Numbers 5:23-24

5:23 “‘Then the priest will write these curses on a scroll and then scrape them off into the bitter water. ¹  5:24 He will make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings a curse will enter her to produce bitterness.

Numbers 20:13

20:13 These are the waters of Meribah, because the Israelites contended with the Lord, and his holiness was maintained ²  among them.

Numbers 22:9

22:9 And God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”

Numbers 24:9

24:9 They crouch and lie down like a lion,

and as a lioness, ³  who can stir him?

Blessed is the one who blesses you,

and cursed is the one who curses you!’”

[5:23]  ¹ sn The words written on the scroll were written with a combination of ingredients mixed into an ink. The idea is probably that they would have been washed or flaked off into the water, so that she drank the words of the curse – it became a part of her being.

[20:13]  ² tn The form is unusual – it is the Niphal preterite, and not the normal use of the Piel/Pual stem for “sanctify/sanctified.” The basic idea of “he was holy” has to be the main idea, but in this context it refers to the fact that through judging Moses God was making sure people ensured his holiness among them. The word also forms a wordplay on the name Kadesh.

[24:9]  ³ tn On the usage of this word see HALOT 517 s.v. לָבִיא.