2 Samuel 5:12

5:12 David realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that he had elevated his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

2 Samuel 7:8-9

7:8 “So now, say this to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd ¹  to make you leader of my people Israel. 7:9 I was with you wherever you went, and I defeated ²  all your enemies before you. Now I will make you as famous as the great men of the earth. ³ 

Numbers 24:7

24:7 He will pour the water out of his buckets, ⁴ 

and their descendants will be like abundant ⁵  water; ⁶ 

their king will be greater than Agag, ⁷ 

and their kingdom will be exalted.

Numbers 24:17-19

24:17 ‘I see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not close at hand. ⁸ 

A star ⁹  will march forth ¹⁰  out of Jacob,

and a scepter ¹¹  will rise out of Israel.

He will crush the skulls ¹²  of Moab,

and the heads ¹³  of all the sons of Sheth. ¹⁴ 

24:18 Edom will be a possession,

Seir, ¹⁵  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.’” ¹⁶ 

Numbers 24:1

Balaam Prophesies Yet Again

24:1 ¹⁷ When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, ¹⁸  he did not go as at the other times ¹⁹  to seek for omens, ²⁰  but he set his face ²¹  toward the wilderness.

Numbers 2:8

2:8 Those numbered in his division are 57,400.

Psalms 18:48

18:48 He delivers me ²²  from my enemies;

you snatch me away ²³  from those who attack me; ²⁴ 

you rescue me from violent men.

[7:8]  ¹ tn Heb “and from after the sheep.”

[7:9]  ² tn Heb “cut off.”

[7:9]  ³ tn Heb “and I will make for you a great name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth.”

[24:7]  ⁴ tc For this colon the LXX has “a man shall come out of his seed.” Cf. the Syriac Peshitta and Targum.

[24:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “many.”

[24:7]  ⁶ sn These two lines are difficult, but the general sense is that of irrigation buckets and a well-watered land. The point is that Israel will be prosperous and fruitful.

[24:7]  ⁷ sn Many commentators see this as a reference to Agag of 1 Sam 15:32-33, the Amalekite king slain by Samuel, for that is the one we know. But that is by no means clear, for this text does not identify this Agag. If it is that king, then this poem, or this line in this poem, would have to be later, unless one were to try to argue for a specific prophecy. Whoever this Agag is, he is a symbol of power.

[24:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “near.”

[24:17]  ⁹ 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.

[24:17]  ¹⁰ 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.”

[24:17]  ¹¹ 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.”

[24:17]  ¹² tn The word is literally “corners,” but may refer to the corners of the head, and so “skull.”

[24:17]  ¹³ 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.

[24:17]  ¹⁴ 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.

[24:18]  ¹⁵ sn Seir is the chief mountain range of Edom (Deut 33:2), and so the reference here is to the general area of Edom.

[24:19]  ¹⁶ tn Or, understanding the Hebrew word for “city” as a place name, “of Ir” (cf. NRSV, NLT).

[24:1]  ¹⁷ sn For a thorough study of the arrangement of this passage, see E. B. Smick, “A Study of the Structure of the Third Balaam Oracle,” The Law and the Prophets, 242-52. He sees the oracle as having an introductory strophe (vv. 3, 4), followed by two stanzas (vv. 5, 6) that introduce the body (vv. 7b-9b) before the final benediction (v. 9b).

[24:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “it was good in the eyes of the Lord.”

[24:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “as time after time.”

[24:1]  ²⁰ tn The word נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim) means “omens,” or possibly “auguries.” Balaam is not even making a pretense now of looking for such things, because they are not going to work. God has overruled them.

[24:1]  ²¹ tn The idiom signifies that he had a determination and resolution to look out over where the Israelites were, so that he could appreciate more their presence and use that as the basis for his expressing of the oracle.

[18:48]  ²² tn Heb “[the one who] delivers me.” 2 Sam 22:49 reads “and [the one who] brings me out.”

[18:48]  ²³ tn Heb “lifts me up.” In light of the preceding and following references to deliverance, the verb רום probably here refers to being rescued from danger (see Ps 9:13). However, it could mean “exalt, elevate” here, indicating that the Lord has given the psalmist victory over his enemies and forced them to acknowledge the psalmist’s superiority (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[18:48]  ²⁴ tn Heb “from those who rise against me.”