Babylonia And Assyria, Religion Of (continued) – Balance

Babylonia And Assyria, Religion Of (continued)

It is impossible within the reasonable limits which are here imposed to discuss theory in detail, and for our purpose it will be sufficient to say that to the great majority of modern scholars who have carefully considered it in its details it seems to lack evidence sufficient to support so enormous a structure. That an astrological structure similar at least to this actually did arise in the Hellenistic period is not here disputed. The sole dispute is as to the antiquity of it. Now it does not appear that Winckler and Jeremias have been able to produce proof, first, that the Babylonians had enough knowledge of astronomy before the 7th century BC to have constructed such a system; and in the second place, there is no evidence that all the Babylonian gods had an astral character in the earlier period. On the contrary, there seems, as we have already attempted to show in the discussion of the pantheon, to be good reason to believe that many of the deities had no relation whatever to the stars in early times, but were rather gods of vegetation or of water or of other natural forces visible in earthly manifestations. The theory indeed may be said to have broken down by its own weight, for Winckler and Jeremias attempted to show that this theory of the universe spread to Israel, to the Greeks and to the Romans, and that it affords the only satisfactory explanation of the religion and of the history of the entire ancient world. An attempt has been made similar to previous abortive efforts to unlock all the doors of the ancient past with one key (see an interesting example cited in Rogers, Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, 224-25). Instead of gaining adherence in recent times, theory would appear to have lost, and even those who have given a tentative adherence to its claims, cautiously qualify the extent of their submission.

X. The Relations with the Religion of Israel:

No question concerning the religion of Babylonia and Assyria is of so great interest and importance to students of the Bible as the question of the relation between this religion and the faith of Yahweh, as professed by Israel. It seems now to be clearly demonstrated that the religion of Israel has borrowed various literary materials from its more ancient neighbor. The stories of creation and of the flood, both of them, as far as the literary contents are concerned, certainly rest upon Babylonian originals. This dependence has, however, been exaggerated by some scholars into an attempt to demonstrate that Israel took these materials bodily, whereas the close shifting and comparison to which they have been subjected in the past few years would seem to demonstrate beyond peradventure that Israel stamped whatever she borrowed with her own genius and wove an entirely new fabric. Israel used these ancient narratives as a vehicle for a higher and purer religious faith. The material was borrowed, the spirit belonged to Israel, and the spirit was Divine. Words and literary materials were secured from Babylonia, but the religious and spiritual came from Israel and from Israel's God. The word Sabbath is Babylonian indeed, but the great social and religious institution which it represents in Israel is not Babylonian but distinctively Hebrew. The Divine name Yahweh appears among other peoples, passes over into Babylonia and afterward is used by Israel, but the spiritual God who bears the name in Israel is no Babylonian or Kenite deity. The Babylonians, during all their history and in all their speculations, never conceived a god like unto Him. He belongs to the Hebrews alone.

The gods of Babylonia are connected, as we have seen, with primitive animism or they are merely local deities. The God of Israel, on the other hand, is a God revealed in history. He brought Israel out of Egypt. He is continually made known to His people through the prophets as a God revealed in history. His religion is not developed out of Babylonian polytheism which existed as polytheism in the earliest periods and endured as polytheism unto the end. The religion of Israel, on the other hand, though some of its material origins are humble, moved steadily onward and upward until the great monotheistic idea found universal acceptance in Israel. The religions of Philistia and Phoenicia, Moab, and of Edom, were subject to the same play of influences from Babylonia and Egypt, but no larger faith developed out of them. In Israel alone ethical monotheism arose, and ethical monotheism has no roots in Babylonia. The study of the religion of Babylonia is indeed of the highest importance for the understanding of Israel's faith, but it is of less importance than some modern scholars have attempted to demonstrate.

LITERATURE.

L. W. King. Babylonian Religion and Mythology, London. 1899; M. Jastrow. Jr., The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, Boston, 1898 (completely revised by the author and translated into German under the title Die Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens, Giessen, appearing in parts, and soon to be completed. This is the standard book on the subject); Rogers, The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, Especially in Its Relation to Israel, New York, 1908; Hermann Schneider. Kultur und Denken der Babylonier und Juden, Leipzig, 1910; R. P. Dhorme, La religion assyrio-babylonienne, Paris. 1910. Detailed literature on the separate phases of the religion will be found in these books.

Robert W. Rogers

Babylonian Captivity

See CAPTIVITY.

Babylonians

bab-i-lo'-ni-anz: The inhabitants of BABYLONIA (which see). They were among the colonists planted in Samaria by the Assyrians (Ezra 4:9). "The likeness of the Babylonians in Chaldea" (Ezekiel 23:15) refers to the pictures which were common on the walls of Babylonian palaces, and the reports of them being heard in Jerusalem, or copies of them seen there, awakened the nation's desire for these unknown lovers, which Judah had ample occasion to repent of (Ezekiel 23:17,Ezekiel 23:23; compare 2 Kings 24:1–20).

Babylonish Garment

bab-i-lo'-nish gar'ment: In the King James Version, Joshua 7:21, for BABYLONISH MANTLE, which see.

Babylonish Mantle

man'-tl (the King James Version Babylonish Garment): One of the articles taken by Achan from the spoil of Jericho (Joshua 7:21). In the Hebrew "a mantle of Shinar." Entirely gratuitous is the suggested correction of Shinar to se`ar, making "a hairy mantle." The Greek has psilen poikilen, which Josephus apparently understood to mean "a royal garment all woven out of gold" (Ant., V, i, 10). The Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A. D.) calls it a "scarlet pallium," and some of the rabbinical traditions make it a purple robe. Such classical writers as Pliny and Martial speak of the weaving of embroidered stuffs as a famous industry of Babylonia. Many tablets that have been deciphered indicate that the industry was indeed widely extended, that its costly products were of great variety and that some of them were exported to distant markets; in fine, that the account in Joshua is characterized by great verisimilitude.

Willis J. Beecher

Baca

ba'-ka bakha': In the King James Version in Psalms 84:6, where the Revised Version (British and American) has "the valley of Weeping," with a marginal variant which is best put in the form, "the valley of the balsam-trees." The word is elsewhere used only in the duplicated account of one of David's battles (2 Samuel 5:23,2 Samuel 5:24; 1 Chronicles 14:14,1 Chronicles 14:15). There the translation is "the mulberry trees," with "the balsam-trees" in the margin in the Revised Version (British and American). Conjecturally the word is, by variant spelling, of the stem which denotes weeping; the tree is called "weeper" from some habit of the trickling of its gum or of the moisture on it; the valley of weeping is not a geographical locality, but a picturesque expression for the experiences of those whose strength is in Yahweh, and who through His grace find their sorrows changed into blessings.

Willis J. Beecher

Bacchides

bak-i-dez: Bakchides: Bacchides, ruler over Mesopotamia and a faithful friend of both Antiochus Epiphanes and Demetrius Soter, established at the request of the latter the rulership over Judea for Aleimus, who, desiring to become high priest, had made false accusations against Judas Maccabee (1 Macc 7:8 ff; Ant, XII, x, 2). Bacchides is sent the second time to Judea after the Syrian general Nicanor was killed near Adasa and Judas Maccabee had gained control of the government (1 Macc 9:1 ff; Ant, XII, x). Bacchides after an unsuccessful battle near Bethbasi was forced to make peace with Jonathan, the brother of Judas Maccabee (1 Macc 9:58 ff; Ant, XIII, i). In 1 Macc 10:12 and 2 Macc 8:30 reference is made to the strongholds Bacchides built during his second campaign against Jerusalem (1 Macc 9:50). Compare ALCIMUS; BETHBASI; JONATHAN; JUDAS MACCABAEUS; ADASA; NICANOR. less importance than some modern scholars have attempted to demonstrate.

A. L. Breslich

Bacchurus

ba-ka'-rus: Bakchouros: One of the "holy singers" who put away his "strange wife" (1 Esdras 9:24). Omitted in Ezra 10:1–44.

Bacchus

bak'-us Dionusos; later Bakchos, the Feast of Bacchus; Dionusia: The god of wine. His worship had extended over the whole Greek and Roman world centuries before the Christian era, and had degenerated into an orgy of drunkenness and unnamable immoralities, possibly under the influence of oriental Baal worship, such as the Hebrew prophets condemned. It has been surmised that Dionysus was originally not a Greek, but an oriental deity. His worship had been introduced into Egypt, perhaps by the Ptolemies, and Ptolemy Philopator (222-204 BC) had branded the Jews there with his emblem, the sign of the ivy. When Antiochus Epiphanes made his assault upon Jerusalem in the year 168 BC, he determined to extirpate the worship of Yahweh, which he recognized as the strength of the Jewish resistance, and to replace it by Greek religion. All worship of Yahweh and the observance of Jewish rites, such as the Sabbath and circumcision, were prohibited. Heathen worship was set up all over Judea, and in the temple at Jerusalem on the altar of burnt offering an altar to Jupiter was erected, "the abomination that maketh desolate" (Daniel 11:31), and a swine was sacrificed upon it (see ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION). The immoral practices associated with heathen worship in those days established themselves in the temple. When this feast of Bacchus (Dionysus) with all its revelry came round, the Jews were compelled to go in procession in honor of Bacchus (Dionysus), wearing wreaths of ivy, the emblem of the god (2 Macc 6:7). Some years later, when the worship of Yahweh had been restored, Nicanor the general of Demetrius I, in conducting the war against Judas Maceabacus, threatened the priests that, unless they delivered Judas up as a prisoner, "he would raze the temple of God even with the ground, break down the altar, and erect there a temple unto Bacchus (Dionysus) for all to see" (2 Macc 14:33).

See DIONYSIA.

LITERATURE.

Cheyne, article "Bacchus," EB; Kent, History of the Jewish People, I, 328-29; Josephus, Ant, XII, v, 4.

T. Rees

Bacenor

ba-se'-nor Bakenor: An officer in the army of Judas Maccabee engaged in war against Gorgias, governor of Idumaea (2 Macc 12:35). Compare Ant, XlI, viii, 6.

Bachrite

bak'-rit. See BECHER.

Back, Back Parts

(1) 'achar, ("back side" as in the King James Version): "He led the flock to the back of the wilderness" (Exodus 3:1), i.e. "to the pasture-lands on the other side of the desert from the Midianite encampments."

(2) 'achor, ("hinder part," "the West"): Used of God in an anthropomorphic sense ("Thou shalt see my back," Exodus 33:23) to signify "the after-glow of the Divine radiance," the faint reflection of God's essential glory. See also Isaiah 38:17 and compare 1 Kings 14:9 and Nehemiah 9:26.

(3) opisthen, ("back side"): "A book written within and on the back" (Revelation 5:1), "but the back of a book is not the same as the reverse side of a roll. John was struck, not only with the fact that the roll was sealed, but also with the amount of writing it contained" (HDB, I, 231). Compare Ezekiel 2:10.

M. O. Evans

Backbite

bak'-bit raghal; doloo: To slander the absent, like a dog biting behind the back, where one cannot see; to go about as a talebearer. "He that backbiteth [Revised Version, slandereth] not with his tongue" (Psalms 15:3).

Backbiters bak'-bit-~rz (Greek katalaloi: Men who speak against. Vulgate, "detractors" (Romans 1:30)).

Backbiting bak'-bit-ing: cether: Adj. "a backbiting tongue"; literally, "a tongue of secrecy" (Proverbs 25:23). katalalia: substantive "a speaking against" (2 Corinthians 12:20; Wisdom 1:11); "evil speaking" (1 Peter 2:1). glossa trite: "a backbiting tongue" (the King James Version of Ecclesiasticus 28:14,15); more literally translated in the Revised Version (British and American) "a third person's tongue."

T. Rees

Backside

bak'sid': See BACK.

Backslide

bak'-slid' (meshubhah; Hosea 11:7; Hosea 14:4 and often in Ho and Jer, shobhabh; shobhebh, in Jer, 4 times: all meaning "turning back or away," "apostate," "rebellious." carar, in Hosea 4:16 = "stubborn," "rebellious"; the Revised Version (British and American) "stubborn"): In all places the word is used of Israel forsaking Yahweh, and with a reference to the covenant relation between Yahweh and the nation, conceived as a marriage tie which Israel had violated. Yahweh was Israel's husband, and by her idolatries with other gods she had proved unfaithful (Jeremiah 3:8,Jeremiah 3:14; Jeremiah 14:7; Hosea 14:4). It may be questioned whether Israel was guilty so much of apostasy and defection, as of failure to grow with the growing revelation of God. The prophets saw that their contemporaries fell far short of their own ideal, but they did not realize how far their predecessors also had fallen short of the rising prophetic standard in ideal and action. See APOSTASY.

Backslider bak'-slid-er cugh lebh: "The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways" (Proverbs 14:14). But the Revised Version (British and American) "backslider" conveys the wrong impression of an apostate. The Hebrew expression here implies simply non-adherence to the right, "The bad man reaps the fruits of his act" (Toy, Prov, in loc.).

T. Rees

Badger

baj'er: tachash: The word tachash occurs in the descriptions of the tabernacle in Exodus 25:1–40; Exodus 26:1–37; Exodus 35:1–35; Exodus 36:1–38; Exodus 39:1–43, in the directions for moving the tabernacle as given in Numbers 4:1–49, and in only one other passage, Ezekiel 16:10, where Jerusalem is spoken of as a maiden clothed and adorned by her Lord. In nearly all these passages the word tachash occurs with `or, "skin," rendered: the King James Version "badgers' skins," the Revised Version (British and American) "sealskin," the Revised Version, margin "porpoise-skin," Septuagint dermata huakinthina. In all the passages cited in Ex and Nu these skins are mentioned as being used for coverings of the tabernacle; in Ezekiel 16:10, for shoes or sandals. The Septuagint rendering would mean purple or blue skins, which however is not favored by Talmudic writers or by modern grammarians, who incline to believe that tachash is the name of an animal. The rendering, "badger," is favored by the Talmudic writers and by the possible etymological connection of the word with the Latin taxus and the German Dachs. The main objection seems to be that badgers' skins would probably not have been easily available to the Israelites. The badger, Meles taxus, while fairly abundant in Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, does not seem to occur in Sinai or Egypt.

A seal, Monachus albiventer (Arabic fukmeh), the porpoise, Phocoena comrnunis, and the common dolphin, Delphinus delphis, are all found in the Mediterranean. The dugong, Halicore dugong, inhabits the Indian Ocean and adjoining waters from the Red Sea to Australia. The Arabic tukhas or dukhas is near to tachash and is applied to the dolphin, which is also called delfin. It may be used also for the porpoise or even the seal, and is said by Tristram and others to be applied to the dugong. The statement of Gesenius (Boston, 1850, under the word "tachash") that the Arabs of Sinai wear sandals of dugong skin is confirmed by recent travelers, and is of interest with reference to Ezekiel 16:10, ".... shod thee with badgers' skin" (King James Version). The dugong is a marine animal from 5 to 9 ft. in length, frequenting the shore and feeding upon seaweed. It belongs to the order Sirenia. While outwardly resembling Cetacea (whales and porpoises), the Sirenia are really more allied to the Ungulata, or hoofed animals. The dugong of the Indian Ocean and the manatee of the Atlantic and of certain rivers of Africa and South America, are the only living representatives of the Sirenia. A third species, the sea-cow of Behring Sea, became extinct in the 18th century. The seal and porpoise of the Revised Version (British and American), the dolphin, and the dugong are all of about the same size and all inhabit the seas bordering on Egypt and Sinai, so that all are possible candidates for identification with the tachash. Of the four, recent opinion seems most to favor the dugong.

Mr. S. M. Perlmann has suggested (Zoologist, set. 4, XII, 256, 1908) that the okapi is the animal indicated by tachash.

Gesenius (Leipzig, 1905) cites Bondi (Aegyptiaca, i. ff) who adduces the Egyptian root t-ch-s and makes the expression `or tachash mean "soft-dressed skin." This suits the context in every passage and is very promising explanation.

Alfred Ely-Day

Baean

be'-an huioi Baian; the King James Version Bean; 1 Macc 5:4: A tribe mentioned only because of its malignant hatred of the Jews. Its aggressive hostility against their religion and the rebuilding of their sanctuary duplicated the conspiracy of Sanballat and his confederates against the restoration of Jerusalem and the temple in the days of Nehemiah (compare Nehemiah 4:7,Nehemiah 4:8). Utterly exterminated by Judas Maccabeus who burned alive, in towers, many of the imprisoned people. See MAON.

Bag

Bags of various kinds are mentioned in the English Bible, but often in a way to obscure rather than tr the original.

(1) "Bag" is used for a Hebrew word which means a shepherd's "bag," rendered "wallet" in the Revised Version (British and American). This "bag" of the shepherd or "haversack" of the traveler was of a size sufficient for one or more days' provisions. It was made of the skin of animals, ordinarily undressed, as most of the other "bags" of ancient times were, and was carried slung across the shoulder. This is the "scrip for the journey" pera mentioned in Matthew 10:10 and its parallel (the King James Version). ("Scrip" is Old English, now obsolete.) A unique word appears in 1 Samuel 17:40,1 Samuel 17:49 which had to be explained even to Hebrew readers by the gloss, "the shepherd's bag," but which is likewise rendered "wallet" by the American Standard Revised Version.

(2) "Bag" translates also a word ballantion which stands for the more finished leather pouch, or satchel which served as a "purse" (see Christ's words, Luke 10:4 King James Version: "Carry neither purse, nor scrip," and 12:33 King James Version: "Provide yourselves bags which wax not old"). The word rendered "purse" in Matthew 10:9: "Get you no gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses"; Mark 6:8: "No money in their purse," is a different word entirely zone, the true rendering of which is "girdle" (Revised Version, margin). The oriental "girdle," though sometimes of crude leather, or woven camel's hair (see GIRDLE), was often of fine material and elegant workmanship, and was either made hollow so to carry money, or when of silk or cloth, worn in folds, when the money was carried in the folds.

(3) The small "merchant's bag" often knotted in a handkerchief for carrying the weights, such as is mentioned in Deuteronomy 25:13: "Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small," was another variety. This too was used as "purse," as in the case of the proposed common purse of the wicked mentioned in Proverbs 1:14: "We will all have one purse," and sometimes carried in the girdle (compare Isaiah 46:6).

(4) Then there was the "bag" tseror, rendered "bundle" in Genesis 42:35 which was the favorite receptacle for valuables, jewels, as well as money, used figuratively with fine effect in 1 Samuel 25:29: "The soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life"--"life's jewel-case" (see 2 Kings 12:10 where the money of the temple was said to be put up "tied up" in bags). This was a "bag" that could be tied with a string: "Behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack," and with (compare Proverbs 7:20) "He hath taken a bag of money with him" (compare Haggai 1:6: "earneth wages to put it into a bag holes"). A seal was sometimes put on the knot, which occasions the figure of speech used in Job 14:16,Job 14:17, "Dost thou not watch over my sin? My transgression is sealed up in a bag," i.e. it is securely kept and reckoned against me (compare also 1 Samuel 9:7; 1 Samuel 21:5 where the Hebrew keli, is rendered by "vessels" and stands for receptacles for carrying food, not necessarily bags).

(5) Another Hebrew word chariT; Arabic charitat, is used, on the one hand, for a "bag" large enough to hold a talent of silver (see 2 Kings 5:23, "bound two talents of silver in two bags"), and on the other, for a dainty lady's satchel, such as is found in Isaiah 3:22 (wrongly rendered "crisping pins" in the King James Version). This is the most adequate Hebrew word for a large bag. (6) The "bag" which Judas carried (see John 12:6 the King James Version, "He was a thief and had the bag"; compare John 13:29) was in reality the small "box" (Revised Version, margin) originally used for holding the mouthpieces of wind instruments (Kennedy, in the 1-volume HDB). The Hebrew 'argaz, (found only here) of 1 Samuel 6:8, rendered "coffer" in English Versions of the Bible and translated glossokomon, by Josephus, appears to stand for a small "chest" used to hold the gold figures sent by the Philistines as a guilt offering. It is from a word that means "to wag," "to move to and fro"; compare the similar word in Arabic meaning a bag filled with stones hung at the side of the camel to "preserve" equilibrium (Gesenius). But the same word Josephus uses is found in modern Greek and means "purse" or "bag" (Hatch). Later to "carry the bag" came to mean to be treasurer.

George B. Eager

Baggage

bag'aj:

(1) keli, ("the impedimenta of an army"): "David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage" (1 Samuel 17:22); "at Michmash he layeth up his baggage" (Isaiah 10:28). The American Standard Revised Version gives baggage for "stuff" at 1 Samuel 10:22; 1 Samuel 25:13; 1 Samuel 30:24.

(2) aposkeue: "Beside the baggage" (Judith 7:2), "a great ado and much baggage" (1 Macc 9:35,39), "the women and the children and also the baggage" (the King James Version "and other baggage"; 2 Macc 12:21).

(3) aposkeuazomai, ("to make ready for leaving," "to pack up baggage"): "We took up (made ready, Revised Version margin) our baggage" (Acts 21:15, the King James Version "carriages"), i.e. what they could carry--English: "luggage"; but others understand the term of the loading of the baggage animals.

M. O. Evans

Bago

ba'-go (Codex Alexandrinus, Bago; Codex Alexandrinus, @Banai = Bigvai [Ezra 8:14]): The descendants of Bago returned with Ezra to Jerusalem (1 Esdras 8:40).

Bagoas

ba-go'as Bagoas: The eunuch in charge of the household of Holofernes whom the latter engaged to bring Judith to his palace (Judith 12:11 ff; 13:1,3; 14:14). Compare JUDITH.

Bagoi

bag'-o-i (Codex Alexandrinus, Bagoi; Codex Vaticanus, Bosai = Bigvai [Ezra 2:14; Nehemiah 7:19]): The descendants of B. returned with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem (1 Esdras 5:14).

Baharumite; Barhumite

ba-ha'-rum-it; bar-hu'-mit (1 Chronicles 11:33; 2 Samuel 23:31): A native of BAHURIM (which see).

Bahurim

ba-hu'-rim bachurim; (Baoureim usually, but there are variants): A place in the territory of Benjamin which lay on an old road from Jerusalem to Jericho followed by David in his flight from Absalom (2 Samuel 15:32–16:5 ff). It ran over the Mount of Olives and down the slopes to the East. The Talmud identifies it with Ale, math, the modern Almit, about a mile beyond `Anata, going from Jerusalem. If this identification is correct, Wady Farah may be the brook of water (2 Samuel 17:20). Here Paltiel was parted from his wife Miehal by Abner (2 Samuel 3:16). It was the home of Shimei, who ran along a ridge of the hill cursing and throwing stones at the fugitive king (2 Samuel 16:5; 1 Kings 2:8). In Bahurim Jonathan and Ahimaaz, the native messengers of David, were concealed in a well by a loyal woman (2 Samuel 17:18 ff). Azmaveth, one of David's heroes, was a of Bahurim. In 2 Samuel 23:31 we should read, as in 1 Chronicles 11:33,

Barahumite. W. Ewing

Baiterus

ba-i'-ter-us Baiterous; (the King James Version Meterus): The descendants of Baiterus returned with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem (1 Esdras 5:17). Omitted in Ezra 2:1–70 and Nehemiah 7:1–73.

Bajith

ba'-jith.

See BAYITH.

Bakbakkar

bak-bak'-ar baqbaqqar, "investigator": A Levite (1 Chronicles 9:15).

Bakbuk

bak'-buk baqbuq, "bottle" perhaps onomatopoetical, referring to the clucking noise created by the pouring out of the contents of a bottle = Acub, (1 Esdras 5:31): The descendants of Bakbuk returned with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem (Ezra 2:51; Nehemiah 7:53).

Bakbukiah

bak-bu-ki'-a baqbuqyah, ("the Lord pours out"):

(1) A Levite who "dwelt in Jerusalem" after the return from Babylon (Nehemiah 11:17).

(2) A Levite who returned with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem (Nehemiah 12:9).

(3) A Levite and porter keeping "the watch at the store-houses of the gates" (Nehemiah 12:25).

Bakemeats

bak'-mets: Only in Genesis 40:17 the King James Version and the English Revised Version. "All manner of baked food for Pharaoh" the American Standard Revised Version. Any kind of meat baked or cooked.

See BREAD; FOOD.

Baking

bak'-ing.

See BREAD.

Baking Pan

See BREAD; PAN.

Balaam

ba'-lam bil`am, ("devourer"): The son of Beor, from a city in Mesopotamia called Pethor, a man possessing the gift of prophecy, whose remarkable history may be found in Numbers 22:2–24:25; compare Numbers 31:8,Numbers 31:16; Deuteronomy 23:4; Joshua 13:22; Joshua 24:9; Nehemiah 13:2; Micah 6:5; 2 Peter 2:15; Jude 1:11; Revelation 2:14.

1. History:

When the children of Israel pitched their tents in the plains of Moab, the Moabites entered into some sort of an alliance with the Midianites. At the instigation of Balak, at that time king of the Moabites, the elders of the two nations were sent to Balaam to induce him, by means of a bribe, to pronounce a curse on the advancing hosts of the Israelites. But, in compliance with God's command Balaam, refused to go with the elders. Quite different was the result of a second request enhanced by the higher rank of the messengers and by the more alluring promises on the part of Balak. Not only did God permit Balaam to go with the men, but he actually commanded him to do so, cautioning him, however, to act according to further instructions. While on his way to Balak, this injunction was strongly impressed on the mind of Balaam by the strange behavior of his ass and by his encounter with the Angel of the Lord.

Accompanied by Balak who had gone out to meet the prophet, Balaam came to Kiriath-huzoth. On the next morning he was brought up "into the high places of Baal" commanding a partial view of the camp of the Israelites. But instead of a curse he pronounced a blessing. From there he was taken to the top of Peor, yet this change of places and external views did not alter the tendency of Balaam's parables; in fact, his spirit even soared to greater heights and from his lips fell glowing words of praise and admiration, of benediction and glorious prophecy. This, of course, fully convinced Balak that all further endeavors to persuade the seer to comply with his wishes would be in vain, and the two parted.

Nothing else is said of Balaam, until we reach Numbers 31:1–54. Here in 31:8 we are told of his violent death at the hands of the Israelites, and in 31:16 we learn of his shameful counsel which brought disgrace and disaster into the ranks of the chosen people.

2. Problems:

Now, there are a number of interesting problems connected with this remarkable story. We shall try to solve at least some of the more important ones.

(1) Was Balaam a prophet of Jeh? For an answer we must look to Numbers 22:1–24:25. Nowhere is he called a prophet. He is introduced as the son of Beor and as a man reputed to be of great personal power (compare Numbers 22:6). The cause of this is to be found in the fact that he had intercourse of some kind with God (compare Numbers 22:9,Numbers 22:20; Numbers 22:22–35; Numbers 23:4; Numbers 23:16). Furthermore, it is interesting to note how Balaam was enabled to deliver his parables. First it is said: "And Yahweh put a word in Balaam's mouth" (Numbers 23:5; compare Numbers 23:16), a procedure seemingly rather mechanical, while nothing of the kind is mentioned in Numbers 24:1–25. Instead we meet with the remarkable sentence: "And when Balaam saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel, he went not, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments .... "(Numbers 24:1), and then: "the Spirit of God came upon him" (24:2b). All this is very noteworthy and highly instructive, especially if we compare with it 24:3 the Revised Version, margin and Numbers 24:4: "The man whose eye is opened saith; he saith, who heareth the words of God, who seeth the vision of the Almighty," etc. The inference is plain enough: Balaam knew the Lord, the Yahweh of the Israelites, but his knowledge was dimmed and corrupted by heathen conceptions. He knew enough of God to obey Him, yet for a long time he hoped to win Him over to his own selfish plan (compare 23:4). Through liberal sacrifices he expected to influence God's actions. Bearing this in mind, we see the import of Numbers 24:1. After fruitless efforts to cajole God into an attitude favorable to his hidden purpose, he for a time became a prophet of the Lord, yielding to the ennobling influences of His spirit. Here was a chance for his better nature to assert itself permanently and to triumph over the dark forces of paganism. Did he improve this opportunity? He did not (compare Numbers 31:8,Numbers 31:16).

(2) Is the Balaam of Numbers 22:1–24:25 identical with the person of the same name mentioned in Numbers 31:1–54? Quite a number of scholars deny it, or, to be more accurate, there are according to their theory two accounts of Balaam: the one in Numbers 22:1–24:25 being favorable to his character, and the other in Numbers 31:1–54 being quite the reverse. It is claimed the two accounts could only be made to agree by modifying or eliminating Numbers 24:25. Now, we believe that Numbers 31:16 actually does modify the report of Balaam's return contained in Numbers 24:25. The children of Israel slew Balaam with the sword (Numbers 31:8). Why? Because of his counsel of Num 31:16. We maintain that the author of Numbers 24:25 had this fact in mind when he wrote Numbers 25:1: "And .... the people began to play the harlot," etc. Thus, he closely connects the report of Balaam's return with the narrative contained in Numbers 9:5. Therefore, we regard Numbers 31:8,Numbers 31:16 as supplementary to Numbers 22:1–24:25. But here is another question:

(3) Is the narrative in Numbers 22:1–24:25 the result of combining different traditions? In a general way, we may answer this question in the affirmative, and only in a general way we can distinguish between two main sources of tradition. But we maintain that they are not contradictory to each other, but supplementary.

(4) What about the talking of the ass and the marvelous prophecies of Balaam? We would suggest the following explanation. By influencing the soul of Balaam, God caused him to interpret correctly the inarticulate sounds of the animal. God's acting on the soul and through it on the intellect and on the hearts of men--this truth must be also applied to Balaam's wonderful prophetic words. They are called meshaliym or sayings of a prophet, a diviner.

In the first of these "parables" (Numbers 23:7–10) he briefly states his reasons for pronouncing a blessing; in the second parable (Numbers 23:18–24) he again emphasizes the fact that he cannot do otherwise than bless the Israelites, and then he proceeds to pronounce the blessing at some greater length. In the 3rd (Numbers 24:3–9) he describes the glorious state of the people, its development and irresistible power. In the last four parables (Numbers 24:15–24) he partly reveals the future of Israel and other nations: they are all to be destroyed, Israel's fate being included in the allusion to Eber. Now, at last, Balaam is back again in his own sphere denouncing others and predicting awful disasters. (On the "star out of Jacob," Numbers 24:17, see ASTRONOMY, ii, 9; STAR OF THE MAGI.)

3. Balaam's Character:

This may furnish us a clue to his character. It, indeed, remains "instructively composite." A soothsayer who might have become a prophet of the Lord; a man who loved the wages of unrighteousness, and yet a man who in one supreme moment of his life surrendered himself to God's holy Spirit; a person cumbered with superstition, covetousness and even wickedness, and yet capable of performing the highest service in the kingdom of God: such is the character of Balaam, the remarkable Old Testament type and, in a sense, the prototype of Judas Iscariot.

4. Balaam as a Type:

In 2 Peter 2:15 Balaam's example is used as a means to illustrate the pernicious influence of insincere Christian teachers. The author might have alluded to Balaam in the passage immediately preceding 2 Peter 2:15 because of his abominable counsel. This is done in Revelation 2:14. Here, of course, Balaam is the type of a teacher of the church who attempts to advance the cause of God by advocating an unholy alliance with the ungodly and worldly, and so conforming the life of the church to the spirit of the flesh.

LITERATURE.

Butler's Sermons, "Balaam"; ICC, "Numbers."

William Baur

Balac

ba'-lak.

See BALAK.

Baladan

bal'-a-dan bal'adhan, "He (i.e. Merodach) has given a son": Baladan is said in 2 Kings 20:12 and Isaiah 39:1 to have been the father of Berodach (Merodach)-Baladan, king of Babylon. Some have thought that the Biblical. writer was wrong here, inasmuch as it is said in the inscriptions of Sargon (Annals, 228, 315; Pt., 122), that Merodach-Baladan was the son of Yakin. It is evident, however, from the analogy of Jehu, who is called by the Assyrian kings the son of Omri, that Yakin is to be looked upon as the founder of the dynasty or kingdom, rather than as the father of Merodach-Baladan. The Bith Yakin, over which Merodach-Baladan is said to have been king, corresponds exactly to the phrase Bith Khumria, or House of Omri, over which Jehu is said to have ruled. There is no reason, then, for supposing that there is an error in either case. There is, however, good reason for believing that the Merodach-Baladan of the Book of Kings was the son of another king of the same name. That only the latter part of the father's name is here mentioned may be compared with the Shalman of Hosea 10:14 for the more fully-written Shalmaneser of 2 Kings 17:3; and with the Jareb of Hosea 5:13 and Hosea 10:6, probably for Sennacherib. Such abbreviation of proper names was usual among the Assyrians and Babylonians. See Tallquist, Namenbuch, xiv- xix.

R. Dick Wilson

Balah

ba'la balah; Bola: A place, unidentified, in the territory of Simeon (Joshua 19:3), called Bilhah in 1 Chronicles 4:29. It may be identical with Baalah in Judah (Joshua 15:29).

Balak

ba'-ak balaq, ("devastator" or "one who lays waste"): Mentioned in connection with the story of Balaam/Balak (Numbers 22:1–24:25; compare Joshua 24:9; Judges 11:25; Micah 6:5; Revelation 2:14). He was the king of Moab who hired Balaam to pronounce a curse on the Israelites.

See BALAAM.

Balamon

bal'-a-mon Balamon; (the King James Version, Balamo): In the field between Balamon and Dothaim Manasses, the husband of Judith, was buried (Judith 8:3). Compare Baal-hamon (Song of Songs 8:11).

Balance

bal'-ans The English word "balance" is from the Latin bilanx = "having two scales" (bi = "two" and lanx = "plate," or "scale"). It is used to render three Hebrew words:

(1) mo'znayim (Leviticus 19:36; Job 6:2; Psalms 62:9; Proverbs 11:1; Isaiah 40:12,Isaiah 40:15; Jeremiah 32:10, etc.);

(2) qaneh (Isaiah 46:6), and

(3) pelec (Proverbs 16:11).

It is found in the sing., e.g. "a just balance" (Proverbs 16:11); "a pair of balances" (Revelation 6:5, etc.), as well as in the plur., e.g. "just balances" (Leviticus 19:36), "weighed in the balances" (Daniel 5:27, etc.).

1. Balances among the Ancient Hebrews; the Parts, etc.:

(1) The "balances" of the ancient Hebrews differed little, if at all, from those used by the Egyptians (Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt (1878), II, 246 f). They consisted, probably, of a horizontal bar, either pivoted on a perpendicular rod (see Erman, Aegypten, I, 615 for similar Egyptian balances), or suspended from a cord and held in the hand, the more primitive form. At the ends of the bar were pans, or hooks, from which the things to be weighed were suspended, sometimes in bags.

A good description of the more developed and final form is this: A beam with its fulcrum in the middle and its arms precisely equal. From the ends of the arms were suspended two scales, the one to receive the object to be weighed, the other the counterpoise, or weight.

(2) The weights were of stone at first and are so named in Deuteronomy 25:13 King James Version, margin. A pair of scales (the King James Version "a pair of balances") is used in Revelation 6:5 by a figure of speech for the balance as a whole; only once is the beam so used, in Isaiah 46:6, literally, "weigh silver in the beam." Abraham, we are told (Genesis 23:16), "weighed the silver."

2. Probably of Babylonian Origin:

The basis and fountain-head of all systems of weights and measurements is to be traced, it is now thought, to Babylonia; but the primitive instruments and systems were subject to many modifications as they entered other regions and passed into the derivative systems. The Roman "balance" is the same as our steelyard (vulgarly called "stillyards"). Compare the Chinese, Danish, etc.

3. The System of Weighing Liable to Fraud:

Though the "balances" in ancient times were rudely constructed, the weighing could be done quite accurately, as may be seen in the use of equally primitive balances in the East today. But the system was liable to fraud. A "false balance" might be literally one so constructed that the arms were of unequal length, when the longer arm would be intended, of course, for the article to be weighed. The system was liable, however, to various other subtle abuses then as now; hence the importance in God's sight of "true weights" and a "just balance" is enforced again and again (see Leviticus 19:36; Proverbs 11:1; Proverbs 16:11; Proverbs 20:23; Amos 8:5; Micah 6:11, etc.).

4. "Wicked Balances" Condemned:

"A false balance is an abomination to Yahweh" (Proverbs 11:1; compare Proverbs 20:23), and "a just balance and scales are Yahweh's" (Proverbs 16:11). Hosea 12:7 condemns "the balances of deceit" in the hand of the wicked; Amos 8:5 (the King James Version) cries out upon "falsifying the balances by deceit," and Micah 6:11 denounces "wicked balances." Indeed, the righteousness of a just balance and true weights, and the iniquity of false ones are everywhere emphasized by the lawmakers, prophets and moral teachers of Israel, and the preacher or teacher who would expose and denounce such things in God's name today need be at no loss for texts and precedents.

See WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

LITERATURE.

Wilkinson, Ancient Egypt; Erman, Egypt; Lepsius, Denkmaler; and articles on "Balance." etc., in Smith, DB, EB, Jewish Encyclopedia, HDB, etc.

George B. Eager