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Numbers 22:30

in Numbers 22

But 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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden all thy life long unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? and he said, Nay.

KJV

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.

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This verse in Numbers 22

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth

on Numbers 22:28-30

The LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and she asks a question: What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times? Balaam wishes for a sword to kill her, and the sword he wants is drawn in a hand he cannot see. In 2 Peter 2:16 the donkey spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

This site's exposition

Have I ever treated you this way before

Matthew Henry finds three arguments in the donkey's words: she is Balaam's own, she has carried him all his life, and she has never done this before. He draws from the last that a rare offence should soften anger. Henry also says that dominion over the creatures forbids tyranny over them. Balaam can only answer no.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And the ass said unto Balaam,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

God has given to man a dominion over the creatures: they are delivered into his hand to be used, and put under his feet to be ruled. Even wicked people have a title to the possessions God gives to them, which they are not to be wronged of. The dominion God has given us over the creatures is a good reason why we should not abuse them.

The words behind it

21 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַתֹּ֨אמֶרand it said

    vatomerH559 →5305 times

  • הָאָת֜וֹןthe donkey

    haatonH860 →34 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • בִּלְעָ֗םBalaam

    bilamH1109 →61 times

  • הֲלוֹא֩¿ not

    halo'H3808 →5168 times

  • אָנֹכִ֨י[am] I

    ʾanokhiH595 →359 times

  • אֲתֹֽנְךָ֜donkey your

    ʾatonekhaH860 →34 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־which

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • רָכַ֣בְתָּyou have ridden

    rakhavtaH7392 →

  • עָלַ֗יon me

    ʾalaiH5921 →5755 times

  • מֵעֽוֹדְךָ֙from duration your

    meodkhaH5750 →490 times

  • עַד־until

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • הַיּ֣וֹםthe day

    haiyomH3117 →2304 times

  • הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • הַֽהַסְכֵּ֣ן¿ really <to have [the] habit>

    hahaskenH5532 →

  • הִסְכַּ֔נְתִּיhave I had [the] habit

    hiskantiH5532 →

  • לַעֲשׂ֥וֹתto do

    laasotH6213 →2628 times

  • לְךָ֖to <the> you

    lekha

  • כֹּ֑הthus

    kohH3541 →577 times

  • וַיֹּ֖אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • לֹֽא׃no

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

2 in all, six open

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    2 Peter 2:16

    But 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.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 22:21–33

      So in the morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.

    • Ecclesiastes 7:25

      I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.

    • Hosea 9:7

      The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have arrived—let Israel know it. The prophet is called a fool, and the inspired man insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and…

    • Acts 26:11

      I frequently had them punished in the synagogues, and I tried to make them blaspheme. In my raging fury against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.

    • Luke 16:11

      So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?

Where this verse is studied

About Numbers

An Angel Appears to Balaam — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
An Angel Appears to Balaam — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Numbers: the study guide →Read Numbers 22 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Numbers 22 →