Balaam

Balaam
Balaamite /bay"leuh muyt'/, n.Balaamitical /bay'leuh mit"i keuhl/, adj.
/bay"leuhm/, n.
a Mesopotamian diviner who, when commanded by Balak to curse the Israelites, blessed them and uttered favorable prophecies after having been rebuked by the ass he rode. Num. 22-23.

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▪ biblical prophet
      a non-Israelite prophet described in the Old Testament (Num. 22–24) as a diviner who is importuned by Balak, the king of Moab, to place a malediction on the people of Israel, who are camped ominously on the plains of Moab. Balaam states that he will utter only what his god Yahweh inspires, but he is willing to accompany the Moabite messengers to Balak. He is met en route by an angel of Yahweh, who is recognized only by Balaam's ass, which refuses to continue. Then Balaam's eyes are opened, and the angel permits him to go to Balak but commands him not to curse but to bless Israel. Despite pressure from Balak, Balaam remains faithful to Yahweh and blesses the people of Israel. In later literature (specifically, the Second Letter of Peter 2:15), however, Balaam is held up as an example of one who apostasized for the sake of material gain.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • BALAAM — (Heb. בַּלְעָם, בִּלְעָם), son of Beor, a non Israelite diviner famous for his effectiveness, enlisted by Balak, king of Moab, to pronounce curses over the Israelites. The pronunciation Balaam reflects the Greek rendering of the name in the… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Balaam — (Hebrew: בִּלְעָם, Standard unicode|Bilʻam Tiberian unicode|Bilʻām ) is a prophet in the Torah, his story occurring towards the end of the Book of Numbers. The etymology of his name is uncertain, and discussed below. Every ancient reference to… …   Wikipedia

  • Balaam — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Balaam y el ángel. Pintado por Gustav Jaeger en 1836. Balaam, personaje bíblico, es un profeta. Balaam aparece en el libro de los Números. Balaam es consultado por el rey de Moab, Balac …   Wikipedia Español

  • Balaam — • The derivation of the name is uncertain. Dr. Neubauer would connect it with the god Ammo or Ammi, as though Balaam belonged to a people whose god or lord was Ammo or Ammi Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Balaam     Balaam …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Balaam — et l ange. Chronique de Nuremberg (1493). Balaam, personnage biblique, prophète de Péthor en Mésopotamie. Sommaire 1 Les récits …   Wikipédia en Français

  • BALAAM — Héros de plusieurs légendes liées aux vieilles traditions israélites sur l’entrée en Canaan et entremêlées dans les récits bibliques du Livre des Nombres (XXII XXIV). Originaire des environs de l’Euphrate, Balaam est tantôt devin étranger… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Balaam — Ba laam, n. A paragraph describing something wonderful, used to fill out a newspaper column; an allusion to the miracle of Balaam s ass speaking. Numb. xxii. 30. [Cant] [1913 Webster] {Balaam basket or box} (Print.), the receptacle for rejected… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Balaam — steht für: Bileam, einen Propheten der Thora Balaam Meister, einen mittelalterlichen Maler Balaams Esel, ein Gemälde von Rembrandt van Rijn Siehe auch: Balam Di …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • BALAAM — Pseudopropheta, a Balaco Moabitarum Rege, ut Israeli malediceret, adhibitus est; Sed ter id conatus, semper frustra fuit, a propria asina, cui insidebat, per miraculum increpitus; dirasque in benedictionem vertit, sic Deô linguam eius reluctantis …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Balaam — [bā′ləm] n. Bible a prophet hired to curse the Israelites: when he beat his donkey, the animal rebuked him: Num. 22 24 …   English World dictionary

  • Balaam —    Lord of the people; foreigner or glutton, as interpreted by others, the son of Beor, was a man of some rank among the Midianites (Num. 31:8; comp. 16). He resided at Pethor (Deut. 23:4), in Mesopotamia (Num. 23:7). It is evident that though… …   Easton's Bible Dictionary

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