The question at issue is chiefly this:--Whether by the star and sceptre some single Israelitish king is designated, or rather, an ideal person--the personified Israelitish kingdom. The latter view I proved, in my work on Balaam, to be the correct one, for the following reasons:--1. The reference to a certain Israelitish king is against the analogy of the other prophecies of the Pentateuch. A single person, especially a single king of future time, is nowhere announced in it,--except the Messiah, whose announcement, however, is different from that of David. But, on the other hand, the rise of the _kingdom_ in Israel is announced as early as in the promise to the Patriarchs, on which all of Balaam's declarations rest throughout. It is only to this that the words, "A star goeth out of Jacob, and a sceptre riseth out of Israel," can refer,--according to the analogy of Gen. xvii. 6: "Kings shall come out of thee;" ver. 16: "And she shall become nations, _kings_ of people shall be of her;" and xxxv. 11: "Kings shall come out of thy loins." 2. The reference to a single king would be against the _analogy_ of _Balaam's_ prophecies, inasmuch as these nowhere refer to a single individual. 3. The _sceptre_ does not, in itself, lead us to think of an individual, since it does not designate a ruler, but dominion in general. But that which especially militates against the reference [Pg 101] to an individual is the comparison with the fundamental passage, Gen. xlix. 10, in which Judah, and in him all Israel, does not receive the promise of a single king, but of the kingdom which shall at last be consummated in the Shiloh. 4. In favour of this general interpretation is also ver. 19, in which the words, "And dominion shall come out of Jacob," or literally, "They shall rule out of Jacob," may be considered as just a commentary on the words, "A sceptre riseth out of Israel." So also is ver. 7, "More elevated than Agag be his king," where the king of Israel is an _ideal_ person--the personification of the kingdom. Agag, _i.e._, the fiery one, is not a proper name, but a surname of all Amalekite kings. The Amalekite kingdom--which here represents the world's power, opposed to the kingdom of God, because at the time of the Seer the Amalekites were the most powerful among the people who were hostile to Israel (compare ver. 20, where they are called the _beginning_ of the heathen nations, _i.e._, the most powerful of them)--is here put in opposition to the Israelitish kingdom, and the latter will show itself superior to all worldly power.