Balak 5783 - The Donkey, The Snake, and The Messenger

(26) Once more the messenger of Adonai moved forward and stationed [itself] on a spot so narrow that there was no room to swerve right or left. (27) When the donkey now saw the messenger of Adonai, she lay down under Bilaam; and Bilaam was furious and beat the ass with his stick {for a third time}. (28) Then Adonai opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Bilaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?” (29) Bilaam said to the donkey, “You have made a mockery of me! If I had a sword with me, I’d kill you.” (30) The donkey said to Bilaam, “Look, I am the donkey that you have been riding all along until this day! Have I been in the habit of doing thus to you?” And he answered, “No.” (31) Then Adonai uncovered Bilaam’s eyes, and he saw the messenger of Adonai standing in the way, its drawn sword in its hand; thereupon he bowed right down to the ground.

^{13th century, France}

ויאמר אל האשה, “it said to the woman;” God had given the serpent the power of speech, just as God had given that power to Bilaam’s donkey (Numbers 22,28).

מעודך עד היום הזה, “from the time you have learned how to ride.” These words complement the donkey’s question if it had ever been in the habit of acting so strangely. You should have asked yourself what could possibly be the reason for my having acted so strangely and out of character. Surely I must have had a valid reason for acting as I did.

^{14th century, Spain}

ויפתח ה' את פי האתון, “God opened the mouth of the donkey.” If we look at the plain meaning of the text, the fact that the donkey could suddenly speak intelligently was a great miracle. ... If we approach the mystical dimension of our paragraph you will find that there is a similarity between the original serpent speaking to Eve (the only previous time the Torah mentions animals as speaking) and the donkey speaking to Bilaam. Neither the serpent nor the donkey said what they said of their own free volition, seeing that they did not possess the kind of soul necessary to formulate their own thoughts and then express them verbally. The serpent’s words had been inspired by hasatan.

^{12th century, France/Italy/England}

AND ADONAI OPENED THE MOUTH OF THE DONKEY. The rabbis, of blessed memory, said that ten things were created on Sabbath eve at twilight.* I believe that this means that God specifically decreed the creation of these miraculous phenomena, for they are beyond the laws of nature. ... The correct interpretation is, the ass spoke.

[This is] to show how the Holy One, blessed be God is concerned about the honor of the creatures and knows their needs. And [so] God closed the mouth of the animals. If it could speak, [people] would not be able to subdue it and master it. As this was the silliest of animals and this was the greatest of the sages. [And yet] once she spoke, he could not master her.

(1) Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild beasts that Adonai had made. It said to the woman, “Did God really say: You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?” (2) The woman replied to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the other trees of the garden. (3) It is only about fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said: ‘You shall not eat of it or touch it, lest you die.’” (4) And the serpent said to the woman, “You are not going to die, (5) but God knows that as soon as you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like divine beings who know good and bad.” (6) When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate.

NOW THE SERPENT. Some say that the woman understood and knew the language of the animals. They interpret And the serpent said as meaning, that the serpent spoke through signs. Others say that the serpent was in reality hasatan. ... was the serpent fully intelligent? Was he commanded by God to refrain from beguiling the woman? Rabbi Saadiah Gaon says since we know that only humans are intelligent and capable of speaking, we must conclude that neither the serpent nor Balaam’s ass spoke. He argues that in reality an angel spoke for them. However, Rabbi Samuel ben Hofni took issue with him. ... It appears to me that we are to interpret the account of the serpent literally. The serpent spoke and walked in an upright position. The One who gave intelligence to man also gave it to the serpent.

^{13th century, France}

והנחש היה ערום מכל חית ה שדה אשר עשה ה' אלוקים, It is in order to ask in what fashion the serpent conversed with Eve. If God had opened the serpent’s mouth by means of a miracle, as He did when Bilaam’s donkey started speaking to him (Numbers 22,28), why did the Torah not report, as it did in that verse that “God opened the mouth of the serpent?” ... The most likely answer to all the points that we have raised is that the serpent was enabled, -miraculously,- on that occasion, to speak in a voice and language Eve could understand, even though the Torah did not write specifically that “God opened its mouth,” as it did in connection with Bilaam. seeing that this represented something far more extraordinary [Bilaam’s donkey speaking, which occurred in a world that was post Gan Eden, as opposed to an idyllic world where such miracles were not out of the ordinary. Besides, Bilaam’s donkey had saved her master from death by opening her mouth, whereas the serpent’s speaking had led to Eve's and her husband’s eventual death. Ed.]