Numbers 24 Study Notes

The reference to Asshur is probably not to the later Assyrian empire of the ninth to seventh centuries BC, or even the Middle Assyrian peoples of the late Bronze Age, who seldom ventured west of the Euphrates River. Most associate this citation with the relatively unknown Asshurites, a nomadic group of the Negev region, mentioned in Gn 25:3,18 and Ps 83:8. They were descendants of Abraham and his concubine Keturah. “Kittim” is one of the ancient terms for Cyprus (Gn 10:4), derived from its major city Kition (thus Kitionites). In several OT passages, the term was used generically for the islands of the Mediterranean and their inhabitants (Jr 2:10; Dn 11:30). The (Hb) kittiyim mentioned in the Arad inscriptions were probably Greek and Cypriot mercenaries serving in the Judean army in border fortresses. During the Hellenistic period “Kittim” became a byword for the archenemies of God, a prominent motif in the Qumran scrolls in reference to the Greeks and then the Romans. In the eschatological climax of history, all rebellious nations will bow to the judgment of God.

24:25 Balaam began his trek homeward, but as 31:8 suggests, he was killed in the Midianite campaign, having been instrumental in instigating the idolatrous enticement of Israelites in chap. 25.