John Gill Commentary Numbers 23

And Balaam said unto Balak
When upon one of the high places of Baal, and after having taken a view of the people of Israel as they lay encamped:

build me here seven altars ;
this was purely Heathenish; for not only the Israelites after the law of Moses had but one altar, but the patriarchs before that never built but one altar at a time. Some have thought regard is had to the seven planets worshipped by Heathens; though no doubt Balaam pretended to sacrifice to Jehovah the true God, in order to gain him over to him to agree to it to curse Israel, and persuaded Balak, though an idolater, to join with him; and, the more easily to bring him to it, mixes Heathen rites and customs in sacrifice to him:

and prepare me here seven oxen, and seven rams ;
which were creatures offered in sacrifice according to the law of Moses, and before that was given, and by persons who were not under it; and even by seven of each sort, and that by the express command of God, (Job 42:8) . It may be observed, that both in this, and the preceding clause, the word here is carefully expressed, namely, in one of the high places; there the altars were erected, and thither the oxen were brought to be sacrificed; so that both the place, and the number of the altars, savoured of Heathenish worship, in which he complied to induce the king to sacrifice to Jehovah.

And Balak did as Balaam had spoken
Ordered seven altars to be built, and prepared seven bullocks and rams for sacrifice:

and Balak and Balsam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram ;
Both seem to be concerned in offering the sacrifices; Balak, though a king, it being usual for kings to be priests also, as Melchizedek was, and Balaam as a prophet.

And these sacrifices were offered to the true God, as seems clear from (Numbers 23:4) and to which Balak, at the direction of Balaam, agreed, in order to gain the Lord on his side, that he might prevail over the people of Israel.

And Balaam said to Balak ,
stand by your burnt offering By which it appears that the sacrifices offered were of this sort, and there might be one, which was more peculiarly the burnt offering of Balak; though he might be more or less with Balaam concerned in them all; at which he was directed to stand while it was burning, presenting that and himself to the Lord, that he would have respect to both:

and I will go ;
depart from there, at some little distance, to some private place:

perhaps the Lord will come to meet me ;
upon the offering of these sacrifices to him, though he could not be certain of it, he having lately shown some displeasure and resentment to him; and this was also in the daytime, when it was in the night he usually came to him:

and whatever he shows me I will tell you ;
the whole of it, truly as it is, whether agreeable or not:

and he went to an high place ;
but he was in one already, and therefore if this is the sense of the word, he must go to another, into a grove in one of the high places, where he might be retired, and so fit for a divine converse; and the Targum of Onkelos renders it alone:

but rather the sense is, that he went into a plain, as De Dieu has shown from the use of the word in the Syriac language; he was upon a high place, and he went down from there into the plain, perhaps into a cave at the bottom of the hill, a retired place, where he hoped the Lord would meet him, as he did.

And God met Balaam
Not in a kind and gracious manner; not out of any respect to him and his offerings; not to indulge him with any spiritual communion with him; nor to communicate his mind and will to him as a friend of his; not to gratify his desires, and grant the request of the king of Moab, or to smile upon and succeed the scheme that they had concerted; but for the sake of his people Israel, to counterwork the designs of their enemies; to blast and confound them, and turn their curses into blessings; and particularly to oblige Balaam to bless the people he was so desirous of cursing for the sake of gain:

and he said unto him ;
in a bragging boasting way, in order to gain his favour, and carry his point:

I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a
bullock and a ram :
that is, to him the Lord; for had they been offered to Baal, he could never have had the nerve to have spoken of them to God; and which he could never have proposed as a reason why he should be regarded by him, or expect on account of them any favour from him: and indeed these altars and sacrifices were not at his expense, though they were prepared and offered at a motion of his; nor were they offered in a right manner, nor with a right end, nor from a right principle, and were far from being acceptable unto God, yea, were abominable unto him; see (Proverbs 21:27) .

And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth
&c.] Not grace into his heart, nor the fear of God within him, but suggested to him what to say; impressed it strongly on him, that he could not forget it, and with such power and weight, that he was obliged to deliver it:

and said, return unto Balak, and thus shall you speak ;
that is, unto him, and what is expressed in (Numbers 22:7–10) .