Numbers 24:24

And ships [shall come] from the coast of Chittim,.... Kittim was the son of Javan, Genesis 10:4 and so designs some part of Greece: Josephus (r) says that Kittim possessed the island now called

And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.

Chittim; a place or people so called from Chittim the son of Javan, , whose posterity were very numerous, and were first seated in the Lesser Asia, and from thence sent forth colonies into the islands of the Ægean Sea, and into Cyprus, and afterwards into Macedonia, and other parts of Greece, and then into Italy. Whence it comes to pass that by this name is understood sometimes Macedonia, as appears from /APC 1Ma 1:1 8:5; and sometimes Italy, as is manifest from ,30; and sometimes both, as in this place; for he speaks here of the scourge that God hath appointed for the Assyrian after he had done God’ s work in punishing of his people and the bordering nations. Now although the Assyrian and Chaldean empire was subdued by the Medes and Persians, yet the chief afflictions and calamities of that people came from two hands, both beyond the sea, and brought to them by ships, as is here expressed; first from the Grecians under Alexander and his successors, by whom that people were grievously oppressed and wasted; then from the Romans, who subdued all the Grecian empire, one great part whereof were the Assyrians largely so called, and after many bloody wars made them a colony. Eber, i.e. the posterity of Eber, , the Hebrews, who were the chief and flower of Eber’ s children, and therefore are here designed by that general name, such general expressions being oft used concerning one particular and the most eminent of its kind. And it pleased God to express it thus darkly here, because though he would foretell this for the comfort and instruction of his people in after-ages, yet he would not have Balak, nor Balaam neither, understand or utter any thing which might seem to thwart that happy estate of Israel, which Balaam clearly saw and openly applauded. He also; not the Hebrews, as some understand, for his affliction was now mentioned before, and other scriptures tell us they shall have a better end, and that all Israel shall be saved, and therefore not perish for ever; but the afflicter or scourge of Asshur and Eber, to wit, the Grecian and Roman empire.

Numbers 24:24 And ships [shall come] from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.Ver. 24. From the coast of Chittim.] Greece and Italy. These four great monarchs had their times and their turns, their ruins as well as their rise.

(24) And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim.—The Chittim (or, Kittim) are said to have migrated from Phœnicia to Cyprus, and there founded the city of Citium, the modern Chitti. (See Josephus, “Antiq.” i.6, 1.) The name probably applies to the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean generally. The rendering of the Vulgate is Venient in trieribus de Italiâ; and in Daniel 11:30, which is obviously founded upon this verse, the Vulgate identifies the Kittim with the Romans.And shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber.—Some understand by Eber the Hebrews only. The word, however, appears to be used in a wider signification, as comprising “all the children of Eber” (Genesis 10:21). Perhaps the word Asshur may here be used to denote the Eastern Shemites, and Eber the Western Shemites.And he also shall perish for ever—i.e., the victorious power which was to afflict Asshur and Eber. “The overthrow of this last power of the world,” says Keil, in loc., “concerning which the prophet Daniel was the first to receive and proclaim new revelations, belongs ‘to the end of the days,’ in which the star out of Jacob is to rise upon Israel as ‘a bright morning-star’” (Revelation 22:16). There is no evidence as to the manner in which Balaam’s prophecies came into the hands of the Israelites. It is possible that he may have communicated them to Moses, in the expectation of receiving from him the reward which he had failed to obtain from Balak, or, if captured, in the hope of thereby saving his life.

Verse 24. Ships shall come from the coast of Chittim] Some think by Chittim the Romans, others the Macedonians under Alexander the Great, are meant. It is certain that the Romans did conquer the Assyrians, including all the people of Syria, Mesopotamia, c., but Calmet strongly contends that by Chittim Macedonia is meant, and that the prophecy refers to the conquests of Alexander. Chittim was one of the sons of Javan, the son of Japheth, the son of Noah, Genesis 10:4 and his posterity, according to Josephus, Antiq., l. iii., c. 22, settled in Cilicia, Macedonia, Cyprus, and Italy also; and therefore, says Mr. Ainsworth, the prophecy may imply both the troubles that befell the Assyrians and Jews by the Greeks and Seleucidae, in the troublous days of Antiochus. And shall afflict Eber] Probably not the Hebrews, as some think, but the people on the other side the Euphrates, from עבר abar, to pass over, go beyond; all which people were discomfited, and their empire destroyed by Alexander the Great.

24. ships shall come … Kittim] ships from the side of Kittim. The clause has no verb, and, if the text is right, it must form the subject of the following verb ‘shall afflict,’ the intervening ‘and’ being disregarded. Asshur and Eber. The two names appear to denote the world powers of the east; but the exact meaning of the name Eber is quite unknown. And he also shall come to destruction] ‘he’ apparently refers to Asshur and Eber considered as one nation. After carrying the Kenites captive, Asshur will itself be destroyed by invaders from the west. There is, however, no support for this in history, unless Asshur be given the unusual meaning (which it bears in Ezra 6:22) of the Persian empire, which was overthrown by Alexander. Various emendations throughout the two verses have been proposed (see Gray, Numb. pp. 377–9), but none of them has materially lightened the difficulties.

Chittim - i. e., Cyprus, the nearest of the western islands, the only one visible from Palestine, and so the representative to Balsam and to Israel of all those unknown western regions across the

THE FOURTH , Numbers 24:15-24.In these prophecies there is a gradual unfolding of the divine purposes respecting Israel and his foes. In the first, there is a denial of any ability to curse those blessed of Jehovah.