But balaams error and the source of his wickedness came from sabotaging the. Secondly, i will concentrate on balaams presentation in the other books of the bible. Balaam is annoyed by his donkeys behaviour, then astonished when the animal speaks to him. Balaam had wanted to curse the children of israel, to be paid the hire deuteronomy 23. Balaam was killed by the israelites in the days of joshua joshua. Until half a century ago, our only sources for information about the nonisraelite seer balaam were the tanakh and the various traditions derived from it in judaism, 1 christianity, 2 and islam. Balak consequently sends higherranking priests and offers balaam honours.
The events of balaam and balak are found in the bibles book called numbers, chapters 2224. Balaam hired of balak and used of god sermon index. God, however, tells balaam not to curse israel, but instead to say only. Thus, while most of the story of balak and bilam is not unique within the torah, the prophecies of.
Balak tries to recruit the prophet balaam to curse the children of israel in order to weaken them and save moab from impending defeat. Jesus says in his letter to pergamum, but i have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of balaam, who taught balak to put a stumbling block before the children of israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to. Show full abstract theory, septuagint scholarship, qumran studies and early. The presence of nearly 3 million israelites causes the king of moab, balak, considerable discomfort. We find in these chapters the connection of the name of god with the power of satan. Balaam in modern scholarship 55 introduction the reconstruction of wellhausen. Im going to go a little ways away, in case the eternal wants to meet just. Meindert dijkstra suggests that the reticence of ot scholarship to take.
The missing letters will form a new word connected to todays bible story. Balak hired balaam to come and pronounce a curse upon the. Three times balak attempts to force a curse on israel out of balaam s mouth and three times he fails. In a battle between israel and the midianites, balaam was slain while fighting on the side of balak numbers 31. He wants you to curse these people that have recently come up out of egypt. Balaam sends back word that he can only do what yhwh commands, and god has, via a nocturnal dream, told him not to go. What is the doctrine of balaam and of the nicolaitans in. The main story of balaam occurs during the sojourn of the israelites in the plains of moab, east of the jordan river, at the close of 40 years of wandering, shortly before the death of moses and the crossing of the jordan. So balaam went on with the officials of balak num 2236. Book of balaam son of beor inscription at tell deir alla.
Frightened by the fall of the lands of the amorites and bashan, the kings of moab and midian, implacable foes for many generations, united for the purpose of a common attack upon the children of israel. Already in 1877, marcus kalisch, one of the first jewish scholars to engage in the critical study of the bible, noted that the story of balaam s donkey is a late insertion which contradicts the rest of the story, both narratively and ideologically. God raised up moses for israel and balaam for the peoples of the world num. In this text is the fantastic tale of balaam, a pagan prophet, who ultimately is on his way, hired by the king of moab and hes on his way on a mission. Balaam answered balak s consultation and advised that israel could be seduced to worship other gods through sexual activity with foreign women. Balaam might well have thought that he was making progress with god, and that there was good reason to hope that god would change his mind about israel. Verses 114 the king of moab formed a plan to get the people of israel cursed. The doctrine of balaam and balaam s prophecy edition 2. Eventually, however, the deity grants balaam permission to accept balaks assignment. When he arrives, balaam asks balak to build seven altars. Fun for kids to print and learn more about balaam and king balak, mesopotamia, and the twelve tribes of israel israelites. Numbers 24 new english translation net bible balaam prophesies yet again. It is necessary for our purpose to notice the other biblical accounts with respect to balaam, and, first of all, to consider the following passage of deuteronomy.
He is well aware of their military conquests of the nations around. God told balaam, you must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed verse 12. Baal, balak, and balaam 2 christian fables the lord of which the prophet balaam spoke several times before his madness, and if a reminder is needed of how all the stories, histories, and personalities of the bible are given to us of this present generation for examples. Balak, the newly elected king of moab, had been put in. To balak it seemed that the israelites covered the whole earth. The man of the spirit has fallen lower, incomparably lower, than the man of. He had a false notion, that if he could get some prophet to pray for evil upon them, and to pronounce a.
Tan, balak, 1, and believed that in many respects he was greater than moses. Balak tried to engage balaam for the purpose of cursing the migrating israelite community. Balak, the king of moab, summons the prophet balaam to curse the people of israel. The problem of mosaic authorship you never heard of. Balaam, of course, had no power, in himself, to curse israel, but, if god were willing to curse israel, balaam would be rewarded through balak. Balaam told balak, stand by your burnt offering and ill go, and maybe the lord will meet me. But then modern biblical scholarship identifies many cases in the. If the seduction by foreign women is prohibited for israelites, then it is. Ackerman notes the irony of balaams desire in relation to balaams fate. However, balak refuses to take no for an answer, and thinks he can change balaam s prediction if he offers him more money numbers 22. The balaam oracles at qumran 4 q testimonia the damascus document the order of warfare summary the balaam oracles and bar kochba the balaam oracles and the church fathers balaam in the talmud balaam in the quran summary iii. Moab was overcome with stress, because of children of israel.
Balaam refuses the first two times, saying that god has already blessed israel. A note on balaams chimaera harvard dash harvard university. Josephus said, regarding the book of balaam, readers are free to believe whatever they please about the narrative. Read and study carefully numbers 2225 and you will see that almost everything balaam did was right, three times blessing the people of god of. This idea has received a mixed reception within biblical scholarship. King balak of moab is afraid of the israelites, who are numerous and physically close. Summary of biblical text balak, king of moab, is afraid of israel, who are numerous and close.
He was the son of beor who lived in pethor near the euphrates river v. Free bible study notes on numbers 2431 introduction. They must have been real as well, and the events described authentic. Then together they offered a bull and a ram on each of the seven altars. Balak, the baal worshipping king of moab who feared the approaching israelites, sent for the prophet balaam to come and curse the israelites for him. Balaam, hired of balak, and used of god numbers 2224 it is a wonderful thing to see the way in which, through the overruling power of god, the efforts of satan against the people of god only bring them out the more distinctly in their own place of blessing. Secondly, i will concentrate on balaams presentation in the other books of the. Balaam s name becomes a byword and a proverb for almost fiendish profligacy. Sihon, king of the amorites, and og, king of bashan.
The israelites have already defeated two kings in transjordan. Note in the westminster study edition of the holy bible. But balaam, determined to get his pay from balak, counsels balak on a plot to. Balaam was a man who followed the letter of the law of god, but violated the spirit of that law. After balak sent balaam away, balak stayed with the israelites on the plains of moab. Then use sticky notes to cover one or two words of the key passage.
When balaam eventually goes to meet balak, the outcome is not what balak expects. The one to whom balak sent messengers to hire him to come and to curse israel. On the way, balaam is berated by his donkey, who sees, before balaam does, the angel that g. Balaams oracle suggests that this growth would continue, something balak did not want to hear numbers 23. I myself saw the note of balaam, and the following was written in it. The torah records how, after being thoroughly humiliated by his talking donkey, balaam, the nonjewish sorcerer and prophet commissioned by balak king of moab to curse the jews, found himself incapable of cursing them. Balaam apparently tells balak how to defeat israel through seduction. Joshua and caleb aaron and miriam kadesh and barnea balaam and balak 1 points saved true false question 4 in the book of amos gods ultimate justice is an area of focus. When balaam realized he had sinned by traveling to moab, he offered to go back home, but the angel told him to go on to moab, and to say what the angel told him to say.
This strange intercourse between men so different in position and character has come to an end. In the end, balaam counselled balak to use their women to seduce israel so that israel would come to worship the gods of moab and thus god would punish israel. And, of course, if you read out of the king jamesive had it happen before, little kids. Balaam, who wishes to slay a whole people with his words, can only kill his ass with a sword num. It is a whole story nested within a whole story, the smaller referring to the larger, and the larger. Balaam continues to press god, and god finally permits him to go but with instructions to say only what he commands. This chapter discusses the story of balaam, and king balak, as a play within the play. The moabites and midianites, under leadership of their king balak, had. It shows the images with a short description of what is happening in each scene.
Since balaam can only pronounce over israel what the lord gives him, he has so far succeeded only in blessing israel, much to the anger and frustration of balak. On his journey to meet the princes of moab, balaam is stopped by an angel of the lord after beating his donkey. Introduction to the doctrine of balaam what surprises us first of all is that this doctrine of balaam is less a teaching of balaam, albeit example, and more what balaam did and said in rebellion against god. These are the 3 lessons from a donkeyriding prophet that caution us to be more like the donkey than the prophet. In all honesty, ive had a hard time figuring this guy out. God here called elohim appears several times to balaam in a dream and forbids him to curse israel.
Indeed, in the main story, balaam is a prophetic character to be respected, while the supplement lampoons him. Balaam could not curse the people every time he tried to curse, the curse became a blessing talking ass literary and non literary archaeology greatest source of information is the literary. Now if balaam would curse them, then the moabites might go to battle against them and win a. No prophet like moses had risen in israel, but such a one has. Balaam and balak balaam and balak story balaam and balak. Torah discussion on balak was the prophet balaam good or bad. The princes of moab have not told balak that the reason why balaam is refusing to come with them is because hwhy refused to give him permission. Lessons from balaam rick railston january 16, 2016 if i mention the word balaam, most of us think of the talking donkey.
Balaam states that he will utter only what his god yahweh inspires, but he is willing to accompany the moabite messengers to. King balak sends for his prophet twice and balaam barely responds. Balak, the newly elected king of moab, had been put in charge of the plans. Balaams donkey only part of the story of balaam and the balak the king of moab 22. God had told balaam no at first, and yet he later permitted him to go and to meet with balak.
This torah portion, balak, begins with israel camped on the border between the moabites and the amorites, poised to enter the promised land. Open as pdf balaam, hired of balak, and used of god numbers 2224 it is a wonderful thing to see the way in which, through the overruling power of god, the efforts of satan against the people of god only bring them out the more distinctly in their own place of blessing. Misrepresentations 22 the new testament and balaam 22 josephus and balaam 23 philo and balaam 25 jewish tradition and balaam 27 8. In saying that israel was a people dwelling alone, balaam notes its separation by covenant from the rest of the world and to god. The fascinating story of balak and balaam s failed attempts to curse the jewish people is found in numbers 2224. Numbers 2224 tells the story of the pagan prophet balaam heb. Baal, balak, and balaam remember than even though balaams donkey saw the angel of the lord god about to kill them, balaam himself did not at first recognize this danger from god. Balak was king of the moabites and feared what the israelites might do to him and his kingdom.
Pdf balaam counts among the most enigmatic characters within the old. Balaam is universally condemned in the new testament. Balaam is a diviner in the torah old testament whose story begins in chapter 22 of the book. Instead, he bestowed on the jews four tremendous blessings. Build seven altars here, and then get seven bulls and seven rams ready to sacrifice. Balaam was apparently willing to do this but said he needed gods permission verse 8. Numbers 24 net balaam prophesies yet again bible gateway. Ephasus smyrna pergamos thyatira sardis philadelphia laodicea scripture ref. One of the most interesting characters youll ever find in the bible is a guy named balaam. If you read this out of the king james version, instead of the word donkey they use the word ass. Challenge kids to read the key passage, supplying the missing words from memory. Jun 20, 2016 what is the doctrine of balaam and also of the nicolaitans in the book of revelation. And he balaam said to them, lodge here tonight, and i will bring back word to you, as the l ord speaks to me. A note on the visual tradition of balaam and his ass.
Three times, from three different vantage points, balaam attempts to pronounce his curses. The substance of the book of numbers is a major theological statement about the ancient promises, about the congregation included in them, about defilement and the role of intention in defining sin. Balak had confidence in him because of his accuracy in his. When balak sends a larger delegation shortly thereafter, balaam warns the king that. So, three times he sends emissaries to enlist balaam, a nonjewish prophet, to curse israel. Balaam disobeyed god by going with the delegation to meet with balak. Balak sent some of his princes with gifts to entice balaam to come to curse israel. However, when balaam sets out on his donkey, the text says that god was angry because he was going, and so the angel of the lord, arrayed. They saw in him one of the seven prophets who prophesied to the peoples of the world bb 15b.
Balak hebrew for balak, a name, the second word, and the first distinctive word, in the parashah is the 40th weekly torah portion, parashah in the annual jewish cycle of torah reading and the seventh in the book of numbers. When balaam meets balak, he blesses the israelites instead of cursing them. Balak has now nothing to complain of, but that balaam did not come sooner. And balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place. God was angry with balaam because he went to balak numbers 22. Balak, king of moab, called on balaam to curse the israelites because he was afraid. A portion of the deir alla text concerning balaam son of beor. King balak of the moabites or midianites, there was no mention of god, a god, or even of baal who was the god of the moabites, midianites, and much of the people of canaan. Perfect for homeschoolers, sunday school and sabbath school students, teachers and parents. Moses said balaam gave evil counsel that brought a plague on israel numbers 31. Balak recognizes only the power and worldwide reputation of balaam because it was a known fact from syria to assyrian to moab by the jordan that the ones balaam blessed were.
The link is made from the greek text of revelation which can be construed so as to make the link. This weeks audio, video, and teaching notes are posted. If balaam was a real person, what about balak, moses, joshua and all of the other persons named in the biblical narrative. We hold to the letter of gods law but at the same ti. He sees in the battles hitherto fought a weight not belonging to the battalions, a spiritual force that won the victory. But upon consulting with god, balaam blesses the israelites instead of cursing them. On the frontier of moab, balaam was met by balak, to whom he. When balaam tries the third time, it is no different. What follows is the wellknown scene of a talking donkey and a messenger from yahweh blocking balaam on his way to proclaim the curse.
Balaam, who is the wisest of the wise, is bested in a verbal exchange with the most stupid of beasts v. Balak s anger was aroused against balaam, and he struck his hands together. He sends emissaries 3 times to enlist balaam, a nonjewish prophet, to curse israel. The first time balak requests he curse israel, balaam following gods directive responds no.
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