Bilangan 24:17-18

24:17 ‘I see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not close at hand. ¹ 

A star ²  will march forth ³  out of Jacob,

and a scepter ⁴  will rise out of Israel.

He will crush the skulls ⁵  of Moab,

and the heads ⁶  of all the sons of Sheth. ⁷ 

24:18 Edom will be a possession,

Seir, ⁸  his enemies, will also be a possession;

but Israel will act valiantly.

Mazmur 108:10

108:10 Who will lead me into the fortified city?

Who will bring me to Edom? ⁹ 

Yesaya 34:5

34:5 He says, ¹⁰  “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. ¹¹ 

Look, it now descends on Edom, ¹² 

on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”

[24:17]  ¹ tn Heb “near.”

[24:17]  ² sn This is a figure for a king (see also Isa 14:12) not only in the Bible but in the ancient Near Eastern literature as a whole. The immediate reference of the prophecy seems to be to David, but the eschatological theme goes beyond him. There is to be a connection made between this passage and the sighting of a star in its ascendancy by the magi, who then traveled to Bethlehem to see the one born King of the Jews (Matt 2:2). The expression “son of a star” (Aram Bar Kochba) became a title for a later claimant to kingship, but he was doomed by the Romans in a.d. 135.

[24:17]  ³ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it is equal to the imperfect expressing the future. The verb דָּרַךְ (darakh), related to the noun “way, road,” seems to mean something like tread on, walk, march.”

[24:17]  ⁴ sn The “scepter” is metonymical for a king who will rise to power. NEB strangely rendered this as “comet” to make a parallel with “star.”

[24:17]  ⁵ tn The word is literally “corners,” but may refer to the corners of the head, and so “skull.”

[24:17]  ⁶ tc The MT reads “shatter, devastate.” Smr reads קֹדְקֹד (qodqod, “head; crown; pate”). Smr follows Jer 48:45 which appears to reflect Num 24:17.

[24:17]  ⁷ sn The prophecy begins to be fulfilled when David defeated Moab and Edom and established an empire including them. But the Messianic promise extends far beyond that to the end of the age and the inclusion of these defeated people in the program of the coming King.

[24:18]  ⁸ sn Seir is the chief mountain range of Edom (Deut 33:2), and so the reference here is to the general area of Edom.

[108:10]  ⁹ sn The psalmist speaks again and acknowledges his need for help in battle. He hopes God will volunteer, based on the affirmation of sovereignty over Edom in v. 9, but he is also aware that God has seemingly rejected the nation of Israel (v. 11).

[34:5]  ¹⁰ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Lord speaks at this point.

[34:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] my sword is drenched in the heavens.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has תראה (“[my sword] appeared [in the heavens]”), but this is apparently an attempt to make sense out of a difficult metaphor. Cf. NIV “My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens.”

[34:5]  sn In v. 4 the “host of the heaven” refers to the heavenly luminaries (stars and planets, see, among others, Deut 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:4-5; 2 Chr 33:3, 5) that populate the divine/heavenly assembly in mythological and prescientific Israelite thought (see Job 38:7; Isa 14:13). As in 24:21, they are viewed here as opposing God and being defeated in battle.

[34:5]  ¹² sn Edom is mentioned here as epitomizing the hostile nations that oppose God.