Talk:Balaam

Fundamentally unreadable
Much of this article reads like passages of scriptures, with frequent abuse of commas, overly descriptive language, unnecessarily thorough elaborations upon lineage, and other antiquated mechanics of language which, along with the clumsy scripture references; make it difficult to follow the topic of the article. It reads like the kind of tract you'd find at a bus stop or in an airport rest room. I actually came here to refresh my memory of the basic details of the story and the article is so tough to follow, I'm going elsewhere for a version that I can parse. Please consider making this readable. 72.225.43.32 (talk) 14:45, 1 August 2015 (UTC)

The {} sign/s
One or more of the sign/s: placed on this page without any discussion, explanation or reasoning have been removed pending further discussion. (The category Category:Bible stories is now up for a vote for deletion at Categories for deletion) Thank you. IZAK 08:52, 18 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Roman Numerals?
Why is this page using Roman Numerals to indicate chapters of the Bible? Is there some sort of precedant for this? --Terrible Tim 00:19, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Quranic Verse [7:175-176], not taking about Balaam
Some Imams and scholars say it is the false prophet named Balaam mentioned in the bible [book of Numbers 22] ,but that is the scholars point of views .The Fact is there is NO ONE Hadith of (Muhammad) himself says that, Balaam exist let alone  to recite his story, knowing the fact that the verse Start with {And recite (O Muhammad) to them the story of [him]} an order to to keep telling them a bout him.

This Man in Verse [7:175-176] is not Balaam.86.145.71.200 11:35, 15 January 2007 (UTC)


 * the name "Balaam" was Not mentioned even once in Qur'an or Hadiths, so the theories about this verse talking about him is just an unproven theory — Preceding unsigned comment added by Omar amross (talk • contribs) 18:57, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

How is this?
"This motif is completely dissimilar to the Biblical tradition. According to Olrik, therefore, an identity of the two is impossible despite the identical names. [§147, 149] How is a conclusion of Olrik (1922) dismissing this 1967 discovery? Perhaps we're simply in denial. --Wetman 19:49, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

McCarter?
The "Balaam and Other Gods" section of the article concludes, "McCarter elaborates that she is to cover the sky and reduce the world to complete darkness." What does this refer to? Either some commentator named McCarter has been cut out of the rest of the article (and even then the sentence is written in a confusing manner), or someone thought it was funny to give the goddess a Scottish name. If it's the former, someone please fill in the rest of the story. --MRH, April 2, 2007

Not up to Wikipedia Standards
In general this article is not up to wikipedia standards and should be revised.

False prophet to which God actually gave limited prophecy.
I read elsewhere, I remember quite well, that Balaam was 'one of many' false prophets who the God of Israel spoke to only at night. So while "the one true God" still conversed with them in the same way as a true prophet, for whatever reason they were ill natured. This article seems to mention something about speaking of pagan deities and visions at night and nothing beyond, I'm sure there is a source floating around out there that speaks of it in this strange fashion that I'm giving it here; a "false" prophet 'ordained' (in whatever qualified capacity) by the true God. 67.5.157.190 (talk) 11:39, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

why is the article not under bil'am?
that is the spelling in hebrew. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.182.159.118 (talk) 07:41, 13 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Bil'am is the transliteration of the original Hebrew, while Wikipedia is an English encyclopedia. The Anglicized version of his name is used here, similar to to articles on Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Laban, Aaron and Joshua.  DRosenbach  ( Talk 22:08, 13 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Then that's where you'll find it in the Hebrew Wikipedia. In English, the educated reader looking for this material will search "Balaam". --Wetman (talk) 22:06, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

I'm curious whether the Balaam mentioned is actually a Mayan Jaguar priest. Babylonian artifacts have been found in South America, and they practised mass blood sacrifice on ziggurat/step pyramids. The Mayan "bible", the Chilam Balam has an image of a Serpent spewing water from it's mouth, Sun/Moon, and others pouring water, and mentions the Sun going dark, just like in Revelations. Blood for Ba'al(ball)? Adding Iron to the Sun would stop it's neuclear processes. I'm not saying the Mayans were Babylonian, just that they had contact. Oh, and Egypt's known South American connection, via the "Coke Mummies". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.167.245.248 (talk) 19:48, 22 December 2012 (UTC)

Balaam and the Donkey: Text does not match title
The text in this section does not give a summary or analysis of the story of Balaam and the Donkey (as the title would imply), but rather goes at length into the various references to Balaam in the Bible and their provenance. It seems to me that the section is therefore either (A) grossly mislabeled, or (B) ridiculously incomplete. TheCormac (talk) 16:49, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

Balaam's behavior and the heresy of Peor
The article currently says:
 * Due to his behavior with the Midianites, the Rabbis interpret Balaam as responsible for the behavior during the heresy of Peor

Actually, I believe that this could also be the result of the text in the Torah itself - specificly Numbers 31:16, which specificly suggests that Balaam was responsible for this. עוד מישהו Od Mishehu 09:39, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

Balaam's Ancestry
The book of Jasher has a lot of information about Balaam. I beleive that Balaam who is the son of Beor is the son of Laban, who is the son of Bethuel, who is the son of Nahor. here are some sources for this. Book of Jasher, Chapter 64: Note that Beor is referred to as the Syrian 26 And Balaam the son of Beor the Syrian was there in the camp of Zepho, for he came with the children of Chittim to the battle, and Balaam was a man highly honored in the eyes of Zepho and his men. Book of Jasher, Chapter 30: Note that Beor is Laban's son. 18 And in the fourth year of Jacob's residence in the house of Laban, the Lord visited Laban and remembered him on account of Jacob, and sons were born unto him, and his first born was Beor, his second was Alib, and the third was Chorash. Genesis Chaper 25:19: refers to Laban as Syrian and his father as Syrian. (they are sited as Syrians in other place in the bible) And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Paddan- aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian, to be his wife. (this is my first time siting something so I proably did it wrong) — Preceding unsigned comment added by CharTind (talk • contribs) 17:12, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * But it's an unknown book, so how have you read it? See Book of Jasher (biblical references). Dougweller (talk) 18:40, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

I'm in the process of reading the Book of Jasher. It is the version shown on this site: http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/apo/jasher/index.htm This book has clarified alot of bible genealogy questions I have had. I have noticed it used as a source on other Wikipedia pages.CharTind (talk) 15:05, 5 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Forgot, maybe this forgery - Book of Jasher (Pseudo-Jasher). Dougweller (talk) 18:42, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * It's Sefer haYashar (midrash) then, and I'll have to see what it is being used to source. It's medieval. Dougweller (talk) 22:01, 5 March 2013 (UTC)
 * It was used for 'Shem', they sited the copy of googlebooks but it is the same book. CharTind (talk) 22:32, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

Dearest Sirs and Madams Authors,

this is my first attempt to interact with Wiki content. I beg your pardon if my approach is improper and invite please any redirection needed, thank you.

In this paragraph:

"Of these, the first and third groups are considered, in the documentary hypothesis, to originate within the Elohist text, whereas the second group is considered to belong to the Jahwist. Thus the Elohist describes Balaam constructing giving two blessings, making sacrifices on seven altars, at the high places of Baal, before each, then deciding not to seek enchantments after the third set of sacrifices, but to set his face upon the wilderness, which Balak views as a third blessing, and so Balaam then gives the three final predictions of fate. Conversely, in the Jahwist source, Balaam arrives, the spirit of God comes upon him, and he simply delivers a blessing and a prophecy, in succession."

I stumble on this phrase: "Thus the Elohist describes Balaam constructing giving two blessings"

It is the word "constructing" which I do not understand in the prhase.

Does the phrase intend rather: "Thus the Elohist describes Balaam giving two blessings"

or perhaps

"Thus the Elohist describes Balaam constructing two blessings"

or perhaps

"Thus the Elohist describes Balaam's construction as giving two blessings"

Thank you for your work.

Most respectfully, I am

Davidvreynolds (talk) 15:09, 4 June 2015 (UTC) Davidvreynolds

Balaam son of Bezer
The section on Balaam in the New Testament (second paragraph) states: "However, this Balaam was the son of Bezer while the one in the Old Testament account of Balaam in Numbers 22–24 in which King Balak hires the renowned Balaam to curse his enemies (Israel) is the son of Beor." However, there is no citation for this, and Christian scholarly resources state that Bezer (or Bosor) is simply the Aramaic translation for Beor (see: http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/bosor.html). For all intents and purposes, Christian teachings agree that Balaam son of Bezer is the same as Balaam son of Beor. This paragraph needs a citation proving otherwise or should be amended to reflect this. ~ @bzyouthdirector — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.235.186.235 (talk • contribs)
 * I can't find any editorial or authorial information about christiananswers.net's encyclopedia, which is required to determine if it's a reliable source. The section is unsourced original research, however, so I've grabbed what I could off Google Books. Ian.thomson (talk) 17:38, 1 July 2015 (UTC)

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Chronological order
This article should be ordered chronologically. It makes no sense to have the oldest evidence of Balaam, the Deir Alla inscription, at the end. Amplifysound (talk) 17:06, 31 July 2022 (UTC)


 * I attempted to remedy this, but someone thought the current mess was "cleaner." Temerarius (talk) 23:28, 4 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Still attempting. Folks, stop trying to get rid of it. Demoting it to the bottom of the page would cause a POV problem. Temerarius (talk) 02:58, 15 November 2023 (UTC)

POV
Sooner or later this article will need to be fixed for NPOV. In the meantime, please stop trying to minimize references to the inscription. It's an incredibly important inscription about a not-that-important biblical figure. Get over it. Temerarius (talk) 05:21, 10 December 2023 (UTC)


 * Nobody is trying to do that. You are attempting a "quick fix" and that's just not what hatnotes are for. Srnec (talk) 01:14, 19 December 2023 (UTC)