Balaam's Ass: is a Jenny.

Let me begin with a little background.

Talking animals:

It is common for animals to talk to humans in folklore. The bible, however, does not typically portray talking animals. In fact only two do so. The first was the serpent that tempted the woman in the Garden of Eden. The second was Balaam’s ass.

What kind of animal:

While older translations referred to Balaam’s animal as an ass modern speech translations seem to prefer the term donkey. The modern scientific name for this latter critter is: Equus asinus.

Jack or Jenny?

Scripture refers to Balaam’s donkey in the feminine gender: making his donkey a Jenny and not a Jack. So it was female.

Animal Traits:

Students of animal behavior have noted that certain animals like cattle are without depth perception and are therefore extremely nervous about ledges which also accounts for their unwillingness to cross a cattle guard. Donkeys in comparison with horses are slower and less powerful, but they are extremely intelligent animals. Donkeys are exceptionally strong, patient, and persistent animals and make excellent pack animals. Horses are much more high strung, i.e. in times of panic or danger they will run away, donkeys, however, will simply freeze when frightened. Donkeys also have a strong sense of survival and if they deem something as dangerous they simply won’t do it, hence they don’t make steeplechasers.

What makes this Story and Animal Important?

Balaam was a hired gun type of soothsayer. Soothsayers were in the entourage of the wealthy. They never spoke against their patrons (you do not bite the hand that feeds you). They instead prophesied against the foes of their patron. In this case Balaam was being hired by a paranoid King Balak to curse Israel.

Balaam surprises us because he is in contact with God who speaks to him in a dream. Balaam is not shocked so either he has had some on-going relationship with God or he is an equal opportunity prophet open for business with any and all higher powers, or both. Clearly Balaam is not dedicated to God. In the closing books of the New Testament it is clear that his character was thought to be crooked. He was a wheeler-and-dealer using Spiritual Formation as his gig.

The ass had never spoken before and had no record of ever having spoken again. Her behaviorial track record to which Balaam gives ascent was as a loyal, dedicated, obedient, hard working beast of burden.

The only reason she breaks her silence is she is empowered by God to do so. What she says seems to arise to a great degree from her own character. Surely she warns Balaam for his life, but she does even that in a clearly self-serving context; protecting herself and making a plea for her own fair-treatment. In this there is also a self-righteousness quality.

My take-away:

I am not a “dumb animal” albeit in this moment in her story neither was Jenny. On the other hand, scripture states that the righteous man has regard for the life of his beast. So, too, I want to be a man of Godly compassion for all of God’s creatures and creation.

I am not female. I do, however, owe it to both Jenny and the other half to try to be more sensitive to a female worldview when I speak in her voice.

I do not want to be self-righteous nor to sound self-righteous. I am reminded that when we read that passage about the Pharisee, you know, the one that stood in the temple and prayed his haughty prayer - thanking God that he was not like this publican, etc.... that we are very often guilty in that same moment of “thanking God that we are not like that Pharisee – and in doing so become exactly what we despise. Lord help me be more humble and aware of my sin.

I do not want to be self-serving however I think that might well be at least somewhat unavoidable. I learned along time ago that we all say, preach, and teach what we want to hear and that which edifies ourselves for the most part. I must accept that I am guilty of that too.

If someone has already said what I am saying then I want to say something else and let their message be enough. I do not need to have nor to air an opinion on every topic – just to see myself in print.

I do not want to be harsh, strident, nor merely alarmist. Jenny did not speak until the last minute, albeit in this case the timing must have been God’s, duh. Perhaps, I might speak best when God has seemed to open a door for me, too. Otherwise like Jenny I should remain quiet/mute.

Thanks for letting me share. I will try to use this as a guide for myself..

In the name of Balaam’s Ass, Jenny