Numbers 22:20 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. If the men come - go with them - This is a confirmation of what was observed on the twelfth verse; though we find his going was marked with the Divine displeasure, because he wished, for the sake of the honors and rewards, to fulfill as far as possible the will of the king of Moab. Mr. Shuckford observes that the pronoun הוא hu is sometimes used to denote a person's doing a thing out of his own head, without regard to the directions of another. Thus in the case of Balaam, when God had allowed him to go with the messengers of Balak, if they came in the morning to call him; because he was more hasty than he ought to have been, and went to them instead of staying till they should come to him, it was said of him, not כי הלך ki halach, that he went, but כי הולך הוא ki holech hu, i. e., he went of his own head - without being called; and in this, Mr. Shuckford supposes, his iniquity chiefly lay - Connex., vol. iii., p. 115. How many are restrained from sinning, merely through the fear of God! They would gladly do the evil, but it is forbidden on awful penalties; they wish the thing were not prohibited for they have a strong desire to do it.