Numbers 22:33

33 Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; otherwise, I would certainly have killed you by now and spared the donkey.”

Numbers 22:33 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 22:33

And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times
The ass saw the angel when Balaam did not, and that was the reason of its turning aside; and it was well for him it did, and therefore he should not have smote it:

unless she had turned from me;
if she had pushed on, endeavouring to make her way:

surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive;
had certainly and only slain him, and not the ass; and from hence the Jewish writers

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 gather, that the ass was now slain, lest it should be said, this is the ass that spoke, and so be made an idol of.

F20 Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 20. fol. 227. 4. Aben Ezra in loc.

Numbers 22:33 In-Context

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.