BALAAM, a prophet in the Bible. Balaam, the son of Beor, was a Gentile seer ; he appears in the history of the Israelites during their sojourn in the plains of Moab, east of Jordan, at the close of the forty years' wandering. Balak, king of Moab, alarmed by their conquests, sent for Balaam to curse Israel; Balaam came after some hesitation, but when he sought to curse Israel Yahweh compelled him to bless them.
The main passage concerning Balaam (Num. xxii.–xxv.) consists of a narrative containing seven oracular poems of unequal length and is doubtless based on ancient traditions.
The narrative is held to be compiled with editorial additions from the two ancient sources commonly denoted by the sym bols J and E (on which see BIBLE: Old Testament). The distribu tion of the material between the two documents is uncertain; but some such scheme as the following is not improbable. The refer ences to portions the origin of which is especially uncertain are placed in parentheses 0 ) whilst restorations of supposed omissions are given in brackets [].
(i) J.—xxii. 3b-7 (omitting "to Pethor . . . river") II, 17 fr.). Balak, king of Moab, alarmed at the Israelite conquests, sends elders of Moab and Midian to Balaam, son of Beor, to the land of Ammon (seq. versions) to induce him to come and curse Israel. He sends back word that he can only do what Yahweh commands.
xxii. 22-34a, 36a. Nevertheless Balaam sets out with two ser vants, but the angel of Yahweh meets him. At first the angel is seen only by the ass, which arouses Balaam's anger by its efforts to avoid the angel. The ass is miraculously enabled to speak to Balaam. Yahweh at last enables Balaam to see the angel, who tells him that he would have slain him but for the ass. Balaam offers to go back, but is told to go on.
Speaking animals are a common feature of folklore; the only other case in the Old Testament is the serpent in Eden. Some scholars regard the statements about the ass speaking as figura tive ; but the ordinary literal interpretation is more probable. It does not follow, however, that the authors of the Pentateuch intended the story to be taken as historical in its details.
xxii. 36, 39; xxiv. 1, 2, 10-14, 25. Balak meets Balaam and they go together (and offer sacrifices) ; Balaam, however, blesses Israel; Balak remonstrates, but Balaam reminds him of his message and again blesses Israel. Then Balaam goes home. (For the relation of the poems to J's narrative, see below.) (ii.) E.—xxii. 2, 30, 5b "to Pethor, which is by the river," 8–so, 12-16, 19-21, 35, 36b-37a, 38. Balak, king of Moab, alarmed at the conquests of Israel, sends the princes of Moab to Balaam at Pethor on the river, that he may come and curse Israel. Some scholars take "river" (nahar) as the "river" (better "ravine" na Iial) of Egypt to the south of Judah. But "river" used absolutely means the Euphrates, and Pethor can be identified with Pitru near Carchemish, mentioned in an inscription of Shalmaneser III. Deut. xxiii. 4 places Pethor in Mesopotamia.
God appears in a dream and forbids him to go. The princes return and report to Balak, who sends them back to Balaam. God in another dream permits him to go, on condition that he speaks what God tells him. He goes with the princes of Moab. Balak meets them, and Balaam warns him that he can only speak what God tells him.
xxii. 40, 41; xxiii. i-6, 11–i 7. Balak offers sacrifices, but Yah weh inspires Balaam with a blessing on Israel. Balak remonstrates and Balaam explains. They try to get a more favourable result by sacrificing on a different spot, but he is again compelled to bless Israel. After further remonstrances and explanations [Balaam goes home] . (For the relation of the poems to E's narrative, see below.) Deut. xxiii. 3-6 summarizes E's account of this incident, adding, however, the feature that the Ammonites were associated with the Moabites. Joshua, in his farewell speech to the Israelites (Josh. xxxiv. 9, 10. E) also refers to this episode. The Priestly Code (Num. xxxi. 8, 16) has a different story of Balaam, in which he advises the Midianites how they may bring disaster on Israel by seducing the people from their loyalty to Yahweh. Later on he is slain in battle, fighting in the ranks of Midian.
The Poems fall into two groups: the first four, in xxiii. 1.–xxiv. 19, are by most critics regarded as ancient lyrics which J and E inserted in their narrative.
The first two are found in an E setting, and therefore, if an cient, formed part of E. The First, xxiii. 7-1o, prophesies the unique exaltation of Israel, and its countless numbers. The Sec ond, xxiii. 18-24, celebrates the moral virtue of Israel, the mon archy and its conquests.
The second couple are connected with J. The Third, xxiv. 3-9, also celebrates the glory and conquests of the monarchy. Agag, in verse 7, can hardly be the Amalekite king of I Sam. xv. ; Amalek was too small and obscure. Og has been suggested, but does not seem a great improvement. The Fourth, xxiv. 14-19, announces the coming of a king, possibly David, who shall conquer Edom and Moab.
The remaining poems are usually regarded as later additions. The Fifth, xxiv. 20, deals with the ruin of Amalek. It is of uncer tain date; if the historical Amalek is meant, it may be early; but Amalek may be symbolical. The Sixth, xxiv. 21 f., deals with the destruction of the Kenite state by Assyria; also of uncertain date, Assyria being according to some, the ancient realm of Nineveh, according to others the Seleucid kingdom of Syria. The Seventh, xxiv. 23 f., speaks of the coming of ships from the West, to attack Assur and "Eber"; it may refer to the conquest of Persia by Alex ander the Great.
In the New Testament Balaam is cited as a type of avarice (II. Pet. ii. 16, 17; Jude 1 1 ). In Rev. ii. 14 we read of false teachers at Pergamum who held the "teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication." Balaam has attracted much interest, alike from Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans. Josephus paraphrases the story and speaks of Balaam as the best prophet of his time, but with a disposition ill adapted to resist temptation. Philo describes him in the Life of Moses as a great magician. The later Targums and the Talmud represent him as a typical sinner; and there are the usual worth less Rabbinical fables, e.g., that he was blind of one eye. There are also similar fables in Mohammedan writers. It has been con jectured that the Arabic wise man, commonly called Luqman (q.v.), is identical with Balaam. The names of their fathers are alike, and "Luqman" means devourer, swallower, a meaning which might be got out of Balaam by a popular etymology.
If we might accept the various theories mentioned above, Balaam would appear in one source of J as an Edomite, in another as an Ammonite; in E as an Aramaean; in the tradition followed by the Priestly Code probably as a Midianite. All these peoples either belong to the Hebrew stock or are closely connected with it. We may conclude that Balaam was an ancient figure in traditions originally common to all the Hebrews and their allies, and after wards appropriated by individual tribes.
The chief significance of the Balaam narratives for the history of the religion of Israel is the recognition by J and E of the genu ine inspiration of a non-Hebrew prophet. Yahweh is as much the God of Balaam as he is of Moses. Probably the original tradition goes back to a time when Yahweh was recognized as a deity of a circle of connected tribes of which the Israelite tribes formed a part. But the retention of the story without modification may imply a continuous recognition through some centuries of the idea that Yahweh revealed his will to nations other than Israel.