Numbers 22:40

Num 22:40. Sent to Balaam, and to the princes, &c. — Either to invite them to partake of the feast upon the sacrifice, or, having sacrificed, he sent portions of the sacred banquet to him, and the princes whom he had left to attend him. Balaam, who professed to be a worshipper of the true God, was very blame-worthy in partaking of meat offered to idols.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Balak offered oxen and sheep--made preparations for a grand entertainment to Balaam and the princes of Midian.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 40. And Balak offered oxen, &c.] This was to gain the favour of his gods, and perhaps to propitiate Jehovah, that the end for which he had sent for Balaam might be accomplished.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(40) And Balak offered . . . —Better, and Balak slew (or, slaughtered in sacrifice), &c. The word rendered offered does not necessarily denote anything more than to slay. It is very commonly used, however, to denote slaying in sacrifice; and it is most probable that Balak made a sacrificial feast, and sent portions of the flesh to Balaam and the princes who were with him. Kings not unfrequently acted as priests of old, as, e.g., Melchizedek. (Comp. Rex Anius, rex idem hominum Phoebique sacerdos, Aen. 3:80.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

40. and sent to Balaam &c.] When the animals had been slaughtered for sacrifice, Balak caused portions of the flesh to be brought to Balaam and the Moabite princes who had accompanied him. Cf. 1Sa_9:23 f.

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.

With him. Only two servants were mentioned, (ver. 22,) and the princes sent by Balac, ver. 15. Perhaps others from Mesopotamia might attend Balaam. (Haydock) --- The king sent parts of the victims to all. (Chaldean)

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).

Or, killed, either for sacrifice, or rather for a feast; for the sacrifices were offered after this, Num 23:1,2.

Sent to Balaam, to invite him to the feast. The king had left the princes to accompany him and attend upon him.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

40. Balak offered oxen and sheep — These clean animals indicate that the king offered a propitiatory sacrifice to Jehovah, the God of Balaam, for the favourable issue of their undertaking. And sent to Balaam portions of the offerings as a pledge of honours soon to be bestowed. “All things have this aim, that Balaam, befooled by flatterers, should be ashamed to deny any thing to a king so magnificent, by whom he had been treated not only in a friendly but in a princely manner.” — Calvin.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Balak offered oxen and sheep. Probably these sacrifices were offered not to Chemosh, but to the Lord, in whose name Balaam always spoke. Indeed the known fact that Beldam was a prophet of the Lord was no doubt one of Balak"s chief reasons for wishing to obtain his services. Balak shared the common opinion of antiquity, that the various national deities were enabled by circumstances past human understanding to do sometimes more, sometimes less, for their special votaries. He perceived that the God of Israel was likely, as things stood, to carry all before him; but he thought that he might by judicious management be won over, at least to some extent, to desert the cause of Israel and to favour that of Moab. To this end he "retained" at great cost the services of Balaam, the prophet of the Lord, and to this end he was willing to offer any number of sacrifices. Even the resolute and self-reliant Romans believed in the wisdom of such a policy. Thus Pliny quotes ancient authors as affirming "in oppugnationibus ante omnia solitum a Romanis sacrdotibus evocari Deum, cujus in tutela id oppidum esset, promittique illi eundem aut ampliorem apud Romanos cultum," and he adds, "durat in Pontificum disciplina id sacrum, constatque ideo occultatum, in cujus Dei tutela Roma esset, ne qui hostium simili modo agerent." And sent, i.e., portions of the sacrificial meats.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The princes - Whom the king had left to attend him.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

בקר וצאן THE HERD AND FLOCK — a small matter (one ox and one sheep, nothing in comparison with what he had promised him) (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 11).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.