Numbers 24:20

Summary

Balaam looks toward Amalek and utters a short oracle: Amalek was first among the nations, but its ultimate destiny is destruction. The verse pairs the notions of "beginning" (re'shit) and "end" ('acharit) to frame Amalek's whole trajectory.

Key words

• va-yar ("and he saw", H7200) — qal narrative verb; the vav-consecutive form marks it as the next event in the sequence, following directly from the preceding scene.
• mashal ("oracle", H4912) — masculine singular noun in construct state ("oracle of..."), governed by the following pronominal suffix -o ("his"); designates the poetic/prophetic saying about to be spoken.
• re'shit ("first of", H7225) — feminine singular construct noun, "the first of the nations"; construct state links it directly to goyim ("nations", H1471).
• 'acharit-o ("its end", H0319 + H9023) — feminine singular construct noun with 3rd person suffix, forming a deliberate contrast with re'shit at the start of the line.
• 'oved ("destruction / one perishing", H0008) — qal participle, masculine singular; a participial form describing an ongoing or characteristic state ("the one perishing/being destroyed") rather than a simple finite verb.

What the text says

The verse opens with two narrative vav-consecutive verbs, va-yar ("and he saw", H7200) and va-yisa ("and he lifted up", H5375), which continue the storyline: the subject (Balaam, understood from context) sees Amalek and then "lifts up" his mashal ("oracle", H4912) — a construct phrase meaning "his oracle." A third vav-consecutive verb, va-yomar ("and he said", H0559), introduces the spoken content.

The oracle itself is built on a two-part structure using construct chains: re'shit goyim 'Amalek ("first of the nations, Amalek", H7225 + H1471 + H6002) states Amalek's status among the nations, while 'acharito 'adei 'oved ("its end [is] until/toward destruction", H0319 + H5704 + H0008) states its outcome. The parallel construct nouns re'shit ("first of") and 'acharit ("end of") create a deliberate opposition between beginning and end. The final word, 'oved, is a participle (not a finite past or future verb), presenting the destruction as a description of state — "the one perishing" — rather than as a single completed or predicted event marked by tense.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew 'oved (H0008, participle "perishing/destruction") is rendered by the LXX as ἀπολεῖται ("will perish", a future finite verb) and by the Vulgate as perdentur ("will be destroyed", future passive). Both versions convert the Hebrew participial construction into an explicit future-tense verb, which the Hebrew form itself does not lexically specify. Additionally, the LXX reads τὸ σπέρμα αὐτῶν ("their seed/offspring") where the Hebrew has 'acharito ("its end", H0319 with suffix), introducing a difference in what is said to face destruction — the "end" itself versus the "seed."