Numbers 24:1 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness. He went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments - We have already had occasion to observe that the proper meaning of the word נחש nachash is not easily ascertained; see Numbers 21:9 (note), and Genesis 3:1 (note). Here the plural נחשים nechashim is rendered enchantments; but it probably means no more than the knowledge of future events. When Balaam saw that it pleased God to bless Israel, he therefore thought it unnecessary to apply for any farther prophetic declarations of God's will as he had done before, for he could safely infer every good to this people, from the evident disposition of God towards them.