Numbers 24:6

Spread forth. Literally, “stretch out themselves.” Probably a reference to the long lines of tents with wide spaces between. The word translated “river” is also rendered “brook” (Lev. 23:40), “brooks” (Num. 21:14, 15), “stream” (Ex. 7:19), and “flood” (Joshua 24:3).

As gardens by the river’s side. Literally, “as gardens by a river.” Compare Isa. 58:11, “a watered garden,” and Isa. 1:30, “a garden that hath no water.” Balaam may have been thinking of the river Euphrates, which to him would be the river (see Isa. 7:20; also Ps. 1:3; Jer. 17:8).

Lign aloes. This tree was not known in Palestine, but was a native of southeastern Asia, whence its wood was exported. Elsewhere in the Bible the word refers to a perfume (Ps. 45:8; Prov. 7:17). Some commentators prefer “palms” or “poplars” to “aloes.”

Lord hath planted. Compare Isa. 60:21; 61:3; Ps. 80:8. In the OT, trees are often symbolic of God’s people.

Beside the waters. Oriental cedar trees do not usually grow in proximity to streams, but are often spoken of in Scripture as planted by the Lord (Ps. 104:16). Some commentators suggest that the two expressions, “which the Lord hath planted” and “beside the waters,” have been accidentally transposed. However this may be, Balaam sets forth, by the use of these metaphors, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the future prosperity that God planned for His people (see Ps. 65:9).