appear as yet amiss in his conduct. His answer being reported to
the king of Moab, a more honourable embassy is immediately
despatched, and greater rewards proposed. Then the iniquity of his
heart began to disclose itself. A thorough honest man would without
hesitation have repeated his former answer, that he could not be
guilty of so infamous a prostitution of the sacred character with
which he was invested, as in the name of a prophet to curse those
whom he knew to be blessed. But instead of this, which was the only
honest part in these circumstances that lay before him, he desires
the princes of Moab to tarry that night with him also; and for the
sake of the reward deliberates, whether by some means or other he
might not be able to obtain leave to curse Israel; to do that, which
had been before revealed to him to be contrary to the will of God,
which yet he resolves not to do without that permission. Upon
which, as when this nation afterwards rejected God from reigning
over them, He gave them a king in His anger; in the same way, as
appears from other parts of the narration, He gives Balaam the
permission he desired: for this is the most natural sense of the
words. Arriving in the territories of Moab, and being received with
particular distinction by the king, and he repeating in person the
promise of the rewards he had before made to him by his ambassadors,
he seeks, the text says, by SACRIFICES and ENCHANTMENTS (what these
were is not to our purpose), to obtain leave of God to curse the
people; keeping still his resolution, not to do it without that
permission: which not being able to obtain, he had such regard to
the command of God as to keep this resolution to the last. The
supposition of his being under a supernatural restraint is a mere
fiction of Philo: he is plainly represented to be under no other
force or restraint than the fear of God. However, he goes on
persevering in that endeavour, after he had declared that God had