The donkey saw Yahweh’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. Then Yahweh’s angel stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. The donkey saw Yahweh’s angel, and she thrust herself to the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. He struck her again.
Yahweh’s angel went further, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. The donkey saw Yahweh’s angel, and she lay down under Balaam. Balaam’s anger burned, and he struck the donkey with his staff.
Yahweh opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”
Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have mocked me, I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would have killed you.”
The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long until today? Was I ever in the habit of doing so to you?” He said, “No.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv24, 27, 28, 30 The second time.
The second time.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv23, 24, 27, 28, 29 Num 22:23 And the ass saw the angel of…
Num 22:23 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.
Ver. 23. And the ass saw the angel.] Which Balaam saw not; his eyes were put out with the dust of covetousness, or dazzled at least with the glittering of the promised promotions.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv23, 28, 29 Balaam saw not the angel because God withheld his…
Balaam saw not the angel because God withheld his eyes, as he did the eyes of Daniel’s companions, Dan 10:7. It is a truth, which mere philosophers own, that when God withdraws his concourse or help from any of his creatures, they cannot perform their natural acts and offices; the eye cannot see, as Ge 19, nor the ear hear, nor the fire burn, as Da 3.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv23–30 And the angel of the Lord went further, and…
And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place,.... More narrow than the other, at a further distance:
where was no way to turn, either to the right hand or to the left; it was so strait and close a place that the angel filled the whole breadth of it, that there was no passing him; so that there was no getting forward nor backward; not forward, because the angel filled up the way, and there was no slipping by him; nor backward, because it could not turn itself to the right or left.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv28–29 Opened the mouth - Conferred upon her the power…
Opened the mouth - Conferred upon her the power of speech and reasoning for that time.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv23, 26, 28 Verse 23. And the ass saw the angel] When…
Verse 23. And the ass saw the angel] When God granted visions those alone who were particularly interested saw them while others in the same company saw nothing; see Da 10:7; Ac 9:7.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v28 Num 22:28-29. Opened the mouth — Conferred upon her…
Num 22:28-29. Opened the mouth — Conferred upon her the power of speech and reasoning for that time. Balaam said — Balaam was not much terrified with the ass’s speaking, because perhaps he was accustomed to converse with evil spirits, who appeared to him and discoursed with him in the shape of different creatures. Or, perhaps, he was so blinded by passion that he did not consider the strangeness of the thing.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv24, 28 In a path of the vineyards - i. e.,…
In a path of the vineyards - i. e., in a path shut in by vineyard-walls on each side. The progress from the road through the open field Num 22:23 to that walled in, and thence to the strait place, where there was no room to turn Num 22:26, shows that Balaam was approaching a city, no doubt that which was the goal of his journey.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv23, 28 Ass. The angel appeared thrice to the ass, before…
Ass. The angel appeared thrice to the ass, before he was perceived by Balaam, chap. xxix. 3, 4. The second time, St. Augustine (q. 50) thinks he was standing in the vineyard. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv24, 28 the angel of the Lord stood in a path…
the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards--The roads which lead through fields and vineyards are so narrow that in most parts a man could not pass a beast without care and caution. A stone or mud fence flanks each side of these roads, to prevent the soil being washed off by the rains.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv23–30 23. And the ass saw the angel — “To…
23. And the ass saw the angel — “To the great disgrace of the prophet, the glory of the angel was first of all apparent to the ass.… He had been boasting before this of extraordinary visions, and now what was visible to the eyes of a beast was invisible to him! Whence came this blindness, but from the avarice by which he had been so stupified that he preferred filthy lucre to the holy calling of God?” — Calvin. All who are versed in natural history agree that irrational animals have a much keener instinctive presentiment of many natural phenomena, such as earthquakes, storms, etc., than man has with his five senses. “The fact is equally undeniable,”
says Keil, “that many animals, as horses and cows, see the so-called second sight.”
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Sword drawn — A symbol of the wrath of Jehovah. 1Ch_21:16; Jos_5:13, note.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv23, 24, 28, 29, 30 23. with his sword drawn in his hand] Num_22:31.…
23. with his sword drawn in his hand] Num_22:31. Jos_5:13.
and went into the field] The road would run through the open country (‘the field’), without walls or fences. These would only be employed between vineyards, to keep out animals.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv24, 28, 30 (24) In a path of the vineyards.—Better, in the…
(24) In a path of the vineyards.—Better, in the hollow pass of the vineyards.
A wall.—Or, a fence.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv23, 25, 28, 29 And the ass saw the angel of the Lord.…
And the ass saw the angel of the Lord. This was clearly part of the miracle, the shmeion which was to exhibit in such a striking manner the stupidity and blindness of the most brilliant and gifted intellect when clouded by greed and selfishness. It is nothing to the point that the lower animals have a quicker perception of some natural phenomena than men, for this was not a natural phenomenon; it is nothing to the point that the lower animals are credited by some with possessing "the second sight," for all that belongs to the fantastic and legendary. If the ass saw the angel, it was because the Lord opened her eyes then, as he did her mouth afterwards.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv24, 26, 28 She went against the wall
She went against the wall
This was an attempt to escape from the angel of Yahweh in the road.
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She went
Sometimes animals are referred to as "her" or "she." AT: "It went"
pinned Balaam's foot against it
"pushed Balaam's foot against it" or "hurt Balaam's foot against it"
translationWords
angel
Yahweh
vineyard
Balaam
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v28 22:28-31 The only scriptural parallel to this phenomenon of…
22:28-31 The only scriptural parallel to this phenomenon of a talking animal is the serpent who spoke with Eve (Gen 3:1-5). God used the donkey to rebuke the foolish diviner (2 Pet 2:15-16).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.