Behold, a people!: Behold renders the Hebrew word hen. A people refers to the Israelites. A helpful model for this whole phrase is “Just look at this people!” Good News Translation says simply “The nation of Israel,” which is much less expressive than the original text for this prophetic context.
As a lioness it rises up, and as a lion it lifts itself: The Hebrew words for lioness (laviʾ) and lion (ʾari) are used in parallel lines in a number of other places in the Old Testament. On the basis of its use in Nahum 2.12, the word laviʾ is often understood as feminine. However, its gender is not important for the image of Israel as a lion here in verse 24. In some languages it may be natural to combine these two words for lion into “mighty lion” (Good News Translation), while other languages may have several terms for “lion” available, including certain poetic praise expressions, which would fit well here.
It does not lie down till it devours the prey: A literal rendering here may be misleading since lions often lie down while devouring their prey. So it may be better to render it does not lie down as “It does not rest” (Good News Translation) for the correct sense in this context. The Hebrew root for the word rendered prey (teref) means “to tear,” so Good News Translation renders till it devours the prey as “until it has torn and devoured,” which may be more expressive in some languages.
And drinks the blood of the slain is parallel with devours the prey. This clause may be rendered “until it drinks the blood of what it has killed” (New International Readers Version; similarly Good News Translation). However, in some languages this figurative expression could be misunderstood as referring to a practice of witchcraft (so Chewa). If so, another possible model is “until it has completely finished off what it has killed.”
Balaam’s second oracle ends with verse 24. This verse seems to imply a reversal of what Balak wanted (so Cole, page 413), and hence functions as the final climax of Balaam’s second prophecy: Israel’s power is described in increasingly strong terms, reminding us of the description of Judah in Gen 49.9. Balak probably was alarmed with this prophecy, considering that he might become the lion’s prey (so Sherwood, page 179). The vivid imagery here anticipates the oracles that follow (see 24.8-9, 17).
Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .