Bible Strands
Numbers 22:7
The elders of Moab and Midian departed with the fees for divination in hand. They came to Balaam and relayed to him the words of Balak.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The elders of Moab and Midian arrive at Balaam’s location to deliver Balak’s request for a curse against Israel. They carry payment for divination after receiving Balak’s promise that Balaam’s blessing or cursing would determine the military outcome.
The words — The text highlights וּ/קְסָמִים (u./ke.sa.Mim), meaning "divinations," and בְּ/יָדָ֑/ם (be./ya.Da/m), meaning "in their hand," to describe the fees the messengers physically carry. These terms mark the encounter as a paid divinatory transaction rather than a spontaneous prophetic commission.
The thread — This practice of purchasing spiritual services appears in Micah 3:11, where leaders judge for a bribe, priests teach for a price, and prophets practice divination for money. The motif of corrupted spiritual commerce contrasts with Numbers 23:23, which declares no divination exists against Jacob or Israel.
Why it lands — The verse records a concrete attempt by political power to purchase spiritual authority through hired intermediaries. It requires the reader to recognize that divine declarations are not commodities to be acquired through financial exchange.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 9:7 “If we do go,” Saul replied, “what can we give the man? For the bread in our packs is gone, and there is no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?”
- Micah 3:11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”
- Numbers 23:23 For there is no spell against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What great things God has done!’
- Numbers 24:1 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not seek omens as on previous occasions, but he turned his face toward the wilderness.
- Isaiah 56:11 Like ravenous dogs, they are never satisfied. They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain:
- Ezekiel 13:19 You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared those who should not have lived.
- Romans 16:18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
- 1 Timothy 6:9 Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
- Titus 1:11 who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not.
- 2 Peter 2:15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.