Bilam’s donkey can see a scary angel with a sword. So the donkey keeps stopping along the way. This makes Bilam angry because Bilam can’t see the angel. When Bilam gets violent with his animal, the donkey speaks up!
וַיִּפְתַּח ה' אֶת פִּי הָאָתוֹן וַתֹּאמֶר לְבִלְעָם
מֶה עָשִׂיתִי לְךָ כִּי הִכִּיתַנִי זֶה שָׁלֹשׁ רְגָלִים׃
וַיֹּאמֶר בִּלְעָם לָאָתוֹן כִּי הִתְעַלַּלְתְּ בִּי
לוּ יֶשׁ חֶרֶב בְּיָדִי כִּי עַתָּה הֲרַגְתִּיךְ׃
וַתֹּאמֶר הָאָתוֹן אֶל בִּלְעָם
הֲלוֹא אָנֹכִי אֲתֹנְךָ אֲשֶׁר רָכַבְתָּ עָלַי מֵעוֹדְךָ עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה
הַהַסְכֵּן הִסְכַּנְתִּי לַעֲשׂוֹת לְךָ כֹּה
וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא׃
Then God opened the donkey’s mouth, and the donkey said to Bilam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?”
Bilam said to the donkey, “You have made a mockery of me! If I had a sword with me, I’d kill you.”
The donkey said to Bilam, “Am I not your donkey that you have ridden for so long? Have I ever done this to you before?”
And he answered, “No.”
- Why might Bilam have gotten so angry at his donkey? Was this an appropriate reaction? Why not?
- What do you notice about the way God makes a miracle for the donkey to speak? Does anything about the way it’s described in the Torah surprise you? What do you think this could be teaching us about other animals or about the way human beings can speak?
- There are only two talking animals in the whole Torah, and this is one of them! Why do you think this story has a talking animal? What could that teach us?
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