The Appearance of the Angel to Balaam, artist unknown, 11th c. Wikimedia
Balaam and the Problem of Other People’s Revelation
A Pagan “Prophet Like Moses”
Published: June 29, 2014
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Last Updated: September 7, 2026
דברים לד:יח וְלֹא קָם נָבִיא עוֹד בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל כְּמֹשֶׁה אֲשֶׁר יְדָעוֹ יְ־הוָה פָּנִים אֶל פָּנִים.
And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto (34:10): None has arisen in Israel, but one has arisen among the nations. And who was he? Balaam son of Beor. Yet there is a difference between the prophecy of Moses and that of Balaam: Moses did not know who was speaking to him (out of the burning bush), whereas Balaam did know who was speaking to him, as it is said, The saying of him who heareth the words of God (Num. 24:16). Mo did not know when God would speak to him, whereas Balaam did know, as it is said, And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High (Num. 24:16). Moses was spoken to by God only while he was standing, as it is said, But as for thee, stand thou here by Me, (and will speak unto thee) (5:28), whereas Balaam was spoken to when he was fallen down, as it is said, Who seeth the vision of the Almighty fallen down, yet with open eyes (Num. 24:4). To what may this be likened? To the parable of the king’s butcher who knows what the king’s expenses are for supplying his table.
Translation from Reuven Hammer’s Sifre: A Tannaitic Commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy (Yale University Press 1986).
ונקלוס בר קלוניקוס בר אחתיה דטיטוס הוה בעי לאיגיורי אזל אסקיה לטיטוס בנגידא אמר ליה מאן חשיב בההוא עלמא אמר ליה ישראל מהו לאידבוקי בהו אמר ליה מילייהו נפישין ולא מצית לקיומינהו זיל איגרי בהו בההוא עלמא והוית רישא דכתיב…
אזל אסקיה לבלעם בנגידא, אמר ליה: מאן חשיב בההוא עלמא? א”ל: ישראל. מהו לאידבוקי בהו? א”ל: לא תדרוש שלומם וטובתם כל הימים. א”ל: דיניה דההוא גברא במאי? א”ל: בשכבת זרע רותחת.
See Alexander Rofé, “Balaam the Seer Is Recast as a Villain” TheTorah (2019).
Numbers 31 is a Priestly text; the source(s) of the longer Balaam unit is (are) debated, but it is considered non-Priestly by most scholars.
במדבר כב:יח וַיַּעַן בִּלְעָם וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל עַבְדֵי בָלָק אִם יִתֶּן לִי בָלָק מְלֹא בֵיתוֹ כֶּסֶף וְזָהָב לֹא אוּכַל לַעֲבֹר אֶת פִּי יְהוָה אֱלֹהָי לַעֲשׂוֹת קְטַנָּה אוֹ גְדוֹלָה.
Tur-Sinai, “השפעת הארמית על העברית של המקרא,” EM 1.594; Gary A. Rendsburg, “The Dialect of the Deir Alla Inscription,” Bibliotheca Orientalis 50 (1993) 309-28; Morag, “רובדי קדמות: עיונים לשוניים במשלי בלעם,” Tarbiẓ 50 (1980-1981), 1-24. Several other Aramaisms are noted by scholars, such as wyfn rather than wfn in 24:6.
Deut. 27:2-3.
For a translation and detailed discussion see Baruch A. Levine, Numbers 21-36 (Anchor Bible; NY: Doubleday, 2000), 241-275.
Sifrei Deuteronomy 357 (see above).
