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often ending in disappointment, and proving in the sequel vanity and vexation of spirit. No:

Jehovah his Elohim is with him,

And the shout of a king is in him'..

As though the prophet would say, No vanity, but the Eternal God is in yon tabernacle: methinks I hear in the vision of future ages, a royal salutation, a shout as of "numbers without numbers" saluting the promised KING, coming at length in his kingdom. In the view of this great event, and in order to its destined manifestation,

22. God is bringing him up from Egypt,

He reareth himself like the rhinoceros 2:

23. Truly there is no augury in Jacob,
Neither is there divination in Israel;

From time to time will it be told to Jacob,
And to Israel, what God is about to do3.

This nation is possessed of a true spirit of prophecy-no vain augury of soothsaying, as in the nations around, is practised in Israel; but God hath committed to them his sacred oracles, and will cause them to foretel things to come, as his wisdom sees necessary, for the comfort of his people. God having destined this nation to such a

"The sound of a royal trumpet is with him."-HORSLEY.

"Elationes sui ipsius: qualis est animalis,x,(ab elatione dicti)." SIMON. The allusion seems to be to the manner in which these animals toss and lift up themselves, in their irresistible course, over

turning all that dare to oppose them. Perhaps this verse should follow the 23d.

Bishop Horsley thinks this verse an interpolation here.

3 See Delgado, in Boothroyd's

notes.

purpose, of course it will be dangerous for any people to oppose its settlement, or molest it in its course :

24. Lo, the people riseth up as a lioness;

Like a lion he lifteth himself up:

He coucheth not till he hath devoured the prey,

And hath drank the blood of the slain.

This, at least, will serve to represent the final issue of all the struggles of Israel with their enemies.

Again, as we read in the twenty-fourth chapter, "The Spirit of God is upon Balaam," and he takes up his parable and says:

3. Balaam the son of Beor hath spoken,*

The man whose eyes were closed hath spoken; '

4. He hath spoken who heard the words of God,
And received the instructions of the Most High;
Who' beheld the visions of the Almighty;

• Who' fell, and his eyes were opened:

5. How beautiful are thy tents, O Jacob!
Thy tabernacles, O Israel!

6. As the watered vallies are they spread out,
As the gardens by the rivers' side!

As the lign aloes the plantation of Jehovah,
As the pine trees by the waters!

* Numb. xxiv.

"The man strong in the secret eye."-HORSLEY.

2

, aloe trees, or lign aloes, as our translation rightly renders it. "A sort of tree," says Calmet, "which comes from the East

Indies, of about eight or ten feet high. At the head of it is a large bunch of leaves, which are thick and indented, broad at bottom, but growing narrower towards the point, and about four feet in

7. He shall pour water' profusely' from his urn',
And his seed shall become a multitude of waters:

And his king shall be higher than Gog,
And his kingdom shall be exalted.

8. God is bringing him up from Egypt;
He reareth himself like the rhinoceros;
He shall devour the nations his enemies,
And he shall make bare their bones,
And stamp on their severed limbs.'

He hath couched, he hath lain down as a lion,
And as a lioness; who shall stir him up?

They are blessed who bless thee,

And they are cursed who curse thee.

This prophecy may form a comment upon the original blessing given to Abraham and Jacob; the multiplication of their seed, the high exaltation of one of them, of royal dignity, is clearly marked; and if the reading of

length." "It is manifest that a large number of these trees, growing regularly together, and viewed from an eminence, would look not unlike an encampment; and to these Balaam compares the tents of Israel."-PARKHURST.

So Geddes, who abides by the present text. As these two lines now stand, they appear to contain a prophecy of the great increase of the seed, or progeny of Israel: but the reading of the Septuagint has led some to imagine that the present text is corrupt. It appears to me, however, that the Septuagint have rather given a loose

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Gog, instead of Agag, be correct, a connexion is pointed out between this and some subsequent prophecies, which we shall have to notice. I shall only here beg the reader's attention to the last two lines. Surely, to say the least of them, they clearly announce that there is no favour to mankind, but in connexion with Israel; and that all that oppose themselves to this people, must be destroyed!

Lastly; The prophet, under the impulses of the Spirit, calls the king of Moab to him, "to advertise him what this people shall do to his people in the latter days." After the same exordium, as in his last prophecy, he proceeds:

17. I can see him, but it is not yet;

I can behold him, but it is not near;
There shall come a star out of Jacob,
And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel,
And shall smite the corners of Moab,
And destroy all the children of Seth.

The Targum of Onkelos is, "I shall see him, but not now I shall behold him, but he is not near. When a king shall arise from the house of Jacob, and the Messiah be anointed from the house of Israel, he shall slay the princes of Moab, and rule over all the children of men."

18. And Edom becometh a possession,

A possession also becometh Seir;

19. And Israel acquireth strength,

And Jacob closeth up his enemies,'

And destroyeth him that escapeth from the city.

Transposing "a", and di- (Comp. j.)

ויורם יעקב,viding the letters thus

As this may be possibly, though I think with little probability, supposed to refer only to the victories and conquests of the early kings of Israel, I shall not dwell upon this part of the prophecy: but proceed to some intimations which are given concerning the affairs of Israel in the last days, at the close of the prophecy, which seem more exclusively connected with our subject. "And looking upon Amalek, he took up his parable and said:

"Amalek is the head of the nations,

But in his last end he perisheth a spoil."

This is supposed to have been fulfilled in the expedition of Saul, recorded 1 Sam. xv. 7. Compare Exodus, xvii. 14.

"And looking on the Kenite, he took up his parable and said:

Strong is thy dwelling,

And thou hast placed thy nest on a rock;

Nevertheless the Kenite is a prey,
Until Ashur lead thee captive.

Understanding this of the Kenites, who were found by Saul among the Amalekites, and whom he dismissed, we may understand the prophecy to predict their gradual consumption among the Israelites, when dislodged from their strong hold, until the period of the captivity of the ten tribes.

On the foreboding of this great judgment to fall on Israel as a chastisement of the Almighty, the prophet exclaims :

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