Every ancient reference to Balaam considers him a non-Israelite, a prophet, and the son of Beor, though Beor is not so clearly identified.

Balaam refused to speak what God didn't speak and would not curse the Israelites, even though King Balak of Moab offered him money to do so.

Even though God intervenes and makes Balaam deliver blessings instead of curses, it's clear that Balaam was normally a prophet for hire.

The episode is mentioned in the Talmud ( Tractate Sotah ): Balaam gives evil advice urging Pharaoh to kill the Hebrew male new-born babies ; Jethro opposes Pharaoh and tells him not to harm the Hebrews at all, and Job keeps silent and does not reveal his mind even though he was personally opposed to Pharaoh's destructive plans.

Therefore he sent elders of Moab, and of Midian, to Balaam ( apparently a powerful and respected prophet ), son of Beor ( Bible ), to induce him to come and curse the Israelites.

Balak, king of Moab ( Numbers 22: 2 ), consequently becomes alarmed, and sends elders of Midian and his messengers ( Numbers 22: 4-5 ), to Balaam, son of Beor, to induce him to come and curse Israel.

Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open ...

It is often supposed that the name given for a king of Edom, Bela, son of Beor, is a corruption of Balaam, and that, therefore, this reference actually points to Balaam as having once been an Edomite king.

The Moabites were to be excluded from the assembly of worshipers, because: “ They did not come to meet you with food and drink when you were on your way out of Egypt, and even hired Balaam, son of Beor, to oppose you by cursing you .” ( Deuteronomy 23: 3-5 ) The Israelites were allowed to harass Moab, but were forbidden to wage war on them, so they defeated Midian as a result of the advice that Balaam gave that led to a plague in punishment for the worship of idols at Baal Peor.

While Balaam is described as a son of Beor, Beor is never himself identified, and the close phonetic similarity to Peor is noticeable.

If Beor and Peor are one and the same, then son of Beor merely identifies Balaam as being a prophet of Baal Peor.

* And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain ; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.

The capitals of the columns depict Lazarus coming out of his tomb between Martha and Mary ; Abraham about to sacrifice his son ; and Balaam on his ass being stopped by a sword-wielding angel.

In rabbinic literature Balaam is represented as one of seven gentile prophets ; the other six being Beor ( Balaam's father ), Job, and Job's four friends ( Talmud, B.

At first the Angel is seen only by the ass Balaam is riding.

After Balaam started to punish the ass for refusing to move, it is miraculously given the power to speak to Balaam, and it complains about Balaam's treatment.

At this point, Balaam was allowed to see the angel, who informed him that the ass is the only reason the Angel did not kill Balaam.

Balaam immediately repented, but is told to go on.

The story of Balaam in Numbers 22, describes a non-Jewish prophet who honors God and refuses to curse Israel and who is generally presented favorably.

In Numbers 22 is the story of Balaam and the talking donkey.

Joseph H. Hertz, a 20th century Jewish biblical commentator, writes that these verses " depict the continuance on the subconscious plane of the mental and moral conflict in Balaam's soul ; and the dream apparition and the speaking donkey is but a further warning to Balaam against being misled through avarice to violate God's command.

Balaam ( Hebrew: ב ִּ ל ְ ע ָ ם, ) is a diviner in the Torah, his story occurring towards the end of the Book of Numbers ( Hebrew: במדבר ).

Balaam thus, without being asked again, sets out in the morning with the princes of Moab and God becomes angry that he went, and the Angel of the Lord ( Numbers 22: 22 ) is sent to prevent him.

At first the angel is seen only by the donkey Balaam is riding, which tries to avoid the otherwise invisible angel.

After Balaam starts punishing the donkey for refusing to move, it is miraculously given the power to speak to Balaam ( Numbers 22: 28 ), and it complains about Balaam's treatment.

At this point, Balaam is allowed to see the angel, who informs him that the donkey is the only reason the angel did not kill Balaam.

Balaam immediately repents, but is told to go on.

With God's protection taken from him, Balaam is later listed amongst the Midianites who were killed in revenge for the " matter of Peor ", which is where Balaam showed King Balak how to trap the Israelites so that God might destroy them.

The Talmud also recounts a more positive view of Balaam, stating that when the Law was given to Israel, a mighty voice shook the foundations of the earth, so much so that all kings trembled, and in their consternation turned to Balaam, inquiring whether this upheaval of nature portended a second deluge ; the prophet assured them that what they heard was the voice of God, giving the sacred law to the Israelites ( Talmud, Zeb.

Josephus paraphrases the story more so, and speaks of Balaam as the best prophet of his time, but with a disposition ill adapted to resist temptation.

In both of these verses, Balaam is cited as an example of a false prophet motived by greed or avarice.

Zoroaster, the founder and first prophet of that religion, who is said to have told his people how to recognize the Saviour at the right moment, is identified with Balaam.

An ancient Aramaic inscription, found at Dier Alla, identifies Balaam as a prophet of Shamash, a semitic sun-god, and consequently, it could well be the case that the unidentified Baal of Peor is Shamash.

* Balaam, a prophet in the Torah

They are called the sons of Balaam, the unwitting prophet of Peor.

The story proceeds from that of the prophet Balaam, in which he ascends the mountain of Pe ‘ or, and makes sacrifices to God from atop it.

Balaam is described as building altars at several of the high places of Moab, including at Peor, without ever criticising any Moabite religion occurring at those locations, entirely plausible if Balaam was a prophet of a Moabite god.

The " false prophet " Balaam was killed, along with the five Midianite kings.

" In the Book of Numbers, Chapter 23, Mount Pisgah is listed as one of several locations from which the Moabite King, Balak, tries unsuccessfully to persuade the prophet Balaam to curse Israel.

If this reflects the god that El refers to in the biblical text concerning Balaam, and the connection between Balaam and Baal Peor is accurate, then Baal Peor can be identified as Shamash.

Balaam sent back word that he could only do what God commands, and God has, via a dream, told him not to go.

Balaam sends back word that he can only do what YHWH commands, and God has, via a nocturnal dream, told him not to go.