Numbers 24:3

3 and he spoke his message: “The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of one whose eye sees clearly,

Numbers 24:3 in Other Translations

3 And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:

3 and he took up his discourse and said, "The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

3 and this is the message he delivered: “This is the message of Balaam son of Beor, the message of the man whose eyes see clearly,

3 and he spoke his oracle-message: Decree of Balaam son of Beor, yes, decree of a man with 20/20 vision;

3 and he proclaimed his poem: The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened,

Numbers 24:3 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 24:3

And he took up his parable
His parable of prophecy, as the Targums, his prophetic speech, which, with a loud voice, he expressed in the hearing of Balak and his nobles:

and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said;
the preface to his prophecy is pompous, and seems to be full of pride and vanity, and so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem represent him;

``the man who is more excellent than his father hath said, to whom hidden secrets, even what was hidden from the prophets is revealed to him;''

and the Jews have a saying ^F20 that he that has an evil eye, a haughty spirit, and a large soul, or is covetous, is one of the disciples of Balaam the wicked:

and the man whose eyes are open hath said;
or, as some ^F21 render it, whose eyes were shut, but now open; either the eyes of his body, which were shut when the angel met him, and the ass saw him and not he, but afterwards were open, and he saw him also; or the eyes of his understanding blinded with ambition and covetousness, but were open to see his mistake, at least so far as to be sensible that he could never prevail upon God to allow him to curse Israel; or rather open, by the spirit of prophecy coming on him, whereby he saw and foretold things to come.

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 Pirke Abot, c. 5. sect. 19.
F21 So V. L. Montanus, Tigurine version

Numbers 24:3 In-Context

1 Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not resort to divination as at other times, but turned his face toward the wilderness.

2 When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came on him

3 and he spoke his message: “The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of one whose eye sees clearly,

4 the prophecy of one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty,who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:

5 “How beautiful are your tents, Jacob, your dwelling places, Israel!

Cross References

• 1. ver 15