^22:22Then God’s anger was kindled³³ because he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose³⁴ him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him. ^22:23And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with³⁵ his sword drawn in his hand, so the donkey turned aside from the road and went into the field. But Balaam beat the donkey, to make her turn back to the road.

^22:24Then the angel of the Lord stood in a path³⁶ among the vineyards, where there was a wall on either side.³⁷^22:25And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pressed herself into the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So he beat her again.³⁸

^22:26Then the angel of the Lord went farther, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. ^22:27When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she crouched down under Balaam. Then Balaam was angry, and he beat his donkey with a staff.

^22:28Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?” ^22:29And Balaam said to the donkey, “You have made me look stupid; I wish³⁹ there were a sword in my hand, for I would kill you right now.” ^22:30The donkey said to Balaam, “Am not I your donkey that you have ridden ever since I was yours until this day? Have I ever attempted⁴⁰ to treat you this way?”⁴¹ And he said, “No.”

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Footnotes

33 God’s anger now seems to contradict the permission he gave Balaam just before this. Some commentators argue that God’s anger is a response to Balaam’s character in setting out—which the Bible does not explain. God saw in him greed and pleasure for the riches, which is why he was so willing to go.
34 The word is שָׂטָן (satan, “to be an adversary, to oppose”).
35 The word has the conjunction “and” on the noun, indicating this is a disjunctive vav (ו), here serving as a circumstantial clause.
36 The word means a “narrow place,” having the root meaning “to be deep.” The Greek thought it was in a field in a narrow furrow.
37 Heb “a wall on this side, and a wall on that side.”
38 Heb “he added to beat her,” another verbal hendiadys.
39 The optative clause is introduced with the particle לוּ (lu).
40 Here the Hiphil perfect is preceded by the Hiphil infinitive absolute for emphasis in the sentence.
41 Heb “to do thus to you.”