JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

alaam
active Israelite community lived for several centuries until
driven out after the Assyrian invasions of the late eighth century
B.C.E. The Valley of Sukkoth, where Deir ʿAlla is located,
figures notably in certain biblical traditions, such as the narratives
of Genesis 32–33 and Judges 8. There is also a basis
for seeing the Deir ʿAlla inscriptions themselves as Israelite
compositions, notwithstanding the absence of any mention
of the God of Israel, and despite their polytheistic character
(Weippert 1991). In this connection, the highlighting of El in
the Balaam poems fits in well with the veiled references to El
worship in Hosea 6:8, 12:12 by the Israelites of Gilead. Perhaps
these very Transjordanian Israelites, regarded as sinful
by Hosea, were the ones, or similar to the ones, who installed
the Balaam plaster inscriptions on the walls of the building
at Deir ‘Alla.
Historically, the Balaam orations reflect a situation
of conflict between Israel and Moab, wherein Israel is declared
victorious. This context would suit conditions in the early
to-mid-ninth century B.C.E., under the Omride dynasty, when
northern Israel exercised hegemony over northern Moab.
This would have been prior to Mesha’s successful reconquest
of that territory in the mid-ninth century, as recounted in
the famous stele of that Moabite king. This is also the
period during which the Heshbon Ballad of Numbers 21, which
depicts the Israelite conquest of North Moab, would have
been composed. As such, the biblical Balaam poems
might have antedated the Deir ʿAlla inscriptions by about 50
years.
Thanks to the Deir ʿAlla discoveries we can now speak
of Balaam as a biblical personage also known from external,
Transjordanian sources. We know him better than we did before,
whether we regard him only as a figure of legend or as an
historical personage of legendary proportions.
[Baruch Levine (2nd ed.)]
In the Aggadah
Some rabbis inflated the importance of Balaam. They saw in
him one of “The seven prophets who prophesied to the peoples
of the world” (BB 15b; “God raised up Moses for Israel and
Balaam for the peoples of the world” – Num. R., 20:1; Tanḥ.,
Balak, 1), and believed that in many respects he was greater
than Moses: “No prophet like Moses had risen in Israel, but
such a one has risen among the peoples of the world. Who is
he? Balaam the son of Beor. But there is a difference between
the prophecy of Moses and that of Balaam. Moses did not
know who spoke with him but Balaam knew…. Moses did not
know when [God] would speak with him till he was addressed
by Him, whereas Balaam knew…. Moses did not speak with
Him till he had stood up… whereas Balaam spoke with Him
as he was falling” (Sif. Deut. end). They explained Balaam’s
power to curse by the fact that he could ascertain the exact
hour of God’s anger (Av. Zar. 4a–b; Sanh. 105b). Others, however,
identified him with Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite
(Job 32:2) for Barachel means “God has blessed”; the epithet
“Buzite” is derived from “buz” (“contempt”), hence it teaches
that Balaam’s prophecy was of a low order and contemptible
(T.J. Sot. 5:8, 20d). Some rabbis saw in him an immoral figure:
“An evil eye, a haughty spirit and a proud soul” are the marks
of the disciples of “Balaam the Wicked” (Avot, 5:19). Balaam
was one of Pharaoh’s counselors and it was he who advised
that the male children should be cast into the Nile (Sanh.
106a); and in the end he wished “to uproot an entire people for
naught and for no reason” (Num. R. 20:1; Tanḥ. Balak, 1) and
counseled Balak how to destroy them. It was this act which
caused the departure of the holy spirit from the gentile peoples
(ibid.), and since then prophecy was preserved in Israel
alone. There is no basis for the theory put forward by some
scholars that Balaam in the aggadah represents Jesus (but see
*Jesus in Talmud and Aggadah).
[Yehoshua M. Grintz]
In Islam
Balaam is not mentioned by name in the Koran, and it is not
even clear that he is intended by the inference in Sura 7 (lines
174–5), as read by several interpreters of the Koran, historians,
and authors of Legends of the Prophets (Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyā).
The verses read: “Relate to them of him to whom we gave our
signs, and who turned away from them; and Satan followed
him, and he was of those who were led astray. But had it been
our will, we would have exalted him through our signs, but
he clung unto the earth, and followed his desire. He is like the
dog who puts forth his tongue whether you chase him away or
let him alone. That is the parable of the people who deny our
signs. Tell them this history, that they may consider it.”
It is the general opinion that the inference is to Balaam
who acquiesced to the request of Balak, king of Moab (Num.
22–24), as related in the Bible and Jewish legend, and who was
responsible for the going astray of the children of Israel with
the daughters of Moab (ibid. 25). However, some interpret
Muhammad’s words as referring to *Umayya ibn Abī al-Salt,
Muhammad’s contemporary and competitor as a prophet who
was sent to the Arabs. Others maintain that the inference is
to Luqmān, an Eastern sage, to whom Muhammad dedicated
Sura 31. Nevertheless, B. Heller presents a number of convincing
arguments against this identification.
[Haïm Z’ew Hirschberg]
In the Arts
Balaam is regarded with general disfavor in Hebrew literature,
and it was exclusively in Christian literature that he was
accorded any importance – mainly because he was alleged to
have predicted the advent of Jesus (Num. 24:17). By the Middle
Ages, however, Balaam had become a figure of fun, and it
is in this spirit that he is portrayed in such medieval miracle
plays as the Ordo Prophetarum, the Chester and Stonyhurst
cycles, and the Mistère du Viel Testament. Such treatment destroyed
Balaam’s literary standing, although the 16th-century
French Christian kabbalist Guillaume Postel resurrected the
“prophet of the Gentiles” in some of his patriotic visionary
works. One rare later treatment is the dramatic poem Balaam
(1787) by C. Davy.
80 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3