The Wilderness · c. 1407 BC
Chapter 9
Balaam
How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?How shall I defy whom Yahweh has not defied?
For parents
The Lord’s angel stands in Balaam’s road with his sword drawn. He says that if the donkey hadn’t turned aside, he would have killed Balaam (Numbers 22:22–33). Balaam hits his donkey three times and tells her he would kill her if he had a sword (22:23–29). Balaam’s poems picture Israel as a lion that eats its prey and drinks the blood of those it has killed. They also speak of enemies’ bones broken, of Moab struck, and of nations destroyed and carried away captive (23:24; 24:8–9, 17–24). It is all told plainly, without detail.
The moved on and camped in the plains of . They were across the from . the son of Zippor saw everything Israel had done to the .
The people of Moab were very afraid of the Israelites, because there were so many of them. The Israelites filled them with dread. The people of Moab said to the of , “Now this crowd will lick up everything around us, the way an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.
He sent messengers to call the son of Beor, at , which is by , in the land of his people. This was his message: “Look, there is a people that came out of . Look, they cover the surface of the earth, and they are staying across from me.
“So please come now and curse this people for me, because they are too strong for me. Then maybe I will be able to beat them. We can attack them, and I can drive them out of the land. I know that the one you bless is blessed, and the one you curse is cursed.”
The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian set out, carrying payment for in their hands. They came to Balaam and told him what Balak had said.
“Stay here tonight,” Balaam said to them, “and I will tell you whatever the tells me.” The officials of Moab stayed with Balaam.
God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”
Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has said to me, ‘Look, the people who came out of Egypt cover the surface of the earth. Now come and curse them for me. Maybe I will be able to fight against them, and I will drive them out.’”
God said to Balaam, “You must not go with them. You must not curse the people, because they are blessed.”
Balaam got up in the morning and said to Balak’s officials, “Go home to your own land, because the Lord refuses to let me go with you.”
The officials of Moab got up and went back to Balak. “Balaam refuses to come with us,” they said.
Then Balak sent officials again, more of them than before, and more important than the first.
They came to Balaam and said to him, “Balak the son of Zippor says: ‘Please don’t let anything keep you from coming to me. I will give you very great honor, and whatever you tell me, I will do. So please come, and curse this people for me.’”
Balaam answered Balak’s servants, “Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I couldn’t do any more or any less than the Lord my God says. Now please stay here tonight too, so that I can find out if the Lord has anything more to say to me.”
God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them. But you are to do only what I tell you.”
In the morning Balaam got up and saddled his donkey, and he set off with Moab’s officials.
God’s anger burned because Balaam went, and placed himself in the road to stand against him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and he had his two servants with him.
The donkey saw the Lord’s angel standing in the road with his sword drawn in his hand. She left the path and went into the field. Balaam hit the donkey to turn her back onto the path.
Then the Lord’s angel stood in a narrow path between the vineyards. There was a wall on each side. The donkey saw the Lord’s angel, and she pressed herself against the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. Balaam hit her again.
The Lord’s angel went further and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn, either right or left. The donkey saw the Lord’s angel, and she lay down under Balaam. Balaam’s anger burned, and he hit the donkey with his staff.
Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What did I do to you? Why have you hit me these three times?”
Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made fun of me! I wish there were a sword in my hand. I would have killed you by now.”
The donkey said to Balaam, “Aren’t I your donkey, the one you have ridden all your life until today? Did I ever do this to you before?”
“No,” he said.
Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes. He saw the Lord’s angel standing in the road, his sword drawn in his hand, and he bowed his head and fell face down.
The Lord’s angel said to him, “Why have you hit your donkey these three times? Look, I have come out to stand against you, because the way you are going is crooked in my eyes. The donkey saw me, and three times she turned away from me. If she hadn’t turned away from me, I would have killed you already, and let her live.”
Balaam said to the Lord’s angel, “I have sinned. I didn’t know that you were standing in the road against me. So now, if you are not pleased with this, I will go back.”
The Lord’s angel told Balaam, “Go with the men. But you must say only what I tell you.” So Balaam went on with Balak’s officials.
Balak heard that Balaam had come. He went out to the City of Moab to meet him. It is on the border, at the farthest end of the border.
Balak said to Balaam, “Didn’t I send for you, and urgently? Why didn’t you come to me? Do you think I can’t honor you?”
Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you. Do I have the power to say whatever I want? I will say what God puts in my mouth.”
Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath Huzoth. Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and sent to Balaam and to the officials with him. In the morning, Balak brought Balaam up to the of , and from there he saw part of the people.
“Build me seven here,” Balaam told Balak, “and get seven bulls and seven rams ready for me here.” Balak did as Balaam said, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on every altar.
“Stand by your , and I will go,” Balaam told Balak. “Maybe the Lord will come to meet me. I will tell you whatever he shows me.” Then he went off to a bare hilltop.
God met Balaam. “I have prepared the seven altars,” Balaam said to him, “and on each altar I have offered up a bull and a ram.”
The Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth. “Go back to Balak,” he said, “and this is what you are to say.”
Balaam went back to him, and there was Balak, standing beside his burnt offering with all the officials of Moab. Then Balaam spoke out in a poem. He said:
“Balak, the king of Moab, has brought me from ,from the mountains of the east.‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse for me.Come, speak against Israel.’How can I curse those God hasn’t cursed?How can I speak against those the Lord hasn’t spoken against?
From the tops of the rocks I see him.From the hills I see him.Look, it is a people that lives alone,and won’t be listed among the nations.Who can count the dust of Jacob,or count a fourth of Israel?Let me die the way the righteous die!Let my end be like his!”
“What have you done to me?” Balak said to Balaam. “I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have done nothing but bless them!”
Balaam answered, “Don’t I have to be careful to say what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
Balak said to him, “Come with me, please, to another place where you may see them. You will see only some of them there, not the whole people. Curse them for me from there.”
Balak took Balaam into the field of Zophim, to the top of . There he built seven altars, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
“Stand here by your burnt offering,” Balaam said to Balak, “while I go and meet God over there.”
The Lord met Balaam and put a message in his mouth. “Go back to Balak,” he said, “and say this.”
Balaam came to him, and there was Balak, standing beside his burnt offering, and the officials of Moab with him. Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”
Balaam spoke out in a poem:
“Get up, Balak, and hear!Listen to me, you son of Zippor.God is not a man, that he should lie,nor a human, that he should change his mind.Does he say something, and then not do it?Does he speak, and then not carry it out?Look, I have been given a command to bless.He has blessed, and I can’t undo it.
He has not seen wrongdoing in Jacob.He has not seen anything twisted in Israel.The Lord his God is with him.The shout of a king is among them.God brings them out of Egypt.His strength is like a wild ox’s.
Surely there is no magic with Jacob,and no divination with Israel.Now it will be said of Jacob and of Israel,‘What God has done!’Look, a people rises up like a lioness.Like a lion he lifts himself up.He will not lie down until he eats his preyand drinks the blood of those he has killed.”
Balak said to Balaam, “Don’t curse them at all, and don’t bless them at all!”
But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘I must do everything the Lord says’?”
Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Maybe God will be pleased to let you curse them for me from there.”
Balak took Balaam to the top of , which looks down on the desert. Balaam told Balak to build seven altars for him there, and to get seven bulls and seven rams ready for him there. Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.
When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he didn’t go off to use divination, as he had the other times. Instead, he turned to face the wilderness. Looking up, Balaam saw Israel camped by their tribes, and the Spirit of God came on him.
He spoke out in a poem:
“This is what Balaam the son of Beor says,what the man whose eyes are open says,the man who hears the words of God,who sees the vision of ,falling down, and with his eyes open:
How good your tents are, Jacob,and your homes, Israel!Like valleys they spread out,like gardens by the riverside,like which the Lord has planted,like beside the waters.Water will flow from his buckets.His seed will be in many waters.His king will be higher than .His kingdom will be lifted high.
God brings him out of Egypt.His strength is like a wild ox’s.He will eat up the nations that are his enemies.He will break their bones in pieces,and pierce them with his arrows.He crouched and lay down like a lion,like a lioness.Who will wake him up?Everyone who blesses you is blessed.Everyone who curses you is cursed.”
Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. He said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them completely, these three times! So run home, now! I meant to give you great honor, but look, the Lord has kept you from getting it.”
Balaam said to Balak, “Didn’t I tell your messengers too, the ones you sent to me? I said, ‘Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I couldn’t go against the Lord’s word and do anything, good or bad, on my own. I will say what the Lord says.’
“Now look, I am going back to my people. Come, I will tell you what Israel will do to your people in the days to come.”
He spoke out in a poem:
“This is what Balaam the son of Beor says,what the man whose eyes are open says,the man who hears the words of God,who has the knowledge of ,and sees the vision of the Almighty,falling down, and with his eyes open:
I see him, but not now.I see him, but not near.A star will come out of Jacob.A will rise out of Israel,and will strike through the corners of Moab,and crush all the sons of .
will be a possession., his enemy, will be a possession too,while Israel does brave deeds.Out of Jacob one will rule,and will destroy those left from the city.”
Then he looked at , and he spoke out in a poem:
“Amalek was the first of the nations,but his end will be destruction.”
He looked at the , and he spoke out in a poem:
“Your home is strong.Your nest is set in the rock.Even so, will be ruined,until carries you away captive.”
He spoke out in a poem once more:
“Oh, who will live when God does this?But ships will come from the coast of ,bringing trouble on Asshur, and trouble on .He too will be destroyed.”
Then Balaam got up and went back to his own place, and Balak also went his way.