Numbers 23:28

Num 23:28 And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.

Ver. 28. Unto the top of Peor.] An idolatrous and therefore most unlikely place. {Deu 3:29}

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_23:28-30

Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor.

The wicked are wise in their kind to bring their wicked purposes to pass

We may observe by continual experience the nature of ungodly men. They are cunning in their kind; they watch their ways and times to fit them to work out their wicked devices. Balak knew well enough he was not able to meet the Israelites in the open field, and therefore dealeth otherwise. This is it which Stephen in his apology noteth (Act_7:19). Thus did Laban deal toward Jacob (Gen_31:1-2; Gen_31:41), changing his mind, revoking his bargains, altering his wages, murmuring at his prosperity, and changing his countenance toward him. This is noted also in the parable recorded (Luk_16:8). This we see by many examples. Ahithophels counsel was esteemed like as one who had asked counsel at the oracle of God, so were all his counsels both with David and with Absalom. The like we see in Herod when he heard of the birth of Christ, as of a new-born King, by the wise men. He pretendeth piety, but useth policy to destroy the babe our Saviour. The same we might observe in the scribes and Pharisees after the ascension of Christ. They spared no means to hinder the course of the gospel (Act_3:1-26; Act_4:1-37; Act_5:1-42.), but used sometimes fair means, sometimes threatenings, sometimes commandments to stop the mouths of the apostles. All which testimonies teach us that which the prophet Jeremiah saith (Jer_4:22) of the people in his time agreeable to the truth of this doctrine: They are wise to do evil, bat to do well they have no knowledge. The reasons follow.

1. They serve a cunning master, the author of all confusion, the contriver of all mischief, the worker of all wickedness, that old subtle serpent who worketh in all the children of disobedience (Eph_2:2).

2. God giveth even to wicked men wisdom and understanding, to magnify His mercy, who is good to all, and to aggravate their sin, who are made thereby without excuse (Rom_1:20-21). Now, the greater His goodness is toward them, the heavier shall His judgment and their punishment be (Luk_12:48). What is it that thou hast not received? And if thou hast received it, why dost thou not glorify Him of whom thou hast received it?

3. The enemies of God have knowledge, experience, foresight; they are as wise as serpents, as subtle as foxes, to the end God may use them as His rods in correcting His Church and in trying the faith of His people. So He proved the patience of the Israelites by Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and by the cunning and crafty fetches which they practised for their overthrow and destruction. So He tried Joseph and Mary by the dissimulation of Herod, by whom they were constrained to depart out of Judaea and to fly into the land of Egypt. The uses to be made of this doctrine are many.

(1) This should, on the other side, teach us to deal wisely and warily with them, lest we be snared and circumvented by them. We are set as upon a hill, we are placed as upon a stage. If we profess Christ Jesus, a small spot will be seen in our garment. It behoveth us, therefore, to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves, according to the counsel of our Saviour, to the end we may Stop the mouths of gainsayers. Their wisdom is joined with wickedness; our wisdom must be seasoned with godliness. Their policy is iniquity; with us policy and innocency must accompany together, and kiss one another. Their wisdom is a circumventing by laying of snares; our wisdom must be circumspect in avoiding snares. If we have this wariness mingled with true sincerity, and all our actions without dissimulation, it is both lawful and expedient to set wisdom against wisdom, and policy against policy, and care against care, and understanding against understanding, that so through their subtlety and our simplicity we be not taken in their traps which they have laid for us.

(2) It is our duty to pray to God to be delivered from them, and trust in Him for His help: He scattereth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot accomplish that which their hearts have enterprised--an excellent comfort to all the servants of God not to fear the high reaches and deep devices of their enemies.

(3) This serveth to reprove two sorts of men that esteem not aright of this worldly wisdom of wicked men; for some are offended at their wisdom because it is so great, others rest contented in it because it is so excellent. (W. Attersoll.)

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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Num 23:28. Unto the top of Peor — The most famous high-place in all the country of Moab, where, as Seiden conjectures, Baal had a temple, called Beth-peor, or the house of Peor, (Deu 3:29,) and was therefore named Baal-peor. Balak seems to have chosen this place in hope that, being the residence, as he fancied, of Baal, the god of Moab, the God of Israel would not or could not come thither to hinder the operation; or that, being a place acceptable to his god, it must be so to Jehovah, and that there he would be induced to favour their designs. Such are the idle conceits that foolish men have of the living and true God, and so vain are their imaginations concerning him! Thus the Syrians fancied Jehovah to be the God of the hills, but not of the valleys, (1Ki 20:28,) as if he were more powerful in one place than he is in every place! Here they repeat their expensive sacrifice of seven bullocks and seven rams, upon seven altars, although they had no promise on which to build their hopes of success. And shall we, who have many and faithful promises, from Him who cannot lie, that the vision at the end shall speak, not persevere to ask that we may receive the divine favour and blessing, and to seek that we may find them? Shall we not continue instant in prayer, without weariness or fainting, and by a patient continuance in well-doing, seek glory, honour, and immortality?

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

Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor--or, Beth-peor (Deu 3:29), the eminence on which a temple of Baal stood.

that looketh toward Jeshimon--the desert tract in the south of Palestine, on both sides of the Dead Sea.

Next: Numbers Chapter 24

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 28. Unto the top of Peor] Probably the place where the famous Baal-peor had his chief temple. He appears to have been the Priapus of the Moabites, and to have been worshipped with the same obscene and abominable rites.

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

(28) Unto the top of Peor.—Mount Peor was one peak of the northern part of the mountains of Abarim. It was nearer than the other heights to the camp of the Israelites. It looked toward, or over the face of Jeshimon, i.e., the waste (or, desert). See Num_21:20.

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

28. the top of the Peor &c.] An expression exactly parallel to that in Num_21:20 (see note). The site of ‘the Peor’ is unknown, but it was evidently in the neighbourhood of the Pisgah. And Beth-peor (Deu_3:29; Deu_4:46; Deu_34:6, Jos_13:20) cannot have been far distant, since it was evidently a sanctuary where the Baal or Lord of Peor (Num_25:3; Num_25:5) was worshipped. The LXX. equivalent for Peor is Phogôr; and Eusebius speaks of a mountain of that name opposite Jericho, and says that part of it was 7 miles from Heshbon. It should probably, therefore, be placed quite close to the Wady Ḥeshbân (see art. ‘Beth-Peor’ in Enc. Bibl. [Note: nc. Bibl. Encyclopaedia Biblica.] ).

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 Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor,.... The name of an high mountain in Moab, so called from a gap or opening in it; here the idol Baal was worshipped, and from hence had the name of Baalpeor, Num 25:3 and here, very probably, was a temple built to the honour of him, called Bethpeor, the house or temple of Baalpeor, Deu 34:6,

that looketh towards Jeshimon; as Pisgah also did, and very likely it was not far from it, since from thence they came hither, Num 23:14. Jeshimon is the same with Bethjesimoth, and so the Targum of Jonathan here calls it, a part of the plains of Moab, where Israel lay encamped, Num 33:49 so that from hence Balaam could have a full view of them.

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

The position of Peor northward from Pisgah, along the Abarim heights, is approximately determined by the extant notices of Beth-peor.

Jeshimon - was the waste, in the great valley below, where stood Beth-jeshimoth, “the house of the wastes.”

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

Phogor. Hebrew, "Pehor, which looketh towards Jeshimon, or the desert." This was a part of the same chain of the mountains Abarim, with Phasga, ver. 14. Balac foolishly supposed that in a different aspect, he might still obtain what he wanted; and the soothsayer was no less infatuated in following him. But he soon felt an internal monitor, who informed him, that he need not put himself to no farther trouble, in retiring alone, to prepare himself for the operation of the spirit. More glorious predictions in favour of Israel, presented themselves so forcibly, that he could hardly refrain, and durst no longer forbear proclaiming them aloud, chap xxiv. 1. (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).

Peor, a high place called Beth-peor, Deu 3:29, i.e. the house or temple of Peer, because there they worshipped Baal-peor.

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

28. No enchantment — Augury, or prediction of future events by observing the flights of birds and other phenomena.

Against Jacob… against Israel — Rather, In Jacob and in Israel. Divination was a pretended unveiling of the future by means of alleged manifestations of the Deity within the human mind. The Israelites, having the oracle of Jehovah and Jehovah himself, the fountain of revelation, constantly among them, had no need of the equivocal, uncertain, and deceitful auguries and divinations which misled the Gentile nations.

According to this time — Rather, at that time R.V., “Now shall it be said of Jacob and of Israel.”

What hath God wrought — Hence the infinite superiority of Judaism over paganism in respect to the certainty of religious knowledge.

28. Peor — Near to Beth-peor, a town of the Reubenites, (Jos_13:20, note,) was one of the northern peaks of Abarim. “This point answers admirably to Professor Paine’s Pisgah, Mount Siaghah.

Num_21:20, note. Either this or the second foreland, where are ruinous heaps, from both of which there is a near and distinct view of the plain from ‘Beth-jeshimon unto Abel-shittim,’ may be the top of Peor.” — Ridgaway.

Jeshimon — See Num_21:20, note.

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

Unto the top of Peer. On the meaning of Peer see on Num_25:3. This Peer was a summit of the Abarim ranges northwards from Pisgah, and nearer to the Israelites. The adjacent village, Beth-Peer, was near the place of Moses" burial. (Deu_34:6) From the phrase used in Deu_3:29 Deu_4:46, with which the testimony of Eusebius agrees, it must have lain almost opposite Jericho on the heights behind the Arboth Moab. From Peer, therefore, the whole encampment, in all its length and breadth, would lie beneath their gaze. Jeshi-men. See on Num_21:20.

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

Peor - An high place called Beth-peor, Deut. iii, 29. That is, the house or temple of Peor, because there they worshipped Baal- peor.

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

which looks down on the wilderness

It is understood that this wilderness was where Israel was camped. AT: "which looks down on the wilderness where Israel was" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

Peor

desert

altar

cow

ewe

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

ראש הפעור THE TOP OF PEOR — Balak was a great soothsayer and he foresaw that they would once be punished on account of Peor, but he knew not by what. He said: Perhaps the curse will fall upon them from there (be effective against them if pronounced there). So, too, all astrologers: they see something that will once happen but they know not exactly what they see (cf. Sotah 12b).

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.