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mannafest.faith

Numbers 22:32

in Numbers 22

The 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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the angel of Jehovah said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I am come forth for an adversary, because thy way is perverse before me:

KJV

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:

This verse in Numbers 22

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes

on Numbers 22:31-33

Both openings read opened, though the Hebrew uses one verb for a mouth and another for uncovering eyes. The seer needed his own eyes uncovered by God. He ends facedown before a figure his donkey had watched three times.

This site's exposition

your way is perverse before me

The angel's first question is about the donkey. Matthew Henry takes it that God calls men to account for the abuse of His creatures. Albert Barnes renders perverse as headlong and sets it beside 2 Peter 2:16 and the prophet's madness, a rider hurrying where he should not go.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And the angel of the Lord said unto him,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Note, When our eyes are opened we shall see what danger we are in in a sinful way, and how much it was for our advantage to be crossed in it, and what fools we were to quarrel with our crosses which helped to save our lives.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Is perverse - Rather, is headlong. Compare Peter’s words 2Pe 2:16, “the madness of the prophet.”

The words behind it

20 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.

  • וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • אֵלָיו֙to him

    ʾelavH413 →5510 times

  • מַלְאַ֣ךְ[the] angel of

    malakhH4397 →213 times

  • יְהוָ֔הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • עַל־concerning

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • מָ֗הwhat?

    mahH4100 →752 times

  • הִכִּ֙יתָ֙did you strike

    hikitaH5221 →499 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אֲתֹ֣נְךָ֔female donkey your

    ʾatonekhaH860 →34 times

  • זֶ֖הthis

    zehH2088 →1180 times

  • שָׁל֣וֹשׁthree

    shalooshH7969 →432 times

  • רְגָלִ֑יםfeet

    regalimH7272 →247 times

  • הִנֵּ֤הhere!

    hinehH2009 →843 times

  • אָנֹכִי֙I

    ʾanokhiH595 →359 times

  • יָצָ֣אתִיI came out

    yatzatiH3318 →1067 times

  • לְשָׂטָ֔ןto an adversary

    lesatanH7854 →

  • כִּֽי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • יָרַ֥טit is precipitate

    yaratH3399 →

  • הַדֶּ֖רֶךְthe way

    haderekhH1870 →707 times

  • לְנֶגְדִּֽי׃to before me

    lenegdiH5048 →151 times

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

The walk

8 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

    Proverbs 28:18

    He who walks with integrity will be kept safe, but whoever is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 28:6

      Better a poor man who walks with integrity than a rich man whose ways are perverse.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Proverbs 10:9

      He who walks in integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out.

  • Through

    Acts 13:10

    and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord?

    it leads to

    • John 8:44

      You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him.…

    • Matthew 13:38

      The field is the world, and the good seed represents the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,

    • 2 Corinthians 11:3

      I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.

  • Through

    Proverbs 28:6

    Better a poor man who walks with integrity than a rich man whose ways are perverse.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 19:1

      Better a poor man who walks with integrity than a fool whose lips are perverse.

    • Luke 16:19–23

      Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.

    • Proverbs 28:18

      He who walks with integrity will be kept safe, but whoever is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall.

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

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.