Numbers 22:11

22:11 “Look, a nation has come out ¹  of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Come now and put a curse on them for me; perhaps I will be able to defeat them ²  and drive them out.” ³ 

Numbers 23:24

23:24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness,

and like a lion raises himself up;

they will not lie down until they eat their ⁴  prey,

and drink the blood of the slain.” ⁵ 

Numbers 24:10

24:10 Then Balak became very angry at Balaam, and he struck his hands together. ⁶  Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have done nothing but bless ⁷  them these three times!

Numbers 31:16

31:16 Look, these people through the counsel of Balaam caused the Israelites to act treacherously against the Lord in the matter of Peor – which resulted in the plague among the community of the Lord!

¹ tn In this passage the text differs slightly; here it is “the nation that comes out,” using the article on the noun, and the active participle in the attributive adjective usage.

² tn Here the infinitive construct is used to express the object or complement of the verb “to be able” (it answers the question of what he will be able to do).

³ tn The verb is the Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive. It either carries the force of an imperfect tense, or it may be subordinated to the preceding verbs.

⁴ tn The pronoun “their” has been supplied for clarity; it is not present in the Hebrew text.

⁵ sn The oracle compares Israel first to a lion, or better, lioness, because she does the tracking and hunting of food while the lion moves up and down roaring and distracting the prey. But the lion is also the traditional emblem of Judah, Dan and Gad, as well as the symbol of royalty. So this also supports the motif of royalty as well as power for Israel.

⁷ sn This is apparently a sign of contempt or derision (see Job 27:23; and Lam 2:15).

⁸ tn The construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the perfect tense for “bless.”