Numbers 24:3

Hebrew Bible

1 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at the other times to seek for omens, but he set his face toward the wilderness. 2 When Balaam lifted up his eyes, he saw Israel camped tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him. 3 Then he uttered this oracle: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eyes are open, 4 the oracle of the one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, although falling flat on the ground with eyes open: 5 ‘How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, and your dwelling places, O Israel!

1 Enoch 1:2

Pseudepigrapha

1 The words of Enoch's blessing, with which he blessed the chosen and righteous, who will live through the days of tribulation when all the wicked and godless will be removed. 2 He began his parable and said, Enoch, a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, shown to him by the angels. He heard everything from them, and from them he understood what he saw, not for his own generation, but for a distant one yet to come. 3 Regarding the chosen, he spoke and taught about them: The Holy Great One will emerge from His dwelling,

 Notes and References

"... There is no doubt that in 1 Enoch 1:2 material from the Balaam story in Numbers 22 is mingled with associations with the beginning of Psalm 78. The bridge between the two texts is most probably verse 2 of Psalm 78, although its wording has not visibly influenced our text: 'I will open my mouth in a parable.' That is to say, the impetus is the concept of parable (mashal), which also, via the context of Numbers 24:3, inspires the way in which Enoch's vision is presented ..."

Hartman, Lars Asking for a Meaning: A Study of 1 Enoch 1-5 (p. 23) LiberLäromedel/Gleerup, 1979

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