Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:
Ver. 9. Then Balak … arose and warred against Israel.] He did not actually war against them. Jdg 11:25 Sed fieri dicitur quod tentatur aut intenditur, saith Ribera upon Amos 9:5. He did not, because he durst not. Howbeit, because he intended, if he could have compassed it, to fight with Israel, and prepared for that purpose, it is spoken of as a done thing. So Haman is said to have "laid his hands upon the Jews," because he attempted it; Est 8:7 and the Jews to have stoned Christ, because they could have found in their hearts to have done it. Joh 10:31-33
“Qui, quid non potuit, non facit, ille facit.”