When Balaam smote his ass

First off, I hope everyone is well and hanging in there. I'll confess that I've fallen behind with my reading, though I am almost caught up, but as we approach the gale-force part of the semester, it's been tricky to find time to reflect and post. So I have a few half-composed posts in my brain that I hope to get to soon, but for now, a word on Balaam's ass.

I've always thought this story was partly sad (who beats donkeys, with their sad eyes?) and partly awesome (talking animals!). But I don't think I paid it much mind beyond the fun of the Bible talking about asses and then an animal talking at all. But this time when I read it, it seemed much more profound. What Balaam gets credit for--having the power to effectually bless or curse--has to be redirected to God. And then there's Balaam's powerlessness to curse those whom God has blessed ("How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? Or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?") And his repeated blessing of Israel instead. It's the kind of irony that excites me as a reader. It reminds me of the Haman/Mordecai plot in Esther. But anyway, on this reading, it occurred to me that the talking ass is Balaam's foil. A donkey can speak what God allows him to, but Balaam keeps going off script. The foolish things shame the wise. But in the end, Balaam is repeatedly referred to as "the man whose eyes are open," after he sees the angel barring his good donkey's way. And then there are the references to God, who "brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a unicorn" (Numbers 23:22 and 24:8). And the whole thing ends with a messianic prophecy. What a treat! What a good word about the power of God's favor.