Text -- Numbers 24:17-25 (NET)

24:17 ‘I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not close at hand. A star will march forth out of Jacob, and a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab, and the heads of all the sons of Sheth. 24:18 Edom will be a possession, Seir, his enemies, will also be a possession; but Israel will act valiantly. 24:19 A ruler will be established from Jacob; he will destroy the remains of the city.’”

Balaam’s Final Prophecies

24:20 Then Balaam looked on Amalek and delivered this oracle: “Amalek was the first of the nations, but his end will be that he will perish.” 24:21 Then he looked on the Kenites and uttered this oracle: “Your dwelling place seems strong, and your nest is set on a rocky cliff. 24:22 Nevertheless the Kenite will be consumed. How long will Asshur take you away captive?” 24:23 Then he uttered this oracle: “O, who will survive when God does this! 24:24 Ships will come from the coast of Kittim, and will afflict Asshur, and will afflict Eber, and he will also perish forever.” 24:25 Balaam got up and departed and returned to his home, and Balak also went his way.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Num 24:17

¹ tn Heb “near.”

² 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.

³ 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.”

⁴ 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.”

⁵ tn The word is literally “corners,” but may refer to the corners of the head, and so “skull.”

⁶ 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.

⁷ 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.

NET Notes: Num 24:18

¹ sn Seir is the chief mountain range of Edom (Deut 33:2), and so the reference here is to the general area of Edom.

NET Notes: Num 24:19

¹ tn Or, understanding the Hebrew word for “city” as a place name, “of Ir” (cf. NRSV, NLT).

NET Notes: Num 24:20

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “and he lifted up his oracle and said.” So also in vv. 21, 23.

³ sn This probably means that it held first place, or it thought that it was “the first of the nations.” It was not the first, either in order or greatness.

NET Notes: Num 24:21

¹ sn A pun is made on the name Kenite by using the word “your nest” (קִנֶּךָ, qinnekha); the location may be the rocky cliffs overlooking Petra.

NET Notes: Num 24:22

¹ tc Heb “Nevertheless Cain will be wasted; how long will Asshur take you captive?” Cain was believed to be the ancestor of the Kenites. The NAB has “yet destined for burning, even as I watch, are your inhabitants.” Asshur may refer to a north Arabian group of people of Abrahamic stock (Gen 25:3), and not the Assyrian empire.

NET Notes: Num 24:23

¹ tc Because there is no parallel line, some have thought that it dropped out (see de Vaulx, Les Nombres, 296).

NET Notes: Num 24:24

¹ tc The MT is difficult. The Kittim refers normally to Cyprus, or any maritime people to the west. W. F. Albright proposed emending the line to “islands will gather in the north, ships from the distant sea” (“The Oracles of Balaam,” JBL 63 [1944]: 222-23). Some commentators accept that reading as the original state of the text, since the present MT makes little sense.

² tn Or perhaps “Assyria” (so NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

³ tn Or “it will end in utter destruction.”

NET Notes: Num 24:25

¹ tn Heb “place.”