Balaam is a prophet from Mesopotamia, well known among people of his generation, who had legitimate contact and revelation from God. Balaam repeatedly claims that he can only say what the Lord permits him, and Balaam’s prophecies are recorded in scripture (Numbers 23-24) and often studied for their prophetic value.

Balaam is a professional prophet who will practice his craft for a price. He is condemned and used as an example of a corrupt ministry in:

• Numbers 31:8-16 – where Balaam is killed with the Midianites
• Deuteronomy 23:4-5 – Balaam hired to curse Israel and he tried to curse Israel, but God would not listen to him
• Second Peter 2:15 – Balaam loved the wages of wickedness, and was willing to engage in evil in order to gain money
• Jude 11 – Bible teachers and pastors today rush into Balaam’s error just for financial gain
• Revelation 2:14 – since the Lord would not allow Balaam to curse Israel, Balaam taught the Midianites to induce Israel to sin so that God would not be able to bless them, but would instead have to punish them.

When Moab’s king, Balak, saw the Israelites approaching he and the Midianites were “overcome with fear” (22:3). The elders of Moab and Midian went north into Mesopotamia to secure the services of a greater diviner and a greater power than they had apparently had available. The text says they took “with them the fee for divination,” which is from the Hebrew phrase uqsamim beyaddam which is literally translated “carrying divination in their hands.” Frequently this is translated as “a diviners fee” similar to the NIV, or as equipment used for divination, or a reference to men skilled in divination. In ancient texts from Mari people seeking help in divination would be sent along with things that had already been used in their own attempt at divination such as clay models of intestines, livers and other things used to secure the desired answer or result (see here). If this is the case, then the elders of Moab and Midian took with them the objects used by their local diviners, such as clay models of the intestines (pic here) used to divine the future. These models probably showed Moab’s defeat in a conflict with Israel. When Balak’s diviners saw these fateful results, they left with “their divination results in their hand” to seek assistance from the greatest diviner/prophet of their time, Balaam.