Balaam thus set out with two servants to go to Balak, but an Angel tried to prevent him.

The Rabbis, playing on the name Balaam, call him " Belo ' Am " ( without people ; that is, without a share with the people in the world to come ), or " Billa ' ' Am " ( one that ruined a people ); and this hostility against his memory finds its climax in the dictum that whenever one discovers a feature of wickedness or disgrace in his life, one should preach about it ( Sanh.

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.

Balak met with Balaam at Kirjath-huzoth, and they went to the high places of Baal, and offered sacrifices at seven altars, leading to Balaam being given a prophecy by God, which Balaam relates to Balak.

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.

Balak meets with Balaam at Kirjat Huzoth, and they go to the high places of Baal ( Biblical Hebrew: בעל ), and offer sacrifices on seven altars, leading to Balaam being given a prophecy by Yahweh, which he speaks to Balak.

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.

In this literature, Balaam gradually acquired a position among the non-Jews, which was exalted as much as that of Moses among the Jews ( Midrash Numbers Rabbah 20 ); at first being a mere interpreter of dreams, but later becoming a magician, until finally the spirit of prophecy descended upon him ( ib.

According to a negative view of Balaam in the Talmud, Balaam possessed the gift of being able to ascertain the exact moment during which God is wroth — a gift bestowed upon no other creature.

Philo describes him as a great magician in the Life of Moses ; elsewhere he speaks of " the sophist Balaam, being ," i. e. symbolizing " a vain crowd of contrary and warring opinions " and again as " a vain people " — both phrases being based on a mistaken etymology of the name Balaam.

The tribes of Israel are described as being visible from the peak, but nevertheless, Balaam refused to curse them, and continued to offer blessings ( 24: 1-9 ).

The name Balaam is perhaps capable of being interpreted as a Hebrew equivalent of the Greek Nicolas.

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

Later in the Bible, within the account of the war against the Midianites, Balaam is described as being amongst those killed for committing the heresy of Peor, implying that Balaam was one of those who had joined themselves to Baal Peor.

Balaam also boasted of being one who saw " the vision of the Almighty " ( Num.

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.

Balaam had the knowledge of the Most Sacred Name of God, and whatever he asked of God was granted to him.

However, the prophecy blesses Israel ; Balak remonstrated, but Balaam reminded him that he can only speak the words put in his mouth, so Balak taook him to another high place at Pisgah, to try again.

However, the prophecy blesses Israel ; Balak remonstrates, but Balaam reminds him that he can only speak the words put in his mouth, so Balak takes him to another high place at Pisgah, to try again.

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.

Balaam advances riding on a gorgeously caparisoned ass ( a wooden, or hobby, ass, for the rubric immediately bids somebody to hide beneath the trappings — not an enviable position when the further direction to the rider was carried out — " and let him goad the ass with his spurs ").

Moab consequently sent higher ranking priests and offers Balaam honours, and so God tells Balaam to go with them.

According to Numbers 31: 16 and St. John ( Revelation 2: 14 ), Balaam returned to King Balak and informed the king on how to get the Israelites to curse themselves by enticing them with prostitutes and unclean food sacrificed to idols.

Moab consequently sends higher ranking priests and offers Balaam honours ; Balaam, in his coveteousness, continues to press God, and God finally gives him over to his greed and permits him to go but with instructions to say only what he commands.

Due to his behavior with the Midianites, the Rabbis interpret Balaam as responsible for the behavior during the Heresy of Peor, which they consider to have been unchastity, and consequently the death of 24, 000 victims of the plague which God sent as punishment.

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.

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.

In 1967, at Deir Alla, Jordan, archaeologists found an inscription apparently containing a previously unknown prophecy by Balaam written in a previously unattested dialect with Aramaic and South Canaanite characteristics and employing an idiosyncratic script.

Balak was a king of Moab described in the Book of Numbers in the Hebrew Bible for his dealings with Balaam.

To this group belong the blessing of Noah ( Genesis 9: 25-27 ), of Isaac ( 27: 28-29 and 39-40 ), and of Jacob ( 49: 3-27 ); Jethro's congratulation of Israel ( Exodus 18: 10 ); the blessing of Aaron ( Numbers 6: 24-26 ) and of Balaam ( 23: 7-10, 18-24, 24: 5-9, 24: 17-24 ); Moses ' farewell ( Deuteronomy 33: 1 and following ); the psalms that begin with " Ashre " = " Blessed is ," etc., or contain this phrase, as Psalms 1, 41, 84: 5 and following, 84: 13, 112, 119, 128.

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

The Kenites journeyed with the Israelites to Canaan (); and their encampment, apart from the latter's, was noticed by Balaam.

In the vision of Balaam recorded in the Book of Numbers 24: 4 and 16, the vision comes from Shaddai along with El.

Likewise, the Elohist describes Jacob actually wrestling with God ; later, it features the tale of Balaam and his divinely talking donkey, although this is often considered a tale that was accidentally added to the manuscript, as it appears quite unconnected to the rest of the work.

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.

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.

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.

Having finished his sacrifices, Balaam views the Israelites on the plain below, and although hired to curse them, pronounces a blessing over them, prophesying their blessed nature and destruction of Moab.

There is an inference that after Balaam failed to curse the Israelites directly, he instructed King Balak as to how Moab could persuade the Israelites to curse themselves.

The first was his uncle Titus, who was blamed for the destruction of the Second Temple ; the second was the seer Balaam, hired by Balak king of Moab to curse Israel ; and the last was Yeshu, a name used for those who sought to lead Jews astray to idolatry, in particular an idolatrous former student of Rabbi Joshua ben Perachiah in the Hasmonean period as well as king Manasseh of Judah.

J skips over chapter 15 and resumes at chapter 16, the story of the rebellion of Dathan and Abiram, which is combined, very badly, with a twin version from P. J provides chapters 21 to 24, covering the story of the bronze serpent, Balaam and his talking ass, and rebellion in Moab, finishing, after skipping some chapters provided by P, with the provision of land to the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Mannasseh.