Original Meaning

NOT EVEN A SORCERER’S APPRENTICE. After all the trauma of his trip to Moab, Balaam’s moment of truth has arrived. What kind of words will the Lord put in his mouth? Can he satisfy King Balak?

At Bamoth Baal (22:41), Balaam instructs Balak to “put his best foot forward” by providing the Lord a rich complex of burnt offerings on seven altars (23:1–2). Somehow Balaam seems to have known that the sabbatical number seven is appropriate for invoking the God of Israel. However, he cannot guarantee an encounter with the Lord, who will communicate with him only if he chooses to do so. It is by no means clear that the burnt offerings, which basically serve as instruments of divination to evoke communication from the deity, provide the Lord with a reason for giving Balaam a revelation. Israelite prophets were never required to offer sacrifices before they received divine messages.1 It appears that God meets with Balaam (23:4–5) in spite of the sacrifices.

Then Balaam utters (nśʾ, lit., “lifts”) his oracle (23:7). The word for “oracle” is mašal which refers to a discourse constructed with parallelism, often employing figurative language. This is the first appearance of the term in the Hebrew Bible, although it is anticipated by the participle of mšl (“balladeers, poets”) in 21:27. In Numbers 23–24 the same nśʾ + mašal phraseology introduces seven oracular speeches of Balaam (23:7, 18; 24:3, 15, 20, 21, 23), affirming that the number seven is indeed significant for the God of Israel.

Balaam’s first oracle (23:7–10) employs seven (this number again!) couplets. He is now fully aware of the identity of the people whom Balak wants him to curse: Jacob/Israel (23:7; cf. 22:5, 11). Balaam quickly moves to the basic problem: his conflict of interest. Since he is God’s spokesman, how can he “curse . . . denounce” (qbb . . . zʿm) those whom the Lord has not cursed/denounced (23:8)? For a spokesman to express the opposite of the authority he represents would be inexcusable insubordination. Would a U.S. President tolerate a White House press secretary who indulges in freelance diplomacy?

From his vantage point, Balaam views Israel as separate rather than just another nation, and metaphorically he refers to their innumerable multitude in terms of “dust” (23:9–10a). This is what God promised Abraham and Jacob that their chosen offspring would be like (Gen. 13:16; 28:14; cf. “sand” in Gen. 22:17; 32:12).

At the end of Balaam’s speech, he wishes for himself to die like straight/upright = righteous ones (yešarim), referring to the Israelites, and (in poetic parallelism) he wants his afterlife (ʾaḥarit; lit., “after-part, end”) to be like theirs (23:10b). In light of the first part of the same verse, the desirability of a righteous person’s fate lies largely in the assurance of having abundant posterity to live on and multiply after one dies. “Balaam’s wish illustrates the blessing that every nation and person will desire to receive from God—to share the fate of Israel. This is expressed in Genesis 12:3, 22:18, and 28:14.”2

Ironically, the Lord makes Balaam express admiration for and identification with those whom he has set out to curse! Balaam could take these words from his own lips as a pointed appeal to himself to abandon his course of action (cf. Num. 22:32) and preserve his ultimate self-interest by allying himself with God’s people rather than trying to destroy them for the mirage of temporary gain. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em!

King Balak has hired Balaam as a master sorcerer, a powerful practitioner of black magic (cf. Ex. 7:11–12, 22), but he isn’t even a sorcerer’s apprentice. He is just a diviner who is mastered by divinity (rather than a Master of Divinity) to heap divine blessings on the enemy (Num. 23:11). Balaam is playing a dicey game between the Lord’s vested interest in Israel and Balak’s antagonism toward the same nation. But Balaam has his escape clause ready for Balak: He can only speak God’s words (23:12).

Not giving up, Balak hopes that moving the curser to a different location will help him delete his blessings. So he takes Balaam to “the field of Zophim [i.e., Lookouts] on the top of Pisgah,” where a narrower field of vision will help him retain his focus (23:13–14a). Curses and narrow outlooks go together!

After sacrificial preparations (23:14b; cf. 23:1–2), Balaam receives his second oracle (23:15–17), which consists of ten parallel units (23:18–24), expanding on the theme of his earlier speech. There is no trouble or sorrow among the Israelites. Rather, they have the battle cry (teruʿah) of the divine King in their midst (23:21; see comments on Lev. 23). The couplet “God, who brings them out of Egypt, is like the horns3 of a wild ox for them” (Num. 23:22, NRSV; cf. NJPS, NJB, NASB, NKJV)4 alludes to the initial expressions of Moabite fear in 22:4–5, but reversing the order of the “ox” and “out of Egypt” ideas.

There are two more differences. (1) The Moabites likened Israel to a domestic ox licking up grass (22:4), but the oracle refers to greater danger: the towering horns of a wild ox, which they cannot control or subdue (cf. 24:8; Deut. 33:17; Job 39:9–10; Ps. 22:21). (2) The Moabites spoke of a threat from Israel (Num. 22:4–5), but in the oracle, Israel’s power is that of God.

Balaam continues by affirming that no divination (naḥaš) is effective against Israel.5 The point is not what Israel can do, but “what God has done!” (23:23).6 Notice that just after Balaam has spoken of a dangerous wild ox (23:22), the word naḥaš can be taken to mean “snake” (cf. Gen. 3; 49:17; Ex. 4:3, etc.), another hazardous creature, until the parallel qesem (“divination”) in the continuation of Numbers 23:23 shows that this naḥaš has to do with the magical arts (“sorcery”). We have found that snakes were indeed effective against Israel, but only when sent by the Lord as punishment for disloyalty to him (21:6), and the bronze snake (naḥaš) that Moses made at his direction was effective for Israel in countering the sting of death (21:8–9).

The last simile of Balaam’s speech sounds even more terrifying than a wild ox: Israel is like a devouring lion (23:24).7 If Balak is disappointed by Balaam’s first oracle, this devastating blessing of Israel is a catastrophe. It would be better if Balaam said nothing (23:25). In other words, “Shut up!” Again, Balaam simply cites his “escape clause” (23:26; cf. 22:38; 23:12).

Desperate, and still vainly imagining that the divine attitude can be altered by the venue, Balak relocates Balaam at “the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland” (23:28). It is unlikely that even a human being would be so fickle as to change from pro- to anti-Israelite in this way. To use a modern analogy, moving a Republican from one town to another does not change him or her into a Democrat. Since the world and all its contents belong to the supreme Lord of Israel (Ps. 50:12), moving from one part of his creation to another or attempting to bribe him by giving him something that already belongs to him does not impress him. This is reassuring to those who are under his protection, but it is frustrating to those who find his will impervious to their malicious machinations!

It is remarkable that Balaam plays along with the futile charade, directing Balak to waste fourteen more valuable animals (23:29–30). Having no vested interest in either Israel or Moab, Balaam is clinging to hope for reward no matter what the outcome.

Bridging Contexts

THE POWER OF A CURSE. King Balak chooses Balaam because he is known for formulating curses that work. A curse is regarded as negatively altering reality, by contrast with a blessing that positively alters reality.

The first blessings (Piel of brk; cf. Gen. 1:22, 28; 2:3; 5:2) and curses (Qal of ʾrr; cf. 3:14, 17; 4:11) in the Bible were uttered by the Creator himself with profound results. Later, Isaac pronounced divine blessings on his sons, Jacob and then Esau, which were believed to determine their respective destinies and which were irrevocable even though Isaac was deceived into directing the first blessing of dominance to Jacob rather than Esau (27:19–40). Conversely, Noah cursed Canaan, who would be servant of servants to his brothers (9:25), and Jacob cursed the anger of his sons Simeon and Levi, who would be dispersed in Israel (49:7). These patriarchal blessings and curses were not simply communication of information and attitudes. Rather, they were “performative speeches” that did things by invoking divine decrees.

Because a curse was unalterable and its effects were real, a person could be held accountable and punishable by death for the negative effect that he or she intended to accomplish against someone else by using a curse as a weapon (Ex. 21:17; 22:28; Lev. 24:11, 14, 15, 23; 1 Kings 21:13). David and Solomon saw to it that Shimei did not die a natural death after he cursed David (2 Sam. 16:5–12; 1 Kings 2:8–9, 36–46), even though he ostensibly repented of what he had said and David at least nominally accepted his repentance (2 Sam. 19:16–23).

Balaam is fully aware that he is dealing with the Lord, a volitional being who can choose whether or not someone should be blessed or cursed. However, it appears that King Balak is thinking more along the lines of magic, attributing the power of blessing or cursing to the human diviner (23:6). A practitioner of magic is regarded as controlling a ritual key to a superhuman power source.8

Some ancient peoples used magic for cursing. For example, the Egyptians inscribed pottery bowls or figurines with the names of their enemies and then smashed them for the purpose of breaking their power.9 This magical ritual activity could not affect distant human enemies through natural cause and effect, but it was viewed as producing results through some kind of supernatural energy guided to its targets by analogy between nonliving objects and living persons.10

Contemporary Significance

ASSURANCE OF DIVINE BLESSING. Colonel William Kirby was captured by the Chinese during the Korean War. A Chinese officer informed him that he was to be shot at dawn the next day. Kirby asked if he could be granted one last request, to which the Chinese officer agreed. His request was simply to be buried in an American flag.

After several days the Chinese managed to find an antique American flag. By that time the United States government had managed to secure Kirby’s release. Frustrated, the Chinese officer told him that if they ever caught him again, they would shoot him on sight. Nevertheless, Kirby got to keep the old flag, the symbol of his nation and its firm resolve to protect loyal Americans.11

The Lord is fully committed to blessing and protecting his loyal people in every age. The fact that he communicates with Balaam, who speaks of him as his God (Num. 22:18), shows that the Israelites do not have a monopoly on their deity. However, while others could have access to the Lord, he gave a special promise to Abraham when this patriarch left the upper Mesopotamian region where Balaam later lived (Gen. 12:2–3):

I will make you into a great nation

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you. (cf. 27:29)

God intended for other people, such as Balaam and the Moabites, to know and respect this blessing on Abraham and his descendants (see, e.g., Num. 22:12).12 King Balak, like Pharaoh before him, was repeatedly attempting to neutralize the blessing of Abraham by reducing his descendants.13 However, even though the Israelites had been giving their beneficent deity a hard time, and many individuals lost out on the benefits of the covenant because of their disobedience, and those who remained were still far from perfect, his plan to fulfill the divine promises to and through his corporate chosen people was unshaken and unshakable. His covenant with Israel was conditional in the sense that individuals could only benefit if they were loyal to him, as Colonel Kirby was loyal to the United States, but it was unconditional in the sense that he would use Israel to reveal his blessing in the world (cf. Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14), no matter what happened.14

The imperfections of the Israelites were between them and God. While he disciplined them within their corporate boundaries, he did not air their “dirty laundry” in front of people from other nations, such as Balaam and Balak. To non-Israelites he showed only monolithic support for those he protected as his special possession. To attack them was to assault God. By setting out to curse them, Balak and Balaam were on the way to bringing a curse on themselves, as God had said to Abraham, “Whoever curses you I will curse” (Gen. 12:3).

The Lord’s firm resolve to bless the children of Abraham is also for Christians who are truly God’s people through faith in Christ (Gal. 3:26): “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (3:29). The promise includes salvation, a future home, and adoption into a multitude of literal and spiritual descendants of Abraham, the patriarch who set the paradigm for faith (cf. Heb. 11:10, 12). With the divine King in our “camp” (cf. Num. 23:21), we have ultimate “social security.”

The fact that those who bless God’s people are blessed and those who curse them are cursed (Num. 24:9) does not mean that they never suffer persecution (e.g., Matt. 5:11; Luke 21:12). Nor does it mean that the wicked will never be more prosperous than the righteous (Ps. 73). However, the Lord ultimately sorts out final destinies according to his inexorable will (73:17–20).

Leslie Weatherhead proposes that we picture a stream running down the side of a mountain. We can dam up that stream and prevent its flow toward the valley below, but only temporarily. The law of gravity requires that water at high elevation will eventually make its way down. Similarly, God’s ultimate will cannot be thwarted. Though human history with all its evils may place many blockages in the way, in the end these will be overcome. God will get his family back, on an earth restored to something resembling its original state.15

Dr. Laura Schlessinger explains the purpose of “chosenness”: “The Israelites were basically given an assignment. By their adherence to a unique way of life, with laws of holiness, justice, generosity, mercy, ethics, and compassion, the whole world would come to know, love, and obey the One and Only God.”16 Since God’s people are a channel of divine blessing to the world, it is inherently to the benefit of others to accept them and counterproductive to reject them. Not only do those who fail to welcome the Lord’s agents lose the short-term benefit that they could have received; they are held accountable for rejecting God and the invitation to his kingdom (cf. Luke 10:8–12).

The Lord has always had a vested interest in his people, who do his work in the world. As in ancient times, whoever touches his modern people “touches the apple [= pupil] of his eye” (Zech. 2:8; cf. Deut. 32:10), that is, touches him in a sensitive spot. Consequently, he rewards with blessing any who help and bless them and takes it personally when anyone mistreats them.