Numbers 24:2 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

The spirit of God came upon him— That is, a prophetic influence from God, whereby his mind was inspired to see and foretel future events. Philo and others consider Balaam as merely passive in this affair, and that God moved his organs much in the same manner as he did those of the ass: but the state of his mind may, perhaps, be better understood, by saying in Homer's phrase, that he uttered these predictions, εκων αεκοντι δε θυμω; i.e. he was a voluntary agent, but overruled to speak contrary to his inclinations; for he would gladly have gratified Balak in cursing the Israelites, but he could not, or durst not, counteract the divine authority, which enjoined him to bless them. Neither is it any just exception against Balaam's being a true prophet, that he was a bad man: Saul was among the prophets. See the First Principle on Numbers 24:5 of chap. 22: The completion of his prophecies removes all objections that might arise from his character.