restless and unwearied in their attempts against it; but he that sits in heaven laughs at them. Observe,
Num 22:22-35
We have here an account of the opposition God gave to Balaam in his journey towards Moab; probably the princes had gone before, or gone some other way, and Balaam had pointed out where he would meet them, or where they should stay for him, for we read nothing of them in this part of our narrative, only that Balaam, like a person of some quality, was attended with his two men-honour enough, one would think, for such a man, he needed not be beholden to Balak for promotion.
Num 22:36-41
We have here the meeting between Balak and Balaam, confederate enemies to God's Israel; but here they seem to differ in their expectations of the success.