Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; otherwise, I would certainly have killed you by now and spared the donkey.”
Parallel translations
- WEB The donkey saw me, and turned aside before me these three times. Unless she had turned aside from me, surely now I would have killed you, and saved her alive.”
- KJV And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.
- BSB The 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.”
- NKJV The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.”
- NASB But the donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away from me, I certainly would have killed you just now, and let her live.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The angel says the donkey saved Balaam's life by turning aside, for he would have killed Balaam and spared her. Balaam owes his life to the creature he abused.
Overview
The reversal is complete: the despised donkey is the instrument of Balaam's deliverance, and the prophet stood under a death sentence he never perceived. This deepens the humbling of Balaam and magnifies God's restraining mercy. It shows that God can preserve life through the most unexpected means.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Num 16:33–35So they, and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol. The earth closed on them, and they perished from among the assembly.
- 1 Kgs 13:24–28When he had gone, a lion met him by the way and killed him. His body was thrown on the path, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the body.
- Num 14:37even those men who brought up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before Yahweh.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 22:33 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.