God's anger was kindled because he went— It may seem strange that God should first strictly forbid Balaam to go; should then, secondly, suffer him, and afterwards be angry with him for going. 1. With respect to the first, why he was first forbidden, and then suffered to go, Psalmanazar judiciously remarks, that it was for the greater pomp and grandeur of the thing. Had he been suffered to go with the first messengers, who, as the text intimates, were but few in number, and persons of a lower rank, their report of the extraordinary oppositions which he was to meet with on the way, having no other witness than they and the prophet's two servants, might have been liable to suspicion, and so have failed of making a due impression upon those who had sent him. But when Balak sees himself obliged to send new ones of higher rank, as well as in greater numbers, (who may be supposed to have had a suitable retinue after them, being stiled princes, Numbers 22:15.) these accompanying the prophet all the way, and being eye and ear witnesses of what happened to him in his journey to the land of Moab, can hardly be supposed to have countenanced, much less combined with him to invent a fiction so contrary to his interest and their own sanguine expectations; and as this scene of wonders was to be a kind of prelude to Balak's disappointment, their confirmation of it could not, but give it an unquestionable sanction with the Moabites and Midianites, and add weight to the prophecies which were to follow in favour of the Israelites. But, 2. Why was God angry with Balaam for going with the messengers, when he had permitted him to do so? The common solution which the Jewish and Christian writers give us is, that Balaam flattered himself God had, or might have, been prevailed upon to alter his intentions with respect to the Israelites, either by his sacrifices or enchantments; by which means he should gain considerable preferment, as well, as great reputation among the Moabites. But, if this had been the only cause of God's anger, would he not more probably have suffered him to go on in his fond conceit, and then punished his presumption in the face of Moab and the Midianites, either by forcing him to bless instead of cursing, or by turning his curses into blessings, which would equally have answered his end, without being at the trouble of sending an angel to obstruct his way? It must be owned, that the crime which the angel says to his charge (see the note on Numbers 22:32.) is but obscurely expressed, and, according to most versions and commentators, implies no more than that he had warped or perverted his way before God; i.e. that he either proposed to himself a different issue of this expedition than God had decreed, or that he was mediating on some way to elude or frustrate the Lord's designs, if he should find them contrary to his own and Balak's expectation; or perhaps, lastly, was considering how to palliate the matter with Balak and his people, so as to avoid their resentment in case he did not succeed. In any of which cases, he appears to have had a greater regard to his own credit and interest than to God's commission and design. Where, then, is the improbability of an angel being sent to reprove him for his selfish views, to enjoin him to proceed as he was directed, and to leave the issue of the whole to the Divine Providence? especially as such an extraordinary apparition could not but add a further weight to what he should afterwards be bid to say or do. Bishop Newton, in this view, observes, that the miracle was a proper sign to Balaam, and had a proper effect; and we may the more easily believe it, when we find Balaam afterwards inspired with such knowledge of futurity. It was not more above the natural capacity of the ass to speak, than it was above the natural capacity of Balaam to foretel so many distant events. The prophecies render the miracle more credible; and we shall have less reason to doubt of the one when we see the accomplishment of the other.
He was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him— By which is not meant that he was not alone, separated from the rest of the company; for it is said expressly in the 21st verse, that he went with the princes of Moab, who, doubtless, were witnesses of this extraordinary scene. The difficulty, however, is easily solved, by an attention to the text. God, in the 20th verse, tells Balaam, if the men come to call thee, rise up and go with them. In this 22nd verse it is said, God's anger was kindled because he went: the Hebrew is הוא כיאּהולךֶ ki-holek hu, which may be rendered, because he went of himself; of his own proper inclination, without waiting to be called upon by the messengers of Balak: for we never read that they did call upon him. The Arabic version renders it, the anger of the Lord was kindled against him, because he went out of covetousness.