Numbers 24
PAThe gave them at their entrance into Canaan), but all mankind, who are equally descended from Seth, shall be united under his government. And thus not only Lyranus, and Abulensis, and others interpret it, but Onkelos also, whose words are, " He shall have dominion over all the sons of men:" for he thought it reasonable, by thechildren ofSheth, to understand all mankind who were propagated from him, who succeeded in the place of Abel that was killed; all the seed of Cain perishing in the flood.
Numbers 24:18
And ijJom shall be a possession. So it was in the days of David, (2 Sam. viii. 14.) - AndSeir shall be a possession.’] This was a famous mount in the country of Edom, (Gen. xxxvi. 8.) and being the strongest part of the country* may signify here, that no place should be able to hold out, though never -so strongly fortified by nature or art. And so we read they all became David’s servants, 2 Sam. viii. 14. 1 Chron. xviii. 13. For his enemies."] i. e. For the Israelites. And Israel shall do valiantly.] For they subdued in those days many other countries; as we read in the forenamed chapters, (2 Sam. viii. 1 Chron. xviii.)
Numbers 24:19
Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion. This may relate to Christ as well as to David, in whom it was literally fulfilled. And so Baal-Hatturim observes, that (ver. 16.) it is said of Balaam, that he knew the mind of the Most High, for he prophesied of the Messiah, when he said, out of Jacob shall one come that shall have dominion. The word jerd, as the Masora notes, is used only here, and in Psalm Ixxii. 8. where the Psalmist describes the universal kingdom of Christ in these words, ** He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the end of the earth * And shall destroy him that remains in the city.] Not only rout them in the field, but take their defenced cities: and, it is likely,* he particularly aims at some great city, and best fortified, which was the metropolis, and the strongest hold in the kingdom; such a one there was in, Edom, as the Psalmist suggests, (Psalm lx. 9.)
Numbers 24:20
Andtvhenhe looked on Amalek. On the country which the Amalekites inhabited. He took up his parable, and said.] See ver. 3. Amalek was the first of the nations.] The most eminent among the neighbouring nations, or one of* the most noble, as Bochart renders it, gens una h nobilissimis. But his latter end shall be, that he perish for ever.] This God commanded Saul to execute, (1 Sam. xv. 3.) according to the doom passed upon them, after their fight with Israel, (Exod. xvii. 14. 16.) and he lost his kingdom for doing his work imperfectly; which the Vulgar Latin takes to be the meaning of the seventh verse of this chapter. Onkelos paraphrases the whole verse in this manner: " Amalek was the beginning of the wars with Israel, therefore his end shall be to perish for ever." The Jerusalem Targum more plainly, " The Amalekites were the first people that made war against Israel; and in the latter days they shall make war against them," &c.
Numbers 24:21
And he looked on the Kenites. He standing now upon the top of Peor, which was, it is likely, the highest place of the country, (for which reason Balak brought him thither, after he had tried other high places, chap, xxiii, 28.) might see a great way, and possibly behold the very rocks wherein the Kenites dwelt. * But what vol. i. people ate meant by, this name, is not clearjy evident: for ■ there were a people called Kenites, who were part of the nation that inhabited the land of Canaan: (Gen. xv. 19.) these cannot be here intended; for they were too far off from this place. And as for the Kenites mentioned in Judges i. 16. iv. 11. who dwelt among the Israelites when they came into Canaan, they had as yet no fixed state, but were with them in the wilderness* Therefore, it is likely, they were some of the kindred of Jethro (originally derived from the same family that he was of), who remained in Midian; and adjoined so close to the country of the Amalekites, that they are said to dwell among them, (1 Sam. xv. 6.) For it is plain, the woTd Kent in Hebrew is the name of a people, not of a particular person; and there might be a great many of them; some in Canaan, others in Midian; and of these latter, some went with the Israelites into Canaan when they conquered it, and others remained still in their own country: they s£em all to have been descended from one Ken, or Kain, mehtioned Judges iv. 11. (as Scaliger conjectures in his Elenchus Trihaeres. cap. 23.) Jethro’s posterity being but one family of this people. Strong is thy dxoelling-place.] They were but a small people, who dwelt upon steep mountains. And puttest thy nest in a rock.] This is but a further description of their country in other words: for nest signifies their habitation; only it seems to import that their dwelling was little, in craggy mountains, where they looked upon themselves as very safe and secure, the access to them being very difficult: and from hence, I suppose, they were called Shelamites (as both the, Jerusalem Targum and Onkelos here term them, instead of Kenites), i. e* peaceable people; because nobody meddled with them, nor they with any body.
Numbers 24:22
And the Kenite shall be toasted. By little and little diminished. Until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.] Till at last they were all carried away by the Assyrians, when they overran Syria, (2 Kings xvi. 9.) <
Numbers 24:23
And he took up his parable, and said. Having rested awhile, he sighed, and said aloud, (see ver. 3.) Alas J who shall live when Goddoeth this?] What miserable times will those be, when the Assyrians shall overrun a great part of the world! how few mil escape their devastation! or, who would not desire rather to die, than live in those days?, But some, I observe, refer this not to what goes before, but to what follows; which relates to the desolations made by the following empires, especially the Roman*
Numbers 24:24
And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim. Whether this prophecy hath respect (in the word Chitting to the Greeks or to the Romans, or to both, it was plainly fulfilled, as the learned Huetius observes. But it must be noted, that not only St. Jerome, but Onkelos, and Jonathan, and the Jerusalem interpreter, and the Arabic, understand by Chittim the country of Italy, or some part thereof. And Bochartus proves, by many arguments, that the people of that country did descend from Chittim, (sec Gen. x. 4.) Yet it is not likely that Chittim, being the son of Javan who peopled Greece, went so far at first from the rest of his brethren; but his children peopled some part thereabouts: from whence, in aftertimes, when they were uigmzea oy microson vs> [chap. xxy. increased, they sent colonies into Italy; particularly Macedonia is called by the namo of Chittim, in the Book of Maccabees; (1 Mac. i. 1. viii. 5.) and therefore I take the Greeks under Alexander to be here intended in the first place, and then the Romans in the next; each of them fulfilling the several parts of this prophecy. • And shall afflict Asshnr.] This was done by Alexander, who overthrew the Persian empire, which ruled over the Chaldeans and Assyrians. So Theodoret understands the word Chittim, to signify Alexander and his Macedonians, whose country was anciently called Ma^n-ia, as Hesychius tells us, they being a mixture (as Mr. Mede probably conjectures in his forty-eighth Discourse, p. 377.) of the sonsofMadai and Chittim. The Romans, indeed, afterward overthrew the Greek empire, but we do not read that they made war against the Assyrians till the time of Trajan, who subdued them, and reduced them into a province, as Dio relates, (lib. lxviii.) And shall afflict £&e?]: This was done by the Romans, not by the Grecians. For we are to understand by.Eber, the ltebrew nation, called the children of Eber, Gen; x. 21. So the LXX. translate it, roitg’Efipaiovg: the name of Hebrews being as plainly derived from Eber, as that of Jews.from, Judah. Now they were not afilicted by Alexander in his* conquests, but rather kindly treated by him: and therefore this cannot be meant of the Greeks; ynless we will think it fulfilled in the time of Antiochus, who descended indeed from the Macedonians, buf did not come from that country; nor did he afflict them long/ much less make them desolate, as the Romans, under Vespasian and Titus, did; which seems to be here intended. And they also shall perish for ever?] This doth not refer (o Eber, but to the nation that afflicted him, viz. the Roman empire; which he prophesies shall not always afflict others, but at last be utterly destroyed itself. Aben Ezra, indeed, refers it to the kingdom of the Seleucidfc, or the Greek empire: but R. Isaac, beforcmentioned, thinks the destruction of the Romans is intended in this prophecy; only he fancies it is to be accomplished by a Christ not yet come. Ver. 25/ And Balaam rose tip, and went.] As Balak had commanded him, (ver. 11.) And returned to his place.] Unto his country, viz. Mesopotamia; But be was detained by the Midianites in his passage thither; among whom he was slain, as we read in the thirty-first chapter: for men are said to do that which they design and endeavour to do, (Exod. viii. 18. Numb, xiv. 40.) If this be not the meaning, then, after he came to his own country, he returned to the Midianites, at their entreaty, or by his own inclination; and (either as he was going home, or when he came back) gave that impious counsel, Which was executed not long after this, as we find in the next chapter: for that he was the author of it, we are assured by three Divine writers. (See 2 Pet. ii. 15. Jude, ver. 11. Revel, ii. 14.) It is a strange exposition which Baal-Hatturim gives of his going to his place; that is, saith he, he went down into hell. But it may serve to confirm the common interpretation of that which is said of Judas, Acts i. 25. And Balak also went his way.] To Kiriah-IIuzoth, I Suppose, mentioned chap, xxii. 39.