Numbers 22:25

Verse

And the donkey saw the angel of the LORD and pressed herself against the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat her once again.

American Standard Version (1901)

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

Bible in Basic English

And the ass saw the angel of the Lord, and went near the wall, crushing Balaam's foot against the wall; and he gave her more blows.

Free Bible Version

The donkey saw the angel of the Lord and tried to get past. It pushed up against the wall and crushed Balaam's foot against it. So he beat it again.

King James (Authorized) Version

And 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.

One Unity Resource Bible

The donkey saw ha mal'ak Yahweh [the Angel of He sustains breathing], and she thrust herself to the wall, and crushed Balaam [Not people, Destroyer of people]’s foot against the wall. He struck her again.

Translation for Translators

When the donkey saw the angel standing there, it walked very close to the wall to try to get past the angel. As a result, it bashed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam struck the donkey again.

Unlocked Literal Bible

The donkey saw the angel of Yahweh again. She went against the wall and pinned Balaam's foot against it. Balaam struck her again.

Noah Webster Bible

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

World English Bible

The donkey saw Yahweh’s angel, and she thrust herself to the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. He struck her again.

Young's Literal Translation

and the ass seeth the messenger of Jehovah, and is pressed unto the wall, and presseth Balaam's foot unto the wall, and he addeth to smite her;

Context

The Angel and Balaam’s Donkey

²⁴Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow passage between two vineyards, with walls on either side.²⁵And the donkey saw the angel of the LORD and pressed herself against the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat her once again.

Summary

This verse describes the miraculous event where Balaam's donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword, while Balaam himself could not see it. The donkey's refusal to move forward, despite Balaam's attempts to make it go on, reveals God's power to intervene in unusual ways to protect His people. This account serves as a reminder that God can use any means to communicate His will and that His divine purposes will ultimately prevail, even when we may not immediately understand His methods.

Commentary

John Gill

John Gill Bible Commentary

And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam,.... This was a very extraordinary and miraculous affair, and effected by a supernatural power, that a dumb creature, which had not organs endued with speech, should speak so plainly and distinctly, as is after expressed; and yet it should not be thought incredible, for what is it that Omnipotence cannot do? wherefore there is no need to say, as some Jewish writers (i), that this was all done in a visionary way, and not really and literally performed; nor can Heathens well object to the verity of it, if they believe what they themselves report concerning one of the asses which carried Bacchus over a river, to which, for reward, he gave the power of speaking with an human voice (k); though it is very probable the fable was framed from this story, and frequently do their writers speak of other brute creatures endued with speech; so Homer (l) represents Xanthus, the horse of Achilles, having the faculty of speech given it by Juno: Pliny says (m), it is commonly reported among the wonderful things of the ancients, that an ox spoke; and Livy (n) frequently makes mention of an ox spoke speaking in divers places, and of one particularly that said,"Rome, take heed to thyself;''not to take notice of a lamb in Egypt in the times of Bocchoris that spoke, related by Aelianus (o) and others; nor of the ram of Phrixus, or the dog at Ariminum, and the elephant of Porus in India, with others Bochart (p) has collected together: the words spoken by the ass were as follow: what have l done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? and just so many times she had been smitten by him, Num 22:23. (i) Maimon. Moreh Nevochim, par. 2. c. 42. Ben Gersom in loc. (k) Hygin. Poet. Astronomic. l. 2. c. 23. "Lactant, de falsa Relig". l. 1. c. 21. (l) Iliad. 19. "prope finem". (m) Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 45. (n) Hist. l. 24. c. 10. l. 27. c. 11. l. 28. c. 11. and l. 35. c. 21. (o) De Animal. l. 12. c. 3. (p) Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 14. col. 197, 198.