Balaam
(B.C. 1451), the son of beor, a man endowed with the gift of prophecy. (Numbers 22:5) He is mentioned in conjunction with the five kings of Midian, apparently as a person of the same rank. (Numbers 31:8) cf. Numb 31:16 He seems to have lived at Pethor, (23:4; Numbers 22:5) on the river Euphrates, in Mesopotamia. Such was his reputation that when the Israelites were encamped in the plains of Moab, Balak, the king of Moab, sent for Balaam to curse them.
Balaam at first was prohibited by God from going. He was again sent for by the king and again refused, but was at length allowed to go. He yielded to the temptations of riches and honor which Balak set before him; but God’s anger was kindled at this manifestation of determined self-will, and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him.
See (2 Peter 2:16) Balaam predicted a magnificent career for the people whom he was called to curse, but he nevertheless suggested to the Moabites the expedient of seducing them to commit fornication. The effect of this is recorded in (Numbers 25:1) ... A battle was afterwards fought against the Midianites, in which Balaam sided with them, and was slain by the sword of the people whom he had endeavored to curse. (Numbers 31:8)
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Balaam
Balaam ba'-lam bil`am, "devourer"): The son of Beor, from a city in Mesopotamia called Pethor, a man possessing the gift of prophecy, whose remarkable history may be found in Nu 22:2 through Nu 24:25; compare Nu 31:8,16; De 23:4; Jos 13:22; 24:9; Ne 13:2; Mic 6:5; 2Pe 2:15; Jude 1:11; Re 2:14. ⇒See a list of verses on BALAAM in the Bible. 1. History: When the children of Israel pitched their tents in the plains of Moab, the Moabites entered into some sort of an alliance with the Midianites. At the instigation of Balak, at that time king of the Moabites, the elders of the two nations were sent to Balaam to induce him, by means of a bribe, to pronounce a curse on the advancing hosts of the Israelites. But, in compliance with God's command Balaam, refused to go with the elders. Quite different was the result of a second request enhanced by the higher rank of the messengers and by the more alluring promises on the part of Balak. Not only did God permit Balaam to go with the men, but he actually commanded him to do so, cautioning him, however, to act according to further instructions. Whi…
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible on Balaam
Nu 22-24. 31»-'«, Dt 2.3* (Neh 13-), Jos 13-- 24''- '", Mie 0», 2 P 2", Jude v.", Rev 2". BALAA^I BALAAM 233 The subject of a very remarkable story in con- nexion with the \van(lerinj;s of the Israelites in the wiiderness. The present narrative has arisen from the combination of several more or less ancient traditions. According to the latest, emliodied in tlie Priestly Code (P), and contained in Nu SI*- '" (eorap. Rev 2"), Halaam was a Midianitish coun- sellor, who persuaded his people to seduce tlie Israelites by means of certain immoral rites. This is probably to be connected with the great sin of Buil-p^or (Nu 2.")), or, to be more accurate, with the affair of Cozbi (25*'-), whicli has been combined with the story of Baalpeor {2.V'^}, the former being connected with the Midianitea, the latter with the Moabites. In revenge for this, Balaam was after- wards slain with the princes of Midian (Nu 31*, Jos IS-^). It has been conjectured that this story arose partly out of a difliculty on the part of the priestly narrator in conceiving ot a heathen bein^jan inspired prophet of God, part…
Fausset's Bible Dictionary on Balaam
(Hebrew balam) "not of the people" (Israel), a "foreigner"; else bilam, "the destroyer of the people," corresponding to the Greek Nicolaos, "conqueror of the people" (Rev 2:14-15), namely, by having seduced them to fornication with the Moabite women (Numbers 25), just as the Nicolaitanes sanctioned the eating of things sacrificed to idols and fornication. The -am, however, may be only a formative syllable. He belonged to Pethor, a city of Aram Naharaim, i.e. Mesopotamia (Deu 23:4). "Balak, the king of Moab" (he says, Num 23:7), "hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the E.," a region famous for soothsayers (Isa 2:6). Pethor, from pathar, "to reveal," was the head quarters of oriental magi, who used to congregate in particular spots (Dan 2:2; Mat 2:1), Phathusae, S. of Circesium. It is an undesigned propriety, which marks the truth of Scripture, that it represents Balak of Moab, the descendant of Lot, as having recourse to a diviner of the land from which Lot came when he accompanied Abraham to Canaan. It was a practice of ancient nations to devote their enemies to destru…
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia