Albert Barnes Commentary Numbers 24
Albert Barnes Commentary
Numbers 24
Albert Barnes Commentary
Numbers 24
"And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him." — Numbers 24:2 (ASV)
Balaam gazed over the camp of Israel that stretched before him, and allowed the spectacle to work its own influence upon him.
"And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor saith, And the man whose eye was closed saith;" — Numbers 24:3 (ASV)
Whose eyes are open - that is, opened in inward vision, to discern things that were hidden from ordinary beholders.
"He saith, who heareth the words of God, Who seeth the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, and having his eyes open:" — Numbers 24:4 (ASV)
The “falling” of which Balaam speaks was the condition under which the inward opening of his eyes took place. It indicates the force of the divine inspiration overpowering the seer. The faithful prophets of the Lord do not appear to have been subject to these violent illapses (Daniel 8:17; Revelation 1:17).
In Balaam and in Saul (1 Samuel 19:24) the word of God could only prevail by first subduing the alien will, and overpowering the bodily energies which the will ordinarily directs.
"As valleys are they spread forth, As gardens by the river-side, As lign-aloes which Jehovah hath planted, As cedar-trees beside the waters." — Numbers 24:6 (ASV)
As gardens by the river’s side – Balaam’s language reflects the famous artificial gardens along the banks of his own river, the Euphrates.
As the trees of lign aloes which the Lord has planted – The latter words contain an apparent reference to Paradise . The aloe, imported from China and the far distant East, furnished to the ancients one of the most fragrant and precious of spices; compare Psalms 45:8; Proverbs 7:17.
As cedar trees beside the waters – that is, as the noblest of trees branching forth in the most beautiful situations: an image of majestic beauty, as that of the last verse was of rare fecundity.
"Water shall flow from his buckets, And his seed shall be in many waters, And his king shall be higher than Agag, And his kingdom shall be exalted." — Numbers 24:7 (ASV)
Balaam’s native soil was ordinarily irrigated by water fetched from the neighboring Euphrates, and carried in buckets suspended from the two ends of a pole. Thus, the metaphor would signify that Israel should have its own exuberant and unfailing channels of blessing and plenty. Some interpret the word as predictive of the future benefits that, through Israel, were to accrue to the rest of the world.
Agag - The name, apparently hereditary for the chieftains of Amalek (Compare to 1 Samuel 15:0), means “high.” The words point to the Amalekite kingdom as highly prosperous and powerful at that time ; but also indicate that it would be far excelled by the future glories of Israel. The Amalekites, in fact, never recovered from their crushing defeat by Saul (1 Samuel 15:2 and following), though they appear again as foes to Israel in the reign of David (1 Samuel 27:1–12 and 1 Samuel 30). The remnant of them was destroyed in the reign of Hezekiah (1 Chronicles 4:43).
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