Rabbi Joel C. Dobin , The Astrological Secrets of the Hebrew Sages, , [1977], 139-140, In the new translation, called Torah and published by the Jewish Publication Society, the verse is translated as follows:
What I see for them is not yet, What I behold will not be soon; A star rises from Jacob, a meteor comes forth from Israel, It smashes the brow of Moab, The foundation of all children of Seth.
This makes much better sense than the old translation because it also makes much better astrological sense. Indeed, linguistically, we ought to look for some heavenly body in the phrase to parallel "star", and "sceptre" is neither an astronomical nor an astrological parallel. The Hebrew wordt SBT does have the meaning of "sceptre" or "staff", but also means "tribe" as well as "meteor". But in this context, "meteor" is the only linguistic solution available. However, it is also an astrological solution, giving added meaning and greater impact to the message of Balaam. For the meteor has always been the astrological symbol of changes in national status, of forced changes in governments; all king were fearful of them. To say a meteor will arise from Israel which will destroy the foundations of nations and defeat Moab and Seth presents a picture that is easily understood, and that with high drama terrorizes its readers, who all astrologically, understand the impact of the meteor and fear its appearance. Indeed, the meaning "sceptre, staff, tribe", may be derivative of the word's original meaning "a meteor that appears or the fall of leadership and of governments".
John H. Rogers , Origins of the ancient constellations: 1. The Mesopotamian traditions, , [1998]; In the sky-map of ancient Babylon, constellations had two different roles, and thus developed into two overlapping traditions. One set of constellations represented the gods and their symbols; the other set represented rustic activities and provided a farming calendar. Many constellations were shared by the two traditions, but in some regions of sky there were alternative divine and rustic figures. These figures developed in stages from ~3200 BC to ~500 BC. Of the divine set, the most important (although the last to be finalised) were the twelve zodiacal signs, plus several associated animals (the serpent, crow, eagle, and fish), which were all transmitted to the classical Greek sky-map that we still use today. Conversely, the rustic constellations of workers and tools and animals were not transmitted to the West. However, a few of them may have survived in Bedouin Arab sky-maps of the first millennium AD.
John H. Rogers , Origins of the ancient constellations: II. The Mediterranean traditions, , [1998]; The classical map of the sky, with the 48 Greek constellations, was derived from at least two different pre-Greek traditions. One tradition comprised the 12 signs of the zodiac, with several associated animal constellations, all of which developed over ~3200-500 BC in Mesopotamia in a religious or ritual tradition. These were taken over by the Greeks around 500 BC. However the other Babylonian constellations, their farming-calendar tradition, were not adopted. The other tradition was not Mesopotamian; it comprised large constellations which appear to date from ~2800 BC, probably from the Mediterranean region, devised for the navigators of ships. They include huge bears and serpents which marked the celestial pole and equator at that time, and probably the four anonymous giants which we know as Hercules, Ophiuchus, Bootes, and Auriga, as well as some of the large southern 'marine' constellations. The origins of some other constellations, including the Perseus tableau and various animals, are unknown; they may have been new creations of the Greeks. The Greeks assembled the classical sky-map from these different sources between 540-370 BC, but many of the familiar legends were only applied to the constellations later.