Numbers 24:17

I shall see him, but not now,.... Meaning not Israel, for he now saw him encamped, and at no great distance; but one that should descend from him, a famous and excellent person, and who is no other

I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.

I shall see, or, I have seen, or do see, for the future is oft put for other times or tenses: he speaks of a prophetical sight, like that of Abraham’ s, who saw Christ’ s day, . Him, to wit, the Star and Sceptre, as it here follows, i.e. a great and eminent prince, which was to come out of Israel’ s loins; either, 1. David, who first did the things here spoken of, 108:9, and some of the kings of Judah and Israel after him, for it is not necessarily understood of one particular person; or, 2. The Messias, as both Jewish and Christian interpreters expound it, who most eminently and fully performed what is here said, in destroying the enemies of Israel, or of God’ s church, who are here described under the names of the nearest and fiercest enemies of Israel; which he doth partly by himself, by his word and Spirit, and spiritual plagues; and partly by his ministers, those princes whom he makes nursing fathers to his church, and scourges to his enemies. And to him alone agrees the foregoing verb properly, I shall see him, to wit, in my own person, or with the eyes of my own body, as every eye shall see him, , when he comes to judgment. Nor can it seem strange that Balaam should speak of such high and remote things, seeing he foresaw and foretold these things by the revelation of the Spirit of God, by which also he foresaw the great felicity of good men, and the miserable state of bad men, after death and judgment, . But not now; not yet, but after many ages. A Star; a title oft given to princes and eminent and illustrious persons, and particularly to the Messias, 22:16. A Sceptre, i.e. a sceptre-bearer, a king or ruler, even that sceptre mentioned . The corners; either, 1. Literally, the borders, which by a synecdoche are oft used in Scripture for the whole country to which they belong, as 147:14 17:3. Or, 2. Metaphorically, to wit, princes and rulers, who are sometimes compared to corners, as , and Christ himself is called a corner-stone, because he unites and supports the building. But I prefer the former sense. Sheth seems to be the name of some then eminent, though now unknown, place or prince in Moab, where there were many princes, as appears from ; there being innumerable instances of such places or persons sometimes famous, but now utterly lost as to all monuments and remembrances of them.

Numbers 24:17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.Ver. 17. I shall see him.] So shall "every eye, and those also that pierced him," but not as "Abraham saw him, and rejoiced"; nor as Job. "The pure in heart" only "shall see him" to their comfort, as pure glass or crystal lets in the light of the sun. Some wicked men have greater common gifts than the godly; as many metals are brighter and more orient than the heavens. Yet as those metals are not so fit, either to receive or convey the light of the sun, so neither are the wicked so fit, either to take or give to others, "the knowledge of salvation by the remission of their sins." A Star out of Jacob.] Jesus Christ the true Morning Star. That those wise men had heard of, probably, either from the Chaldean sybils, or from the Jews in the Babylonish captivity, or from this prophecy of Balaam; for he was an east countryman, and uttereth here a very clear and comfortable prophecy of the Messiah, by whom himself received no benefit. Thus the Church, Christ’ s "garden enclosed," may be watered through a wooden gutter; the sun give comfortable light through a sluttish window; the field may be well sowed with a dirty hand; the bell calls us to the church, though it never enter itself but by the sound; the well may yield excellent water, though it have much mud, &c. And destroy all the children of Seth.] Heb., Unwall; that is, conquer and subdue. Christ by those ram’ s horns, by the foolishness of preaching, pulls down strongholds.

(17) I shall see him . . . —Better, I see him (or, it), but not now; I behold him (or, it), but not nigh. The reference cannot be to Israel, whose armies were encamped before the eyes of Balaam. His words must be understood as having reference to One whom he beheld with the eyes of his mind, not with his bodily sight. This is obvious from the words which follow. Balaam beholds in vision a Star and a Sceptre, not as having already appeared, but as about to appear in the future. There shall come a Star out of Jacob . . . —Literally, There hath come forth a Star out of Jacob, &c. The verb is in the prophetic past or historic tense of prophecy, denoting the certainty of the event predicted. (Comp. Jude 1:14 : “Behold the Lord cometh”—literally, came.) If there is any ambiguity in the first symbol it is removed in the second. A star is a fitting image of an illustrious king or ruler, and the mention of the sceptre in the words which follow (comp. Genesis 49:10) shows that it is so employed in the present instance. The Targum of Onkelos is as follows:—“When the King shall arise out of Jacob, and the Messiah shall be anointed from Israel.” The Targum of Palestine reads thus:—“A King is to arise from the house of Jacob, and a Redeemer and Ruler from the house of Israel.” Ibn Ezra interprets these words of David, but he says that many interpret them of the Messiah. It seems to have been with reference to this prophecy that the pretender to the title of the Messiah in the days of the Emperor Adrian took the name of Bar-cochab, or Bar-cochba (the son of a star). The words of the Magi, “We have seen his star in the East” (Matthew 2:2), appear to have reference to this prophecy. And shall smite the corners of Moab.—Or, the two sides of Moab. The prophecy was partially, or typically, fulfilled in the time of David (2 Samuel 8:2). Moab and Edom represented symbolically the enemies of Christ and of His Church, and as such will eventually be subdued by the King of kings. (Comp. Psalms 60:8.) And destroy all the children of Sheth.—Better, and destroy (or, break down; comp, Isaiah 22:5) all the sons of tumult. Such appears to be the most probable rendering of these words according to the present Hebrew text. It has been conjectured, however, that the word which is rendered “destroy” (karkar) should be read kodkod (crown of the head), as in the parallel passage of Jer 48:45, in which case the clause may be rendered, And the crown of the head of all the sons of tumult.

Verse 17. I shall see him, but not now] Or, I shall see him, but he is not now. I shall behold him, but not nigh - I shall have a full view of him, but the time is yet distant. That is, The person of whom I am now prophesying does not at present exist among these Israelites, nor shall he appear in this generation. There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel - a person eminent for wisdom, and formidable for strength and power, shall arise as king among this people. He shall smite the corners of Moab - he shall bring the Moabites perfectly under subjection; (See 2 Samuel 8:2); and destroy all the children of Sheth. The original word קרקר karkar, from קרה karah, to meet, associate, join, blend, and the like, is variously translated; -vastabit, he shall waste, VULGATE. -προνομευσει, shall prey on, SEPT. -'ישלוט yishlot, shall rule over, TARGUM. -Shall shake, ARABIC. -[Persian] barbend, shall put a yoke on, PERS. -Shall unwall, AINSWORTH, c., &c. The Targum of Onkelos translates the whole passage thus: "I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but he is not near. When a king shall arise from the house of Jacob, and the Messiah be anointed from the house of Israel, he shall slay the princes of Moab, and rule over all the children of men." The Jerusalem Targum is a little different: "A king shall arise from the house of Jacob, a redeemer and governor from the house of Israel, who shall slay the chiefs of the Moabites, and empty out and destroy all the children of the East." Rabbi Moses ben Maimon has, in my opinion, perfectly hit the meaning of the prophecy in the following paraphrase of the text: "I shall see him, but not now. This is DAVID. - I shall behold him, but not nigh. This is the king MESSIAH. - A Star shall come out of Jacob. This is DAVID. - And a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel. This is the king MESSIAH. - And shall smite the corners of Moab. This is DAVID, (as it is written, 2 Samuel 8:2: And he smote Moab, casting them down to the ground.) - And shall destroy all the children of Sheth. This is the king MESSIAH, of whom it is written, (Psalms 72:8), He shall have dominion from sea to sea."

17. In accordance with Numbers 24:14 Balaam treats of the future of Israel. ‘I see him (Israel), but not (as he is) now; I behold him, but not (encamped as he is) nigh.’ There shall come forth] lit. ‘there hath trodden’ (γָּ ?ψַ ?κְ). Read probably ιִ ?ζְ ?ψַ ?η there shall rise. a star] A metaphor for a glorious king; cf. Isaiah 14:12, Revelation 22:16. According to an early Jewish interpretation, found in the Targum, this verse was a prediction of the Messiah. The famous pretender in the reign of Hadrian was called Barcochba (‘son of the star’). the corners] better ‘the two sides [of the head],’ the ‘temples.’ In Jeremiah 48:45, where the passage is quoted, the word ‘corner’ is in the singular, and is in parallelism with ‘the crown of the head.’ And break down all the sons of tumult] In accordance with Jeremiah 48:45 χַ ?ψְ ?χַ ?ψ (‘break down’) must be read χָ ?γְ ?χֹ ?γ (‘crown of the head’); cf. Psalms 7:16; Psalms 68:21. sons of tumult] Heb. ‘sons of shηth.’ R.V. (‘tumult’) adopts a necessary emendation (ωְׁ ?ΰֵ ?ϊ for ωֵׁ ?ϊ) suggested by Jeremiah 48:45. The two lines will therefore run: And shall smite the temples [of the head] of Moab, And the crown [of the head] of all the sons of tumult1 [Note: Others would read ‘sons of lifting up,’ i.e. pride (ωְׂ ?ΰֵ ?ϊ)] .

Render, I see him, though he be not now: I behold him, though he be not near. Balaam here describes what is actually before him in inward vision. Him - i.

17. I shall see him — Rather, I see, the Hebrew future tense being used for the present. The star and sceptre are designated by the pronoun him, which is often written before its noun.