Genesis 10:21

10:21 And sons were also born ¹  to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), ²  the father of all the sons of Eber.

Genesis 10:25

10:25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, ³  and his brother’s name was Joktan.

Numbers 24:24

24:24 Ships will come from the coast of Kittim, ⁴ 

and will afflict Asshur, ⁵  and will afflict Eber,

and he will also perish forever.” ⁶ 

Numbers 24:1

Balaam Prophesies Yet Again

24:1 ⁷ When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, ⁸  he did not go as at the other times ⁹  to seek for omens, ¹⁰  but he set his face ¹¹  toward the wilderness.

Numbers 1:19

1:19 just as the Lord had commanded Moses. And so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.

[10:21]  ¹ tn Heb “And to Shem was born.”

[10:21]  ² tn Or “whose older brother was Japheth.” Some translations render Japheth as the older brother, understanding the adjective הַגָּדוֹל (haggadol, “older”) as modifying Japheth. However, in Hebrew when a masculine singular definite attributive adjective follows the sequence masculine singular construct noun + proper name, the adjective invariably modifies the noun in construct, not the proper name. Such is the case here. See Deut 11:7; Judg 1:13; 2:7; 3:9; 9:5; 2 Kgs 15:35; 2 Chr 27:3; Neh 3:30; Jer 13:9; 36:10; Ezek 10:19; 11:1.

[10:25]  ³ tn The expression “the earth was divided” may refer to dividing the land with canals, but more likely it anticipates the division of languages at Babel (Gen 11). The verb פָּלָג (palag, “separate, divide”) is used in Ps 55:9 for a division of languages.

[24:24]  ⁴ 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.

[24:24]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps “Assyria” (so NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[24:24]  ⁶ tn Or “it will end in utter destruction.”

[24:1]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “it was good in the eyes of the Lord.”

[24:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “as time after time.”

[24:1]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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.