Balaam

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Balaam and the Angel , painting by Gustav Jaeger, 1836

Balaam ( Hebrew בִּלְעָם, also known as Balaam ), the son of Beor, was a prophet living on the Euphrates . Despite God's clear displeasure, he wanted to curse the Israelites for money in God's name, but according to the biblical narrative , contrary to his intention in the meantime, he had to bless Israel .

Biblical tradition

In 4th book of Moses (Numbers) 22–24 LUT of the Old Testament it is reported that Balak , the king of Moab , asked Balaam to stop the threatening advance of Israel from Egypt by means of a curse . Balaam declines a first, flattering invitation from Balak - albeit reluctantly - after consulting God. He is invited again by Balak and now accepts the invitation after God lets him go this time. Balaam rides his donkey , which shrinks from an angel with a sword on the way. When she is beaten for this, YHWH gives her voice and she complains about it to her Lord. Balaam reaches the "alley city" of Balaks. There he wants to make himself available to Balak to curse God's people. On the other hand, he still wants to belong to God, who said that his people are blessed. First at the “height of Baal”, then at the “height of Pisga”, then on the “Mount Peor”, from which one can see the people of Israel, Balak has seven altars built at Balaam's behest, on which Balaam and Balak each have one Sacrifice a bull and a ram . With the offering of these sacrifices, the curse desired by Balak turns into a three- fold blessing . Thereupon Balaam prophesied the downfall of his clients and took flight.

From the Jewish point of view, the episode with the speaking donkey is far more than a mere fairy tale. First of all, verses 22: 20–35 LUT can be understood as the dream face of Balaam. The speaking, humble beast of burden is a dramaturgical antithesis to the sometimes arrogant Balaam, but mainly serves as a plea against cruelty to animals . A comment by Maimonides on this :

"Our sages have found that the Torah expressly forbids causing pain to an animal, and that this prohibition is based on the phrase: Why did you hit your donkey?"

According to 4 Mos 31,8  LUT , Balaam is killed for divination and as a seducer by the army of the Israelites, which Moses led.

Balaam is also mentioned twice in the New Testament and is given as an example for the behavior of the followers of heresy ( Jud 11  EU and Rev 2,14  EU ).

Archaeological evidence

In 1967, during excavations at Tell Der-Alla ( Sukkoth in the Jordan Valley, today Jordan ), an extra-biblical indication of the historicity of Balaam was found: fragments of plaster with an Aramaic inscription that dates back to 816 BC using the radiocarbon method . Were dated ± 70 years (uncal.) (Biblical Archeology Review, September / October 1985).

Inscription [Bi] leams [the son of Beor] s, the man who was a seer of the gods. Behold, the gods came to him at night ... according to Els . And they said to [Bilea] m the son of Beor: Everyone we do without ... Then Balaam rose in the morning ... He wept bitterly and Eliqa (or: His people) came to him [and said: Why are you crying? And he said to them, Take a seat. I will announce to you what Sh [agar ...] And is coming, see the work of the gods ... The gods gathered, the Shaddai gods gathered together and said to Sha [gar]: (The goddess is appeased Shagar by the other gods)

Interpretations

An important prophecy of Balaam is the one described in 4 Mos 24,17  LUT : “I see him, but not now; I look at him, but not up close. A star will rise from Jacob and a scepter will rise from Israel ... ”. In Judaism mostly related to King David , this passage in Christianity is interpreted as a reference to the coming of Jesus Christ. The story of the wise men of the Orient actualizes this promise; like Balaam, who announced the star, they come from the east to confirm the fulfillment of the prophecy. (cf. the story of the wise men from the Orient in Mt 2  EU ). The story is thus a narrative variant of the reflective quotes customary in Matthew, cf. the entire chapter of Matthew 2.

See also

literature

  • Rüdiger Bartelmus : About donkeys with a perspective and blind seers. Numbers 22: 20–35 as a prime example of narrative theology in the Old Testament. In: Theologische Zeitschrift 61 (2005), pp. 27–43.
  • Otto Betz : The balance tradition and the biblical doctrine of inspiration. In: Manfred Görg (Hrsg.): Religion in the legacy of Egypt. FS Alexander Böhlig . Egypt and Old Testament 14. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1988, pp. 18–53.
  • Wilhelm Busch : Men of the Bible - our contemporaries. Balaam. In: Wilhelm Busch Library Volume 5, 1st edition 2006, Aussaat-Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn.
  • George W. Coats : The Way of Obedience. Traditio-Historical and Hermeneutical Reflections on the Balaam Story. In: Semeia, 24, pp. 53-79 (1982).
  • Meindest Dijkstra: Is Balaam Also Among the Prophets? In: Journal of Biblical Literature 114 (1995), pp. 43-64.
  • Meindest Dijkstra: The Geography of the Story of Balaam. Synchronic Reading as a Help to Date a Biblical Text . In: Johannes C. De Moor (Ed.): Synchronic or Diachronic? A Debate on Method in Old Testament Exegesis . Oudtestamentische Studiën 34. Brill, Leiden et al. 1995, pp. 72-97.
  • Louis H. Feldman: Josephus' Portrait of Balaam. In: Studia Philonica Annual 5 (1993), pp. 48-83.
  • Louis H. Feldman: Philo's Version of Balaam . In: Henoch 25 (2003), pp. 301-319.
  • Erasmus Gaß : A star rises out of Jacob. Linguistic and literary analysis of balance poetry. Work on text and language in the Old Testament 69th EOS-Verl., St. Ottilien 2001.
  • Paul Geyser , The Lamentation of Balaam's Donkey. In: 7th volume of his writings.
  • John T. Greene: The Balaam Figure and Type before, during, and after the Period of the Pseudepigrapha. In: JSPE 8 (1991), pp. 67-110.
  • John T. Greene: Balaam and his Interpreters. A Hermeneutical History of the Balaam Traditions . Brown Judaic Studies 244. Scholars Press, Atlanta GA 1992. ISBN 1-55540-690-4 .
  • Walter Gross: Balaam. Literary and form-critical examination of prose in Num 22-24 . Studies on the Old and New Testament 38. Kösel, Munich 1974. ISBN 3-466-25338-1 .
  • Bruno Landthaler and Hanna Liss : The conflict of the Balaam. Misdirection in the “Schachnovelle” by Stefan Zweig. In: Zeitschrift für Germanistik 2/1996, pp. 384–398
  • Martin Rösel : How someone turned from a prophet to a seducer. Tradition and reception of the Balaam figure. In: Biblica 80 (1999), pp. 506-524.
  • Hedwige Rouillard: La Péricope de Balaam (Nombres 22-24). La prose et les "oracles" . Études bibliques NS 4. Gabalda, Paris 1985, ISBN 2-85021-015-3 .
  • Michael S. Moore: The Balaam Traditions. Their Character and Development . Dissertation Series 113. Scholars Press, Atlanta GA 1990, ISBN 1-55540-327-1 .
  • Horst Seebass: On the literary figure of the Balaam pericope . In: Journal for Old Testament Science 107 (1995), pp. 409-419.
  • Ludwig Schmidt, Peter Schäfer: Art. Balaam I. Old Testament II. Judaism . In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie 6 (1980), pp. 635–640 (with further references)
  • Ludwig Schmidt: Balaam. From seer to Yahweh's prophet. The literary layers of the Balaam pericope (Num 22–24) . In: Markus Witte (ed.): God and man in dialogue. Festschrift for Otto Kaiser on his 80th birthday . Vol. 1. Supplements to the journal for Old Testament science 345, de Gruyter, Berlin 2004, pp. 333–351.
  • Benedict Schöning: There are three things that are too wonderful for me and four that I don't understand. Balaam's blessing on Israel (Num 22.41 - 24.25) . Neukirchener Verlagsgesellschaft, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2013. Biblical-theological studies 132, ISBN 978-3-7887-2677-5 .
  • Andreas Schüle: Israel's son - Yahweh's prophet. An attempt at the relationship between canonical theology and religious history using the Balaam pericope (Num 22-24) . Old Testament and Modernism 17th Lit-Verl., Münster and Hamburg et al. 2001, ISBN 3-8258-5590-2 .
  • Dieter Vetter: vision and blessing. Expressive intentions and linguistic realizations in the Balaam Proverbs of Numbers 23 and 24 . Calwer theological monographs A / 4. Calwer Verlag, Stuttgart 1974.

To the Balaam inscription

  • Helga and Manfred Weippert: The “Balaam” inscription from Tell Der 'Alla . In: Journal of the German Palestine Association 98 (1982), pp. 77-103.
  • Hans-Peter Müller: The Aramaic inscription from Deir 'Alla and the older Balaam verses1 . In: Journal for Old Testament Science 94 (1982), pp. 214–244.
  • Jo Ann Hackett: The Balaam Text from Deir 'Alla . Harvard Semitic Monographs 31st Scholars Press, Chico CA 1984.
  • Mathias Delcor: Le texte de Deir 'Alla et les oracles bibliques le Bala'am (1981). In: Ders .: Environnement de l'Ancien Testament . Old Orient and Old Testament 228. Butzon & Bercker et al., Kevelaer 1990, pp. 46-67.
  • J. Hoftijzer (Ed.): The Balaam Text from Deir 'Alla Re-Evaluated. Proceedings of the International Symposium Held at Leiden, August 21-24, 1989 . Brill, Leiden et al. 1991.
  • René Vuilleumier: Balaam between the Bible and Deir 'Alla . In: Theologische Zeitschrift 52 (1996), pp. 150-163.
  • Henk Franken: Balaam at Deir 'Alla and the Cult of Baal . In: Tomis Kapitan (Ed.): Archeology, History and Culture in Palestine and the Near East. Essays in Memory of Albert E. Glock . ASOR Books 3. Scholars Press, Atlanta GA 1999, pp. 183-202.

Web links

Commons : Balaam  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Text in the translation by André Lemaire and Karl Jaroš (letters in brackets are additions to missing parts)