Yahweh’s angel said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way is perverse before me.
Parallel Translations
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Yahweh’s angel said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way is perverse before me.
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And 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:
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And the angel of the LORD said unto him: 'Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I am come forth for an adversary, because thy way is contrary unto me;
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Numbers 22:32 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 22:22 God’s anger burned because he went; and Yahweh’s angel placed himself in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.
- Proverbs 28:18 Whoever walks blamelessly is kept safe; but one with perverse ways will fall suddenly.
- Acts 13:10 and said, “You son of the devil, full of all deceit and all cunning, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
- Proverbs 14:2 He who walks in his uprightness fears Yahweh, but he who is perverse in his ways despises him.
- Proverbs 28:6 Better is the poor who walks in his integrity, than he who is perverse in his ways, and he is rich.
- Exodus 3:2-6 Yahweh’s angel appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the middle of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. Moses said, “I will go now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When Yahweh saw that he came over to see, God called to him out of the middle of the bush, and said, “Moses! Moses!” He said, “Here I am.” He said, “Don’t come close. Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.” Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.
- Numbers 22:20 God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak to you, that you shall do.”
- Numbers 22:28 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?”
- Numbers 22:35 Yahweh’s angel said to Balaam, “Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak to you, that you shall speak.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
- Deuteronomy 23:4 because they didn’t meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
- Deuteronomy 25:4 You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain.
- Psalms 36:6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God. Your judgments are like a great deep. Yahweh, you preserve man and animal.
- Psalms 145:9 Yahweh is good to all. His tender mercies are over all his works.
- Psalms 147:9 He provides food for the livestock, and for the young ravens when they call.
- Jonah 4:11 Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much livestock?”
- Micah 6:5 My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of Yahweh.”
- 2 Peter 2:14-15 having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing; forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing;
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Both thy heart is corrupt, and thine enterprise wicked.
Both thy heart is corrupt, and thine enterprise wicked.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Num 22:32 And the angel of the LORD said…
Num 22:32 And 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:
Ver. 32. Because thy way is perverse.] Thou art resolved to curse howsoever, and not to lose so fair a preferment, which he must needs buy at a dear rate that pays his honesty for it. Better a great deal lie in the dust, than rise by such ill principles. I shall shut up with that excellent prayer of Zuinglius: {a} Deum Opt. Max. precor, ut vias nostras dirigat: ac sicubi simus Bileami in morem, veritati pertinaciter obluctaturi, angelum suum opponat, qui machaerae suae minis hunc asinum, inscitiam et audaciam dico nostram sic ad maceriam affigat, ut fractum pedem, hoc est, impurum illicitumque carnis sensum auferamus, nec ultra blasphememus nomen Domini Dei nostri.
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{a} Zuing., Epist., lib. tertio.
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 Howsoever thou mayst deceive thyself or others, I see…
Howsoever thou mayst deceive thyself or others, I see the perverseness of thy heart and way, the wickedness of thy design and desires in this journey, which thou hast undertaken, not to please me, but to gratify Balak, and, if it be possible, to curse my people.
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 And the angel of the Lord said unto Balaam,…
And the angel of the Lord said unto Balaam, go with the men,.... Which was not a command, but a concession, or rather a permission, leaving him to go if he would, suffering him to follow his own heart's lusts, and giving him up to them to his own destruction; and besides, it was not his going barely that was displeasing to God, but his going with such a bad intention:
but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak; which expresses not only what he ought to do, but what he should be obliged to do, even to bless the people against his will, when his mind was to curse them, it being for his worldly interest; and therefore it is suggested he had better not go at all, since he never would be able to carry his point, yea, would be brought to shame and confusion before Balak and his nobles: the angel speaking in the same language as God did before to Balaam, Num 22:20 shows that not a created angel, but a divine Person, is here meant:
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so Balaam went with the princes of Balak; whom after this he quickly overtook, or they him, or they met together at some appointed place, and proceeded on in their journey.
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 Thy way is perverse - Springing from covetousness.
Thy way is perverse - Springing from covetousness.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Is perverse - Rather, is headlong. Compare Peter’s words…
Is perverse - Rather, is headlong. Compare Peter’s words 2Pe 2:16, “the madness of the prophet.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 32. Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass — That…
32. Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass — That God cares for the well being of the brutes is shown by the fact that the first words of the angel of the Lord are a reproof for the abuse of the ass.
To withstand thee — Hebrew, to be Satan, that is, adversary unto thee. The name Satan is here given to a good angel who opposes himself to Balaam, both for the sake of Israel and of Balaam himself. But the devil is called Satan because he arrays himself against God and his people.
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Thy way is perverse — He had formed the purpose to curse Israel. See Num_22:22, note. As Balaam smote the beast for turning from the way of his master, so Jehovah would have rightfully smitten to death Balaam for turning in his heart aside from the Lord’s way.
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 32. thy [lit. the] way is headlong] The word,…
32. thy [lit. the] way is headlong] The word, however, is doubtful. Perhaps we should read יָרַטְתָּ for יָרַט, ‘thou hast precipitated [undertaken precipitately] the journey.’
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 (32) Because thy way is perverse before me.—Or, because…
(32) Because thy way is perverse before me.—Or, because the way leads to destruction in my sight.
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 Because thy way is perverse. fry, an uncommon word,…
Because thy way is perverse. fry, an uncommon word, which seems to mean "leading headlong," i.e. to destruction.
On cruelty to animals.
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In verse 28 we are reminded of the silent protest of the brute creation against the cruelty of men. From verse 32 ("Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times?") we may learn that this protest is heeded and supported by God. Cruelty of all kinds is one of the foulest of the works of the flesh, opposed to the character of God and to the instincts of humanity. Cruelty to animals is especially hateful, because of
I THE WRONG DONE TO THE CREATURES
II THE EFFECTS ON OURSELVES.
I They are our inferiors, therefore magnanimity and sympathy should protect them.
1. They are often helpless to defend themselves; cruelty is then unutterably mean.
2. Some of these animals are part of our property, and of great value to us, though absolutely within our power.
3. If they are not "wont to do so" when they provoke us, some good reason may exist which we should seek to discover. Therefore
4. When tempted to harshness, short of cruelty, it is our duty to consider whether they need it, and in this sense deserve it. For
5. Past misconduct of ourselves or of others may have occasioned their present obstinacy, through timidity or some other cause.
6. Animals suffer too much already, directly or indirectly, through men"s sins (war, famines, &c.) without the addition of gratuitous cruelties. ;
7. No future life for them is revealed, so that we have the more reason for not making them miserable in this life.
II It fosters a despotic habit of mind, as though might and right were identical.
1. It hardens the heart and tends to nurture cruelty to men as well as brutes. E.g., the child Nero delighting in killing flies.
2. It still further alienates us from the mind of Christ, the character of "the Father of mercies.
3. It is a sign of unrighteousness, (Pro_12:10) against which God"s wrath is revealed, and from which we need to be saved by Christ. (Rom_1:18 1Jn_1:9) P.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.