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From: Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17a

Balaam’s Third Oracle (Continuation)

[2] And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and saw Israel encamping tribe by tribe.
And the Spirit of God came upon him, [3] and he took up his discourse, and
said,

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
[4] the oracle of him who bears the words of God,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
falling down, but having his eyes uncovered:
[5] how fair are your tents, O Jacob,
your encampments, O Israel!
[6] Like valleys that stretch afar,
like gardens beside a river,
like aloes that the Lord has planted,
like cedar trees beside the waters.
[7] Water shall flow from his buckets,
and his seed shall be in many waters,
his king shall be higher than Agag,
and his kingdom shall be exalted.”

Balaam’s fourth oracle

[15] And he took up his discourse, and said,

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
[16] the oracle of him who hears the words of God,
and knows the knowledge of the Most High,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
falling down, but having his eyes uncovered:
[17] I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not nigh:
a star shall come forth out of Jacob,
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.”

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Commentary:

24:3-9. This third oracle consists not so much in words placed by God on Ba-
laam’s lips, as in the vision given to him, which shows the splendor of Israel (ex-
pressed in images of luxuriant scenery); it also alludes to a victorious king and
recalls, once more, deliverance from Egypt.

24:15-24. The three blessings are followed by four oracles about nations — Israel,
Amalek, the Kainites and Asshur. The first tells about the coming of a king sym-
bolized by a star and a scepter (v. 17). In the ancient East stars were considered
to be gods and goddesses. This passage of Numbers may contain a reference
to David and his star: in fact, from very early on this text was given a messianic
interpretation; Jewish traditions link the coming of the Messiah with the appea-
ring of a star — cf. some Aramaic translations (”targumin”) of this text. In St Mat-
thew’s Gospel there is mention of a star in the episode of the Magi who came to
adore Jesus (cf. Mt 2:1-12). And in the second Jewish revolt against Rome (132-
135 AD), a famous Jewish teacher, Rabbi Akiha, changed the name of the Je-
wish leader of the rebellion from Ben Kosheba, to Bar Kokheba, that is, “son of
the star” — another indication of the connection between the star and the expec-
ted Messiah.

The Fathers interpreted the star that Balaam speaks about, as being the one the
Magi saw. From this they went on deduce that the Wise Men came from Meso-
potamia, which was where Balaam came from.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.