The donkey saw me, and turned away before me these three times. Unless she had turned away from me, surely now I would have killed you, and saved her alive.”
Parallel Translations
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The donkey saw me, and turned away before me these three times. Unless she had turned away from me, surely now I would have killed you, and saved her alive.”
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And 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.
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and the ass saw me, and turned aside before me these three times; unless she had turned aside from me, surely now I had even slain thee, and saved her alive.'
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Numbers 22:33 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 14:37 even those men who brought up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before Yahweh.
- Numbers 16:33-35 So they, and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol. The earth closed on them, and they perished from among the assembly. All Israel that were around them fled at their cry; for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” Fire came out from Yahweh, and devoured the two hundred fifty men who offered the incense.
- 1 Kings 13:24-28 When he had gone, a lion met him by the way and killed him. His body was thrown on the path, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the body. Behold, men passed by, and saw the body thrown on the path, and the lion standing by the body; and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived. When the prophet who brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to Yahweh’s mouth. Therefore Yahweh has delivered him to the lion, which has mauled him and slain him, according to Yahweh’s word, which he spoke to him.” He said to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they saddled it. He went and found his body thrown on the path, and the donkey and the lion standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body, nor mauled the donkey.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Num 22:33 And the ass saw me, and turned…
Num 22:33 And 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.
Ver. 33. I had slain thee.] As thou wouldst have slain thine ass, for a less fault.
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 I had slain thee alone, and left her; and…
I had slain thee alone, and left her; and therefore her turning aside and falling down was wholly for thy sake and benefit, not for her own, and thy anger against her was unjust and unreasonable.
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 when Balak heard that Balaam was come,.... Messengers…
And when Balak heard that Balaam was come,.... Messengers being sent to acquaint him with it, either by Balaam, or by the princes:
he went out to meet him; overjoyed at the news that his princes had succeeded, and to show him respect, and do him honour, and all to encourage him to do his utmost for him:
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unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast; by the situation of it, being on the border of the river Arnon, which river was in the extreme parts of Moab, and divided between the Moabites and Amorites, it is generally thought to be the city Ar, called "Ar of Moab", see Num 21:13, and the king coming to meet Balaam so far as the uttermost border of his dominions showed the greater respect to him.
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 I had slain thee - I had slain thee…
I had slain thee - I had slain thee alone, and not her, therefore her turning aside and falling down was wholly for thy benefit, not for her own, and thy anger against her was unjust and unreasonable.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 33. Surely now also I had slain thee]…
Verse 33. Surely now also I had slain thee] How often are the meanest animals, and the most trivial occurrences, instruments of the preservation of our lives, and of the salvation of our souls! The messenger of justice would have killed Balaam, had not the mercy of God prevented the ass from proceeding.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Num 22:33. I had slain thee — Thee alone,…
Num 22:33. I had slain thee — Thee alone, and not the ass; therefore her turning aside and falling down was wholly for thy benefit, not for her own, and thy anger against her was unjust and unreasonable.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain
CHAPTER XXII.
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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 33. Unless she had turned — “This rendering,” says…
33. Unless she had turned — “This rendering,” says Keil, “cannot be defended according to the rules of the language.” He translates it thus: “Perhaps it turned out before me; for otherwise I should have killed thee and let her live,” leaving it uncertain why the ass had turned out of the way. Knobel suggests a slight alteration of the text, so that it will read unless instead of perhaps. Furst sustains the amendment.
And saved her alive — An instance of killing a prophet and sparing his ass occurs in 1Ki_13:23-28. The cabalists infer that this ass did die immediately after speaking, lest the heathen should worship her as a god.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (33) Unless she had turned from me.—There may be…
(33) Unless she had turned from me.—There may be an aposiopesis in this verse. Perhaps she turned aside from (or, before) me . . . for (otherwise) now I had killed thee, &c. According to this view the angel does not assign a reason why the ass turned aside, but leaves this to be inferred by Balaam. (Comp. Keil, in loc.)
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 Unless ... surely. yKiAAAylWa. It is somewhat doubtful whether…
Unless ... surely. yKiAAAylWa. It is somewhat doubtful whether this phrase can be translated as in the Septuagint (ei mh ... nun oun ) and in all the versions; but even if the construction of the sentence be broken, this is no doubt the meaning of it. And saved her alive. Compare the case of the ass of the disobedient prophet in 1Ki_13:24. It is plainly a righteous thing with God that obedience and faithfulness should be respected, and in some sense rewarded, even in an ass.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.