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

4

word, and then went on reading to himself, 'Wonderful!' 'Wonderful!"¹

the New Testament, with the resulting impression that one could "get along

without" the New Testament if one just uses the older section of the Bible. He

concurs with Walther Eichrodt in seeing that the "Old Testament religion,

ineffaceably individual though it may be, can yet be grasped in this essential

uniqueness only when it is seen as completed in Christ."²

Indeed, to stress the importance of the Old Testament over that

of the New would be both reactionary and heretical, a sort of anti-Marcionite

movement in the extreme. Often the excuse is given, however, that one can-

not learn everything, so the best choice is to study the New Testament. Such

is a false choice. Again we are reminded by the sharp wit of Bright:

Lest I be misunderstood, let me say that were I obliged to choose

whether students should be required to master the Old Testament or the

New, I should without hesitation opt for the New. But the choice is

a false one. I am confronted with no such choice--any more, I should

say, than on sallying forth in the morning I am obliged to choose between

wearing my trousers or my shirt: the decently dressed man requires

both. Just so, the well-prepared minister must know both Testaments.³

Nevertheless, let it be said at the outset that the writer has a
¹ W. B. Riley, "Is the Bible 'a Human or a Divine Book?" The

Christian Fundamentalist, V (December, 1931), 213.

² Walther Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament, trans. by J.

P. Baker (2 vols.; Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1961), I, 27.

5

love-affair with the Old Testament Scriptures. While not agreeing with his

wrote in the preface to a book by M. A Beek:

I share Professor Beek's view that the Bible is the most wonderful

book in the world. Within the Bible the Old Testament has a range and

variety far greater than the New, and the human interest that belongs

to its contents and persons whereby the rich and enduring word of God

was mediated to men makes it unique among the world's sacred litera-

ture.¹

He further concurs with another reminder by the same author:

“He is wise if he remembers to read, not only all these books about the Old

Testament, but the text of the Old Testament itself; for it is a far more wonder-

ful book than all that has been written about it."²

The reference given above to a book by M. A Beek,³ however,

also serves to remind one of another reason for the loss of excitement in some

readers of the Old Testament. This is the logical legacy of the critical school

of approach of much of contemporary Old Testament scholarship. Though this

critical approach has many forms, it has one child: the loss of simhat torah.

In a magnificent article in Christianity Today, Cyrus Gordon of Brandeis

University comments on the loss of the delight of the Scripture to many heirs
¹ H. H. Rowley, in the "Foreword, " to M. A. Beek's A Journey

Through the Old Testament, trans. by Arnold J. Pomerans (London: Hodder and

Stoughton, 1959), p. 8.

VI (1952), 93.

the German school of Alt and Noth.

6

of the critical school:

with meaning for the intellectual person devoted to his biblical heritage,

it is simhat torah, "the delight in studying Scripture. " I am familiar

with this delight and I like to see others have the opportunity of

experiencing it. I am distressed to meet ever so many intelligent and

serious university students who tell me that their teachers of Bible have

killed the subject by harping on the notion that biblical study consists

. of analyzing the text into JEDP. The unedifying conclusion of all such

study is that nothing is authentic. That this type of teaching should

go on in our age of discovery when biblical scholarship is so exciting

is, so to speak, a perverse miracle.¹

Recently, Samuel Sandmel of the Hebrew Union College--Jewish

institute of Religion, Cincinnati, expressed chagrin at the loss of enjoyment

of the Old Testament Scriptures by those whose sole preoccupation seems to be

source analysis and redaction criticism. He admitted that he had no desire to

disassociate himself from the critical school, but at the same time he insisted

(with evident emotion), "I love the Hebrew Bible!" Often Pentateuchal scholar-

ship has so concentrated on isolating the putative sources, he maintained, the

synthesis of the whole, and its possible esthetic import has been lost.²

Hence, we find the Old Testament mutilated by its enemies and

ignored by its friends. The present paper is being written by one who cherishes

simhat torah, and who feels that the study of an Old Testament subject has a
¹ Cyrus H. Gordon, "Higher Critics and Forbidden Fruit, " CT,

IV (November 23, 199), 6.

Approach, " (unpublished paper presented at the International Congress of Learned Societies in the Field of Religion, Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles,

Calif. , September 4, 1972).

7

magnificent raison d'etre: the study of the text is its own reward.

If one might grant the reasonableness of an Old Testament subject,

there still remains the question, "Why a study of Balaam?" To this question

several lines of answer will be proposed.

It is a story to be enjoyed. --To many, if the mention of the name

“Balaam” evokes any response, there comes an almost involuntary smile as one

remembers, "Is not he the character with the donkey?"¹ Balaam for some might

be regarded as a precursor of television's almost forgotten series, "Mr. Ed."

In this case, however, we have a Sunday School story. At once we feel our

cultural distance from a pre-Walt Disney context in which it is reported that a

man and his donkey had a conversation on the care and treatment of animals of

burden. Despite our "culture shock, " however, we sense at once that this is

a story to be enjoyed.

More than one writer has seen the genuine humor in the narrative

and has commented thereon. Eakin, for example, says that "this story should
^l Eising suggests that this story is common knowledge to anyone

at all aware of the Old Testament: "Wer im Alten Testament Bescheid weiss,

kennt die Erzahlung von der sprechenden Eselin des Propheten Balaam." Hermann

Eising, "Balaams Eselin, " BK, XIII (1958), 45. One has to be aware of some-

with the donkey incident. On more than one occasion the present writer has

been the subject of his thesis and has responded, only to confront a

rather blank expression on the part of the questioner.

8

be read as a didactic humor narrative.”¹ Similarly, though from a different

Although remarking on the "strange" nature of the story of Balaam, Morley adds

that it caught the imagination of the Hebrews, and among liturgical churches

which, follow the pericope calendar, it has its place in the church year--the

Third Sunday After Easter. "The reason is clear," he states. "It is full of the

stuff of life. It is an elemental human story."³

Again, Westermann suggests that "the whole account is permeated

by a jubilant and grateful exultation over the blessing that God has granted, his

people, surrounded as they are by the superior might of other nations."⁴ One

writer has gone so far as to suggest that the story of Balaam is "one of the

most fascinating in the whole of the Old Testament."⁵ Hence, one fine reason
¹ Frank E. Eakin, Jr., The Religion and Culture of Israel: An

Introduction to Old Testament Thought (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1971),

p. 121, n. 89. George W. Anderson classifies the story as an example of

may be misleading). The aim of Marchen, he avers, is to amuse rather than

to instruct or to edify. A Critical Introduction to the Old Testament (London:

Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1959), p. 228.

in Conflict with Conscience, " ET, LIII (1941-42), 234.

Robert H. Boyd (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1967), p. 75.

(1934-35), 324.

9

for a study of this section of the Old Testament lies in the simple fact: it is

It is a story that is exceptionally well-written. --This too is noted

by scholars of diverse theological persuasions. Throughout his article on the

Balaam narrative, the Hungarian scholar von Pakozdy comments on the rare art

of the one he takes to be the final redactor of the story. Note, for instance,

the words of his conclusion:

In conclusion we may ascertain how masterful the skill of the narrator

is and the theological revision technique of the final redactor, who,

forming so artfully of his ancient and written tradition, and in the spirit

of the prophetic religion, was able to create such a unity out of diverse

theological concepts.¹

Another scholar who has remarked on the literary style of the narrative is the

Paulist father Frederick L Moriarty. He speaks of the art of the story, and

concludes that it is "one of the most fascinating stories of the Old Testament."²

A writer dramatically different to the above in theological outlook

was the Brethren author who chose to retain semi-anonymity as "C. H. M." He

meisterhaft die Erzahlunoskunst and die theologische Umarbeitungstechnik des

Endredaktor ist, der die sicher uralte mundliche and schriftliche Uberlieferung

so kraitvell und im Geiste der prophetischen Religion zu gestalten, aus vielerei

theologisch so Einheitliches zu shaffen vermochte." Ladislas Martin von

Pakozdy, "Theological Redactionsarbeit in der Bileam-Perikope (Num 22-24), "

p. 176.

1960), p. 5.

10

wrote, "It is impossible to conceive anything more magnificent than these

Ewald who is reported to have described our narrative as "unparalleled in

effectiveness and unsurpassed in artistic finish."² Such statements could

be compounded several times over, but the point remains: the Balaam narra-

tive is exceptionally well-written.³

It is a story from which one is warned.--Many know of Balaam

primarily from New Testament references to him. There are three of these,

and they speak in unison of the warning to be made to the New Testament

believer from the story of Balaam. Peter denounces false prophets in words

of unrelieved severity:

Forsaking the right way they have gone astray, having followed the

way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteous-

ness, but he received a rebuke for his own transgression; for a dumb

donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of

the prophet. [II Peter 2:15-16, N. A. S. B.]

Jude, the brother of our Lord, also cites Balaam as an horrible
¹ C. H. M[ackintosh] , Notes on the Book of Numbers (Reprint

of 1880 ed.; Neptune, N. J.: Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., Publishers [n. d.] ), p.

423.

² Cited [ without documentation ] by Alexander Whyte, Bible

Characters: Adam to Achan (10th ed.; London: Oliphants, Ltd. [n. d.] ), p. 264.

³ James A. Wharton begins a recent study on the Samson stories

by asserting that "only a Philistine can deny that the Samson stories are

superb examples of ancient narrative art." "The Secret of Yahweh: Story and

Affirmation in Judges 131-16, " Interp., XXVII (January, 1973), p. 48. We

might paraphrase, "only a Moabite can deny that the Balaam stories are

superb examples of ancient narrative art."

11

example out of the past respecting false prophets:

have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the

rebellion of Korah. [Jude 11, N. A. S. B.]

Finally, our Lord Himself, in His series of messages to the

churches, warned the Assembly in Pergamum by these words:

But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who

hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling

block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and

to commit acts of immorality. [Rev. 2:14, N. A. S. B.]

Hence, in three different books, three separate writers (Peter,

Jude and John) use Balaam as the example par excellence of false teachers, and

warn their readers accordingly. No section that is cited three times by New

Testament writers may be thought of as unimportant, even on a sliding scale

of value. Nevertheless, it is not the New Testament use of the Old Testament

section which "makes" the older passage important. Rather, the citation of

the passage three times in the New Testament seems to be from a common

recognition by these New Testament writers (and our Lord) of the intrinsic

illustrative worth of the story. Truly--it is a passage from which one is warned.

recognized that the oracles of Balaam are cast in poetry. The device of

parallelism in these sections seems to have escaped notice in post-biblical

writers until the time of Ibn Ezra, and then it was noted only haltingly. But

it seems that he was the first "modern" (A. D. 1093-1168) who pointed to the

12

parallelism in the Balaam oracles.¹

Bishop Robert Lowth, the features of Hebrew poetry have become a subject of

detailed study. This study has become intense since the discovery of the large

body of poetic texts at Ugarit in 1928 and following. The relationship of the

Ras Shamra texts to our passage is striking, for the Balaam oracles "are full

of Ugaritic parallels."²

The poetry of the Balaam oracles has value in its own right, but

also, as will be seen, in relationship to the relative dating of early Israelite

poetry in the Old Testament. For the moment, though, we may remark with

Unger that the poetry of the Balaam oracles is superb, however one may regard

Balaam as a man.

The question is, Was Balaam, the soothsayer, the diviner, also

a prophet of Jehovah? Nowhere is he called a prophet, though plainly

he does the work of a prophet, and it is scarcely possible to conceive

of anything more magnificent in all prophetic literature than the parables

he delivered, which bear, in every detail, the superlative seal of divine

inspiration.^3
1 George Buchanon Gray, The Forms of Hebrew Poetry: Considered

With Special Reference to the Criticism and Interpretation of the Old Testament,

"The Library of Biblical Studies," ed. Harry M. Orlinsky (Reprint; New York:

Ktav Publishing House, 1972), p. 18. Gray states, "so far as I am aware,

similar observations in writers earlier than Ibn Ezra have never yet been dis-

overed."

² Roland Kenneth Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament

Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1969), p. 630.

p. 215.

The poetry of the enigmatic Balaam is indeed superb poetry.

of these chapters of the Book of Numbers have sensed the theological impli-

cations of the oracles for generations. Gordon writes:

It is of more than passing interest to note that Numbers 22-24 represents

the gentile prophet Balaam as inspired by God; and his utterances, such

as "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob; thy tabernacles, O Israel"

(Numbers 24:5) have remained among the most cherished passages in

Scripture throughout Synagogue history.¹

That these chapters are cherished is utterly proper and fitting.

A mere perusal of the Book of Numbers should show the reader the relative

importance of the Balaam pericope. The principle of the economy and selec-

tivity of Hebrew historiography (a theological principle) militates against the

inclusion of lengthy sections unless the concern of such a section is of

overriding theological importance. The issue leading to the inclusion of the

Balaam materials in the Book of Numbers must be seen to be theological.

"This story was evidently preserved in such length because of its demon-

stration of the greatness of God."²

Though the point seems to be missed by some, the importance

of the section to Old Testament Theology is striking indeed. Moriarty, writing

in The Jerome Bible Commentary, avers: "Textual difficulties disregarded,

(Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1948), p. 224.

14

few sections in the Pentateuch are more important theologically than this

rize the revelation of God's purpose as it was communicated to Moses."¹

The theological thrust of the Balaam narrative is noted force-

fully in the estimation of the Czeckoslovakian scholar Zdenek Sousek:

The Balaam pericope is a weighty component of the message concerning

the salvation work of Yahweh. The superiority of Yahweh over all his

foes is there demonstrated. The incident is a mighty comfort to the

threat and quaking in the presence of wicked powers and is an eloquent

testimony that no annihilator, no destroyer, no death has the last

word, but Yahweh, who intervenes entirely unexpectedly to save his

community, to open to it new horizons and to give to it new hope.²

Hence, the Balaam oracles and the narrative in which they are

cast play a major role in Old Testament Heilsgeschichte. The oracles and

their setting contain concepts that are tangent to many critical areas of Old

Testament theology. Some of these include the knowledge of Yahweh by a

non-Israelite, reception of revelation, blessing and cursing motifs, magic

noted that this is the same author, but a different work, than that cited on

page 9, n. 2.]

² His words are: "Die Bileam-Perikope ist ein wichtiger Bestand-

teil der Botschaft uber das Heilswerk Jahwes. Es wird da die Ubermacht Yah-

wes uber alle seine Gegner demonstriert. Das Ereignis ist ein machtiger

Trost den Bedrohten and den vor bosen Machten Zitternden and ist ein bered-

sames Zeugnis, dass das letzte Wort kein Vernichter, kein Verderber, kein

Tod hat, aber Yahwe, der ganz unerwartet eingreift, seine Gemeinde zu

retten, ihr neue Horizonte zu offnen and neue Hoffnung zu geben." Zdenek

Souek, "Bileam and seine Eselin: Exegetische-theologische Bemerkungun

zu Num. 22," CV, X (1967), 185.

15

and divination, sacrifice, miracle, prophetism, messianic hope, eschatology,

work of Yahweh and how He relates to His people.

Further, a major ramification of these oracles is to be found in

whit they contribute to the current crisis and debate concerning the concept

of the inerrancy of the Scriptures.

In summary, then, it may be reaffirmed: the oracles of Balaam

present significant theology.

It is a story that impinges dramatically on the critical issues of

Old Testament studies.--As will be seen in the sampling of critical studies

of the Balaam section, this pericope has become a cause celebre in the issue

of literary criticism of the Pentateuch. It is in fact a major battleground for

Pentateuchal-source theories; indeed--a veritable test case. Witness the

number of major articles and commentaries dealing with this basic issue.

Studies have been written on the critical issues of the Balaam section by

von Gall, van Hoonacker, Wellhausen, Gray, Nestle, Gressmann, Lohr,

Mowinckel, Edelkoort, Eissfeldt, Albright, Coppens, and many others. A

number of these articles will be surveyed in the following chapters. It may