Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Numbers
Chapter 22: Balak, Balaam, and the Donkey
Terrified by Israel's advance, Balak king of Moab hires the prophet Balaam to curse them. But God has already declared this people blessed, and no curse can touch whom He has blessed. Balaam, torn between the fear of God and the love of reward, presses God for a different answer until God lets him go, then sends an angel to block the way. In one of the strangest scenes in Scripture, Balaam's own donkey sees the angel he cannot, and speaks to rebuke him. It is a chapter about the security of the blessed, the madness of covetousness, and a God who overrules every scheme against His people.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Numbers chapter 22. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. The chapter tells how Balak hired Balaam to curse Israel, how God declared the people blessed, and how Balaam's donkey saw the angel and spoke. It teaches the security of those God has blessed, the danger of a covetous heart, and the sovereignty of God over every scheme against His people. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Curse Me This People
Fearful of Israel, Balak sent for Balaam with the rewards of divination to curse God's people.
They Are Blessed
God's word to Balaam was plain: "thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed."
The Ass That Saw
Balaam's donkey saw the angel of the LORD, and when the prophet beat her, God gave her a voice.
Only What God Says
Balaam could speak only "the word that God putteth in my mouth," powerless to curse the blessed.
Curse Me This People (Numbers 22:1-20)
Balak sought to hire Balaam to curse Israel, but God declared the people blessed, and Balaam, torn between God and gain, pressed for a different answer.
They Are Blessed
"And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho. And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. And 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. He 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: Come 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. And 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. And 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. And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee? And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying, Behold, 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. And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed. And 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. And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us. And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they. And 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: For 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. And 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. Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more. And 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. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. And 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. And 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. But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. 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. And 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. And 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."
Hebrew Study
"bless," barak (בָּרַךְ). Balak himself confessed the power at work: "he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed." But the blessing of God cannot be undone by any hired curse. What God has blessed, barak, stands blessed.
"curse," arar (אָרַר). Arar is the word for exactly what Balak was trying to buy, and the whole errand to Balaam was an attempt to purchase it. Yet no arar of man or sorcerer can reverse what God has spoken in blessing; the hired word falls to the ground before it ever reaches the people it was aimed at.
Explanation
Balak king of Moab, "sore afraid" of Israel, sent for Balaam, a prophet-for-hire from far away, with "the rewards of divination," to "curse me this people." Balaam asked the messengers to stay while he inquired of God, and God's answer was unmistakable: "Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed." Balaam sent the princes away. But Balak sent again, with greater men and greater promises, "I will promote thee unto very great honour." Balaam spoke piously, "if Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God," yet in the same breath he invited them to "tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more." He had God's clear answer already; he wanted a different one. At last God said, "If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go," letting him go the way his heart was set on. The door God opened was not a blessing but a test.
Gospel Focus
Two truths shine here. First, the security of those God has blessed. Balak spent a fortune to curse Israel, but it was doomed from the start, for God had said, "they are blessed," and "there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel" (Numbers 23:23). No power of the enemy, no curse, no sorcery, can touch whom God has blessed, "who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth" (Romans 8:33). If you are the Lord's, you stand under a blessing no adversary can reverse. Second, the peril of a covetous, double-minded heart. Balaam knew God's clear will, yet the promise of "silver and gold" and "very great honour" kept him asking, hoping God would relent. Peter names him as the pattern of the greedy who love "the wages of unrighteousness" (2 Peter 2:15). When God has spoken plainly, to keep asking for a different answer because our heart is set on gain is not devotion but rebellion. God may let us go the way we insist on, but a door He permits in anger is no blessing. Do not court God's permission to do what you already know He forbids.
Balaam's Donkey and the Angel (Numbers 22:21-35)
An angel of the LORD blocked Balaam's perverse path, and his own donkey, seeing what the prophet could not, was given a voice to rebuke him.
The LORD Opened the Mouth of the Ass
"And 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? And 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. And 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. Then 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. And 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: 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. And 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. And 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. And 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. And 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?"
Hebrew Study
"for an adversary," le-satan (לְשָׂטָן). "The angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him," literally as a satan, an obstructer, one who stands in the way to oppose. Here it is the angel of the LORD who blocks Balaam's perverse path. God Himself set an obstacle before a man rushing headlong into sin, a mercy disguised as an obstruction.
Explanation
Balaam saddled his donkey and went, "and God's anger was kindled because he went." The "angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him," sword drawn. The donkey saw the angel and turned aside, was pressed into a wall, and finally lay down; three times, and three times Balaam beat her, blind to the danger she saw. Then "the LORD opened the mouth of the ass," and she protested, "What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?" Balaam, absurdly, argued back with his donkey. At last "the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD... and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face." The angel rebuked him: "thy way is perverse before me," and revealed that the donkey had saved his life, "unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee." Balaam confessed, "I have sinned." The great seer had been blinder than his beast.
Gospel Focus
This strange scene humbles every proud heart. A dumb animal saw the angel of God while the celebrated prophet rode on blind, so consumed by covetousness that he could not see the danger a donkey perceived. Peter draws the lesson: "the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet" (2 Peter 2:16). Sin, and especially the love of money, blinds us; it can make a man of God more spiritually dull than a beast. And God's mercy is astonishing here. He set the angel in the way not merely to punish but to stop Balaam before ruin, turning an obstruction into a rescue. When God blocks our path, when doors close and obstacles rise in a way we have set our heart on, it may well be His mercy standing in the road, saving us from a destruction we cannot see. The obstacle we resent may be the angel who spares our life. And God can use anyone and anything, even a donkey, to speak His rebuke; let us be humble enough to hear it, from whatever unlikely mouth it comes. Better a talking donkey that turns us back than a silence that lets us rush on to ruin.
Only the Word God Puts in My Mouth (Numbers 22:36-41)
Balaam came to Balak, but confessed he had no power of his own; he could speak only the word God put in his mouth, powerless to curse the blessed.
The Word That God Putteth in My Mouth
"And 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. And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjathhuzoth. And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him. And 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."
Hebrew Study
Hired to curse Israel, the pagan seer Balaam confesses his own helplessness before Balak: "have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak." Here is the sovereignty of God over even a greedy false prophet: God can seal the lips of the man paid to curse His people, and open them only to bless. No enchantment and no fee can bend the word of the LORD; Balaam will speak what God gives, and nothing else.
Explanation
Balak went out to meet Balaam, reproaching him for the delay. But Balaam, chastened by the angel, set the terms plainly before he ever opened his mouth to prophesy: "have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak." For all Balak's silver and honour, the hired prophet could not conjure a single curse of his own. Balak took him up to the high places of Baal to view Israel, ready for the cursing to begin. But the whole enterprise was already broken. The man Balak had bought to curse could only speak what God gave him, and God had said, "they are blessed." The stage was set not for a curse but, against all Balak intended, for blessing.
Gospel Focus
Balaam's confession, "have I now any power at all to say any thing?", reveals the sovereignty of God over every weapon formed against His people. Balak schemed, paid, and maneuvered, but he could not move the hand of God one inch. God so overruled that even a hireling prophet, whose heart wanted the reward, could speak nothing but blessing. Moses later summed it up: "the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee" (Deuteronomy 23:5). This is the God who makes even the wrath of men to praise Him, and who works all things "together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28). No curse pronounced against you can stand if God has blessed you; He can turn the very words meant to destroy you into blessing. The enemy may hire his Balaams and climb his high places, but "no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper" (Isaiah 54:17). Rest in the God who guards His blessed people, turning every intended curse into good, because He loves you.
A Note on History
Balaam is one of the few figures in the Torah attested by name outside the Bible. In 1967, at Tell Deir Alla in the Jordan Valley, excavators found a plaster wall inscription, dated to around 800 BC, that opens by telling of Balaam son of Beor, a seer of the gods, using the very same name and father's name given in Numbers. The text is not Israelite, and its religion is pagan, but it shows that a prophet named Balaam son of Beor was remembered in exactly the Transjordan region where the Bible places him.
Chapter 22 in Review
Numbers 22 opens the Balaam narrative. Balak king of Moab, terrified of Israel, hired the prophet Balaam to curse them, but God declared, "thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed." Balaam, torn between the fear of God and the love of reward, pressed God until He let him go, then set an angel in the road as an adversary. In a scene of striking humor and humbling truth, Balaam's donkey saw the angel he could not, and God gave her a voice to rebuke the blind prophet. Chastened, Balaam came to Balak confessing he could speak only "the word that God putteth in my mouth."
For the Apostolic reader, this chapter assures and warns. Those God has blessed are secure; no curse, sorcery, or scheme can touch them, for "who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?" The peril lies not in the enemy's curses but in a covetous heart like Balaam's, which knows God's will yet keeps angling for gain, until sin blinds a prophet more than his beast. Yet God's mercy stands even in the road that blocks us, and His sovereignty overrules every weapon: He "turned the curse into a blessing... because the LORD thy God loved thee." Rest secure in the blessing of God, guard your heart against the madness of covetousness, and trust the Lord who turns every intended curse to good.
- No curse can touch whom God has blessed: "they are blessed" (22:12; Numbers 23:23; Romans 8:33).
- Balaam's covetousness is a warning; he loved "the wages of unrighteousness" and kept asking past God's clear no (22:15-19; 2 Peter 2:15).
- Sin blinds; a donkey saw the angel the prophet could not: "forbad the madness of the prophet" (22:28; 2 Peter 2:16).
- An obstacle in our path may be God's mercy blocking us from ruin (22:22, 33).
- God overrules every scheme: He "turned the curse into a blessing... because the LORD thy God loved thee" (22:38; Deuteronomy 23:5; Isaiah 54:17).
Questions for Reflection
- Do you rest in the security of God's blessing, knowing no curse of the enemy can touch His own?
- Is there a place where you already know God's will but keep asking for a different answer because your heart is set on gain?
- When an obstacle blocks a path you have set your heart on, can you consider that it may be God's mercy saving you?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The Deir Alla plaster inscription naming Balaam son of Beor (Tell Deir Alla, Jordan, discovered 1967).
- The hire to curse, the blessed people, and Balaam's covetousness: Numbers 22:1-20; Numbers 23:23; Romans 8:33; 2 Peter 2:15.
- The donkey, the angel, and the blindness of sin: Numbers 22:21-35; 2 Peter 2:16.
- God's sovereignty turning the curse into a blessing: Numbers 22:36-41; Deuteronomy 23:5; Romans 8:28; Isaiah 54:17.