The theology of the balaam oracles: a pagan diviner and the word of god

cords, so there are two strands in Numbers 22-24. One of these joyfully

accepts power, land, and cult; the other criticizes these with a certain

reserve. This, he insists, can be no accident.

Eissfeldt then concludes by saying that the narratives of these

two blocks of material, that in Exodus and that in Numbers, are products
^l Ibid., p. 190.

131

definite goals. Thus as we have it, the records may in no way be regarded

as having value as a rendering of actual events. Nevertheless, they are

based on historical processes, and these processes belong in the time in

which our narratives play. They have in common the central point, and in

that central point both Moses and Balaam have a role. The identification

of the events may be difficult or even impossible. The echo which has been

sound in our narratives lies at a distance, but is still an irrefutable evidence

that it was vast and meaningful.¹

Observation and Evaluation

Rather than quote at length from the earlier article by this

author (written in 1939), it was felt better to extract from this fairly recent

(1961) exposition of Eissfeldt's viewpoint respecting the Balaam materials.

In this article we find an almost fossilized expression of the classical Well-

hausen system. There is a high degree of skepticism concerning the issue

of historical reliability of our texts: "So, wie wir sie haben, konnen sie

also keinesfalls as Wiedergaben wirklichen Geschehens gelten.”² Yet there

still the attempt, in the absence of historical reality, to find some reflection

of something that is "vast and meaningful."³

One thus has in these pages, in addition to the expression of

an outmoded literary-analytical methodology, a striking expression of the

132

tinguished from Geschichte, and the "meaning" comes despite a vacuum of a

reality.

The article is thus a throw-back to the point at which we began

the present chapter. We have now come full circle. The reconstruction which

was proposed by Wellhausen so long ago is defended with enthusiasm by

Eissfeldt. We have been here once before.
Summary

The Balaam narrative is the "test case" of the literary-critical

method of analysis. The Documentary Hypothesis is felt to be established

on the basis of the study of our text. It was for this very important reason

that we have spent so much time in surveying the treatment of the Balaam

materials in modern scholarship. A study of the Balaam narrative without

a major treatment of Balaam in modern scholarship would be deficient.

We began with the reconstruction of Wellhausen as summarized

by Julius A. Bewer. In this survey we were introduced to the classical

method of bifurcating the narrative into J and E. Then we went to the recon-

struction by Max Lour, written in 1927. Lohr's conclusions were found to

be less than satisfactory, but his work stands as a criticism of the literary-

knowledge, see Clark Pinnock, Set Forth Your Case: Studies in Christian

133

We then moved to the reconstruction of our narrative by Sigmund

Mowinckel written in 1930. In this presentation there was an attack on

attempts to modify the Wellhausen system by some scholars. Mowinckel's

conclusion is that the system developed by Wellhausen is correct, beyond all

doubt. This survey was followed by a brief look at a rather fanciful treatment

of the Balaum materials in terms of astral imagery. This was done by Eric

Burrows in a book written in 1938. Burrows attempted a new approach to the

oracles on the basis of the images of the zodiac he claimed to have found in

the text. From the relative absence of reference to this work in later studies,

it would appear that it is receiving the neglect it deserves.

A study of major significance was then surveyed--the study of

the Balaam oracles by the late William Foxwell Albright, written in 1944. In

this fundamental article the author argued for the unity of the text and for

a relatively early date for its composition. He argued as well for the historical

credibility of the person of the narrative, Balaam, the Mesopotamian seer.

Yet, in the presentation of this article, it was seen that Albright should be

regarded as a mediating scholar. He is critical of many of the postulates of

the critical school but he still sought to work within the system. He never

abandoned totally the presuppositions of the Wellhausen method, including

the use of the criterion of the employment of divine names as an indicator of

sources. Nevertheless, this study is to be regarded as the most significant

134

of all those surveyed in the present chapter.

study von Pakozdy, written in 1958. While flawed by a novel thesis

respecting the use of ‘^elohim, this article does argue for the unity of the

Scriptural passage as well as for its theological importance. Some of the

conclusions of the article are of merit, but are brought into question because

of the questionable procedures in development of the argument.

Finally, we came to one of the most recent treatments of the

oracles of Balaam, that written by Otto Eissfeldt in 1961. In this article

we found ourselves to have come full-circle. The advances made by Albright

and, to a lesser extent, by Lohr and von Pakozdy, are ignored. The classical

approach of Wellhausen, now over seventy-years old, was stated to have

been proven. The historical content of the story is dismissed, but there is

some vague reference to that which is "vast and meaningful."

It is now time for a positive presentation of the critical issues

of the Balaam pericope, and this will be done in the following chapter. Some

items relating to critical issues will also be presented in subsequent chapters

as well as for instance, the employment of the designations for deity.

CHAPTER IV

A CRITICAL STUDY:

A POSITIVE PRESENTATION OF CRITICAL ISSUES

Having surveyed the critical issues of the Balaam narrative as

these have been presented in contemporary scholarship, we may now turn to

a positive presentation of the several matters. Concepts to be included in this

chapter include: (1) the name of Balaam, (2) the homeland of Balaam, (3) the

character and role of Balaam, (4) the Old Testament references to Balaam,

(5) the New Testament citations of Balaam, and (6) the source of the narrative.
The Meaning of the Name of Balaam

An important contribution to our understanding of the Balaam

stories may be gained by an investigation of the meaning of his name. Further,

the meaning of his name should be placed in the context of names and naming

in the ancient Near East (an issue of considerable importance relative to the

divine names as well).

In his book Hebrew Man, Kohler writes that "it is the prevailing

136

view among the Hebrews that names have meaning; they 'speak.’”¹ Names

distinguishing one individual from another. They were more than a means of

honoring departed relatives or beloved friends. Names in the ancient period

were descriptive of the person bearing the given name. Davidson avers,

Among the Hebrews the name was never a mere sign whereby one

person could be distinguished from another. It always remained

descriptive; it expressed the meaning of the person or thing desig-

nated. The name bore the same relation to the significance of the

thing or person as a word does to a thought. It was always the

expression of it.²

In a similar manner, van Imschoot writes:

In the eyes of the ancients the name is not a simple label dis-

tinguishing one individual from his kinsmen. It is an integrating part

of the person; what has no name is, so to speak, non-existent. . .

Moreover, the name is supposed to correspond to the essence of the

object, and consequently reveals it.³

York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1956), p. 55. He groups the meanings

of names in the following categories: (1) theophoric names, (2) talisman

names, (3) protective names, and (4) occasional names, pp. 55-58.

Stewart D. F. Salmond, "The International Theological Library, " ed. Charles

A. Briggs and Stewart D. F. Salmond (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1904), pp.

36-37.

trans. by Kathryn Sullivan and Fidelis Buck (Tournai: Desclee Company,

1965), p. 35. Compare also the treatment by Motyer. He summarizes the

relationship between the name and the person who bore it in three propositions:

"the name is the person; the name is the person revealed; and the name is the

person actively present." He then develops each of these dicta. J. A. Motyer,

"Name;" NBD, pp. 861-64. Reference may also be made to Johs. Pedersen's

presentation, Israel: Its Life and Culture, trans. by Aslaug Moller, Annie I.

137

Even a casual reader of the Bible must be aware of the signifi-

to “the name which is above every name," Jesus--name, person and meaning

are all interrelated. This is not to imply that modern scholars are always

agreed on the precise significance of a specific name; it is rather to affirm

that the meaning of a known name is significant.¹ In this context we may

now turn to the question of the meaning of the name Balaam.

Due to the fact that Balaam the diviner and Bela the king of

Edom are each said to be "the son of Beor, " it is sometimes assumed that

the Balaam of Numbers 22-24 and the Bela of Genesis 36:32 may be equated.²

Copenhagen: Branner og Kordh, 1926, 1940), I-II, 245-59; George A. F. Knight,

1964), pp. 40-41; Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel (2 vols.; New York: McGraw-

Hill Book Company, 1965), I, 43-46.

¹ Although dated, an important treatise on the meaning of some

names is the book by George Buchanan Gray, Studies in Hebrew Proper Names

(London: Adams and Charles Black, 1896). See also M. Noth, Die israelit-

ischen Personnenamen im Rehmen der gemeinsemitischen Namengehung (Stutt-

gart: Hidesheim G. Olms, 1928).

Chronicles 1:43 ] reads rOfB;-NB, flaB,. Snaith regards the difference in

names as being "only an afformative mem." Norman H. Snaith (ed. ), The

Century Bible: Leviticus and Numbers (New ed. ; London: Thomas Nelson and

Sons, Ltd., 1967), p. 287. It should be added that those who make this

equation of Balaam and Bela also read Mdx for Mrx in Numbers 23:7,

thus making both figures Edomites.

138

Mowinckel, for example, is quite confident as to the correctness of the

worden, dass er im Grande identisch ist mit dem ersten Konige von Edom

Bala’ ban Beor."¹ It is on the basis of this equation that he was able to

conclude that Balaam was not an historical person in the strict sense of the

word ["eine historische Person im strengen Sinne des Wortes nicht ist"].²

More recently, however, the critical position maintained with

such confidence by Mowinckel, et al., has fallen into disrepute, even among

mediating and liberal scholars. H. H. Rowley, who until his death was

XLVIII (1930), 237. See also A. H. Sayce, "Recent Biblical and Oriental

Archaeology: Who Was Balaam?" ET, XV (1903-1904), 405. ''

² Ibid. A similar conclusion was reached by Gressmann. He

states, "Bileam, der Sohn Beors, der grosse Zauberer, ist identisch mit Bela,

dem Sohne Beors, dem ersten edomitischen Konige." Hugo Gressmann, Mose

und Seine Zeit: Ein Kommentar zu den Mose-Sagen (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck

& Ruprecht, 1913), p. 318.

Among critical commentators, one may cite Edelkoort, the Dutch

scholar, as giving cautious acceptance of the equation of Balaam and Bela.

"Meer zin heeft de meening van Noldeke (1869), die Bileam denzelfde acht

to zijn als den eersten Konig van Edom (Gen. 36:32), Bela de zoon van Beor."

A H. Edelkoort, Numeri, "Tekst en Uiteg: Praktische Bijbelverklaring," ed.

F. M. Th. Bohl and A. Van Veldlruizen (Groningen: J. B. Wolter's Uitgevers-

Mdatschappij, 1930), p. 171.

Compare also, August Dillrnann, Die Bucher Numeri, Deuteronium,

ed.; Leipzig: Verlag von S. Hirzcl, 1886), p. 142; George Buchanan Gray,

Commentary," (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1903), p. 324; Bruno

Baaentsch, Exodus-Leviticus-Numeri, "Handkornmentar zun, Alten Testament,"

ed. W. Nowack (Gottingen: Vundenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1903), p. 594; H.

Holzinger. Numeri. "Kurzer Hand-Commentar zum Alten Testament, " ed.

Karl Marti (Tubingen and Leipzig: Verlag von J. C. B. Mohr [ Paul Siebeck],

1903), p. 112.

139

wrote concerning this matter, but in another context: "This identification is

not without difficulties, however, and cannot be pressed."¹ Moreover, as

is noted by Rowley,² one of the strongest denunciations of the critical con-

cept at hand was made by Albright in his pivotal study, "The Oracles of

Balaam.” In this article, Albright declares categorically that "Balaam has

nothing to do with Bela of Edom. . . . he was certainly believed to be a

diviner from Northern Syria."³ It goes without saying that the biblical record

1948" (London: Published for the British Academy by Geoffrey Cumberlege,

Oxford University Press, 1950), p. 78. He was speaking in terms of the

controversy surrounding the date of the Exodus.

(1944), 231. Compare also John Mauchline, "The Balaam-Balak Songs and

Saga," Presentation Volume to William Barron Stevenson, "Studia Semitica et

Orientalia, " II (Glasgow: Glasgow University Oriental Society, 1945), pp.

74-75.

Among scholars who deny the association of Balaam with Bela

O'Callaghan writes that "this Bela of Edom must be dated in the mid-twelfth

century B. C., long after Balaam." R. T. O'Callaghan, Aram Naharaim, "Ana-

lecta Orientalia," Vol. XXVI (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1948), p.

120. This viewpoint raises quite another question: What relationship does

Genesis 36 have to the Mosaic unity of the Book of Genesis as a whole?

Young states that there is no necessity to make the assumption that the

Edomite kings of Genesis 36 are later than Moses' time. He regards it as

"Perfectly possible that Moses could have written this verse." Edward J.

An Introduction to the Old Testament (Rev. ed.; Grand Rapids: Wm.

B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1960), p. 63. With this estimation, com--

pare Gleason L. Archer, Jr. A Survey of Old Testament Introduction (Chicago:

Press, 1994), p. 164. n. 11. The colophon in Genesis 36:43 suggests

140

hardly suggests an equation of the two figures.

The equation of Balaam, son of Beor, and Bela, son of Beor,

may be discarded with confidence by the conservative scholar. More prob-

lematic, however, is the precise significance of the name Balaam.^l

An explanation of the name given by Hengstenberg derives the

word from flaB, "destruction, " and MfA "people." He renders a possible

explanation of the name in this manner:

we suppose that Balaam bore this name as a dreaded charmer and

conjuror, whether it were that he descending from a family in which

this business was handed down, received it immediately on his birth,

and that he afterwards was really, in public opinion, what the name-

giving hoped from him and wished him to be, or whether the name,

according to oriental custom, was given to him for the first time at a

later period, when the fact indicated by it came into existence. This

derivation is perfectly conformable to the laws of speech. The

expulsion of the one y forms no difficulty.²

of Moses. The only element he would allow to be a post-Mosaic addition

is verse 31b: "before any king ruled over the sons of Israel." Kenneth A.

Kitchen, "The Old Testament in Its Context: 1. From the Origins to the Eve

of the Exodus,” TSFB. LIX (Spring, 1971), 10; "The Old Testament in Its Con-

text: 2. From Egypt to the Jordan, " TSFB, LX (Summer, 1971), 7.

rew MfAl;Bi would be normalized bil^cam.

uineness of Daniel and the Integrity of Zechariah, trans. by B. P. Pratten

(Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1848), pp. 352-53. The original title of this work

is Die Geschichte Bileams und seine Weissagungen (Berlin: Ludwig Dehmigte,

In presenting this position Hengstenberg offers the following

reasons: (1) there is no other admissible derivation at hand; (2) the name

thus explained is in the highest degree suitable (compare Numbers 22:6 which

may be taken as a commentary on the name); (3) it accords with the city name

Ibleam= Bileam (compare II Kings 9:27 and I Chronicles 6:55 [ Eng. 6:70]

(4) it agrees with the meaning of the name of his father (Beor), which is taken

to mean "destruction"; and (5) it allows philological comparison (but not

identity) with Bela ben Beor.¹

Most important for Hengstenberg in this regard is the explanation

given of the name in Revelation 2:6, 14, 15. He writes:

The explanation here given of the name, John also followed in

the Apocalypse, who translates Balaam by Niko

name of the Nicolaitaes indicates false teachers, who, after the

pattern of Balaam (whose name shows itself also in the misery which

befell Israel, in consequence of the seduction advised by him), seduced

the Church to heathen festivals, and to participate in the excesses

connected with 'them. . . This latter passage [ Rev. 2:14, 15 ] is

especially important, since it shows what was to the author the

point of comparison between the false teachers of the present period

and Balaam, on account of which he called them Nicolaitanes, that

is, Balaamites, conquerors or destroyers of the people . . . .As

Balaam, so also the false teachers of the present time, proved them-

selves destroyers of the people, and not that alone, they also brought

upon the Church, by the same means, the anger of God [emphasis in

original].²

Robbins, "The Character and Prophecies of Balaam--Numbers XXII-IV,"

Delitsch series J trans. by James Martin (3 vols.; reprint; Grand

142

Other suggestions have not been wanting, however. Among

kinsman”; (3) "the clan brings forth"; and (4) "glutton."¹ Albright suggested

the meaning, "the (divine) uncle brings forth," comparing the Hebrew word

MfAl;Bi with an Amorite proper name from the thirteenth-century B. C., Yabil-

of a common type, "an imperfect + divine name. " He then cites Noth's study

of names on this point:

Personal names incorporating the theophorous element Mf are found

in the proto-Aramaic level, in East proto-Aramaic, South proto-Aramaic

and Israelite nomenclature, and in addition to name formations of the

Nominal Sentence and Noun + Perfect type, characteristic of the

proto-Aramaic level is the Imperfect + Noun structure.³

Geikie relates his name to his profession: "His very name, 'The

conqueror of the people,' seemed to point him out as a seer, whose blessing

or curse was of mightiest power." Cunningham Geikie, Old Testament Char-

II (1940), 332; David Adams Martin, "The Balaam Oracles and Exegesis and