3, 4<\/strong>. The opening triplet is as follows:<\/p>\n The oracle of Balaam son of Beor.<\/p>\n The oracle of the man whose eye is<\/strong> (?) closed.<\/p>\n The oracle of one that heareth the words of God.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n The form of it should be compared with 2Sa 23:1<\/span>, where the same word ‘oracle’ is used. The text appears to be corrupt. The word rendered ‘closed’ is very doubtful; and ‘opened’ (R.V. marg.) is no less questionable. With the former rendering the reference is to the eyes closed in a trance; with the latter, to the eyes of the mind opened to receive the vision.<\/p>\n 3 9<\/strong>. Balaam’s first prophetic message<\/em>. In its present form this consists of nine couplets and two triplets. But the text has undergone corruption, and perhaps there were originally eleven couplets.<\/p>\n Whose eyes are open – <\/B>i. e., opened in inward vision, to discern things that were hidden from ordinary beholders.<\/P><\/p>\n Verse 3<\/span>. He took up his parable<\/B><\/I>] His prophetic declaration couched in highly poetic terms, and in regular metre, as the preceding were.<\/P> <\/P> The man whose eyes are open<\/B><\/I>] I believe the original shethum<\/I>, should be translated shut<\/I>, not open<\/I>; for in the next verse, where the opening of his eyes is mentioned, a widely different word is used, galah<\/I>, which signifies to open<\/I> or reveal<\/I>. At first the eyes of Balaam were shut<\/I>, and so closely too that he could not see<\/I> the angel who withstood him, till God opened<\/I> his eyes; nor could he see the gracious intentions of God towards Israel, till the eyes of his understanding were opened<\/I> by the powers of the Divine Spirit. This therefore he mentions, we may suppose, with humility and gratitude, and to the credit of the prophecy which he is now about to deliver, that the Moabites may receive it as the word of God<\/I>, which must be fulfilled in due season. His words, in their meaning, are similar to those of the blind man in the Gospel: “Once I was blind<\/I>, but now I see<\/I>.”<\/P> <\/p>\n The eyes, either, <\/P> 1. Of his body, as in the following verse; or, <\/P> 2. Of his mind, which God had opened in a peculiar and prophetical manner, whence prophets are called seers, 1Sa 9:9<\/span>. He implies that before he was blind and stupid, having eyes, but not seeing nor understanding. Some render the words having his eyes shut<\/I>, as the Hebrew verb satham<\/I> signifies, the letters schin<\/I> and samech<\/I> being frequently exchanged; and so the meaning is, that he received this revelation either in a dream, when mens eyes are simply shut; or in an ecstasy or trance, when mens eyes, though open, are in a manner shut, to wit, as to the use and exercise of them. <\/P> <\/p>\n 3. the man whose eyes are open<\/B>thatis, a seer (1Sa 9:9<\/span>), a prophet,to whom the visioned future was disclosedsometimes when fallinginto a sleep (Ge 15:12-15<\/span>),frequently into “a trance.”<\/P><\/p>\n And he took up his parable<\/strong>,…. His parable of prophecy, as the Targums, his prophetic speech, which, with a loud voice, he expressed in the hearing of Balak and his nobles:<\/p>\n and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said<\/strong>; the preface to his prophecy is pompous, and seems to be full of pride and vanity, and so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem represent him;<\/p>\n “the man who is more excellent than his father hath said, to whom hidden secrets, even what was hidden from the prophets is revealed to him;”<\/p>\n and the Jews have a saying t that he that has an evil eye, a haughty spirit, and a large soul, or is covetous, is one of the disciples of Balaam the wicked:<\/p>\n and the man whose eyes are open hath said<\/strong>; or, as some u render it, whose eyes were shut, but now open; either the eyes of his body, which were shut when the angel met him, and the ass saw him and not he, but afterwards were open, and he saw him also; or the eyes of his understanding blinded with ambition and covetousness, but were open to see his mistake, at least so far as to be sensible that he could never prevail upon God to allow him to curse Israel; or rather open, by the spirit of prophecy coming on him, whereby he saw and foretold things to come.<\/p>\n t Pirke Abot, c. 5. sect. 19. u So V. L. Montanus, Tigurine version, &c.<\/p>\n Num 24:3<\/span> and Num 24:4<\/span> contain the preface to the prophecy: “ The divine saying of Balaam the son of Beor, the divine saying of the man with closed eye, the divine saying of the hearer of divine words, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down and with opened eyes<\/em>.” For the participial noun the meaning divine saying ( effatum <\/em>, not inspiratum <\/em>, Domini<\/em>) is undoubtedly established by the expression , which recurs in Num 14:28<\/span> and Gen 22:16<\/span>, and is of constant use in the predictions of the prophets; and this applies even to the few passages where a human author is mentioned instead of Jehovah, such as Num 24:3<\/span>, Num 24:4<\/span>, and Num 24:15<\/span>, Num 24:16<\/span>; also 2Sa 23:1<\/span>; Pro 30:1<\/span>; and Psa 36:2<\/span>, where a is ascribed to the personified wickedness. Hence, when Balaam calls the following prophecy a , this is done for the purpose of designating it as a divine revelation received from the Spirit of God. He had received it, and now proclaimed it as a man , with closed eye. does not mean to open, a meaning in support of which only one passage of the Mishnah<\/em> can be adduced, but to close, like in Dan 8:26<\/span>, and in Lam 3:8<\/span>, with the softened into or (see Roediger<\/em> in Ges<\/em>. thes., and Dietrich’s<\/em> Hebrew Lexicon). “Balaam describes himself as the man with closed eye with reference to his state of ecstasy, in which the closing of the outer senses went hand in hand with the opening of the inner” (Hengstenberg). The cessation of all perception by means of the outer senses, so far as self-conscious reflection is concerned, was a feature that was common to both the vision and the dream, the two forms in which the prophetic gift manifested itself (Num 12:6<\/span>), and followed from the very nature of the inward intuition. In the case of prophets whose spiritual life was far advanced, inspiration might take place without any closing of the outward senses. But upon men like Balaam, whose inner religious life was still very impure and undeveloped, the Spirit of God could only operate by closing their outward senses to impressions from the lower earthly world, and raising them up to visions of the higher and spiritual world.<\/p>\n (Note: Hence, as Hengstenberg observes (Balaam, p. 449), we have to picture Balaam as giving utterance to his prophecies with the eyes of his body closed; though we cannot argue from the fact of his being in this condition, that an Isaiah would be in precisely the same. Compare the instructive information concerning analogous phenomena in the sphere of natural mantik and ecstasy in Hengstenberg (pp. 449ff.), and Tholuck’s Propheten<\/em>, pp. 49ff.)<\/p>\n What Balaam heard in this ecstatic condition was , the sayings of God, and what he saw , the vision of the Almighty. The Spirit of God came upon him with such power that he fell down ( ), like Saul in 1Sa 19:24<\/span>; not merely “prostrating himself with reverential awe at seeing and hearing the things of God” ( Knobel<\/em>), but thrown to the ground by the Spirit of God, who “came like an armed man upon the seer,” and that in such a way that as he fell his (spirit’s) eyes were opened. This introduction to his prophecy is not an utterance of boasting vanity; but, as Calvin<\/em> correctly observes, “the whole preface has no other tendency than to prove that he was a true prophet of God, and had received the blessing which he uttered from a celestial oracle.”<\/p>\n The blessing itself in Num 24:5<\/span>. contains two thoughts: (1) the glorious prosperity of Israel, and the exaltation of its kingdom (Num 24:5-7<\/span>); (2) the terrible power, so fatal to all its foes, of the people which was set to be a curse or a blessing to all the nations (Num 24:8<\/span>, Num 24:9<\/span>).<\/p>\n 3. And the man whose eyes are open, (166) hath said. This preface has no other object than to prove that he is a true prophet of God, and that he has received the blessing, which he pronounces, from divine revelation; and indeed his boast was true as regarded this special act, though it might be the case that pride and ambition impelled him thus to vaunt. It is, however, probable that he prefaced his prophecy in this way by the inspiration of the Spirit, in order to demand more credit for what he said. From a consideration of this purpose we may the better gather the meaning of his words. Balaam dignifies himself with titles, by which he may claim for himself the prophetic office; whatever, therefore, he predicates of himself, we may know to be the attributes of true prophets, whose marks and distinctions he borrows. To this end he says that he is “hidden in his eye,” by which he means that he does not see in the ordinary manner, but that he is endued with the power of secret vision. Interpreters agree that שתם shethum, is equivalent to סתם sethum, which is closed or hidden. Thus some render it in the pluperfect tense: The man who had his eyes closed; and this they refer to the blindness of Balaam, since his ass saw more clearly than himself. Others, who perceive this gloss to be too poor, expound it by anti-phrasis, Whose eye was open; but, since this interpretation, too, is unnatural, I have no doubt but that he says his eyes were hidden, because in their secret vision they have more than human power. (167) For David makes use of the word to signify mysteries, when he says: <\/p>\n “<\/p>\n Thou hast manifested to me the hidden things (168) of wisdom.” (Psa 51:6<\/span>.) <\/p>\n Unless, perhaps, we may prefer that he was called the man with hidden eyes, as despising all human things, and as one with whom there is no respect of persons; the former interpretation, however, is the more suitable. And assuredly, when he adds immediately afterwards, the hearer of “the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty,” it must be taken expositively. To the same effect is what is added in conclusion: “He who falls (169) and his eyes are opened;” for the exposition which some give, that his mind was awake whilst he was asleep as regarded his body, is far-fetched; and there is a tameness in the opinion of those who refer it to the previous history, where it is recorded that, after Balaam had fallen under the ass, his eyes were opened to see the angel (chap. 22:31.) Comparing himself, therefore, to the prophets, he says that he fell down in order to receive his visions; for we often read that the prophets were prostrated, or lost their strength, and lay almost lifeless, when God revealed Himself to them; for thus did it please God to cast down His servants as to the flesh, in order to lift them up above the world, and to empty them of their own strength, in order to replenish them with heavenly virtue. <\/p>\n (166) “Reconditus oculo;” covered in the eye.— Lat. “Qui a l’oeil couvert;” who has the eye covered. — Fr. <\/p>\n (167) This word has occasioned much discussion among the commentators. A. V. subjoins in the margin: “ Heb. who had his eyes shut, but now opened.” Ainsworth says: “Shethum, the original word, is of contrary significance to Sethum, that is, closed or shut up; however, some take it to be of the same meaning, which may then be explained thus, The man who had his eye shut, but now open. And eye is put for eyes, understanding the eyes of his mind opened by the spirit of prophecy; though some of the Hebrews (as Jarchi here observeth) have from hence conjectured that Balaam was blind of one eye!” Dathe, in accordance with the most ancient interpreters, ( LXX. Onkelos, and the Syriac,) agrees with the text of A. V. <\/p>\n (168) A. V. “And in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.” C.’s exposition in loco appears rather to agree with. A. V. than with his citation in this place. “Some interpret בסתום, besathum, as if he here declared that God had discovered secret mysteries to him, or things hidden from the human understanding. He seems rather to mean that wisdom had been discovered to his mind in a secret and intimate manner.” See Cal. Soc. edit. of Psalms, vol. 2, pp. 292, 293, and note <\/p>\n (169) A. V., “falling into a trance, but having his eyes open.” <\/p>\n (3) Balaam the son of Beor hath said.<\/strong>The Hebrew word (neum<\/em>) <\/em>is imperfectly rendered by hath said. <\/em>It is the word which is commonly used in the prophetical books of Scripture to denote a Divine saying, and is rarely used when a human author is named. It occurs in the Pentateuch only in Gen. 22:16<\/span>, Num. 14:28<\/span>, and in this chapter, where it is found in Num. 24:3-4<\/span>; Num. 24:15-16<\/span>.<\/p>\n The man whose eyes are open.<\/strong>There is great diversity of opinion respecting the meaning of the word which is here rendered open, <\/em>and which, as it is here written, occurs in no other place. If shatham <\/em>is identified with satham, <\/em>it means to close, not to open. The meaning, however, of this verse is sufficiently explained by that which follows, whichever rendering of the word shethum <\/em>is adopted. Balaam appears to have been thrown into an ecstatic state, as was Saul, and as were many of the ancient prophets; and whilst the eye of the outer senses was closed, the eye of the inner senses was preternaturally opened.<\/p>\n 3<\/strong>. <\/strong> Parable <\/strong> See Num 23:7<\/span>, note. <\/p>\n Whose eyes are open <\/strong> Thus, says Furst, the Syriac and several rabbins read; but Keil, the Vulgate, the Revised Version, and others say that the Hebrew means whose eyes are closed, <\/em> that is, seeing only with the inner eye. The Seventy say the man who truly sees. <\/em> “Balaam describes himself as the man with closed eyes with reference to his state of ecstasy, in which the closing of the outer senses went hand in hand with the opening of the inner.” Hengstenberg.<\/p>\n Num 24:3-9<\/strong><\/span> (3a-9)<\/p>\n ‘And he took up his incantation (parable), and said,’ <\/p>\n Here he begins with what was clearly his normal way of going into deep trance and follows it with a series of contrasts presented chiastically. <\/p>\n Num 24:3-9<\/strong><\/span> (3b-9)<\/p>\n “Balaam the son of Beor says,<\/p>\n And the man whose eye was closed says,<\/p>\n He says, who hears the words of God, <\/p>\n Who sees the vision of the Almighty, <\/p>\n Falling down, <\/p>\n And having his eyes open.<\/p>\n a <\/strong> How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, <\/p>\n a <\/strong> Your tabernacles, O Israel! <\/p>\n b <\/strong> As valleys are they spread forth, <\/p>\n b <\/strong> As gardens by the riverside, <\/p>\n b <\/strong> As fragrant aloes which Yahweh has planted, <\/p>\n b <\/strong> As cedar trees beside the waters. <\/p>\n c <\/strong> Water shall flow from his buckets, <\/p>\n c <\/strong> And his seed shall be in many waters, <\/p>\n d <\/strong> And his king shall be higher than Agag, <\/p>\n d <\/strong> And his kingdom shall be exalted. <\/p>\n d <\/strong> God brings him forth out of Egypt, <\/p>\n d <\/strong> He has as it were the towering horns (‘strength’) of the wild-ox.<\/p>\n c <\/strong> He shall eat up the nations his adversaries, <\/p>\n c <\/strong> And shall break their bones in pieces, <\/p>\n c <\/strong> And smite them through with his arrows. <\/p>\n b <\/strong> He couches, he lay down as a lion, <\/p>\n b <\/strong> And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? <\/p>\n a <\/strong> Blessed be every one who blesses you, <\/p>\n a <\/strong> And cursed be every one who curses you.”<\/p>\n Note how different is the opening here. Balaam is deliberately going into a visionary state. <\/p>\n “Balaam the son of Beor says; And the man whose eye was closed says; He says, who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down (or ‘falling into a trance”<\/strong>), and having his eyes open.’ These first phrases would instantly refer back in the reader’s mind to the incident with his ass. There Balaam’s eyes had been closed. That may also have been Balaam’s intention if rumours had begun to spread around about what had happened, (and it was not the kind of thing that servants kept to themselves). But then he had heard the words of God, and had seen the vision of the Almighty, and had fallen down and had his eyes opened (see Num 22:31<\/span>, ‘then Yahweh opened the eyes of Balaam and he saw the Angel of Yahweh — and he bowed his head and fell on his face — and the Angel of Yahweh said to him’). <\/p>\n But these phrases may also be words that Balaam regularly used when working himself into a trance, with the name of the right god inserted in each case. He was revealing himself as one who can move from having his eyes closed to having his eyes opened by meeting with, in this case, ‘the Almighty’ (Shaddai). Note the change of title. Calling on Yahweh by His other title ‘the Almighty’ (Shaddai) might succeed. <\/p>\n So the process is outlined. His ‘eyes’ are first closed, then he hears the words of God, then he sees the vision of Shaddai, then he falls into a trance, then his eyes are opened. In his trance-like state all is now ready for him to affect issues by his words. <\/p>\n Once again his incantation could hardly please the frustrated Balak. ‘How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, Your tabernacles, O Israel! As valleys are they spread forth, As gardens by the riverside, As fragrant aloes (aromatic trees) which Yahweh has planted, As cedar trees beside the waters.’ Israel’s tents were to be ‘goodly’, prosperous and flourishing and fruitful. They were to be like valleys fed by water which are thus luxuriant, like gardens by the riverside which therefore flourish, like aromatic trees which Yahweh has planted giving pleasure to all around, the kind of trees found in king’s gardens (they were Yahweh’s planting – compare Psa 1:3<\/span>; Isa 27:2-6<\/span>), and as cedar trees beside the waters, which grow very strong. Cedar trees were not noted for being by water, but the thought was that a cedar in such a place would be even stronger and more luxuriant than normal. Note the emphasis again on water. Nothing mattered to ancient peoples more than water. It was their life source. So Israel’s dwellingplaces would be like fruitful valleys, like flowering gardens, like scented trees and like strong cedars made even stronger by being by the riverside. All these were pictures of what was most desirable to mankind. <\/p>\n “Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters.”<\/strong> This probably indicates fruitfulness in childbearing, and the spreading of His people like refreshing and reviving water among the nations so as to bless them and bring justice to the world. In them will all the families of the earth be blessed (Gen 12:3<\/span>; Gen 18:18<\/span>; Gen 22:18<\/span>; Gen 28:14<\/span>). They will flow out to the nations like water and dwell among them abundantly, as the waters of Eden went out to all the world (Gen 2:10-14<\/span>). <\/p>\n The thought of water as an agent of life and blessing and bringer in of justice is found everywhere in Scripture. Compare here Isa 33:20-22<\/span>, where Jerusalem would be like an immovable tent where Yahweh would be with His people in majesty, and it would be a place of broad rivers and streams, because Yahweh was their judge, lawgiver and king. Consider also Eze 47:1-12<\/span> (compare Num 26:25-28<\/span>) where the flowing forth of water brought life, as expanded in Joh 7:38<\/span>, ‘out of your innermost being will flow rivers of living water’; and the going forth of God’s Instruction, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem (Isa 2:3<\/span>). Consider also the constant picture throughout Isaiah of spiritual blessedness in terms of water, Isa 32:15-17<\/span>; Isa 33:20-22<\/span>; Isa 35:1<\/span>; Isa 35:7<\/span>; Isa 44:3-5<\/span>; Isa 45:8<\/span>; Isa 55:1<\/span>; Isa 55:10-13<\/span>; Isa 58:11<\/span>. <\/p>\n “And his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.”<\/strong> Agag was probably a royal name of the Amalekite kings like Pharaoh was of Egypt and Abimelech of the Philistines. The Amalekites were doughty fighters, and their Agag was seen as wielding widespread power because of the widespread nature of the Amalekites as they spread over the wilderness descending to take their pickings where they would (compare Num 13:45; Exo 17:8-16<\/span>; Jdg 6:3<\/span>; Jdg 6:33<\/span>; Jdg 7:12<\/span>). Agag was feared, but Israel’s future king (whether heavenly or earthly, for the king in mind here may be God) would be more feared. He would enjoy more power and more widespread influence than Agag. Note how Balaam also prophesies against the Amalekites in Num 24:20<\/span> demonstrating that Amalek were very much in his mind. An Amalekite king under the name was defeated by Saul and slain by Samuel in 1Sa 15:8-9<\/span>; 1Sa 15:32-33<\/span>. Haman the Agag-ite in Est 3:1<\/span> etc. possibly traced his descent back to the dynasty (Josephus links him with the Amalekites). <\/p>\n “His king.”<\/strong> The King here is probably Yahweh (compare verse 21). But it would not be surprising if Balaam spoke of Israel’s ‘king’. He probably knew little of the way in which Israel was run, and would assume a supreme ruler. To him that would be expressed in terms of ‘king’, for all nations in one way or another had a king. His point was simply that whoever ruled Israel would be exalted, and that the sphere of their rule would be exalted. It is not prophesying a particular king. <\/p>\n “God brings him forth out of Egypt. He has as it were the towering horns\/strength of the wild-ox. He shall eat up the nations his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces, and smite them through with his arrows.”<\/strong> Again he compares God as the Deliverer from Egypt to a mighty wild ox, eating up the nations as a wild ox devours the vegetation; breaking their bones in pieces as a wild ox treads down those who stand in its way; and smiting them through with his arrows, because He is more than just a wild ox, but a wild ox typifying a mighty warrior. Who can withstand such a God? And He is on Israel’s side. <\/p>\n The eating up of the nations is in contrast with Israel’s seed in many waters. In the one case blessing, in the other judgment. It is the former who are to be blessed and the latter who are to be cursed. <\/p>\n “He couches, he lay down as a lion, and as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?”<\/strong> As Num 23:24<\/span> suggests this description is of Yahweh and his consort Israel. Yahweh is identified with His people. They are like an established pride of lions at rest, best avoided and left undisturbed, lest they rend those who disturb them. It is a brave and foolish people who dare to stir them up. This picture of the sleeping pride of contented lions parallels the earlier pictures of Israel like watered gardens and valleys, and aromatic and towering trees. <\/p>\n “Blessed be every one who blesses you, And cursed be every one who curses you.”<\/strong> This parallels the ‘goodly tents’ of Jacob (Num 24:5<\/span>). They are a people blessed by Yahweh. Thus all who bless them will be blessed, and all who curse then will be cursed, a real smack in the face to Balak. <\/p>\n So with this all round picture of Yahweh’s blessings on Israel we can understand why Balak might feel that somehow he was not being fairly treated. <\/p>\n Num 24:3<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>Balaam, the son of Beor, hath said<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> There seems to be no reason for understanding this introduction, with Bishop Patrick, as a proof of Balaam’s vanity; since it is agreeable to the ordinary style of all the prophets. See Isa 1:1<\/span>. <\/span>Jer 1:1<\/span>. <\/span>Eze 1:3<\/span>. The next clause, The<\/em> man whose eyes are open, <\/em>should rather be, whose eyes are opened; <\/em>which agrees exactly with the version of the Vulgate, approved by Le Clerc and Calmet; the man whose eyes were shut, <\/em>formerly shut, but now opened; referring either to that part of the history, wherein we are told, that though the ass saw the angel, Balaam saw him not, till the Lord opened his eyes; <\/em>or to that more sublime intelligence wherewith God had now enlightened his understanding; the man whose eyes are opened <\/em>to the wonderful knowledge of future things, through God’s spirit. The 1st verse shews that his mind was thus illuminated: there Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord, <\/em>&c.; and in the 4th verse we are told to what his eyes were opened: he saw this vision of the<\/em> Almighty.<\/em> <\/p>\n Observe how the HOLY GHOST hath caused the expressions of Balaam to be guarded. It is the man whose eyes are opened, not whose heart; whose knowledge of divine things is in the head, but who never felt the influence of them in his life and practice. Reader! how very awful is it to behold men who have their understanding enlightened, but their minds unrenewed. We are taught to believe that devils excel men in the knowledge of the doctrine of JESUS and his righteousness, but they are eternal strangers to the love or desire of JESUS, in practical, experimental feeling. For while many to whom the SON of GOD came in the days of his flesh, knew him not; the devils cried out, we know thee who thou art, the Holy One of GOD. Luk 4:33-34<\/span> . Reader! think only what an aggravated state of misery in the other world must it be, both in men and devils, whose darkness becomes more horrible in proportion to the greater light they posses, of knowing without feeling what divine love is. This is what may be supposed intimated in our LORD’S expression: if the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness: Mat 6:23<\/span> .<\/p>\n Num 24:3 And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:<\/p>\n Ver. 3. Whose eyes are open.<\/strong> ] And therefore can speak it of a certainty: for what is more sure than sight? q.d., Israel shall be blessed, and I will stand to it. He is blessed, “yea, and he shall be blessed.” Gen 27:33 <\/p>\n And he took up his parable. Compare Num 23:7, Num 23:18. <\/p>\n the man = the strong or mighty man. Hebrew. geber. See App-14. <\/p>\n whose eyes are. Hebrew “whose eye is”. <\/p>\n open. Hebrew. shatham, to close, i.e. “the man with closed eye”, i.e. in an ecstasy; closed, but seeing. <\/p>\n he took up: Num 23:7, Num 23:18 <\/p>\n whose eyes are open hath said: Heb. who had his eyes shut, but now opened, Num 24:4, Num 24:16, Num 22:31 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Num 24:15 – General Job 27:1 – Job Mic 2:4 – shall 1Co 14:37 – any Heb 6:4 – were once<\/p>\n Num 24:3-9. Balaams Third Oracle.This varies the tenor of the two previous utterances by dwelling upon the fertility of Israels soil, and the eminence of its ruler. It was probably constructed, like the preceding oracle, in distichs, but in two places this arrangement has been disturbed. The reference to a king in Israel points to the poem having been written in the time of the monarchy.<\/p>\n Num 24:3 f. The seer is represented as receiving the Divine revelations in a trance or dream, the closed eye of Num 24:3 being the eye of the body, and the open eyes of Num 24:4 being the eyes of the mind. But the rendering was closed in Num 24:3 is doubtful.Balaam . . . saith: better, Utterance of Balaam, etc. (and so in the next two lines). The word rendered utterance is almost exclusively used of communications from Yahweh through His prophets, and has an impressiveness which the RV inadequately expresses.Falling down: i.e. (seemingly) in sleep: cf. Num 22:19. In Num 24:4 one line of a distich is lacking; comparison with the similar Num 24:16 suggests that after the first line there should be inserted, And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High.<\/p>\n Num 24:6. Render, As valleys which spread themselves out. The rows of Israels tents appear like diverging valleys. The third and fourth lines should probably be rearranged and emended thus, As cedar trees which Yahweh hath planted (cf. Psa 104:16), As terebinths beside the waters. Cedars do not grow near water, and lign aloes were to the Hebrews foreign trees, coming from Arabia, India, or China, the wood of which was imported for its fragrant odour (Psa 45:8, Pro 7:17, Ca. Num 4:14).<\/p>\n Num 24:7. Israels water-supply is abundant, and his soil well irrigated (Gen 49:25): with the second line cf. Ecc 11:1.The comparison with Agag (a king of Amalek) suggests that the poem was composed in the time of Saul or David (cf. 1Sa 15:8); but the fact that the Amalekites were never so powerful a nation as to make their ruler an appropriate standard of comparison (though cf. Num 24:20) throws doubt upon the correctness of the text.<\/p>\n Num 24:3. In this verse, which should seemingly consist of three distichs, one distich is incomplete. The last line (with its mention of arrows) is out of harmony with the adjoining comparison to a fierce animal, and should be corrected to And smite their loins (Deu 33:11) in sunder, or And smite their oppressors in sunder.<\/p>\n Num 24:9. Cf. Gen 49:9.<\/p>\n 24:3 And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes {b} are open hath said:<\/p>\n (b) His eyes were shut up before in respect to the clear visions which he saw after.<\/p>\n And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: 3, 4. The opening triplet is as follows: The oracle of Balaam son of Beor. The oracle of the man whose eye is (?) closed. The oracle of one that heareth … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 24:3”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4458\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"