Timeless Torah

Who is the first prophet from the ancient world whose predictions are recorded outside the Torah? If you thought Moses or Elijah, guess again. It’s Bilaam. In 1967, an unprecedented discovery of an ancient text found at Deir Alla, Jordan relates the activities of a “cursing” prophet. Could this be the Bilaam of this week’s Biblical section?
The manuscript makes it clear that it is. Three times in the first four lines he is referred to as “Bilaam son of Beor,” exactly as in the Bible. This represents the first prophet to be dug up - not his skeleton - but a text about him. Written in Aramaic, this remarkable document titled, Warnings from the Book of Bilaam the son of Beor, tells the story of this pagan “seer of the gods,” whose character is quite ambiguous. Was he a diviner of omens or merely a sorcerer of the occult? Was he genuine or a fraud? According to several Midrashim he was a great prophet, equal to Moses, whose “evil eye” sought Israel's downfall.
Leaving all these questions aside, let’s examine - not Bilaam’s power - but the preamble to the story, for it is here that a baffling theological problem arises, namely: what did G-d want Bilaam to do?
At the outset, when the first group of emissaries try to persuade Bilaam to curse the Israelites, his answer is a model of propriety: I must consult with G-d. Heaven’s answer is unequivocal: Do not go with them. You must not curse My people, because they are blessed. Obedient to G-d, Bilaam refuses to go.
A second, more distinguished group of messengers are then sent. Promises of significant reward are offered. Bilaam's reply is once again exemplary: Even for a palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small beyond the command of my G-d. However, he adds a fateful clause: Nonetheless, stay overnight and I will find out what else the L-rd will tell me.
The implication is clear. Bilaam is suggesting that G-d may change His mind. But this is impossible. That is not how G-d operates. Indeed, Bilaam himself later declares: G-d is not a man that He should relent. Yet to our surprise, that is exactly what G-d seems to do. That night G-d says to Bilaam: Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.
Problem 1: First G-d says: Do not go. Now He says: Go.
Consequently, the very next morning Bilaam saddles his donkey and sets out. In response, “G-d was very angry and the angel stood in the road to oppose him.”
Problem 2: Did G-d not say: Go. So why be angry?
Problem 3: Did G-d just change His mind again? What is Bilaam supposed to do? What does G-d want?
The commentators address the apparent contradictions. According to Nachmanides, G-d's first statement: Don't go, meant Don't curse the Israelites. His second: Go, meant Go but make it clear that you will only say the blessings I will put in your mouth. In other words, G-d wanted the nations to see that even their own prophets had to concede that the Chosen People were indeed blessed. Bilaam however gave them a different impression, namely that he could still curse the Jews. With this, he desecrated G-d’s Name, for he led them to believe that G-d had in fact changed His mind.
In the 19th century, the Malbim suggested a different answer based on a textual analysis. When G-d said: Don't go with them, the Hebrew word for with them is imahem, whereas the later: Go with them, utilizes the word itam. The two prepositions have subtly different meanings. Imahem means with them mentally as well as physically, i.e., go along with their plans. Itam however means with them physically but not mentally, i.e., accompany them but do not share their purpose or intention. Hence G-d was angry when Bilaam went, because the text states that he went im, with them - in other words, he identified with their mission.
There is another answer, one that we all could very well relate to personally. We all hear what we want to, and the hardest word to hear in any language is No. Bilaam asked, G-d said: No. That should have sufficed. Yet Bilaam asked again. In that act lay his weakness. He knew that G-d did not want him to go. Yet he invited the second group to wait overnight just in case G-d changed his mind.
But G-d does not change His mind. Therefore Bilaam's delay is not a reflection about G-d, but about himself. He had not accepted the No, since he wanted to hear a Yes. And ultimately, that is what he heard. Not because G-d wanted him to go, but because if we refuse to accept what He says, G-d does not force His will upon us. As the Sages express it: Man is led down the path he chooses to tread.
Thus the true meaning of G-d's Go is If you insist, then I will not stop you, but I am angry that you asked a second time. G-d did not change His mind at any point in the proceedings. His Yes was really the No Bilaam was not prepared to hear. When G-d speaks and we do not listen, He does not intervene to save us from our choices.
Still G-d was not prepared to let Bilaam proceed as if he had Divine consent. Instead He arranged the ‘subtle’ demonstration with a donkey to clarify the difference between true and false prophecy. The false prophet speaks. The true prophet listens. The false prophet tells people what they want to hear. The true prophet tells them what they need to hear. The false prophet believes in his own powers. The true prophet knows that he has no power.
Without a doubt, one thing provokes Divine laughter, namely human pretension. Bilaam had won renown as the greatest prophet of his day. He was known as the man who possessed the power to curse. So G-d proceeded to show Bilaam that when He so chooses, even Bilaam’s donkey is a greater prophet than he. The donkey sees what Bilaam cannot: an angel standing in the path, barring their way. G-d humbles the self-important, just as He gives importance to the humble. When human beings think they can dictate what G-d will say, G-d laughs. And, on this occasion, so do we.