No creature can precisely know this moment, except for the wicked prophet Balaam, about whom the Torah says, “one who knows the mind of the Supreme One.” But how could that be? Balaam did not even know the mind of an animal!
When the Moabite emissaries saw Balaam riding on a donkey, they asked him, “Why do you not ride a horse?” He answered, “Usually I ride a horse. Today I am riding a donkey for the first time, because I put my horses in the marshland to graze.”
The she-donkey then said to him, “Am I not your she-donkey?” Balaam said, “To carry loads.” She however replied, “That you have ridden on me.” He said “Occasionally,” and she replied, “All your life until this day! And not only that, but I provide you with riding by day and with marital acts at night!”
Rather, Balaam knew the moment when God is angry, and was trying to say the word כלם “destroy them”, at this moment, and it became מלך - king – in his mouth.
Art: Eduardo Zamacois y Zabala - Taming The Donkey
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