Numbers 23:14

"Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you may see them. You shall see just part of them, and shall not see them all. Curse them from there for me.”"

Key Reflection

Balak's request asks Balaam to curse Israel but offers him a partial view, symbolizing the limited effectiveness of evil against God's people. This interaction foreshadows the ongoing struggle between blessing and cursing that runs throughout the biblical narrative, highlighting God’s protection over His chosen nation.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

The field of Zophim -Or, “of watchers.” It lay upon the top of Pisgah, north of the former station, and nearer to the Israelite camp; the greater part of which was, however, probably concealed from it by an intervening spur of the hill. Beyond the camp Balaam’s eye would pass on to the bed of the Jordan. It was perhaps a lion coming up in his strength from the swelling of that stream (compareJeremiah 49:19) that furnished him with the augury he awaited, and so dictated the final similitude of his next parable.

More from Numbers 23

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