Biblical Parallels Index – Bemidbar 22-24/0

Biblical Parallels Index – Bemidbar 22-24

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Overview

This index is meant to help the reader explore Biblical parallels, be they two accounts of the same event, stories with similar motifs and themes, or units of text which are linguistically similar and perhaps alluding one to the other. The page includes links to tools that aid in comparison, primary sources that touch upon the parallels, and summaries of and links to articles which analyze them in depth.

Avraham and Bilam

Avraham and Bilam have been compared by several Midrashic sources, highlighting the contrast between the righteous forefather and the scheming Bilam.

Tools

• Though there is not significant linguistic overlap between the two stories, one parallel stands out. Use the Tanakh Lab to compare Bereshit 12:3 and Bemidbar 22:6. In the former, Hashem promises Avraham that all who bless him will be blessed, and all who curse him shall be cursed, but concludes by stating "all the families of the land will be blessed through you".  In Bemidbar, Balak tells Bilam that he knows that all whom he blesses are blessed and all whom he curses are cursed, concluding that therefore Bilam is the right person to go and curse the Israelites.

Primary Sources

• Mishna Avot 5:19Avot 5:19About the Mishna contrasts the character traits of Avraham and Bilaam.  While Avraham was marked by a "good eye", a humble spirit and a lowly soul, Bilaam was known for the opposite qualities.
• Bereshit Rabbah 55:8 notes how both Avraham and Bilaam wake early and saddle their own donkeys to embark on a mission.  While Avraham is motivated by love and the desire to heed God's words when commanded to sacrifice Yitzchak, Bilaam is motivated by hatred and a desire to curse the nation.

Articles

• See Balaam: The Prophet and the Consultant by R. Menachem Leibtag for analysis of the parallel and contrasting themes of the stories of Avraham and Bilaam. R. Leibtag explains that Bilaam used his prophetic understanding to engineer the idea of entrapping the Children of Israel by leading them to sin with the daughters of Moav so that they would lose divine favor.  As such, in contrast to Avraham who directed his spiritual understanding and gifts toward the betterment of mankind, Bilaam exploited his prophetic knowledge for his own personal motives.
• See Avraham and Balaam: A Biblical Contrast by Ricky Novick for a discussion of the linguistic and conceptual parallels between the stories of the two figures which might have prompted the Sages to compare the two in the sources listed above. In addition to the parallels mentioned above, he notes that Avraham and Bilaam share the homeland of Aram Naharayim, both "embark on missions that produce the reverse of the anticipated outcomes", and both stories involve the theme of blessing and curse.
• Listen to Bilaam and Avraham, by R. Alex Israel, who also compares the two protagonists. He notes that the character of Bilaam is a complex one; though he initially appears to be a positive figure, he is vilified by the Sages, and the Biblical narrative itself paints him progressively blacker as the story continues. R. Israel attempts to deepen the reader's understanding of Bilaam by comparing him to Avraham, noting that the similarities between the figures suggest that they both began with the same potential. It was their independent choices of what to do with that potential that led one to greatness and the other to downfall.
• Listen to For God Is Not A Man - On Bil’am, Blessing and Betrayal, by R. Chanoch Waxman, for exploration of the parallels between Avraham and Bilaam with an emphasis on their relevance to this juncture of the nation's journey in Sefer Bemidbar.  As the Jewish people prepare to enter the land, the Torah introduces allusions to the legacy and story of Avraham, and emphasizes that the blessings of Avraham are irreversible -- even by a figure who acts as the perfect anti-Avraham.

Yitro and Bilam

The Torah records very little about the Children of Israel's encounters with other nations during their forty years in the desert, and even less about their interaction with private individuals who are not the rulers of their nations. Yitro and Bilam, though, are the two significant exceptions to this rule – Gentile personalities (both with ties to Midyan) to whom the Torah devotes a considerable amount of attention.  In many ways the two are a study in contrast.

Tools

• See Makbilot Bamikra for  a list of links to verse which describe non Jews recognizing and praising God for the miracles in Egypt.   Both Yitro and Bilam are among those who do so.

Primary Sources

Many Rabbinic sources draw connections between Yitro and Bilam, some including a third Gentile figure, Iyyov.

• Bavli Sotah 11a, Bavli Sanhedrin 106a, and Shemot Rabbah 1:9 state that Paroh had three advisors: Bilaam, Iyyov, and Yitro.  Bilaam advised Pharaoh to kill the Jewish baby boys, Iyyov was silent, and Yitro ran away in protest.  These three characters represent different non-Jewish ways of relating to Judaism and the Jewish people. 
• Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Shemot 18:1 and Bavli Zevachim 116a describe Bilaam’s response to popular fear and confusion after Matan Torah, which contrasts with that of Yitro. 

Articles

• See Yitro & Bilam for an overview of points of comparison between these two characters. Yitro is a friend who comes on his own initiative to bless the Children of Israel face to face in the first year in the wilderness, and whose descendants become a part of Israel. Bilam, on the other hand, is a foe who is summoned to curse the Children of Israel from afar in the fortieth and last year, and is later killed by the Children of Israel. The contrast between the two  emphasizes the realization of one of Hashem's original promises to Avraham "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you" (Bereshit 12:1-3).
• In Do You See the World Like Yisro or Like Balak?, R. Efrem Goldberg analyzes why Balak, Bilaam, and Yitro have such different reactions to the events experienced by the nation of Israel and how this insight might inform an individual’s religious life.

Moshe & Bilam

Primary Sources

A number of sources compare the prophetic capabilities of Moshe and Bilam.

• Sifrei Devarim34:10About Sifre Devarim, Midrash TannaimDevarim 34:10About Midrash Tannaim, Sifrei ZutaBemidbar 7:89About Sifre Zuta, and Bemidbar Rabbah14:20About Bemidbar Rabbah all suggest that the statement "וְלֹא קָם נָבִיא עוֹד בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל כְּמֹשֶׁה" (Devarim 34:10) is limited to Jews, but Bilam, who was not Jewish, was a prophet at Moshe's level.
• Other sources limit Bilam's prophetic abilities. According to Bavli Berakhot 7a, Bilam only knew when Hashem got angry, thus knowing when to give curses. Vayikra Rabbah 1:12-13About Vayikra Rabbahmaintains that Bilam was limited to prophecy during nightly dreams and Rambam states that Bilam never got above the second level of prophecy, placing him at the level of the authors of Ketuvim.
• Others suggest he was not a prophet at all and was only granted them on a temporary basis in order to bless Israel (see Ibn EzraBemidbar 22:28About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, RadakYehoshua 13:22About R. David Kimchi, RambanBemidbar 22:31About R. Moshe b. Nachman, and ShadalBemidbar 22:2About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto).

Articles

• In her article, Is Bilaam the Greatest Prophet? Simi Peters questions what leads the Sage to compare the two figures. She notes that there is actually an entire array of  literary and plot parallels between the narratives which extends far beyond the prophetic status of both, pointing especially to the similarities between Shemot 2-4 (where Moshe argues with Hashem, refusing to leave on His mission) and Bemidbar 22 (where Bilam argues with Hashem, pleading to go). The comparison highlight show each figure started with similar potential to either be a great prophet or to wickedly defy God.  Moshe ultimately uses his defiant attitude to serve God, challenging in Him in defense of Israel, while Bilam uses his prophetic abilities to harm others.
• Listen to The Book of Bilam, by R. Chanoch Waxman, for analysis of Bilaam as a foil for the personality and prophecy of Moshe.  

Lavan and Bilam

Primary Sources

• See Targum YonatanBemidbar 22:5:5Bemidbar 31:8:8About Targum Yerushalmi (Yonatan) and Midrash TanchumaVayetze 13About the Tanchuma which identify Lavan and Bilam.

Articles

• See בלעם הוא לבן, by Efrat Yaakovson, for analysis of the parallels in personality, motivation, and actions between Lavan and Bilaam looking both at the simple sense of the text and how the two are compared in Rabinnic and later sources. among other parallels, he notes that both come from Aram Naharayim, are marked by the trait of deceit, use divination, and attempt to harm Yaakov/Israel but end up blessing them.
• See Character Consolidation and the corresponding interactive module for discussion of the Midrashic tendency to identify distinct characters with one another. The topic explores the various motivations that lead Midrash to such identifications,¹ bringing many examples, including a unit on Lavan and Bilam.

¹ These include the presence of textual and literary links between figures, an attempt to solve exegetical or theological, develop character, or bridge history.