Numbers 22:21-35
New Living Translation
Balaam and His Donkey
21 So the next morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and started off with the Moabite officials. 22 But God was angry that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the Lord to stand in the road to block his way. As Balaam and two servants were riding along, 23 Balaam’s donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. The donkey bolted off the road into a field, but Balaam beat it and turned it back onto the road. 24 Then the angel of the Lord stood at a place where the road narrowed between two vineyard walls. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it tried to squeeze by and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam beat the donkey again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord moved farther down the road and stood in a place too narrow for the donkey to get by at all. 27 This time when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down under Balaam. In a fit of rage Balaam beat the animal again with his staff.
28 Then the Lord gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam.
29 “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!”
30 “But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?”
“No,” Balaam admitted.
31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him.
32 “Why did you beat your donkey those three times?” the angel of the Lord demanded. “Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me. 33 Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; otherwise, I would certainly have killed you by now and spared the donkey.”
34 Then Balaam confessed to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned. I didn’t realize you were standing in the road to block my way. I will return home if you are against my going.”
35 But the angel of the Lord told Balaam, “Go with these men, but say only what I tell you to say.” So Balaam went on with Balak’s officials.
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Numbers 22:21-35
New English Translation
21 So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.
God Opposes Balaam
22 Then God’s anger was kindled[a] because he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose[b] him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him. 23 And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with[c] his sword drawn in his hand, so the donkey turned aside from the road and went into the field. But Balaam beat the donkey, to make her turn back to the road.
24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a path[d] among the vineyards, where there was a wall on either side.[e] 25 And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pressed herself into the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So he beat her again.[f]
26 Then the angel of the Lord went farther, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she crouched down under Balaam. Then Balaam was angry, and he beat his donkey with a staff.
28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?” 29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “You have made me look stupid; I wish[g] there were a sword in my hand, for I would kill you right now.” 30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey that you have ridden ever since I was yours until this day? Have I ever attempted[h] to treat you this way?”[i] And he said, “No.” 31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand; so he bowed his head and threw himself down with his face to the ground.[j] 32 The angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Look, I came out to oppose you because what you are doing[k] is perverse before me.[l] 33 The donkey saw me and turned from me these three times. If[m] she had not turned from me, I would have killed you but saved her alive.” 34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood against me in the road.[n] So now, if it is evil in your sight,[o] I will go back home.”[p] 35 But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you may only speak[q] the word that I will speak to you.”[r] So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
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- Numbers 22:22 sn God’s anger now seems to contradict the permission he gave Balaam just before this. Some commentators argue that God’s anger is a response to Balaam’s character in setting out—which the Bible does not explain. God saw in him greed and pleasure for the riches, which is why he was so willing to go.
- Numbers 22:22 tn The word is שָׂטָן (satan, “to be an adversary, to oppose”).
- Numbers 22:23 tn The word has the conjunction “and” on the noun, indicating this is a disjunctive vav (ו), here serving as a circumstantial clause.
- Numbers 22:24 tn The word means a “narrow place,” having the root meaning “to be deep.” The Greek thought it was in a field in a narrow furrow.
- Numbers 22:24 tn Heb “a wall on this side, and a wall on that side.”
- Numbers 22:25 tn Heb “he added to beat her,” another verbal hendiadys.
- Numbers 22:29 tn The optative clause is introduced with the particle לוּ (lu).
- Numbers 22:30 tn Here the Hiphil perfect is preceded by the Hiphil infinitive absolute for emphasis in the sentence.
- Numbers 22:30 tn Heb “to do thus to you.”
- Numbers 22:31 tn The Hishtaphel verb חָוָה (khavah)—שָׁחָה (shakhah) with metathesis—has a basic idea of “bow oneself low to the ground,” and perhaps in some cases the idea of “coil up.” This is the normal posture of prayer and of deep humility in the ancient religious world.
- Numbers 22:32 tn Heb “your way.”
- Numbers 22:32 tn The verb יָרַט (yarat) occurs only here and in Job 16:11. Balaam is embarking on a foolish mission with base motives. The old rendering “perverse” is still acceptable.
- Numbers 22:33 tc Many commentators consider אוּלַי (ʾulay, “perhaps”) to be a misspelling in the MT in place of לוּלֵי (luley, “if not”).
- Numbers 22:34 sn Balaam is not here making a general confession of sin. What he is admitting to is a procedural mistake. The basic meaning of the word is “to miss the mark.” He now knows he took the wrong way, i.e., in coming to curse Israel.
- Numbers 22:34 sn The reference is to Balaam’s way. He is saying that if what he is doing is so perverse, so evil, he will turn around and go home. Of course it did not appear that he had much of a chance of going forward.
- Numbers 22:34 tn The verb is the cohortative from “return”: I will return [me].
- Numbers 22:35 tn The imperfect tense here can be given the nuance of permission.
- Numbers 22:35 tn The Hebrew word order is a little more emphatic than this: “but only the word which I speak to you, it you shall speak.”
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