A Star out of Jacob

From the high places of Baal, Balaam sees the edge of Israel's camp. "How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?… Lo, the people shall dwell alone… Who can count the dust of Jacob… Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!"

From the top of Pisgah: "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent… Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it… Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob."

From Peor, the Spirit of God comes on him: "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!… Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee." Balak claps his hands in anger and tells him to flee home.

Balaam's last word: "I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab." He speaks of Edom, Amalek, the Kenites, and ships from Kittim, "and Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place."

Ancient poetry

The oracles are written in an old style of Hebrew poetry. William F. Albright (1944) argued that their language and spelling are among the oldest in the Bible, perhaps 13th–12th century BC in origin; others date them to the monarchy. Their mention of Edom, Moab and Amalek fits the early history of Israel's neighbors.

Star and scepter in translation

The Hebrew has "a star" and "a scepter." The Greek Septuagint renders the second as "a man shall rise up out of Israel" (anthrōpos), reading the oracle as about a person. The Aramaic Targum Onqelos says "a king shall arise from Jacob, and the Messiah shall be anointed from Israel." Follow the passage to see every version.

"Ma tovu"

"How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel" (Ma tovu ohalekha Yaakov) is the prayer many Jews say on entering a synagogue: the blessing of a hired foreign seer became Israel's own words of worship.

Agag or Gog?

In the third oracle (24:7), the Hebrew text says Israel's "king shall be higher than Agag." Agag is the name of the Amalekite king Saul spared (1 Samuel 15), which may point to Israel's first kings. The Samaritan Pentateuch reads "Gog" instead, and so does the Greek Septuagint, which renders the whole verse differently: "There shall come a man out of his seed, and he shall rule over many nations; and the kingdom of Gog shall be exalted." Gog is the great enemy of the last days in Ezekiel 38–39. The difference is one letter in Hebrew (אגג / גוג), and it changes the oracle from a memory of Saul's time into a vision of the end. The Vulgate and the King James Bible follow the Hebrew "Agag."

Ships from Kittim

Balaam's last words (24:24) speak of ships "from the coast of Chittim" that will afflict Asshur and Eber. Kittim first meant Cyprus (from the city of Kition). Daniel 11:30 uses the phrase for a Roman fleet, and the Dead Sea Scrolls call the Romans "the Kittim." Some modern writers go further and claim Balaam foretold specific modern nations or events. Those readings are interpretations: the text itself names only ancient peoples.