Numbers 24:18

And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(18) And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also . . . —Better, And Edom shall be a possession, and Seir shall be a possession, for his enemies (i.e., the enemies of Israel, or, rather, of the Ruler who was to rise out of Israel). The Hebrew word (oyebaiv) which is rendered “his enemies” appears to stand in apposition to Edom and Seir, as the word zaraiv (his enemies, or adversaries) in Numbers 24:8 to “the nations.” Edom was the name of the people, Seir of the country. (See Genesis 32:3.) The prophecy received its primary accomplishment in the time of David (2Samuel 8:14), but the ultimate accomplishment is to be found in the person and work of Christ (Isaiah 63:1-4).

And Israel shall do valiantly.—Or, shall acquire power or wealth. (Comp. Deuteronomy 8:17-18; Ruth 4:11.)

Benson Commentary

Numbers 24:18. Edom shall be a possession — “This was also fulfilled by David; for throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became David’s servants, 2 Samuel 8:14. David himself, in two of his Psalms, (Psalm 60:8; and Psalm 108:9;) hath mentioned together his conquest of Moab and Edom, as they are also joined together in this prophecy.” Seir is the name of the mountains of Edom, which were also possessed by David. Israel shall do valiantly — As they did, particularly under the command of David.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

24:15-25 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. Balaam, a wicked man, shall see Christ, but shall not see him nigh; not see him as Job, who saw him as his Redeemer, and saw him for himself. When he comes in the clouds, every eye shall see him; but many will see him, as the rich man in hell saw Abraham, afar off. He shall come out of Jacob, and Israel, as a Star and a Sceptre; the former denoting his glory and lustre; the latter his power and authority. Christ shall be King, not only of Jacob and Israel, but of all the world; so that all shall be either governed by his golden sceptre, or dashed in pieces by his iron rod. Balaam prophesied concerning the Amalekites and Kenites, part of whose country he had now in view. Even a nest in a rock will not be a lasting security. Here is a prophecy that looks as far forward as to the Greeks and Romans. He acknowledges all the revolutions of states and kingdoms to be the Lord's doing. These events will make such desolations, that scarcely any will escape. They that live then, will be as brands plucked out of the fire. May God fit us for the worst of times! Thus Balaam, instead of cursing the church, curses Amalek the first, and Rome the last enemy of the church. Not Rome pagan only, but Rome papal also; antichrist and all the antichristian powers. Let us ask ourselves, Do we in knowledge, experience, or profession, excel Balaam? No readiness of speech, even in preaching or prayer, no gifts of knowledge or prophecy, are in themselves different from, or superior to the boasted gifts of him who loved the wages of unrighteousness, and died the enemy of God. Simple dependence on the Redeemer's atoning blood and sanctifying grace, cheerful submission to the Divine will, constant endeavours to glorify God and benefit his people, these are less splendid, but far more excellent gifts, and always accompany salvation. No boasting hypocrite ever possessed these; yet the feeblest believer has something of them, and is daily praying for more of them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Seir - The older name of the mountain-land, south of Moab, and east of the Arabah, which the Edomites inhabited Genesis 32:3; Genesis 36:8-9.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

18. Edom shall be a possession—This prophecy was accomplished by David (2Sa 8:14).

Seir—seen in the south, and poetically used for Edom. The double conquest of Moab and Edom is alluded to (Ps 60:8; 108:9).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

A possession; which was also foretold Genesis 25:23, and in part fulfilled, 2 Samuel 8:14 1 Chronicles 18:13, but more fully by Christ, Amos 9:12 Obadiah 1:18; who shall subdue and possess all his enemies; here signified by the name of Edom; as Jacob or Israel, his brother, signifies all his church and people. Seir, a part and mountain of Edom, Genesis 36:8, which may be here mentioned as the strongest part of Edom, to show that not only the rest of Edom, which is more accessible, but even the rocks and best munitions of it, shall be taken.

His enemies, the Israelites.

Do valiantly, or, gain power, or riches, or victory, all which are comprehended in this phrase.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Edom shall be a possession,.... Of the children of Israel, which was fulfilled in part when the Edomites became the servants of David, 2 Samuel 8:14 and when they were smitten and spoiled by Judas Maccabeus,them a great overthrow, and abated their courage, and took their spoils.'' (1 Maccabees 5:3)and still more so when all the Edomites or the Idumaeans were subdued by Hyrcanus, and they became one people with the Jews, and conformed to their religious rites; which is not only related by Josephus (n), but by Strabo (o), an Heathen historian, who says, that they joined themselves to the Jews, and embraced their laws: but in a spiritual sense this has had a greater accomplishment in the calling of the Gentiles, and introducing them into the church of God; see Amos 9:12 compared with Acts 15:14.

Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; which was a mount in the land of Edom where Esau formerly dwelt, and so signifies the same as before: and also that the most strong and fortified places of the land should fall into the hands of their enemies; See Gill on Obadiah 1:17, Obadiah 1:18, Obadiah 1:19.

Israel shall do valiantly; in fighting with and conquering the Edomites, or shall get much wealth and riches by the spoil of them, see Psalm 60:9. This, and the following verse, are in some ancient writings of the Jews (p) interpreted of the times of the Messiah.

(n) Antiqu. l. 13. c. 9. sect. 1.((o) Geograph. l. 16. p. 523. (p) Zohar in Numb. fol. 85. 4. & 86. 1.

Geneva Study Bible

And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

18. which were his enemies] Heb. has simply ‘his enemies,’ attached very awkwardly to the preceding words. Perhaps a word has been lost, and we should read ‘His enemies ——’ in contrast with the next clause: And Israel doeth valiantly.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 18. - Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies. Seir (Genesis 32:3), or Mount Seir (Genesis 36:8), was the old name, still retained as an alternative, of Edom. It is uncertain whether the rendering "for his (i.e., Edom's) enemies" is correct. The Hebrew is simply אֹיְבָיו, which may stand in apposition to Edom and Seir, "his enemies," i.e., the enemies of Israel. So the Septuagint, Ησαῦ ὁ ἐχθρὸς αὐτοῦ. Shall do valiantly, or, "shall be prosperous" (cf. Deuteronomy 8:17; Ruth 4:11). Numbers 24:18

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"And Edom becomes a possession, and Seir becomes a possession, its enemies; but Israel acquires power." Whose possession Edom and Seir are to become, is not expressly stated; but it is evident from the context, and from איביו (its enemies), which is not a genitive dependent upon Seir, but is in apposition to Edom and Seir, just as צריו in Numbers 24:8 is in apposition to גּוים. Edom and Seir were his, i.e., Israel's enemies; therefore they were to be taken by the ruler who was to arise out of Israel. Edom is the name of the people, Seir of the country, just as in Genesis 32:4; so that Seir is not to be understood as relating to the prae-Edomitish population of the land, which had been subjugated by the descendants of Esau, and had lost all its independence a long time before. In Moses' days the Israelites were not allowed to fight with the Edomites, even when they refused to allow them to pass peaceably through their territory (see Numbers 20:21), but were commanded to leave them in their possessions as a brother nation (Deuteronomy 2:4-5). In the future, however, their relation to one another was to be a very different one; because the hostility of Edom, already in existence, grew more and more into obstinate and daring enmity, which broke up all the ties of affection that Israel was to regard as holy, and thus brought about the destruction of the Edomites. - The fulfilment of this prophecy commenced with the subjugation of the Edomites by David (2 Samuel 8:14; 1 Kings 11:15-16; 1 Chronicles 18:12-13), but it will not be completed till "the end of the days," when all the enemies of God and His Church will be made the footstool of Christ (Psalm 110:1.). That David did not complete the subjugation of Edom is evident, on the one hand, from the fact that the Edomites revolted again under Solomon, though without success (1 Kings 11:14.); that they shook off the yoke imposed upon them under Joram (2 Kings 8:20); and notwithstanding their defeat by Amaziah (2 Kings 14:7; 2 Chronicles 25:11) and Uzziah (2 Kings 14:22; 2 Chronicles 26:2), invaded Judah a second time under Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:17), and afterwards availed themselves of every opportunity to manifest their hostility to the kingdom of Judah and the Jews generally, - as for example at the conquest of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans (Ezekiel 35:15; Ezekiel 36:5; Obadiah 1:10 and Obadiah 1:13), and in the wars between the Maccabees and the Syrians (1 Macc. 5:3, 65; 2 Macc. 10:15; 12:38ff.), - until they were eventually conquered by John Hyrcanus in the year b.c. 129, and compelled to submit to circumcision, and incorporated in the Jewish state (Josephus, Ant. xiii. 9, 1, xv. 7, 9; Wars of the Jews, iv. 5, 5). But notwithstanding this, they got the government over the Jews into their own hands through Antipater and Herod (Josephus, Ant. xiv. 8, 5), and only disappeared from the stage of history with the destruction of the Jewish state by the Romans. On the other hand, the declarations of the prophets (Amos 9:12; Obadiah 1:17.), which foretell, with an unmistakeable allusion to this prophecy, the possession of the remnant of Edom by the kingdom of Israel, and the announcements in Isaiah 34 and Isaiah 63:1-6, Jeremiah 49:7., Ezekiel 25:12. and Ezekiel 35:1-15, comp. with Psalm 137:7 and Lamentations 4:21-22, prove still more clearly that Edom, as the leading foe of the kingdom of God, will only be utterly destroyed when the victory of the latter over the hostile power of the world has been fully and finally secured. - Whilst Edom falls, Israel will acquire power. חיל עשׂה, to acquire ability or power (Deuteronomy 8:17-18; Ruth 4:11), not merely to show itself brave or strong. It is rendered correctly by Onkelos, "prosperabitur in opibus;" and Jonathan, "praevalebunt in opibus et possidebunt eos."