Balaam Prophesies Concerning Israel (Numbers 24:15-19)
‘And he took up his oracle (parable), and said,
“Balaam the son of Beor says,
a And the man whose eye was closed says,
b He says, who hears the words of God,
c And knows the knowledge of the Most High,
b Who sees the vision of the Almighty,
a Falling down, and having his eyes open.
(Note how the introduction follows the usual pattern, taken up again in what follows).
a I see him, but not now,
a I behold him, but not nigh,
a There shall come forth a star out of Jacob,
a And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel,
b And shall smite through the corners of Moab,
b And break down all the sons of tumult.
b And Edom shall be a possession,
b Seir also, his enemies, shall be a possession,
a While Israel does valiantly.
a And out of Jacob shall one have dominion,
a And shall destroy the remnant from the city.
As before he goes into a trance. ‘Whose eye was closed' may be a wry reference to his experience on the road with his ass, rumours of which may have been spreading around. Compare Numbers 24:3. But as previously the whole first phrases were his way of ‘entering' the sphere of the gods.
“I see him, but not now, I behold him, but not nigh,” He firstly declares that what he speaks of is not to happen in the near future. It refers to the distant future (compare Numbers 24:14). It is ‘not now, -- not near'. Indeed in all his proclamations the ‘far future' is in mind. Thus he had desired that his last end should be like that of Israel, one that resulted in length of days because of righteousness (Numbers 23:10), he had stressed that the lioness of Israel would not lie down until with Yahweh they had eaten of the prey and drunk the blood of the slain (Numbers 23:14), he had looked ahead to Israel's seed being in many waters, his king higher than Agag, and his kingdom exalted (Numbers 24:7). Now he was to speak further of that king.
“There shall come forth a star out of Jacob, And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel.” As already mentioned the question as to what ‘king' is meant is not to be particularised. It is not even a prophecy that Israel would have ‘a king'. He simply speaks of their supreme ruler, something which he would assume for them as for all nations. His expression for such would be ‘melek'. He would almost certainly have used that title of Moses. And because Israel were to be exalted, so would be their supreme ruler. Indeed their heaven-supported ‘king' would be part of the cause of their rise. And here he sees one such in terms of a ‘rising star', and a ‘sceptre', one who would be special and would one day smite Moab, and Edom, and Mount Seir, and all who caused trouble to Israel.
“And shall smite through the corners of Moab, And break down all the sons of tumult. And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also, His enemies, shall be a possession.” So Moab would be smitten from corner to corner, Edom would be possessed, Seir (His enemies) would be a possession. Thus He would possess both land and people. Those who would cause trouble to Israel are depicted as ‘the sons of tumult'. This might especially have in mind the desert peoples like the Midianites, whom Balaam had already met as being antagonistic towards Israel, the Amalekites, whose fierce king he had already mentioned, and the Kenites (see below).
“While Israel does valiantly. And out of Jacob shall one have dominion, And shall destroy the remnant from the city.” He would with his people ‘do valiantly' and would have wide dominion, and would ‘destroy the remnant from the city', that is, would have widespread success and come across no city that could resist him and prevent his total victory. This parallels the rising star and sceptre, declaring his success.
The picture of a rising star, combined with a sceptre, who would have dominion, depicted an especially great king. It was a declaration of the fact that the royal house of Israel would eventually produce a ‘super-star', a ‘king' who would rule over many nations. And these nations he depicted in terms of the ones whom he knew to be at odds with Israel at that time. This last fact firmly dates this prophecy to this particular time. Seen in terms of an ‘anointed king' of Israel this was a ‘messianic' prophecy. His picture is really one of final triumph, brought about by a supreme king. It is essentially applicable to David, and to strong kings who followed after him, but its final fulfilment required a king who would finally triumph and gain everlasting dominion, and that could only be the Messiah.
For a star as representing the king of Babylon see Isaiah 14:12; and as representing the Messiah see Revelation 22:16. See also Daniel 8:10. The use of stars of rulers in this way was also known in non-Biblical literature. In the future the ‘star of David' would come to represent the Davidic house. Compare also how Bar Kochba's Messianic claims were supported by naming him ‘son of the star' when he led the Jewish rebellion against the emperor Hadrian in c.135 AD.