Numbers · 41 verses

Numbers 22

Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

The chapter

What happens here

Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

The donkey sees the armed angel three times before Balaam sees him once, and her stubbornness turns out to be the only thing keeping Balaam alive.

A blessing that cannot be hiredvv. 1–20

Israel camps in the Moab Plains, and Balak, son of Zippor and king of Moab, is alarmed by the size of the people. He sends messengers to Balaam at Pethor, offering the familiar inducement of honour and a curse, but Balaam is told that Israel is blessed. The answer appears settled: Balaam sends the first princes home. Then Balak sends grander ones, and Balaam asks the LORD again. This time he is told to go with them, provided he says only what he is told—a permission with a sharp edge already showing.

The donkey has the better viewvv. 21–35

Balaam sets off on his donkey with two servants, and the road becomes a small drama of blocked sight. The donkey sees the angel of the LORD with a drawn sword, first turning into a field, then crushing Balaam’s foot against a wall, then lying down where there is no room to turn. Balaam beats her each time. At last the LORD opens the donkey’s mouth, and Balaam answers her as if a speaking donkey were merely an especially exasperating colleague. Then Balaam’s eyes are opened: the donkey’s evasions have saved him, and the angel says that the donkey would have lived while Balaam would have been killed. Balaam confesses his failure to see, and continues under the same instruction as before.

A welcome, a sacrifice, and a viewvv. 36–41

Balak goes out to meet Balaam at the Moabite city on the Arnon border and is chiefly concerned that Balaam has not arrived sooner, or perhaps that he has not arrived expensively enough. Balaam replies that his mouth is not his own to use freely. They go to Kiriath-huzoth, where Balak sacrifices cattle and sheep and distributes portions. In the morning he brings Balaam up to Bamoth-baal, from which the outskirts of Israel’s camp can be seen—a fine place for whatever is going to happen next.

The text

Read it

Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

Num 22:1Then the Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho.
Num 22:2Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites,
Num 22:3and Moab was terrified of the people because they were numerous. Indeed, Moab dreaded the Israelites.
Num 22:4So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will devour everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Since Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time,
Num 22:5he sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates in the land of his people. “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt,” said Balak. “They cover the face of the land and have settled next to me.
Num 22:6So please come now and put a curse on this people, because they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land; for I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed.”
Num 22:7The elders of Moab and Midian departed with the fees for divination in hand. They came to Balaam and relayed to him the words of Balak.
Num 22:8“Spend the night here,” Balaam replied, “and I will give you the answer that the LORD speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.
Num 22:9Then God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”
Num 22:10And Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me this message:
Num 22:11‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them away.’”
Num 22:12But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse this people, for they are blessed.”
Num 22:13So Balaam got up the next morning and said to Balak’s princes, “Go back to your homeland, because the LORD has refused to let me go with you.”
Num 22:14And the princes of Moab arose, returned to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”
Num 22:15Then Balak sent other princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first messengers.
Num 22:16They came to Balaam and said, “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me,
Num 22:17for I will honor you richly and do whatever you say. So please come and put a curse on this people for me!’”
Num 22:18But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything small or great to go beyond the command of the LORD my God.
Num 22:19So now, please stay here overnight as the others did, that I may find out what else the LORD has to tell me.”
Num 22:20That night God came to Balaam and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but you must only do what I tell you.”
Num 22:21So in the morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.
Num 22:22Then God’s anger was kindled because Balaam was going along, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding his donkey, and his two servants were with him.
Num 22:23When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the path and went into a field. So Balaam beat her to return her to the path.
Num 22:24Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow passage between two vineyards, with walls on either side.
Num 22:25And 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.
Num 22:26And 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 left.
Num 22:27When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he became furious and beat her with his staff.
Num 22:28Then 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?”
Num 22:29 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now!”
Num 22:30But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not the donkey you have ridden all your life until today? Have I ever treated you this way before?” “No,” he replied.
Num 22:31Then 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. And Balaam bowed low and fell facedown.
Num 22:32The angel of the LORD asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you, because your way is perverse before me.
Num 22:33The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, then by now I would surely have killed you and let her live.”
Num 22:34“I have sinned,” Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “for I did not realize that you were standing in the road to confront me. And now, if this is displeasing in your sight, I will go back home.”
Num 22:35But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you are to speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
Num 22:36When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the Moabite city on the Arnon border, at the edge of his territory.
Num 22:37And he said to Balaam, “Did I not send you an urgent summons? Why did you not come to me? Am I really not able to reward you richly?”
Num 22:38“See, I have come to you,” Balaam replied, “but can I say just anything? I must speak only the word that God puts in my mouth.”
Num 22:39So Balaam accompanied Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth.
Num 22:40 Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and he gave portions to Balaam and the princes who were with him.
Num 22:41The next morning, Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal. From there he could see the outskirts of the camp of the people.

01 — Also here

Who else the chapter reaches

Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

02 — Read alongside

Where this is echoed

Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 280 passages were voted onto 36 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

12 Deuteronomy 23:5Yet the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, and the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.
12 Ephesians 1:3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.
12 Romans 11:29For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.
5 Deuteronomy 23:4For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you.
12 Genesis 12:2I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
28 2 Peter 2:16But he was rebuked for his transgression by a donkey, otherwise without speech, that spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
12 Romans 4:6–7And David speaks likewise of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
12 Deuteronomy 33:29Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you, and you shall trample their high places.”
18 Numbers 24:13that even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the LORD? I must speak whatever the LORD says.
20 Numbers 23:12But Balaam replied, “Should I not speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?”
20 Numbers 23:26But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?”
29 Proverbs 12:10A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are only cruelty.
12 Numbers 22:19–20So now, please stay here overnight as the others did, that I may find out what else the LORD has to tell me.”
12 Micah 6:5My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”
20 Numbers 22:35But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you are to speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
31 Genesis 21:19Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

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