Balaam בלעם
a gentile prophet hired to curse Israel
Bilam son of Beor was a prophet to the nations—tradition says he was given so they could not claim they had no Moshe of their own. The gift was real; the character was not.
Balak of Moav, frightened by Israel, sent rich gifts: "whom you bless is blessed and whom you curse is cursed". Bilam first refuses, then bargains, then goes. On the road his donkey sees an angel with a drawn sword and turns aside three times; when he beats her she speaks—the Torah's only talking animal.
Three times he climbs the heights to curse, and three times says the opposite. His last words became the opening line of the morning prayer: "How goodly are your tents, Yaakov." The sages explain that he saw the tent openings did not face one another—a people that respects a neighbour's privacy.
Unable to curse, he advised Balak differently: seduce Israel through Moabite women and the cult of Baal Peor. It worked, and 24,000 died. Bilam was killed in the war with Midian in 2488.
On the timeline
Related
Sources
Tanakh
- Bamidbar 22–24; 31:8 — the donkey, the three blessings, and his death in the war with Midian
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Bamidbar Rabbah 20 — the midrash on Bilaam’s gift and his calculation
- Mishnah Avot 5:19 — the disciples of Bilaam: an evil eye, a haughty spirit, a greedy soul
- Sanhedrin 105a–106b — “Bilaam the wicked” and his knack for catching the moment of anger
Basis: stated in the Tanakh.