Bamidbar 24:5

5 Mah tovu ohalecha (How goodly, beautiful, are thy tents), O Ya’akov, and mishkenotecha (thy dwellings, tabernacles), O Yisroel!

Bamidbar 24:5 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 24:5

How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob
Not that the matter of which they were made was so rich, or their structure so admirable, but the order in which they were placed was so beautiful and agreeable:

and thy tabernacles, O Israel;
which is the same thing in other words, and which may be applied figuratively to the church of God, which often goes by the names of Jacob and Israel; and agrees with particular congregations and assemblies of saints, where they dwell as in tents in a movable state, like pilgrims and sojourners; and which are the dwelling places of Father, Son, and Spirit, and of the people of God with one another; and are goodly, pleasant, and delightful, because of the presence of God with them, and on account of the provisions there made for them, and the company they there enjoy; see ( Psalms 84:1 Psalms 84:4 Psalms 84:10 ) .

Bamidbar 24:5 In-Context

3 And he took up his mashal, and said, Balaam ben Beor hath said, the man whose eyes are open hath said,

4 He hath said which heard the words of El, which saw the machazeh Shaddai (vision of Shaddai), which falling prostrate, but having his eyes open:

5 Mah tovu ohalecha (How goodly, beautiful, are thy tents), O Ya’akov, and mishkenotecha (thy dwellings, tabernacles), O Yisroel!

6 As the valleys are they [the tents of Yisroel] spread forth, as ganot (gardens) by the riverside, like aloes which Hashem hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the mayim.

7 He shall pour the [rainfall] mayim out of his buckets, and his zera shall have mayim rabbim, and his Melech shall be more exalted than Agag, and Malchuso (His Kingdom) shall be upraised.