And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.
Took up his parable, х mªshaalow (H4912)] - i:e., spoke under the influence of inspiration, and in the highly poetical, figurative, and oracular style of a prophet.
Brought me from Aram. The Maashaal (H4912), or parable, arranged in parallelisms, will stand thus:
`From Aram Balak sent for me, The king of Moab from the mountains of the East.' (BALAK'S MESSAGE) `Come, curse for me Jacob,
And come, defy Israel!' (BALAAM'S ANSWER.) `How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? And how shall I defy, whom Yahweh hath not defied? For from the top of the rocks I see him,
And from hills I look after him: Behold, a people dwelling apart, And among the nations not reckoning itself. Who can count the dust of Jacob, And number even the fourth part of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous, And let my last end be like theirs.'
Aram, joined with "the mountains of the east," denotes the upper portion of Mesopotamia (cf. Genesis 25:6; Genesis 29:1), lying on the east of Moab (see the note at Numbers 22:5, where another locality-first suggested by Dr. Beke, 'Origines Biblicae'-is noticed). The East enjoyed an infamous notoriety for magicians and soothsayers (Isaiah 2:6).