Numbers 24:13-23

13 If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the LORD, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; but what the LORD saith , that will I speak ?

14 And now, behold, I go unto my people: come therefore, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days.

15 And he took up his parable, and said , Balaam the son of Beor hath said , and the man whose eyes are open hath said :

16 He hath said , which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open :

17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth * .

18 And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies ; and Israel shall do valiantly.

19 Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion , and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.

20 And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said , Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever.

21 And he looked on the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said , Strong is thy dwellingplace, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock.

22 Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted , until Asshur shall carry thee away captive .

23 And he took up his parable, and said , Alas, who shall live when God doeth this!

Numbers 24:13-23 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. smite...: or, smite through the princes of
• [b]. the nations: the nations that warred against Israel
• [c]. the Kenite: Heb. Kain