Глава 24

The third and fourth parables of Balaam about Israel. - Parable of Amalek. - Parable of the Kenites. - The parable of Asshur, Ever and Kittim. Numbers 24:1. Balaam saw that the Lord was pleased to bless Israel, and did not go, as before, to practice magic, but turned his face to the desert. Balaam was finally convinced that he could only bless the people of God, and therefore no longer moved away from the altar to resolve his emotional unrest. Numbers 24:3. And he spoke his parable and said: Balaam the son of Beor speaks, the man with open eyes speaks, “With an open eye,” that is, with the gift of prophetic clairvoyance. Numbers 24:4. speaks he who hears the words of God, who sees the visions of the Almighty; falls, but his eyes are open: “He falls, but his eyes are open,” i.e., although the prophet (due to human weakness) is subject to the possibility of moral fall and (in a state of prophetic delight) to strong physical relaxation, his mental eye does not cease to see the will of God. Numbers 24:7. water will flow from his bosom, and his seed will be like great waters; his king will surpass Agag and his kingdom will be exalted. Water is taken as a symbol of wealth and fertility, as an indispensable condition for abundant and rich vegetation 2. The name Agag (LXX: Γώγ, slav.: Gog), in all likelihood, was the title of the Amalekite kings, just like the names: Abimelech - of Gerar; Pharaoh, Ptolemy - Egyptian; Caesar - Roman. Numbers 24:17. I see Him, but now I am not there yet; I see Him, but not close. A star rises from Jacob, and a rod arises from Israel, and smite the princes of Moab and crush all the sons of Seth. Numbers 24:18. Edom will be in possession, Seir will be in the possession of its enemies, and Israel will show its strength. Numbers 24:19. He who is descended from Jacob will take possession and destroy what is left of the city. What is primarily and partly meant is the power of Israel under its glorious earthly kings. In all its completeness, the prophecy belongs to the Church at the time of the Messiah. The Church placed the present prophecy as a parable reading on the feast of the Nativity of Christ. According to one church song for this holiday, “now from Jacob, as Balaam said, Christ is born; He rules over the tongues, and His abiding Kingdom will certainly be exalted by grace” (trop. 5 p. can. on R. X.). “The sorcerer Balaam’s fortune-telling is now being fulfilled,” it is said in another place, “for a star will rise from Jacob and guide the wise men who bear gifts to the sun of glory, kings from Persia” (trop. 3 p. can. on R. X.). Numbers 24:20. And he saw Amalek, and spoke his parable, and said: Amalek is the first of the nations, but his end is destruction. The Amalekites (Genesis 14.7) are an ancient Canaanite tribe that wandered between Egypt and Palestine (Exodus 17; Numbers 13.30, 14.45; 1 Samuel 15.7, 27.8). In them one can see the descendants of Amalek, one of the sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau from Adah (Gen. 36.10, 12). The military power of the Amalekites was finally crushed under David. Numbers 24:21. And he saw the Kenites, and uttered his parable, and said, Thy dwelling is strong, and thy nest is built on the rock; The Kenites (Genesis 15.19) are an ancient Canaanite tribe that received their name (“ken” or “kin” - nest), perhaps from those villages that they built for themselves in the mountains of the areas they inhabited (Vlastov). Some of the Kenites, through a relative of Moses Jethro, who is called a Kenite (Judges 1.16), became close to the Jews and settled in Palestine (Judges 1.16, 4.11, 17). Some drew close to the Midianites and Amalekites (1 Samuel 15.5–7, 27.10, 30.29). Numbers 24:22. but Cain will be ruined, and it will not be long before Assur takes you captive. The beginning of the verse is very different in Greco-Slav. t. from Hebrew-Russian, due to the fact that LXX understood Hebrew. qain in the vernacular sense. "nest", and ch. "ebaer" - in the sense of proper. "Veor." This refers to either the invasion of the Mesopotamian king Husarsafem (Judges 3.8), or the enslavement of the Israelites (and with them the Kenites) by the Assyrians. Numbers 24:23. And [seeing Og,] he spoke his parable and said: Woe, [woe,] who will survive when God brings this! The words “seeing Og” are not in the Hebrew text (just as they are absent in many codes. LXX in Golmes). Balaam's speech is addressed to Assur, Eber and Kittim. Numbers 24:24. The ships will come from Chittim, and subdue Asshur, and subdue Eber; but they too are destroyed! “Ships will come from Chittim and subdue Asshur.” The name Kittim in the language of Holy Scripture refers to the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, located to the west of Palestine, such as Macedonia, Greece, Italy, with the islands adjacent to them. In 1 book. Mac Alexander the Great appears to have come from the land of Hittim (Hettim, Kittim); according to the rabbis, Hittim and Macedonia are one and the same. Thus, the beginning of the enslavement of Assur (a collective name for Asian monarchies) by Kittim can be seen in the conquests of Alexander the Great (1 Mac 1.1). Subsequently, Greek hegemony in the East was replaced by Roman. “And they shall humble Eber”: referring to the subjection of the Jews to Greek and Roman rule. “But they too will perish.” The Greco-Roman Empire (Kittim) in turn fell under the blows of the barbarian peoples. Numbers 24:25. And Balaam stood up and went back to his place, and Balak also went his way. Balaam was not destined to return to his homeland. He suffered death from the sword of the Jews, as divine retribution (Numbers 31.8) for the treacherous advice given to Balak against the people of Israel (Numbers 25). LXX render the first half of verse 7 differently: ἐξελεύσεται ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτοῦ (glav.: “a man will come forth from his seed”), next instead The abstract concept of the original “seed” is replaced by the concrete concept of a person, in a distant sense – the Messiah. You might be interested in: