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Numbers 22 Bible study: The donkey saw
Balak paid for a curse, but God had already said of Israel, "they are blessed" (22:12). On the road the donkey saw the LORD's angel three times before Balaam did, and the angel stood there "as an adversary", in Hebrew le-satan, the word's first use in the Hebrew Bible (22:22). Balaam arrived with one line: "I will speak the word that God puts in my mouth" (22:38).
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“God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.””
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“In Numbers 22, Balaam's donkey saw the LORD's angel before Balaam did.”
Is that in Numbers 22, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
A king who sends for a curse
Israel "encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho" (22:1), and "Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites" (22:2). The Amorite king Sihon had taken the land of Moab's former king "even to the Arnon" (21:26), and Israel had taken Sihon's cities (21:25). "Moab was very afraid of the people, because they were many" (22:3). In this chapter Balak doesn't send an army. He sends for a man whose words he trusts: "Please come now therefore, and curse this people for me; for they are too mighty for me" (22:6). His reason: "for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed" (22:6).
Where it leads to Jesus
Rebuked by a donkey, in 2 Peter
Numbers 22:28leads to2 Peter 2:15-16
The New Testament names this chapter. Peter warns of false teachers "denying even the Master who bought them" (2 Peter 2:1), who "In covetousness… will exploit you with deceptive words" (2 Peter 2:3). They have "followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing; but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A speechless donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the madness of the prophet" (2 Peter 2:15-16). In the same chapter Peter names "the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 2:20). Balak had promised Balaam "very great honor" (22:17), and "The LORD opened the mouth of the donkey" (22:28). Peter sets that way of Balaam beside teachers who deny the Master who bought them.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Numbers 22
That was a taste
The rest of Numbers 22 is waiting in Favor
- Asking again after a no
- The donkey saw
- Only the word
- Who is able?
- What the rest of the Bible says about Balaam
- 16 questions as you read
- 11 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Numbers 22 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
שָׂטָןsatansay sa-TAN
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "adversary", and "Satan". Strong's: "an opponent; especially (with the article prefixed) Satan, the arch-enemy of good". "The LORD’s angel placed himself in the way as an adversary against him" (22:22), and the angel says, "I have come out as an adversary" (22:32). Both are le-satan, "as an adversary". These are the first two of the word's 27 uses in the Hebrew Bible, and here the adversary is the LORD's angel, standing against Balaam. Later it is used of people, like "The LORD raised up an adversary to Solomon: Hadad the Edomite" (1 Kings 11:14). With the in front of it, hassatan, the WEB gives it as the name Satan: "Satan also came among them" (Job 1:6).
For your group
Numbers 22 Bible study questions
- 1God told Balaam no, with a reason (22:12), and Balaam asked again to "know what else the LORD will speak to me" (22:19). When have you kept asking God about something you already had an answer on, and why?
- 2The donkey turned aside three times, and Balaam struck her each time, not knowing what she saw (22:23-27, 22:31). When has something that blocked your way turned out to be protecting you?
- 3Balak offered honor (22:17), and Balaam said, "I will speak the word that God puts in my mouth" (22:38). Where are you tempted to say what pays, or pleases, instead of what is true?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Numbers 22 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home