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Numbers 22

KJV · Chapter 22/36

1And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho.

2And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

3And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.

4And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.

5He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me:

6Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.

7And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.

8And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the Lord shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.

9And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?

10And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying,

11Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now, curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out.

12And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.

13And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you.

14And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us.

15And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they.

16And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me:

17For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.

18And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more.

19Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more.

20And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.

21And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.

22And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.

23And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.

24But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.

25And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again.

26And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.

27And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.

28And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

29And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.

30And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay.

31Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.

32And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me:

33And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.

34And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again.

35And the angel of the Lord said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

36And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast.

37And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?

38And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.

39And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjath–huzoth.

40And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.

41And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Balak, king of Moab, terrified of Israel, hires the pagan prophet Balaam to curse the people. God at first prevents Balaam from going, then allows it under condition, but on the way an angel with a sword blocks Balaam's donkey, which speaks to him before he sees the angel.

Explanation

The story of Balaam is unique in the Bible: a non-Israelite prophet who genuinely hears and recognizes the voice of the true God, but whose inner motivation (the desire for the money and honor offered by Balak) puts him on a collision course with God's will even while appearing outwardly obedient. The episode of the talking donkey, both comic and serious at once, illustrates that God can use even the most unlikely means to get the attention of someone who has strayed — if an animal can see the angel before the 'seer' prophet can, this ironically exposes Balaam's momentary spiritual blindness. The central lesson: it is possible to have correct religious knowledge and still be spiritually compromised by greed or ambition disguised as obedience.

Fun facts

  • Balaam is mentioned outside the Bible: an archaeological inscription found at Deir Alla (Jordan), dated to around 800 BC, mentions a seer named 'Balaam, son of Beor,' confirming that he was a figure known in the region independently of the biblical account.
  • This is one of only two cases in the Bible of an animal speaking with understandable human speech (the other being the serpent in Eden), and the New Testament (2 Peter 2:16) cites this episode specifically as an example of divine rebuke against greed disguised as prophecy.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Numbers 22:1The people arrive at the plains of Moab, on the other side of the Jordan, facing Jericho — this will be the camp where Israel stays until the end of the book of Numbers.
  2. Numbers 22:2Balak, king of Moab, closely follows everything Israel had done against the Amorites in the previous battles.
  3. Numbers 22:3The sheer size of Israel’s people leaves Moab terrified, gripped by widespread dread at having such a large presence nearby.
  4. Numbers 22:4Balak compares Israel’s people to an ox licking up all the grass around it, and because of this decides to seek help from the elders of Midian to deal with the threat.
  5. Numbers 22:5Balak sends messengers to Balaam, a foreign seer living far away, asking him to come, since that people covered the land and was very close to him.
  6. Numbers 22:6Balak, king of Moab, afraid of the size of Israel’s people, sends for Balaam, a foreign prophet or seer known for his blessings and curses, to curse Israel before it was too late. This is the start of a story in which Balaam appears as an ambiguous figure: he wants to fulfill the paid request, but also seems to genuinely try to follow what God allows.
  7. Numbers 22:7The elders of Moab and Midian set out with payment in hand for the services of divination and arrive at Balaam’s, passing along Balak’s message.
  8. Numbers 22:8Balaam asks them to spend the night there, promising to give an answer according to what the LORD would tell him.
  9. Numbers 22:9God appears to Balaam that night and asks him who these men with him were.
  10. Numbers 22:10Balaam explains to God that Balak, king of Moab, had sent for him.
  11. Numbers 22:11He repeats Balak’s request: curse the people that covers the land, so that Moab could face them and drive them out.
  12. Numbers 22:12God responds directly: Balaam should not go with them nor curse that people, because they were already blessed.
  13. Numbers 22:13The next morning, Balaam tells Balak’s messengers to go home, since the LORD had refused to let him go with them.
  14. Numbers 22:14The messengers return to Balak and report that Balaam refused to go with them.
  15. Numbers 22:15Balak does not give up: he sends a second group of messengers, this time even more numerous and important than the first.
  16. Numbers 22:16This new group arrives repeating Balak’s request, urging Balaam not to delay in answering.
  17. Numbers 22:17Balak promises an even greater reward and full willingness to do whatever Balaam asked, as long as he came to curse the people.
  18. Numbers 22:18Balaam replies that not even a house full of silver and gold would make him disobey the command of the LORD his God in any way.
  19. Numbers 22:19Even so, Balaam asks these new messengers to also stay the night, to see whether the LORD would say something different this time.
  20. Numbers 22:20This time God allows Balaam to go with the messengers, but makes it clear he could only speak exactly what he was instructed to say.
  21. Numbers 22:21Balaam gets up in the morning, saddles his donkey, and sets out with the princes of Moab.
  22. Numbers 22:22Even though God had approved Balaam’s trip, an angel appears in the middle of the road to block him, sword in hand — except only the donkey can see the angel, not Balaam. This tension between what was permitted and the danger that still exists is typical of Balaam’s ambiguous role in the story.
  23. Numbers 22:23The donkey sees the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn and leaves the road, going into the field; Balaam, seeing nothing, beats her to bring her back.
  24. Numbers 22:24The angel appears again, now in a narrow path between vineyards, with a wall on each side, leaving little room to move aside.
  25. Numbers 22:25The donkey presses against the wall to avoid the angel, crushing Balaam’s foot against it, and he beats her again.
  26. Numbers 22:26The angel appears a third time, now in a place so narrow there was no room to turn aside in either direction.
  27. Numbers 22:27With no way out, the donkey simply lies down under Balaam, who loses his patience and beats her with his staff.
  28. Numbers 22:28After being beaten three times for turning off the road, Balaam’s donkey speaks, asking what she had done wrong. It is one of the strangest moments in the Hebrew Bible, used to show that even an animal saw God’s will more clearly than the human prophet did at that moment.
  29. Numbers 22:29Furious, Balaam tells the donkey that if he had a sword in hand, he would kill her right there for making a fool of him like that.
  30. Numbers 22:30The donkey replies by asking whether, in all the years she had served Balaam, she had ever acted like this before — and he has to admit she had not.
  31. Numbers 22:31Only then does the LORD open Balaam’s eyes, and he finally sees the angel standing in the road with sword in hand, and immediately falls facedown.
  32. Numbers 22:32The angel asks why Balaam struck the donkey three times, revealing that he had come specifically to oppose him, because his way was wrong.
  33. Numbers 22:33The angel explains that if the donkey had not turned aside all three times, he would have already killed Balaam, sparing the animal instead.
  34. Numbers 22:34After seeing the angel, Balaam admits he sinned and offers to turn back, but the angel tells him to continue the journey, only speaking what God commands. This back-and-forth shows the character’s ambiguity well: he has real contact with God and ultimately obeys, but spends the whole time being pulled between what he wants to do and what he is allowed to do.
  35. Numbers 22:35The angel allows Balaam to continue the journey but repeats the condition: he could only say exactly what God told him to say.
  36. Numbers 22:36Learning that Balaam was arriving, Balak personally goes out to meet him, all the way to a city on the border of the Arnon.
  37. Numbers 22:37Balak complains, asking why Balaam took so long to come, since he had insisted so much and promised to honor him.
  38. Numbers 22:38Balaam replies that he has arrived, but warns from the start that he can only speak exactly what God puts in his mouth.
  39. Numbers 22:39Balaam continues with Balak until they reach the city of Kirjath-huzoth.
  40. Numbers 22:40There Balak sacrifices oxen and sheep, and sends part of the meat to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.
  41. Numbers 22:41The next morning, Balak takes Balaam up to a high place dedicated to Baal, from where he could see part of Israel’s camp.

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