Verse 24
Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion ,.... Or rather, "as the lioness" F14 כלביא "ut leaena", V. L. Tigurine version. , which, as Aelianus says F15 Var. Hist. l. 12. c. 39. Vid. Herodot. Thalia, sive, l. 3. c. 108. , 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, Numbers 31:7 , and to the slaughter and conquest of the Canaanites under Joshua, and taking their spoils.
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