Numbers 23:8

Summary

Numbers 23:8 presents Balaam's rhetorical questions asking how he could curse or denounce someone whom God himself has not cursed or denounced. The verse uses parallel structure with two matching questions, each contrasting Balaam's potential action against divine inaction.

Key words

• mah ("what?", H4100) — the interrogative pronoun opens both halves of the verse, framing statements as rhetorical questions rather than direct declarations.
• 'eKob ("will I curse", H6895) — qal imperfect first-person form, expressing a hypothetical or future action attributed to the speaker (Balaam).
• kaBoh ("he has cursed", H6895) — same root as 'eKob, but qal perfect third-person, denoting a completed action; the negation lo' ("not", H3808) before it makes clear this cursing has not occurred.
• 'ez'Om ("will I denounce", H2194) — qal imperfect first-person, parallel to 'eKob in the second half of the verse, from the root za'am.
• za'Am ("he has denounced", H2194) — qal perfect third-person, mirroring kaBoh in structure; paired with lo' to negate completed divine denunciation.

What the text says

The verse is built on strict grammatical parallelism: two questions, each following the pattern mah + imperfect verb (first person) + lo' + perfect verb (third person) + divine name. The imperfect forms 'eKob ("will I curse") and 'ez'Om ("will I denounce") describe potential or future actions by the speaker, while the perfect forms kaBoh ("he has cursed") and za'Am ("he has denounced") describe completed actions attributed to 'El ("God", H0410G) and Yehovah (H3068G) respectively. The negation lo'* placed before each perfect verb indicates that the divine subject has not performed this cursing or denouncing.

The shift from 'El in the first half to Yehovah in the second half is a structural feature of the Hebrew parallelism, using two different names for the divine subject across the two matching clauses. The verbs qabab (root behind 'eKob/kaBoh, H6895) and za'am (root behind 'ez'Om/za'Am, H2194) are distinct roots meaning "to curse" and "to denounce/be indignant" respectively, giving the parallel structure two related but not identical verbal concepts.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders both halves of the verse using Κύριος ("Lord") and ὁ θεός ("God") for the two Hebrew names 'El and Yehovah, matching the Hebrew's use of two distinct divine designations, though in reversed order compared to some versions. The Vulgate renders Deus for the first divine name and Dominus for the second, aligning with the Hebrew order of 'El then Yehovah. The LXX also renders both Hebrew verbal roots (qabab and za'am) using forms of a single Greek verb, καταράομαι ("to curse"), where the Hebrew employs two distinct verbal roots.