Numbers 22:23

²¹ So in the morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.

²² Then God’s anger was kindled because Balaam was going along, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding his donkey, and his two servants were with him.

When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the path and went into a field. So Balaam beat her to return her to the path.

²⁴ Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow passage between two vineyards, with walls on either side.

²⁵ And the donkey saw the angel of the LORD and pressed herself against the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat her once again.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the path and went into a field. So Balaam beat her to return her to the path.
KJV: And 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.
WEB: The donkey saw the LORD’s angel standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and the donkey turned out of the path, and went into the field. Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the path.
ASV: And the ass saw the angel of Jehovah standing in the way, with 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.
DARBY: And the ass saw the Angel of Jehovah 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.
BLB: And the donkey saw the angel of YHWH standing in the way, and his drawn sword in his hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey to return her to the road.

ÅB: Og eselhoppen så Herrens engel, som sto på veien med et draget sverd i sin hånd; da tok den av veien og ut på marken; men Bileam slo eselhoppen for å vike den inn på veien igjen.
OTB: Da eselet så Herrens engel stå i veien med et løftet sverd i hånden, svingte det av veien inn på en mark. Bileam slo det for å få det tilbake på veien.
B1930: Og aseninnen så Herrens engel, som stod på veien med et draget sverd i sin hånd; da tok den av veien og ut på marken; men Bileam slo aseninnen for å vike den inn på veien igjen.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Jude 1:11
Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion.
Read in context
2 Peter 2:16
But he was rebuked for his transgression by a donkey, otherwise without speech, that spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
Read in context
1 Corinthians 1:27–29
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
Read in context
Jeremiah 8:7
Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD.
Read in context
Acts 22:9
My companions saw the light, but they could not understand the voice of the One speaking to me.
Read in context
1 Chronicles 21:16
When David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.
Read in context
2 Kings 6:17
Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Read in context
Daniel 10:7
Only I, Daniel, saw the vision; the men with me did not see it, but a great terror fell upon them, and they ran and hid themselves.
Read in context