Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Balaam blesses Israel a third time, and a fourth, verse 15, where he prophesies about the kingdom of Christ, who is to be born from Israel like a star; likewise about Amalek, the Kenites, the kingdom of the Romans, and their destruction.
Vulgate Text: Numbers 24:1-25
1. And when Balaam had seen that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as before to seek augury: but directing his face toward the desert, 2. and lifting up his eyes, he saw Israel dwelling in their tents according to their tribes, and the spirit of God rushing upon him, 3. taking up his parable, he said: Balaam the son of Beor has said: the man whose eye is shut has said: 4. the hearer of the words of God has said, who has beheld the vision of the Almighty, who falls, and so his eyes are opened. 5. How beautiful are your tabernacles, O Jacob, and your tents, O Israel! 6. As woody valleys, as gardens near irrigating rivers, as tabernacles which the Lord has pitched, as cedars near the waters. 7. Water shall flow from his bucket, and his seed shall be in many waters. His king shall be raised up because of Agag, and his kingdom shall be taken away. 8. God brought him out of Egypt, whose strength is like that of a rhinoceros. They shall devour the nations that are his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them with arrows. 9. Lying down he slept as a lion, and as a lioness, whom none shall dare to rouse. He who blesses you shall himself also be blessed: he who curses you shall be counted accursed. 10. And Balak, angry against Balaam, clapped his hands together and said: I called you to curse my enemies, and on the contrary you have blessed them three times; 11. return to your place. I had indeed determined to honor you magnificently, but the Lord has deprived you of the honor intended. 12. Balaam answered Balak: Did I not say to your messengers whom you sent to me: 13. If Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the word of the Lord my God, to bring forth either good or evil from my own heart; but whatever the Lord says, that I shall speak? 14. Nevertheless, going to my people, I will give you counsel what your people shall do to this people in the last days. 15. Therefore, taking up his parable, he said again: Balaam the son of Beor has said: the man whose eye is shut has said: 16. the hearer of the words of God has said, who knows the doctrine of the Most High, and sees the visions of the Almighty, who falling has open eyes. 17. I shall see Him, but not now: I shall behold Him, but not near. A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a rod shall spring up from Israel; and shall strike the leaders of Moab, and shall waste all the children of Seth. 18. And Edom shall be his possession: the inheritance of Seir shall fall to his enemies; but Israel shall do valiantly. 19. Out of Jacob shall come He who shall rule, and shall destroy the remnants of the city. 20. And when he saw Amalek, taking up his parable, he said: Amalek is the beginning of nations, whose latter end shall be destroyed. 21. He saw also the Kenite, and taking up his parable, he said: Your dwelling indeed is strong; but if you set your nest in a rock, 22. and you have been chosen from the stock of Cin, how long shall you be able to endure? For Assur shall take you. 23. And taking up his parable he spoke again: Alas, who shall live when God does these things? 24. They shall come in galleys from Italy, they shall overcome the Assyrians, and shall waste the Hebrews, and at last they themselves also shall perish. 25. And Balaam rose up, and returned to his place: and Balak also went back the way he had come.
Verse 1: When Balaam Had Seen That It Pleased the Lord
1. AND WHEN BALAAM HAD SEEN THAT IT PLEASED THE LORD TO BLESS ISRAEL. -- He saw, that is, Balaam recognized, from an internal illumination of God. For God, before Balaam went according to his custom to seek augury, anticipated him, impelling his will and illuminating his intellect, so that he might clearly see what kind of people Israel was, how acceptable to God, and how worthy of blessing: whence he did not go to his auguries, but immediately blessed the people.
HE DID NOT GO, AS BEFORE HE HAD GONE, TO SEEK AUGURY. -- The Septuagint: into the meeting of birds. For augury is divination taken from the flight, song, or feeding of birds, and is called augury, as if bird-reading, because it was taken from the behavior of birds; from there, however, it is transferred to any divination, as I said on Genesis xliv, 5. Whether therefore Balaam was accustomed to seek his augury, that is, his divination, from birds, or from the entrails of victims, or from a familiar demon alone, is not established: this is established, that he was truly an augur and sorcerer, as I showed in chapter xxii, 5.
Verse 2: The Spirit of God Rushing upon Him
2. THE SPIRIT OF GOD RUSHING UPON HIM. -- "The Spirit of God" here is the spirit of prophecy, or the supernatural light infused into the intellect of the Prophet, for understanding hidden things; because that light is like something living, hence it is called the Spirit of God, that is, breathed by God. For spirit is so called from breathing and moving: whence everything that has life and motion is said to be a spirit, or to have a spirit; this light therefore is nothing other than an illumination and revelation imparted to the mind of the Prophet: and this illumination is a vital act, as is evident.
Verse 3: The Man Whose Eye Is Shut
3. TAKING UP HIS PARABLE. -- "Parable," that is, prophecy, meaning: prophesying. See what was said on chapter xxiii, verse 7.
HE SAID: BALAAM SAID: THE MAN WHOSE EYE IS SHUT SAID -- that is, who lost one or both eyes, says R. Solomon. For he thinks that Balaam was one-eyed or blind. But these are his inventions. Second, others by the eye understand the practical intellect. For although Balaam, in prophecy, had open the speculative eye of the intellect for discerning the future, he nevertheless had closed the practical eye which would direct him to act well and rightly: for he was a wicked man. Whence Rabanus says: "Balaam's eye was shut for correcting his own error, and for venerating the author of the prophecy itself; while his eye was open for perceiving the mysteries of prophecy." But this sense seems rather mystical than literal.
I say therefore, "whose eye is shut," the meaning is, as if to say: Who in dreams, when the eyes are closed, received a prophetic vision from God. For it is clear that God spoke to Balaam in dreams once and a second time, from chapter xxii, verses 8 and 20. So Rabanus and Abulensis who, although at first he appears to refute this exposition, nevertheless shortly after approves it and prefers it to others. It could secondly be explained thus: "whose eye is shut," that is, who, caught up in ecstasy and alienated from the senses, saw visions of God.
More recent scholars translate the opposite, whose eyes are opened, but incorrectly. For in Hebrew satam, written with sin, just as satam written with samech, means to shut, not to open, as Oleaster rightly shows.
Verse 4: Who Falls, and So His Eyes Are Opened
4. Who falls (namely, into sleep, or alienation from the senses), AND SO HIS EYES ARE OPENED -- namely, of the mind, through the prophetic light. For he says the same thing, but in other words, as what he said in the preceding verse. So the Septuagint and Philo. Second, the Hebrews, and Jerome Prado on Ezekiel i, 2: "Who falls," they say, that is, who falls into a fainting of mind and body, so that the body collapses and falls, as soon as his eyes are opened in vision.
Tropologically St. Gregory, homily 9 on Ezekiel: "Balaam, he says, falling down, had open eyes, who saw the right thing to say, but despised doing what was right; falling indeed in perverse works, and having open eyes in holy preaching." For, as St. Augustine says in the Sentences, Sentence 6: "The true confession of one who blesses is when the sound of the mouth and the heart is the same: but to speak well and live wickedly is nothing other than to condemn oneself by one's own voice."
Verses 5-6: How Beautiful Are Your Tabernacles, O Jacob
5 and 6. How beautiful are your tabernacles, O Jacob, etc., as woody valleys, as gardens near irrigating rivers, AS TABERNACLES WHICH THE LORD HAS PITCHED, AS CEDARS NEAR THE WATERS. -- For woody valleys, in Hebrew it is kinchalim nittaiu, that is, as valleys spreading out, namely the branches of their trees. Whence the Septuagint translate: as valleys giving shade. It can secondly be translated with the Chaldean and the moderns: as torrents spreading themselves, that is, flowing spaciously and broadly.
Note: The tabernacles of Israel are here, first, compared to a woody valley, which has many trees like a grove; for just as in that grove there is, first, greenness and beauty of trees; second, suitability; third, shade: so likewise these three things were in the tabernacles of the camp of Israel.
Second, they are compared to gardens near irrigating rivers: for these are always green and give abundant fruit in season; such were the tabernacles of Israel and of other pious people. Whence it is said of the just man in Psalm i: "And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit in due season, and his leaf shall not fall off, and all things whatsoever he shall do shall prosper."
Third, they are compared to tabernacles which the Lord has pitched, which are solid and firm, being erected and established by God: such also were the camps of Israel; so that no enemy could shake them, because God firmly preserved them. Note: For tabernacles, it can be translated with the Chaldean and Vatablus as cassia, or aromatic trees, which the Lord planted: for Israel and pious men are rightly compared to these.
Fourth, they are compared to cedars near the waters; for cedars, since they are great and tall, need much irrigation and nourishment, and therefore grow most of all near waters: so also Israel, placed near waters and the sea, that is, near its God, who abundantly poured upon it manna and everything it needed, grew wonderfully: and this is what Moses himself boasts for them, saying in Deuteronomy iv, 7: "Nor is there any other nation so great, that has gods so near to it, as our God is present to all our supplications."
Wherefore the Jerusalem Paraphrast more closely translates thus: "How good are the tabernacles in which Jacob their father prayed, and the tabernacle of the covenant which you made for my name, and the tabernacles around the house of Israel. As torrents prevail, so also the Israelites will prevail over their enemies. As gardens are planted at the springs of waters, so will their cities be, bringing forth Scribes and Doctors of the Law. And as the heaven which the word of the Lord spread out for the dwelling of His rest, so will the Israelites live and endure forever. They are beautiful and renowned as cedars near the waters, which are raised up by growing."
Anagogically, by these tabernacles is signified the beauty of the heavenly Jerusalem. Thus St. Fulgentius, coming to Rome and seeing, while Theodoric king of the Goths was holding court, the nobility, splendor, and order of the Roman court, said to his companions: "Brethren, how beautiful must the heavenly Jerusalem be, if earthly Rome shines thus? And if in this world such great dignity of honor is given to those who love vanity, what honor, glory, and peace will be bestowed upon the Saints who contemplate the truth?" So the author of his Life relates in chapter xiii.
Verse 7: Water Shall Flow from His Bucket
7. WATER SHALL FLOW FROM HIS BUCKET. -- He calls the lineage and posterity of Israel a bucket, as if to say: Just as a full bucket gives copious water, so the lineage of Israel will be fertile and will beget many sons: that this is the genuine and literal meaning is clear from the following hemistich, which as usual explains the preceding one, when it says: "And his seed shall be in many waters."
Second, symbolically: "Water shall flow from his bucket," as if to say: Just as water drawn from a well through a bucket is poured from it into other vessels, so the water of wisdom and the divine law drawn through the buckets, that is, through the books and Prophets of Israel, will be poured out and scattered among other nations. In a similar sense Isaiah says in chapter ii: "Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem." So Lyranus and Cajetan.
Hence third, allegorically the Hebrews here understand the Messiah, or Christ, and this first, because Christ as water flowed from the bucket of Israel, that is, from the seed of the patriarchs. Second, because from Christ as from a bucket, water, that is, saving doctrine, flowed: for Christ poured it out as water, both by Himself and through His disciples. Whence He Himself says in John vii, 37: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink: he who believes in Me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water shall flow from his belly." So Abulensis.
His Seed Shall Be in Many Waters
AND HIS SEED SHALL BE IN MANY WATERS. -- Behold, here he explains the bucket, and calls it seed, which "shall be, he says, in many waters," that is, among many peoples. For Scripture often signifies peoples by waters, as in Isaiah xlviii, 1: "From the waters (that is, from the posterity) of Judah you have come forth;" and Jeremiah xlvii, 2: "Behold waters (that is, Nebuchadnezzar with his multitude) are rising from the North;" and Revelation xvii, 15: "The waters which you saw are peoples," as if to say: The seed, that is the posterity, of Israel will be propagated among many peoples, both properly and naturally through generation, so that their descendants may grow into a great multitude: whence Vatablus translates: his seed shall be in many waters, as if to say: The posterity of Israel will be fertile, and its seeds will take great increase, as shoots are accustomed to do in irrigated places. Then politically through dominion: whence the Septuagint and Chaldeans translate: a man shall come forth from his seed, and shall rule over many nations, so that here Saul, the first king of Israel, is designated, about whom the following passage immediately speaks.
Now the symbolic and allegorical meaning here is the same as what I gave for the first hemistich: so Abulensis.
His King Shall Be Raised up Because of Agag
HIS KING SHALL BE RAISED UP BECAUSE OF AGAG. -- The translator renders correctly; for in Hebrew, literally it is: he shall raise up his kingdom because of Agag; for the Hebrew word rum signifies not only to exult, but also to take away and separate; whence therumah is called a separation. Now the meaning is, as if to say: Saul, the first king of Israel, because of Agag, king of the Amalekites, preserved by him (because, that is, he spared him after capturing him, against the Lord's command), shall be removed, so that he shall not be heir of the kingdom, and therefore his kingdom shall be taken away, lest it devolve upon his descendants, but shall be transferred to David and his line. See the history in I Kings (I Samuel) xv. So Rabanus and Bede here, and St. Jerome on Ezekiel chapter xxxviii.
Second, the Hebrew can be translated with the Chaldean and Vatablus thus: his king shall be exalted more than Agag, and his kingdom shall be raised up; and this is true, for Saul prevailed over Agag and captured him in war. The Septuagint translate: and his kingdom shall be exalted above Gog (for so it should be read, not Psoch, as the Regia editions have. For Rabanus and Cyprian, book I of Testimonies to Quirinus, testimony 10, read Gog). Gog, that is, above the roof, says Rabanus. For Gog in Hebrew means roof, as if to say, as Ambrose reads on Psalm xxxvii: "His kingdom shall be raised up on high."
But Gog here is taken properly, not as an appellative: hence Eusebius, book IX of the Demonstration of the Gospel iii, by Gog understands the Roman Emperor, as if to say: His kingdom will be exalted, in the time of Christ. But Balaam here prophesies about the kingdom, not of the Romans, but of the Jews.
Wherefore Symmachus and Theodotion translate better, as found in Procopius: his kingdom shall be exalted above Gog, namely of Christ the king, to be born from Israel; and this is what the Septuagint seem to have intended. For they translate: a man shall come forth from his seed, and he shall rule over many nations, and his kingdom shall be exalted above Gog, as if Balaam here prophesies the victory of Christ against the Antichrist and his leaders Gog and Magog, about whom see Ezekiel xl.
But the true reading is Agag, not Gog, as is clear from the Hebrew, the Chaldean, and our Vulgate: therefore the first sense is the genuine one.
Finally the Jerusalem Paraphrast takes these words literally of Christ: and so translates: "A king shall arise among their sons, and their redeemer from among them. He also shall be among them, and shall gather them, namely their captivities from the provinces of their enemies: and their sons shall rule over peoples. He shall be stronger than Saul, who spared Agag, king of the Amalekites; and the kingdom of the King Messiah shall be multiplied." But this paraphrase is not literal.
Verse 8: Whose Strength Is Like the Rhinoceros
8. Whose strength is like that of a rhinoceros. -- See what was said on chapter xxiii, verse 22.
THEY SHALL DEVOUR (namely the Israelites) THE NATIONS (which are) HIS ENEMIES -- namely of Israel, by slaying and consuming them. Whence the Chaldean clearly translates: the house of Israel shall devour the pride of the peoples who are their enemies, and they shall delight in the spoil of their kings, and shall possess their land.
Note: When Scripture speaks of some nation or people, it speaks of it now in the singular, now in the plural. Whence for "they shall devour," here in the Hebrew it is "he shall devour," namely Israel, his enemies.
AND SHALL BREAK THEIR BONES -- In Hebrew: they shall strip the bones bare; Vatablus: they shall gnaw their bones, namely the Israelites; the Septuagint translate: they shall extract the marrow from their fatness.
Verse 9: Lying Down He Slept as a Lion
9. LYING DOWN HE SLEPT AS A LION. -- This is a prophecy, as is clear; therefore the past tense must be taken for the future: he slept, that is, he will sleep, meaning, Israel will rest securely in the promised land, and will be terrible to the neighboring nations, and strong as a lion, and fierce and combative as a lioness whose cubs are taken, so that no one will dare to attack him. Such was Israel, especially in the time of David and Solomon.
HE WHO BLESSES YOU SHALL HIMSELF ALSO BE BLESSED -- as if to say: He who wishes you well, well shall be wished to him: again, he who does you good, good shall be done to him. On the contrary, he who does evil to you, or curses you, evil shall be done to him, and men shall curse him; God thus directing and rewarding your friends, and punishing your enemies.
Verse 13: I Cannot Go Beyond the Word of the Lord
13. I CANNOT GO BEYOND (I cannot transgress) the word of the Lord.
Verse 14: I Will Give You Counsel
14. NEVERTHELESS I WILL GIVE YOU COUNSEL WHAT YOUR PEOPLE SHALL DO TO THIS PEOPLE IN THE LAST DAYS. -- Balaam saw that before King Balak he was seized by the Spirit of the Lord and could not curse the people of Israel; he therefore thought that if he departed from him, going to his own people, he would be deserted by the Spirit of God, and so he would give King Balak evil counsel about destroying the Hebrews, and consequently would obtain the gold promised by him; here his wonderful wickedness and blind avarice clearly betray themselves.
To what do you not drive the hearts of mortals, O cursed hunger for gold? For gold, rights are for sale; For gold, sacred things are for sale.
How much more lofty and holy was Pope Liberius, who when sent into exile by Emperor Constantius, refused a great sum of gold sent to him by him for provisions, saying: "You have plundered the churches of the world, and now you offer me alms as one condemned and destitute! Go first and become a Christian yourself." So Theodoret, book I of the History, chapter xvi. And Eusychius the hermit in the territory of Berry, who said to King Childebert offering him 50 gold coins: "Give them to the poor, I do not need them," as Gregory of Tours relates, in his book On the Glory of the Confessors, xxviii. And Hormisdas, a noble Persian, who, stripped of his nobility and wealth because of his faith in Christ, and hearing from the king: Now at last deny the son of the carpenter; tore his cheap tunic, which he had been clothed in by the king's order, and threw it at the king, saying: "If you think I would abandon piety for the sake of this, keep your gift along with your impiety." So Theodoret, book V, chapter xxxviii.
WHAT YOUR PEOPLE SHALL DO TO THIS PEOPLE. -- Quite the opposite from the Hebrew translate the Septuagint, the Chaldean, and the moderns, namely: I will advise you what this people will do to your people, in the last days. Which Rabanus explains thus, as if to say: I will give you counsel, that is, I will announce to you the counsel and decree of God, which is to be fulfilled in the last days, so that you may know what this people will do to your people, which counsel is expressed in verse 17, when it says: "A rod shall rise from Israel, and shall strike the leaders of Moab." But because Balaam did not deliver this prophecy while going to his people, but while still remaining with Balak; and because the Hebrew word iaats properly means to counsel, not to divine or predict: hence our translator better renders the Hebrew, which literally you would translate: I will give counsel to you (for although the Hebrew word "to you" is not read in the Roman Bible, nor in other Latin editions generally, nevertheless it is understood) what your people shall do to this people: for the prefix lamed, which is attached to the word ammecha, is not always an indicator of the dative, but sometimes also of the nominative, as is clear from the Hebrew lexicons. The meaning therefore is, as if to say: I see that I cannot harm the Israelites through auguries and divinations; departing therefore I will give you, O Balak, counsel, by which through women the Israelites may be enticed to the worship of Beelpeor, and so be destroyed. For that Balaam suggested this counsel is clear from chapter xxxi, verse 16, and Revelation ii, 14, and Josephus expressly relates this, book IV of Antiquities, chapter vi; and that it succeeded for him will be clear in the following chapter. So Theodoret, Question xlv, St. Augustine, Question lx, and others.
For, as St. Ambrose beautifully teaches, book VI, letter 37, and Nyssen in his book On the Life of Moses, near the end, and Prosper, part II of Predictions, chapter xii, Philo and Abulensis: Balaam, eager for royal favor and Balak's gold, wanted to deprive the Israelites of divine protection and the other goods about which he had prophesied; for this the best method seemed to him that the Israelites be drawn to licentiousness: so that they might offend God, who is a lover of chastity, as the rhinoceros (says Rupertus), and thereby be led from the worship of God to idolatry, and so Moses would be angry with them, and rage against them, and a punisher would rise up: but to provoke them to idolatry, he advised that the most beautiful Moabite and Midianite women be stationed, as if to sell food or trade, near the camp of Israel, with their idols and foods consecrated to the idol, which would first ensnare the Israelites by their beauty, love, and embrace; then entice them to worship their most obscene idol Beelpeor, or Priapus, and Balaam suggested and urged that this be done throughout the journey, namely from Pisgah all the way to Gilgal, or to the entrance of Canaan. But this was done only once, and afterwards was prevented by God's fierce vengeance, as will be clear in the following chapter: and Micah teaches this, chapter vi, verse 5. Learn here how grave and dangerous is the temptation of women; thus Solomon was led by women to idols: for "wine and women make wise men fall away." About a similar temptation by women, but which had a different outcome, Damascene narrates a beautiful example in his book On Barlaam and Josaphat, chapter xxx.
In the Last Days
IN THE LAST DAYS -- that is, in the following days after I depart from you; for the Hebrew word acharit, that is, last or final, in Scripture is often not said in respect of time that might follow, as if it were the final time after which no other follows; but it is said in respect of what preceded; and it is what follows after another thing, even if after it still other things follow; therefore "last" or "final" means the same as "following" or "later." This is clear both from the Hebrew root achar itself, that is, he was later, he delayed, and also from examples. For thus in Genesis xxxiii, 2, in Hebrew, it is said that Jacob placed Leah and her sons last: yet after Leah came Rachel with her son Joseph. Thus the Prophets generally call the time of the Messiah "the last," because it is later. Similar are Genesis xlix, 1, Isaiah ix, 1: whence rightly here you may translate with Oleaster: in later days. See Ribera on Micah iv, 5.
Verse 16: Taking up His Parable Again
16. THEREFORE TAKING UP HIS PARABLE (prophecy) HE SAID AGAIN. -- Note the word "therefore," as if to say: Since Balaam was already thinking of departing, before he left, still remaining with Balak, he could not help blessing the Israelites; therefore, as if bidding farewell, he blessed them again and for the last time.
17. THE MAN WHOSE EYE IS SHUT SAID -- through sleep or ecstasy. See what was said at verse 2.
Verse 17: A Star Shall Rise from Jacob
I SHALL SEE HIM (Israel), BUT NOT NOW -- namely, I shall see him on the day of judgment, when I shall rise with him in the valley of Jehoshaphat, says Abulensis. Second, and more aptly in relation to what follows: "I shall see Him," not with my own eyes, but with the eyes of my posterity and successors. For they will see Israel, wonderfully adorned by the birth of the Messiah, who is to be born from them. For about this he adds: "A star shall rise from Jacob." For God and the Prophets are accustomed to predict and promise certain things which are to be fulfilled not in the person to whom they are promised, but in his posterity: so St. Chrysostom, homily 8 on Matthew, and Euthymius on Matthew i. Thus the land of Canaan is promised to Abraham, that is, to his posterity, Genesis xv, 7. Thus Jacob, Genesis xlix, blessing his sons, promises those things which will befall their posterity. Thus it is said in Haggai ii, 24: "I will take you, Zerubbabel," namely in Christ; that is, I will take Christ, who will be born from you, O Zerubbabel. Similar are Genesis xii, 3, Genesis xxvii, 29.
A STAR SHALL RISE FROM JACOB. -- Some by the star and the rod understand David, and there are certain things that suit David. For David, like a star, shone forth in wisdom, piety, military valor, and the glory of his kingdom, so that no one dared to touch one so exalted, just as no one can touch the stars. Moreover, David subdued Moab and the Edomites, II Kings (II Samuel) viii, which is said here of the star. But the principal literal meaning is about Christ; whence the Chaldean most clearly translates: a king shall arise from the house of Jacob, the Christ shall be anointed from the house of Israel, and he shall slay the princes of Moab, and shall rule over all the sons of men. Christ therefore is here called, as a rod, so also a star: first, because He Himself is the light of the world; second, because of the brightness and glory, both of the heavenly life and of the resurrection and blessedness: for which reason Christ is called the bright and morning star, Revelation xxii, 16, Revelation ii, 28. See what was said there.
Christ the Morning Star
Where note: Christ is called the morning star, that is, the light-bringer, first, because in this life He dispelled the darkness of unbelief, and in the life to come He will dispel the darkness of mortality. Second, because as the morning star gives an end to the night and a beginning to the day: so Christ brought an end to sin and ignorance, and a beginning to faith and salvation. Third, He is the morning star, because "when He offered us in Himself the example of the resurrection, He indicated what light would follow," says St. Gregory, XXIX Morals xxx, on those words of Job xxxviii: "Can you bring forth the morning star in its time?" And Bede: "Christ, he says, is the morning star, because when the night of the world has passed, He promises and reveals to the saints the light of eternal life." And Rupertus: "For the labor by which the bishop in this life, as in the night, labored watchfully in the care of the souls committed to him, I will manifest Myself to him, I who am the bright and morning star." And Haymo: "Christ, he says, is the morning star, that is, the light-bringer, because in the resurrection, when the darkness of mortality has been driven away, He will appear as the morning star, and will show the perfect day of eternity." So also Pererius, Viegas, and Ribera.
Again, more fully and clearly, the morning star is the light of glory and the clear vision of God, which the victorious soul obtains through the grace of Christ after death. This is called a star because of the brightness of contemplation. "O Lord, says the Psalmist, in Your light we shall see light." It is called the morning star, first, because after the night of this life and world it will dawn; second, because of the beginning of blessedness, which will be completed in the resurrection of bodies, when this morning star will be changed, as it were, into the noonday sun, namely when the soul will pour out its glory into the body. Both these senses, namely concerning Christ and the glory of the blessed soul, are held by Richard of St. Victor, Primasius, and Aretas, on the cited passage of the Apocalypse.
Third, Christ is called a star, because by a star the birth of Christ was signified. For Christ, as a divine star risen from the seed of Jacob, sent forth that corporeal star and, as it were, cast it from Himself, which would summon the Magi to Himself in Bethlehem. For that the star of the Magi is referred to here is clear both from the Hebrew text, which for "shall rise" has darach, that is, it advanced, trod the way, and went before, which properly suits that star going before the Magi; and because the common opinion of the Fathers is that the three Magi were either descendants or successors of this Balaam, and had been taught from this his prophecy that a star would one day arise which would indicate the birth of some great King of the Jews; and thence the Magi, upon seeing the star, were immediately moved to seek the king signified by the star, and the words of the Magi signify this: "We have seen His star," as if they said: We have seen not some unknown star, but "His star," known, that is, and predicted by Balaam, that it would be His star, namely the sign of Christ. So Origen teaches, homilies 13, 15, 18 here; Epiphanius in the Epitome; Cyprian, sermon On the Star and the Magi; Basil, homily On the Human Birth of Christ; Leo, sermon 4 On the Epiphany; Ambrose, book II on Luke, chapter On the Magi; Nyssen, oration On the Holy Nativity of Christ; Eusebius, book IX of the Demonstration, i; Prosper, part II of Predictions, xii; Procopius and Rupertus here, St. Jerome, Chrysostom, Theophylactus, Euthymius, and others on Matthew ii. Of these, Origen and some others think the three Magi were Chaldeans, because Balaam, their ancestor or predecessor, was a Chaldean or Mesopotamian. Others, more numerous, think they were Arabians: for this prophecy about the star was delivered in Arabia by Balaam, whence its memory there, as also among the neighbors, remained celebrated through many centuries.
And from this oracle of Balaam about this star, there seems to have arisen that famous tradition once widespread in the East about a king to be born in Judea who would possess all things, which Suetonius mentions in the Life of Vespasian, Cicero in book II On Divination, Orosius, Hegesippus, and others. Moreover, from the Hebrew darach, that is, the star advanced from Jacob, some probably think that this star was first seen by the Magi while in the East, over Judea and Bethlehem, and as it were hovering over it: for from this the Magi seem to have recognized that the king of Judea had been born, and that He was to be sought in Bethlehem. Then this star flew with swift motion from Judea to the East, to summon the Magi, and rested there until the Magi set out on their journey. For the Magi say, Matthew ii, 2: "We saw His star in the East." So thinks Sebastian Barradius, book IX of the Harmony of the Gospels, chapter ix. Procopius agrees, on Numbers xxiv, 17, and Haymo, sermon 3 On the Epiphany, who teach that the star was seen by the Magi standing perpendicularly over Judea.
Symbolically: "A star, says Hugh the Cardinal, has six rays, with which it illuminates the night, and Christ has six virtues, with which He illuminates every man." The first is humility; the second is meekness, Matthew chapter xi: "Learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of heart." The third is obedience, Philippians chapter ii: "Christ became obedient for us even unto death, the death of the cross." The fourth is patience. The fifth is mercy, about which Job xxxi: "From infancy compassion grew with me, and from my mother's womb it came forth with me." The sixth is charity, about which John chapter iii says: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son," etc.
Portents at the Birth of Saints
Note: For "shall rise" the Hebrew has cochab, that is, star; R. Akiba and the Jews formerly read cosab, or cosba, that is, falsehood. For hence they wished to prove that their impostor, named Bar Cosba (as if you should say, son of falsehood), was the true Messiah; wherefore Bar Cosba, having gathered a very great army, as if he were the Messiah King, rebelled against the Romans. But the Emperor Hadrian besieged him in the city of Bether, and when it was taken, Bar Cosba was slaughtered, and a great slaughter of the Jews took place, as among others Galatinus narrates, book IV, chapter xxi.
Note: Just as a star was the presage of Christ, so luminous portents demonstrated the birth of illustrious Saints. Hear examples:
Hortulana, the mother of St. Clare, near her delivery, praying before the crucifix, heard a voice: "Do not fear, woman, for you will bear a light that will more brightly illuminate the world;" instructed by this miracle, she ordered the newborn infant to be called Clare in baptism. So her Life relates.
When St. Swibert, Bishop of Werden, was being born from his most illustrious mother, Countess Bertha, an excessive brightness filled the whole royal chamber, and remained extended with unwavering rays until he himself was brought into the light, says Marcellinus in his Life.
The mother of St. Willibrord, Bishop of Utrecht, at night in her dreams saw something like a new moon growing to fullness; gazing at it more intently, it suddenly fell into her mouth, and when swallowed, her inmost being was suffused with splendor. Awakening and terrified with fear, she related the dream to a certain religious priest, who said to her: "The moon which you saw grow from small to great is the son whom you conceived that night, who with the light of truth will scatter the murky errors of darkness, and wherever he goes, accompanied by the splendor of heavenly light, he will show the full orb of his perfection, and with the shining brightness of his fame and the beauty of his character, he will attract the gaze of many to himself." After the circle of days was completed, the woman bore a son, whom she named Willibrord in baptism. So Alcuin, the teacher of Charlemagne, relates in the Life of St. Willibrord.
The mother of St. Columban the Abbot, while pregnant, saw at night in her dreams a radiant sun proceeding from her bosom, shining with excessive brightness, and giving an immense light to the world. Indeed, this saint shone in the Church like a sun, according to those words of Deborah, Judges v: "But let those who love You shine as the sun shines in its rising." The witness is Abbot Jonas in his Life.
The mother of St. Dominic saw herself carrying in her womb a little dog, which carried a burning torch in its mouth, and having come forth from the womb, illuminated and set ablaze the whole world. Hence illustrious Saints and Doctors will shine in heaven as stars for all eternity. Daniel xii. See what was said there.
A Rod Shall Rise from Israel
AND A ROD SHALL RISE FROM ISRAEL -- as if to say: Christ will be born from Israel, who with the rod, or, as it is in Hebrew, the scepter of His kingdom, that is, with royal power, shall strike, in Hebrew, shall pierce through, the leaders of Moab. For Christ, by Himself and through the Apostles, converted and immediately subjected to His faith the Moabites, Syrians, Edomites, and other nations neighboring Judea.
Where note: The Prophets say Christ slew, struck, pierced the nations, because He slew their morals and vices, and made them, as it were, new men, so that from wicked they became pious, from unjust just, from drunken sober, and from unchaste chaste; and so He, as it were, slew one and the same man while He gave him life: for He slew Peter, for example, the drunkard, the fornicator, the rapacious, while by His grace He made him sober, chaste, just, etc. See Canon 42.
Second, the leaders of Moab mystically are the princes of the idolatrous nations who worship the demon. For Moab in Hebrew means the same as "from the father," namely born through incest; and such are the idolaters, who are born from the father devil through unbelief, as if through incest. So Abulensis.
Again, Rabanus by the leaders of Moab understands the demons themselves; for these are the leaders and fathers of the spiritual Moabites, that is, of the wicked and idolaters. These Christ pierced through when He stripped their principalities and powers of their dominion, and nailed and fastened them to His cross, triumphing over them in Himself, as Paul says.
All the Children of Seth
AND SHALL WASTE ALL THE CHILDREN OF SETH -- that is, all men. So the Chaldean; for all men after the flood descended from Noah, and consequently from Seth: for the entire progeny of Cain perished in the flood. For Christ wasted all men -- how? By slaying their morals and vices, and subjugating them to Himself, as I said just before. Whence the Chaldean for "shall waste" translates "shall rule over." Again, in the judgment Christ will waste the whole world and all the wicked.
Note: For "shall waste," the Hebrew is kirkar, which comes from kir, that is, wall, and is of twofold signification. First, it means to un-wall, that is, to tear down walls, to waste, and, as the Septuagint translate, to consume and plunder. Second, it means to enclose with a wall, to capture, to imprison, so that the Hebrew kerker is the same as the Latin carcer (prison): and this signification fits best here. For the meaning is, as if to say: Christ will enclose all men within His laws, His Church, His faith and grace, and will thus, as it were, imprison wickedness and the wicked. So Oleaster.
Verse 18: Edom Shall Be His Possession
18. AND EDOM SHALL BE HIS POSSESSION. -- Balaam here mentions Edom as to be subjected to Christ, rather than other nations, both because he looks to and alludes to the Israelite people, to whom the Edomites were most hostile, as Esau, their progenitor, was once most hostile to his pious brother Israel, or Jacob; and because he alludes to David, who was the ancestor and type of Christ: for David subdued the Edomites. He says therefore: The Edomites, that is, the enemies most hostile to Christ, will be subjected to Him, as if to say: Therefore all the more will all others be subdued to Him.
Tropologically, Edom is our flesh, which is taken from Adama, that is, earth: this is subjugated to Christ and to the spirit through the grace of Christ.
THE INHERITANCE OF SEIR SHALL FALL TO HIS ENEMIES. -- Seir, that is, Edom. For Esau was called Seir because he was hairy: he was also called Edom because he was ruddy. Whence his region was called Seir and Edom, or Idumea. For the same thing is repeated in the latter hemistich of this Hebrew poem that was said in the former.
BUT ISRAEL SHALL ACT VALIANTLY. -- "Israel," that is David and the other Israelites. Second, and more so, "Israel," that is Christ and Christians, as if to say: Christ, who is much stronger and more prevailing with God than the patriarch Jacob, who was thence called Israel; Christ, I say, with His sons the Apostles and their followers, will act valiantly, and will subject the whole world to His faith and law. See what was said at verse 17.
Verse 19: From Jacob Shall Come He Who Shall Rule
19. FROM JACOB SHALL COME HE WHO SHALL RULE, AND SHALL DESTROY THE REMNANTS OF THE CITY. -- "The city," that is, Rome, which by antonomasia is called the city and the metropolis, and which was the capital of paganism and of the pagan enemies of Christ, as if to say: From Christ will be born the Emperor Constantine, a Christian, and others like him, who, converted to Christ, will overthrow the paganism of the Romans, and will convert the remnants of the pagans, and so will make all Rome Christian and subject it to Christ, and thence the remaining provinces and cities will follow Rome as the mistress and capital of the world, and will eliminate paganism and the pagans, so that almost the whole world will adore and worship Christ. So Abulensis.
The same Abulensis notes that here there is a prophecy about Christ, but with an allusion to David, and so the deeds of David are touched upon here: wherefore certain things are said here that more particularly suit David, such as: "He shall strike the leaders of Moab;" and: "Edom shall be his possession; but Israel shall act valiantly." Other things, however, more properly pertain to Christ, such as: "A star shall rise from Jacob, he shall destroy the remnants of the city," etc. See Canon 35.
Verse 20: Amalek the Beginning of Nations
20. And when he saw Amalek. -- Balaam was on the borders of Moab, on the highest mountain of Pisgah; from where he could easily see the neighboring region of the Amalekites, at least in a general way; whence also Moses from the same mountain saw and surveyed the whole land of Canaan, according to its parts, namely in general and in a general way, Deuteronomy xxxiv, 1.
Taking up his parable (that is, prophecy, meaning: prophesying), HE SAID: AMALEK IS THE BEGINNING OF NATIONS -- as if to say: The most noble of nations, or the first of those nations which dwelt at that time near the promised land, was Amalek. Others say: "The beginning of nations," namely those hostile to Israel, was "Amalek;" whence the Chaldean translates: Amalek was the beginning of the wars of Israel. For Amalek was the first to meet Israel armed as they came from Egypt, Exodus chapter xvii, and therefore "his latter end shall be destroyed," that is, as the Septuagint have it, his seed shall perish. For Saul destroyed the Amalekites, I Kings (I Samuel) xv.
Verse 21: He Saw Also the Kenite
21. He saw also the Kenite. -- The Kenites are the descendants of Jethro, as I said in chapter x, 29. Balaam therefore, just as from the highest mountain of Pisgah he saw Amalek, Moab, and Edom, so also he saw the Kenites, because they were in the camp of Israel, and at the same time he saw the lot they were to have in Canaan in the tribe of Judah. Whence he says:
YOUR DWELLING INDEED IS STRONG (and will be) -- because you already dwell among the twelve strongest tribes of Israel, and in Canaan you will dwell in the tribe of Judah, which is the strongest.
BUT IF YOU SET YOUR NEST IN A ROCK -- as if to say: Even if your dwelling will be most strong, as was just stated. He alludes to the Hebrew ken, that is, nest, and to keni, that is, Kenite, as if to say: Rightly are you called Kenite, because like birds you will place your ken, that is, nest, meaning your dwelling, most high, as if in a rock; from there, however, Assur will drag you down.
Tropologically Gregory, XXXI Morals xxxiv: They build the nest of hope for themselves in high and rocky places, he says, who with that eagle (St. Paul) say: "Our conversation is in heaven."
Verse 22: And You Shall Have Been Chosen from the Stock of Cin
22. And you shall have been chosen from the stock of Cin. -- The Hebrew, according to the vowel points the Masoretes placed under it (for they pointed Cain instead of Cin), differs much here from our version. But that Cain should not be read (for no previous mention of Cain preceded; nor were the Kenites descended from Cain, but from Seth), but Cin, is clear from the Septuagint and all the ancients. Whence Vatablus also reads not Cain, but Cin, and translates: for indeed the Kenite will be consumed, or will be wasted by devouring. Again, our translator, by the interchange of two related guttural letters, namely reading chet for ayin, that is, reading lebachur instead of lebaher, correctly translates: if it shall be for the chosen one of Cin, that is, if Cin shall have been chosen, as if to say: Even if the stock of Cin, or Jethro, has been raised up by God above other nations, and associated with the Israelites, both in the desert and in the promised land, nevertheless it will be captured by the Assyrians. Hence it is clear that Cin, from which the Kenites are named, was the name of a stock or family from which the Kenites descended.
FOR ASSUR SHALL TAKE YOU. -- For when Shalmaneser transferred the 10 tribes of Israel to the land of the Medes, IV Kings (II Kings) xvii, then he transferred the Kenites with them, that is, the progeny of Heber the Kenite, who had separated from the other Kenites and dwelt in the lot of Naphtali. For then the Naphtalites were transferred, and consequently the Kenites dwelling among them. Other Kenites, however, dwelling in Judah, remained: for from them arose the Rechabites, whom Jeremiah praises, chapter xxxv.
Verse 23: Alas, Who Shall Live?
23. ALAS, WHO SHALL LIVE? -- as if to say: Alas, who will desire to live, when such great slaughters of the Kenites and Amalekites, or rather of the Assyrians, Hebrews, and Romans, about which the following verses speak, will take place? For these words are a new prophecy, and therefore pertain to what follows, not to what precedes. So Abulensis.
Verse 24: They Shall Come in Galleys from Italy
24. THEY SHALL COME IN GALLEYS (triremes) FROM ITALY, THEY SHALL OVERCOME THE ASSYRIANS, AND SHALL WASTE THE HEBREWS, AND AT LAST THEY THEMSELVES ALSO SHALL PERISH. -- For Italy, the Hebrew has kittim, or cetim, which properly signifies Cyprus. For Citium was a city of Cyprus, from which Zeno, the father of the Stoics, came: from Citium, therefore, the whole island of Cyprus seems to have been called Cetim. Thence Cetim signifies any other islands, and further all nations, both island and overseas. Whence in Hebrew, literally, it is: they shall come from the side of Cetim, that is, they shall come from Italy, as the Septuagint, our translator, the Chaldean, Vatablus, and others translate. For Cetim, or Cyprus, and other islands lie between Judea and Italy, so that Italy, in relation to Judea, is on the side of Cyprus, or Cetim. Our Gaspar Sanchez on Isaiah chapter ii, number 21, thinks that all the islands extending from Cyprus to the Western Sea as far as Cadiz were ascribed to Cethim, son of Javan, Genesis x, 4, and received their name from him, whether those islands belong to the Libyan, Italian, or Greek coast: and from these islands Italy, Macedonia, and other regions adjacent to them are called Cethim, which conjecture is not without probability. The Chaldean expressly translates: ships shall come from the Romans. For although Rome, at the time of Balaam, had not yet been founded (for it was founded under Ahaz, king of Judah, as Eusebius teaches in the Chronicle, or, as others say, under Jotham, father of Ahaz), nevertheless Balaam foresaw by the prophetic spirit that Rome and the Romans would be founded, and that they would wage these wars.
He therefore here foretells the most extensive power of the Romans, namely that they themselves will subjugate the Assyrians, then the masters of the world, and consequently all other nations, and even the Hebrews themselves. For Pompey first subjugated these, then Caesar Augustus, who subjected Judea to Herod of Ascalon, and after him to tetrarchs and governors, as is clear from Luke iii, 1, and finally Titus and Vespasian, the Romans, utterly destroyed the Hebrews: and lastly, that the Romans themselves will perish, with the fall of the empire, under Alaric and Gaiseric, kings of the Goths; but especially under ten kings at the end of the world, who will completely overthrow and burn Rome; whom afterwards the Antichrist will partly slay, partly subjugate, as Daniel predicted in chapter vii, 8 and 24, and St. John in Revelation chapter xvii, verses 12 and 16.