Prophecy 8 of 30 · King
A star out of Jacob
Balaam sees the future: "A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel."
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Hebrew · Leningrad Codexעִבְרִית
17אֶרְאֶ֨נּוּ֙ וְלֹ֣א עַתָּ֔ה אֲשׁוּרֶ֖נּוּ וְלֹ֣א קָר֑וֹב דָּרַ֨ךְ כּוֹכָ֜ב מִֽיַּעֲקֹ֗ב וְקָ֥ם שֵׁ֨בֶט֙ מִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וּמָחַץ֙ פַּאֲתֵ֣י מוֹאָ֔ב וְקַרְקַ֖ר כָּל־בְּנֵי־שֵֽׁת׃er'ennu velo atta ashurennu velo karov darakh kokhav miyya'akov vekam shevet miyyisra'el umachatz pa'ate mo'av vekarkar kal-bene-shet
JPS 1917 · Jewish translation
17I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh; There shall step forth a star out of Jacob, And a scepter shall rise out of Israel, And shall smite through the corners of Moab, And break down all the sons of Seth.
World Messianic Bible
17I see him, but not now. I see him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel, and shall strike through the corners of Moab, and crush all the sons of Sheth.I see him, but not now. I see him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel, and shall strike through the corners of Moab, and crush all the sons of Sheth.
Numbers 24:17. Transliteration simplified. Read the whole chapter
Fulfilment · New CovenantWMB
Matthew 2:1-2 Now when Yeshua was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.”
Revelation 22:16 I, Yeshua, have sent my angel to testify these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”
How rabbinic tradition reads it
Read messianically in antiquity: Targum Onkelos renders "a king shall arise from Jacob, and the Messiah shall be anointed from Israel". Rabbi Akiva applied it to Bar Kokhba (Jerusalem Talmud, Taanit 4:5).
Why Messianic Jews read it as Yeshua
The Magi came looking for the king whose star they had seen. Yeshua calls himself "the bright and morning star".
Look at the text for yourself
Read Numbers 24:17 slowly, in the Hebrew and the JPS translation above. Then ask the question the Ethiopian official asked: "Who is the prophet talking about?"
Sources
- Targum Onkelos on Numbers 24:17
- Jerusalem Talmud, Taanit 4:5
- Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (public domain), via OpenScriptures. English: JPS 1917; World Messianic Bible (public domain).