Balak (parsha)

Balak (parsha)

Balak (בלק — Hebrew for “Balak,” a name, the second word, and the first distinctive word, in the parshah) is the 40th weekly Torah portion ("parshah") in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the seventh in the book of Numbers. It constitutes ) Balaam told them: “Spend the night here, and I shall reply to you as the Lord may instruct me.” () Then Balak sent more numerous and distinguished dignitaries, who offered Balaam rich rewards in return for damning the Israelites. ()

Balaam and the donkey

In the morning, Balaam saddled his donkey and departed with the dignitaries, but God was incensed at his going and placed an angel in Balaam’s way. () Seeing the angel, the donkey pressed herself and Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he beat her again. () And then God allowed Balaam to see the angel, and Balaam bowed down to the ground. () But the angel told Balaam: “Go with the men. But you must say nothing except what I tell you.” So Balaam went on. () They went together to Kiriath-huzoth, where Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and they ate. () Then Balaam asked Balak to wait while Balaam went off alone to see if God would grant him a manifestation. () Balak complained that he had brought Balaam to damn the Israelites, but instead Balaam blessed them. () Balaam returned and told Balak: “My message was to bless: When He blesses, I cannot reverse it. No harm is in sight for Jacob, no woe in view for Israel. The Lord their God is with them.” () Balaam, seeing that it pleased God to bless Israel, immediately turned to the Israelites and blessed them: “How fair are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel! . . . They shall devour enemy nations, crush their bones, and smash their arrows. . . . Blessed are they who bless you, accursed they who curse you!” () Then Balaam set out back home, and Balak went his way. () When one of the Israelites publicly brought a Midianite woman over to his companions, Phinehas son of Eleazar took a spear, followed the Israelite into the chamber, and stabbed the Israelite and the woman through the belly. ( to demonstrate that Balaam committed bestiality. A Tanna taught that Beor was the same person as Cushan-rishathaim and Laban. As "rishathaim" means “two evils,” the Tanna deduced from the name Cushan-rishathaim that Beor perpetrated two evils on Israel — one in pursuing Jacob in calls Balaam “the son of Beor” while makes no mention of the princes of Midian, the Gemara deduced that they despaired as soon as Balaam told them (in after Balaam impudently asked God a second time, God told Balaam, “Rise up and go with them,” Rav Nachman concluded that impudence, even in the face of Heaven, sometimes brings results. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 105a.)

A Tanna taught in the name of Rabbi Simeon ben Eleazar that intense love and hate can cause one to disregard the perquisites of one’s social position. The Tanna deduced that love may do so from Abraham, for the Gemara reported a conversation among Balak’s emissaries, Balaam, and Balaam’s donkey. Balak’s emissaries asked Balaam, “Why didn’t you ride your horse?”

Balaam replied, “I have put it out to pasture.”

But Balaam’s donkey asked Balaam (in the words of ), “Ever since I was yours until this day.” (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 105b.)

Numbers chapter 23

Rabbi Johanan deduced from the words “and he walked haltingly” in in the haftarah for the parshah) when he told the Israelites (quoting God): “O My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him; . . . that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.” The Gemara taught that by the words “that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord,” God meant to say to the Israelites, “You should know how many acts of charity I performed for you, in that I did not become angry all that time, in the days of wicked Balaam; for had I become angry at that time, no Israelite would have remained alive or been spared.” And the Gemara indicated that this is why Balaam told Balak in which refer to only one open eye, that Balaam was blind in one eye. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 105a.)

Numbers chapter 25

Rabbi Johanan taught that wherever Scripture uses the term “And he abode” ("vayeshev"), as it does in “And Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan,” is followed by “And the time drew near that Israel must die.” In Micah quotes God’s admonition to the Israelites to recall the events of the parshah, to “remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him.” The verb that the haftarah uses for “answer” ("‘anah") in “how goodly” ("ma tovu"), are echoed in the haftarah’s admonition in (Balaam; Phinehas, war with Midian).
*Deuteronomy [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0504.htm#3 4:3] (Baal Peor); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0523.htm#4 23:4–7] (Balaam).
*Joshua [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0613.htm#22 13:22;] [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0622.htm#16 22:16–18] (Baal Peor); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0624.htm#9 24:9–10.]
*Jeremiah [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1130.htm#18 30:18] (tents, dwellings).
*Hosea [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1309.htm#10 9:10] (Baal Peor).
*Micah [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1806.htm#5 6:5] (Balaam).
*Nehemiah [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt35b13.htm 13:1–2.]
*Psalms [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2601.htm#3 1:3] (like a tree planted); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2631.htm#19 31:19] (lying lips be dumb); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2633.htm#10 33:10–11] (God brings the counsel of the nations to nothing); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2649.htm#17 49:17–18] (disregard for the wealth of this world); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2678.htm#2 78:2] (speaking a parable); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2698.htm#6 98:6] (shout); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26a6.htm#28 106:28–31] (Baal Peor); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26b0.htm#2 110:2] (rod out of Zion); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26b6.htm#15 116:15] (precious to God the death of God’s servants).

Early nonrabbinic

*1 Maccabees [http://st-takla.org/pub_Deuterocanon/Deuterocanon-Apocrypha_El-Asfar_El-Kanoneya_El-Tanya__8-First-of-Maccabees.html chs. 1–16.] (parallel to Phinehas).
*4 Maccabees [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=4496061 18:12.]
*Instruction for Catechumens, and A Prayer of Praise of God for His Greatness, and for His Appointment of Leaders for His People. In “Hellenistic Synagogal Prayers,” in James H. Charlesworth. "The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha", 2:687–88. New York: Doubleday, 1985. ISBN 0-385-18813-7.
*Pseudo-Philo [http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/bap/bap34.htm 18:1–14;] [http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/bap/bap44.htm 28:1–4.]
*Josephus, "Antiquities of the Jews" [http://www.interhack.net/projects/library/antiquities-jews/b4c6.html 6:1–7.] Circa 93–94. Reprinted in, e.g., "The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition". Translated by William Whiston, 108–10. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8.
*Matthew [http://www.Biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mat%202:1-12;&version=31; 2:1–12.] (See also R.E. Brown, “The Balaam Narrative,” "The Birth of the Messiah", 190–96. Garden City, N.Y., 1977.)
*2 Peter [http://www.Biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=68&chapter=2&verse=15&version=31&context=verse 2:15] (Balaam).
*Jude [http://www.Biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=72&chapter=1&verse=11&version=31&context=verse 1:11] (Balaam).
*Revelation [http://www.Biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=73&chapter=2&verse=14&version=31&context=verse 2:14] (Balaam).

Classical rabbinic

*Mishnah: Sanhedrin 9:6; 10:2; Avot 5:6, 19. Land of Israel, circa 200 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., "The Mishnah: A New Translation". Translated by Jacob Neusner, 604, 686, 689. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4.
*Jerusalem Talmud: Maaser Sheni 44b. Land of Israel, circa 400 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., "Talmud Yerushalmi". Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vol. 10. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006–2008.
*Babylonian Talmud: Berakhot 7a, 12b, 16a, 38a; Shabbat 64a, 105a; Pesachim 54a, 111a; Rosh Hashanah 11a, 32b; Taanit 20a; Chagigah 2a; Nedarim 32a, 81a; Nazir 23b; Sotah 10a, 11a, 14a, 41b, 43a, 46b, 47a; Gittin 68b; Kiddushin 4a; Bava Kamma 38a; Bava Batra 14b, 60a, 109b; Sanhedrin 34b–35a, 39b, 40b, 44a, 56a, 64a, 82a, 92a, 93b, 105a–06a; Makkot 10b; Avodah Zarah 4b, 25a, 44b; Horayot 10b; Menachot 66b; Chullin 19b, 35b, 134b; Bekhorot 5b; Keritot 22a; Niddah 19b, 31a, 55b. Babylonia, 6th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Talmud Bavli". Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 vols. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.

Medieval

*Solomon ibn Gabirol. "A Crown for the King", [http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/sig/sig88.htm 36:493.] Spain, 11th Century. Translated by David R. Slavitt, 66–67. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-19-511962-2.
*Rashi. "Commentary". [http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=9950&showrashi=true Numbers 22–25.] Troyes, France, late 11th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. "The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated". Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, 4:269–317. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1997. ISBN 0-89906-029-3.
*Judah Halevi. "Kuzari". Toledo, Spain, 1130–1140. Reprinted in, e.g., Jehuda Halevi. "Kuzari: An Argument for the Faith of Israel." Intro. by Henry Slonimsky, 80. New York: Schocken, 1964. ISBN 0-8052-0075-4.
*Numbers Rabbah 20:1–25. 12th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Midrash Rabbah: Numbers". Translated by Judah J. Slotki. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
*Zohar [http://www.kabbalah.com/k/index.php/p=zohar/zohar&vol=43 3:184b–212b.] Spain, late 13th Century. Reprinted in, e.g, "The Zohar". Translated by Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon. 5 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1934.

Modern

*Thomas Hobbes. "Leviathan", England, 1651. Reprint edited by C. B. Macpherson, 723–24. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Classics, 1982. ISBN 0140431950.
*Adin Steinsaltz. "The Thirteen Petalled Rose: A Discourse on the Essence of Jewish Existence And Belief". Translated by Yehuda Hanegbi, 12–13. New York: Basic Books, 1980. ISBN 0-465-08560-1.
*Ira Clark. “Balaam’s Ass: Suture or Structure.” In "Literary Interpretations of Biblical Narratives: Volume II". Edited by Kenneth R.R. Gros Louis, with James S. Ackerman, 137–44. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1982. ISBN 0-687-22132-3.
*André Lemaire. “Fragments from the Book of Balaam Found at Deir Alla: Text foretells cosmic disaster.” "Biblical Archaeology Review", 11:05. Sept./Oct. 1985.
*Jacob Milgrom. "The JPS Torah Commentary: Numbers: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation", 185–215, 467–80. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990. ISBN 0-8276-0329-0.
*Mary Douglas. "In the Wilderness: The Doctrine of Defilement in the Book of Numbers", xix, 86–87, 100, 121, 123, 136, 188, 191, 200–01, 211, 214, 216–18, 220–24. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. Reprinted 2004. ISBN 0-19-924541-X.
*Baruch A. Levine. "Numbers 21–36", 4A:135–303. New York: Anchor Bible, 2000. ISBN 0-385-41256-8.

ee also

*Balaam in Hellenistic literature
*Islamic view of Balaam

External links

* [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0422.htm#2 Masoretic text and 1917 JPS translation]
* [http://Bible.ort.org/books/torahd5.asp?action=displaypage&book=4&chapter=22&verse=2&portion=40 Hear the parshah chanted]


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