Cursing Balak and the Accursed Woman

While Parashat Balak contains interesting personalities, dialogue, events, and drama, about which there is much commentary, the focus here is on a particular wordplay occurring throughout the parashah. This wordplay reveals some interesting aspects of Parashat Balak and raises some serious (if not controversial) questions and issues.

The parashah opens with Balak's alarm at the close proximity of the multitude of Israelites after their exodus from Egypt and victory over the Amorites.

Balak, king of Moab, is neither accepting of the situation nor is receiving under any conditions the Israelites, despite what happened to the Amorites. To protect himself and his kingdom from the Israelites, Balak sends messengers to Bilaam―a powerful prophet among the nations, considered by some at the level of Moses―for help.

This particular wordplay is defined in the text above by the different verbs for "curse" between Num. 22:6 and 22:11:

Rashi (11th Century) notes, as translated, that קָבָה־לִּי in Num. 22:11 "is worse than אָרָה־לִּי, (the expression which Balak had actually used, v. 6), for in the case of this verb it means that one mentions and pronounces in full [the name of God] when cursing". On these verbs for "curse", Ibn Ezra (12th Century) notes the following (some Hebrew added back to the translation): "The word arah [אָרָה] (curse) is an imperative. It comes from a double root [ארר] with one of the double letters missing. The same [קבב] is true of with the word kavah [קָבָה] (curse) in curse me (v. 17 [corrected]). The word kov [קֹב] (curse) is vocalized according to the paradigm of shemor (keep). Kavah in kavah li [קָבָה־לִּי] (curse me) minus the heh follows the paradigm of shechav (lie), rekhav (ride), and tzelach (rested on)."

From a later perspective in Deuteronomy, Parashat Ki Teitzei contains a brief summary of Bilaam's efforts (on behalf of Balak, king of Moab) to curse the Israelites:

The verb above for curse is based on קלל rather than based on קבב as in Parashat Balak: Bilaam was hired "to curse you" (לְקַלְלֶךָּ), and God reversed "the curse into a blessing" (הַקְּלָלָה לִבְרָכָה). קלל and קבב are similarly structured words with just one letter substitution (ב for ל). Based on Sefaria and Concordance, such use of the verb קבב is largely exclusive to Parashat Balak in the Torah, with one interesting exception at Lev. 24:10-16 (see below towards the end). In contrast, the verb קלל is used in all books of the Torah except Numbers.

Who used קבב here instead of קלל, for what purpose, and why?

In addition to Rashi's and Ibn Ezra's views on אָרָה and קָבָה, these verbs are connected in a way that can help to explain the use of קבב instead of קלל. The two-letter root אר leads to the two-letter root קב by selecting the letter after ב) א) and the letter before ק) ר) and reversing the order of the letters.

Could or does this manner of verb change portend that the people (i.e., Israelites) to be cursed (יוּאָר) will instead be blessed (מְבֹרָךְ)? This possibility is perhaps intimated in Num. 22:6 and 22:12:

Indeed, such a reversal (blessing instead of curse) happens three times:

The pairing of אר and קב is further reflected in the pairing of ישראל and יעקב in Bilaam's pronouncements, with ישראל containing רא (reverse of אר) and יעקב containing קב:

Perhaps the fact that ישראל contains the reverse of אר (blessing?) while יעקב contains קב (curse) implies that Bilaam's pronouncements are not entirely, or not permanently, a blessing. (Even more speculatively, this fact would enhance the blessing that Jacob (יעקב) received at Penuel when the "man" who wrestled with him and failed to prevail renamed him Israel (ישראל) (Gen. 32:29).)

In addition to the above occurrences, the verb קב appears elsewhere in various forms during the interaction between Balak and Bilaam:

Such use of the verb קב (curse) is quite fitting for Parashat Balak. There is one especially important form appearing twice (and nowhere else in Tanakh):

In both appearances, Balak speaks the word לָקֹ֤ב (to curse) in expressing his anger at Bilaam for blessing the Israelites instead of cursing them.

Is it a coincidence that an anagram of לקב is בלק (Balak), different in only the location of ב (last vs. first)? The third word in the cyclic triplet (typified by [123, 231, 312] in any order) would be קבל (accept or receive). However, קבל never appears in the parashah. Apparently, Balak (בלק) is the cursing type (לקב), and not the accepting or receiving type (קבל).

Yet, the appearance of קב does not end when Bilaam and Balak part ways and depart Parashat Balak at the end of Num. 24:

In Num. 25, the setting shifts from their parting to the Israelites at Shittim:

At Shittim, the blessing on Israel is seemingly absent as the Israelite men stray sexually and ritually concerning Baal-peor, having been invited by Moabite women as the text specifically mentions. The matter of Baal-peor is ended by Phinehas, Aaron's grandson through his son Eleazar:

In Num. 25:8, קב appears twice as the root of two words: הַקֻּבָּה and קֳבָתָהּ, translated above respectively as "the chamber" and "the belly". Why are these words (based on קב) used in this context when their use is not absolutely necessary (e.g., הַקֻּבָּה is used instead of אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד (Tent of Meeting) or more simply הָאֹהֶל)? Is their use intended to make a connection (via קב) to Bilaam's pronouncements, and/or does it have another purpose? If the latter, whose purpose and why?

The above translation of קֳבָתָהּ (the belly) is inaccurate because the word includes the 3rd-person feminine possessive suffix; a literal translation is "her belly". If Phinehas had stabbed both the Israelite man and Midianite woman through their bellies, as the translation seems to suggest, the text would likely have read instead קֵּבוֹתֵיהֶם (their stomachs; cf. וְהַקֵּבָה in Deut. 18:3). However, "her belly" is not the only translation of קֳבָתָהּ (see Concordance concerning וְהַקֵּבָה and קֳבָתָהּ). Other translations of קֳבָתָהּ are "her womb" and "her vagina" (see Ben-Yehuda's Pocket English-Hebrew / Hebrew-English Dictionary). The intended meaning of קֳבָתָהּ seems more likely one of these meanings specific to women.

A different translation of these Hebrew words rooted in קב (curse) could be "the accursed place" (הַקֻּבָּה) and "her accursed place" (קֳבָתָהּ). The first translation is fitting because the profane act is committed in a sacred space (אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד) and desecrates it. Concerning the second translation, the text specifies only where (i.e., at what body location) the Midianite woman is stabbed (קֳבָתָהּ), and not where the Israelite man is stabbed, even though he does the straying. This apparently negative distinction for the woman (נְקֵבָה) only, and not for the man (זָכָר) (see Gen. 5:2), seems closely connected to use of the worּd קֳבָתָהּ. The fact that both נְקֵבָה and קֳבָתָהּ are rooted in קב (curse)―a meaning unique to Parashat Balak―seems inescapably misogynistic and likely tied to androcentric fears of female sexuality and no small amount of blame shifting for men's inappropriate sexual behavior. From that perspective, a translation of קֳבָתָהּ as "her accursed place" is consistent with its meaning as "her vagina". If "her womb" had been meant, another word would have been used instead (e.g., רַחְמָהּ as in Gen. 30:23). Also, other texts in Tanakh indicate that a womb is a sacred place (e.g., Jer. 1:5). This use of קֳבָתָהּ, rooted in קב, seems intended to associate "accursedness" with this woman, especially in הַקֻּבָּה (i.e., אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד), and arguably with all women more generally (via נְקֵבָה).

This apparent connection between accursedness and women generally is relevant to the use of קבב outside Parashat Balak in Lev. 24:10-16:

Like the ending of Parashat Balak at Shittim, the above episode makes a specific connection between a man who blasphemed (i.e., cursed (וַיִּקֹּב)) God and his Israelite mother (e.g., נְקֵבָה). Besides being identified as an Israelite, she is specifically named as if to assign blame to her for his "cursing" behavior. The Hebrew text includes an interesting mix of forms of וַיִּקֹּב, וְנֹקֵב, בְּנׇקְבוֹ) קבב) and וַיְקַלֵּל, הַמְקַלֵּל, יְקַלֵּל) קלל) to refer to the same type of act or action. Does the text (especially Lev. 24:11) use קבב (in two-letter form קב) because of the named Israelite woman when the text could have simply used קלל alone for cursing instead, with or without mentioning, identifying, or namingthe mother of the blaspheming man?

The findings above may be the true purpose for the unique use of the verb קב in Parashat Balak, concerning both the interaction between Balak and Bilaam and the use of הַקֻּבָּה and קֳבָתָהּ at the end of the parashah. If so, the questions of whose purpose and why remain open.