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This essay discusses a new way of looking at the Bilaam story based on the names of God used.

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The elders of Midian and the king of Moab send a request to Bilaam to curse the Israelite people.  In the narrative that follows, Bilaam’s intended curses are turned into blessings.

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But who is this Bilaam?  Is he a magician, a prophet of God - or perhaps both combined?  

 

From the Bible, it is very clear that Bilaam’s primary identification was as a “magician”.  

 

The Israelite leader Joshua, approaching the end of his life, acknowledges in a speech to the Israelites the mercies of God, and reminds the Israelites that Bilaam the “magician”was put to death:

 

“And Bilaam the son of Beor, the magician (הַקּוֹסֵם) (hakosem), the children of Israel slew with the sword among the rest of their slain.” (Joshua 13:22)

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Bilaam was recruited because of his international reputation as a master of the nefarious art of black magic:

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“For I know [says Balak, king of Moab, about Bilaam] that whomever you bless is blessed and whomever you invoke a curse upon is accursed” (Numbers 22:6)

 

He was a magician and not a prophet of God - although in the ancient world magic and prophecy often went hand in hand.  

 

To emphasize what their expectations are from him, his recruiters pointedly come with the tools of magic in their hands:

 

“And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian went with charms in their hand וּקְסָמִים בְּיָדָם)) (uksamim beyadom); and they came to Balaam, and spoke to him the words of Balak.” (Numbers 22:7)1

 

And even when told by God that he has permission only to say what He God puts in his mouth, Bilaam continues using magic to induce God to change His mind.   Old habits are not easily changed.  It is only prior to his third prophecy that Bilaam dispenses with the use of magic:

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“And Bilaam saw that it was good in the eyes of YHVH to bless Israel, so he did not go as at the other time towards divinations (לִקְרַאת נְחָשִׁים) (likrat nechashim), but he set his face toward the wilderness. (Numbers 24:1)

 

Yet Bilaam seems to have a relationship with God that would typically be shown by prophets.  He is able to initiate conversations with God almost at will.  He turns immediately to YHVH when Balak’s emissaries come to him.  He tells these representatives the next day that he is not a free agent but can only say what YHVH puts in his mouth.  He talks the talk.  On one occasion, he even states that he is a follower of YHVH: 

“If Balak would give me his household of silver and gold, I am unable to transgress the word of YHVH, my God (elokei), to do anything small or great.” (Numbers 22:18)

 

It is no doubt because of this that there is a thread of Jewish tradition that Bilaam was a prophet of God to the non-Jewish world.  Hence, in the Talmud one finds statements such as:  “R’ Yochanan said: At the beginning he was a prophet, but at the end he was merely a sorcerer,”2 and: “Seven prophets prophesied for the nations of the world.  These were Bilaam, and his father Job, Elifaz the Teimanite, Bildad the Shuchite, Tzofar the Na’amassite and Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite.”3 

 

Nevertheless, to have gained a reputation as a master of black magic, Bilaam must have performed magic in relation to numerous pagan deities.  Also, as the Torah will make abundantly clear, does not deal with magic.  A person can be a magician, and there have been those who merited to become a prophet of God - but it is impossible to be both at the same time.  A prophet of God requires a strong moral foundation and knowledge of what God requires from man.  Maimonides regards prophecy as the highest stage of cleaving to God.4  To Maimonides, there can be no greater religious accomplishment than to be in a prophetic state.  How then can this villain be a genuine prophet of God? 

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The answer must surely be that Bilaam was not previously a prophet of God, and may not even have been a strict monotheist.   He was a magician who even when speaking to God was unable to dispense with the accouterments of paganism and its magic.

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When Bilaam and Balak make sacrifices together in preparation for Bilaam’s cursing, Balak chooses places that are identifiable with the worship of Baal Pe’or. 

 

Hence, before Bilaam’s first prophecy the Torah relates:

“And it was in the morning, Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the Heights of Baal    (בָּמוֹת בעל) (bamos baal), and from there he saw the edge of the people.” (Numbers 22:41)

 

And before his third prophesy:

“Balak took Bilaam to the summit of Peor (ראש הפעור) (Rosh Hapeor) that overlooks the face of the Yeshimon.” (Number 23:28)

 

It may well be that these places had the highest elevation and therefore provided the best view over the Israelite camp.  However, knowing the sensitivity of God, these locations could have been avoided, or at the very least this extraneous information could have been omitted from the Bible.  

 

Moreover, when Bilaam advises Balak and the Midianites how to overcome the Israelites through immorality, his intention was clearly to lead the Israelites to paganism and the worship of Baal Pe’or: 

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“And Israel settled in the Shittim and the people began to act promiscuously with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods; and the people ate and bowed to their gods.  Israel became attached to Baal Pe’or, and the anger of YHVH flared up against Israel.” (Numbers 25:1-3)    

 All this makes it very difficult to consider Bilaam a pure monotheist.  It seems more likely that he was an opportunist YHVH-believer who claimed to have magic powers that could influence a variety of Near Eastern deities.

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However, to bring about a reversal in Bilaam’s plans, God needs to communicate with him.5  But he should not be considered a prophet of God because of this.  In the Torah and elsewhere in the Bible, God speaks to non-Jews who have no exceptional moral virtues.  For example. an angel of God speaks to Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, when she is fleeing from Sarah.6  The Philistine Avimelech, king of Gerar, receives communications from God - and other examples can be found in the Bible. 7  On these occasions, God speaks through His aspect of Elohim and these are one-time events.  Moreover, none of these individuals would ever claim to being a prophet of God.

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Nachamanides points out that after the first two sacrifices made by Bilaam when attempting to curse Israel, he seeks God and God “chances” upon him.8  This meeting of God is similar to that experienced by individuals who are not on a prophetic level.  For example, the Torah says about Abimelech “And Elohim came to Abimelech”(Genesis 20:3), and about Laban “and Elohim came to Laban” (Genesis 31:24).  Nevertheless, before Bilaam’s third prophecy, a prophecy that was not accompanied by preliminary magic, the “spirit of God came upon him” (Numbers 24:2).  This and his next prophecy constitute the pinnacle of Bilaam’s prophesying –he has now truly become a prophet of YHVH.   

 

The view of Nachmanides would therefore seem most compatible with the plain meaning of the text  - that Bilaam was not previously a prophet of God but was elevated to this position by God in order to prophecy about the Jewish people: 

“Then YHVH opened his eyes …. ”  From this we learn that Balaam was not a real prophet, but required an “uncovering of the eyes” in order to see an angel ….  And as for that which he said “as YHVH shall speak to me...” (v8) [Balaam] called his knowledge of future events by divination “the speech of God.” However, in honor of Israel, God did come to him that night ....  and at the end he rose to the prophetic level of “the vision of Shaddai”.”9 

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Clearly then, to understand Bilaam we need to know more about Mesopotamian magic and how the Torah’s viewed magic. 

 

The magician Bilaam

Magic in ancient Mesopotamia was inseparable from its religion.  Magicians were found in the temples and as counselors of kings, and the use of magic was pervasive in daily life.   

 

Mesopotamians were polytheists who considered every aspect of nature to be controlled by gods.  Nothing existed in nature separately from these gods.  The role of man was to serve the gods by working the earth; and since the earth belonged to the gods, human labor was solely for their benefit.  The gods were poorly responsive to man.  The notion that a person could have a personal relationship with a Deity was unknown until the time of Abraham.  Because of this, magic functioned as the means by which it was possible to know what the gods wanted, to divine reasons why the gods had brought on illness and misfortune, to alleviate misfortune by altering the spiritual forces, to divine the future, and to attempt to preempt future misfortune.   

 

One way of ascertaining the future was by omens.  Since the gods controlled everything in nature, nature itself could provide hints as to its future course.  Omens would be sought in the entrails of sacrificial animals, in astrological events, by enquiring of the spirits of the dead (necromancy), in examining the smoke curling from sacrifices, and numerous other ways.  With this information, it was possible to influence the spiritual world by means of incantations, charms and magic objects. 

 

Archeologists have found written on cuneiform tablet in Mesopotamia numerous standardized incantations.  The specialist called upon to perform this white magic aimed at protecting people from harm was a “magician”.

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Prophecy was another way for determining the wishes of the gods.  Prophecy is usually regarded as an activity confined to the Bible and providing revelations only from God, but analysis of ancient texts reveals that this was not the case.  Prophecy existed in the pagan world and pagan prophets received communications and visions from their gods at night as in the Bible.  The Bible warns about trusting in “false prophets”. 10  These would have been prophets who practiced paganism and received messages from the multitude of pagan gods, or prophets who practiced monotheism but who fabricated messages from YHVH. 

 

A particularly vicious form of magic was black magic, in which a magician attempted to harm individuals or groups of individuals.  This also was done by means of charms and incantations.  No copies of black magic incantations exist today as they were almost certainly proprietary and probably regarded as extremely harmful.  Bilaam was regarded as a master of black magic.

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The use of magic was strictly forbidden by the Torah.  Magic denies the omnipotence of God, even when directed at God Himself.  To the Bible, there can be only one source for the working of nature and one source for knowledge of the future: 

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“When you come to the Land that YHVH your God gives to you, you shall not learn to act according to the abominations of those nations.  There shall not be found among you one who causes his son or daughter to pass through the fire, one who practices divinations (קֹסֵםקְסָמִים) (kosem kesamim), an astrologer, one who reads omens (וּמְנַחֵשׁ) (umenaches), a sorcerer, or an animal charmer, one who enquires of Ov or Yidoni, or one who consults the dead.  For anyone who does these is an abomination of YHVH ….  For these nations that your are possessing  - they hearken to astrologers and diviners (קֹסְמִים) (kosmim), but as for you – not so has YHVH your God given for you.” (Deuteronomy 18:9-13)11

 

It is interesting to note other aspects of magic found in this account. 

 

The name of a deity would be important in black magic.  Without this name, Bilaam would be unable to penetrate into the spiritual world through his magical incantations in order to curse this people.  It turns out that Bilaam does have knowledge of the Tetragrammaton:

“And he [Bilaam] said to them: lodge here tonight and I will bring you back word as YHVHwill speak to me.  And the princes of Moab stayed with Bilaam.” (Numbers 22:8)  

 

But Bilaam is deluding himself.  YHVH is the God of relationships and the national God of the Jewish people.  YHVH is not prepared to play Bilaam’s game.  The most He will do is answer him through His aspect of Elohim, since this is the aspect of God that has been revealed to all humanity.  However, Bilaam either fails to appreciate this or he deliberately misleads the princes of Balak.  The scriptural verse quoted above continues as follows:

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“And Elohim came to Bilaam and said: Who are these men with you? Bilaam said to Elohim: Balak the son of Zipor, king of Moab sent to me [saying].  Behold!  The people coming out of Egypt, it covers the eye of the land.  Now go and curse it for me; perhaps I shall be able to make war against it and I shall drive it out.  And Elohim said to Bilaam: You shall not go with them!  You shall not curse this people, for it is blessed!”  

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“And Bilaam arose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak: Go to your land, for YHVH refuses to give me leave to go with you.” (Numbers 22:13)

 

Bilaam relates the information he has received from God to Balak’s representatives, informs them he is unable to come with them, and sends them back home.  However, Balak is not prepared to accept no for an answer and sends an even more influential party to Bilaam, since he is convinced that Bilaam would be prepared to come to Midian and influence the God of the Israelites provided he is given sufficient honor and reward.

 

The scenario is repeated.   Bilaam says will speak with YHVH, and again it is not YHVH but the Deity Elohim who speaks to him:

 

“Bilaam answered and said to the servants of Balam: “If Balak will give me his household full of silver and gold, I am unable to transgress the word of YHVH, my God, to do anything small or great.  And now, you too, please stay here tonight, and I will know what YHVH will add in speaking with me.  And Elohim came to Bilaam at night …. “  (Numbers 22:18-19)

 

Another point.  During his initial prophecies, Bilaam uses pagan-type magic to reach to God and curse the Israelites, and this is reflected in the text in a number of ways:

•  Balak takes Bilaam to elevations from whence he can view part of the Israelite camp.  By this means he can accurately direct his curses.  

• On three occasions, Bilaam asks Balak to build seven altars, and together they offer a bull and a ram on each of the altars.  With the number 7, Bilaam is directing himself into the spiritual world and the residence of the gods.12 

• Bilaam makes his offerings on a grand scale, and this is probably part of his magic.  Each offering is an oleh in which the entire animal is burnt on the altar.  This is a bribe to God.  In the pagan world, sacrifices are offerings of food to the gods.  The bigger the meal, the bigger the bribe. 

• In fact, Bilaam makes a point of telling God exactly how many offerings have been brought - “I have prepared the seven altars and offered a bull and ram on each altar.”(Numbers 23:4)  As if He did not know!  

 

This story of Bilam should be regarded as a polemic against magic.13  This polemic would have had two purposes.  One was to reassure the Israelites that black magic is impotent against them.  The other was to warn the Israelites against practicing magic themselves.  The former reinforces the latter.  For if magic is ineffective, then there is no reason to practice it.  Pagan magicians are also ineffective in foretelling the future, since only God and his designated prophets possess this ability.

 

To emphasize the impotence of magic, the Torah relates this story in the form of satire with everything connected to magic being turned on its head:

 

• The magician Bilaam thinks that he has the ability to change God’s will.  Instead, his own will is changed.  

• Bilaam sets out to curse the Israelites.  Instead, he ends up blessing them.  

• Bilaam considers himself on a par with Moses and Abraham in his perception of YHVH, but discovers that he has less awareness of YHVH than his own donkey.  

• Bilaam regards his pagan-type divinations as having the ability to portend the future and alter it, but discovers that he can foretell the future only as a true prophet of God. 

• The people of Moab discover that not only are they are unable to weaken the Israelites by curses but that the Israelites are a super-power and that in the future they themselves will become the victim of Israel’s might.  

• The Israelites find out that whereas with God’s help external forces become powerless against them, their own actions can invite disaster.

 

The chief players in this story - Bilaam, Ballack, the people of Moab and of Midian, and by extension all of Israel’s foes, are now about to learn these lessons in a most dramatic way. 

 

 

Balak the king of the Moabites is understandably concerned about the surprise defeat of the Amorite kings, Sihon and Og.  The Israelites have captured most arable land east of the Jordan River, extending from the Armon River opposite the Dead Sea to the current Golan Heights.   The Armon River is the northern border of Moab.  In actuality, this territory was formerly owned by Moab but was taken over by Sihon.14 

 

It could be argued that Moab should have had nothing to fear from the Israelites, since they had been explicitly commanded not to initiate any aggressive action against Moab because of this people’s descent from Lot.15  Whether Moab knew about this directive is not stated in the text; and it could be that they did not.  This could explain their considerable fear as the Israelites spread themselves out on Moab’s former territory on the plain of Moab:

 

“Moab was very frightened of the people, because it was many, and Moab was disgusted (וַיָּקָץ) (vayokotz) because of the Children of Israel.” (Numbers 22:3) 

 

The verb vayokotoz is used only a few times in the Torah.  It was previously used with respect to the multiplication of the Children of Israel in Egypt.  Despite being oppressed by the Egyptians, the Israelites continued to multiply and the Egyptians were similarly “disgusted”.16  Rebecca uses this verb regarding the Canaanite wives that Esau brought into the family unit.17  In all these instances, it seems to indicate an exasperation with the situation.  

 

The Torah may here be justifying the actions of the Moabites, while at the same time contrasting this with the non-justifiable actions of the Midianites.  The Midianites lived far from the future Israelite border and had little reason to partner with the Moabites other than their hatred of the Israelites. 

 To the Moabites, the Israelites seem like “”an ox that chews up the greenery of the field” (Numbers 22:3).  The grass was being eaten and nothing remained behind.18  This nation was too strong and numerous to be defeated, but if they could somehow be weakened and/or reduced in number, they could be engaged in battle and Moab’s territory repossessed.  And this is the reason that Moab and Midian now partner together in bringing Bilaam, the master magician, to curse this foreign people.

 

A point is raised in the Torah that will subsequently be clarified.  Balak understands that this is a people “coming out of Egypt.” (Numbers 22:5)  But this is inaccurate.  This is a people brought out of Egypt by God.  The difference is important.  For if God had specifically brought them out of Egypt, why would he be induced to change His mind to treat them badly?

 

When Balak’s messengers return a second time, there was logically no need for Bilaam to speak again to God.  God had already given Bilaam His answer - this is a blessed people and he should not go to Balaak.  Why then was Bilaam asking again for instructions from God?  Very likely is that he, like Balak, thought that with his magic arts YHVH could still be induced to change His mind.  

 Until now, Balak and Bilaam have been the only two active participants in this story.  But this is a satire about the impotence of Bilaam and Balak.  Both of them are now about to be taught a lesson.  From this point on, God begins to manipulate Bilaam: 

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“YHVH came to Bilaam at night and He said to him: If the men came to summon you, arise and go with them, but the word that I shall speak to you, that is what you shall do.”(Numbers 22:20)

 Bilaam needs no persuading.19  It may even be that thought YHVH was beginning to change His mind.

“Bilaam arose in the morning and saddled his she-donkey and went with the princes of Moab.” (Number 22:21)

 

There now follows one of the strangest episodes in the Torah – Bilaam conversing with his own donkey after it started talking to him.  

 

The Torah describes Elohim as being wrathful with Bilaam for proceeding on this journey and that an angel of YHVH stood on the road to obstruct him.  The donkey saw the angel of YHVH with his sword threateningly drawn in his hand, but Bilaam did not:  

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“The angel of YHVH stood in the path of the vineyards, a fence on this side and a fence on that side.   And the she-donkey saw the angel of YHVH ……” (Numbers 22:23)

 

The passage was narrow and the donkey squeezed against the wall so as to avoid the angel, thereby pressing Balaam’s leg against the wall.  Understandably, this infuriated its driver who struck the donkey:  

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“And YHVH opened the mouth of the she-donkey and she said to Bilaam: “What have I done to you that stuck me these three times.  Bilaam said to the she-donkey: Because you have mocked me.  If there were a sword in my hand I would now have killed you ……..  Then YHVH uncovered Bilaam’s eyes and he saw the angel of YHVH standing on the road with his sword drawn in his hand.  And he bowed his head and prostrated himself on his face.” (Numbers 22:28-31)

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Bilaam apologizes to the angel of God for going on this journey and offers to return home.  Nevertheless, the angel gives him permission to continue, although he is reminded again that only what is spoken to him by God will he be able to say to Balak.

 Many commentators take the talking donkey in a very literal way.  The mouth of Bilaam’s ass was created on the eve of the first Sabbath states a Mishnah, attempting to diminish somewhat the miraculous aspect of this happening.20 

 

Nevertheless, the Torah does not write stories that are unbelievable.  Taken literally, this story is unbelievable.  A donkey does not possess vocal cords that would issue human-like sounds.  The most it can do is issue donkey-like sounds.  There is only one story like this in the Torah – and this is the talking snake in the Garden of Eden.  This is an important point.  The speaking snake in the Garden of Eden is an allegory that was never meant to be taken literally.  Neither is this speaking donkey.  

 

A very plausible suggestion is that of Maimonides that this part of the story was in a dream, although he makes this suggestion in relation to all visions of God and not just the story of Bilaam.21 Admittedly, most commentators find Maimonides’ suggestion difficult to accept, and in particular they are unhappy with his idea with respect to the story about Abraham when three angels appear to him and Sarah.  He is extremely hospitable to them and provides them with a substantial meal.  To commentators such as Nachmanides this entertaining and the involvement of Sarah sounds too realistic to be a vision.22  Nevertheless, the notion that Bilaam’s vision of an angel was in a dream fits in very well with this story. 

 

Admittedly, the Torah does not say outright that this was a night vision, but the Torah does not want to diminish the significance of Bilaam’s vision and thereby the impact of this story.

 

Is there anything in the text that would support this interpretation?  There are a number of indicators:

• Prior to Bilaam’s journey, YHVH had been speaking with Bilaam during the night, so that the donkey episode could be part of this sleep vision.  

• During his altercation with his donkey, the representatives of Balak are not present and Bilaam is alone except for his two young men.  But would not the princes also have been blocked in their passage if they were accompanying Bilaam?  

• There seems to be no surprise on Bilaam’s part when his donkey begins speaking to him.  In fact, he holds a conversation with his donkey as if this were an everyday occurence!

• After Bilaam admits the error of his ways, the angel of YHVH says to him:  “Go with the men, but only the word that I shall speak to you, that shall you speak.  And Bilaam went with the princes of Balak.” (Numbers 22:36)  No mention is made here that Bilaam needed to start out on a new journey rather continue on an old one. 

 

This is all far from being definitive, but is nevertheless consistent with this being a vision in a dream, either before Bilaam set out or perhaps along the way. 

 

Nevertheless, we are still left with the question what this vision was meant to accomplish?  After all, Bilaam had been given permission to go on this journey.  Why was God annoyed with him and obstructing him for doing just this? 

 

Nachmanides suggests that God was angry with Bilaam not because he was going on this journey, since after all he had been given permission, but because he had not revealed all the conditions to these latest representatives of Balak - namely that he could only say what God permitted him to say and that this is a blessed people.  Moreover, by agreeing to accompany them without explanation, he could easily have given the impression that God had indeed changed His mind and that his magic could be effective in cursing this people.23  This is the reason that God is now about to act harshly with Bilaam, even though previously He had given him permission to go – and will in fact soon confirm that permission.

 

There is, however, another way of looking at this scenario.  God was quite happy for Bilaam to go since He now intends to negate Balak and Bilaam’s plans.  Therefore, since Bilaam wished to go, He gave him permission.  

 

The episode of the speaking donkey is satire.  Bilaam believes he has access to YHVK in a manner even greater than Moses and Abraham.  At the very least he feels himself equal to them.  But this is not true at all.  The most he has access to is Elohim.  In actuality, his donkey will have more comprehension of YHVH than him.   Only after his donkey has seen an angel of YHVH will Bilaam be permitted a similar vision.

 

It is also important that Bilaam be aware that the path he has chosen is a very risky one.  If he deviates even slightly from the words of God, he has spoken his own death sentence.24  Significantly, however, God does not remind Bilaam that Israel is blessed.  With this deliberate omission, He opens up the possibility that Bilaam will continue trying to change God’s mind by means of magic.  This is exactly what God intended, since it now provides Him the opportunity for making Bilaam His agent for true prophecy.