The Bible In Paintings: BALAAM AND HIS TALKING DONKEY

[Hebrews 11:6]

The Bible In Paintings 2
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR APPRECIATING AND APPLYING GOD'S MESSAGE

N U M B E R S
CHAPTER 22

Now Balak, king of Moab, was filled with dread because of the Israelites. So Balak sent messengers to summon Balaam. Balak said: “Now come and put a curse on these people. For I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed.”

“Spend the night here,” Balaam said, “and I will bring you back the answer the LORD gives me.”

That night God came to Balaam and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.”

Balaam went with the princes of Moab. But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey. When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat her to get her back on the road.

Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between two vineyards, with walls on both sides. When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat her again.

Then the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff.

Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”

Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”

The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”

“No,” he said.

1
"Balaam Receiving Balak's Messengers"

2

3
REMBRANDT
"Balaam and the Ass"

4

5

6

7

8
JOANNE YOCHEVED HEILIGMAN
"Bilaam and His Talking Ass"

9

10
PIETER LASTMAN
"Balaam and the Ass"

11
PHILLIP RATNER
Source

12
JOHN LINNELL
"The Prophet Balaam and the Angel"

13

14
JACOPO VIGNALI
"Asina di Balaam"

15
JOSEPH ANTON KOCH
"Landscape with Bileam"

Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

The angel of the LORD asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her.”

Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back.”

16
Source

17
GUSTAV JAEGER
"Balaam Sees the Angel"

18

19
JAMES TISSOT
"Balaam and the Ass"

20

21

22
GUSTAVE DORÉ
"The Angel Appearing to Balaam"

23
GERRIT CLAESZ. BLEKER
"The Ass with the Prophet Bileam Stopped by the Angel"

24
"Balaam Smites His Ass"

25
"Balaam Sees the Angel in His Path"

26
EPHRAIM MOSES LILIEN
"Bileam and His Ass"

The angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!”

He answered, “Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

The LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this message.”

27
HEINRICH JENNY
"Balak and Balaam "

28
JOHANN SADELER I
"Balak and Balaam on Mt. Pisgah"

29

30
"Balaam and Balak"

31
"Balaam and Balak"

32
"Balaam's Prophecy"

33
JAMES TISSOT
"The Seven Altars of Balaam"

34
JAMES TISSOT
"Balaam Prophesies the Glory of Israel"

→ a n d... f i n a l l y ←

BALAAM'S FOUR ORACLES

FIRST, Chapter 23:7-10
“Balak brought me from Aram,
the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.
‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel.’
How can I curse
those whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce
those whom the LORD has not denounced?
From the rocky peaks I see them,
from the heights I view them.
I see a people who live apart
and do not consider themselves one of the nations.
Who can count the dust of Jacob
or number the fourth part of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,
and may my end be like theirs!”

SECOND, Chapter 23:18-24
“Arise, Balak, and listen;
hear me, son of Zippor.
God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?
I have received a command to bless;
he has blessed, and I cannot change it.
“No misfortune is seen in Jacob,
no misery observed in Israel.
The LORD their God is with them;
the shout of the King is among them.
God brought them out of Egypt;
they have the strength of a wild ox.
There is no sorcery against Jacob,
no divination against Israel.
It will now be said of Jacob
and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’
The people rise like a lioness;
they rouse themselves like a lion
that does not rest till he devours his prey
and drinks the blood of his victims.”

THIRD, Chapter 24:3-9
“The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of one whose eye sees clearly,
the oracle of one who hears the words of God,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:
“How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob,
your dwelling places, O Israel!
“Like valleys they spread out,
like gardens beside a river,
like aloes planted by the LORD,
like cedars beside the waters.
Water will flow from their buckets;
their seed will have abundant water.
“Their king will be greater than Agag;
their kingdom will be exalted.
“God brought them out of Egypt;
they have the strength of a wild ox.
They devour hostile nations
and break their bones in pieces;
with their arrows they pierce them.
Like a lion they crouch and lie down,
like a lioness—who dares to rouse them?
“MAY THOSE WHO BLESS YOU BE BLESSED
AND THOSE WHO CURSE YOU BE CURSED!”

FOURTH, Chapter 24:15-19
“The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of one whose eye sees clearly,
the oracle of one who hears the words of God,
who has knowledge from the Most High,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:
“I SEE HIM, BUT NOT NOW;
I BEHOLD HIM, BUT NOT NEAR.
A STAR WILL COME OUT OF JACOB;
A SCEPTER WILL RISE OUT OF ISRAEL.
He will crush the foreheads of Moab,
the skulls of all the sons of Sheth.
Edom will be conquered;
Seir, his enemy, will be conquered,
but Israel will grow strong.
A ruler will come out of Jacob
and destroy the survivors of the city.”

35
JEAN-HIPPOLYTE FLANDRIN
"Balaam's Prophecy of Christ as Star and Sceptre"

36

New International Version ©1984, Abrdgd, EMPHASES Added
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[Hebrews 11:6]

R E S O U R C E S
Read NUMBERS 22 in full
Hear MAX McLEAN reading it
Hear a DRAMATIZATION of it
Read J-F-B's COMMENTARY
BIBLE TIMELINE

Click for 65 prior episodes in THIS series:
The Bible In Paintings 2
Click for 434 links in the FIRST series:
The Bible In Paintings 1


HOW GOD PROMPTED
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[Hebrews 11:6]

S T R U G G L E S
CALEB'S & JOSHUA'S EXCELLENT SPY STORY
KORAH’S SINKING FEELING
THE BUDDING OF AARON'S STAFF
THE BRONZE SNAKE, & THE CROSS
BALAAM AND HIS TALKING DONKEY
JOSHUA'S INSTALLATION, MOSES' DEATH

WINDOWS OF THE TORAH,
In Three Parts

[Red Badger]

We have a lot of talking Donkeys in DC........................

[Hebrews 11:6]

Is there an angel defending them?

[larrytown]

Well, to be fair, those DC donkeys need the beatings.

[cdcdawg]

I’m glad I don’t have to pick a favorite painting! Lots of great ones. I would be hard-pressed to name even a top 5. I don’t know why, but ever since childhood, the account of Balaam has always been a favorite. Thanks, as always.

[dfwgator]

[Magnum44]

[Ezekiel]

God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.

Who is this 'son of man'? A woman?

Well now that sure makes simple sense of the wording. :)

[Hebrews 11:6]

The big joke is the donkey’s unasked question, “Have I been in the habit of TALKING to you?”

[Red Badger]

YES, BUT NOT GOD’S.......................

[Hebrews 11:6]

We agree......................

[Red Badger]

https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/son-of-man-the/

[Hebrews 11:6]

Thanks for posting that.

[etabeta]

The divine hindrance Balaam experienced on the way is a reminder that God is the one always in control. Intriguing story, a donkey that talks and the appearance of an angel, both messengers of God.
Paintings and illustrations are all wonderful, difficult to have a favorite. Maybe Gustave Dore’.

[Ezekiel]

It’s an interesting topic:

>>> There is a book of the Old Testament in which the phrase “the son of man” occurs no fewer than 90 times. This is the Book of Ezekiel, where it is always applied to the prophet himself and designates his prophetic mission. In the words of Nosgen (Christus der Menschenund Gotlessohn):

“It expresses the contrast between what Ezekiel is in himself and what God will make out of him, and to make his mission appear to him not as his own, but as the work of God, and thus to lift him up, whenever the flesh threatens to faint and fail.” <<<

***

93 times, but as ben adam, not with the definite “the” (ben ha-adam). “Ben adam” is idiomatic for a human being, could be anyone.

The use in the NT is peculiar:

>>>

The Greek New Testament uses the earlier indefinite form while introducing a novel definite form, “the son of man.”

>>>

The gospels introduce a new definite form, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, literally ‘the son of the man,’ an awkward and ambiguous expression in Greek.[1] It functions as an emphatic equivalent of the first-person pronoun I/me/my, and in all four gospels it is used only by Jesus (except once in the Gospel of John, when the crowd asks what Jesus means by it).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_man

>>>

The use of the definite article in “the Son of man” in the Koine Greek of the Christian gospels is original, and before its use there, no records of its use in any of the surviving Greek documents of antiquity exist.[3] Geza Vermes has stated that the use of “the Son of man” in the Christian gospels is unrelated to Hebrew Torah usages.[5]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_man_(Christianity)

I didn’t have time to format so the link ending with the parenthesis is wacko, sorry.

[Red Badger]

I have a brother-in-law whose last name is ‘MANN’.........so his son is........................

[Hebrews 11:6]

He wouldn't BE God if He weren't in control....

You can't go wrong with ol' Gustave.

[BenLurkin]

bttt

[Hebrews 11:6]

bttb