whose intercourse with Balak, king of the Moabites, who sent for him to
curse the Israelites, is recorded at large by Moses, Num. xxii-xxiv. It
has been a subject of controversy, whether Balaam was a true prophet or
a mere diviner, magician, or fortune teller. Origen says that his whole
power consisted in magic and cursing. Theodoret is of opinion that
Balaam did not consult the Lord, but that he was supernaturally
inspired, and constrained to speak against his own inclination. Cyril
says that he was a magician, an idolater, and a false prophet, who spoke
truth against his will; and St. Ambrose compares him to Caiaphas, who
prophesied without being aware of the import of what he said. Jerom
seems to have adopted the opinion of the Hebrews; which was, that Balaam
knew the true God, erected altars to him, and that he was a true
prophet, though corrupted by avarice, Num. xxii, 18. St. Austin and
other commentators have inclined to this opinion. Dr. Jortin supposes
that Balaam was a worshipper of the true God, and a priest and prophet
of great reputation; and that he was sent for by Balak from a notion
which generally prevailed, that priests and prophets could sometimes, by
prayers and sacrifices duly and skilfully applied, obtain favours from
God, and that their imprecations were efficacious. He conceives that the
prophet had been accustomed to revelations, and that he used to receive
them in visions, or in dreams of the night. It cannot be denied that the
Scripture expressly calls him a prophet, 2 Pet. ii, 15, and therefore
those are probably right who think that he had once been a good man and
a true prophet, till, loving the wages of unrighteousness, and
prostituting the honour of his office to covetousness, he apostatized
from God, and, betaking himself to idolatrous practices, fell under the
delusion of the devil, of whom he learned all his magical enchantments;
though at this juncture, when the preservation of his people was
concerned, it might be consistent with God’s wisdom to appear to him and
overrule his mind by the impulse of real revelations. As to what passed
between him and his ass, when that animal was miraculously enabled to
speak to its master, commentators are divided in their opinions; whether
it really and literally happened as Moses relates it, or whether it be
an allegory only, or was the mere imagination or vision of Balaam. But
St. Peter evidently mentions it as a fact literally and certainly
occurring: “the dumb ass, speaking with man’s voice, when she forbade
the madness of the prophet,” 2 Pet. ii, 16. This, it is true, has
frequently been made the subject of profane banter by those whose
skepticism leads them to scoff at all prodigies. But how absurd is it to
subject a miraculous event to the ordinary rules of reasoning! “Say what
you will of the formation of the tongue and jaws being unfit for
speaking,” says Bishop Newton, “yet an adequate cause is assigned for
this wonderful event; for it is expressly said that ‘the Lord opened the
mouth of the ass;’ and who that believes a God, can doubt his power to
do this and much more? The miracle was by no means needless or
superfluous; it was well adapted to convince Balaam that the mouth and
tongue were under God’s direction, and that the same divine power which
caused the dumb ass to speak contrary to its nature, could, in like
manner, make him utter blessings contrary to his inclination. And,
accordingly, he was overruled to bless the people, though he came
prepared and disposed to curse them; which was the greater miracle of
the two; for the ass was merely passive, but Balaam resisted the good
motions of God.” The prophecy which Balaam delivered concerning Israel
on this remarkable occasion, and which is contained in Numbers xxiv,
5–9, has been greatly admired by critics. Bishop Lowth, in particular,
remarks that he knows nothing in the whole scope of the Hebrew poetry
more exquisite or perfect. “It abounds,” says he, “in splendid imagery,
copied immediately from the tablet of nature; and is chiefly conspicuous
for the glowing elegance of the style, and the form and diversity of the
figures.”
After his predictions, Balaam returned into his own country; but before
he left the land of Moab, as if vexed with his own disappointment in
missing the promised reward, and with a purpose of revenging himself on
the Israelites, as the cause of it, he instructed the Moabites and
Midianites in a wicked scheme, which was to send their daughters into
the camp of the Israelites, in order to draw them first into lewdness,
and then into idolatry, the certain means of depriving them of the help
of that God who protected them. This artifice succeeded; for as the
Israelites lay encamped at Shittim, many of them were deluded by these
strange women, not only to commit whoredom with them, but to assist at
their sacrifices, and worship their god Baal-Peor, Num. xxv, 1–3; xxxi,
16; Mic. vi, 5; 2 Pet. ii, 15; Jude 11; Rev. ii, 14; Deut. xxiii, 4, 5;
Joshua xxiv, 9, 10; Neh. xiii, 2. God commanded Moses to avenge this
crime. He therefore declared war against the Midianites, killed five of
their princes, and a great number of other persons without distinction
of age or sex, among whom was Balaam himself.
Moses says that Balaam consulted the Lord, and calls the Lord his God:
“I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord _my_ God,” Num. xxii,
18. The reason why Balaam calls Jehovah, “_my_ God” may be, because he
was of the posterity of Shem, who maintained the worship of Jehovah, not
only in his own person, but among his descendants; so that while the
posterity of Ham fell into idolatry, and the posterity of Japhet were
settled at a distance in Europe, the Shemites generally, though not
universally, retained the worship of God.
BALDNESS is a natural effect of old age, in which period of life the
hair of the head, wanting nourishment, falls off, and leaves the head
naked. Artificial baldness was used as a token of mourning; it is
threatened to the voluptuous daughters of Israel, instead of well set
hair, Isaiah iii, 24. See Mic. i, 16; and instances of it occur, Isaiah
xv, 2; Jer. xlvii, 5. See Ezek, vii, 18; Amos viii, 10.
The insult offered to Elisha by the young people of Bethel, improperly
rendered “little children,” who cried out after him, “Go up, thou bald
head,” may here be noticed. The town of Bethel was one of the principal
nurseries of Ahab’s idolatry, and the contempt was offered to Elisha in
his public character as a prophet of the Lord. If in the expression, “Go
up,” there was also a reference to the translation of Elijah, as turning
it into jest, this was another aggravation of the sin, to which these
young people were probably instigated by their parents. The malediction
laid upon them by the prophet was not an act of private resentment, but
evidently proceeded from prophetic impulse.
BALM, צרי, Gen. xxxvii, 25; xliii, 11; Jer. viii, 22; xlvi, 11; li, 8;
Ezek. xxvii, 17. Balm, or balsam, is used with us as a common name for
many of those oily resinous substances, which flow spontaneously or by
incision, from certain trees or plants, and are of considerable use in
medicine and surgery. It serves therefore very properly to express the
Hebrew word צרי, which the LXX have rendered ῥητίνη, and the ancients
have interpreted _resin_ indiscriminately.
BALSAM TREE, בעל־שמין; in Arabic, _abuschâm_, that is, “father of
scent,” sweet-scented. According to Mr. Bruce, the _balessan_, _balsam_,
or _balm_, is an evergreen shrub, or tree, which grows to about fourteen
feet high, spontaneously and without culture in its native country,
Azab, and all along the coast to Babelmandel. There were three kinds of
balsam extracted from this tree. The first was called _opobalsamum_, and
was most highly esteemed. It was that which flowed spontaneously, or by
means of incision, from the trunk or branches of the tree in summer
time. The second was _carpobalsamum_, made by expressing the fruit when
in maturity. The third, and least esteemed of all, was _hylobalsamum_,
made by a decoction of the buds and small young twigs. The great value
set upon this drug in the east is traced to the earliest ages. The
Ishmaelites, or Arabian carriers and merchants, trafficking with the
Arabian commodities into Egypt, brought with them צרי as a part of their
cargo, Gen. xxxvii, 25; xliii, 11. Josephus, in the history of the
antiquities of his country, says that a tree of this balsam was brought
to Jerusalem by the queen of Saba, and given among other presents to
Solomon, who, as we know from Scripture, was very studious of all sorts
of plants, and skilful in the description and distinction of them. And
here, indeed, it seems to have been cultivated and to have thriven; so
that the place of its origin, through length of time, combined with
other reasons, came to be forgotten. Notwithstanding the positive
authority of Josephus, and the great probability that attends it, we
cannot put it in competition with what we have been told in Scripture,
as we have just now seen that the place where it grew, and was sold to
merchants, was Gilead in Judea, more than 1730 years before Christ, or
1000 before the queen of Saba; so that in reading the verse, nothing can
be plainer than that it had been transplanted into Judea, flourished,
and had become an article of commerce in Gilead, long before the period
he mentions. “A company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their
camels, bearing spicery and balm, and myrrh, going to carry it down to
Egypt,” Gen. xxxvii, 25. Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Pliny, Strabo,
Diodorus Siculus, Tacitus, Justin, Solinus, and Serapion, speaking of
its costliness and medicinal virtues, all say that this balsam came from
Judea. The words of Pliny are, “But to all other odours whatever, the
balsam is preferred, produced in no other part but the land of Judea,
and even there in two gardens only; both of them belonging to the king,
one no more than twenty acres, the other still smaller.” The whole
valley of Jericho was once esteemed the most fruitful in Judea; and the
obstinacy with which the Jews fought here to prevent the balsam trees
from falling into the possession of the Romans, attests the importance
which was attached to them. This tree Pliny describes as peculiar to the
vale of Jericho, and as “more like a vine than a myrtle.” It was
esteemed so precious a rarity, that both Pompey and Titus carried a
specimen to Rome in triumph; and the balsam, owing to its scarcity, sold
for double its weight in silver, till its high price led to the practice
of adulteration. Justin makes it the chief source of the national
wealth. He describes the country in which it grew, as a valley like a
garden, environed with continual hills, and, as it were, enclosed with a
wall. “The space of the valley contains 200,000 acres, and is called
Jericho. In that valley, there is wood as admirable for its fruitfulness
as for its delight, for it is intermingled with palm trees and
opobalsamum. The trees of the opobalsamum have a resemblance to fir
trees; but they are lower, and are planted and husbanded after the
manner of vines. On a set season of the year they sweat balsam. The
darkness of the place is beside as wonderful as the fruitfulness of it;
for although the sun shines no where hotter in the world, there is
naturally a moderate and perpetual gloominess of the air.” According to
Mr. Buckingham, this description is most accurate. “Both the heat and
the gloominess,” he says, “were observed by us, though darkness would be
an improper term to apply to this gloom.”
BANGORIAN CONTROVERSY, a controversy that arose with Dr. Hoadly, bishop
of Bangor. That prelate, in a sermon preached before George I, asserted
that Christ was supreme in his own kingdom; that he had not delegated
his power, like temporal lawgivers during their absence, to any persons
as his vicegerents or deputies; and that the church of England, as all
other national churches, was merely a civil or human institution,
established for the purpose of diffusing and perpetuating the knowledge
and belief of Christianity. On the meeting of the convocation, a
committee was appointed to examine this publication. A heavy censure was
passed against it, as tending to subvert all government and discipline
in the church of Christ, to reduce his kingdom to a state of anarchy and
confusion, and to impugn and impeach the royal supremacy in matters
ecclesiastical, and the authority of the legislature to enforce
obedience in matters of religion, by severe sanction. To these
proceedings a sudden stop was put by proroguing the convocation; but the
controversy which had been commenced was continued for several years.
BANNER, an ensign, or standard, used by armies or caravans on their
journeys in the eastern countries. The original דגל, is rendered by
lexicographers and translators under this word, as a noun, in which form
it often occurs, _a standard_, _banner_; as a verb, once, _to set up a
banner_; Psalm xx, 5; as a participle pahul, _vexillatus_, one
distinguished by a banner, the chief; as a participle niphal, bannered,
or with banners. The meaning of the root is illustrated by the very
ingenious and sensible author of “Observations on Divers Passages of
Scripture,” who shows, from Pitts and Pococke, that, “as in Arabia and
the neighbouring countries, on account of the intense heat of the sun by
day, people generally choose to travel in the night; so, to prevent
confusion in their large caravans, particularly in the annual one to
Mecca, each company, of which the caravan consists, has its distinct
portable beacon, which is carried on the top of a pole, and consists of
several lights, which are somewhat like iron stoves, into which they put
short dry wood, with which some of the camels are loaded. Every company
has one of these poles belonging to it; some of which have ten, some
twelve, of these lights on their tops, more or less; and they are
likewise of different figures, as well as numbers; one, perhaps, in an
oval shape; another, triangular, or in the form of an M, or N, &c, so
that by these every one knows his respective company. They are carried
in the front, and set up in the place where the caravan is to pitch,
before that comes up, at some distance from one another. As travelling
then in the night must be, generally speaking, more agreeable to a great
multitude in that desert, we may believe a compassionate God, for the
most part, directed Israel to move in the night. And in consequence,
must we not rather suppose the standards of the tribes were movable
beacons, like those of the Mecca pilgrims, than flags or any thing of
that kind?” This ingenious author seems, however, to forget, 1. That the
pillar of fire was with the Israelites to direct their marches. 2. That
the Israelites were not a mere caravan, but an army; and, as such, for
order, required standards as well by day as by night. See ARMIES.
BANQUET. The hospitality of the present day in the east exactly
resembles that of the remotest antiquity. The parable of the “great
supper” is in those countries literally realized. And such was the
hospitality of ancient Greece and Rome. When a person provided an
entertainment for his friends or neighbours, he sent round a number of
servants to invite the guests; these were called _vocatores_ by the
Romans, and κλητώρες by the Greeks. The day when the entertainment is to
be given is fixed some considerable time before; and in the evening of
the day appointed, a messenger comes to bid the guests to the feast. The
custom is thus introduced in Luke: “A certain man made a great supper,
and bade many; and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that
were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready.” They were not now
asked for the first time; but had already accepted the invitation, when
the day was appointed, and were therefore already pledged to attend at
the hour when they might be summoned. They were not taken unprepared,
and could not in consistency and decency plead any prior engagement.
They could not now refuse, without violating their word, and insulting
the master of the feast, and, therefore, justly subjected themselves to
punishment. The terms of the parable exactly accord with established
custom. The Jews did not always follow the same method; sometimes they
sent a number of servants different ways among the friends they meant to
invite; and at other times, a single male domestic.
The Persians send a deputation to meet their guests: this deputation are
called openers of the way; and the more distinguished the persons sent,
and the greater the distance to which they go, so much greater is the
honour. So it is proclaimed, “Go forth and behold king Solomon, with the
crown wherewith his mother crowned him.” “The bridegroom cometh, go ye
forth to meet him.” The names of the persons to be invited were
inscribed upon tablets, and the gate was set open to receive those who
had obtained them; but to prevent any getting in that had no ticket,
only one leaf of the door was left open; and that was strictly guarded
by the servants of the family. Those who were admitted had to go along a
narrow passage to the room; and after all who had received tickets of
admission were assembled, the master of the house rose and shut to the
door; and then the entertainment began. The first ceremony, after the
guests arrived at the house of entertainment, was the salutation
performed by the master of the house, or one appointed in his place.
Among the Greeks, this was sometimes done by embracing with arms around;
but the most common salutation was by the conjunction of their right
hands, the right hand being reckoned a pledge of fidelity and
friendship. Sometimes they kissed the lips, hands, knees, or feet, as
the person deserved more or less respect. The Jews welcomed a stranger
to their house in the same way; for our Lord complains to Simon, that he
had given him no kiss, had welcomed him to his table with none of the
accustomed tokens of respect.
The custom of reclining was introduced from the nations of the east, and
particularly from Persia, where it seems to have been adopted at a very
remote period. The Old Testament Scriptures allude to both customs; but
they furnish undeniable proofs of the antiquity of sitting. As this is
undoubtedly the most natural and dignified posture, so it seems to have
been universally adopted by the first generations of men; and it was not
till after the lapse of many ages, and when degenerate man had lost much
of the firmness of his primitive character, that he began to recline.
The tables were constructed of three different parts or separate tables,
making but one in the whole. One was placed at the upper end crossways,
and the two others joined to its ends, one on each side, so as to leave
an open space between, by which the attendants could readily wait at all
the three. Round these tables were placed beds or couches, one to each
table; each of these beds was called _clinium_; and three of these being
united, to surround the three tables, made the _triclinium_. At the end
of each _clinium_ was a footstool, for the convenience of mounting up to
it. These beds were formed of mattresses, and supported on frames of
wood, often highly ornamented; the mattresses were covered with cloth or
tapestry, according to the quality of the entertainer. At the splendid
feast which Ahasuerus made for the nobles of his kingdom, beds of silver
and gold were placed round the tables; according to a custom in the east
of naming a thing from its principal ornament, these must have been
couches profusely ornamented with the precious metals. Each guest
inclined the superior part of his body upon his left arm, the lower part
being stretched out at length, or a little bent; his head was raised up,
and his back sometimes supported with pillows. In conversation, those
who spoke raised themselves almost upright, supported by cushions. When
they ate, they raised themselves on their elbow, and made use of the
right hand; which is the reason our Lord mentions the hand of Judas in
the singular number: “He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the
same shall betray me,” Matt. xxvi, 23. See ACCUBATION.
When a Persian comes into an assembly, and has saluted the house, he
then measures with his eye the place to which his degree of rank
entitles him; he straightway wedges himself into the line of guests,
without offering any apology for the general disturbance which he
produces. It often happens that persons take a higher seat than that to
which they are entitled. The Persian scribes are remarkable for their
arrogance in this respect, in which they seem to bear a striking
resemblance to the Jews of the same profession in the days of our Lord.
The master of the entertainment has, however, the privilege of placing
any one as high in the rank of the assembly as he may choose. And Mr.
Morier saw an instance of it at a public entertainment to which he was
invited. When the assembly was nearly full, the governor of Kashan, a
man of humble mien, although of considerable rank, came in and seated
himself at the lowest place; when the master of the house, after
numerous expressions of welcome, pointed with his hand to an upper seat
in the assembly, to which he desired him to move, and which he
accordingly did. These circumstances furnish a beautiful and striking
illustration of the parable which our Lord uttered, when he saw how
those that were invited chose the highest places.
Before the Greeks went to an entertainment, they washed and anointed
themselves; for it was thought very indecent to appear on such an
occasion, defiled with sweat and dust; but they who came off a journey
were washed, and clothed with suitable apparel, in the house of the
entertainer, before they were admitted to the feast. When Telemachus and
Pisistratus arrived at the palace of Menelaus, in the course of their
wanderings, they were immediately supplied with water to wash, and with
oil to anoint, themselves, before they took their seats by the side of
the king. The oil used on such occasions, in the palaces of nobles and
princes, was perfumed with roses and other odoriferous herbs. They also
washed their hands before they sat down to meat. To these customary
marks of respect, to which a traveller, or one who had no house of his
own, was entitled, our Lord alludes in his defence of Mary: “And he
turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I
entered into thine house; thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she
hath washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her
head. Thou gavest me no kiss; but this woman, since the time I came in,
hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint;
but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment,” Luke vii, 44. Homer
mentions it as a custom quite common in those days, for daughters to
wash and afterward to anoint the feet of their parents. Our Saviour was
in the circumstances of a traveller; he had no home to wash and anoint
himself in, before he went to Simon’s house; and, therefore, had a right
to complain that his entertainer had failed in the respect that was due
to him as a stranger, at a distance from the usual place of his
residence. The Jews regularly washed their hands and their feet before
dinner; they considered this ceremony as essential, which discovers the
reason of their astonishment, when they observed the disciples of Christ
sit down at table without having observed this ceremony: “Why do thy
disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not
their hands when they eat bread,” Matt. xv, 2. After meals they wash
them again; for, says the evangelist, “the Pharisees and all the Jews,
except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the
elders,” Mark vii, 3, 4. When they washed their hands themselves, they
plunged them into the water up to the wrists; but when others performed
this office for them, it was done by pouring it upon their hands. The
same custom prevailed in Greece, for Homer says, the attendants poured
water on the hands of their chiefs. This was a part of the service which
Elisha performed for his master Elijah; and in every instance under the
law where water was applied to the body by another, it was done, not by
plunging, but by pouring or sprinkling. To wash the feet was a mean and
servile office, and, therefore, generally performed by the female
servants of the family. It was occasionally performed, however, by
females of the highest rank; for the daughter of Cleobulus, one of the
Grecian sages, and king of Lindus, a city on the south-east part of
Rhodes, was not ashamed to wash the feet of her father’s guests. And it
was customary for them to kiss the feet of those to whom they thought a
more than common respect was due; for the daughter of Philocleon, in
Aristophanes, washed her father, anointed his feet, and, stooping down,
kissed them. The towel which was used to wipe the feet after washing,
was considered through all the east as a badge of servitude. Suetonius
mentions it as a sure mark of the intolerable pride of Caligula, the
Roman emperor, that when at supper he suffered senators of the highest
rank, sometimes to stand by his couch, sometimes at his feet, girt with
a towel. Hence it appears that this honour was a token of humiliation,
which was not, however, absolutely degrading and inconsistent with all
regard to rank. Yet our blessed Redeemer did not refuse to give his
disciples, and Judas Iscariot himself, that proof of his love and
humility.