On “And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face;” (Deuteronomy 34:10), the Sages interpret: but among the nations one did arise. Who? Balaam son of Beor (Sifrei ad loc.). The same source then describes his prophecy as surpassing Moses’:

Moses did not know who was speaking with him, whereas Balaam knew, as it says: “He saith who heareth the words of God, And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High” (Numbers 24:16). Moses did not know who was speaking with him until he was addressed, whereas Balaam knew when He would speak, as it says: “And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High.” Moses did not speak with Him until he stood, as it says: “But as for thee, stand thou here by Me” (Deuteronomy 5:27, Hebrew numbering), whereas Balaam spoke with Him while falling, as it says: “Who seeth the vision of the Almighty, Fallen down, yet with opened eyes.” (Numbers 24:16)

משה לא היה יודע מי מדבר עמו, ובלעם היה יודע מי מדבר עמו, שנאמר: "שֹׁמֵעַ אִמְרֵי אֵל וְיֹדֵעַ דַּעַת עֶלְיוֹן" (במדבר כ"ד, טז). משה לא היה יודע מי מדבר עמו עד שנדבר עמו, ובלעם היה יודע אימתי היה מדבר שנאמר: "וְיֹדֵעַ דַּעַת עֶלְיוֹן". משה לא היה מדבר עמו עד שהוא עומד, שנאמר: "וְאַתָּה פֹּה עֲמֹד עִמָּדִי" (דברים ה', כז), ובלעם היה מדבר עמו כשהוא נופל, שנאמר: "מַחֲזֵה שַׁדַּי יֶחֱזֶה נֹפֵל וּגְלוּי עֵינָיִם". (במדבר כ"ד, טז)

The Bible describes Balaam’s words with classic formulas from Israel’s prophetic vocabulary. Like Jeremiah, of whom it says “Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth” (Jeremiah 1:9), Balaam is described: “And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth” (Numbers 23:5, 16). Like Isaiah’s prophecies opening with a formula of taking up an oracle – “The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see” (Isaiah 13:1) – Balaam’s speeches open with the parallel “And he took up his parable, and said” (Numbers 23:7, 18; 24:3). These formulations place him within biblical prophecy rather than the discourse of sorcery or magic.

Moreover, his speeches are among the Torah’s most impressive and beautiful poetic passages: carefully wrought parallel verse, filled with cosmic and historical imagery and surveying history from a broad perspective.

Especially striking is his third parable, when God’s spirit rests upon him and he prophesies on his own initiative and in his own words:

And he took up his parable, and said: The saying of Balaam the son of Beor, And the saying of the man whose eye is opened;
The saying of him who heareth the words of God, Who seeth the vision of the Almighty, Fallen down, yet with opened eyes:
How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, Thy dwellings, O Israel!
As valleys stretched out, As gardens by the river-side; As aloes planted of the LORD, As cedars beside the waters;
Water shall flow from his branches, And his seed shall be in many waters; And his king shall be higher than Agag, And his kingdom shall be exalted.
God who brought him forth out of Egypt Is for him like the lofty horns of the wild-ox; He shall eat up the nations that are his adversaries, And shall break their bones in pieces, And pierce them through with his arrows.
He couched, he lay down as a lion, And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? Blessed be every one that blesseth thee, And cursed be every one that curseth thee. (Numbers 24:3–9)

וַיִּשָּׂא מְשָׁלוֹ וַיֹּאמַר:
נְאֻם בִּלְעָם בְּנוֹ בְעֹר – וּנְאֻם הַגֶּבֶר שְׁתֻם הָעָיִן.
נְאֻם שֹׁמֵעַ אִמְרֵי אֵל – אֲשֶׁר מַחֲזֵה שַׁדַּי יֶחֱזֶה, נֹפֵל וּגְלוּי עֵינָיִם.
מַה טֹּבוּ אֹהָלֶיךָ יַעֲקֹב – מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל:
כִּנְחָלִים נִטָּיוּ – כְּגַנֹּת עֲלֵי נָהָר,
כַּאֲהָלִים נָטַע ה' – כַּאֲרָזִים עֲלֵי מָיִם.
יִזַּל מַיִם מִדָּלְיָו – וְזַרְעוֹ בְּמַיִם רַבִּים,
וְיָרֹם מֵאֲגַג מַלְכּוֹ – וְתִנַּשֵּׂא מַלְכֻתוֹ.
אֵל מוֹצִיאוֹ מִמִּצְרַיִם – כְּתוֹעֲפֹת רְאֵם לוֹ,
יֹאכַל גּוֹיִם צָרָיו – וְעַצְמֹתֵיהֶם יְגָרֵם, וְחִצָּיו יִמְחָץ.
כָּרַע שָׁכַב כַּאֲרִי – וּכְלָבִיא, מִי יְקִימֶנּוּ,
מְבָרֲכֶיךָ בָרוּךְ – וְאֹרְרֶיךָ אָרוּר. (במדבר כ"ד, ג-ט)

Despite his high spiritual level, however, his religious consciousness remains that of a sorcerer and diviner. This is how Midian’s and Moab’s elders view him, coming with divination in their hands (Numbers 22:7), and how the verse describing his death defines him: “Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword” (Joshua 13:22).

A prophet acts from a mission to bring the LORD’s word to the people; a sorcerer tries to influence God and change His mind through technical means of sorcery and divination. Balaam does not act from a mission but offers his spiritual abilities to his clients for personal benefit. He seeks to change God’s will rather than respect it.

The Torah mocks him through sharp irony: he claims to “seeth the vision of the Almighty, Fallen down, yet with opened eyes,” but cannot see what his donkey sees. She recognizes the LORD’s angel blocking the way, while he insists on continuing despite the clarity of the LORD’s opposition (Numbers 22:19–34).

The prophecies the LORD puts in his mouth reject his theology. They reveal the futility of divination and sorcery – “For there is no enchantment with Jacob, Neither is there any divination with Israel” (Numbers 23:23) – and the impossibility of changing God’s will: “God is not a man, that He should lie; Neither the son of man, that He should repent” (Numbers 23:19).

In this context, the altars and sacrifices Balaam requests from Balak (23:1, 29) are another tactical attempt to change His mind rather than an expression of worship. They are merely another form of sorcery and divination.

Before his third speech, Balaam himself understood this, stopped trying to influence God, and turned to receive His inspiration as it was: “And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments … and the spirit of God came upon him. And he took up his parable, and said” (Numbers 24:1–3).

Balaam thus appears trapped between his high spiritual level and its accompanying expectations and status. Although he knows and understands that God’s will cannot be changed, and even expressly states this in his parables, he struggles to accept that limit when it contradicts Balak’s and Moab’s princes’ demands and what he believes himself capable of doing. He continues searching for a way to manipulate God and change His mind through ritual practice, divination, or sorcery.

His advice concerning Peor is understandable against this background. Although he knows the LORD is a jealous God, jealous for His people and unwilling to let them serve another god, he nevertheless proposes a course that leads Israel to attach themselves to Baal-peor through sexual relations with Midian’s daughters. It nearly gravely damages the special covenant between the LORD and Israel (Numbers 31:16). This directly continues the same theological failure: attempting to circumvent God’s will rather than accept it.

Finally, Balaam dies in Israel’s vengeance against Midian. Presented in Balak as a supreme prophet hearing God’s words and knowing the Most High’s knowledge, he is reduced in biblical memory to a marginal soothsayer: “Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword” (Joshua 13:22).