Num 22:34 | NETfull | STEP | Balaam said to the angel of the Lord , “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood against me in the road. So now, if it is evil in your sight, I will go back home.”

Numbers 22:34

34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood against me in the road. ^{▼▼ Balaam is not here making a general confession of sin. What he is admitting to is a procedural mistake. The basic meaning of the word is “to miss the mark.” He now knows he took the wrong way, i.e., in coming to curse Israel.} So now, if it is evil in your sight, ^{▼▼ The reference is to Balaam’s way. He is saying that if what he is doing is so perverse, so evil, he will turn around and go home. Of course, it did not appear that he had much of a chance of going forward.} I will go back home.” ^{▼▼ The verb is the cohortative from “return”: I will return [me].}