Numbers 22:26

וַיּוֹסֶף מַלְאַךְ־יְהוָה עֲבוֹר וַֽיַּעֲמֹד בְּמָקוֹם צָר אֲשֶׁר אֵֽין־דֶּרֶךְ לִנְטוֹת יָמִין וּשְׂמֹֽאול׃

✦ Hebrew interlinear

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✦ The same verse in five languages

Hebrew

וַיּ֥וֹסֶף מַלְאַךְ־יְהוָ֖ה עֲב֑וֹר וַֽיַּעֲמֹד֙ בְּמָק֣וֹם צָ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֛ר אֵֽין־דֶּ֥רֶךְ לִנְט֖וֹת יָמִ֥ין וּשְׂמֹֽאול׃

Greek (Septuagint)

καὶ προσέθετο ὁ ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἀπελθὼν ὑπέστη ἐν τόπῳ στενῷ, εἰς ὃν οὐκ ἢν ἐκκλῖναι δεξιὰν οὐδὲ ἀριστεράν.

Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0

Latin (Vulgate)

et nihilominus angelus ad locum angustum transiens, ubi nec ad dexteram, nec ad sinistram poterat deviare, obvius stetit.

Spanish

El ángel de Yehová se adelantó otra vez y se paró en un paso tan estrecho que no había forma de hacerse ni a la derecha ni a la izquierda.

Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)

Y el ángel de Jehová pasó más allá, y púsose en una angostura, donde no había camino para apartarse ni á diestra ni á siniestra.

English

And the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn to the right or left.

✦ What the text says

Summary

The verse describes the angel of Yehovah moving further ahead and taking position in a narrow passage, a place with no room to turn either right or left. This sets up the confrontation that follows in the narrative involving Balaam's donkey.

Key words

va-yYosef ("he increased/added", H3254) — hiphil (causative) verb functioning as an idiom meaning "he did again" or "he proceeded further"; it signals repetition of the angel's action of moving/blocking.
mal'akh ("angel/messenger of", H4397) — masculine singular construct noun, linking to Yehovah to form "the angel/messenger of Yehovah."
abor ("to pass on", H5674) — qal infinitive, describing the action that yosef modifies: the angel "added to pass on," i.e., went further along.
tzar ("narrow", H6862) — masculine singular adjective describing maqom ("place"), specifying the physical constraint of the location.
lintot ("to turn aside", H5186) — qal infinitive with prefixed preposition li-, expressing purpose or possibility ("a way to turn"), negated by ein ("there not").

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative construction va-yYosef... abor, literally "and he added to pass on," an idiomatic Hebrew pattern using the hiphil of yasaf ("to add/increase") plus an infinitive to express repeated or continued action — here rendered by most translations as "moved on further" or "passed on again." The subject is mal'akh-Yehovah, "the angel/messenger of Yehovah," in construct form. A second narrative verb, va-yya'amod ("and he stood", H5975), follows, marking the angel's next action: taking a stationary position be-maqom tzar, "in a narrow place."

The relative clause asher ein-derekh li-ntot yamin u-semol describes this place using a construct chain: ein ("there is not") plus derekh ("way") forms a negated existential clause — "there was no way." The infinitive lintot ("to turn aside") with the paired nouns yamin ("right") and semol ("left") specifies what kind of way is absent: room to deviate to either side. This grammatical structure — negation + infinitive of purpose — conveys the total lack of alternative routes, reinforcing the physical narrowness already stated by the adjective tzar.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text identifies the figure as mal'akh-Yehovah, "the angel of Yehovah," while the LXX renders this as ὁ ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ, "the angel of God," substituting theos for the divine name. The Vulgate opens with "nihilominus" ("nonetheless"), which conveys continuation but does not directly reflect the Hebrew idiom of yosef + infinitive ("he added to pass on"); instead it frames the clause as a contrast with the preceding verse.

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.