🔢WEB · Numbers 23:28
What does Numbers 23:28 mean?
"Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert."
— Numbers 23:28 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.”
But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that Yahweh speaks, that I must do?’”
Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”
Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert.
Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.
Explanation
Numbers 23:28 records a simple narrative detail: Balak, the king of Moab, brings the prophet Balaam to yet another high place — the top of Mount Peor — from which they can look out over the wilderness where the Israelites are camped. On the surface, it is just a geographical note, but within the larger story it carries real weight, because this is now the third mountain Balak has tried.
The context is essential to understanding why this verse matters. Balak, terrified of the vast nation of Israel approaching his territory after their exodus from Egypt, hires Balaam, a prophet with a reputation for effective blessings and curses, to curse Israel so that Moab might defeat them in battle. Balaam, however, insists repeatedly that he can only speak what God puts in his mouth. Twice already — first from Bamoth-baal (Numbers 22:41) and then from the top of P
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