Appendix to Balak

Torah Portion Balak: The Biography of Balaam – Num. 22:5

Another possible reason why Balak sent for Balaam is because of where Balaam is from and the connection to his ancestors.  Balaam was living in Pethor.  Pethor is located in Upper Mesopotamia in the area of Aram Naharaim (Deut. 23:4).  Pethor seems to be in the same location or in close proximity to Haran, the city named after Abraham’s brother (Yohanan Aharoni and Michael Avi-Yonah, The MacMillan Bible Atlas. third edition, 1993, p. 42-43).  Abraham left Haran when God called him to the Promised Land.  This also seems to be the same location of Abraham’s brother Nahor in Aram Naharaim (Gen. 24:10).

So why is geography so important?

It is clear that Balaam was from the same general location where Abraham and his family lived for a time.  There is a phrase describing Balaam’s location that is not exactly clear: “So he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, at Pethor, which is near the River, in the land of the sons of his people…” (Num. 22:5).  The phrase “in the land of the sons of his people” has no direct object.  Whose people is it referring to?  Is it referring to the people of Balak, the people of Balaam, or the people of someone else?  To be honest, we just don’t know, however, it seems probable because of the location that there is a reference here to Balaam being connected to Abraham and his ancestors.  If this is the case than Balak was sending for a distant relative of Abraham to curse the Israelites.
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