The Book of Numbers (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament | NICOT)

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“The blessing itself is a prayer that God would grant his gracious presence and watchcare to his people.^{1” (Page 149)}

“The point of this whole story is that, in contrast to the important status of Balaam as a seer (see vv. 2–21), he is more blind to the presence of a messenger from Yahweh than his supposedly dumb beast. In his natural state (i.e., with ‘covered eyes’; see below on v. 31) Balaam was unaware of the reality of the spiritual world in spite of his professional reputation. This kind of statement would not be lost on an Israelite audience that might have been uncomfortable with a non-Israelite soothsayer being the vehicle of God’s word.” (Page 457)

“In v. 10b Moses comes to the nub of the matter—not being satisfied with the position to which God has called one, but wanting more for the sake of power and prestige. It is clear that the Levites’ call was to ministry or service of the people, not to power and position over them. This misunderstanding is near the heart of that which makes Korah’s rebellion so tragic: a misunderstanding of God’s call as to privilege and not to service.” (Page 309)

“The Israelites turned south in order to circumvent Edom, and on the way the exigencies of life in the desert once again caused them to complain. The section shows that, even in the face of victories such as that in 21:1–3, the Israelites’ basic character has not changed. They complain against both God and Moses because of a lack of acceptable water and food. Once more these people show themselves to be out of touch with reality as they long for Egypt and talk as if they had a choice about dying in the wilderness (cf. 11:4–6; 14:2–4; but see 14:33–35). In previous times complaints about food had brought a divine supply of their needs (11:4–35), but now the response of God is to send a scourge of fiery serpents that kills many people.” (Page 402)