Numbers 23:13

13 And Balak saith unto him, `Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, whence thou dost see it, only its extremity thou dost see, and all of it thou dost not see, and pierce it for me thence;'

Numbers 23:13 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 23:13

And Balak said unto him
Seemingly satisfied with his answer, however, he could not help himself, and was willing to make the best of him he could, and try what he could do with him another time and elsewhere:

come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest
see them;
for he had a mighty notion that both the sight of the people, and the place from whence they were seen, would greatly contribute to answer the end he had in view, cursing the people:

thou shall see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all;
for he thought, either that he was so charmed with so glorious a sight as the regular encampment of such a body of people was, that he could not find in his heart to curse them; or that he was so terrified at the sight of such a vast number of people, that he dared not attempt it; and therefore Balak proposed to have him to a place where he could only see a part of them and not the whole:

and curse me them from thence:
that part, hoping that when he had cursed them he would gradually go on till he had cursed them all: but there is this objection to our version, and the sense it directs to, that Balaam had been brought to a place already, where he had seen the utmost part of the people, ( Numbers 22:41 ) wherefore some read ^F8 the middle clause in a parenthesis, and in the past tense "(for thou hast seen but the utmost part of them, and hast not seen them all)"; and therefore would have him come to a place where he might see them all, and curse them from thence.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 So Vatablus.

Numbers 23:13 In-Context

11 And Balak saith unto Balaam, `What hast thou done to me? to pierce mine enemies I have taken thee -- and lo, thou hast certainly blessed;'

12 and he answereth and saith, `That which Jehovah doth put in my mouth -- it do I not take heed to speak?'

13 And Balak saith unto him, `Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, whence thou dost see it, only its extremity thou dost see, and all of it thou dost not see, and pierce it for me thence;'

14 and he taketh him [to] the field of Zophim, unto the top of Pisgah, and buildeth seven altars, and offereth a bullock and a ram on the altar

15 And he saith unto Balak, `Station thyself here by thy burnt-offering, and I -- I meet [Him] there;'