Numbers 22:32-34 New English Translation
32 The angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Look, I came out to oppose you because what you are doing[a] is perverse before me.[b] 33 The donkey saw me and turned from me these three times. If[c] she had not turned from me, I would have killed you but saved her alive.” 34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood against me in the road.[d] So now, if it is evil in your sight,[e] I will go back home.”[f]
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- Numbers 22:32 tn Heb “your way.”
- Numbers 22:32 tn The verb יָרַט (yarat) occurs only here and in Job 16:11. Balaam is embarking on a foolish mission with base motives. The old rendering “perverse” is still acceptable.
- Numbers 22:33 tc Many commentators consider אוּלַי (ʾulay, “perhaps”) to be a misspelling in the MT in place of לוּלֵי (luley, “if not”).
- Numbers 22:34 sn Balaam is not here making a general confession of sin. What he is admitting to is a procedural mistake. The basic meaning of the word is “to miss the mark.” He now knows he took the wrong way, i.e., in coming to curse Israel.
- Numbers 22:34 sn The reference is to Balaam’s way. He is saying that if what he is doing is so perverse, so evil, he will turn around and go home. Of course it did not appear that he had much of a chance of going forward.
- Numbers 22:34 tn The verb is the cohortative from “return”: I will return [me].
New English Translation (NET)
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