Numbers 23:10
10 Who ▼▼ The question is again rhetorical; it means no one can count them – they are innumerable.
can count ▼▼ The perfect tense can also be classified as a potential nuance. It does not occur very often, but does occur several times.
the dust ▼ of Jacob, Or number ▼
▼ Heb “and as a number, the fourth part of Israel.” The noun in the MT is not in the construct state, and so it should be taken as an adverbial accusative, forming a parallel with the verb “count.” The second object of the verse then follows, “the fourth part of Israel.” Smr and the LXX have “and who has numbered” (וּמִסְפָּר, umispar), making this colon more parallel to the preceding one. The editor of BHS prefers this reading.
the fourth part of Israel? Let me ▼
▼ The use of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) for the subject of the verb stresses the personal nature – me.
die the death of the upright, ▼ and let the end of my life ▼
▼ Heb “my latter end.”
be like theirs.” ▼▼ Heb “his.”
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