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

account. We may cite the words of Balak in his initial request for help

from Balaam:

And now come! curse for me yli.-hrAxA this people,

for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I will be able

to smite them and drive them from the land:

For I know that he whom you bless is blessed,

and he whom you curse is cursed

[rxAUy rxoTA rw,xEva] [Num. 22:6]

Three times in this verse Balak uses a form of the Hebrew verb rrx,

"to curse, " "to bind with a curse."¹ This verb is cognate to Akkadian

disrespect").² Araru is used in Akkadian inscriptions with god(s) as the

subject in vivid and chilling fashion. One example reads:
¹ Other words for cursing are used in the narrative and the

oracles. These will be discussed as they appear in the oracles in the

exegetical section, below.

² CAD, I, "A" Part II, 234-36. Bezold gives the meaning

binden, "to bind, " BAG, p. 69.

237

[li-ru-ra (su)], his descendants, his land, his soldiers,

his people, and his army with a baleful curse, may Enlil

with his unalterable utterance curse him [li-ru-ur-su-ma]

with these curses so that they speedily affect him.¹

In this example there is the element of the inflexible nature of

a curse once uttered. There is a sense in which the curse may be said to

be "bound" on one. People also curse others in the Akkadian texts with

the effective element still in force. One ancient citizen gave testimony to

this factor in the line: "when you cursed [ta-ru-ur-ma] my father, calamity

befell him.²

The Hebrew cognate rrx seems to be associated with effective

power as well. This is certainly true when God is the subject of the verb.

One example is to be seen in Genesis 3:14:

And Yahweh God said to the serpent,

Because you have done this,

Cursed [rUrxA] are you more than all cattle

And more than every beast of the field;

On your belly you shall go,

And dust you shall eat

All the days of your life.

[N.AS.B.]

The efficacious power of the curse is also to be seen at times when man

is the speaker. Perhaps his speaking the curse in this sense is a reflection

of the will of God. An example of the effective curse with man as the
¹ CAD, I, "A" Part II, 235. ² Ibid.

238

Cursed [rUrxA] be Canaan;

A servant of servants

He shall be to his brothers.

[N.AS.B. ]

The effective power of the spoken curse is often related to

the concept of the spoken word in the ancient Near East. Eichrodt writes:

"In Israel as well as elsewhere there was a very real belief that once a word

had been spoken it exerted power in a quasi-material way, irresistibly

effective in operation and largely independent of the deity---a belief closely

related to the primitive ideas of 'power' in general."¹

Speiser is so convinced of the effective element in the spoken

curse, that he translates the Hebrew verb rrx as "to cast a spell" in

Numbers 22:6.² Blank writes that "there is abundant biblical evidence for

A Baker, "The Old Testament Library, " ed. G. Ernest Wright, et al.

(2 vols.; Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1961, 1967), I, 173;

compare johs, Pedersen, Israel: Its Life and Culture, trans. by Aslaug

Miller, Annie L Fausboll and the author (I-II, III-IV; London: Geoffrey

Cumberledge; Copenhagen: Branner og Kordh, 1926, 1940), I-II, 182, 183,

190. Pedersen relates the spoken word to one's nepes. "The soul is a

whole saturated with power," I-II, 182. See also Frank E. Eakin, The

(Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc. , 1971), pp. 120-21; George A. F. Knight,

Ltd., 1964), pp. 56-57.

LXXX (1960), 198.

239

the belief in the effective power of the spoken word--human as well as

It may be observed, however, that the concept of anything

being “irresistibly effective in operation and largely independent of the deity,

as Eichrodt describes the curse in the quotation above,² is a pagan concept.

One cannot have a sound view of the sovereignty of God and believe that a

mere spoken word from a frail human can effect one's will in the universe.

yet, as these several scholars have observed, such seems to have been the

case in the ancient Near East. This was the prevailing opinion ---but it was

a pagan opinion. Now, this pagan concept must have influenced many

Israelites as well. But it cannot be said to have been a part of normative

Yahwism. It would appear that many err in attributing substandard thoughts

to genuine piety.

Hence, we agree with the analysis of the curse as presented

by van Imschoot. There may have been a popular level in Israel in which

the curse was regarded on a magical level, but such was not a part of norma-

tive Yahwism. Van Imschoot writes:

240

itself--this is the case of the magic formulas of all countries and

times--or to the power of him who says it; also then it may be con-

sidered as capable of constraining the gods and remains in the sphere

of magic. In Egypt, and even in Babylon, one does not always see

clearly whether the word acts by itself or by the power of a god. In

Israel, without doubt, the use of magic formulas has existed at all

times among the lower classes, but has been reproved by the official

religion (Ex 22:17; Lev 20:6. 27; Dt 18:9-13; 1 Sm 15:23; 28:3; Mi

5:11; Jer 27:9; Ez 13:18-20; Mal 3:5). The efficacy of curses and

of blessings is derived from Yahweh (Prv 3:33; Sir 4:6; Gn 12:3; Nm

22:6; 23:8; the curse can be obstructed (Nm 22:22ff. ), weakened

(prv 26:2) or changed into a blessing by Yahweh (Dt 23:6); it is

ordinarily pronounced in the form of a prayer (Jer 15:15; 18:19-23;

Ps 109, etc. ).¹

An understanding of this issue is so crucial to our present

study that we now quote at length from Cassuto because of his balanced

and judicious handling of the curse motif.

In the ancient East there was current the belief, based on the

concept of the magic power of the spoken word, that blessings and

curses, and particularly curses, once uttered, act automatically

and are fulfilled of their own accord, as it were, unless another

force opposes and annuls them. This explains the important place

occupied in Eastern religions, and especially in the cults of the

Mesopotamian peoples and the Hittites, by the magical incantations

of the priests, whose object was to nullify the power of the anathamas

pronounced by one of the gods or a human being. The belief in the

power of blessing and curse existed among the Israelites, too, not

only in the Biblical period but also in Talmudic times (see, for

instance, B. Megillah 15a; B. Baba Qamma 93a), and it continues

to our own day (it will suffice to draw attention to the custom of

'the dissolution of curses'). In the Bible we find traces of this

belief not only in the cited statements of Gentiles--for instance,
¹ Paul van Imschoot, Theology of the Old Testament, Vol. I.

God, trans. by Kathryn Sullivan and Fidelis Buck (Tournai: Descl e & Co.,

1935), I, 189-90. It may be observed that he regards the curses in our

passage as having their efficacy in Yahweh and being blocked by Him.

241

the words of the king of Moab, who believed in the magic power

utterances of Israelites. For example, Micah's mother, who had

previously cursed the one who stole a sum of money from her, on

hearing that the thief was her son, instantly hastened to nullify the

power of the curse by a blessing: Blessed be my son by the Lord

(Judges xvii 2). Similarly, to quote another example, when Jacob

was afraid lest his father curse him, if he should come before him

instead of his elder brother, Rebekah immediately said to him: Upon

effect of the curse from her son onto herself. But these are only the

remarks of individual Israelites, and the Bible simply relates the

stories and reflects the beliefs current among the people, which do

not, however, accord with Israel's true faith. The sublime religion

of Israel cannot acquiesce in such a conception. In the view of

Israel's Torah, it is impossible to imagine that a man's word should

have the power to effect anything without God's will, for only from

the Lord do evil and good issue. Human blessings, are, according

to the Torah, no more than wishes and prayers that God may be willing

to do this or that. So, too, human imprecations, in so far as they

are not iniquitous, are, in the ultimate analysis, but prayers that God

may act in a given way. The Lord, needless to say, may not grant

the request of the person that blesses or curses, and he may or may

not act according to his wish; it all depends on the Divine will

(compare Psa. cix 28: Let them curse, but do Thou bless! When

[Emphasis in original, for quotations.]¹

We have quoted Cassuto at such length because his view on

the subject of cursings in the biblical record seems to be very balanced.

On the one hand, one may point to the popular expressions of the curse

in which the speaker seems to indicate that the power is in his very words.

Such, however, is never to be thought of as normative Yahwism. Cassuto

indicates that many scholars have refused to differentiate between the

Israel Abrahams (2 vols.; Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, The Hebrew Uni-

versity, 1961, 1964), II, 155-56.

242

understanding of the biblical text.

The majority of contemporary exegetes, it is true, are inclined

to attribute to the Torah itself the belief in the magic power of blessing

and curse, but those who hold these views have not distinguished

between folk beliefs and the concepts of the Torah, and have failed

to understand the passages properly. Not only the antithesis between

the popular cult and the basic principles of the Pentateuch but also

the wording of the blessings and curses to which the Torah attaches

importance rebuts this view. In particular, two aspects of the

formulation call for attention: (a) the verbs appear mostly in the

jussive (shortened form of the imperfect or the like), which expresses

a desire or request, a petition or prayer; (b) the good or evil deed

is attributed mostly to God himself (for example, Gen. xxvii 28, in

the benediction of Isaac: May God give you, etc. ). It is clear

from this that in such cases the one who blesses or curses is only

making a supplication to God.¹ [Emphasis in original.]
When we turn from normative Yahwism, however, and seek to

determine the meaning of the term curse in Balak's mind, we may well impute

to him belief in the curse in a magical and inherently effective way. In

fact, he says to Balaam: "'I know that he whom you bless is blessed and

he whom you curse is cursed" (Num. 22:6). In this case the uttered word

was indeed a most potent fetish,² and may be compared to the higa’

imprecation poetry of the early Arabs.^3
1 Ibid., II, 156.

² Confer, T. Witton Davies, Magic, Divination, and Demon-

olony Among the Hebrews and Their Neighbors (Reprint of 1898 ed. ; New

York: Ktav Publishing house, Inc., 1969), p. 33. Cf. Aage Bentzen,

Forlag, 1948), I, 141-42.

243

may be inferred by Balaam's response to the messengers of Balak: "Spend the

night here, and I will bring back to you as Yahweh may speak to me" (Num.

22:8. To be sure, in this verse he uses Yahweh; but one suspects that had

the oracle been intended against another nation, he would have used the

name of the god of that nation.¹ Balaam seems to be a trafficker with the

gods, a craftsman with the supernatural.

Moreover, Balaam's repeated expressions that he is powerless

to change that which Yahweh wished to speak through him gave the lie to

the effective curse in this instance. Balaam is ineffective in pronouncing

a curse, unless given leave by Yahweh.
The Term Masal

A second element that is quite important to the thrust of this

chapter is the meaning of the term masal. It is to this question we now turn.

Each of Balaam's seven prophetic announcements is termed a masal [lwAmA]

Considerable debate has been directed to the meaning of this term.² One
Frazer's Folklore in the Old Testament (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers,

Harper & Row, Publishers, 1969), p. xlii; also see in the present paper,

above, pp. 64, 76, 116.

¹ See further, below, p. 158.

² Some of the literature on the topic includes: Otto Eissfeldt,

Der Maschal im Alten Testament, BZAW. XXIV (1913); Allen Howard Godbey,

"The Hebrew Masal," SJSLL (1922-23)„ 89-1.08; J. Pirot, "Le 'Masal' dans

244

approach that is taken by a number of scholars is to relate the Hebrew word

Bentzen:

hints given by Johs. Pedersen, starting from the meaning of the root

"to rule. " The noun then signifies a sentence spoken by “rulers",

filled with the power of mighty souls. In similar manner Hylmo

speaks of a "winged word", outliving the fleeting moment.¹

A more normative approach, however, is to relate the word

Lusseau writes:

It is difficult to find an exact word in our modern languages

that has the different meanings of the word masal. If it were

possible to resort to the root msl III, to govern, Pedersen, Bostrom,

cf. Bentzen, Introd. , I, 168), in relation to the Arabic: to be more

would seem to be indicated. But the verbal root msl III has as

(Masal) in the Old Testament, " SJT, VII (1954), 180-96; A. R Johnson,

“lwAmA," SVT, III (Reprint, 1969), 162-69; Priedrich Hauck, "Parabolh,"

TDNT, C-Pa, 744-60; William McKane, Proverbs: A New Approach, "The

Old Testament Library," ed. Peter Ackroyd, et al. (Philadelphia: The West-

minster Press, 1970), pp. 22-32.

¹ Bentzen, Introduction to the Old Testament, I, 167-68. The

literature he cites [all unavailable to the present writer]: G. Bostrom,

ian masalu, "to qe resembling, to be like, " Bezold, BAG, p. 184. Compare

also Arabic, XXXXX, "a like; a similar person or thing, " Lane, I (Supp.),

3017. Lane cites: XXXX XXXX XXXX, "the similitude of Zeyd is the

of comparison." Note also in the present paper, above, p. 52, n. 1.

245

nominal derivatives only mimsal and memsalah meaning government,

the root msl I, always carries the idea of comparison, fable, proverb.

The English translation does not avoid the etymological difficulty.

Perhaps the term sayings with its broad usage would be more suitable.¹

Similarly, Johnson says, "basically the term implies 'likeness."'²

If masal is related to the Hebrew verb meaning "to be like,"

the precise significance of its use in the Balaam story is difficult to ascer-

tain. Eissfeldt suggests with some caution the meaning "Orakelrede."³ Pirot

argues that the use in Balaam's case is satirical and ironic.⁴ Perhaps the

most balanced approach is to be seen in the conclusion of the article by

Fouillet, Introduction to the Old Testament, trans. by Patrick Skehan et al.

from the 2d French ed. (New York: Desclefe Company, 1968), p. 408. It

may be observed that von Pakozdy attempts to relate the two roots to a

common origin: "kann nicht Stamm lwm I, "gleichsein, " and lwm II

"herrschen" auf einen Grundstamm zuruckgefuhrt werden?" 'Teologische

Redactionsarbeit in der Bileam-Perikope (Num 22-24), Von Ugarit nach. Cum-

ran, ed. Otto Eissfeldt (Berlin: Vorlag Alfred Topelmann, 1958), p. 167,

n. 28. Norden comments on the difficulty of the word by saying: "In trying

to determine what an Old Testament parable is, not only Bible dictionaries

but other resource books, as well, afford little help." Rudolph F. Norden,

29.

Certainly are elements of satire and irony in the oracles (and in the narrative),

but it seems difficult to render the term masal in this sense.

246

Old Testament and states that there does not seem to be any need to dis-

tinguish diverse meanings such as "Taunt song, Popular Proverb, Teaching,

Oracular speech, Apocalyptic utterance . . . symbol, prophetic revelation,

allegory, proverb, test case . . . . "¹ Rather, he states:

It is always a Parable expressed in brief pithy sentence, a vivid

and striking speech, a rapidly drawn picture. Not only is it verbal:

even a person, individual or corporate, e, g. Job or Israel may be a

Parable. It has a clearly recognisable purpose: that of quickening

an apprehension of the real as distinct from the wished for, or com-

placently accepted; of compelling the hearer or reader to form a

judgment on himself, his situation or his conduct. It is a recog-

nised and accepted rhetorical or literary genre, as witness the use

of a masal by the contemporaries of Ezekiel. But as used by the

prophets, it is especially intended to awaken men to the supreme

reality of God's present judgment with the intent that they may be

saved. This usage persists in 4 Ezra and Enoch, and comes to its

finest expression in the Parables of Jesus.²

If this evaluation proves to be correct, then we may see an

excellent reason for the employment of the term masal in the Balaam narrative.

The oracles of Balaam turned out to be blessing rather than curses for Israel;

they became curses rather than blessing for the nations. In this sense they

served as a quickening of the "apprehensions of the real as against the

wished for, or complacently accepted."³ After these issues, our author

suggests that the expression, "to take up a parable" (as we have it seven
¹ Herbert, "The Parable (Masal) in the Old Testament, " p. 196.

² Ibid. ³ Ibid.

247

Finally, a word may be said concerning the fact that the oracles

of Balaam are written in poetry. Some have suggested that poetry and reality

may be divorced, that poetry transcends reality.² While such may be true

for some poetry, it cannot be said to be true of all poetry, and particularly

of biblical poetry. Norden avers:

Poetic utterances in the Old Testament do not reflect human

fancy which one may regard as opposite to the truth of prose. The

"more truth than poetry" saying of everyday conversation implies a

contrast which may apply to some human statements, but it is not

applicable to the language of the Bible. One cannot make a distinction

and say that Biblical prose presents fact but Biblical poetry reflects

fiction. The all-inclusive statement of Paul: "All Scripture is given

by inspiration" puts also the poetical elements of the Old Testament

Bible under the truth of the written Word of God. Poetry in the Bible

is to be honored as God's Word, with its meaning to be determined by