Balaam (Numbers 22:5–7; Numbers 22:12; Numbers 22:18–20; Numbers 22:28–35; Numbers 23:7–10; Numbers 23:19–20; Numbers 24:2–5; Numbers 24:10–13; Numbers 24:17; Numbers 31:8; Numbers 31:16; Deuteronomy 23:4–5; Joshua 13:22; Joshua 24:9–10; Micah 6:5; 2 Peter 2:15–16; Jude 1:11; Revelation 2:14)

Son of Beor, of Pethor by the River

Balaam the son of Beor, sent for from Pethor by Balak king of Moab to curse Israel, who met the angel of the LORD in the way, spoke oracles that blessed Israel, and was slain with the kings of Midian; Moses later spoke of the counsel of Balaam at Peor.

Balak king of Moab, afraid of Israel camped in the plains of Moab, “sent messengers unto Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River … to call him” (Numbers 22:5). The elders of Moab and Midian came “with the rewards of divination in their hand” (Numbers 22:7). God told Balaam, “Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people; for they are blessed” (Numbers 22:12). Balak sent more honorable princes, and God then said, “If the men are come to call thee, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt thou do” (Numbers 22:20). On the road “God’s anger was kindled because he went” (Numbers 22:22), and the donkey he rode saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way.

From the high places of Baal, from Pisgah, and from the top of Peor, Balaam spoke what the LORD put in his mouth. Of the first oracle he said, “How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?” (Numbers 23:8), and at the third “the Spirit of God came upon him” (Numbers 24:2). Balak’s anger was kindled: “I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times” (Numbers 24:10). Balaam’s last parables looked on to “a star out of Jacob” (Numbers 24:17), and he “returned to his place” (Numbers 24:25). Later, Israel slew “the kings of Midian … Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword” (Numbers 31:8); Joshua calls him “Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer” (Joshua 13:22). Moses said of the Midianite women, “these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Jehovah in the matter of Peor” (Numbers 31:16).

Deuteronomy, Joshua, Nehemiah and Micah all recall him (Deuteronomy 23:4-5; Joshua 24:9-10; Nehemiah 13:2; Micah 6:5). Deuteronomy says Moab “hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. Nevertheless Jehovah thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but Jehovah thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee” (Deuteronomy 23:4-5). The New Testament names him three times: “having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the hire of wrong-doing” (2 Peter 2:15); “ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire” (Jude 1:11); and “some that hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication” (Revelation 2:14).

Strengths

• Speaks the word the LORD puts in his mouth
• Confesses sin when his eyes are opened

Weaknesses

• Loved the hire of wrong-doing
• His way perverse before the angel
• Anger kindled against the donkey
• Counsel that caused Israel to trespass at Peor

Themes

• Hired to curse
• The word God puts in the mouth
• Blessing, not cursing
• The star out of Jacob
• Peor
• The way of Balaam

Balak sends for Balaam (Numbers 22:1–7)

Balak king of Moab, afraid of Israel in the plains of Moab, sends the elders of Moab and Midian with the rewards of divination to call Balaam from Pethor to curse the people.

God forbids, then bids him go (Numbers 22:8–21)

God forbids Balaam to go or to curse; Balak sends more honorable princes with the promise of great honor, and God then bids him go with them, to speak only the word He gives.

God forbids, then bids him go

Balaam told the princes of Moab to lodge there that night, “and I will bring you word again, as Jehovah shall speak unto me” (Numbers 22:8). “And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people; for they are blessed” (Numbers 22:12). In the morning he said to the princes, “Get you into your land; for Jehovah refuseth to give me leave to go with you” (Numbers 22:13).

“And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honorable than they” (Numbers 22:15), promising, “I will promote thee unto very great honor, and whatsoever thou sayest unto me I will do” (Numbers 22:17). Balaam answered, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Jehovah my God, to do less or more” (Numbers 22:18). Yet he added, “Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what Jehovah will speak unto me more” (Numbers 22:19).

“And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men are come to call thee, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt thou do. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab” (Numbers 22:20-21). The text does not say why he asked a second time.

The angel and the donkey (Numbers 22:22–35)

God’s anger is kindled because he went; the angel of the LORD stands in the way, the donkey turns aside three times and is smitten, and the LORD opens her mouth and then Balaam’s eyes.

The angel and the donkey

“And God’s anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of Jehovah placed himself in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him” (Numbers 22:22). Three times the donkey saw the angel and turned aside, lay against the wall, or lay down, and three times Balaam smote her; the third time “Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with his staff” (Numbers 22:27).

“And Jehovah opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me, I would there were a sword in my hand, for now I had killed thee” (Numbers 22:28-29).

“Then Jehovah opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of Jehovah standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face” (Numbers 22:31). The angel said, “I am come forth for an adversary, because thy way is perverse before me” (Numbers 22:32). Balaam said, “I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again” (Numbers 22:34). The angel answered, “Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak” (Numbers 22:35). Peter later writes that “a dumb ass spake with man’s voice and stayed the madness of the prophet” (2 Peter 2:16).

Seven altars and the first oracle (Numbers 22:36–23:12)

Balak meets Balaam at the border of Moab and brings him up to the high places of Baal; Balaam has seven altars built and speaks a first oracle that blesses Israel instead of cursing.

Seven altars and the first oracle

Balaam said to Balak, “have I now any power at all to speak anything? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak” (Numbers 22:38). Balak “brought him up into the high places of Baal” (Numbers 22:41), and Balaam said, “Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams” (Numbers 23:1). Then he went to a bare height, and “Jehovah put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak” (Numbers 23:5).

“How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? And how shall I defy, whom Jehovah hath not defied?” (Numbers 23:8). He called Israel “a people that dwelleth alone” (Numbers 23:9), and said, “Let me die the death of the righteous, And let my last end be like his!” (Numbers 23:10).

“And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether. And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Jehovah putteth in my mouth?” (Numbers 23:11-12).

The second and third oracles (Numbers 23:13–24:9)

Balak takes him to Pisgah and then to the top of Peor; Balaam says God is not a man that he should lie, and, with the Spirit of God upon him, speaks of Israel’s goodly tents.

Balak’s anger and the star out of Jacob (Numbers 24:10–25)

Balak smites his hands together and bids Balaam flee to his place; Balaam says he can speak only what the LORD speaks, takes up his parable of a star out of Jacob and of Amalek, the Kenite and Kittim, and returns to his place.

Slain with the kings of Midian (Numbers 31:1–8; Joshua 13:22)

The LORD bids Moses avenge Israel on the Midianites; Israel slays every male, and the five kings of Midian, and Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.

The counsel of Balaam at Peor (Numbers 31:14–16; Numbers 25:1–3)

Moses, wroth with the officers, says the Midianite women caused Israel to trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor through the counsel of Balaam.

The counsel of Balaam at Peor

Numbers 25 tells of Peor: “Israel abode in Shittim; and the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab … And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel” (Numbers 25:1-3). That chapter does not name Balaam.

The link is made in Numbers 31. After the war, “Moses was wroth with the officers of the host” (Numbers 31:14), and said, “Have ye saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Jehovah” (Numbers 31:15-16). The text does not record the counsel itself. Revelation speaks of “the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication” (Revelation 2:14).

Balak king of Moab (Numbers 22:5–6; Numbers 24:10–11)

Sent for Balaam to curse Israel, took him to three places to see the people, and sent him away, saying the LORD had kept him back from honor.

The elders and princes of Moab and Midian (Numbers 22:7–8; Numbers 22:21)

Came to him with the rewards of divination in their hand, and went with him when God bade him go.

Israel (Numbers 22:6; Numbers 24:5–9; Numbers 31:8; Numbers 31:16; Deuteronomy 23:4)

The people he was hired against to curse and blessed instead; through his counsel they trespassed at Peor, and they slew him with the sword.

The LORD (Numbers 22:12; Numbers 23:5; Joshua 24:10)

Forbade him to curse, put the word in his mouth, and would not hearken unto Balaam.

The angel of the LORD (Numbers 22:22–35)

Placed himself in the way for an adversary and bade him speak only the word given him.

Major sections

• Numbers 22–24
• Numbers 25:1–9
• Numbers 31:1–16
• Deuteronomy 23:3–6
• Joshua 13:22
• Joshua 24:9–10
• 2 Peter 2:15–16

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