SON OF BEOR OF PETHOR; "THE SOOTHSAYER" (JOSHUA 13:22) AND "THE PROPHET" (2 PETER 2:16) · EXODUS & WILDERNESS

Balaam. Hired to curse Israel, he spoke only the word God put in his mouth, and blessed them.

SCRIPTURE CALLS

Prophet

ERA

Exodus & wilderness c. 1450–1400 BC

IN THE DAYS OF

Balak

BOOK

None bears the name

HOW THE WORD CAME

Numbers 22 · The first night

THE CALL

Called, as three accounts tell it

“Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.”

Numbers 22:12 (KJV) →

HOW THE WORD KEPT COMING

  • "God came unto Balaam" by night; later "God met Balaam" and "the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth". Numbers 22:9 Numbers 22:20 Numbers 23:4–5 Numbers 23:16
  • Twice, after Balak had built seven altars at his word and offered on them, Balaam went aside to meet the LORD. The third time "he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments", and "the spirit of God came upon him". Numbers 23:1–3 Numbers 23:14–15 Numbers 23:29–30 Numbers 24:1–2
  • He calls himself "the man whose eyes are open", who "heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open". Numbers 24:3–4 Numbers 24:15–16
  • The messengers brought "the rewards of divination"; Joshua calls him "the soothsayer"; 2 Peter calls him "the prophet". Numbers 22:7 Joshua 13:22 2 Peter 2:16
  • From the textThe KJV of 2 Peter 2:15 calls his father "Bosor"; every other verse that names his father reads "Beor". 2 Peter 2:15 Numbers 22:5 Deuteronomy 23:4

BEFORE THE KINGS

Before Balak, king of Moab

RULER

Balak, king of Moab

“If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.”

Numbers 22:18 (KJV) →

THE MESSAGE

The word in its main themes

First parable: a people that dwells alone

“How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?”

Numbers 23:8 (KJV) →

“Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!”

Numbers 23:10 (KJV) →

Second parable: God is not a man

“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it?”

Numbers 23:19 (KJV) →

“Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.”

Numbers 23:20 (KJV) →

Third parable: the tents of Jacob

“How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!”

Numbers 24:5 (KJV) →

“Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.”

Numbers 24:9 (KJV) →

Fourth parable: a Star out of Jacob

“I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel”

Numbers 24:17 (KJV) →

Last parables: Amalek, the Kenites, Asshur and Chittim

“Alas, who shall live when God doeth this!”

Numbers 24:23 (KJV) →

THE WORD TO …

To whom the word was spoken

TO BALAK

“the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.”

Numbers 22:38 (KJV) →

TO MOAB

“and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.”

Numbers 24:17 (KJV) →

TO EDOM AND SEIR

“And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly.”

Numbers 24:18 (KJV) →

TO AMALEK

“Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever.”

Numbers 24:20 (KJV) →

TO THE KENITES

“Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.”

Numbers 24:22 (KJV) →

TO ASSHUR AND EBER

“And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.”

Numbers 24:24 (KJV) →

SIGNS

Signs and wonders

WONDER

The ass and the angel

SIGN

Seven altars on three heights

COMPANIONS AND OPPONENTS

Who stood with him, and against him

Balak

The elders of Moab and Midian

Five kings of Midian

HOW THE STORY ENDS

Scripture says, tradition says

SCRIPTURE SAYS

  • "And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way." Numbers 24:25
  • In the war on Midian, "Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword". Joshua repeats it: "Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword". Numbers 31:8 Joshua 13:22
  • Moses says of the Midianite women, "these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor". Numbers 31:15–16
  • Deuteronomy shuts Ammon and Moab out of the congregation partly "because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee", and goes on, "Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee". Nehemiah reads the same law aloud: "howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing". Deuteronomy 23:3–5 Nehemiah 13:1–2
  • Joshua gives the LORD’s words: Balak "sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you: But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still". Joshua 24:9–10
  • Micah calls Israel to "remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD". Micah 6:5
  • 2 Peter speaks of "the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness"; Jude of those who "ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward"; Revelation of "the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication". 2 Peter 2:15–16 Jude 1:11 Revelation 2:14

TRADITION SAYS

No tradition is recorded here.

OPEN QUESTIONS

Where readers have differed

A sorcerer and false prophet, compelled by God

Philo, Ambrose and Augustine, as reported by Keil (1871)

Keil reports that these writers saw him as "a wizard and false prophet, devoted to the worship of idols", who was made "against his will" to bless instead of curse.[7]

A true prophet who fell through covetousness

Tertullian and Jerome, as reported by Keil (1871)

Keil reports that these writers took him for "a genuine and true prophet, who simply fell through covetousness and ambition".[7]

A soothsayer to whom God gave true words

Keil (1871), following Hengstenberg and Kurtz

Keil holds that Balaam practised soothsaying "as a trade", yet knew and confessed the LORD, so that "without being really a prophet, he was able to give utterance to true prophecies from Jehovah". He points to "the soothsayer" in Joshua 13:22 and the enchantments of Numbers 24:1.[7]

A figure of poetry more than of history

Gray (1903)

Gray holds that "the story of Balaam as told in Numbers is largely poetic rather than historical"; the names Balaam and Balak "may have attached to historical individuals", but whether they belonged to the age of Moses "we are in no position to affirm".[15]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 13

Numbers 22 Numbers 23 Numbers 24 Numbers 25 Numbers 31 Deuteronomy 23 Joshua 13 Joshua 24 Nehemiah 13 Micah 6 2 Peter 2 Jude 1 Revelation 2

PASSAGES · 12

Numbers 22:1–24:25 Numbers 25:1–3 Numbers 31:8 Numbers 31:15–16 Deuteronomy 23:3–6 Joshua 13:21–22 Joshua 24:9–10 Nehemiah 13:1–2 Micah 6:5 2 Peter 2:15–16 Jude 1:11 Revelation 2:14

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Numbers 25 tells of Israel at Peor without naming Balaam. Numbers 31:16 names him "in the matter of Peor"; Revelation 2:14 says he "taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel", without naming Peor.
  • Numbers 24:25 says Balaam "returned to his place"; Scripture does not say how he came to be among the Midianites when he was killed (Numbers 31:8).
  • Matthew’s magi speak of "his star" (Matthew 2:2) but Matthew does not cite Numbers 24:17.
  • Kirjath-huzoth, where Balak feasted him (Numbers 22:39), is not in the site’s atlas.

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 1 (Genesis; Exodus 1–11) (1864), pp. 451–452 (Exodus 4:14–16).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 1 (Genesis; Exodus 1–11) (1864), p. 472 (Exodus 6:28–7:7).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 2 (1872 printing) (1872), p. 56 (Exodus 15:19–21).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), pp. 70–71 (Numbers 11:24–30).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), pp. 75–76 (Numbers 12:1–3).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), p. 136 (Numbers 20:22–29); pp. 244–245 (Numbers 33:30–33 and Deuteronomy 10:6).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), pp. 158–161 (Balaam and his prophecies, introduction).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), p. 165 (Numbers 22:5).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), pp. 168–169 (Numbers 22:20–22).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), pp. 192–194 (Numbers 24:17–18).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), pp. 394–396 (Deuteronomy 18:15–19).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), p. 492 (Deuteronomy 32:48–52); pp. 517–518 (Concluding remarks on the composition of the Pentateuch).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth (1872 printing of the 1865 translation) (1872), p. 308 (Judges 5:1).
  • George Foot Moore, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Judges (International Critical Commentary) (1895), pp. 130–132 (Judges 5, the date and author of the song).
  • George Buchanan Gray, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Numbers (International Critical Commentary) (1903), p. xlvi (Introduction §15).
  • George Buchanan Gray, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Numbers (International Critical Commentary) (1903), pp. 113–115 (Numbers 11:25–29).
  • George Buchanan Gray, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Numbers (International Critical Commentary) (1903), pp. 120–121 (Numbers 12:1).
  • George Buchanan Gray, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Numbers (International Critical Commentary) (1903), pp. 325–326 (Numbers 22:5).
  • George Buchanan Gray, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Numbers (International Critical Commentary) (1903), pp. 332–333 (Numbers 22:22).
  • George Buchanan Gray, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Numbers (International Critical Commentary) (1903), pp. 369–371 (Numbers 24:17–18).
  • S. R. Driver, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Deuteronomy (International Critical Commentary) (1895), p. xxvii (Introduction §3) and pp. xlv–xlvi (Introduction §4, the date of Deuteronomy).
  • S. R. Driver, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Deuteronomy (International Critical Commentary) (1895), pp. 119–120 (Deuteronomy 10:6–7).
  • S. R. Driver, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Deuteronomy (International Critical Commentary) (1895), pp. 228–229 (Deuteronomy 18:15–19).
  • A. F. Kirkpatrick, The First Book of Samuel (Cambridge Bible for Schools) (1884), Introduction, ch. I, §§2–4 (the title, the author and the sources).
  • A. F. Kirkpatrick, The First Book of Samuel (Cambridge Bible for Schools) (1884), p. 219 (note on 28:11) and Appendix, Note VIII, pp. 244–245.
  • Origen, tr. Frederick Crombie, Against Celsus, book 1 (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4) (1885), 1.59–60.
  • Origen, tr. Frederick Crombie, De Principiis (On First Principles), book 3 (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4) (1885), 3.2.1.
  • Tertullian, tr. Peter Holmes, A Treatise on the Soul (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3) (1885), ch. 57.
  • Jerome, tr. W. H. Fremantle, G. Lewis and W. G. Martley, Against Vigilantius (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 6) (1893), ch. 5.
  • J. B. Lightfoot and J. R. Harmer (eds. and trs.), The Apostolic Fathers (one-volume edition): The Shepherd of Hermas (1891), introduction, pp. 293–294; Vision 2.3, p. 409.

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