And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.
Build me here seven altars. Balak, being a heathen, would naturally suppose these altars were erected in honour of Baal, the patron deity of his country. It is evident from Numbers 23:4 that they were prepared for the worship of the true God, although in choosing the high places of Baal as their site, and rearing a number of altars (2 Kings 18:22; Isaiah 17:8; Jeremiah 11:13; Hosea 8:11; Hosea 10:1), instead of one only, as God had appointed, Balaam blended his own superstitions with the divine worship. The pagan, both in ancient and modern times, attached a mysterious virtue to the number seven; and Balaam, in ordering the preparation of so many altars, designed to mystify and delude the king.