Atlas Biblica

    person

    Balak

    בָּלָקΒαλάκ

    Balak, son of Zippor, was the king of Moab who tried to curse Israel through Balaam.

    verses
    41
    first named
    Numbers 22:2
    last named
    Revelation 2:14
    period
    Egypt and Wilderness
    tribe
    Moab

    Description

    Who was Balak?

    In the words of STEPBible TIPNR:

    Balak was the king of Moab during the time when the Israelites were approaching the Promised Land (Num.22.4). Fearing the large number of Israelites, Balak hired the pagan prophet Balaam to curse them (Num.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 (Num.24.10-11). Balak is mentioned in the farewell speeches of Joshua (Jos.24.9) and Jephthah (Jdg.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 (Mic.6.5). In Rev.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.

    Relations

    Direct connections

    Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.

    How the graph connects Balak10 of 22 entities the graph connects to Balak, in 2 groups: kinship 1, events 9. Kinship, company and ground are stated relations; events counts the acts two entities stand in together and is not a relation. Each mark is sized by how many verses name that entity and labelled with the link and the count, so the grouping and the size are both readable without colour. Distance from the centre carries nothing.ZipporChild of · 7 versesKinshipIsrael8 events · 2,578 versesLORD1 event · 1,004 versesAltar2 events · 185 versesRam2 events · 62 versesBalaam36 events · 59 versesBull2 events · 33 versesArnon1 event · 23 versesPaddan1 event · 16 versesPisgah1 event · 8 versesEventsBalak

    The 10 best-attested of 22 are drawn. All 22 are listed below.

    Child of

    Took part in

    Stands in the same events as

    and 1 more, ordered by how many events they share.

    Places

    Where this happens

    The places the claims about this person reach, drawn where the gazetteer locates them. A point is where a row puts them and never where tradition does; no line joins two points, because the rows state where and not in what order.

    Where the story of Balak happensAll 9 places the claims about Balak reach, on a map of the world the text moves through, framed to them: Moab, Paddan, Pethor, Arnon, Bamoth-baal, Kiriath-huzoth, Peor, Pisgah, Zophim. Each dot is a coordinate from the gazetteer, sized by how many rows put Balak there. The coastline is a modern one, simplified; no border, road or settlement of any period is drawn, and no line joins two points, because the rows state where and not in what order.MoabPaddanPethorArnonBamoth-baal
    Egypt and WildernessAll 9 places the claims about Balak reach

    Read it

    Where to read it

    Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 41, across 5 books. The name is written 44 times in them.

    1. Numbers37 verses

      22:222:422:722:1022:1322:1422:1522:1622:1822:3522:3622:3722:3822:3922:4022:4123:123:223:323:523:723:1123:1323:1523:1623:1723:1823:2523:2623:2723:2823:2923:3024:1024:1224:1324:25

    2. Joshua1 verse

      24:9

    3. Judges1 verse

      11:25

    4. Micah1 verse

      6:5

    5. Revelation1 verse

      2:14

    Onward

    Where this page goes

    Not the direct relations above — these are one hop further out, ranked so that a rare shared connection outweighs a common one. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.

    via Balaam’s cursing of Israel and Balaam’s return of Balak, and 6 moreBalaamA prophet hired to curse Israel but blessed them instead.via Balaam’s cursing of Israel and Balak’s bringing of Balaam and Israel, and 1 moreIsraelPatriarch, son of Isaac, father of twelve tribesvia Balak and Balaam’s offering of Bull and Build AltarsAltarAltar is a concept gathering 166 labelled instances in the text.via Balak and Balaam’s offering of Bull and Prepare Bulls RamsBullBull is a concept gathering 19 labelled instances in the text.via Balak and Balaam’s offering of Bull and Prepare Bulls RamsRamRam is a concept gathering 46 labelled instances in the text.via Balaam’s return of BalakReturnReturn is a concept gathering 228 labelled instances in the text.via Balak’s taking of BalaamTakingTaking is a concept gathering 334 labelled instances in the text.via Build AltarsBamoth-baalMoabite high place where Balak took Balaam.via Balak’s bringing of Balaam and IsraelBringingBringing is a concept gathering 447 labelled instances in the text.

    Where they appear

    Chapter by chapter

    Atlas's reading of each chapter this person appears in, in canonical order. One line per chapter, and each leads to the whole of it.

    Sources

    What this rests on