Dr. Ted Hildebrandt, Old Testament Literature, Lecture 16B -- Balaam and the Donkey, Numbers

[@elimspokenenglishperfect6865]

God bless you sir. Good teaching method.praise the Lord

[@tedhildebrandt_BeL]

Thanks. It was my delight to teach God's word to college students for 40 years. I'm now retired and still "teaching" through biblicalelearning.org. All the best to you as you study God's Word.

[@codycox7114]

I just read all of numbers and was very confused about this story but I knew there was more to it that I didn’t get.. thank you good sir God Bless!

[@tedhildebrandt_BeL]

Thanks, glad it was helpful.

[@nighthiker8872]

Great, very helpful, Tx. great story in numbers.

[@yangdenrongong4702]

Praise the lord

[@resarm5007]

Thank you...somehow in the past when I had heard this story the irony was not conveyed to me, or I had forgotten. The Lord must have wanted me to see this message. In a round about way...I found you. I was chatting with a user named Balaam's Donkey this evening on YT. It then triggered me to look up their channel when they shared something with me. The user's name also brought up speakers who preached on this story...and I selected yours from the list. 🤔😲🤷🏻‍♀️ Go figure! He works in mysterious ways! Thank you! I'm subbing!

[@nighthiker8872]

Be more direct with (EACH) title. The title is the fish hook, for the millions of viewing fish. Buss the bait hook. I'm here because I want information on Balaam and the donkey. You know when you go fishing. How important it is to have GOOD SOLAD BAIT, don't over look the good bait, great work.

[@naamhaisiddhu]

💙

[@praveenreviewstelugu7298]

Blessings

[@sisila8]

The lord knows our true intentions

[@bijdavbby]

bilaam is also blessed by Hashem because he is a righteous gentile

[@generalemuziq6431]

Where did he originate from

[@bradbrown2168]

How old could Balaam be? His donkey was with him his entire life according to the donkeys words recorded in Numbers. Can we assume hyperbole? “His entire life” not chronological but perhaps as an adult? What is the cultural norm understanding? Don’t impose modern categories. Thoughts?

[@tedhildebrandt_BeL]

Have to have a reason for saying it's a hyperbole before I'd invoke that way of interpreting it. Balaam was definitely an adult who had a reputation so that Balak King of Moab knew about him all the way over to Mesopotmia. So he was around for a while. The donkey--hum-- I'm not sure how old donkeys are before they were ridden upon. I would guess a couple/three years old before they could be ridden. The donkey would last then many years (not sure on donkey life span either) but it would be many years. The donkey states that Balaam had had quite a bit of experience with him and he had never acted like that before... not sure how long that was but it must have been a significant time. Good question sorry my answer is so week. I don't know much about donkeys although they are still prevalent in Israel.

[@timlopez627]

God told Balaam in verse 20, “IF the men come to CALL thee, rise up and go with them” verse 21 says that Balaam rose up, saddles his donkey and went with the princes of Moab, they didn’t call him!! God instructed Balaam to go with them ONLY if they called him. That’s why God was angry with Balaam.

[@tedhildebrandt_BeL]

Num 22:35 apparently there was some other stuff going on as well

[@skellingtonmeteoryballoon]

Still nothing new under the sun

[@tedhildebrandt_BeL]

for sure!

[@wesfortney5294]

The donkey is his rag-tag army. The angel is the Israelite force. Swords were elephants in this context, or cavalry, he means cavalry but ancient swords would have been giant bulls from Russia or elephant cavalry forces. Balaam could not get his force to face the Israelites and turned his officers to rebuking the troops when they rebelled for conference. Jesus was riding a donkey as well, an army with no cavalry for tactical purpose or strict regimenting for that matter, it is said as an insult to the leader of as well as to the, force of people.

[@tedhildebrandt_BeL]

Not sure I followed how you get from donkey to an army? Sword = elephants (in the Bible?) / cavalry. How do you get this from what the text says?