Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters: These two lines have been translated in various ways. A few versions (for example, La Bible de Jérusalem Nouvelle) follow the Septuagint, which reads (perhaps in view of the next two lines): “A man will come out of his seed and will dominate many nations.” However, Revised Standard Version and most other translations (including the Vulgate) render the Hebrew text as it stands (so also Hebrew Old Testament Text).
Water shall flow from his buckets means water will overflow from the Israelites’ buckets since they will have abundant rainfall. The meaning of the Hebrew term rendered buckets is uncertain, but the medieval commentator Rashi also gave it this sense. This word may refer to “watering buckets” used for irrigation purposes (so Ashley, page 491; Cole, page 420), in which case a local equivalent term will not be difficult to find. Revised English Bible uses the more generic term “vessels,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “wells,” which is a fairly free translation. The pronoun his refers to Israel, which some translations make explicit (so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling). New International Readers Version provides a helpful model for this line, saying “Their water buckets will run over.”
Instead of and his seed shall be in many waters, New Revised Standard Version has “and his seed shall have abundant water” (similarly Zürcher Bibel, Luther), which makes more sense. In some languages “his seed [or, planted seeds] receives water in abundance” (De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling) will be more natural. Willibrordvertaling says “what he sows is watered in abundance,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “the seed stands, watered richly in the fields.” Good News Translation is similar with “And plant their seed in well-watered fields” (even though the footnote in Good News Translation claims that this rendering is based on an ancient translation). This picture of irrigation and a well-watered land makes good sense after the description of abundant vegetation in verse 6. Some other translations interpret the Hebrew text slightly differently, taking his seed to be a reference to Israel’s descendants; for example, Revised English Bible has “and his seed shall be like great waters” (similarly Russian Synodal Orthodox Version), and NET Bible says “and their descendants will be like abundant water.” New Living Translation seems to follow this interpretation also with “their offspring have all they need.”
His king shall be higher than Agag: Other models here are “Their king shall be greater than Agag” (Good News Translation; similarly New International Version, NET Bible, De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling) and “Their king shall rise above Agag” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). In a footnote Contemporary English Version says the following about Agag: “The Amalekites were long-time enemies of the Israelites (see Exodus 17.8-16), and Agag was one of their most powerful kings.” 1 Sam 15 mentions an Amalekite king named Agag, so this may have been a dynastic name for other Amalekite kings as well (like “Pharaoh” in Egypt; so Cole, pages 420-421). This line and the next one do not seem to be very closely connected in meaning with the preceding text, but as noted in the structural description above (see verse 3b), they may function as a poetic transitional segment to the next strophe (verses 8-9a). Depending on one’s interpretation, these lines may also serve to foreshadow the central content of Balaam’s next oracle, especially verses 17-19.
And his kingdom shall be exalted: Good News Translation expresses the meaning of this line more clearly with “And his rule shall be extended far and wide.” Contemporary English Version rearranges the order of the last two lines of this verse, saying “Your [Israel’s] king will rule with power and be a greater king than Agag the Amalekite,” which may be a helpful model for some languages. Contemporary English Version uses the second person for the Israelites since Balaam is addressing them (see verse 5).
Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .