alludes to the opening of his eyes to see the angel that had appeared to him in the way. Others suppose he meant to state, that his eyes were open to the true position of the Hebrews; and therefore he could predict only what he saw as true respecting them. We still prefer our own opinion expressed above.

NUMBERS XXIV.

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

16. He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the Most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty falling into a trance, but having his eyes open;

17. I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not nigh; there shall come a Star out of Jacob, a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.

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

19. Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.

20. And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations, but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever.

21. And he looked on the Kenites; and took up his parable, and said, Strong is thy dwellingplace, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock:

22. Nevertheless, the Kenite shall be wasted, until Ashur shall carry thee away captive.

23. And he took up his parable, and said, Alas! who shall live when God doeth this?

24. And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Ashur, and shall afflict Eber, and he shall also perish for ever.

25. And Balaam rose up, and went and returned unto his place; and Balak also went his way.

531. It is admitted on all hands, that there is a good deal of ambiguity in this prediction. Can any man, in his senses, doubt that the ambiguity was intentional? What is it that was to smite the borders of Moab? There are two antecedents—the star that was to arise out of Jacob, and the sceptre that was to rise out of Israel. The smiting of a star might be very different from the smiting of a sceptre.

532. Indeed the passage may denote something good, as coming upon Moab, or it may denote something bad. If it denote the latter, it may signify only an attack on the borders of the country, or it may signify its subjugation. Besides, whatever should befall

Moab, was to befall "all the children of Sheth." And who is Sheth, or what is it? It may denote a city; and its children may mean its inhabitants; or it may denote a person, and his children will then mean his descendants. Perhaps there is a reference to Seth, one of the sons of Adam, who is also called Sheth. Then it will follow that what was to befall Moab, was to befall the whole human race; for none but the children of Seth were preserved from the flood; and of course, in Balaam's day, the children of Seth must mean all mankind. It was then quite safe for Balaam to predict that some calamity would fall upon Moab ; of the same kind with that which should fall on all others of the human race. But the word here used for destroy is ambiguous; and hence some interpreters understand it in a good sense, and some

bad sense.

strued?

in a

Did not Balaam know it could be so con

533. He tells us that Amalek should perish forever. This could be safely predicted, so long as no time is given when it should be done. Edom was to be a possession, but when was this to be? Was not Israel himself to be a possession of his enemies sometime?

of

534. The Kenite here may mean a branch the Edomites, or a branch of the Midianites; but what should befall them, and when, we are not definitely informed. Whatever might occur, it would not be difficult to make out an exact fulfilment of the prophesy! What place is intended by Chittim we cannot say. Asshur may be Assyria, and Eber may be the Hebrews; and if this be so, that they would sometime be "afflicted," and would "perish forever," might be safely affirmed: and the same thing might have been as safely affirmed of any other nation, or of all other nations, as of them.

SECTION IX.-THE PEOPLE CORRUPTED.

NUMBERS XXV.

535. As there was no prospect of conquering the Israelites by the sword, (the great expedient of getting the prophet to curse them having failed,) the next thing resorted to, at the instigation of Balaam, was to

entice them into the practices of pagan worship. And the more surely to bring about this result, a noted woman from Midian, the country of Balaam, was sent thither. This expedient was quite successful for a time; and many of the people were drawn into the lewd practices of idolatrous worship. But by the visitation of the most summary punishment upon the offenders, including many of the leaders of the people, this abomination was stayed, and the people for a time were protected.

536. "Those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand." No plague is described, except that Moses had commanded the judges of Israel to slay every man that had been joined to Baal-peor; and this destruction was plainly had in view. The term plague may be understood as including both the sin and the punishment. A similar interpretation will throw light on many other passages where this term is employed.

537. Baal-peor has been taken in an obscene sense, and with too much truth; for it is certain that the deities of the heathen were, and still are, often of the grossest kind. This false god is, by some, supposed to be Adonis or Orus adored by the Egyptians, and other eastern nations. The feasts of Adonis were celebrated after the manner of funerals; and the worshippers at that time committed a thousand dissolute actions. Origen believed Baal-peor to be Priapus, or the idol of turpitude, adored principally by women, and that Moses did not think proper to express more clearly what kind of turpitude he meant; and Jerome says this idol was worshipped in the same manner as Priapus. opinion is, that effeminate men and women, who prostituted themselves in honor of idols, as frequently mentioned in Scripture, were consecrated to Baal-peor or Priapus. Maimonides asserts that Baal-peor was adored by the most immodest actions; and there is no doubt that he was the god of impurity."*

* Encyclopedia. Article Baal peor.

His

538. We see, then, the necessity for the severe measures resorted to by Moses to put down this wickedness; and though the number destroyed was quite considerable, the sacrifice of these was justified by the enormity of the sin that had been committed, and that was liable to increase among the people, and the great good that was aimed at in the elevation of the Hebrews above the surrounding nations.

539. It seems obvious, from the fact that the Midian women and the Moabites were joined together, in this attempt upon the virtue and fidelity of the Hebrews, that they not only both practised the same abominations, but that they were not far separated. It is not improbable that the Midian, where Moses spent forty years, and where Jethro was priest, was a region of country not far from Sinai, settled by another tribe of Midians; or that they were a colony from the Midians referred to in connection with Moab. If we suppose only one nation and one locality, we shall find it difficult, if not impossible, to explain and reconcile all the passages that allude to them.

SECTION X.-A SECOND CENSUS.
NUMBERS XXVI.

1. And it came to pass after the plague, that the LORD spake unto Moses, and unto Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saying,

2. Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, throughout their fathers' house, all that are able to go to war in Israel.

3. And Moses and Eleazar the priest spake with them in the plains of Moab, by Jordan near Jericho, saying,

4. Take the sum of the people, from twenty years old and upward; as the LORD commanded Moses and the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt.

5. Reuben, the eldest son of Israel: the children of Reuben; Hanoch, of whom cometh the family of the Hanochites: of Pallu, the family of the Palluites.

6. Of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites: of Carmi, the family of the Carmites.

7. These are the families of the Reubenites; and they that were numbered of them were forty and three thousand and seven hundred and thirty.

8. And the sons of Pallu; Eliab. 9. And the sons of Eliah; Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram which were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of