Numbers 22:37

And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

22:36-41 Balak has now nothing to complain of, but that Balaam did not come sooner. Balaam bids Balak not depend too much upon him. He seems to speak with vexation; but is really as desirous to please Balak, as ever he had pretended to be to please God. See what need we have to pray every day, Our Father which art in heaven, lead us not into temptation. Let us be jealous over our own hearts, seeing how far men may go in the knowledge of God, and yet come short of Divine grace.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Go with the men - A command, not a permission merely. Balaam, no longer a faithful servant of God, was henceforth overruled in all his acts so that he might subserve the divine purpose as an instrument.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

36, 37. when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him—Politeness requires that the higher the rank of the expected guest, greater distance is to be gone to welcome his arrival.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Balak said unto Balaam,.... Upon their meeting together:

did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? or "in sending send" (u); the first messengers in a very pressing manner, with great importunity, to give thee an invitation to come to me, and those men of rank and quality, with rewards of divination in their hands, and yet the invitation was rejected; and after them other messengers, more in number and greater in dignity, with larger offers and promises; and now indeed thou art come, but with much ado, what is the meaning of all this?

wherefore camest thou not unto me? at first, without showing so much indifference and reluctance, and which obliged me to send another message to thee:

am I not able to promote thee to honour? to give thee wealth and riches, and put thee into high places of honour and profit? hadst thou any doubt in thy mind about it, either concerning my ability or will to do it?

(u) "mittendo misi", Pagninus, Montanus.

Geneva Study Bible

And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honor?

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

37. to promote thee to honour] to honour thee; see on Numbers 22:17.

Numbers 22:37

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Reception of Balaam by the King of the Moabites. - Numbers 22:36, Numbers 22:37. As soon as Balak heard of Balaam's coming, he went to meet him at a city on the border of the Arnon, which flowed at the extreme (north) boundary (of the Moabitish territory), viz., at Areopolis (see at Numbers 21:15), probably the capital of the kingdom at one time, but now reduced to a frontier town, since Sihon the Amorite had taken all the land as far as the Arnon; whilst Rabbah, which was farther south, had been selected as the residence of the king. By coming as far as the frontier of his kingdom to meet the celebrated soothsayer, Balak intended to do him special honour. But he would not help receiving him with a gentle reproof for not having come at his first invitation, as if he, the king, had not been in a condition to honour him according to his merits.