Numbers 22:33-41

22:33 The donkey saw me and turned from me these three times. If ¹  she had not turned from me, I would have killed you but saved her alive.” 22:34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood against me in the road. ²  So now, if it is evil in your sight, ³  I will go back home.” ⁴  22:35 But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you may only speak ⁵  the word that I will speak to you.” ⁶  So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

Balaam Meets Balak

22:36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at a city of Moab which was on the border of the Arnon at the boundary of his territory. 22:37 Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send again and again ⁷  to you to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?” ⁸  22:38 Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you. Now, am I able ⁹  to speak ¹⁰  just anything? I must speak ¹¹  only the word that God puts in my mouth.” 22:39 So Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. 22:40 And Balak sacrificed bulls and sheep, and sent some ¹²  to Balaam, and to the princes who were with him. 22:41 Then on the next morning Balak took Balaam, and brought him up to Bamoth Baal. ¹³  From there he saw the extent of the nation.

[22:33]  ¹ tc Many commentators consider אוּלַי (’ulay, “perhaps”) to be a misspelling in the MT in place of לוּלֵי (luley, “if not”).

[22:34]  ² sn Balaam is not here making a general confession of sin. What he is admitting to is a procedural mistake. The basic meaning of the word is “to miss the mark.” He now knows he took the wrong way, i.e., in coming to curse Israel.

[22:34]  ³ sn The reference is to Balaam’s way. He is saying that if what he is doing is so perverse, so evil, he will turn around and go home. Of course, it did not appear that he had much of a chance of going forward.

[22:34]  ⁴ tn The verb is the cohortative from “return”: I will return [me].

[22:35]  ⁵ tn The imperfect tense here can be given the nuance of permission.

[22:35]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew word order is a little more emphatic than this: “but only the word which I speak to you, it you shall speak.”

[22:37]  ⁷ tn The emphatic construction is made of the infinitive absolute and the perfect tense from the verb שָׁלַח (shalakh, “to send”). The idea must be more intense than something like, “Did I not certainly send.” Balak is showing frustration with Balaam for refusing him.

[22:37]  ⁸ sn Balak again refers to his ability to “honor” the seer. This certainly meant payment for his service, usually gold ornaments, rings and jewelry, as well as some animals.

[22:38]  ⁹ tn The verb is אוּכַל (’ukhal) in a question – “am I able?” But emphasizing this is the infinitive absolute before it. So Balaam is saying something like, “Can I really say anything?”

[22:38]  ¹⁰ tn The Piel infinitive construct (without the preposition) serves as the object of the verb “to be able.” The whole question is rhetorical – he is saying that he will not be able to say anything God does not allow him to say.

[22:38]  ¹¹ tn The imperfect tense is here taken as an obligatory imperfect.

[22:40]  ¹² sn The understanding is that Balak was making a sacrifice for a covenant relationship, and so he gave some of the meat to the men and to the seer.

[22:41]  ¹³ sn The name Bamoth Baal means “the high places of Baal.”