The people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned. Rather, "It is a people that dwelleth apart, and is not numbered." It was not the outward isolation on which his eye was fixed, for that indeed was only temporary and accidental, but the religious and moral separateness of Israel as the chosen people of God, which was the very secret of their national greatness.
Bible Commentary
Numbers 23:9
Numbers 23:9
The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public Domain
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Numbers 23 — OverviewNumbers 23 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleIn this chapter we have Balak and Balaam busy at work to do Israel a
mischief, and, for ought that appears, neither Moses nor the elders of
Israel know any thing of the matter, nor are in a capacity to break the…Numbers 23 — OverviewNumbers 23 · Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeNumbers 23:1, Balak’s sacrifices; Numbers 23:7, Balaam’s parables; Numbers 23:13, Balak’s sacrifices; Numbers 23:18, Balaam’s parables; Numbers 23:25, Balak’s sacrifices.Numbers 23 — OverviewNumbers 23 · John Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleThis chapter gives an account of the sacrifices offered by Balak and Balaam, and how God met Balsam, and put a word into his mouth, which he delivered in the presence of the king of Moab and his princes, Nu 23:1, the…Numbers 23:9Numbers 23:9 · Treasury of Scripture Knowledgethe people: They shall ever be a distinct nation. This prophecy has been literally fulfilled, through a period of 3,300 years, to the present day.
dwell alone: Exodus 19:5-6, Exodus 33:16; Deuteronomy 33:28; Esther…Numbers 23:9Numbers 23:9 · John Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleFor from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him,.... That is, Israel in their camps; Balaam being at this time on the top of a rock, or on an high hill, from whence he had a view of Israel,…