translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: NUM

label: NET study note

text: For a thorough study of the arrangement of this passage, see E. B. Smick, “A Study of the Structure of the Third Balaam Oracle,” The Law and the Prophets , 242-52. He sees the oracle as having an introductory strophe (vv. 3, 4 ), followed by two stanzas (vv. 5, 6 ) that introduce the body (vv. 7 b-9b) before the final benediction (v. 9 b).


text: The language seems to be more poetic than precise. N. H. Snaith notes that cedars do not grow beside water; he also connects “aloes” to the eaglewood that is more exotic, and capable of giving off an aroma ( Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 298).


text: These two lines are difficult, but the general sense is that of irrigation buckets and a well-watered land. The point is that Israel will be prosperous and fruitful.


text: Many commentators see this as a reference to Agag of 1 Sam 15:32-33 , the Amalekite king slain by Samuel, for that is the one we know. But that is by no means clear, for this text does not identify this Agag. If it is that king, then this poem, or this line in this poem, would have to be later, unless one were to try to argue for a specific prophecy. Whoever this Agag is, he is a symbol of power.


text: This is apparently a sign of contempt or derision (see Job 27:23 ; and Lam 2:15 ).


text: This is a figure for a king (see also Isa 14:12 ) not only in the Bible but in the ancient Near Eastern literature as a whole. The immediate reference of the prophecy seems to be to David, but the eschatological theme goes beyond him. There is to be a connection made between this passage and the sighting of a star in its ascendancy by the magi, who then traveled to Bethlehem to see the one born King of the Jews ( Matt 2:2 ). The expression “son of a star” ( Aram Bar Kochba ) became a title for a later claimant to kingship, but he was doomed by the Romans in a.d. 135.


text: The “scepter” is metonymical for a king who will rise to power. NEB strangely rendered this as “comet” to make a parallel with “star.”


text: The prophecy begins to be fulfilled when David defeated Moab and Edom and established an empire including them. But the Messianic promise extends far beyond that to the end of the age and the inclusion of these defeated people in the program of the coming King.


text: Seir is the chief mountain range of Edom ( Deut 33:2 ), and so the reference here is to the general area of Edom.


text: This probably means that it held first place, or it thought that it was “the first of the nations.” It was not the first, either in order or greatness.


text: A pun is made on the name Kenite by using the word “your nest” ( קִנֶּךָ , qinnekha ); the location may be the rocky cliffs overlooking Petra.