The Elders Leave With Rewards In Their Hand To Persuade Balaam to Curse Israel (Numbers 22:7).
‘And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand, and they came to Balaam, and spoke to him the words of Balak.'
Certain Midianite princes, along with their tribes, who were now probably refugees in Moabite territory as a result of the defeat of Sihon in whose kingdom they had been settled (Joshua 13:21), were united with Moab in their evil intention against Israel (see also Numbers 22:4; Numbers 25:6; Numbers 25:17-18; Numbers 31:1-12). Their elders, chief men of the tribes, thus combined with the elders of Moab to seek out Balaam. And they took in their hands ‘the rewards of divination'. It may be that there was a recognised fee for such an action as Balaam was to be called on to perform. Or it may simply have been a large bribe. Then, when they arrived where Balaam was, they told him the words of Balak, which presumably included the fact that he wanted him to neutralise Yahweh's power.