Verse Lens · Context pointer
Numbers 22:23 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 23. 23And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Numbers 22:23 within “The Donkey Sees the Angel Balaam Cannot See,” states what Balaam, Balak, God, or the poem contributes here; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.
Read It With
- Numbers 22:22–35
Read Numbers 22:23 with 22:22–35. It within “The Donkey Sees the Angel Balaam Cannot See,” states what Balaam, Balak, God, or the poem contributes here; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way. The complete unit establishes this contextual meaning: Divine anger meets Balaam's journey; the donkey sees a sword-bearing angel three times and avoids him while Balaam strikes her, God opens the donkey's mouth, Balaam threatens violence, his eyes are opened, he confesses, and the angel repeats the speech limit.
Why It Needs Context
Numbers 22:23 within “The Donkey Sees the Angel Balaam Cannot See,” states what Balaam, Balak, God, or the poem contributes here; in lightly modernized wording, the clause reads: the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way. Its responsible force depends on 22:22–35; isolated from “The Donkey Sees the Angel Balaam Cannot See,” the verse's actor, action, reason, object, or transition could be mistaken for independent teaching.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Numbers 22:22–35 — The Donkey Sees the Angel Balaam Cannot SeeSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Numbers 22:22–35, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Numbers
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, release 2.2, 2021
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, numbers, speeches, poems, legal clauses, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Num.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 22:22–35
Open source ↗