Numbers 24:7

7 water shall flow (out) of his bucket, and his seed shall be into many waters, that is, peoples. The king of him shall be taken away for Agag, and the realm of him shall be done away. (water shall flow out of his bucket, and his descendants shall be like many waters, that is, they shall become many people. His king shall be greater than Agag, and his kingdom shall prevail.)

Numbers 24:7 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 24:7

He shall pour the water out of his buckets
That is, God shall plentifully send down rain out of the clouds upon these valleys, gardens, and trees, and make them fruitful; and this may be a figure of the grace of God, with which his churches are watered, and become fruitful by means of the word and ordinances, which is conveyed through them out of the fulness which is in Christ:

and his seed [shall be] in many waters;
the seed and offspring of Israel shall be in a place of many waters, in a land of brooks and waters, shall dwell in a well watered land, the land of Canaan, ( Deuteronomy 8:7 ) or shall be like seed sown near water, or in well watered places, which springs up and brings forth much fruit, see ( Isaiah 32:20 ) or shall become, or be over many waters, to which people, kingdoms, and nations, are sometimes compared; and so may denote the multitude of Israel, and the large extent of their dominions, see ( Revelation 17:1 Revelation 17:15 ) :

and his king shall be higher than Agag;
who might be the then present king of Amalek, reckoned one of the greatest kings on earth; and this name, some think, was common to all the kings of Amalek, as Pharaoh to the kings of Egypt; and according to Jarchi and Aben Ezra, this is a prophecy of the first king of Israel, Saul, and of his conquering Agag king of Amalek, for there was one of this name in his time, ( 1 Samuel 15:7 1 Samuel 15:8 ) :

and his kingdom shall be exalted;
that is, the kingdom of the people of Israel, as it was more especially in the days of David and Solomon; and will be abundantly more in the days of the Messiah, when his kingdom shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth, and the kingdoms of this world shall become his, and he shall reign over all the earth; and so the Jerusalem Targum,

``and the kingdom of the King Messiah shall become very great;''

and so other Jewish writers F26 refer this prophecy to the days of the Messiah.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 Pesikta in Ketoreth Hassamim, fol. 27. 2. Vid. Philo. de Praemiis, p. 925. Sept. vers. & Targum Jon. in loc.

Numbers 24:7 In-Context

5 How fair be thy tabernacles, Jacob, and thy tents, Israel!
6 as valleys full of trees, and moist gardens beside floods, as tabernacles which the Lord hath set (up), as cedar trees beside waters; (like valleys full of trees, and watered gardens beside the river, like aloes planted by the Lord, and cedar trees beside the water;)
7 water shall flow (out) of his bucket, and his seed shall be into many waters, that is, peoples. The king of him shall be taken away for Agag, and the realm of him shall be done away. (water shall flow out of his bucket, and his descendants shall be like many waters, that is, they shall become many people. His king shall be greater than Agag, and his kingdom shall prevail.)
8 God led him out of Egypt, whose strength is like an unicorn; the sons of Israel shall waste, or devour, (the) heathen men, their enemies; and they shall break the bones of them, and pierce (them through) with (their) arrows.
9 He rested, and slept as a lion, and as a lioness, whom no man shall dare raise. He that blesseth thee, shall be blessed; and he that curseth, shall be areckoned into cursing. (He rested, and slept like a lion, and like a lioness, whom no man shall dare raise up. He who blesseth thee, shall be blessed; and he who curseth thee, shall be cursed.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.