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Numbers 22:2

in Numbers 22

Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

KJV

And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

This verse in Numbers 22

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
Balak the son of Zippor - The comparison of Num 22:4 with Num 21:26 suggests that Balak was not the hereditary king but a Midianite, and that a change of dynasty had taken place. His father’s name, Zippor, “Bird,” reminds us of those of other Midianites, e. g., Oreb, “Crow,” Zeeb, “Wolf.” Possibly the Midianite chieftains had taken advantage of the weakness of the Moabites after the Amorite victories to establish themselves as princes in the land.

This site's exposition

pitched in the plains of Moab

on Numbers 22:1-3

The plains of Moab is the address for the whole rest of the book, from this verse to the last chapter, and every remaining law, census and ruling in Numbers is given from this camp. Israel sits beside Moab under a standing order not to touch it, which Deuteronomy 2:9 records as the command to distress not the Moabites nor contend with them in battle. Moab is sore afraid anyway, and the terror of a king whom Israel has been forbidden to attack is what starts the next three chapters.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

They needed not to fear any harm from them if they knew (and it is probable that Moses let them know) the orders God had given to Israel not to contend with the Moabites, nor to use any hostility against them, Deut. ii. But, if they had any notice of this, they were jealous that it was but a sham, to make them secure, that they might be the more easily conquered.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Balak--that is, "empty." Terrified (De 2:25; Ex 15:15) at the approach of so vast a multitude and not daring to encounter them in the field, he resolved to secure their destruction by other means.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

Bnei Yisroel traveled and camped in the western plains of Moav, across the Yardein from Yereicho.
Targum · Onkelos Numbers 22:1, via Sefaria, Metsudah Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009 [with Onkelos translation]

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיַּ֥רְאand he saw

    vaiyar'H72001300 times

  • בָּלָ֖קBalak

    balakH111143 times

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H11214930 times

  • צִפּ֑וֹרZippor

    tziporH68347 times

  • אֵ֛ת<obj.>

    ʾetH85310935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H36055413 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־that

    ʾasher-H8345497 times

  • עָשָׂ֥הit had done

    ʾasahH62132628 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael

    yisraelH34782507 times

  • לָֽאֱמֹרִֽי׃to the Amorite[s]

    laemoriH56787 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Judges 11:25

    Are you now so much better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them?

    it leads to

    • Micah 6:5

      My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”

    • Joshua 24:9–10

      Then Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you,

    • Deuteronomy 23:3–4

      No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation.

  • Through

    Numbers 21:3

    And the LORD heard Israel’s plea and delivered up the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their cities to destruction; so they named the place Hormah.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 14:45

      Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them all the way to Hormah.

    • Deuteronomy 1:44

      Then the Amorites who lived in the hills came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They routed you from Seir all the way to Hormah.

    • Psalms 91:15

      When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.

    • Psalms 102:17

      He will turn toward the prayer of the destitute; He will not despise their prayer.

    • 1 Samuel 30:30

      to those in Hormah, Bor-ashan, and Athach;

Where this verse is studied

About Numbers

An Angel Appears to Balaam — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
An Angel Appears to Balaam — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.