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Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him.
He took up his parable, and said, “Balaam the son of Beor says, the man whose eyes are open says;
he says, who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, and having his eyes open:
Numbers 24:2-4 sits inside this longer paragraph.
When Balaam saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel, he didn’t go, as at the other times, to use divination, but he set his face toward the wilderness. Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him.
He took up his parable, and said, “Balaam the son of Beor says, the man whose eyes are open says;
he says, who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, and having his eyes open:
Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him.
He took up his parable, and said, “Balaam the son of Beor says, the man whose eyes are open says;
he says, who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, and having his eyes open:
And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.
And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:
He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:
And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling tribe by tribe; and the spirit of God came upon him.
And he took up his parable, and said: The saying of Balaam the son of Beor, and the saying of the man whose eye is opened;
The saying of him who heareth the words of God, who seeth the vision of the Almighty, fallen down, yet with opened eyes:
36 distinct cross-references across this passage (37 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv3–4 His eyes were shut up before in respect of…
His eyes were shut up before in respect of the clear visions which he saw after: some read, were open.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Num 24:2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and…
Num 24:2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding [in his tents] according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.
Ver. 2. And the spirit of God came upon him.] A common spirit, a spirit of prophecy: "Have not we prophesied in thy name?," {Mat 7:22} said those castaways. In impiis quandoque sunt dona Dei, sine Deo. God gives gifts to men, "yea to the rebellious," {Psa 68:18} for the use of his Church. A blind man may bear a torch in his hand, whereby others may receive benefit, though himself receive none; so here.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv2–4 According to their tribes; in the order appointed, Num…
According to their tribes; in the order appointed, Num 2.
Came upon him, i.e. inspired him to speak the following words, and so constrained him again to bless those whom he desired to curse.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–4 And Balaam lifted up his eyes,.... Being on Mount…
And Balaam lifted up his eyes,.... Being on Mount Peor:
and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; in that exact order in which they were directed to encamp under four standards, and so many tribes under each standard, Num 2:1.
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and the Spirit of God came upon him; not in his grace but in his gifts; not as a spirit of sanctification, but as a spirit of prophecy, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan paraphrase it; and so sometimes the Spirit of God in this sense has come upon wicked men, as on Caiaphas and others, Joh 11:51.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Came upon him - Inspired him to speak the…
Came upon him - Inspired him to speak the following words.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Verse 2. The Spirit of God came upon him.]…
Verse 2. The Spirit of God came upon him.] This Divine afflatus he had not expected on the present occasion, but God had not yet declared the whole of his will.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2, 4 Num 24:2-3. The Spirit of God came upon him…
Num 24:2-3. The Spirit of God came upon him — And is it likely that the Spirit of God would have come upon a sorcerer or enchanter? A prophetic influence from God came upon him, whereby he was enabled to foresee future events, and inspired to utter the following words: The man whose eyes are open — Some, confounding שׁתםshetum, with סתם, or שׂתםsetum, would translate the words, Whose eyes are or were shut, for which there does not seem to be sufficient authority. The Seventy render them, ο αληθινως ορων, seeing truly. His eyes indeed had been shut, and he had been blind and stupid, having eyes but not seeing, nor understanding; but God had opened them in a peculiar and prophetical manner. Hence the prophets were called seers, from God’s having opened their eyes.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Balaam gazed over the camp of Israel that stretched…
Balaam gazed over the camp of Israel that stretched before him, and allowed the spectacle to work its own influence upon him.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv3–4 Up. The same term only occurs again, (Lamentations iii.…
Up. The same term only occurs again, (Lamentations iii. 8,) where it may have the same sense, though the Septuagint &c., give it here a quite opposite meaning, "the man whose eyes are open," the prophet. But Balaam alludes to his not being able to see the angel as soon as his ass, as he does, ver. 4., and chap. xxii. 31. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–3 he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to…
he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes--that is, in the orderly distribution of the camp (Num. 2:1-34).
the spirit of God came upon him--Before the regular ministry of the prophets was instituted, God made use of various persons as the instruments through whom He revealed His will, and Balaam was one of these (Deu 23:5).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv2–4 2. The Spirit of God came upon him —…
2. The Spirit of God came upon him — The inlet of God into the soul is through the truth as a medium. The orderly aspect of the Hebrew camp encircling the tabernacle — the abode of Jehovah — signalized by the cloudy pillar, awakened faith in the mind of Balaam; not, indeed, a personal and saving trust in Jehovah, but a realization of the truth of his claims and of Israel’s election. This faith prepared Balaam for the incoming of the inspiring Spirit. This is not said of his two former speeches, which were put into his mouth without his being thrown into a state of ecstasy; but this utterance resembles the predictions of true prophets: the inner ear is opened to hear the voice of God, and the spiritual eye, purged by the Spirit of God, sees the substance of the revelation.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–4 3, 4. The opening triplet is as follows:
3, 4. The opening triplet is as follows:
The oracle of Balaam son of Beor.
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The oracle of the man whose eye is (?) closed.
The oracle of one that heareth the words of God.
The form of it should be compared with 2Sa_23:1, where the same word ‘oracle’ is used. The text appears to be corrupt. The word rendered ‘closed’ is very doubtful; and ‘opened’ (R.V. marg.) is no less questionable. With the former rendering the reference is to the eyes closed in a trance; with the latter, to the eyes of the mind opened to receive the vision.
3–9. Balaam’s first prophetic message. In its present form this consists of nine couplets and two triplets. But the text has undergone corruption, and perhaps there were originally eleven couplets.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–4 (2) Abiding in his tents . . . —i.e.,…
(2) Abiding in his tents . . . —i.e., encamped according to the order prescribed for the respective tribes. The cognate noun is rendered tabernacles in Num_24:5.
And the spirit of God came upon him.—In regard to the two former utterances, it is said that Jehovah put a word in the mouth of Balaam (Num_23:5; Num_23:15). In the present case the Spirit of God came upon (or, over) him. The same expression is used of the messengers of Saul (1Sa_19:20), and of Saul himself (Ibid, Num_24:23). The prophecy of Caiaphas (Joh_11:15) affords another instance of the sovereign power of the Spirit as displayed through the medium of wicked men.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv2–4 The spirit of God came upon him. This seems…
The spirit of God came upon him. This seems to intimate a higher state of inspiration than the expression, "God put a word into his mouth". (Num_23:5, Num_23:16)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v4 falling into
falling into
i.e. prostrated by the prophetic impulse. See, 1Sa 19:24; Eze 1:23; Dan 8:18; 2Co 12:2-4; Rev 1:10; Rev 1:17.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv2, 4 He raised his eyes
He raised his eyes
Here "raised his eyes" is an idiom that means to look up. AT: "He looked up" (See: Idiom)
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Spirit of God came on him
This mean's God's Spirit took control of him to prophesy.
He received this prophecy
This can be stated in active form. AT: "God gave him this prophecy" (See: Active or Passive)
Balaam son of Beor
Beor was Balaam's father. See how you translated this in Numbers 22:5.
whose eyes are wide open
This idiom means he sees and understands clearly. (See: Idiom)
translationWords
tribe
Holy Spirit
receive
prophet
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v3 24:3-9 The third oracle contains another description of God’s…
24:3-9 The third oracle contains another description of God’s plan to bless Israel.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.