Numbers 23:24

הֶן־עָם כְּלָבִיא יָקוּם וְכַאֲרִי יִתְנַשָּׂא לֹא יִשְׁכַּב עַד־יֹאכַל טֶרֶף וְדַם־חֲלָלִים יִשְׁתֶּֽה׃

✦ Hebrew interlinear

Tap a word to see its entry

✦ The same verse in five languages

Hebrew

הֶן־עָם֙ כְּלָבִ֣יא יָק֔וּם וְכַאֲרִ֖י יִתְנַשָּׂ֑א לֹ֤א יִשְׁכַּב֙ עַד־יֹ֣אכַל טֶ֔רֶף וְדַם־חֲלָלִ֖ים יִשְׁתֶּֽה׃

Greek (Septuagint)

ἰδοὺ λαὸς ὡς σκύμνος ἀναστήσεται, καὶ ὡς λέων γαυριωθήσεται· οὐ κοιμηθήσεται ἕως φάγῃ θήραν, καὶ αἷμα τραυματιῶν πίεται.

Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0

Latin (Vulgate)

Ecce populus ut leæna consurget, et quasi leo erigetur: non accubabit donec devoret prædam, et occisorum sanguinem bibat.

Spanish

Es un pueblo que se levanta como leona; que se yergue como un león. No descansa hasta tragarse a su presa, hasta beber la sangre de sus víctimas”.

Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)

He aquí el pueblo, que como león se levantará, y como león se erguirá: no se echará hasta que coma la presa, y beba la sangre de los muertos.

English

Behold, the people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion, not resting until they devour their prey and drink the blood of the slain.”

✦ What the text says

Summary

The verse describes a people compared to a lion in two parallel images: rising up like a lion and lifting itself up like a lion, that will not rest until it has consumed prey and drunk the blood of the slain. It forms the closing line of one of Balaam's oracles concerning Israel.

Key words

hen ("there!", H2005) — an interjection drawing attention to what follows, often translated "behold."
la.Vi' ("a lion", H3833C) — first term for lion, paired with 'am ("a people", H5971A) via the comparative preposition ke ("like", H9004).
yit.na.Sa' ("it lifts itself up", H5375G) — hithpael (reflexive) imperfect, indicating the subject acting upon itself, i.e., the people/lion rousing or exalting itself rather than being raised by another.
'a.Ri ("a lion", H0738A) — second, distinct Hebrew word for lion, different from la.Vi' in line 4, used in the parallel clause with kha ("like", H9004).
cha.la.Lim ("[those] slain", H2491A) — masculine plural adjective functioning as a noun, in construct with dam ("[the] blood of", H1818), forming "blood of the slain."

What the text says

The verse is built on two parallel poetic lines, each comparing the people ('am, H5971A) to a lion, but using two different Hebrew nouns for "lion": la.Vi' (H3833C) in the first line and 'a.Ri (H0738A) in the second. This variation is a feature of Hebrew poetic parallelism, where synonyms are used across matching clauses rather than exact repetition. The verbs also differ in form: yaKum ("it rises", H6965B) is a simple qal imperfect, while yitnaSa' ("it lifts itself up", H5375G) is hithpael, a reflexive stem, suggesting the action is self-directed — the lion rousing or exalting itself.

The second half of the verse shifts to a description of the lion's behavior after rising: it will not lie down (yishKav, H7901G) until ('ad, H5704) it has devoured (Yokhal, H398) prey (Teref, H2964) and drunk (yishTeh, H8354) the blood of the slain (dam-chalaLim, construct phrase, H1818 + H2491A). The construct chain dam-chalaLim literally reads "blood of slain-ones," tying the drinking action directly to victims of violence.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders la.Vi' (H3833C, "a lion") as σκύμνος ("young lion" or "lion's cub"), a different nuance than the second Hebrew term 'a.Ri (H738A), which it renders as λέων ("lion"). The Vulgate similarly distinguishes the two: leæna ("lioness") for the first term and leo ("lion") for the second, introducing a gender distinction not explicitly marked in the Hebrew nouns themselves. The Spanish RV1909 follows Vulgate's pattern with "león" for both, while BSB uses "lioness" and "lion" to preserve two distinct images, similarly to the Vulgate.

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.