Ver. 17. "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh. A star goeth out of Jacob, and a sceptre riseth out of Israel, and smiteth the borders of Moab, and destroyeth all the sons of the tumult. Ver. 18. And Edom shall be a possession, and Seir shall be a possession—his enemies, and Israel acquireth might. Ver. 19. And a Ruler shall come out of Jacob, and destroyeth what remaineth out of the city."
The star is, in Scripture, the symbol of the splendour of power. The sceptre leads us back to Gen. xlix. 10; and, in general, the announcements of Balaam have, throughout, the promises and hopes of the Patriarchs for their foundation. As in the fundamental passage, so here also, the sceptre, the symbol of dominion, stands for dominion itself. The substance of the two figurative expressions is briefly stated in ver. 19, in the words, "They shall rule out of Jacob," which are tantamount to, "A Ruler shall come out of Jacob."
A difference of opinion exists regarding the glorious King who is here announced. From the earliest times, the Jews understood thereby the Messiah, either exclusively, or, at least, principally, so as to admit of a secondary reference to David. Onkelos translates: "When a King shall rise out of Jacob, and out of Israel Messiah shall be anointed;"—Jonathan: "When a valiant King shall rise out of the house of Jacob, and out of Israel, Messiah, and a strong Sceptre shall be anointed." The Book of Sohar remarks on the words, "I see him, but now:" "This was in part fulfilled at that time; it will be completely fulfilled in the days of Messiah." (Compare the passages in Jos. de Voisin, in the Prooem. on R. Martini Pugio fid. p. 68; R. Martini iii. 3, c. 11; Schöttgen, "Jesus Messias," S. 151.) How widely this opinion was spread among the Jews, is sufficiently apparent from the circumstance, that the renowned pseudo-Messiah in the time of Hadrian adopted, with reference to the passage under review, the surname Barcochba, i.e., Son of the Star.—From the Jews, this interpretation very soon passed over to the Christians, who rightly found a warrant for it in the narrative of the star of the wise men from the East. Cyril of Jerusalem defended the Messianic interpretation against Julian. (Compare Julian, ed. Spanh. p. 263 c. See other passages from the fathers of the Church in Calov.) According to Theodoret (Quest. 44 in Numb.), there were, indeed, some to whom "Balaam appeared to have foretold nothing concerning our Saviour;" but this opinion was rejected as profane. The Messianic interpretation has, in a narrower and wider sense—i.e., as referring in the first instance to David, but in the highest and proper sense to Christ—become the prevailing one in the Evangelical Church also. It was defended even by such interpreters as Calvin and Clericus, who, as to other passages, differed from the prevailing Messianic interpretation. (Compare especially Mieg, de Stella et Sceptro Baleamitico in the Thes. Nov. p. 423 sqq., and Boullier, Dissert. Syll. Amsterdam 1750, Diss. I.) On the other hand, the Messianic interpretation found a zealous and ingenious opponent, first in Verschnir in the Bibl. Brem. nova, reprinted in his Opusc. He was joined by the rationalistic interpreters, who maintained an exclusive reference to David. But Rosenmüller and Baumgarten-Crusius (bibl. Theol. S. 369) returned to the Messianic interpretation.
The question at issue is chiefly this:—Whether by the star and sceptre some single Israelitish king is designated, or rather, an ideal person—the personified Israelitish kingdom. The latter view I proved, in my work on Balaam, to be the correct one, for the following reasons:—1. The reference to a certain Israelitish king is against the analogy of the other prophecies of the Pentateuch. A single person, especially a single king of future time, is nowhere announced in it,—except the Messiah, whose announcement, however, is different from that of David. But, on the other hand, the rise of the kingdom in Israel is announced as early as in the promise to the Patriarchs, on which all of Balaam's declarations rest throughout. It is only to this that the words, "A star goeth out of Jacob, and a sceptre riseth out of Israel," can refer,—according to the analogy of Gen. xvii. 6: "Kings shall come out of thee;" ver. 16: "And she shall become nations, kings of people shall be of her;" and xxxv. 11: "Kings shall come out of thy loins." 2. The reference to a single king would be against the analogy of Balaam's prophecies, inasmuch as these nowhere refer to a single individual. 3. The sceptre does not, in itself, lead us to think of an individual, since it does not designate a ruler, but dominion in general. But that which especially militates against the reference to an individual is the comparison with the fundamental passage, Gen. xlix. 10, in which Judah, and in him all Israel, does not receive the promise of a single king, but of the kingdom which shall at last be consummated in the Shiloh. 4. In favour of this general interpretation is also ver. 19, in which the words, "And dominion shall come out of Jacob," or literally, "They shall rule out of Jacob," may be considered as just a commentary on the words, "A sceptre riseth out of Israel." So also is ver. 7, "More elevated than Agag be his king," where the king of Israel is an ideal person—the personification of the kingdom. Agag, i.e., the fiery one, is not a proper name, but a surname of all Amalekite kings. The Amalekite kingdom—which here represents the world's power, opposed to the kingdom of God, because at the time of the Seer the Amalekites were the most powerful among the people who were hostile to Israel (compare ver. 20, where they are called the beginning of the heathen nations, i.e., the most powerful of them)—is here put in opposition to the Israelitish kingdom, and the latter will show itself superior to all worldly power.
The arguments which thus prove the reference of Balaam's prophecy to an Israelitish kingdom, disprove also, not only the exclusive reference to David, but also the exclusive reference to Christ; although they imply at the same time that the prophecy, in its final reference, has Christ for its subject. The Israelitish kingdom, indeed, attained to the full height of its destiny only in and with the Messiah; without the Messiah, the Israelitish kingdom is a trunk without a head. The prophecy thus centres in Christ. We are, however, not entitled to suppose that the prophet himself was not aware of this; on the contrary, we cannot but assume that Balaam must have known it. It is with intention that he does not speak of a plurality of Israelitish kings. The Israelitish kingdom, on the contrary, appears to him in the from of an ideal king, because he knows that, at some period, it will find Its full realization in the person of one king. For the same reason, Moses also describes the prophetic order, in the first instance, as an ideal prophet. That Balaam knew that the Israelitish kingdom would centre in the Messiah, is shown by the reference which his prophecy has to that of dying Jacob, in Gen. xlix. 10, from which the figure of the sceptre is borrowed. According to the latter passage, the whole dignity of Judah as ruler and lord over the whole heathen world is to centre in one elevated individual—the Shiloh. As to the letter, Balaam's prophecy falls short of the prophecy to which it refers, and on which it is founded, in two points. Instead of Judah, it mentions Israel; and instead of the invincible kingdom which is at last to centre in the Messiah, it represents the invincible kingdom only in general. But in both cases, this generality is easily accounted for by the external direction of Balaam's prophecy: a more definite tendency was of importance only for those who were within. We are fully entitled to suppose that Balaam himself knew what was contained in the fundamental passage. To the same result we are led by the contents of the prophecy itself. Balaam here brings into view an Israelitish kingdom, all-powerful on earth, and raised absolutely above the world's power. He does not stop with the victory over Moab and Edom—even this victory appears to him as an absolute and lasting one, and hence, essentially different from the temporary submission to David—but, from the particular, which only serves to exemplify the idea in reference to the historical relations existing at the present, he passes on, in ver. 19, to the general, the total overthrow of the whole hostile world's power. Indeed, such a progress is probably found even in ver. 17 itself. If at the close of it we read, "And destroyeth all the sons of the tumult," the word all, which is wanting in Jer. xlviii. 45, indicates that by the sons of the tumult we are to understand not only the Moabites, but the whole species to which they belonged, the whole heathen world, whose nature is restlessness, desire for strife, and the spirit of conquest,—the opposites of meekness and gentleness, which are the virtues characteristic of the subjects of the kingdom of God. In ver. 18, the particular is likewise followed by the general. But while ver. 17 and 18 contain, in each of the two particular features, a previous short allusion to the general, ver. 19 most expressly and intentionally reduces the particular to the general. The absolute elevation above the world's power, attributed by Balaam to the Israelitish kingdom, leads not only beyond the idea of a single king of the ordinary stamp, but also beyond that of the entire ordinary kingdom.
The objections urged against the Messianic interpretation are based either on a misunderstanding, or upon a superficial view of the passage. They who maintain that the judging activity of the Messiah is here brought forward in a manner too one-sided, forget that this part only could here be treated of. As Balaam's discourse formed the answer to Balak's message—"Come, curse me this people; peradventure we shall prevail to smite them and drive them out of the land,"—its natural subject was: Israel's position towards their enemies; and Balaam had expressly stated, in ver. 14, that he would treat of that subject. Balaam had to do with an enemy of Israel, and his chief aim was to represent to him the vanity of all his hostile efforts. The partial view arises, therefore, from the nature of the case; and only in that case could doubts arise as to the ultimate reference to the Messiah, if the other view were altogether denied. But such is by no means the case; for the words in ver. 9, "Blessed is he that blesseth thee," distinctly point it out. They who object to the Messianic interpretation on the ground that, at the time of Christ, the Moabites had disappeared from the stage of history, overlook the circumstance, that the Moabites here, as well as in Is. xi., where the complete destruction of Moab is likewise assigned to the times of the Messiah, are viewed only in their character as enemies to the congregation of God. If the prophecy were fulfilled upon the Moabites, even at the time when they still existed as a nation, not as Moabites, but as the enemies of the people of God; then the limit of their national existence cannot be the limit of the fulfilment of the prophecy. A case quite analogous is found in Mic. v. 4, 5, where the prophet characterizes the enemies of the kingdom of God at the time of the Messiah by the name of Asshur, although it appears, from other passages, that he distinctly knew that Asshur must, long ere that time, have disappeared from the scene of history.
The Messianic character of the prophecy being thus established, it will be impossible to misunderstand the internal relation between the star of Balaam and the star of the wise men from the East. The star of Balaam is the emblem of the kingdom which will rise in Israel. The star of the Magi is the symbol of the Ruler in whom the kingly power appears concentrated. The appearance of the star embodying the image of the prophet, indicates that the last and highest fulfilment of his prophecies is now to take place.
[MOSES' PROMISE OF THE PROPHET.]
(Deut. xviii. 15-19.)
Ver. 15. "A prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, Jehovah thy God will raise up: unto him ye shall hearken. Ver. 16. According to all that thou desiredst of Jehovah thy God in Horeb, in the day of the assembly, when thou didst say, I will not hear any farther the voice of Jehovah my God, and will not see this great fire any more, that I die not. Ver. 17. Then Jehovah said unto me. They have well spoken. Ver. 18. A prophet I will raise them up from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put My words into his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. Ver. 19. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which he shall speak in My name, I will require it of him."