The Hired Seer Needs His Eyes Opened

“The plains of Moab” is arvot Moav, the flat steppe north of the Dead Sea on the eastern side of the Jordan. Israel stays here for the rest of Numbers and all of Deuteronomy. “On this side Jordan” is literally “beyond the Jordan”, spoken from the western bank.

Balak probably means “one who lays waste”, and Zippor means “bird”. Joshua 24:9 and Micah 6:5 remember him by name: “remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted”.

Two verbs of fear: “sore afraid” is gur, to dread, and “distressed” is quts, a revulsion mixed with dread, the word of Exodus 1:12, where the Egyptians “were grieved because of the children of Israel”. Moab feels what Egypt felt.

Midian’s elders appear beside Moab’s. The aside “king of the Moabites at that time” suggests a reign tied to its moment, and Jewish tradition made Balak a Midianite prince raised to the throne for the emergency.

Pethor is usually identified with Pitru on the Euphrates, “the river”, south of Carchemish, some four hundred miles away. A plaster inscription found at Deir Alla in Jordan, from about 800 BC, names “Balaam son of Beor, a seer of the gods”.

“Curse” is arah, a binding curse. The archaic “I wot” means “I know”. Balak’s creed about blessing and cursing sounds like God’s promise to Abram in Genesis 12:3, “I will bless them that bless thee”, credited here to a hired man.

“Rewards of divination” is qesamim, fees for divining; qesem is among the practices Deuteronomy 18:10 bans in Israel. Joshua 13:22 later calls Balaam “the soothsayer”, haqqosem, from the same root.

Balaam expects his answer by night, as God came to Abimelech and to Laban in dreams (Genesis 20:3; 31:24). He promises to report what the LORD says, using Israel’s own divine name, YHWH.

God opens with a question, as he did with Adam (Genesis 3:9) and Cain (4:9), asking what he already knows. The name used is Elohim, God; the chapter moves between God and the LORD in Balaam’s dealings.

Balaam gives Balak his full style, son of Zippor, king of Moab, as a professional would name a royal client. The verse only introduces the quotation that fills the next one.

Balaam’s version of the message sharpens it. Balak said arah in verse 6; Balaam says qavah, a word for cursing that literally means to hollow out or pierce. Balak hoped to “smite” Israel; Balaam has him hope to “fight against them”.

The answer is three short clauses in Hebrew: lo telekh, lo taor, ki barukh hu. “Blessed” is a passive participle, barukh: Israel already stands blessed before Balaam leaves home.

“Refuseth to give me leave” is literally “refuses to give me to go”, as though Balaam were the LORD’s to release. He dismisses the princes with the first word of his own reply: “Get you into your land.”

Only the princes of Moab carry the answer back. The elders of Midian named in verse 7 drop out of the chapter after that verse, and Midian does not return until the women of 25:6.

“More, and more honourable” is literally “many and heavy”: the Hebrew root kaved means both weight and honour. The second embassy is judged by count and rank, as though the obstacle were the size of the first.

“Let nothing hinder thee” uses mana, to withhold, the verb Jacob used to Rachel in Genesis 30:2: “who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?” The king treats the refusal as a mere obstruction to be cleared.

“Promote thee unto very great honour” doubles the verb of honour, kabbed akhabbedkha, “honouring I will honour thee”. “Whatsoever thou sayest” is a blank cheque, and the reply turns on the words “say” and “do”.

Balaam names a figure in refusing, a house full of silver and gold, which Rashi read as a man who had already thought about the price. “Less or more” is literally “small or great”. He calls the LORD “my God”.

“Tarry ye also” means “you too”, as the first embassy did. “What the LORD will say unto me more” is literally “what he will add to speak”, a second answer to a question already settled. Deuteronomy 23:5 recalls that the LORD “would not hearken unto Balaam”.

The second night vision repeats the first. The limit is about action as well as speech: “the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do”.

“Rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass” is almost exactly Genesis 22:3, where Abraham sets out for Moriah, and like Abraham Balaam has two servants with him (verse 22). The rabbis set the two journeys side by side.

“For an adversary” is lesatan, “as a satan”, the word before it became a name: an opposer standing in the road. “Because he went” is a participle, “because he was going”, the journey itself the cause.

The ass sees first. The angel of the LORD with drawn sword appears again to Joshua near Jericho (Joshua 5:13) and to David at the threshing floor (1 Chronicles 21:16). “Into the field” is the open ground off the road.

“A path of the vineyards” is mishol, a narrow hollow lane between walls. Vineyards were enclosed with stone walls against animals, as in Isaiah 5:5 and Proverbs 24:31.

“Crushed” is lachats, to squeeze or press, the verb of Exodus 3:9 for the “oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them”. The ass has nowhere to go but the wall, and Balaam’s foot is between.

The spaces narrow: open field, walled lane, and now no room “to the right hand or to the left”, the words Israel used in promising Edom to keep to the road (20:17). This time there is no road to keep to.

“Fell down” is rabats, to lie down as an animal crouches, the verb Genesis 4:7 uses of sin lying at the door. This third time Balaam beats her “with a staff”, maqqel.

“Three times” is shalosh regalim, literally “three footfalls”, the phrase later used for the three pilgrim feasts (Exodus 23:14). The only other animal in Scripture given speech is the serpent of Genesis 3.

“Mocked” is hitallel, to make a fool of, the verb of Exodus 10:2, where the LORD says what he has “wrought in Egypt”, the sport he made of it. The wish for a sword is spoken while a sword stands ahead of him.

“Was I ever wont” is from sakhan, to be accustomed or serviceable: “have I ever made a habit of this?” Balaam’s whole reply is one Hebrew word, lo, “No”, and it is the last thing he says to her.

“Bowed down his head, and fell flat” pairs the two verbs of prostration used by Abraham’s servant at the well in Genesis 24:26. The seer is put on his face by the sight the ass had seen three times.

“Withstand” is lesatan again, to be an adversary, repeating verse 22. “Perverse” is yarat, a rare verb whose sense is uncertain, perhaps “reckless” or “headlong”, a way rushed at.

The Hebrew “surely now also I had slain thee” means “by now I would already have killed you”. The angel’s reckoning uses Balaam’s own count, “these three times”, from the other side of the sword.

“I have sinned” is chatati, the confession of Pharaoh in Exodus 9:27 and of Saul in 1 Samuel 15:24. “If it displease thee” is literally “if it be evil in thine eyes”, the phrase used of Moses in 11:10.

The angel repeats the command of verse 20 almost word for word but changes one verb: there it was “that shalt thou do”; here “that thou shalt speak”. The limit now falls on Balaam’s mouth.

“A city of Moab” is Ir Moav, perhaps the Ar of 21:15, on the Arnon at the very frontier. Balak goes out to the edge of his kingdom to receive his guest.

“Earnestly send” doubles the verb, “sending I sent”. Balak’s question uses yakhol, “able”, a word that runs through the chapter, from his hope in verse 6 that he “shall prevail” to Balaam’s answer in the next verse.

“Have I now any power at all” doubles the verb of ability, “being able am I able”, answering Balak’s “am I not able” in the same word. “Putteth in my mouth” is the language of Deuteronomy 18:18: “will put my words in his mouth”.

Kirjath-huzoth means “city of streets” or “town of the outskirts”, and has not been identified. Balaam “went with” Balak, the phrase used of his going with the princes in verses 21 and 35.

“Offered” is zavach, to slaughter for a feast, and the meat is sent to Balaam and the princes as a meal of welcome. Numbers 25:2 uses the same word when Moab calls Israel “unto the sacrifices of their gods”.

“The high places of Baal” is Bamoth-baal, listed among the towns of Reuben in Joshua 13:17; the Mesha Stele names a Beth-bamoth rebuilt by Moab’s king. “The utmost part” is qetseh, the edge: he is shown only the fringe of the camp.