Discovery BoxNumbers 24:8-10 
Context24:8 God brought them out of Egypt.
They have, as it were, the strength of a young bull;
they will devour hostile people 1
and will break their bones
and will pierce them through with arrows.
24:9 They crouch and lie down like a lion,
and as a lioness, 2 who can stir him?
Blessed is the one who blesses you,
and cursed is the one who curses you!’”
24:10 Then Balak became very angry at Balaam, and he struck his hands together. 3 Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have done nothing but bless 4 them these three times!
1 tn Heb “they will devour nations,” their adversaries.
2 tn On the usage of this word see HALOT 517 s.v. לָבִיא.
3 sn This is apparently a sign of contempt or derision (see Job 27:23; and Lam 2:15).
4 tn The construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the perfect tense for “bless.”
