Numbers 22:8

Num 22:8 And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the LORD shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.

Ver. 8. As the Lord shall speak unto me.] Good words and wishes may be found in hell’s mouth; as wholesome sugar may be found in a poisoned cane, and a stone of great virtue in the head of a toad. The French have a berry which they name Uve de spine, the grape of a thorn.

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.

Num 22:8. This night — The night was the time when God used to reveal his mind by dreams. As the Lord shall speak unto me — Hebrew, Jehovah, the true God. Though he was mercenary and addicted to superstitious rites, he might still have some revelations from the true God, even as Laban had, though he used teraphim, or idol gods, Gen 36:24-30. Thus, though termed a soothsayer, he here acknowledges the true God, by his incommunicable name Jehovah, and yet with that profession he both loved the wages of unrighteousness, 2Pe 2:15, and joined in offering sacrifices on the high places of Baal, Num 22:41, and Num 23:2. Some think that he mentioned Jehovah either for his own greater reputation, as if he consulted not with inferior spirits, but with the Supreme God; or rather, because Jehovah was Israel’s God, and the only possible way of ruining them was by engaging their God against them. Thus the Romans and other heathens, when they went to besiege any city, used enchantments, to call forth that god under whose peculiar protection it was supposed to be.

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

22:8 Stay here overnight: Balaam expected to receive a message from God at night (22:9, 19-20; cp. Job 4:12-16; Zech 1:8). • the Lord (Hebrew Yahweh): Balaam knew about Yahweh, the God of Israel, and expected a message from him as to what he could or could not do.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Whom before he called Elders: meaning the governors, and after calleth them servants: that is, subjects to their king.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the Lord shall speak unto me, &c.--God usually revealed His will in visions and dreams; and Balaam's birth and residence in Mesopotamia, where the remains of patriarchal religion still lingered, account for his knowledge of the true God. His real character has long been a subject of discussion. Some, judging from his language, have thought him a saint; others, looking to his conduct, have described him as an irreligious charlatan; and a third class consider him a novice in the faith, who had a fear of God, but who had not acquired power over his passions [HENGSTENBERG].

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 8. I will bring you word again, as the Lord shall speak] So it appears he knew the true God, and had been in the habit of consulting him, and receiving oracles from his mouth.

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

(8) Lodge here this night.—These words indicate the true character of Balaam. As a prophet of the Lord, he must have known that in seeking to curse the Israelites he was sinning against the Lord, who had chosen them for His own people.

As the Lord shall speak unto me.—It appears from this verse, as from Num_22:18-19, that the name of Jehovah was known to Balaam.

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

8. the princes of Moab] The verse appears to be from E . In Num_22:7 J describes them as the ‘elders of Moab.’

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.

And God came unto Balaam,.... In a dream very probably, as he did to Abimelech and Laban, Gen 20:3,

and said, what men are these with thee? who lodged with him that night. This he said, not as ignorant who they were, or from whence they came, or what they came about; but in order to lead on to a discourse with Balaam, and to have from him the account of the men, and their business, and to try his fidelity in relating the affair.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Balaam must surely have known that God’s blessing was on the people with whose marvelous march forth from Egypt he was acquainted Exo 15:14; Exo 18:1; Jos 2:9, and from whom he had himself probably learned much (compare the language of Num 23:12 with Gen 13:6, and that of Num 24:9 with Gen 49:9). But his reply to the messengers next morning Num 22:13, betrays the desire to venture to the utmost of that which God would not forbid rather than to carry out God’s will in hearty sincerity.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Night. He was accustomed to exercising his art by night; loving darkness, for his works were evil, John iii. 19. (Haydock)

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).

The night was the time when God used to reveal his mind by dreams. Here is the first discovery of his wickedness, that he hakes time to consider, and doth his endeavour to effect that wicked notion of cursing the Israelites, which he should have rejected and abhorred at the first mention of it.

As the Lord shall speak, Heb. Jehovah, the true God, whom he here mentions, either for his own greater reputation, as if he consulted not with inferior spirits, as other soothsayers did, but with the supreme God; or rather because this was Israel’s God, and the only possible way of ruining them was by engaging their God against them; as the known way of the Romans and other heathens, when they went to besiege any city, they used enchantments to call forth that god under whose peculiar protection they were.

The princes of Moab, and of Midian too, as is manifest from Num 22:7, which was needless to repeat here.

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

8. Lodge here this night — The night, when the external senses, in consequence of silence and darkness, were in a measure closed, was especially appropriate for a vision, the probable mode of the divine communication.

As the Lord shall speak — Balaam, in using the name Jehovah, the special and memorial name of Israel’s God, indicates that he is not a mere pagan juggler. He speaks like a Moses or a Paul. Yet some locate Balaam’s primal error at this point, that, knowing that Israel was the peculiar people of Jehovah, he did not promptly refuse to entertain the proposition of Balak and forthwith dismiss the messengers. But it is not certain that he had this knowledge of Israel’s relation to God.

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

Lodge here this night. It was therefore in the night, in a dream or in a vision, (cf. Gen_20:3 Num_12:6 Job_4:15, Job_4:16) that Balaam expected to receive some communication from God. If he had received none he would no doubt have felt himself free to go.

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

This night - The night was the time when God used to reveal his mind by dreams. The Lord - Hebrew. Jehovah, the true God, whom he here mentions, either for his own greater reputation, as if he consulted not with inferior spirits, but with the supreme God; or rather because this was Israel's God, and the only possible way of ruining them was by engaging their God against them: as the Roman and other Heathens, when they went to besiege any city, used enchantments to call forth that God under whose peculiar protection they were. Of Moab - And of Midian too.

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

לינו פה הלילה LODGE HERE THIS NIGHT — The Holy Spirit rested upon him only at night time, and similarly in the case of all the prophets of the heathen peoples, and similarly He revealed Himself to Laban in a dream at night, as it is said, (Genesis 31:24) “And God came to Laban in a dream of the night” — as a man who comes to his concubine furtively (cf. Leviticus Rabbah 1 13; Rashi on Job 12:4).

כאשר ידבר ה' אלי [AND I WILL GIVE YOU AN ANSWER] AS THE LORD SHALL SPEAK TO ME — If He advises me to go with people such as you I will go with you; but perhaps it is not compatible with His dignity to permit me to go except with princes greater than you.

וישבו — this is an expression for “remaining”, (they remained with Balaam).

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.