Balak
בָּלָק · ba.laq · H1111Βαλάκ · Balak · G0904“who lays waste or destroys” Hitchcock's 186941 mentions in 5 books, most in Numbers (37)
Who he was
Balak was the king of Moab during the time when the Israelites were approaching the Promised Land (Numbers 22:4). Fearing the large number of Israelites, Balak hired the pagan prophet Balaam to curse them (Numbers 22:5–6). Despite Balak's repeated attempts and offerings, Balaam could only bless Israel as God commanded (Numbers 23-24). Balak became angry with Balaam for not cursing Israel and sent him away (Numbers 24:10–11). Balak is mentioned in the farewell speeches of Joshua (Joshua 24:9) and Jephthah (Judges 11:25) as an example of how God protected Israel from their enemies. The prophet Micah also refers to Balak's story as a reminder of God's righteousness (Micah 6:5). In Revelation 2:14, Balak is associated with Balaam's scheme to entice Israel into idolatry and immorality. Balak's actions demonstrate the futility of opposing God's plan and people.
Article: STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0
Family
FatherZippor
Family relations: STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0
Every mention
41 references, counted from STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0 · verse text: World English Bible (public domain)
Numbers37 mentions
Numbers 22:2Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.Numbers 22:4Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this multitude will lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.Numbers 22:7The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand. They came to Balaam, and spoke to him the words of Balak.Numbers 22:10Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has said to me,Numbers 22:13Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your land; for Yahweh refuses to permit me to go with you.”Numbers 22:14The princes of Moab rose up, and they went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”Numbers 22:15Balak again sent princes, more, and more honorable than they.Numbers 22:16They came to Balaam, and said to him, “Balak the son of Zippor says, ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me,Numbers 22:18Balaam answered the servants of Balak, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond the word of Yahweh my God, to do less or more.Numbers 22:35Yahweh’s angel said to Balaam, “Go with the men; but you shall only speak the word that I shall speak to you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.Numbers 22:36When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him to the City of Moab, which is on the border of the Arnon, which is in the utmost part of the border.Numbers 22:37Balak said to Balaam, “Didn’t I earnestly send for you to summon you? Why didn’t you come to me? Am I not able indeed to promote you to honor?”Numbers 22:38Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you. Have I now any power at all to speak anything? I will speak the word that God puts in my mouth.”Numbers 22:39Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath Huzoth.Numbers 22:40Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes who were with him.Numbers 22:41In the morning, Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal; and he saw from there part of the people.Numbers 23:1Balaam said to Balak, “Build here seven altars for me, and prepare here seven bulls and seven rams for me.”Numbers 23:2Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.Numbers 23:3Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” He went to a bare height.Numbers 23:5Yahweh put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”Numbers 23:7He took up his parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, defy Israel.Numbers 23:11Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether.”Numbers 23:13Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you may see them. You shall see just part of them, and shall not see them all. Curse them from there for me.”Numbers 23:15He said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet God over there.”Numbers 23:16Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.”Numbers 23:17He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh spoken?”Numbers 23:18He took up his parable, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor.Numbers 23:25Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.”Numbers 23:26But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that Yahweh speaks, that I must do’?”Numbers 23:27Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”Numbers 23:28Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert.Numbers 23:29Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”Numbers 23:30Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.Numbers 24:10Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have altogether blessed them these three…Numbers 24:12Balaam said to Balak, “Didn’t I also tell your messengers whom you sent to me, saying,Numbers 24:13‘If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond Yahweh’s word, to do either good or bad from my own mind. I will say what Yahweh says’?Numbers 24:25Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.
What the dictionary says
Empty; spoiler, a son of Zippor, and king of the Moabites (Num. 22:2, 4).
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Read the article →Sources
- STEPBible TIPNR · Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References · CC BY 4.0 · github.com/STEPBible/STEPBible-Data
- Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (1869) · Public domain