Numbers 24:15-19
New English Translation
Balaam Prophesies a Fourth Time
15 Then he uttered this oracle:[a]
“The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eyes are open,
16 the oracle of the one who hears the words of God,
and who knows the knowledge of the Most High,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
although falling flat on the ground with eyes open:
17 ‘I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not close at hand.[b]
A star[c] will march forth[d] out of Jacob,
and a scepter[e] will rise out of Israel.
He will crush the skulls[f] of Moab,
and the heads[g] of all the sons of Sheth.[h]
18 Edom will be a possession,
Seir,[i] his enemy, will also be a possession;
but Israel will act valiantly.
19 A ruler will be established from Jacob;
he will destroy the remains of the city.’”[j]
Footnotes
- Numbers 24:15 tn Heb “and he took up his oracle and said.”
- Numbers 24:17 tn Heb “near.”
- Numbers 24:17 sn This is a figure for a king (see also Isa 14:12) not only in the Bible but in the ancient Near Eastern literature as a whole. The immediate reference of the prophecy seems to be to David, but the eschatological theme goes beyond him. There is to be a connection made between this passage and the sighting of a star in its ascendancy by the magi, who then traveled to Bethlehem to see the one born King of the Jews (Matt 2:2). The expression “son of a star” (Aram Bar Kochba) became a title for a later claimant to kingship, but he was doomed by the Romans in a.d. 135.
- Numbers 24:17 tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it is equal to the imperfect expressing the future. The verb דָּרַךְ (darakh), related to the noun “way, road,” seems to mean something like “tread on, walk, march.”
- Numbers 24:17 sn The “scepter” is metonymical for a king who will rise to power. NEB strangely rendered this as “comet” to make a parallel with “star.”
- Numbers 24:17 tn The word is literally “corners,” but may refer to the corners of the head, and so “skull.”
- Numbers 24:17 tc The MT reads “shatter, devastate.” Smr reads קֹדְקֹד (qodqod, “head; crown; pate”). Smr follows Jer 48:45 which appears to reflect Num 24:17.
- Numbers 24:17 sn The prophecy begins to be fulfilled when David defeated Moab and Edom and established an empire including them. But the Messianic promise extends far beyond that to the end of the age and the inclusion of these defeated people in the program of the coming King.
- Numbers 24:18 sn Seir is the chief mountain range of Edom (Deut 33:2), and so the reference here is to the general area of Edom.
- Numbers 24:19 tn Or, understanding the Hebrew word for “city” as a place name, “of Ir” (cf. NRSV, NLT).
Numbers 24:15-19
World English Bible
15 He took up his parable, and said,
“Balaam the son of Beor says,
the man whose eyes are open says;
16 he says, who hears the words of God,
knows the knowledge of the Most High,
and who sees the vision of the Almighty,
falling down, and having his eyes open:
17 I see him, but not now.
I see him, but not near.
A star will come out of Jacob.
A scepter will rise out of Israel,
and shall strike through the corners of Moab,
and crush all the sons of Sheth.
18 Edom shall be a possession.
Seir, his enemy, also shall be a possession,
while Israel does valiantly.
19 Out of Jacob shall one have dominion,
and shall destroy the remnant from the city.”
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