Balaam

Balaam and the angel, painting from Gustav Jaeger, 1836

Balaam (/ˈblæm/;[1] Hebrew: בִּלְעָם, Standard Bīlʿam Tiberian Bīlʿām), son of Beor,[2] was a biblical character, a non-Israelite prophet and diviner who lived in Pethor which has never been located and is thought to be between the region of Iraq and northern Syria in modern day southeastern Turkey. According to chapters Numbers 22–24 of the Book of Numbers, he was hired by King Balak of Moab to curse Israel, but instead he blessed the Israelites, as dictated by God. Subsequently, the plan to entice the Israelites into idol worship and sexual immorality (Numbers 25:1–3) is attributed to him (Numbers 31:16). Balaam is also mentioned in the Book of Micah.

  1. ^ Mangold, Max; Cho, See-Young. "A Pronouncing and Phonetic Dictionary of Biblical Names". University of Tübingen. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  2. ^ Numbers 22:5

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