Numbers 22

Then the Israelites traveled on and camped in the flat land of Moab, on the far side of the Jordan River, across from Jericho.

1And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho.

NoteMoab was a small kingdom east of the Dead Sea. The "plains of Moab" are the flat land on the east bank of the Jordan, just north of the Dead Sea, opposite the city of Jericho. The King James "on this side Jordan" translates a Hebrew phrase meaning "the far side of the Jordan", the east bank, described from the standpoint of someone living west of the river.

2Balak son of Zippor saw everything Israel had done to the Amorites.

2And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

NoteThe Amorites were the people whose two kings, Sihon and Og, Israel had just defeated in the territory immediately north of Moab (the previous chapter). Balak is watching an army that has already destroyed his neighbors settle on his border.

3Moab was terrified of these people, because there were so many of them. Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites.

3And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.

4So the people of Moab said to the leaders of Midian, "This crowd will lick up everything around us, the way an ox licks up the grass in a field." Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.

4And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.

NoteThe Midianites were a loose group of herding and trading clans who ranged over the desert regions east and south of Moab. "Elders" are the senior heads of families who acted for a group that had no single king.

5So he sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor, at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates River, in the land of his own people. He called for him with this message: "Look, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the land, and they have settled right across from me.

5He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me:

NoteBalaam is a professional seer, a man paid to obtain and deliver messages from the gods, and to pronounce blessings and curses. Such specialists were known throughout the ancient Near East, and a fragmentary inscription found in Jordan mentions a "Balaam son of Beor" as a visionary. Pethor lay on the upper Euphrates, several hundred miles north-east of Moab; in Hebrew "the River" without further description regularly means the Euphrates. Balak is summoning an expert from a great distance.

6So please come now and put a curse on these people for me, because they are too strong for me. Maybe then I will win, and we can strike them down, and I can drive them out of the land. I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed."

6Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.

NoteIn the ancient world a curse spoken by a qualified person was not a wish but an act: the words were thought to be effective in themselves once uttered, and hiring a specialist to curse an enemy before fighting them was a recognized military precaution.

7The leaders of Moab and the leaders of Midian set out with the payment for fortune-telling in their hands. They came to Balaam and told him what Balak had said.

7And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.

NoteDivination is the professional practice of learning the will of the gods or the shape of the future through omens, signs and ritual technique. The "rewards" or "fees" are the standard payment such a practitioner was given for his services, brought in advance.

8Balaam said to them, "Stay here tonight, and I will bring you back whatever answer the LORD gives me." So the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam.

8And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the LORD shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.

NoteWhere the King James prints LORD in small capitals, the Hebrew has the personal name of Israel's God (the four letters usually written YHWH), as distinct from the ordinary word "God" used in the previous verses. Balaam, a foreigner, uses that name throughout.

9Then God came to Balaam and asked, "Who are these men with you?"

9And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?

10Balaam said to God, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me this message:

10And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying,

11'Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the land. Come now and put a curse on them for me. Maybe then I will be able to fight them and drive them out.'"

11Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now, curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out.

12But God said to Balaam, "Do not go with them. You are not to curse those people, because they are blessed."

12And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.

13So Balaam got up in the morning and said to Balak's leaders, "Go back to your own country, because the LORD has refused to let me go with you."

13And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you.

14So the leaders of Moab got up, went back to Balak, and said, "Balaam refused to come with us."

14And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us.

15Then Balak sent other leaders, more of them, and of higher rank than the first ones.

15And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they.

16They came to Balaam and said to him, "This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Please do not let anything keep you from coming to me,

16And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me:

17because I will give you great honor and reward, and I will do whatever you tell me. So please come and put a curse on these people for me."

17For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.

Note"Honour" here is not simply respect: Balak is offering rank and payment, the material rewards a king could bestow. Balaam's reply in the next verse treats it as an offer of money.

18But Balaam answered Balak's servants, "Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go past the command of the LORD my God in anything, small or great.

18And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.

Note"His house full of silver and gold" is a set phrase for the largest imaginable payment. Coined money did not yet exist; silver and gold were weighed out by the piece.

19So please, you stay here tonight as well, so I can find out what more the LORD will say to me."

19Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more.

20That night God came to Balaam and said to him, "Since these men have come to call you, get up and go with them. But you must do only what I tell you."

20And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.

21So in the morning Balaam got up, put a saddle on his donkey, and went with the leaders of Moab.

21And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.

NoteA donkey was the ordinary riding animal of a person of standing in this period, not a humble or comic mount. Balaam travels with two attendants, as a man of his rank would.

22But God became angry because he went, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to block his way. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.

22And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.

NoteThe Hebrew word translated "angel" simply means "messenger", a figure sent from God, who in this story speaks both about God and as God. The King James "for an adversary" translates the ordinary Hebrew noun *satan*, meaning an opponent or one who blocks the way; here it is a common noun describing what the messenger does, not a name.

23The donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. She turned off the road and went into a field, so Balaam beat her to turn her back onto the road.

23And 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.

24Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between two vineyards, with a wall on one side and a wall on the other.

24But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.

NoteVineyards were enclosed by dry stone walls, leaving sunken lanes between them barely wide enough for a loaded animal. There is no room to step aside.

25When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam's foot against it. So he beat her again.

25And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again.

26Then the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn to the right or to the left.

26And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.

27When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam. Balaam became furious and beat her with his walking stick.

27And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.

28Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have beaten me these three times?"

28And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

29Balaam said to the donkey, "Because you have made a fool of me. If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now."

29And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.

30The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, the one you have ridden ever since I became yours, right up to today? Have I ever been in the habit of treating you this way?" "No," he said.

30And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay.

31Then the LORD opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell facedown.

31Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.

32The angel of the LORD said to him, "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Look, I came out to stand against you, because the way you are going is wrong in my sight.

32And 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:

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "perverse" is rare and its sense is uncertain; it has been understood as "reckless, headlong" and as "contrary, twisted". The translations differ because the word itself is unclear.

33The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away from me, by now I would surely have killed you and let her live."

33And 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.

34Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned, because I did not know you were standing in the road against me. Now, if this displeases you, I will go back home."

34And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again.

35The angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but you are to speak only the word that I tell you." So Balaam went on with Balak's leaders.

35And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

36When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at a Moabite city on the Arnon border, at the far edge of his land.

36And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast.

NoteThe Arnon is a river running through a deep gorge into the Dead Sea. It formed the northern boundary of Moab, so Balak travels to the farthest edge of his own territory to meet Balaam.

37Balak said to Balaam, "Didn't I send for you again and again? Why didn't you come to me? Am I really not able to reward you with honor?"

37And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?

38Balaam said to Balak, "Look, I have come to you. But do I have any power to say just anything? I must speak the word that God puts in my mouth."

38And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.

39So Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth.

39And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjathhuzoth.

NoteKiriath-huzoth means something like "town of streets". Its location is unknown.

40Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and he sent portions of the meat to Balaam and to the leaders who were with him.

40And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.

NoteThe animals are killed as an offering, and the meat is then shared out as a formal meal. Eating together from a sacrifice bound host and guest to each other and marked the start of a joint undertaking.

41The next morning Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal. From there he could see the outer edge of the Israelite camp.

41And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people.

NoteA "high place" was an open-air shrine, usually on a hilltop or raised platform, used for sacrifice. Baal, meaning "lord" or "master", was the title of the Canaanite storm god; the Hebrew here is also a place name, Bamoth-baal, "the high places of Baal". Balak brings Balaam where he can see the Israelites because a curse was thought to require the one cursing to have his target in sight.