Balaam and the Donkey

In short

Numbers 22. Balaam is on his way to curse Israel, but a talking donkey and the angel of the LORD get in the way.

Why it is important

Balaam’s story actually gets a total of three chapters assigned to it (Num 22-24). It’s referenced throughout the Bible, in Deut 23, Josh 24, Neh 13:2, 2Pe 2:15, and other places. And those writers are not kind to Balaam.

And yet, I honestly would never have even remembered the story. So, it seems I’m missing something. Let’s see what’s in it.

Main characters

• Balak, king of Moab, an enemy nation
• Balaam, a prophet who is well-known and for hire, apparently
• A donkey, who is female
• The angel of the LORD (who is always male)

What is in this story (Numbers 22)

Israel is in their final year in the wilderness, on the march to Canaan. They have already defeated the Amorite kings Sihon and Og in the previous chapter.

1. Now Israel turns to the nation of Moab (v. 1)
2. The king of Moab is scared (vs. 2-4)
3. He asks, through messengers, for Balaam to curse Israel (vs. 5-7)
4. God speaks to Balaam and says, No (vs. 9-12)
5. So Balaam says to the messengers, Sorry, guys; can’t do it (vs. 13-18)
6. Balaam ends up going, on a donkey (vs. 21-22)
7. The angel of the LORD gets in their way three times – Balaam doesn’t see the angel, but the donkey does, and she keeps frustrating Balaam, who beats her (vs. 22-27)
8. And then the donkey talks back to Balaam – who isn’t fazed, it seems (vs. 28-30)
9. Finally, Balaam sees the angel (vs. 31-33)
10. Balaam wants to go back, but the angel gives the OK for Balaam to go to see the king (vs. 34-35)

And after that, Balaam blesses Israel four times in the next two chapters, despite the king’s desire to curse Israel.

Things that are not so well-known

• Balaam is not nearby (v.5)
• The Moabites were going to pay Balaam, apparently, “with the fees for divination in their hand” (v. 7)
• Balaam actually speaks to God the first time he tries (vs. 8-9ff) – so is (was) he actually a legitimate prophet? But then God explains to Balaam who Israel is (v. 12)

Theology and doctrine

Verse 20 is quite maddening. God seems to give Balaam permission to go back to the king, “But God’s anger was kindled because he went” (v. 22). Verse 22 is entirely consistent with the rest of the story. So, it seems that verse 20 is maybe not what it seems. I can only guess that what happened did not meet the criteria for Balaam to go.

And why is Balaam such a bad guy in the rest of Scripture? I guess that ancient readers of this story could see right through Balaam’s shallowness. Scripture does not look kindly on people who try to “obtain the gift of God with money” (Acts 8:18-23).