Numbers 23:24

Num 23:24 Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat [of] the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

Ver. 24. Behold the people.] This is chiefly true of God’s peculiar people, subduing their spiritual enemies, {Mic 5:8-9} being bold as lions.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Num 23:24. As a great lion — As a lion rouseth up himself to fight, or to go out to the prey, so shall Israel stir up themselves to warlike attempts against their enemies. He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey — They shall not lay down their arms until they have made an entire conquest of their enemies; just as the lion, risen up to pursue his prey, doth not usually lie down till he hath taken that prey, and drunk the blood of the beasts he has slain. The prophecy seems to have a peculiar respect to the conquest of the Canaanites. This was the condition of Israel at present, and during the days of Joshua and David. But alas! their sins and follies often so enfeebled them that they themselves became an easy prey to their enemies! And there is no truth more plain or more incontestable than this, that piety and virtue are at once the strength and glory of a nation, and that ungodliness and vice are the surest and saddest presages of the ruin of any people.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 24. Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion] לביא labi, the great, mighty, or old lion, the king of the forest, who is feared and respected by all the other beasts of the field; so shall Israel be the subduer and possessor of the whole land of Canaan. And as a young lion, ארי ari from ארה arah, to tear off, the predatory lion, or the lion in the act of seizing and tearing his prey; - the nations against whom the Israelites are now going shall be no more able to defend themselves against their attacks, than the feeblest beasts of the forest are against the attacks of the strong lion.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(24) As a great lion.—Better, as a lioness. (Comp. Gen_49:9.) Balaam transfers to the whole nation that which Jacob had prophesied of Judah.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. Cf. Mic_5:8.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion,.... Or rather, "as the lioness" (n), which, as Aelianus says (o), is the strongest and most warlike beast, the most fierce and furious, as is believed both by Greeks and Barbarians; and he mentions the heroism of Perdiccas the Macedonian, and Semiramis the Assyrian, in engaging with and killing, not the lion or leopard, but lioness:

and shall lift up himself as a young lion; both phrases denoting the courage and strength of the people of Israel, in attacking their enemies and engaging them:

he shall not lie down; being once roused up and engaged in war:

until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain; as the lion does when it has seized on a creature, tears it to pieces, eats its flesh and drinks its blood: this may refer to the slaughter of the Midianites that would be quickly made, and among the slain of whom Balaam himself was, Num 31:7, and to the slaughter and conquest of the Canaanites under Joshua, and taking their spoils.

(n) "ut leaena", V. L. Tigurine version. (o) Var. Hist. l. 12. c. 39. Vid. Herodot. Thalia, sive, l. 3. c. 108.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Lioness. Septuagint, "lion’s whelp." Some explain the Hebrew, "a lion" of full growth and strength. But the antithesis of the Vulgate is more natural and beautiful. (Calmet) --- The lioness, being solicitous for its young ones, becomes more furious. --- A lion, ready to fall upon its prey. So Israel will not lay down the sword till he has conquered the nations of Chanaan, (Menochius) and those who dare to molest him. The allusion to the prediction of Jacob in favour of Juda seems very plain, Genesis xlix. 9. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

As a lion rouseth up himself to fight, or to go out to the prey; so shall Israel stir up themselves to warlike attempts against all their enemies, as occasion shall offer itself.

He shall not lie down, i.e. not rest or cease from fighting and pursuing.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24. As a great lion — Under the imagery of the king of the forest the invincibility of the Hebrew military power, or of Jehovah energizing obedient Israel, is strikingly set forth. The prediction of Jacob respecting Judah (Gen_49:9) is here extended to the whole nation, to blast the hope of Balak that he should destroy Israel. See Num_24:8-9, notes.

Drink the blood — The cruelty and rapacity which these words might seem to indicate are not intended. The simile must not bepressed too far. Strength, courage, and national superiority are symbolized by the lion. Gen_49:9, note.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

As a great lion. aybil, generally translated "old lion," as in Gen_49:9. By some it is rendered lioness. (cf. Job_4:11 Nah_2:12) As a young lion. yria, the ordinary term for a lion without further distinction. It is altogether fantastic to suppose that Balaam had just seen a lieu coming up from the ghor of Jordan, and that this "omen" inspired his mashal." The rising of a lion from its covert was one of the most common of the more striking phenomena of nature in those regions, and the imagery it afforded was in constant use; but in truth it is evident that these similes are borrowed from Jacob"s dying prophecy concerning Judah, (Gen_49:9) in which the word "prey" (Hebrew, prf, a torn thing) is also found. Balaam was acquainted with that prophecy, as he was with the promises made to Abraham. (cf. verse 10 with Gen_13:16 Gen_28:14)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

As a great Lion - As a lion rouseth up himself to fight, or to go out to the prey, so shall Israel stir up themselves to warlike attempts against their enemies. He shall not lie down - Not rest or cease from fighting and pursuing.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

the people rise like a lioness ... he has killed

This verse is a long metaphor that speaks of Israel defeating her enemies as if Israel was a lion devouring its prey. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

lions

blood

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

הן עם כלביא יקום וגו׳ BEHOLD, THE PEOPLE RISES AS A LIONESS, etc. — When they rise from their sleep in the morning they show themselves strong as a lioness and as a lion to “snatch at” the Divine precepts (to perform them immediately) — to clothe themselves with the Tallith, to read the Shema and to lay Tephillin (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 14).

לא ישכב HE LIES NOT DOWN at night on his bed until he consumes (עד יאכל) and destroys every noxious thing which comes to prey upon him (טרף). How so? He reads the Shema at his bedside and commends his spirit into the hands of the Omnipresent (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 14). If a camp or troop comes to injure them, the Holy One, blessed be He, protects them and fights their battles and causes them (the enemies) to fall slain (חללים).— Another explanation of הן עם כלביא יקום is as the Targum has it (“Behold the people shall dwell as a lioness and as a lion shall he raise himself; he will not dwell in his land until he hath slaughtered and he will inherit the wealth of the peoples”).

ודם חללים ישתה AND HE SHALL DRINK THE BLOOD OF THE SLAIN — He unwittingly foretold the future — that Moses would not die until he will have made the kings of Midean fall slain (חללים) and he (Balaam) will have been slain with them, — as it is said, (Joshua 13:22) “And Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among the rest of their slain (חלליהם)" (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 14).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Balaam prophesied also about them [Israel] that he will rise up ‘k’lavi,’ which is the lion’s whelp, and afterwards he will lift himself up like a [fully-grown] lion, and he will not rest in his Land until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the kings of Canaan, as Onkelos explained it.Thus Balaam added now in this second prophecy [to the words of his first prophecy], telling Balak that they [the Israelites] would conquer the Land and kill mighty kings. Now Balak knew that the Israelites would not receive his land as an inheritance, and therefore although Balaam told them now that the Israelites would ultimately conquer the kings of Canaan, Balak still wanted [Balaam] to curse them so that [Balak] would be victorious [over them], and that he would be able to overcome them, and possibly he could fight against them and inflict losses on them. Therefore he still said, [Come now], I will take thee unto another place; peradventure it will please G-d that thou mayest curse me them from thence. Balak did not [ask Balaam] to withdraw the blessing [which he had previously given Israel], since he had already informed him, G-d is not a man, that He should lie, neither the son of man, that He should repent, but he thought: “Indeed the Israelites are destined to conquer the land of Canaan, which is their inheritance, and to kill their kings; but it is still possible that I will prevail over them and inflict losses on them, as did the Amalekite and the Canaanite who dwelt in that hill-country, who smote them even unto Hormah.” Balak intended to do this because of his fear of them, as he mentioned to the elders of Midian, 22:3-4. or it may be that his purpose was that he should be able to reconquer all [that land] which the Israelites had captured from the possession of Sihon which originally belonged to Moab, as is stated explicitly in the words of Jephthah. I have already mentioned this.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Behold, a people that rises like a young lion. This is a hint that they will conquer the Canaanite kings in a similar way, for example, as their victory against Midian which was unheard of. Not a single person from Israel was lost, five kings were killed, and the number of women captives who had not had relations with a man was thirty-two thousand.

And drinks the blood of its kill. The entire army and all the spoils. This verse could also be interpreted as: Moshe does not lie down until he devours his prey. Similarly, the verse says (31:2), Take revenge for Bnei Yisroel against the Midianites, afterwards, you shall be gathered to your people (die).

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.