John Calvin Commentary Numbers 23:13

"And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence." — Numbers 23:13 (ASV)

And Balak said to him. Balak acted as almost all superstitious people usually do. For, since nothing is certain or established with them, they are carried about from one speculation to another and try one expedient after another.

They especially imagine that there is some magical power in sight, as if the eyes contributed partly to the efficacy of their incantations. It appears from secular writers that it was formerly a commonly held opinion that the enchanter's gaze greatly affected his art.

Balak, therefore, moves his sorcerer to another place, so that he might better exercise his divinations there. There is some ambiguity in the words.

Some interpret them this way: “Come to another place, that you may see from there,¹⁶⁰ you may see a part, and not the whole,” as if Balak feared that the multitude itself frightened Balaam or diminished the power of his incantations.

However, the opinion of those who take the verb see, where it is used the second time, in the perfect tense, is more probable. The sense, then, is: “Come to a place where you may behold them; for you have not yet seen the whole, but only a part.” For we know how common such a use of one tense for another is among the Hebrews.

Regarding the place to which Balaam was taken, it matters little whether we believe שדה צפים, sedeh tzophim and פסגה pisgah, to be proper nouns or common nouns. It is clear enough that if these names were given to the place, it was because of its position, for it is very likely that there was a level area on the hill that could rightly be called “The Hill of the Spies.”

¹⁶⁰ So A. V., after the after the LXX. and . and V. Marckius comes to the conclusion that there is no sufficient reason for . Marckius comes to the conclusion that there is no sufficient reason for C.’s proposed alteration of the Hebrew tense, in the latter clauses of the verse; for he thinks that Balaam’s expression in proposed alteration of the Hebrew tense, in the latter clauses of the verse; for he thinks that Balaam’s expression in verse 9, “For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him,” is rather to be understood of a more complete, than of an obscurer view., “For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him,” is rather to be understood of a more complete, than of an obscurer view.