Parashat Balak & Haftarah

Choosing the Focus: The Character of Balaam

From the weekly poll to the central question of the class

In the first video, we reviewed the different options that had been suggested in the student poll for this week’s class on Parashat Balak.

The topic that received the most interest was the personality and identity of Balaam. This became the guiding question for the lesson: was Balaam a prophet, a sorcerer, a servant of God, or a more complicated figure who stands somewhere between these categories?

We introduced the structure of the class. First, we would study Balaam inside Parashat Balak. Then we would look at Balaam elsewhere in the Torah, in other biblical books, and finally outside the Bible in the famous Deir Alla Inscription, also known as the Balaam Inscription.

Presenting the topic also led us into an important side discussion connected to the later biblical memory of Balaam in Deuteronomy 23. There, the Torah speaks about the restriction on Ammonites and Moabites entering the assembly of the LORD, and the rabbis famously interpret the wording as: “Ammonite, but not Ammonite woman; Moabite, but not Moabite woman.”

This raised a broader question about biblical language and rabbinic interpretation. In many areas of Torah law, even when the command is phrased in masculine language, the obligation applies to both men and women, especially with regard to negative commandments. Here, however, the rabbis read the masculine form as significant and use it to distinguish between Moabite and Ammonite men, who are excluded, and women from those nations, who may enter the people of Israel.

We also briefly discussed a related question concerning the generation of the wilderness. The decree in the wilderness applied to the generation that left Egypt, but what about people who were already over the age of sixty at the time of the Exodus? Would they also have been included in the decree? Since someone who was already over sixty when leaving Egypt would have been over one hundred years old at the entry into the Land, this question also has a natural demographic limitation.

Balak’s Fear

Numbers 22:2–3 and the opening movement of the narrative

In the second video, we read the opening verses of the parashah, Numbers 22:2–3, where Balak son of Zippor sees what Israel has done to the Amorites and Moab becomes deeply afraid.

We paid close attention to the Hebrew narrative sequence and the use of wayyiqtol forms, which move the story forward step by step. The opening verses create a chain of perception, fear, and political reaction: Balak sees, Moab fears, and the story begins to move toward the summoning of Balaam.

We also discussed hollow verbs, especially forms such as וַיָּגָר and וַיָּקָץ, where the second root letter is historically weak. These verbs helped us look more carefully at how Biblical Hebrew forms narrative verbs from roots with a middle weak letter.

Another important grammatical point was the use of collective nouns such as Israel, the Amorite, and Moab. These words can refer to a people or nation as a collective body, even when the grammar may look singular.

We also noted the nominal causal clause כִּי רַב־הוּא, “because it was numerous,” and the homonym ג־ו־ר, which can mean either to dwell or to fear. The context and the preposition help us distinguish the meanings: with בְּ it often means dwelling, while with מִן it expresses fear, as in וַיָּגָר מוֹאָב מִפְּנֵי הָעָם.

Balaam’s Reputation

Numbers 22:5–6, Pethor, and the power of blessing and curse

In the third video, we read Numbers 22:5–6, where Balak sends messengers to Balaam son of Beor in Pethor, near the River, in the region associated with Aram-naharaim.

We discussed Balaam’s geographical origin and the possible connection between Pethor, Aram-naharaim, and the world of the patriarchs. We also noted the Samaritan Pentateuch’s version and the possibility that the text may point toward the land of the Ammonites.

This led us to a broader question about geography and identity. Some nations are defined by a shared past, while others are defined by a shared future. In the Balaam story, geography is not merely background information. It helps frame Balaam as an outsider whose words are nevertheless believed to carry real power.

We then looked closely at the forms לְכָה and אָרָה, examples of the lengthened imperative. Following Professor Steven Fassberg’s explanation, we discussed how the lengthened imperative can mark movement toward the speaker or action done for the speaker’s benefit. In this case, Balak wants Balaam to come and curse Israel for Balak’s benefit.

We also compared the difference between לֵךְ and לְכָה, and illustrated the point through a modern Hebrew example from a 2019 political slogan directed against Benjamin Netanyahu.

Finally, we examined Balak’s statement: “Whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed.” This language echoes God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12, where blessing and curse are connected to Abraham and his descendants. The connection raises a major theological question: can Balaam’s power stand against the Abrahamic promise?

Qesamim in Their Hands

Numbers 22:7 and the ambiguity of divination

In the fourth video, we read Numbers 22:7, which describes the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian coming to Balaam with qesamim in their hands.

We discussed the word קְסָמִים and three possible ways to understand it in this context. It may refer to divination itself, to payment for divination, or to objects and instruments connected with omen-seeking. Each possibility slightly changes how we understand the scene.

If qesamim means payment, the verse emphasizes Balaam as a hired religious expert. If it means tools of divination, the verse places Balaam in the world of ritual and omen-seeking. If it refers more generally to divinatory practice, then the messengers arrive not merely with a political request but with an entire ritual expectation.

We also noted the construct phrases זִקְנֵי מוֹאָב, זִקְנֵי מִדְיָן, and דִּבְרֵי בָלָק. These phrases helped us review the construct chain and the way Hebrew marks relationships between nouns.

Balaam and God

Numbers 22:8–9 and the transition between speech and narrative

In the fifth video, we read Numbers 22:8–9, where Balaam tells the messengers to stay overnight while he waits to hear what the LORD will say to him.

We focused on the movement between direct speech and narrative. The root א־מ־ר, “to say,” often signals a transition into direct speech, while the surrounding narrative verbs move the story forward.

We also discussed Balaam’s surprising use of the divine name, the name of the God of Israel. Balaam is not an Israelite, yet he speaks as someone who expects to receive communication from the LORD.

We examined the forms לִינוּ and וַהֲשִׁבֹתִי. Balaam begins with an imperative addressed to the messengers, “stay here tonight,” and then continues with a verbal form that expresses what will follow: “and I will bring back word to you.” This creates a sequence of action and purpose.

The scene is surprising because God does indeed come to Balaam. The Torah does not simply dismiss Balaam as a fake. Instead, it presents him as someone capable of receiving divine communication, while still inviting us to question his character and motives.

Silver, Gold, and Hidden Motives

Numbers 22:18 and Balaam’s response to Balak’s messengers

In the sixth video, we read Numbers 22:18, Balaam’s famous response to the servants of Balak: even if Balak were to give him a house full of silver and gold, he could not go beyond the word of the LORD his God.

On the surface, Balaam sounds obedient. He says that he cannot transgress the word of God, whether in a small matter or a great one. But beneath the surface, the verse raises a question: why does Balaam speak so vividly about silver and gold?

We discussed the idiom לַעֲבֹר אֶת־פִּי, “to pass beyond the mouth of,” meaning to violate or transgress a command. Balaam presents himself as someone who cannot violate the word of the LORD.

We also examined the phrase כֶּסֶף וְזָהָב, “silver and gold,” as a biblical hendiadys: two terms that together represent one broader idea, wealth. We noted that in earlier biblical Hebrew the order is often “silver and gold,” while in later biblical books the order often shifts to “gold and silver.”

Finally, we discussed the expression קְטַנָּה אוֹ גְדוֹלָה, “small or great,” as a merism. The phrase does not only mean one small thing or one large thing, but the entire range of possibilities. Balaam claims that he cannot do anything at all outside God’s command.

Balaam Beyond Parashat Balak

Deuteronomy, Joshua, Micah, Nehemiah, and the Deir Alla Inscription

In the final video, we moved beyond Parashat Balak and looked at the way Balaam is remembered elsewhere in the Bible and outside it.

We read Deuteronomy 23, where the Torah explains the restriction against Ammonites and Moabites entering the assembly of the LORD. One of the reasons given is that they did not greet Israel with bread and water on the way out of Egypt, and that they hired Balaam son of Beor to curse Israel.

We also connected this to the Haftarah from Micah 6, where the prophet tells Israel to remember what Balak planned and what Balaam answered him, “from Shittim to Gilgal,” so that Israel may know the righteous acts of the LORD.

We briefly noted other appearances of Balaam in Joshua and Nehemiah. These texts remember Balaam as part of a larger pattern: Israel was threatened by a curse, but God turned the curse into blessing.

Finally, we introduced the famous Deir Alla Inscription, found in Jordan in 1967 and usually dated to the eighth or ninth century BCE. This extra-biblical inscription mentions Balaam son of Beor and presents him as a visionary figure, a seer of the gods.

We read a small part of the beginning of the inscription in order to get a sense of its language and significance. The inscription does not retell the biblical story of Balak and Balaam, but it shows that Balaam son of Beor was remembered outside the Bible as an important spiritual figure.