768 B
768 B
I see him, but he is not here now. I look at him, but he is not near
Balaam is having a vision of a future event. The word "him" refers to a future leader of Israel.
A star will come out of Jacob
Here "star" refers to an Israelite king that will rise in power.
out of Jacob
"from among the descendants of Jacob"
a scepter will rise out of Israel
This means the same thing as the first part of the sentence. Here "scepter" refers to a powerful king.
out of Israel
"from among the Israelites in the future"
shatter Moab's leaders
Possible meanings are 1) he will break the heads of the leaders of Moab or 2) he will destroy the leaders of Moab.
all the descendants of Seth
This also refers to the Moabites, who were descendants of Seth.