17 His first-born bullock hath majesty,
His horns are horns of a wild ox;"
With them he pusheth peoples,

All together to the ends of the earth.
Those are the myriads of Ephraim,

And those are the thousands of Manasseh.

18 And of Zebulun he said:

Rejoice, O Zebulun, in thy going out,
And thou, O Issachar, in thy tents,

19They call peoples to the mountain,

There they offer sacrifices of righteousness,

For they suck up the abounding riches of the sea,
And the hidden treasures of the sand.

20 And of Gad he said:

Blessed be he who enlargeth Gad;

He dwelleth like a [couching] lioness,"

And teareth both the arm and the crown of the head;

21 And he searched out the first part for himself,
For them a commander's portion was reserved;
And he came with the heads of the people.
He executed the righteous will" of Jehovah
And his judgments concerning Israel.

22 And of Dan he said:

Dan is a lion's whelp

That leapeth forth from Bashan.

23 And of Naphtali he said:

O Naphtali, satisfied with favor,

And rich in the blessing of Jehovah,

He possesseth the sea and the southland.

24 And of Asher he said:

Blessed above sons be Asher,

Let him be the favored one among his brothers,
As he dips his feet in oil!

25Thy bolts be iron and bronze;

And as thy days, so let thy strength be.

03317 I. e., Ephraim. Cf. Gen. 4813-19 and the latter part of this vs.

P3317 The gigantic ox of the Assyrian inscriptions, famous for its huge horns and great strength. 43320 I. e., Jehovah, who enables the Gadites to extend their territory in the much-contested east-Jordan land.

128.

13320 The fame of the Gadites as fierce warriors was well established. Cf. Gen. 4919, I Chr.

3320 In its present form this line has but two beats.

t3321 Restoring the corrupt Heb. text.

u3321 Lit., righteousness.

3322 I. e., a lion of Bashan. Probably the northern Danites are referred to by the poet. w3323 Lit., full.

=3325 Following the Gk., Syr., and Theod. The meaning of the Heb. is unknown.

MOSES' BLESSING UPON THE TRIBES

26There is none like the God of Jeshurun,

Who rideth through the heavens to keep thee, And in his exalted majesty upon the skies. 27The God of old is a dwelling-place,

And underneath are everlasting arms;

And he drove out the enemy from before thee;
And said, 'Destroy;'

28So Israel dwelt securely,

The fountain of Jacob alone,
Upon a land of corn and wine,
And his heavens drop down dew.
29Happy Israel! who is like thee?
A people saved by Jehovah,

The shield of thy help and thy mighty sword!a
So shall thy enemies come cringing to thee,

And thou shalt tread upon their high-places.

§ 12. The Early Judean Prophetic Version of the Balaam Oracles,
Nu. 243b-9, 15b-19

Nu. 24 3b The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,

Even the oracle of the man who seeth truly;

"The oracle of him who heareth the words of God,
Who seeth the vision of the Almighty,

Falling down and having his eyes open.

"How beautiful are thy tents, O Jacob,

Thy dwelling places, O Israel!

Like valleys are they spread out,

Like gardens by the river-side,

Like lign-aloes, which Jehovah hath planted,
Like cedars beside the waters.

"Water shall flow from his buckets,

And his seed shall be in abundant waters,
And his king shall be higher than Agag,
And his kingdom shall be highly exalted.

8God, who brought him forth out of Egypt,
Is for him like the strength of the wild-ox.
He shall devour the nations, his adversaries,
And shall break their bones in pieces,
And pierce his oppressors with arrows.
"He crouches, he lies down like a lion,
And like a lioness, who shall stir him up?
Blessed is every one who blesses thee,

And cursed is every one who curses thee.

v3326 Following the Gk., Syr., Lat., and a revised Heb. text.

3328 Cf. Is. 481, Ps. 6826. A figure describing the race with its succeeding generations. 3329 Lit., the sword of thy dignity.

Israel's

prosperity,

num

bers,

and

strength

His
victories
over
his foes

Exordium to the second

oracle

Con-
quests
of the
Hebrews
under
David

The

independent spirit

and the

great
num-

bers
of the
Hebrews

Their prosperity

15b The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,

Even the oracle of the man who seeth truly,
16The oracle of him who heareth the words of God,
And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High,
Who seeth the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down and having his eyes open.

17I see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not near;

A star comes forth out of Jacob,
And a sceptre arises out of Israel,
And shatters the temples of Moab,
And the skull of all the sons of Seth.
18 And Edom shall become a possession,
Seir shall also become a possession,
While Israel doeth valiantly.

19 And Jacob shall subdue his enemies,

And shall destroy the remnant from the city.

§ 13. The Northern Israelitish Version of the Balaam Oracles,
Nu. 237b-10, 18b-22, 24

Nu. 23 7 From Aram hath Balak brought me,

Moab's king from the mountains of the East:
'Come, curse Jacob for me,

And come, denounce Israel.'

How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?

And how shall I denounce, whom Jehovah hath not denounced?

"For from the top of the rocks I see him,

And from the hills I gaze upon him;

Behold a people dwelling alone,

And not accounting itself as one of the nations.

10 Who can count the dust of Jacob,
Or number the myriads of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,
And let my final end be like his !

18b Arise, Balak, and hear;

Hearken to me, thou son of Zippor:
19God is not man, that he should lie,
Nor a mortal, that he should repent;
Hath he said, and will he not do it?

Or hath he spoken, and will he not make good?
20 Behold, I have received command to bless;
Yea, he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
21No misfortune is perceived in Jacob;

And no trouble is seen in Israel.

THE BALAAM ORACLES

Jehovah his God is with him,

And in his midst the shouts over a king.

22God, who brought them forth out of Egypt,

Is for him like the strength of the wild-ox.
24See, the people riseth up like a lioness,
And like a lion he lifteth himself up:

He doth not lie down until he eateth the prey,
And drinketh the blood of the slain.

§ 14. Promises to the House of David, II Sam. 710-16

II Sam. 7 10I will appoint a place for my people Israel,

I will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place,
And that they may be moved no more,

And the wicked shall no more afflict them as before,
"From the day that I appointed judges over my people Israel.
I will give thee rest from all thine enemies,
And make thee great, and build thee a house.

12And when thy days are complete,
And thou liest down with thy fathers,

I will raise up thy descendants after thee,
Who shall come forth from thy body;
And I will establish their kingdom.

13 He shall build a home for my name,

And I will establish his royal throne forever. 14I will be to him a father,

And he shall be to me a son,

Whenever he committeth iniquity,

I will correct him with the rod of men,
And with the stripes of the sons of Adam.
15 My kindness will I not withdraw from him.

§ 15. The Last Words of David, II Sam. 231-7

II Sam. 23 1The oracle of David the son of Jesse,

Their

invincible, warlike spirit

Peace and stabil

ity

Strong and

perma

nent

rule

under divine

protection

The title

The oracle of the man set on high.

The anointed of the God of Jacob,

And the singer of the songs of Israel.

§ 14 For detailed notes and setting, cf. Vol. II, § 29. This passage voices the popular hopes regarding the Judean royal house. Its language and that of its setting strongly suggest that it was not written until a short time before the exile; its hortatory note is that of the Deuteronomic school. Because of its setting and connection with David, the passage made a profound impression upon later psalm writers. Cf. especially Pss. 72, 89, 132.

§15 The elaborate prologue, the reference to David as the singer of the songs of Israel, 1, and the fulsome praise of David and of his rule in 3. 4 indicate that this traditional oracle is not from David but rather from a much later period when traditions were beginning to magnify the personality of Israel's early king. Vs. 5 contains a clear reference to the oracle in II Sam. 710-15. These indications carry its date down close to the Babylonian exile, and the wisdom note in the closing vss., if these be original, points to an even later date.

of the oracle

Its divine

au

thority

Blessings of a

just rule

Assur

ance
of a
stable
dynasty

The instability of the wicked

2Jehovah's spirit speaketh through me,
His word, also, is on my tongue.
"The God of Jacobb saith,

Israel's Rock speaketh to me:

"The one who ruleth over men,
Who ruleth in the fear of God,
"Like the morning light he ariseth,
Like the sun of a cloudless morn,

Which causeth the vegetation to spring from the earth.'

"Yea, my house standeth firm before God,

For he hath made with me an eternal covenant,
Firmly established in all parts, and will keep it,
For in him are all my salvation and pleasure.

"For, verily, base men shall not flourish,
They are like unto thorns that are cast away,
For one cannot gather them with the hand.
"If a man does venture to touch them,

He is filled with iron and wooden spines;g
With fire shall they utterly be consumed.

bII Sam. 233. Following the Old Lat. and Vulg. in substituting Jacob for the Heb., Israel, which is repeated in the next line.

234 Slightly revising the text. The Heb. adds after the rain.

d235 So Luc. Heb., kept.

e235 Again emending the Heb. as the context demands.

1236 Or, revising the Heb., thorns of the desert.

#237 A free revision of the

text, suggested by Smith, Sam., 382-3, gives the possible reading:

Nor doth a man labor for them,

Nor fight with iron and spear.

The text is exceedingly doubtful. The Heb. is followed above.