Sorcerers, Angels & Donkeys: Oh My! -The Bilaam Story

(5) And he sent unto Laban the Aramite, who was Bileam, (so called because he it was) who sought (Biluva) to swallow up (Amma) the people of the house of Israel: the son of Beor, who was insane from the vastness of his knowledge; and would not spare Israel, the descendants of his sons and daughters: and the house of his habitation in Padan was at Pethor, a name signifying an interpreter of dreams. It was built in Aram upon the Phrat, in a land where the children of the people worshipped and adored him. (To him did Balak send) to call him, saying: Behold, a people hath come out of Mizraim, and, lo, they cover the face of the earth, and are encamped over against me.

(4) This heap is witness between me and thee (Gen. 31:48). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: And crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall (Num. 22:25). The heap alluded to in our text was the very wall at which Balaam violated the promise he had made to Jacob, as it is said: I will not pass over this heap to harm you (Gen. 31:52). Balaam and Laban were one and the same,¹³Sanhedrin 105a. See Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews 6:123. for it is said of him: An Aramean was destroying my father (Deut. 26:5). Balaam was called an Aramean, because he desired to annihilate Israel, as is said: Come, execrate Israel (Num. 23:7). Hence, it was the very wall that had borne witness to the oath that he had made that called him to account, as is written: The hand of the witness shall be first upon him (Deut. 17:7). And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father, Isaac (Gen. 31:53). This righteous man did not swear by the name of the king, but rather on the life of his father. He did it just as a man who desires to prove the truth of this remarks says: “I swear by the life of my father.” He swore this oath only out of respect, as is written: A son shall honor his father (Mal. 1:6).

(6) Ten things were created on the eve of the [first] Shabbat at twilight. And these are they: The mouth of the earth [that swallowed Korach in Numbers 16:32]; and the mouth of the well [that accompanied the Israelites in the wilderness in Numbers 21:17]; and the mouth of the donkey [that spoke to Bilaam in Numbers 22:28–30]; and the rainbow [that served as a covenant after the flood in Genesis 9:13]; and the manna [that God provided the Israelites in the wilderness in Exodus 16:4–21]; and the staff [of Moshe]; and the shamir (the worm that helped build the Temple without metal tools); and the letters; and the writing; and the tablets [all of the latter three, of the Ten Commandments]. And some say, also the destructive spirits, and the burial place of Moshe, our teacher, and the ram of Abraham, our father. And some say, also the [first human-made] tongs, made with [Divine] tongs.

(21) When he arose in the morning, Balaam saddled his ass and departed with the Moabite dignitaries. (22) But God was incensed at his going; so an angel of the LORD placed himself in his way as an adversary. He was riding on his she-ass, with his two servants alongside,

(3) So early next morning, Abraham saddled his ass and took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and he set out for the place of which God had told him.

(11) Then an angel of the LORD called to him from heaven: “Abraham! Abraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.” (12) And he said, “Do not raise your hand against the boy, or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your favored one, from Me.” (13) When Abraham looked up, his eye fell upon a ram, caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son. (14) And Abraham named that site Adonai-yireh, whence the present saying, “On the mount of the LORD Hashem will be seen.”

(5) And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak and speak thus.” (6) So he returned to him and found him standing beside his offerings, and all the Moabite dignitaries with him. (7) He took up his theme, and said: From Aram has Balak brought me, Moab’s king from the hills of the East: Come, curse me Jacob, Come, tell Israel’s doom! (8) How can I damn whom God has not damned, How doom when the LORD has not doomed?

(19) Anyone who has these three things is from the students of Abraham, our father, and [anyone who has] three other things is from the students of Bilaam the evildoer: [one who has] a good eye, a humble spirit and a small appetite -- is from the students of Abraham, our father. [One who has] an evil eye, a haughty spirit and a broad appetite - is from the students of Bilaam the evildoer. What [difference] is there between the students of Abraham, our father, and the students of Bilaam the evildoer? The students of Abraham, our father, eat in this world and possess the next world, as it is stated (Proverbs 8:21), "There is what for those that love Me to inherit, and their treasuries will I fill." But the students of Bilaam the evildoer inherit Gehinnom (Purgatory) and go down to the pit of destruction, as it is stated (Psalms 55:24), "And You, God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction; the people of blood and deceit, they will not live out half their days; and I will trust in You."

(6) But the LORD your God refused to heed Balaam; instead, the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, for the LORD your God loves you.—

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The reason for this miracle [the donkey speaking] was to show Balaam "who makes a mouth for man or who makes one deaf" (Exodus 4:11), specifically, to inform him that God opens the outh of the dumb so that Balaam should infer the lesson that He can certainly make mute the mouths of those who can speak, as He wills, and He can also place in their mouths words to speak, as He wills, for everything is in His power. And it was also to warn him not to go after sign-reading or divination in order to curse [Israel] therewith, for Balaam was a sign-reader and a diviner. (Artscroll translation)

(3) אשר תברך מבורך, actually Bileam’s power did not consist in blessing but in cursing people by mentioning their failings at a critical moment in G’d’s timetable, as elaborated on by our sages in B’rachot 7. This is why Balak did not demand a blessing from Bileam to make him victorious in war, or at least to be blessed so that he could fight the Israelites to a standstill. But when he nonetheless added the words ידעתי את אשר תברך מבורך, he did so only as a way of flattering Bileam. (1) וקסמים בידם, the instruments by means of which to perform sorcery.. Bileam’s specific expertise in such sorcery was to calculate precisely when certain constellations would be favourable to what he planned to achieve. He is described as a sorcerer when his death his reported in Joshua 13,22.

(2) Ibn Ezra thought that Bileam was an astrologer who, when he observed the horoscope of a person being at a low ebb, used this knowledge of curse him so that when misfortune struck such a person he could take the credit for it, i.e. attributing it to his having cursed him. Seeing this was so he had to tell the emissaries of Balak that he would be unable to transgress the command of the Lord and do anything on his own (verse 18). He did not foresee misfortune for the Jewish people in the stars, hence his curse if it did not materialize would ruin his reputation. Our sages do not agree and attribute real powers to Bileam. However, G’d in His mercy, thwarted Bileam who had thought that he saw reason for G’d expressing anger at the Jewish people (Compare Berachot 7).

That which happened to Balaam on the way, and the speaking of the donkey, took place in a prophetic vision, since further on, in the same account, an angel of God is introduced as speaking to Balaam.