Numbers 24:22

_NEVERTHELESS THE KENITE SHALL BE WASTED, UNTIL ASSHUR SHALL CARRY THEE AWAY CAPTIVE._ Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted. The primary meaning of the verb х_ BAA`AR_ (H1197)] is to eat up, to consume; and Gesenius ('Lex.,' sub voce) assigns it various significations in the Piel conj., No. 2, to cause to burn, to consume; and No. 3, to take away, to remove, to destroy. In either of these acceptations he considers the word may be taken in this clause; because he renders it, 'the Kenites shall be driven out, destroyed.' Hengstenberg takes it in both of these senses, applying it to the Canaanite tribes generally, which were represented by the Kenites-the first of those tribes whose hostility was displayed against Israel (Numbers 14:25; Numbe

22._Until Asshur shall carry thee away captive. _It is a harsh and unnatural construction to apply this to the Kenites; and the majority, indeed, consent that it should be referred to the Israelites; yet they differ as to the meaning of it, for some take it affirmatively, that the Kenites should be wasted, until the Assyrians should conquer the Israelites and carry them away captive; some, however, take it interrogatlvely, (180) as if it were an abrupt exclamation, How long shall Asshur hold thee captive? Thus they conceive the prolonged exile of the people is indicated. Undoubtedly it was the purpose of the Spirit to shew, by way of correction, that their prosperity, which had been previously mentioned, should be mixed with heavy afflictions: for slavery is a bitter thing, and exile even worse. Hence we gather that, though the Church is blessed by God, it is still in such a way as that...

15-25 Under the powerful influence of the Spirit of prophecy, Balaam foretold the future prosperity and extensive dominion of Israel. Balaam boasts that his eyes are open. The prophets were in old times called seers. He had heard the words of God, which many do who neither heed them, nor hear God in them. He knew the knowledge of the Most High. A man may be full of the knowledge of God, yet utterly destitute of the grace of God. He calls God the Most High and the Almighty. No man could seem to express a greater respect to God; yet he had no true fear of him, love to him, nor faith in him; so far a man may go toward heaven, and yet come short of it at last. Here is Balaam's prophecy concerning Him who should be the crown and glory of his people Israel; who is David in the type; but our Lord Jesus, the promised Messiah, is chiefly pointed at, and of him it is an illustrious prophecy. Bala...

Verse Numbers 24:22. _UNTIL ASSHUR SHALL CARRY THEE AWAY CAPTIVE._] The Assyrians and Babylonians who carried away captive the ten tribes, 2 Kings 17:6, and the Jews into Babylon, 2 Kings 25:1; 2 Kings 25:11, probably carried away the Kenites also. Indeed this seems pretty evident, as we find some Kenites mentioned among the Jews after their return from the Babylonish captivity, 1 Chronicles 2:55....

Render, For Kain shall surely not be destroyed (literally “be for destruction”) until Asshur, etc. The words are not, as they appear in the King James Version, a prediction of evil to the Kenites, but a promise, on the contrary, of safety to be long continued to them (compare Numbers 10:32; Jeremiah 35:19)....

NUMBERS 24:1 AS AT OTHER TIMES, or, "as (he had done) time after time." SEPTUAGINT, κατὰ τὸ εἰωθός. TO SEEK FOR ENCHANTMENTS. Rather, "for the meeting with aunties." לִקְמראת נְחַשִׁים. Septuagint, to συνάντησιν τοῖς οἰωνοῖς. _Nachashim; _as in Numbers 23:23, is not enchantments in the sense of magical practices, but definitely auguries, i.e. omens and signs in the natural world observed and interpreted according to an artificial system as manifesting the purposes of God. As one of the commonest and worst of heathen practices, it was forbidden to Israel (Leviticus 19:26;...

NEVERTHELESS THE KENITE SHALL BE WASTED,.... Though they were so strongly fortified, and closely immured and surrounded with rocks and mountains, yet they should gradually waste away, as they were but few in Saul's time, 1 Samuel 15:6 UNTIL ASHUR SHALL CARRY THEE AWAY CAPTIVE; Tiglathpileser, king of Assyria, when he carried captive the people of Syria, took these with them, 2 Kings 16:9, though Jarchi thinks they were carried captives with the ten tribes, that is, by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria; and the Targum of Jonathan, by Sennacherib, king of Assyria; and others think by Nebuchadnezzar, who was sometimes reckoned a king of Assyria; taking them to be the same with the Amalekites, who were carried captives and returned with the two tribes....

THE PARABLES OF BALAAM Chapter S 23-24 _ 1. The first parable (Numbers 23:1)_ 2. Balak's surprise and Balaam's answer (Numbers 23:11) 3. At Zophim (Numbers 23:13) 4. The second parable (Numbers 23:18) 5. Balak's request and Balaam's reply (Numbers 23:25) 6. Balaam's third parable (Numbers 24:1) 7. Balak's anger and Balaam's firmness ...

THREE APPENDED ORACLES. These additional oracles, relating to other peoples than the Moabites, are probably derived from neither E nor J, but have been inserted by an editor from other sources. NUMBERS 24:20. ON AMALEK. This prophecy, predicting the destruction of Amalek, received a fulfilment in the time of Saul, who put them under the ban (1 Samuel 15:7 f.); but some of the Amalekites survived to be slaughtered by David (1 Samuel 30:1), and a remnant existed even in the time of Hezekiah (1 Chronicles 4:43). Numbers 24:

_Until Asshur_&c. The Heb. can only be translated as in R.V. marg., -How long? Asshur shall &c." The words for -how long" (_-ad mâh_) may be a corruption of the name of some place in the east; -unto shall Asshur carry thee captive." Asshur or Ashur is the true form of the name Assyria; cf. Numbers 24:24; Genesis 10:22; Hosea 14:3; Isaiah 10:5 (R.V. marg.)....