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 24:1

Balaam Prophesies Yet Again

24:1 ⁶ When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, ⁷  he did not go as at the other times ⁸  to seek for omens, ⁹  but he set his face ¹⁰  toward the wilderness.

Numbers 24:10

24:10 Then Balak became very angry at Balaam, and he struck his hands together. ¹¹  Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have done nothing but bless ¹²  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!

[22:11]  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.

[22:11]  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).

[22:11]  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.

[23:24]  ⁴ tn The pronoun “their” has been supplied for clarity; it is not present in the Hebrew text.

[23:24]  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.

[24:1]  ⁷ sn For a thorough study of the arrangement of this passage, see E. B. Smick, “A Study of the Structure of the Third Balaam Oracle,” The Law and the Prophets, 242-52. He sees the oracle as having an introductory strophe (vv. 3, 4), followed by two stanzas (vv. 5, 6) that introduce the body (vv. 7b-9b) before the final benediction (v. 9b).

[24:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “it was good in the eyes of the Lord.”

[24:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “as time after time.”

[24:1]  ¹⁰ tn The word נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim) means “omens,” or possibly “auguries.” Balaam is not even making a pretense now of looking for such things, because they are not going to work. God has overruled them.

[24:1]  ¹¹ tn The idiom signifies that he had a determination and resolution to look out over where the Israelites were, so that he could appreciate more their presence and use that as the basis for his expressing of the oracle.

[24:10]  ¹⁰ sn This is apparently a sign of contempt or derision (see Job 27:23; and Lam 2:15).

[24:10]  ¹¹ tn The construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the perfect tense for “bless.”