The limits of this article will not allow of an exam- ination of Balaam's magnificent prophecies, which, as Herder remarks (Gdst der Ebrdischen Poesie, ii, 221), "are distinguished for dignity, compression, vividness, and fulness of imager}'. There is scarcely any thing equal to them in the later prophets, and" (he adds, what few readers, probably, of Dent, xxxii, xxxiii, will be disposed to admit) "nothing in the discourses of Moses." Hengstenberg has ably discussed the doubts raised by De Wette and other German critics respecting the antiquity and genuineness of this por- tion of the Pentateuch. A full discussion of the Char- acter and Prophecies of Balaam may be found in the Bib. Sac. 1846, p. 347 sq.— Kitto, s. v.; Smith, s. v.
See generally Moebius, Hist. Bileami (in his Dis- ser/t. theol. p. 286 sq.) ; Benzel, Dissent, ii, 37 sq. ; Riehter, De Bil. incantatore (Viteb. 173!)); Luderwald, Gesck. Bil. erldart (Helmst. 1781); Geer, Diss, de Bi- leamo (Utrecht, 1816); Tholuck, in the Lit. Anzeig. 1832, No. 78-80; 1833, 1 (also in his Verm. Schrift. i); Hoffmann, in the Hall. Encyclop. x, 184 sq. ; Steudel, in the Tithing. Zeitschr. 1831, ii, 66 sq. ; Hengstenberg Gesch. Bileams (Berl. 1842 ; History and Prophejvs of Balaam, transl. by Ryland, in Clark's ed. of his Authn- ticity of Dan. Edinb. 1847) ; Wolff. Demodo vaticinandi Bileam (Lips. 1741); Niemeyer, Charakt. iii, 37:5 sq. ; Less, Verm. Schrift. i, 130 sq. ; Justi, Diss, de Beleami
asina (Marb. 1774); Bauer, Heir. Mytlwlogie, i, 306 sq. ; Hartmann, Exc. zu Micha, p. 255 sq. ; also Kjerner, Circa hist. Bileami (Gryph. 1786); Rungius, Abhandl. f. Freunde d. Bibel (Lp'z. 1786-1789), ii ; Geer, De Bi- leamo (Traj. a. R. 1816) ; Jortin, Hist, and Charach r of Balaam (in the Brit. Theol. Mag. I, i, 72 sq. ; also in his Dissertations, p. 127); Ward, Character of Balaam (ib. iv, 574 sq.) ; Butler, id. (ib. I, ii, 36 sq.) ; Benner, D. Esel Bileams (Giess. 1759) ; Schutte, Vaticin. Bilea- mi (in the Bibl. Ilagan. I, i, 2); Origen, Opp. ii, 316, 325; Saurin, Dissert, p. 597; Deyling, Observatt. iii, 102; Sherlock, Works, v; Essays (Lond. 1753) ; New- ton, Prophecies, i, 66; Bryant, Observations, i; Hunter, Sacred Biog. iii, 226 ; Horsley, Bib. Criticism, ii, 407, 4J9 ; Robinson, Script. Characters, i ; Evans, Script. Biog. ii, 28; Williams, O. T. Characters, p. 130; Sime- on, Works, ii, 131, 136, 141 ; Cowie, Hulsean Led. (1853), p. 25 ; Noel, Hist. Eccles. ii, 413 ; Collyier, Script. Proph- ecy, p. 172; Kitto, Daily Bible Ilhist'.W, 201, 206; Bud- dan Hist. V. T. i, 753 ; Witsii Mscell. i, 143 sq. ; Wolf, De exemplis Bibl. ii, 13 sq. ; De Wette, Kritik: i, 363, 365; Vater, Comment, iib. Pentat. iii, 119; Ranke, Pcn- tat. ii, 234; Jahn, Einleit. ii, 132; Havernick, Einleit. I, ii, 505; comp. Mosch. Idyll, ii, 119 sq. ; Plutarch, Fluv. i, 6; iElian, Anim. xii, 3; Val. Max. i, 6, 5; Jour. Asiatique (1843), i, 216; Bochart, Hieroz. i, 161; Fabricii Cod. Pseudepigr. V. T. i, 801 ; Thilo, Apocr. p. 307; Talmud, Pirhe A both, v, 19 ; Targum of Jonathan, in loc. ; Wetstein, N. T. ii, 707.
Ba'lac (BaXcac), another method of Anglicizing (Rev. ii, 14) the name Balak (q. v.).
Bal'adan (Heb. Baladan , 17^2, Bel is his lord; Sept. BaXadav), a name used in a double ca- pacity. Fiirst observes (fleb. Handw. s. v.) that, if of Shemitic origin, it corresponds to the Phoenician Baal-Adonis CpX ^??> Ba' al-Adon of coins, Numid. v, 1); but as the associate name ^rerodach (q. v.) is prob. not Shemitic, we may perhaps better derive Bal- adan from the Sanscrit bala (strength) and dhana (rich- es), with the sense of valiant and icealthy.
1. The father of the Babylonian king Merodach. baladan (2 Kings xx, 12 ; Isa. xxxix, 1). B.C. ante 711. See Merodach-Baladan.
2. A surname of Merodach-baladan (Isa. xxxix, 1), or Berodacii-daladan (2 Kings xx, 12) himself (q. v.).
Ea'lall (Heb. Balali, hba, a contraction of the name Baalah or Bilhah; Sept. Ba\d v. r. BwXa), a city in the tribe of Simeon, mentioned in connection with Hazar-shual and Azem (Josh, xix, 3). It seems to have been the same with that elsewhere called Bil- hah (1 Chron. iv, 29) or Baalah (Josh, xv, 29), and, if so, it must have been transferred to Judah, or so ac- counted in later times, like many other cities of this region. See Bizjothjaii.
Ba'lak (Heb. Balak', pba, empty; Sept. and N, T. BoXck-, Jocephus, BaXaicoc, Ant. iv, 6, 2), son of Zippor, and king of the Moabites (Num. xxii, 2, 4); he was so terrified at the approach of the victorious army of the Israelites, who, in their passage through the desert, had encamped near the confines of his ter- ritory, that he applied to Balaam, who was then re- puted to possess great influence with the higher spirits, to curse them. B.C. 1618. But his hostile designs (Josh, xxiv, 9) were frustrated. See Balaam. From Judg. xi, 25, it is clear that Balak was so certain of the fulfilment of Balaam's blessing, " Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee" (Num. xxiv, 9), that he never afterward made the least military attempt to oppose the Israelites (comp. Mic. vi, 5; Eev. ii, 14).— Kitto, s. v.