Once again King Balak sent officials, more numerous and more distinguished than the first group. This group said to Balaam that nothing should hinder him from coming to the King of Moab, since he was going to honor this prophet, Balaam. He would do whatever Balaam wanted him to do. He just wanted him to come and curse the Israelites. However, Balaam told these servants of King Balak that even if they give him a house full of silver and gold, he could not go beyond the command of Yahweh. Thus, once again, he went to speak to Yahweh, but it is not clear how he did this. He wanted to know what Yahweh wanted him to do. That night, Yahweh came to Balaam and told him that he could go with these men, but only on condition that he did what Yahweh told him to do. Thus, Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the officials of Moab. This time, Yahweh said that it is okay to go as long as Balaam listened to Yahweh. Let us see what happens here. Have you ever changed your mind about going to some place?
Month: April 2024
The King of Moab, Balak, made an appeal to the prophet Balaam
The next three chapters of Numbers (chapters 22, 23, and 24) were taken up with Balak, the King of Moab, and the Babylonian prophet Balaam with his four oracles. The Israelites camped in the plains of Moab across from the Jordan River and Jericho. King Balak was the son of Zippor, a name that had something to do with children or a wasted area. King Balak realized what the Israelites had done to the Amorites. Thus, the Moabites were overcome with fear of these invading Israelites. King Balak tried to make a deal with the elders of Midian against the Israelites. He then sent messengers to Balaam, the son of Beor, at Pethor, which was in Babylon near the Euphrates River. Balaam was some kind of Babylonian mystic, sorcerer, magician, diviner, medium, or spiritualist. King Balak wanted Balaam to curse these Israelite people who came out of Egypt and spread over the face of the earth. If Balaam would bless him and curse the Israelites, that would give him a chance against theses Israelites. If he had Balaam’s blessing, he might be able to defeat them. Thus, the elders of Moab and Midian departed with the necessary spiritual fees. They came to Balaam in Babylon and gave him Balak’s message. They were ready to pay for his blessings and curses. Balaam, however, told them to stay there that night. He would bring back word after he had spoken to Yahweh. Thus, the officials of Moab stayed with Balaam. It is interesting that Balaam was subject to Yahweh and not independent. Once again, the Babylonian roots of Yahweh and the Israelites appeared. Yahweh came to Balaam and wanted to know who these men were. Balaam explained that King Balak, the son of Zippor, of Moab had sent them. Yahweh then said to Balaam that he should not go with them because the Israelites were a blessed people. The next morning Balaam told the officials of Balak to go home because Yahweh would not let him curse the Israelites. Thus, the officials of Moab went back to Balak and told him that Balaam refused to come with them. There you have it. King Balak was asking Balaam to curse the Israelites, but the Babylonian prophet Balaam was listening to Yahweh, who was on the Israelite side. This was going to be difficult for the Moabites. Have you ever had anyone refuse to bless somebody?
The defeat of Bashan
In Numbers, chapter 21:31-35, the Israelites settled in the land of the Amorites. Moses sent spies to Jazer and took its villages. Jazer was about 15 miles north of Heshbon. Then they turned north and went up the road to Bashan. There they defeated King Og of Bashan in the battle of Edrei, one of the capital cities in Bashan. Yahweh had told Moses to not be afraid of him because he was going to be like King Sihon. Thus, the Israelites killed him, his sons, and all his people, until there was not a survivor left. They took possession of his land. King Og was considered to be a giant, who ruled Bashan. This was another great victory at Edrei, but there was no mention of who the leader of the Israelites was. However, it was clear that these Amorites were utterly wiped out, not a single survivor. The Israelites were settling into these former Amorite lands, since there were no Amorites left. Basically, the east bank of the Jordan River was in the hands of the Israelites. Did you realize that the east bank of the Jordan River was part of ancient Israel?
The Moab victory chant
In Numbers, chapter 21:27-30, once again we have a song, a victory chant about Heshbon, the city of King Sihon, king of the Amorites.
“Therefore, the ballad singers say,
‘Come to Heshbon!
Let it be built!
Let the city of Sihon be established!
Fire came out from Heshbon.
Flame came from the city of Sihon.
It devoured Ar of Moab.
It swallowed up the heights of the Arnon.
Woe to you, O Moab!
You are undone!
O people of Chemosh!
He has made his sons’ fugitives
And his daughters captives to an Amorite king, Sihon.
Thus, their posterity perished
From Heshbon to Dibon.
We laid waste until fire spread to Medeba.’”
Fire and flames came from this city of King Sihon. Heshbon was 20 miles east of the mouth of the Jordan River. Ar had been part of the Moab holdings that King Sihon had captured. Thus, the Moabites perished from Heshbon to Dibon. Now the Israelites had defeated King Sihon. Chemosh was a Moabite God. Dibon had been the ancient capital of the Moabites while Medeba still exists today in modern Jordan. This was a great victory as now the Moabites were gone and the Amorites were also defeated. Moses was the leader of this great victory since there is no mention of any other leader. Was this another chant from The Book of Wars of Yahweh?
The conquest of the Amorites
In Numbers, chapter 21:21-27, there was basically the same request that the Israelites had sent to the King of Edom. They wanted to pass through their land on the King’s Highway, without drinking from their water wells. The response of King Sihon, the king of Amorites, was like that of the king of Edom, since he would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. Thus, he went out to fight against the Israelites at Jahaz. However, Israel won the battle and took possession of his land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, up to the strong boundary of the Ammonites at Jazzar. Israel took all these towns, and settled in them, including Heshbon, the city of King Sihon. Thus, we have a real victory here since some of the Israelites stayed in these towns. They were in the Promised Land, no longer wandering. Have you ever reached a destination that you wanted to go to?
The further travels of the Israelites
They then went to Beer, the place of the wells, not the alcoholic beverage. Beer was mentioned twice in the Hebrew Bible. These drinking wells were very important. Remember Abraham and the fights about the drinking wells in Genesis, chapter 26. This was the place where Yahweh told Moses to gather the people together because he was going to give water to the Israelites. Thus, there was a song about the well.
“Spring up, O well!
Sing to it!
The well that the leaders sank,
That the nobles of the people dug,
With the scepter and the staff.”
Perhaps this is from The Book of the Wars of Yahweh or The Book of the Just Man, but it is certainly an ancient chant. They moved on from the wilderness to Mattanah, and from there to Nahaliel, from there to Bamoth, and from there to the valley lying in the region of Moab by the top of Pisgah that overlooked the wasteland. Mattanah and Nahaliel are only mentioned here in Numbers and no place else in the Hebrew Bible. Bamoth was mentioned four times in the Hebrew Bible, while Pisgah was mentioned 8 times in the Hebrew Bible. What do you know about drinking wells?
What did The Book of Wars of Yahweh say?
In Numbers, chapter 21:12-13, The Book of the Wars of Yahweh said,
“Waheb in Suphah
and the brooks of the Arnon,
and the sloop of the brooks
that lead to the dwelling of Ar,
that lies along the border of Moab.”
Waheb was only mentioned here but Suphah was mentioned 16 times in the Hebrew Bible. The Arnon River was mentioned 25 times in the Hebrew Bible. Ar was a place in Moab that was mentioned 6 times in the Hebrew Bible. That is the exact Hebrew citation from The Book of the Wars of Yahweh. Does this non-canonical work become canonical because it was written in a canonical work of the Hebrew Bible?
The Book of the Just Man
The Book of Jasher, סֵפֶר הַיׇּשׇׁר, (sefer hayyasar), means the Book of the Upright or the Book of the Just Man, is another lost book mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, often interpreted as a lost non-canonical book. Numerous forgeries purporting to be rediscovered copies of this lost book have been written. A different interpretation identified it as a reference to the Pentateuch. The translation, Book of the Just Man is the traditional Greek and Latin translation, while the transliterated form of Jasher is found in the King James Bible. This book was mentioned twice in the Hebrew Bible, with a possible third reference with a variant spelling, Joshua, chapter 10:13, 2 Samuel, chapter 1:18, and possibly 1 Kings, chapter 8:53. Have you ever heard of The Book of the Just Man?
The Book of the Wars of Yahweh
What is interesting here is the insertion of another book. There had been no mention of any specific books until here. This ancient book was called The Book of the Wars of Yahweh, מִלְחֲמֹת יהוה בְּסֵ֖פֶר (baseper milhamot Yahweh), which is now lost, if it ever existed. The name suggests that Yahweh led many wars. Like many lost books, people must have considered it not worth recopying. It did not make its way into the Hebrew canon. It may have been a source for some of the works of the Bible, like Q for the New Testament. It appears to be a book that was available to these ancient Hebrew authors so that this would put it around 1000 BCE or later. This book had a few victory chants that are often hard to understand. The Book of the Wars of Yahweh was one of several non-canonical books referenced in the Hebrew Bible which have now been completely lost. However, it may be merely another title for the mysterious biblical Book of Jasher, a collaborative record written by Moses, Joshua, and the children of Israel. A notable reference to an unnamed book is found in Exodus 17:14, where God commanded Moses to inscribe an Israelite military victory over the Amalekites in a book and recount it later in the hearing of his successor Joshua. This book is not specifically mentioned by name. However, some Torah scholars have suggested this book may refer to The Book of the Wars of the Lord. What do you know about The Book of the Wars of the Lord?
Various stages towards the trans-Jordan area
In Numbers, chapter 21:10-13, this book outlined the adventurous trail that the Israelites took. First, they stopped and camped at Oboth, south of the Dead Sea. Then they went to Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which bordered Moab, southeast of the Dead Sea. From there, they went to the Wadi-Zered, the valley border between Edom and Moab. Then they camped on the other side of the Arnon River, also known as Wadi Mujib, near the Dead Sea. This river was apparently the boundary between the Amorites and Moabites. All three of these groups, the Moabites, the Amorites, and the Edomites were on the eastern side of the Jordan River. These three groups from south to north were the Edomites, then the Moabites, with the more defused group of Amorites being the furthest north. What do you know about Edom, Moab, and the more amorphous Amorites?
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 