Who was Balaam and how did he respond to the Moabites’ request concerning Moses’s people?

Balaam was a non-Israelite diviner or prophet mentioned in the Book of Numbers who was hired by the king of Moab and his Midianite allies to place a curse on the Israelites, who were camped on the plains of Moab.12

When requested to curse the people of Israel, Balaam initially stated he would only utter what Yahweh inspired him to say. Despite pressure from the Moabite king, Balak, Balaam remained faithful to Yahweh’s command and instead pronounced a blessing upon the Israelites.12

While some scholars interpret this as evidence of Balaam’s conversion to Yahwism, later biblical tradition suggests he eventually incited his former employers to weaken the Hebrews through religious seduction. Consequently, in other parts of the Hebrew Bible and later literature, he is sometimes depicted as an example of one who turned toward apostasy for material gain.21