PARASHAT BALAK

Saturday 12^th July                                                 16^th Tamuz 5785

PARASHAT BALAK

Torah: Numbers 22:2-25:9, Haftarah: Micah 5:6-6:8, Gospels: Matthew 21:1-11

Balaam, the Prophet - Was the man who spoke with a donkey good or bad?

So he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, at Pethor, which is near the River. (Numbers 22:5)

Balaam was a renowned prophet. King Balak of the Moabites had heard of his fame, and he was ready to pay handsomely for the prophet’s words of cursing. Balak was so confident in Balaam’s supernatural abilities that he said to him, “For I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed” (Numbers 22:6).

But who is Balaam? A cursory reading of the Balaam story might lead a person to believe that Balaam was a fairly decent fellow. He apparently knew the LORD, consulted with Him and attempted to obey His instructions. Rather than cursing Israel, Balaam blessed Israel three times. He seems to have been a God-fearing person, speaking only what God put into his mouth. He says, “Whatever the LORD speaks, that I must do” (Numbers 23:26).

That impression of Balaam does not match the descriptions of him that arise from traditional Judaism. When commenting on the Balaam story, the sages of Torah seem to have plenty of nasty things to say about Balaam, casting him in the worst possible light. They ascribe all sorts of immorality and lewdness to him. Almost an entire page of the Talmud is dedicated to discussing his wickedness.¹ In those discussions, the sages admitted that they were uncertain about whether or not heathens will have a place in the World to Come, but they were certain that Balaam will not. They said, “Balaam alone will not enter [the World to Come] … the wicked [like Balaam] shall be sent to hell.”²

After reading the Torah portion and comparing the Balaam therein with the Balaam described by the rabbis, you might feel that the traditional characterization of the prophet is slanderous. However, it was not just the rabbis who perceived Balaam as a wicked man.

The apostolic community also had a very low opinion of him. The epistles contain several allusions to Balaam that are no more flattering than the descriptions of the rabbis. Yeshua refers to those who eat food sacrificed to idols and commit acts of sexual immorality as disciples of Balaam.³ Peter compares false prophets with men like Balaam:

Having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet. (2 Peter 2:14–16)

Jude, the brother of the Master, makes a similar comparison. He gives several examples of the worst type of godless people that appear in the Torah, including Cain, Korah, and Balaam, men who “are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire” (Jude 7). Jude says, “Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah” (Jude 11).

The sages and the apostles agree that Balaam was a bad guy. The book of Joshua refers to him as a diviner; that is, a person who uses magic and reads omens and signs.⁴ He was not a prophet of God; he was a sorcerer.

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1.    b.Sanhedrin 105a–b.

2.   b.Sanhedrin 105a.

3.   Revelation 2:14.

4.   Joshua 13:22.