Who Was Balaam?

(5) Balak sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor in Pethor, which is by the Euphrates, in the land of his kinsfolk, to invite him, saying, “There is a people that came out of Egypt; it hides the earth from view, and it is settled next to me. (6) Come then, put a curse upon this people for me, since they are too numerous for me; perhaps I can thus defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that he whom you bless is blessed indeed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

And if you ask: Why did the Holy One blessed be He, let his Shechina rest upon so wicked a heathen, I reply that in order that the heathen peoples should have no excuse to say, “If we had prophets, we would have changed for the better”, He raised up prophets for them. Yet they (these prophets) broke down the moral fence of the world, because at first they (the heathens) were fenced in against (they refrained from) immoral living, but this man (Balaam) counselled them to freely offer themselves to prostitution (Midrash Tanchuma)

(40) (Devarim, Ibid. 10) "And there shall not arise in Israel again a prophet such as Moses": But among the nations, there did arise. And who was he? Balaam the son of Beor. But there is a difference between the prophecy of Moses and the prophecy of Balaam. Moses did not know who was speaking to him, and Balaam did know, viz. (Bamidbar 24:16) "The speech of the hearer (Balaam) of the words of the Almighty." Moses did not know when He would speak to him until He did so. Balaam did know, viz. "and the knower of the knowledge of the Most High." Moses did not speak with Him unless he was standing, viz. (Devarim 5:28) "And you, here, stand with Me." And Balaam spoke with Him when he was fallen, viz. (Bamidbar 24:4) "The vision of the Almighty shall he see, fallen and his eyes uncovered."

Balaam had even more wisdom than Moshe!

Balaam was not a prophet at all. He was a magician who won people over and garnered their trust through his magical powers.

(16) And all of these things are words of untruth and deceit. And it is that with which the early idolaters fooled the peoples of the nations, so that they would follow them. And it is not fitting for Israel who are wise sages to follow this hot air, and not to bring to the heart that there is benefit in them, as it is stated (Numbers 23:23), "Since there is no divining in Yaakov and no magic in Israel"... Anyone who believes in these things, and similar to them, and thinks in his heart that they are true and a matter of wisdom, but that the Torah forbade them, is nothing but one of the fools and one lacking intelligence.

Middle Approach...

יואר והנכון בעיני כי היה יודע מזלות ובעת ראותו במזל של שום אדם שהגיע עת רעתו היה מקלל אותו ובבא הרעה אל המקולל יחשבו הרואים והשומעים הנמצאים כי בעבור קללתו באה הרעה

“And he knows the knowledge of the Most High” (Numbers 24:16), Now, if the knowledge of his animal Balaam did not know, is it possible that the knowledge of the Most High he knew? ... Rather, what, then, is the meaning of “And he knows knowledge of the Most High”? He would know to determine the moment during which the Holy One, Blessed be He, is angry. And that is what the prophet said to Israel: “My nation, remember what Balak, king of Moab, advised, and how Balaam, son of Beor, responded; from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may know the righteous acts of G-d.

What would have the curses accomplished anyways?

What would have the curses accomplished anyways? A second approach...

And Rabbi Elazar further said that Rabbi Ḥanina said: One should not regard the curse of an ordinary person as light in your eyes, for Abimelech cursed Sarah, saying: “Behold, it is to you a covering of the eyes to all that are with you” (Genesis 20:16), and indeed this was fulfilled in her descendant, as it is stated: “And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim (27:1).

(8) Along with their other victims, they slew the kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also put Balaam son of Beor to the sword.