Numbers 24:12-24

12 Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell the messengers you sent me,

13 ‘Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the LORD—and I must say only what the LORD says’?

14 Now I am going back to my people, but come, let me warn you of what this people will do to your people in days to come.”

Balaam’s Fourth Message

15 Then he spoke his message: “The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of one whose eye sees clearly,

16 the prophecy of one who hears the words of God, who has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:

17 “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls^[a] of^[b] all the people of Sheth.^[c]

18 Edom will be conquered; Seir, his enemy, will be conquered, but Israel will grow strong.

19 A ruler will come out of Jacob and destroy the survivors of the city.”

Balaam’s Fifth Message

20 Then Balaam saw Amalek and spoke his message: “Amalek was first among the nations, but their end will be utter destruction.”

Balaam’s Sixth Message

21 Then he saw the Kenites and spoke his message: “Your dwelling place is secure, your nest is set in a rock;

22 yet you Kenites will be destroyed when Ashur takes you captive.”

Balaam’s Seventh Message

23 Then he spoke his message: “Alas! Who can live when God does this?^[d]

24 Ships will come from the shores of Cyprus; they will subdue Ashur and Eber, but they too will come to ruin.”

Numbers 24:12-24 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 24

In this chapter we are told, that Balaam leaving his enchantments, the Spirit of God came on him, and he spake of the happiness of Israel, and prophesied of their future greatness and glory, Nu 24:1-9 which so exasperated Balak, that he ordered him at once to depart from him, Nu 24:10,11. Balaam justified himself in what he said and did, and suggested that before they parted, he had something to say in a prophetic manner, concerning what Israel should do to Moab in "future" times, Nu 24:12-14 and then prophesies concerning the Messiah, and the destruction of Moab, and of some neighbouring nations, and even of some at a greater distance, as the Assyrians and Romans, Nu 24:15-25.

Cross References

• 1. Numbers 22:18
• 2. S Numbers 22:18
• 3. S Numbers 22:20
• 4. S Genesis 49:1; Numbers 31:8,16; Daniel 2:28; Micah 6:5
• 5. S Numbers 22:9
• 6. Genesis 14:18; Isaiah 14:14
• 7. Revelation 1:7
• 8. Matthew 2:2
• 9. S Genesis 49:10
• 10. S Genesis 19:37; S Numbers 21:29; S Deuteronomy 23:6; Isa 15:1-16:14
• 11. Jeremiah 48:45
• 12. 2 Samuel 8:12; 1 Chronicles 18:11; Psalms 60:8; Isaiah 11:14; Amos 9:12
• 13. S Genesis 14:6; Deuteronomy 1:44; Joshua 12:7; Joshua 15:10; Judges 5:4
• 14. Obadiah 1:2
• 15. S Genesis 9:25
• 16. S Genesis 49:10; Micah 5:2
• 17. S Genesis 14:7; S Exodus 17:14
• 18. Deuteronomy 25:19; 1 Samuel 15:20; 1 Samuel 30:17-20; 2 Samuel 8:12; 1 Chronicles 18:11
• 19. S Genesis 15:19
• 20. Psalms 37:27; Proverbs 1:33; Isaiah 32:18; Ezekiel 34:27
• 21. S Genesis 10:22
• 22. S Genesis 10:4
• 23. ver 22
• 24. S Genesis 10:21
• 25. ver 20

Footnotes

• [a] Samaritan Pentateuch (see also Jer. 48:45); the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
• [b] Or possibly "Moab," / "batter"
• [c] Or "all the noisy boasters"
• [d] Masoretic Text; with a different word division of the Hebrew "The people from the islands will gather from the north" .