Bible Strands
Numbers 22:34
“I have sinned,” Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “for I did not realize that you were standing in the road to confront me. And now, if this is displeasing in your sight, I will go back home.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Balaam speaks to the angel of the LORD immediately after his donkey reveals the divine obstruction and warns that he would have been killed if she had not turned away. He acknowledges his failure to perceive the angel and offers to return home if the confrontation displeases the LORD.
The words — חָטָ֔אתִי (cha.Ta.ti) translates literally as "I have sinned," marking a direct admission of transgression. כִּ֚י (ki) functions here as "for," linking the confession to the realization of the angel's hidden presence.
The thread — This confession pattern appears in 1 Samuel 15:24 where Saul admits sin to Samuel, and in 2 Samuel 12:13 where David acknowledges sin against the LORD. Job 34:31 also records a similar formula of pledging to cease offending after enduring punishment.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of divine authority over human plans before offering conditional obedience. It requires the reader to confront their own spiritual blindness and submit to God's instructions without negotiation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 15:24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
- Job 34:31 Suppose someone says to God, ‘I have endured my punishment; I will offend no more.
- 2 Samuel 12:13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die.
- 1 Samuel 15:30 “I have sinned,” Saul replied. “Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.”
- 1 Samuel 26:21 Then Saul replied, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. I will never harm you again, because today you considered my life precious. I have played the fool and have committed a grave error!”
- Exodus 9:27 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said. “The LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
- Exodus 10:16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you.
- Numbers 11:1 Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.
- Numbers 14:40 Early the next morning they got up and went up toward the ridge of the hill country. “We have indeed sinned,” they said, “but we will go to the place the LORD has promised.”
- Numbers 22:12 But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse this people, for they are blessed.”