ASPR Journal, V14 - Iapsop.com

The Oracles of Balaam. 565
of a bullock and a ram on each of the mystical number of altars
as a preliminary to the grand experiment, but pause to inquire
why the experiment was undertaken on a hill, and why a particular
hill was selected ( N wn. 22 :41). Obviously, from Balak' s
point of view, if the Israelites were to be effectually cursed, it
must be by the favor and might of some deity, who should tip
the arrow of the spoken formula with his fury, and speed it to
the alien camp. Naturally, if you want to attract a god's attention,
you will get as near his ear as possible. That is why the
altars and shrines were mostly on hills (" high places "), as any
intelligent Moabite would have told you. A particular hill was
selected because it was dedicated to a certain aspect of Baal (he
had so many that he seldom manifested them all in one place),
the very powerful Sun-god. And also because it furnished an
excellent view of the Israelite multitude encamped on the Plains
of Moab. (5] This was a sensible precaution, in order that the
prophet, beholding with his own eyes how formidable was the
menace of the encroaching foreigners,, might be impressed to
prepare a curse correspondingly powerful, to blast it.
And now Balaam asked , to be excused for a few minutes,
and went away to an adjacent crest. What did he do there?
We must get out of our minds all family-Bible pictures of
prophets kneeling with folded hands and uplifted eyes. He
went for a purpose afterward abandoned ( 24:1), " to seek for
enchantments" to propitiate his deity. [6] He went to" make
[5) I take it that the expression "that thence he might see the utmost
part of the people" (22 :41) means to see the people even to the utmost part.
My reason is that when Balak took Balaam up another hill, expressly to alter
the conditions, he said (23: 13) " thou shalt see but the uttermost part of them,
and shalt not see them all." The last clause would have been a pointless
pleonasm if the prophet pad not seen all the encampment from the first hill;
while the limiting " b'ut' (which Gray renders "only ") is surely in opposition
with the former passage which has no such limiting adverb. I am
aware that I am at war with the commentators in my interpretation, but as
they are hopelessly at war with each other and with intelligibility, it is perhaps
as well to turn from disputed texts to common-sense analysis of the
situation.
[6) If Balaam is really supposed to employ the Hebrew name for Deity at
this preliminary stage (rather than a heathen name which the recorder of
the incident translates) it would imply that he was impressed that for the
once the Hebrew God, rather than his own, was master of the situation.
In any case he would use the propitiatory " enchantments " with which he
was acquainted.
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