Numbers 24:15

Summary

Balaam introduces his oracle with a formal self-declaration, identifying himself by patronymic ("son of Beor") and by a physical/perceptual description of himself as "the man" whose eye has a particular quality. The verse is the introductory formula preceding the actual prophetic content.

Key words

• va-yiSSA' ("he lifted up", H5375N) — narrative qal verb; the idiom "lifted up his mashal" marks the formal opening of a poetic oracle.
• meshaLo ("oracle-of-his", H4912) — construct noun with suffix; a mashal is a formal poetic/proverbial utterance, not casual speech.
• ne'Um ("utterance of", H5002) — construct noun repeated twice (lines 7 and 13); this is a technical term marking solemn, authoritative speech, distinct from ordinary "saying."
• sheTum ("opened/closed-of", H8365) — construct noun describing "the eye"; the root's exact semantic range (open vs. stopped) is the point of translational divergence below.
• ha-GEver ("the man", H1397) — definite noun in apposition to Balaam's name, framing him as "the man" with this eye-quality, parallel to ne'um bil'am.

What the text says

The verse is built on two parallel construct chains, both introduced by ne'um ("utterance of," H5002): first ne'um bil'am beno be'or ("utterance of Balaam son of Beor"), then u-ne'um ha-gever shetum ha-'ayin ("and utterance of the man, [the] opened-of the eye"). This doubling is a standard feature of Hebrew poetic parallelism, restating the speaker's identity twice — once by genealogy (father's name Beor), once by a descriptive epithet. The word shetum (H8365) stands in construct with ha-'ayin ("the eye," H5869A), literally "opened/pierced of the eye," a construction that describes Balaam through a bodily or perceptual trait rather than through personal history alone. The narrative frame va-yissa' meshalo va-yomar ("and he lifted up his oracle and said") uses the idiom "to lift" (nasa, H5375N) with "mashal" (H4912) to signal that formal, elevated oracular speech is about to follow, distinguishing it from ordinary narrated dialogue.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew shetum ha-'ayin (construct "opened/pierced-of the eye") is rendered very differently across versions. The LXX gives ὁ ἀληθινὸς ὁρῶν ("the one seeing truly"), interpreting the phrase as a statement about accurate perception rather than a physical eye-state. The Vulgate has cuius obturatus est oculus ("whose eye is stopped/closed"), taking the root in the opposite directional sense from "open." The BSB and SBLIBRE follow the "open eye" sense ("eyes are open" / "sees with clarity"), aligning more closely with the LXX's interpretive direction than with the Vulgate's "closed" reading.