22:22 Then God’s anger was kindled 1 because he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose 2 him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.
22:26 Then the angel of the Lord went farther, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left.
1 sn God’s anger now seems to contradict the permission he gave Balaam just before this. Some commentators argue that God’s anger is a response to Balaam’s character in setting out – which the Bible does not explain. God saw in him greed and pleasure for the riches, which is why he was so willing to go.
2 tn The word is שָׂטָן (satan, “to be an adversary, to oppose”).
3 tn Heb “he added to beat her,” another verbal hendiadys.
4 tn Heb “your way.”
5 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.
6 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.
7 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.
8 tn The verb is the cohortative from “return”: I will return [me].
9 tn The imperfect tense here can be given the nuance of permission.
10 tn The Hebrew word order is a little more emphatic than this: “but only the word which I speak to you, it you shall speak.”