The story of Balaam

[Eddi]

(((Abrahamic DIR)))

I was not aware of this until yesterday

Indeed I had never heard of Balaam before he came up at bible study when we were looking at Revelations

My favourite part is the talking donkey

But I don't understand why God would choose to have anything to do with Balaam, he is obviously a self-serving rogue

I don't get it

He was a scoundrel, so why would God chose to communicate with him???

Also, he is said to be a "false prophet", yet God speaks to him, so surely if God cares to speak to him then he is a true prophet??? If the definition of a prophet is a person God speaks to???

 

[Gargovic Malkav]

There are several reasons I can think of.
It could mean that people who have been given the gift of prophethood aren't necessarily incorruptible. They still have to make the right choices in order to be a true servant of God.
Another reason could be that this shows that God's authority isn't just limited to the Israelites, but that He truly has power over all people, and that He can use the enemies of His people to His peoples' advantage.

 

[Harel13]

Also, he is said to be a "false prophet"

I'm pretty sure that in the original Hebrew he isn't called a false prophet.

He was a scoundrel, so why would God chose to communicate with him

There's a midrash that says that God gave the non-Jews a prophet so they wouldn't be able to say to Him "Had you given us a prophet, we would not have done so many bad things!"

As to why He gave them an evil prophet, well, if you look at the story, the really evil thing Bilam did was recommend to the Moabites and Midianites to send their daughters out to Israel to entice them to sin. Let's look at other bad things he did in the story:
a. Going to curse the Nation of Israel - this wasn't his idea; this was Balak's idea, and Balak wanted this done because he was scared of the Israelites. Upon hearing what the messengers had to say, Bilam first asked for permission from God. Bilam was in it for the money and honor. Sure, low, but...
b. Hitting his donkey - yeah, cruel, sure, but I don't know if that's enough to be considered a really evil person.
c. Actually attempting to curse the Israelites - yeah that's bad, but he was also aware of the fact that everything he's doing is by the will of God. He thought he was allowed to do it, or at least convinced himself he was allowed to do it.

However, when all is said and done, while Bilam had several character flaws, the real problem seems to not be Bilam, merely an individual bad guy, but that the nations used him for bad purposes. Instead of asking him to teach them how to be better and serve God, they wanted solutions to destroying the Israelites.

 

[dybmh]

But I don't understand why God would choose to have anything to do with Balaam, he is obviously a self-serving rogue

It's not something that can be easily explained without looking at the Hebrew. But put simply, your intuition is correct. The infinite G-d of Abraham is not the God who is involved closely with him. In the Hebrew it's a lesser divine power, but this is not made clear in the english.

To see this for yourself, you would need to compare the Hebrew names for G-d/God in the story.

According to legend, it's the same divine power used by the Egyptian sorcerers to mimic turning the staff into a serpent in the Exodus story.

 

[Brickjectivity]

I don't get it

The Christian writer Jude (1 page long) refers to Balaam's action as a well known fault that they call "Balaam's Error" and also call it the "Way of Cain" and "Korah's Rebellion." Apparently they think what Balaam did was to create a faction.

What I think is that Balaam is extremely popular and has huge gatherings. He is respected by the leaders everywhere. He's solves difficult problems. He's sought after for advice and to settle issues.

In this and other ways Balaam is a foil to Moses. Moses is unpopular, a poor speaker, a murderer, considered by other nations to be a troublemaker, ashamed of his life, at times suicidal, given a wife when he was a big zero wandering around as a lone shepherd, then even his wife despised him. He never made anything of himself. He's very much the opposite of Balaam.

Both men have an anger problem. In frustration, Balaam punches his animal. Moses gets frustrated with the Israelites, hits things, breaks things and makes irrational decisions.

The main difference is that Balaam gives advice on how to corrupt Israel. This does a lot of damage, so much damage that it is theoretically still being repaired.

 

[RabbiO]

It's not something that can be easily explained without looking at the Hebrew. But put simply, your intuition is correct. The infinite G-d of Abraham is not the God who is involved closely with him. In the Hebrew it's a lesser divine power, but this is not made clear in the english.

To see this for yourself, you would need to compare the Hebrew names for G-d/God in the story.

I do not think you will find this to be the common Jewish interpretation.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

But I don't understand why God would choose to have anything to do with Balaam, he is obviously a self-serving rogue

What made this obvious to you?

 

[Kenny]

(((Abrahamic DIR)))

I was not aware of this until yesterday

Indeed I had never heard of Balaam before he came up at bible study when we were looking at Revelations

My favourite part is the talking donkey

But I don't understand why God would choose to have anything to do with Balaam, he is obviously a self-serving rogue

I don't get it

He was a scoundrel, so why would God chose to communicate with him???

Also, he is said to be a "false prophet", yet God speaks to him, so surely if God cares to speak to him then he is a true prophet??? If the definition of a prophet is a person God speaks to???

I think the calling of God remains on a person no matter what he does with the calling. Yes, he did speak on behalf of God and, at the least, he was obedient in saying what God said.

As in another case of a prophet, God will use people even if their character is not as good as it should be.

Does that mean there is hope for you and me?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

The main difference is that Balaam gives advice on how to corrupt Israel. This does a lot of damage, so much damage that it is theoretically still being repaired.

Would you please share the Bible verses you have in mind?

 

[Brickjectivity]

Would you please share the Bible verses you have in mind?

From Jewish scripture the evidence is circumstantial, however here is the layout:

After Israel is preserved from Balaam's attempts to curse them, the Moabites begin to entice the men to get them to combine with them in their sacrifices. This results in a terrible plague in which many Israelites die. Numbers 25:18 says this was a plot involving Kozbi the daughter of Zur the Midianite.

Numbers 25:11 says that if Phinehas had not killed Kozbi, all of the Israelites would have been completely wiped out. This was therefore an extinction level threat.

This is same Zur the father of Kozbi who gets killed along with 4 other Midianite leaders plus Balaam, all at the same time with Phinehas leading the assault. (Numbers 35:18)

Because Balaam was killed along with these 5 leaders it appears circumstantially he knew very well what was up and was behind the enticement program at Peor. He couldn't curse Israel, but perhaps he knew they could be corrupted or possibly allied with. This attempt at alliance was what caused the plague.

***********************
Here are the Christian writings which claim that Balaam is definitely behind the plot at Peor:
Whether that is the case or not the Christian writers give strong opinions about it.

Revelation 2:4 claims Balaam teaches Balak to entice the Israelites.

Jude includes Balaam with Korah and Cain along with anyone who slanders people they don't understand.

 

[dybmh]

I do not think you will find this to be the common Jewish interpretation.

Not common, but still valid

Are you familiar with this? chabad.org - Why is G‑d Called "Elokim"?

"... the many forces of nature. They called these "Elohim"—meaning, "mighty forces."
"That's why, as the Biblical commentator Baal HaTurim points out, the Hebrew letters in the name Elohim have the same gematria (numerical value) as "haTeva"—which means the natural order."​

If you take a look at the story, ( Numbers 22 ), Elokim ( mighty forces ) is the divine power utilized by Balaam. The best example is verse 9.

וַיָּבֹ֥א אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶל־בִּלְעָ֑ם וַיֹּ֕אמֶר מִ֛י הָאֲנָשִׁ֥ים הָאֵ֖לֶּה עִמָּֽךְ׃
God came to Balaam and said, “What do these people want of you?”​

Specifically in regards to the talking donkey, it is an Angel of G-d, not G-d that is involved in the story.

As I said previously, G-d is not closely involved with Balaam according to Torah.

 

[RabbiO]

Specifically in regards to the talking donkey, it is an Angel of G-d, not G-d that is involved in the story.
.

Go back to the Torah, to Bamidbar, chapter 22. It doesn't say an angel of G-d. It says angel of (tetragrammaton). Further, it is (tetragrammaton) who causes the donkey to speak, opens Balaam's eyes.

 

[dybmh]

Go back to the Torah, to Bamidbar, chapter 22. It doesn't say an angel of G-d. It says angel of (tetragrammaton). Further, it is (tetragrammaton) who causes the donkey to speak, opens Balaam's eyes.

Agreed. I was using G-d as short-hand for the tetragrammaton. I'll be more clear next time.

And both of these examples show that the tetragrammaton is not closely associating with Balaam. Speaking to him through a donkey is a sign of disrespect.

Then later in the story the tetragrammaton puts words in Balaam's mouth just like the donkey.