Numbers 24:7

7 From his branches he shall distil waters, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.

Numbers 24:7 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 24:7

He shall pour the water out of his buckets
That is, God shall plentifully send down rain out of the clouds upon these valleys, gardens, and trees, and make them fruitful; and this may be a figure of the grace of God, with which his churches are watered, and become fruitful by means of the word and ordinances, which is conveyed through them out of the fulness which is in Christ:

and his seed [shall be] in many waters;
the seed and offspring of Israel shall be in a place of many waters, in a land of brooks and waters, shall dwell in a well watered land, the land of Canaan, ( Deuteronomy 8:7 ) or shall be like seed sown near water, or in well watered places, which springs up and brings forth much fruit, see ( Isaiah 32:20 ) or shall become, or be over many waters, to which people, kingdoms, and nations, are sometimes compared; and so may denote the multitude of Israel, and the large extent of their dominions, see ( Revelation 17:1 Revelation 17:15 ) :

and his king shall be higher than Agag;
who might be the then present king of Amalek, reckoned one of the greatest kings on earth; and this name, some think, was common to all the kings of Amalek, as Pharaoh to the kings of Egypt; and according to Jarchi and Aben Ezra, this is a prophecy of the first king of Israel, Saul, and of his conquering Agag king of Amalek, for there was one of this name in his time, ( 1 Samuel 15:7 1 Samuel 15:8 ) :

and his kingdom shall be exalted;
that is, the kingdom of the people of Israel, as it was more especially in the days of David and Solomon; and will be abundantly more in the days of the Messiah, when his kingdom shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth, and the kingdoms of this world shall become his, and he shall reign over all the earth; and so the Jerusalem Targum,

``and the kingdom of the King Messiah shall become very great;''

and so other Jewish writers F26 refer this prophecy to the days of the Messiah.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 Pesikta in Ketoreth Hassamim, fol. 27. 2. Vid. Philo. de Praemiis, p. 925. Sept. vers. & Targum Jon. in loc.

Numbers 24:7 In-Context

5 How beautiful are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy habitations, O Israel!
6 As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the LORD has planted, and as cedars beside the waters.
7 From his branches he shall distil waters, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.
8 God brought him forth out of Egypt; he has, as it were, the strength of a unicorn; he shall eat up the Gentiles his enemies and shall break their bones and pierce them through with his arrows.
9 He couched, he lay down as a lion and as a great lion; who shall awaken him? Blessed is he that blesses thee, and cursed is he that curses thee.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010