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FREE SECTION SAMPLER

Biblical background on this week’s Bible Lesson verses on

Ancient and Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism and Hypnotism, Denounced

For study the week of May 24 - 30, 2021

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THIS WEEK’S FREE SECTION

SECTION 3

Psalm 64:1-3,10 (10) | (Online Tools) | Interactive KJV/Strong’s»

The Hurtful Tongue

1 Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy. (KJV)

(NLT) O God, listen to my complaint. Protect my life from my enemies’ threats.

COMMENTARY: Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer - The use of the word voice here would seem to imply that this was audible prayer, or that, though alone, he gave utterance to his petitions aloud. We have this same use of the word often in the Psalms, making it probable that even private prayers were uttered in an audible manner. In most cases, when there is no danger of being overheard, or of its being construed as ostentation or Pharisaism, this is favorable to the spirit of secret devotion. The word here rendered prayer means properly speech, discourse; then, complaint; then, meditation. It is most commonly rendered complaint. It refers here to a state of mind caused by trouble and danger, when the deep meditation on his troubles and dangers found expression in audible words - whether those words were complaint or petition. As there are no indications in the psalm that David was disposed to complain in the sense of blaming God, the proper interpretation here is that his deep meditations took the form of prayer.” (Notes on the Old and the New Testaments (BARNES))

2 Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity: (KJV)

(NLT) Hide me from the plots of this evil mob, from this gang of wrongdoers.

COMMENTARY: UBS quotes the last few words as in TEV: “from the plots of the wicked, from mobs of evil men.” “The word translated ‘plots’ (also RSV) also means a group; that is, it can mean either ‘counsel’ or ‘council.’ This meaning is more closely parallel to the next line, in which the TEV word ‘mobs’ translates a noun found only here in the Old Testament.” The KJV “insurrection” is defined: “an act or instance of rising in revolt, rebellion, or resistance against civil authority or an established government,” Random House. (UBS Handbook Series (UBS))

3 Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: (KJV)

(NIV) They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their words like deadly arrows.

COMMENTARY: EXS assumes that this took place during the rebellion led by the King’s own son, Absalom. “David was not afraid of any man he could meet in fair and open fight. But he did not know how to fight a smear campaign mounted against him with cunning, ferocity, persistence, and success. People are all too willing to believe the worst. Just one malicious piece of gossip is all it takes to ruin a reputation and tear to shreds the consistent testimony of a godly life.” (The Exploring Series (EXS))

METACOMMENT: “The wicked are never persons, but false tendencies or beliefs which act through individuals not alert in repudiating false suggestions. Their sword is mortal mind's hatred of good and its tendency to strike in revenge. This sword, or evil intent, is turned back upon itself when its intended victim refuses to absorb the force of the error.” (Brandner, Hazel Harper, “Turning back the tide”, Journal Vol.62 (August 1944), p. 438.)

JSH-Online:

10 The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory. (KJV)

(NLT) The godly will rejoice in the LORD and find shelter in him. And those who do what is right will praise him.

(TPT) The lovers of God will be glad, rejoicing in the Lord. They will be found in his glorious wraparound presence, singing songs of praise to God!

COMMENTARY: “The righteous and the ‘upright in heart’ are those who live in dependence upon God rather than self. As the psalter has suggested from the beginning, to take refuge in God is the true source of happiness and joy. As with the other prayers for help, the movement from complaint to praise is not sequential or chronological; indeed, trust in God allows the psalmist to experience God’s protection and to rejoice amid ongoing threat and the continuing reality of evil.” (The New Interpreter’s Bible (NIB), p930-1)

Numbers 22:2,5,6 (11) | (Online Tools) | Interactive KJV/Strong’s»

Balak Summons Balaam

2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. (KJV)

(VOICE) The Moabite Balak (Zippor’s son) knew about the Israelites’ victory over the Amorites and what they had done there.

Balak; Zippor; Amorites: See the Bible Character Notes for this week.

PRONUNCIATIONS: “Balak (bá´ lak)” Audio (The Random House Dictionary of the English Language (RAND)). “Zippor (zip´ pohr) Balak’s father” Audio (Harper Collins Bible Dictionary (HBD)).

COMMENTARY: “The story of Balaam begins with the gut-wrenching fear of Balak, son of Zippor, the king of Moab. With the vast army of Israel now encamped on the edge of his territory, he feared the very worst. The text uses the verb gur to describe his fear (‘was terrified’), intensified by the adverb ‘very’….Balak’s fear was intensified because of the victories that Israel had won over his northern enemy neighbors. A new, stronger enemy was now present, before whom Balak and his people seemed to be powerless.” (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (EBC), p886)

5 He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me: (KJV)

(VOICE) In the face of this threat, he sent messengers to the famous prophet Balaam (Beor’s son), who lived in a town that belonged to his country on the Euphrates River called Pethor. Balak wanted the prophet to come to Moab. Moab’s Message (to Balaam): There is a group of people who came from Egypt and who have settled right near me. They cover the land with their numbers.

Balaam; Beor: See the Bible Character Notes for this week.

PRONUNCIATIONS: “Balaam (bá´ lem) Audio,” (The Random House Dictionary of the English Language (RAND)). “Beor (bee´or) Audio, Pethor (pee´thor),” Audio HarperCollins Bible Pronunciation Guide (HCBP).

MAP: “Pethor,” Article and map

COMMENTARY: “Balaam the son of Beor was from the first a worshipper in some sort of the true God; and had learned some elements of pure and true religion in his home in the far East, the cradle of the ancestors of Israel. But though prophesying, doubtless even before the ambassadors of Balak came to him, in the name of the true God, yet prophecy was still to him as before a mere business, not a religion. The summons of Balak proved to be a crisis in his career: and he failed under the trial. When the gold and honors of Balak seemed to be finally lost, he became reckless and desperate; and, as if in defiance, counseled the evil stratagem by which he hoped to compass indirectly that ruin of God’s people which he had been withheld from working otherwise. He thus, like Judas and Ahithophel, set in motion a train of events which involved his own destruction. The name Balaam signifies “destroyer,” or “glutton,” and is in part identical with “Bela, son of Beor,” the first king of Edom Genesis 36:32. The name “Beor” (“to burn up”) is that of the father, or possibly ancestor, of the prophet.” (Notes on the Old and the New Testaments (BARNES)) “Balaam is said to have lived at Pethor, which is near the River (i.e., the Euphrates). This area is some 400 miles from Moab.” (The Abingdon Bible Commentary (ABC))

6 Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed. (KJV)

(AMP) Now come, I beg of you, curse this people for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.

COMMENTARY: “Balak summons Balaam to curse this people for me, so as to offset Israel’s advantages against him. A belief in the efficacy of words in general and blessings and curses in particular lies behind the request. Because of his famous gifts as a diviner, Balaam’s curses are expected to be especially effective.” (Mercer Commentary on the Bible (Macon, Georgia: Mercer, 1995)) ITC translates for I wot, “for I know.” “The story rests on the premise that there is power in the spoken word. People believed that what he spoke was going to happen. Even Western cultures recognize such power in words, although this is seen mainly in the secular realms of advertising and of ‘spin doctors,’ public relations specialists who manipulate news stories.” (The International Theological Commentary (ITC))

Numbers 23:5,8,11,12,20 (12) | (Online Tools) | Interactive KJV/Strong’s»

Balaam Blesses Israel (NLT)

5 And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. (KJV)

(GNT) The LORD told Balaam what to say and sent him back to Balak to give him his message.

COMMENTARY: “Despite the pagan and unsavory actions of this ungodly man [Balaam], the Lord deigns to meet with him and to speak through him. This is utterly remarkable. We often say that God will never use an unclean vessel. This is not quite accurate. God may use whatever vessel he wishes; the issue concerns what happens to an unclean vessel when God has finished using it for his purposes. It appears that such vessels are tossed aside, dashed on the road.” (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (EBC), p896) “God in His mercy gave Balaam a true message to speak. The expression the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth is the same type of language used of true prophets (Jeremiah 1:9). God used this pagan to bless His people.” (Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (NNIBC)) “God’s meeting with Balaam (finally simply through God’s spirit coming upon him), Balaam’s pronouncement of an oracle (of increasing length and breadth and depth, with a fourth thrown in gratis), and Balak’s reactions (which, like Balaam’s in the preceding story, become increasingly angry and increasingly severe). This is a dance not of music, but of words – words that will bear the weight of blessing and of curse, not just in the days and weeks ahead, but for generations and generations to come.” (Westminster Bible Companion (WC), p218)

8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied? (KJV)

(NRSV) How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?

COMMENTARY: “Balaam states that he has no real power (nor does the text indicate he had a desire) to curse those whom El/Yahweh has not cursed. Here the ancient Semitic generic term for God (El) is identified with Yahweh, much as Jacob and Israel are identified in Numbers 23:7. One should not read an ignoble motive into Balaam’s feeling of compulsion here, any more than one might with Jeremiah (Jeremiah 20:7-12) or Peter and John (Acts 4:19-20), who express the same kind of feeling in even stronger terms.” (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (NICOT)) WBC discusses the cursing turned into blessing upon Israel: “Her triumphant progress to the land of promise cannot be halted or even hindered by the stratagems of adversaries. Yahweh’s control is such that the worst they can do turns to a positive good in Israel’s favor. This overwhelming confidence in the success of God’s good purpose persists in Christian theology. The coming of God’s rule to the world he made cannot be hindered or turned aside by the scheming and devices of men.” (Word Biblical Commentary (WBC))

11 And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether. (KJV)

(VOICE) Balak (to Balaam): What are you doing to me? I brought you all the way out here to curse these people—my enemies—yet what have you done? You’ve blessed them!

COMMENTARY: “I brought you – Rather, ‘I summoned you’….You have blessed them – Rather, ‘you have done nothing but bless,’ the force of the infinitive absolute. Ostensibly there is no blessing in Balaam’s first oracle, only praise. But the blessing resides in Israel’s potential, and it will be articulated in the following oracles.” (The JPS Torah Commentary (JPS), p197)

12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth? (KJV)

(AMP) And Balaam answered, Must I not be obedient and speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?

COMMENTARY: Poole translates: “I speak not these words by my own choice, but by the constraint of a higher power, which I cannot resist”. (Matthew Poole’s Commentary on the Holy Bible (POOLE)) “Ultimately it all depends on the Lord: Israel is His people, and thus he must first decrease the flow of blessing before the curse desired by Balak can gain a foothold in Israel.” (The Bible Student’s Commentary (BSC), p219)

20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. (KJV)

(NLT) Listen, I received a command to bless; God has blessed, and I cannot reverse it!

COMMENTARY: “Blessing means well-being, health, and peace. Numbers 22-24 explores the protective power of divine blessing. Israel assumes a passive and defenseless role throughout the drama. The interaction between God, Balaam, and Balak illustrates how God’s blessing encircles Israel, protecting them in ways they do not even know. The message of the story is that God’s blessing is reliable.” (The New Interpreter’s Bible (NIB))

METACOMMENT: “every doubt or skepticism, every credence of the alleged power and reality of evil, is based on the belief that the human or mortal mind has reversed, or can reverse, the revelations and demonstrations of the one cause and creator, infinite Mind. To know that every phase of erring mortal belief is a supposed reversal of the conditions or action of divine Mind; that it is the seeming purpose of the illusive mortal mind to reverse the work of divine Mind; and then to know, according to Christian Science, that every secret conspiracy and open effort to reverse the divine arbitraments and action are absolutely powerless, enables the student to bring out sure results today, and to advance steadily upward on the hillside climb from sense to Soul…. As the declarations of Christian Science in respect to the might and permanence of its demonstrations are based on the immutability of God's word, it is profitable to search the Scriptures and observe how firmly they promise, both through the prophets and through the teachings of Christ Jesus, that neither the truth nor the work of truth can be reversed.” (Moses, Ernest C., “God’s Work Not Reversible”, Journal Vol. 30 (June 1912), p. 180.)

JSH-Online:

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|Biblical abbreviations and copyright information: |

|(ABP) Apostolic Bible Polyglot, Copyright © 1996, Charles Van der Pool. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |

|(AMP) Amplified® Bible, 
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
 Used by permission. |

|(ARAMAIC) The Original Aramaic New Testament in Plain English with Psalms & Proverbs, Rev. David Bausher .Copyright 2007. 8th Edition Copyright |

|2013, All rights reserved. Used by permission. |

|(BBE) Bible in Basic English, public domain. |

|(BRENTON) Brenton’s English Septuagint, published in 1851, public domain. |

|(CEB) Common English Bible, Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible |

|(CEV) Contemporary English Version, Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society. |

|(CJB) Complete Jewish Bible, Copyright © 1998, by David H. Stern. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |

|(DARBY) Darby Bible, public domain. |

|(DRB) Douay-Rheims Bible, public domain. |

|(EMP) Emphasized Bible by James Rotherham, public domain. |

|(ERV) Easy-to-Read Version, Copyright © 1987, 1999, 2006, 2008, by World Bible Translation Center. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |

|(EMTV) English Majority Text Version, Copyright © 2002-2003. Paul W. Esposito. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |

|(ESV) English Standard Version, Good News Publishers. |

|(EXB) The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011, Thomas Nelson Inc., All rights reserved. |

|(FENTON) Ferrar Fenton Translation, public domain. |

|(GNB) Good News Bible - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission. |

|(GSNT) Goodspeed New Testament, Edgar J. Goodspeed, Copyright 1951, University of Chicago Press. Used by permission. |

|(GW) God’s Word® Translation, © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group. |

|(HCSB) Holman Christian Standard Bible, Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by |

|permission.  All rights reserved. |

|(ISV) International Standard Version, registered trademarks of the ISV Foundation. Copyright © 1996, 2010, by the ISV Foundation. Used by permission|

|of Davidson Press. All rights reserved. |

|(KJV) King James Version, public domain. |

|(LAMSA) George Lamsa Translation, from the Aramaic of the Peshitta, Copyright © 1933, 1939, 1940, 1557, 1961 1967, 1868, A.J. Holman Co. |

|(LEB) Lexham English Bible, Copyright © 2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexam is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software |

|(LXX) Septuagint or Greek Version of the Old Testament, public domain. |

|(MOFF) The Bible, A Translation by James Moffatt, Copyright 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, James A.R. Moffatt. |

|(MURDOCK) James Murdock New Testament, public domain. A translation of the Peshito Syriac New Testament into English by James Murdock, 1851. |

|(MSG) The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, Copyright © 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved. |

|(NASB) New American Standard Bible, New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman |

|Foundation, La Habra, California.  All rights reserved. |

|(NCV) New Century Version, Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |

|(NEB) New English Bible, Copyright © 1972 by the British and Foreign Bible Society. All rights reserved. |

|(NET) New English Translation, Copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.  All rights reserved. |

|(NIV) The Holy Bible New International Version®, 
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society®
. Used by permission. All rights |

|reserved. |

|(NJB) New Jerusalem Bible, Copyright 1985, by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. And Doubleday. All rights reserved. |

|(NLT) Holy Bible, The New Living Translation, Copyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All |

|rights reserved. |

|(NRSV) New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches in the |

|U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |

|(PHIL) The New Testament in Modern English, by JB Phillips Copyright © 1958, 1960, 1972 by JB Phillips. All rights reserved. |

|(RSV) The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version, Copyright 1946, 1952, 1959, 1973 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of |

|Churches in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |

|(TPT) The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017 by BroadStreet Publishing® Group, LLC. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |

|(VOICE) The Voice Bible, Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. |

|(WNT) Weymouth New Testament (Modern Speech New Testament), public domain. |

|(WYC) Wycliffe Bible, Copyright 2001, by Terence P. Noble. |

|(YOUNG) Young’s Literal Translation, public domain. |

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