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53-518: Displeased with the immorality with which the Moabites and Midianites had successfully tempted the Israelites ( Numbers 25:1–9 ) to inter-marry and to worship Baal-peor , Phinehas personally executed an Israelite man and a Midianite woman while they were together in the man's tent, running a javelin or spear through the man and the belly of the woman, bringing to an end the plague sent by Yahweh to punish

106-475: A pseudonym for Jesus in Jewish literature. Balaam's father Beor was a son of Laban . The Book of Jasher reports that Balaam's sons were Jannes and Jambres . Balaam's exclamation, "How good are your tents, O Jacob, your tabernacles, O Israel!", was taken by later generations of Jews as the basis of the liturgical prayer Ma Tovu . Balaam is reviled as a "saviour(in terms of prophet)" in several places in

159-520: A 12,000-strong Israelite army against the Midianites to avenge this occasion. Among those slain in the expedition were five Midianite kings, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, and also Balaam , son of Beor. According to the Israelite roll-calls, the Israelites did not lose a man in the expedition. Phinehas son of Eleazar appears again in the book of Joshua . When the tribes of Reuben and Gad , together with

212-743: A blessing and a prophecy in succession. Agag , mentioned in the third poem, is described as a great king, which does not correspond to the king of the Amalekites who was named Agag , and described in 1 Samuel 15 , since that description considers Amalek to be small and obscure. While the Masoretic text of the poem uses the word Agag , the Septuagint , other Greek versions, and the Samaritan Pentateuch all have Gog . These names are consequently considered textual corruptions, and Og has been suggested as

265-456: A covenant of peace and the covenant of an everlasting hereditary priesthood. The Christian book of Revelation mirrors this sentiment. Revelation describes Jesus as speaking to one of seven Christian churches: "Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality ." Giving

318-451: A more elaborated version of events, the 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus asserts that Balaam sent for Balak and the princes of Midian and told them that, if they wished to bring evil upon Israel, they would have to make the Israelites sin. Balaam advised that they send the most beautiful women to seduce the Israelites to idolatry. This strategy succeeded, and soon many of the Israelites had been seduced. Phinehas later led

371-447: A prophet in the Bible. In both the inscription and the Bible, Balaam is a prophet whose utterances determine the fate of nations. However, other details of the stories are different. According to the inscription, Balaam wakes up weeping and tells his people that the gods appeared to him in the night telling him about a goddess threatening to destroy the land. She is to cover the sky and reduce

424-701: A saint on 1 July and 1 March. The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates him as a saint on 12 March (25 March on the New Calendar ). Moabites Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.151 via cp1112 cp1112, Varnish XID 395586243 Upstream caches: cp1112 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:52:27 GMT Balaam Balaam ( / ˈ b eɪ l æ m / ; Hebrew : בִּלְעָם , romanized :  Bīlʿām ), son of Beor ,

477-640: Is a historical reference to ancient Nineveh or a prophecy, which some religious commentators consider refers to the Seleucid Empire , which also took the name "Assyria". The seventh is also ambiguous and may either be a reference to the Sea Peoples or, in the view of some religious commentators, to the conquest of the Achaemenid Empire by Alexander the Great . In the view of some schools of textual criticism,

530-411: Is allowed to see the angel, who informs him that the donkey's turning away from the messenger is the only reason the angel did not kill Balaam. Balaam immediately repents, but is told to go on. Balak meets with Balaam at Kirjat Huzoth , and they go to the "high places of Baal ", and offer sacrifices on seven altars, leading to Balaam being given a prophecy by Yahweh , which He speaks to Balak. However,

583-546: Is an ancestor of Matitiyahu . Pinechas is the name of the 41st weekly Parashah or portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the eighth in the book of Numbers . The beginning of this parashah tells the judgement of Phinehas son of Eleazar; the end of the previous parashah tells of his zealous act. The Hebrew expression "One who acts like Zimri and asks for a reward as if he were Phinehas" ( עושה מעשה זמרי ומבקש שכר כפנחס ‎) refers to hypocrites who ask for undeserved rewards and honors. It derives from

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636-597: Is later listed among the Midianites who were killed in revenge for the "matter of Peor". Joshua 13:22 records that Balaam died "by the sword" during a battle for the Reubenite occupation of Moabite land. In total, Balaam's prophecies consist of seven (Hebrew) poems: The poems fall into three groups. The first group consists of two poems which characteristically start immediately. The third group of three poems also start immediately, but are much shorter. The second group, however, consists of two poems which both start: Balaam

689-622: Is that of a dog: if you chase it away, it pants, and if you leave it, it ˹still˺ pants. This is the example of the people who deny Our signs. So narrate ˹to them˺ stories ˹of the past˺, so perhaps they will reflect. The Muslim commentators explain that Bal'am bin Ba'ura ( Arabic : بلعام بن باعوراء ) was a Canaanite who had been given knowledge of some of the books of God . His people asked him to curse Moses ( Musa ) and those who were with him, but he said, "How can I curse one who has angels with him?" They continued to press him, however, until he cursed

742-462: The Amorites , and Og , king of Bashan . Balak , king of Moab , consequently becomes alarmed and sends elders of Midian and his Moabite messengers, to Balaam, son of Beor, to induce him to come and curse Israel. Balaam's location, Pethor , which is now located in the region of northern Syria and southeastern Turkey is simply given as "which is by the river of the land of the children of his people" in

795-608: The Babylonian Talmud ( Sotah , Ch.22, p. 2), where it is attributed to the Hasmonean King Alexander Jannaeus (see Hebrew Misplaced Pages עושה מעשה זמרי ומבקש שכר כפנחס ‎). In some traditions (for example in the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan ) Phinehas is identified with Elijah . This identification apparently arose during the first century A.D. The Roman Catholic Church commemorates him as

848-711: The Heresy of Peor . Numbers 31:16 blames this on Balaam's advice and because of his culpability in the incident, which resulted in deadly divine judgements against the Israelites who participated, he was eventually killed in a retaliatory battle against Midian in Numbers 31:8. Deuteronomy 23:3–6 summarises these incidents, and further states that the Ammonites were associated with the Moabites. Joshua , in his farewell speech, also makes reference to it. With God's protection taken from him, Balaam

901-623: The Israelites , and, as a consequence, they remained 40 years in the Wilderness of the Wanderings. Then, when he had cursed Moses, his tongue came out and fell upon his breast, and he began to pant like a dog. The story as told by Tabari is somewhat more Biblical . Balaam had the knowledge of the Most Sacred Name of God , and whatever he asked of God was granted to him. The story of Balaam and

954-525: The Masoretic Text and the Septuagint . The Samaritan Pentateuch , Vulgate , and Peshitta all identify his land as Ammon . Balaam sends back word that he can only do what YHWH commands, and God has, via a nocturnal dream, told him not to go. Balak consequently sends higher-ranking priests and offers Balaam honours; Balaam continues to press God, and God finally permits him to go but with instructions to say only what He commands. Balaam then sets out in

1007-513: The New Testament , where he is cited as a type of avarice; for example in Book of Revelation 2:14 we read of false teachers at Pergamum who held the "teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication". Balaam has attracted much interest, alike from Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Josephus paraphrases

1060-482: The half-tribe of Manasseh , depart to take possession of their lands beyond the Jordan , they build a great altar on the other side; the remainder of the Israelites mistake this for a separatist move to set up a new religious centre, and send Phinehas to investigate. According to Joshua 24:33 , Phinehas owned land in the mountains of Ephraim, where he buried his father. In addition to these episodes, Phinehas appears as

1113-583: The Balaams of the Old and New Testaments, claiming that Beor is Balaam's father and Bezer is Balaam's home town. The story is also referred to in chapter 10 of 2 Meqabyan , a book considered canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church . In his commentary on Matthew's Gospel , Dale Allison associates the magi who visited the infant Jesus (Matthew 2) with Balaam, in that both Balaam and

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1166-547: The Elohist describes Balaam giving two blessings, making sacrifices on seven altars, at the high places of Baal, before each, then deciding not to "seek enchantments" after the third set of sacrifices, but to "set his face upon the wilderness," which Balak views as a third blessing, and so Balaam then gives the three final predictions of fate. Conversely, in the Jahwist source, Balaam arrives, the spirit of God comes upon him, and he delivers

1219-453: The Israelites for sexually intermingling with the Midianites. Phinehas is commended by Yahweh in Numbers 25:10–13, as well as King David in Psalm 106 ( Psalms 106:28–31 ) for having stopped Israel's fall into idolatrous practices brought in by Midianite women, as well as for stopping the desecration of Yahweh's sanctuary. After the entry to the land of Israel and the death of his father, he

1272-493: The Israelites from the peak. The Spirit of God comes upon Balaam and he delivers a third positive prophecy concerning Israel. Balak's anger rises to the point where he threatens Balaam, but Balaam merely offers a prediction of fate. Balaam then looks upon the Kenites , and Amalekites and offers two more predictions of their fates. Balak and Balaam then go to their respective homes. Later, Numbers 25:1–9 describes how Israel engaged in

1325-607: The Jews; at first being a mere interpreter of dreams, but later becoming a magician, until finally the spirit of prophecy descended upon him. According to a negative view of Balaam in the Talmud , Balaam possessed the gift of being able to ascertain the exact moment during which God is angry—a gift bestowed upon no other creature. Balaam's intention was to curse the Israelites at this moment of wrath, and thus cause God himself to destroy them; but God purposely restrained His anger in order to baffle

1378-459: The Moabite chieftain, Balak , to curse the Israelites. Balaam failed to do so, as Yahweh put words in his mouth of blessing for Israel, instead (the first prayer said by Jews as part of their daily prayer service comes from this exact text). Having failed to curse them, Balaam left for his own country. The Book of Numbers asserts a direct connection between Balaam and the events at Peor, stating that

1431-549: The Moabites "caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the L ORD in the matter of Peor". Moses gave orders to kill all the idolaters, yet Zimri , the son of the Israelite prince Salu from the Tribe of Simeon , openly defied Moses and publicly showed his opinion to those standing at the Tabernacle entrance with Moses by going in to Cozbi ,

1484-519: The Name and his faith. This being done, they went out from him in the form of a white dove. The Baghdadi historian Al Masudi said in his book Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems that Balaam ben Beor was in a village in the lands of Shem (Canaan), and he is the son of Baura(Beor) ben Sanur ben Waseem ben Moab ben Lot ben Haran (PUT), and his prayers were answered, so his folks asked him to pray against Joshua ben Nun but he could not do it, so he advised some of

1537-630: The age of 33, and it is stated that he had no portion in the world to come. The book devotes a special section to the history of the prophet discussing why God has taken away the power of prophecy from the Gentiles. The Talmud states that "Moses wrote his book and the portion of Balaam", regarding this passage as separate from the rest of the Torah in terms of topic or style, but united in authorship. In ( Sanhedrin 106b) and ( Giṭtin 57a) Balaam may be likened to Jesus. Some have theorized that Balaam became used as

1590-469: The ass, then follows at length. When it came to the actual cursing, God "turned his tongue" so that the cursing fell upon his own people and the blessing upon Israel. Then his tongue came out and hung down on his breast. Finally, he advised his people to adorn and beautify their women and to send them out to ensnare the Israelites. The story of the plague at Baal-peor and of Cozbi and Zimri follows. According to another story which al-Tabari gives, Balaam

1643-551: The chief adviser in the war with the Benjamites . He is commemorated in Psalms 106:28–31 . According to some rabbinical commentators, Phineas sinned due to his not availing his servitude of Torah instruction to the masses at the time leading up to the Battle of Gibeah . In addition, he also failed to address the needs of relieving Jephthah of his vow to sacrifice his daughter. As consequence,

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1696-641: The daughter of the Midianite prince Sur. In a moment of great strength born of holy zeal , Phinehas went after them and ran them through with a spear. He thus "stayed the plague" that had broken out among the people, and by which twenty-four thousand of them had already perished. Yahweh noticed that Phinehas showed loyalty and bravery for him. Yahweh decided not to destroy all of the children of Israel in anger because Phinehas had made atonement for their sins. Yahweh declared that Phinehas, and his sons' sons for all eternity, would receive divine recognition for this;

1749-579: The death of 24,000 victims of the plague which God sent as punishment. When Balaam saw that he could not curse the children of Israel, the Rabbis assert that he advised Balak, as a last resort, to tempt the Hebrew nation to immoral acts and, through these, to the worship of Baal-peor. The God of the Hebrews , adds Balaam, according to the Rabbis, hates lewdness; and severe chastisement must follow . The Rabbis, playing on

1802-428: The high priesthood was taken from him and temporarily given to the offspring of Ithamar , essentially Eli and his sons. According to 1 Chronicles 6:35–38 , his relation to Zadok is the following: Phinehas begat Abishua , Abishua begat Bukki , Bukki begat Uzzi , Uzzi begat Zerahiah , Zerahiah begat Meraioth , Meraioth begat Amariah , Amariah begat Ahitub, and Ahitub begat Zadok. According to 1 Maccabees , he

1855-479: The kings of the giants to show the pretty women and release them toward the camp of Joshua ben Nun, and so they did, and they (the Israelites) hurried up to the women and the plague spread among them and seventy thousand of them were dead. In 1967, at Deir Alla , Jordan , archaeologists found an inscription with a story relating visions of the seer of the gods Bala'am, son of Be'or, the same name appearing as that of

1908-556: The magi were "from the east": thus "Matthew's magi are Balaam's successors". No clear reference is made to Balaam in the Qur'an . However, the commentators argue that he is the one to whom the following text is referring: And relate to them ˹O Prophet˺ the story of the one to whom We gave Our signs, but he abandoned them, so Satan took hold of him, and he became a deviant. If We had willed, We would have elevated him with Our signs, but he clung to this life—following his evil desires. His example

1961-560: The morning with the princes of Moab. God becomes angry that he went and sends the Angel of the Lord (Numbers 22:22) to prevent him. At first, the angel is seen only by the donkey Balaam is riding, which tries to avoid the angel. After Balaam starts punishing the donkey for refusing to move, it is miraculously given the power to speak to Balaam (Numbers 22:28) and says, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?" At this point, Balaam

2014-504: The name Balaam, call him "Belo 'Am" (without people; that is, without a share with the people in the world to come), or "Billa' 'Am" (one that ruined a people); and this hostility against his memory finds its climax in the dictum that whenever one discovers a feature of wickedness or disgrace in his life, one should preach about it. In the process of killing Balaam (Numbers 31:8), all four legal methods of execution—stoning, burning, decapitating, and strangling—were employed. He met his death at

2067-710: The name Balaam. A man also named Balaam also figures as an example of a false prophet motivated by greed or avarice in both 2 Peter 2:15 and in Jude 1:11. This Balaam is listed as the son of Bezer, which is usually identified as Beor. Some authors claim that Bezer was the Aramaic pronunciation of Beor, while others hold that the author was attempting to play off the Hebrew word basar or "flesh" to insult Balaam. Later Jewish tradition similarly played with Balaam's name to call him corrupt and imply bestiality. Still other authors hold that Bezer and Beor are distinct, while still identifying

2120-417: The narrative, excepting the episode involving the donkey, is simply a framework invented to be able to insert much older poems. In rabbinic literature Balaam is represented as one of seven gentile prophets ; the other six being Beor (Balaam's father), Job , and Job's four friends. In this literature, Balaam gradually acquired a position among the non-Jews, which was exalted as much as that of Moses among

2173-403: The original. The final three poems do not refer to Israel or Moab and are thus considered unusual since they seem to have little relevance to the narrative. It is thought that they may have been added to bring the number of poems up to five if inserted into the Elohist source or up to seven if only inserted once JE was constructed. While the sixth poem refers to Assyria, it is uncertain whether it

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2226-577: The plan to entice the Israelites into idol worship and sexual immorality is attributed to him. Balaam is also mentioned in the Book of Micah . The main story of Balaam occurs during the sojourn of the Israelites in the plains of Moab , east of the Jordan River , at the close of forty years of wandering , shortly before the death of Moses and the crossing of the Jordan. The Israelites have already defeated two kings in Transjordan: Sihon , king of

2279-476: The prophecy blesses Israel; Balak remonstrates, but Balaam reminds him that he can only speak the words put in his mouth, so Balak takes him to another "high place" at Pisgah , to try again. Building another seven altars here, and making sacrifices on each, Balaam provides another prophecy blessing Israel. Balaam finally gets taken by a now very frustrated Balak to Peor , and, after the seven sacrifices there, decides not to "seek enchantments" but instead looks upon

2332-551: The son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open ... Of Balaam's three groups of poems, the documentary hypothesis argued that the first and third groups originated within the Elohist text, whereas the second group belonged to the Jahwist . Thus

2385-446: The story more so, and speaks of Balaam as the best prophet of his time, but with a disposition ill-adapted to resist temptation . Philo describes him as a great magician in the Life of Moses ; elsewhere he speaks of "the sophist Balaam, being," i.e. symbolizing "a vain crowd of contrary and warring opinions" and again as "a vain people", both phrases being based on a mistaken etymology of

2438-460: The wicked one , is often attached to the name of Balaam. Balaam is pictured as blind in one eye and lame in one foot, and his disciples (followers) are distinguished by three morally corrupt qualities: an evil eye , a haughty bearing, and a greedy spirit. Due to his behavior with the Midianites, the Rabbis interpret Balaam as responsible for the behavior during the Heresy of Peor , which they consider to have been unchastity , and consequently

2491-464: The wicked prophet and to save the nation from extermination. The Talmud also recounts a more positive view of Balaam, stating that when the Torah was given to Israel, a mighty voice shook the foundations of the earth, so much so that all kings trembled, and in their consternation turned to Balaam, inquiring whether this upheaval of nature portended a second deluge; the prophet assured them that what they heard

2544-440: The world to complete darkness. In contrast with the biblical account where Balaam receives prophecies from Yahweh, the inscription associates Balaam with multiple deities ( Ashtar , a god named Shgr, and Shadday gods and goddesses). The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies describes it as "the oldest example of a book in a West Semitic language written with the alphabet, and the oldest piece of Aramaic literature." The inscription

2597-595: Was Neḥesi, 'southerner', which eventually also came to mean 'the black' or 'the Nubian'. This Egyptian root (nḥsj, with the preformative pʾ as a definite article) appears in Exodus 6.25 as the personal name of Aaron's grandson, Phinehas (= Pa-neḥas )". The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament interprets the name to mean "the bronze-colored one". The account appears immediately after the story of Balaam , who had been hired by

2650-490: Was a biblical character, a non-Israelite prophet and diviner who lived in Pethor , a place identified with the ancient city of Pitru , thought to have been located between the region of Iraq and northern Syria in what is now southeastern Turkey. According to chapters 22-24 of the Book of Numbers , he was hired by King Balak of Moab to curse Israel, but instead he blessed the Israelites , as dictated by God. Subsequently,

2703-616: Was a renegade Israelite who knew the Most Sacred Name, and to gain the things of this world, went over to the Canaanites. Al-Tha'labi adds that Balaam was descended from Lot. He gives, too, the story of Balaam's dream, his being forbidden by God to curse Israel. Another version is that Balak , the king of Bal'a , compelled Balaam to use the Most Sacred Name against Israel. The curse fell automatically, and Moses, having learned whence it came, entreated God to take from Balaam his knowledge of

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2756-571: Was appointed the third High Priest of Israel , and served at the sanctuary of Bethel ( Judges 20:28 ). The name "Phinehas" probably comes from the Egyptian name Pa-nehasi ( pꜣ-nḥsj ). According to the Oxford Companion to the Bible , "the Bible also uses Egyptian and Nubian names for the land and its people. ... For the Egyptians used to these color variations, the term for their southern neighbors

2809-401: Was the voice of God, giving the sacred law to the Israelites. According to Jewish legend, Balaam was made this powerful in order to prevent the non-Jewish tribes from saying: "If we had only had our own Moses, we would be as pious as the Jews." The wicked Balaam is included in the list of persons born circumcised along with Moses. In rabbinical literature the epithet rasha , translating as

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