Numbers 23:24:2Num.23.24.W2TAB
כְּלָבִ֣יא
kelavi
“like a lioness”
- Transliteration
- ke-la-VI
- Extended
- keh-lah-VEE
- IPA
- /kəlaˈvi/
Meaning by language
- English
- like a lioness
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Kaf | k with dagesh; kh without | |
| Sheva | vocal sheva — a short 'e' (ə), begins a syllable | |
| Lamed | l as in law | |
| Qamets | long 'ah' | |
| Bet | b with dagesh; v without dagesh | |
| Hireq | 'ee' as in machine | |
| Yod | y as in yes; marks long ī | |
| Aleph | silent — a glottal stop; holds vowel points |
Tap any letter to hear its name and sound
Now you try — trace the word:
The word
Word in context
- word
ke-la-VI
- phraseyour reading level
ke-la-VI ya-KUM
- clause
hen-AM ke-la-VI ya-KUM ve-ka-a-RI yit-na-SA
- sentence
hen-AM ke-la-VI ya-KUM ve-ka-a-RI yit-na-SA LO yish-KAV ad-yo-KHAL TE-ref ve-DAM-kha-la-LIM yish-TEH
Exegesis
Two parallel similes employ ke-lavi {כְּלָבִיא | kə-lā-vî-yāʾ} ‘like a young lion’ with the Qal imperfect yakum {יָקוּם | yā-qûm} ‘he will rise’, and wə-kă-ʼārî {וְכַאֲרִי | wə-kă-ʾārî} ‘and like a lion’ with the Hitpael imperfect yitnassa {יִתְנַשָּׂא | yiṯ-nā-śāʾ} ‘he will lift himself up’. This chiastic parallelism intensifies the martial image.
Root and etymology
ל־ב־א
“young lion, lioness”
In context — Numbers 23:24
Behold, a people rises like a lion and lifts itself up like a lion; it will not lie down until it eats prey and drinks the blood of the slain .
About this coordinate
Numbers 23:24:2 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 2 of Numbers 23:24, so the Hebrew word כְּלָבִ֣יא (kelavi) can be cited, linked and studied at exactly this position rather than somewhere in the verse. In the Biblical Knowledge Coordinate System the same position is written Num.23.24.W2, which extends further down to each syllable (Num.23.24.W2.S1) and character.