Balaam, Job, and Jethro in the Jewish writings.

Dear in Christ,

Jannes and Jambres and "the Jewish Fables"

While I set out to write this, I’m sure someone will cite the following verse to prove that all the Jewish commentaries are worthless:

Tit 1:14 Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. 

In the course of this write up we will see that one of Paul’s statements can’t be interpreted without referring to the Jewish commentaries.

While I base this study on Jewish commentaries, I use discernment not to follow them blindly. As in the case of any religious commentaries, there are heavy biases in Jewish commentaries. While they portray someone who caused harm to Israel, they would club together all the bad characters who lived almost in the same era, and claim that they are all one person. Similarly, when it comes to some of the characters who are generally thought to be good, they would dilute the misdeeds done by such persons.

Recently, as I was trying to figure out the true meaning of a Greek word that has to do with the topic of unknown tongues, I had to study 2Pet 2:15-16 which talks about Balaam. While I was studying about Balaam, I realized that most of the Christian scholars acknowledge that Jannes and Jambres mentioned in 2Tim 3:8 were the sons of Balaam.

2Ti 3:8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

They also acknowledge that the verse is an allusion to Exodus 7:11, 22, where the magicians of Egypt accomplished the miraculous deeds of Moses and Aaron, using their sorceries. Though the verses in Exodus don't mention the names of Jannes and Jambres, it's believed that they were among the magicians and sorcerers of Egypt. These Christian scholars base their interpretations on various Jewish Talmud, Midrash, and traditions.

Going through various Jewish writings, I found that the names of Jannes and Jambres are represented variously, bearing no resemblance to what we get to read in the New Testament. (There's a definite pattern in the derivation of names we get to read in the New Testament, like Miriam in Hebrew became Mariyam in Greek and Mary in English, likewise Jehoshua or Joshua became ιησος [ee-ay-sooce'] in Greek and Jesus in English. Such patterns are conspicuously missing in the case of Jannes and Jambres.)

Here are some of the references to Jannes and Jambres from Jewish writings (please note how their names are spelled in various writings.)

• Shemot (tr. Exodus) Rabbah (tr. great) 9:7 (Midrash): "And each man cast his staff." Yohani and Mamreh [two Egyptian sorcerers] said to Moses: 'You have brought grain to Aphri'im [A city with plenty of grain. This is almost the same as the English idiom: taking coal to Newcastle].' [Moses] responded to them: 'To a city of vegetables, take vegetables' [i.e. to impress people, bring what they appreciate]. "And the staff of Aaron swallowed their [the sorcerers'] staffs."
• Yalkut (tr. the compilation) Shimoni (tr. of Simeon), (Midrash) 5:173:…He (Pharaoh) feared very much in the presence of them (Moses and Aaron), and said to them: “Go today, and come tomorrow”. And they did as the king told them. And after they went, Pharaoh sent (a messenger) and called Balaam the diviner and Yanim and Yamkhrim his sons, magicians and all the Egyptian craftsmen, and they came to the king.
• Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 19:1: Forty thousand people had assembled to leave Egypt with the Israelites, and among them were two Egyptians named Jannes and Jambres, who had performed magical feats for Pharaoh…(Exo 7:22). 

There are many more allusions to Balaam and Jannes and Jambres in the Jewish writings, but, I think the citations above would suffice to prove that Jannes and Jambres were among the magicians in the court of the Pharaoh while Moses and Aaron presented themselves before him, and they were the sons of Balaam.

Balaam has a larger role in the biblical narrative than what we used to think of him.

After going through various Jewish writings I get the feeling that he had lifelong hatred towards Israelites/Jews. And, if he had, there should be a valid reason for it, like, being part of a nation or an ethnicity which feels that it was oppressed by Israelites/Jews. But, unfortunately, we aren't told about the genealogy of Balaam. Every passage that talks about him starts with the statement:

…Balaam ^H1109 the son of Beor ^H1160…(Num 22:5; 24:3, 15; 31:8; Deut 23:4; Jos 13:22; 24:9; Mic 6:5.)

Many do presume that he was a Syrian or an Aramite as he said: "Balak brought me from Aram/Syria" (Num 23:7) or as it is said in Deut 23:4: "…because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee." If bringing or calling someone from a certain place would make them an aboriginal of that place, "I called my son from Egypt" (Hos 11:1) should be about calling an Egyptian, but, we know that it's not the case.

The name "Beor" appears in only one context, unassociated with that of Balaam.

Gen 36:31-32… And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel. And Bela the son of Beor ^H1160 reigned in Edom:...(See also: 1Ch 1:43)

We aren't told about the ancestry of this Beor, as well. All that we get to know is that he was the father of the first king who reigned in Edom.

Most of the Jewish scholars identify this Beor with the father of Balaam. Though we can't ascertain whether this Beor was indeed the father of Balaam, by getting a DNA test done, we can attempt to find out whether this Beor lived in a time frame reasonable enough to be the father of Balaam.

The only means by which we can arrive at the approximate period in which Beor lived is by traversing the ancestry of the king who succeeded Bela, son of Beor.

Gen 36:33 And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.

I think it makes sense to think that Bela belonged to the same generation as Zerah, the father of Jobab, his successor.

Gen 36:13 … these are the sons of Reuel; … Zerah…

Beor, father of Bela, should have belonged to the same generation as Reuel.

Gen 36:10 These are the names of Esau's sons;... Reuel…

Now we juxtapose the ancestry of Bela with that of his successor, Jobab, to find out that Beor should have belonged to the same generation as the first generation of Esau.

	Esau	Jacob
Beor	Reuel	Levi
Bela	Zerah	Kohath
Balaam ‽	Jobab	Amram
		Moses

From the Jewish writings l understand that Balaam was in Egypt a few years prior to the birth of Moses, and wasn't less than 20 years old then. From this we can deduce that Balaam belonged to the same generation as Amram, father of Moses, who belonged to the same generation as Jobab. Things are getting close enough to deduce that Balaam could have been born in his father's advanced years.

My point is that Balaam was an Edomite. While going through various Jewish writings it becomes apparent that he held a lifelong enmity towards Israel. He was renowned for his wisdom and shrewdness, right from his early teens. Before his arrival in Egypt, he served as advisor to a few Edomite kings who persistently attacked Egypt, to destroy the Israelites who were sojourners therein.

Hostilities between Edomites and Israelites and Edomite attempts to destroy Israelites in Egypt.

Hostilities between Edomites and Israelites began even while the fathers of both the clans were in their mother's womb. (Gen 25:22). Jacob was tactful enough to avoid a direct conflict with his (technically elder) twin brother. Jacob had to relocate, with his family, to Egypt, in his advanced years.

NOTE: the rest of the narrative is based on various Jewish sources, and, there could be slight variations between their accounts. There are some exaggerations in their narratives, which I discreetly avoid. My goal here is to present a readable and believable narrative.

Upon Jacob's death, Israelites took out a long funeral procession to Canaan, so that his mortal remains could be interred in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. (Gen 50:1-14). While they reached there, Esau and his children were present at the cave. His children protested claiming that the cave belonged to their father, Esau, and they won't allow anyone else to be buried therein. Though Israelites tried to convince them that the cave was part of the birthright Esau sold to Jacob, they were in no mood to heed to their words. What started out as an argument became a violent fight and one of the sons of Dan (his name was Hushim) killed Esau, in a fit of rage. (See: Sotah 13a: 7, 8, 10)

Israelites returned to Egypt. What ensued was a series of wars waged by Edomites against Egypt, intending to destroy the Israelites sojourning therein. While Joseph was alive, the Egyptian army could drive away attacking Edomite forces, as the Lord was with him.

After Joseph's death, the Egyptian forces were often made to flee from the Edomite forces. During those days it was the Israeli guerrilla forces (consisting of 150 to 600 members) that protected Egypt. Nonetheless, Egyptians looked at Israelites with suspicious eyes. They feared that if Israelite guerrillas are so valorous and if they join ranks with Egypt's enemies, Egyptians will have to flee from their own land. (Exo 1:10)

Schemes to contain the growth of Israeli Population.

What ensued was a series of schemes to keep the Israelites occupied, so that they wouldn't find time to rise up in rebellion against the Egyptians. Another goal they had in their minds was to contain the growth of Israeli population.

Thus it was announced all over the nation that the king intends to fortify Pithom  and Raamses, cities in the north of the nation and to construct armories there. (Exo 1:11) They claimed that this measure would ward off Edomite attacks from the north. Those who would join the workforce were offered handsome wages. Since both the cities were close to Goshen, the region occupied by Israelites, a large number of them joined in, along with Egyptians, Midianites, Moabites and Arabs, among others.

For a month or so, things went on smoothly. Then, slowly and gradually, all the non-Israelites were withdrawn from the workforce, while the deadline for the completion of the work remained unchanged. After a few months, payment of wages stopped and Israelites stopped showing up at work. Egyptians raided Israelite homes and forcibly brought men to work.

Despite all these oppressive measures, Israeli population continued to grow and the Egyptians realized that their schemes have fizzled out.

The two Advisors of the king of Egypt.

At that time the king of Egypt had two advisors, let's call them Advisor #1 and Advisor #2. 

The king asked Advisor #1 about his advice on containing the Israeli population growth. He suggested that there should be an unamendable legislation which makes it mandatory that all newborn male children of Israelites be killed.

Advisor #2 opposed such an oppressive measure and insisted that bloodshed of innocent children won't do good for the nation.

The king was pleased with the advice given by Advisor #1 and such legislation was enacted. This is narrated in Exo 1:15-21, symbolically. Given that there could have been hundreds of thousands of married Israelite women in their reproductive age in Goshen then, it's quite unlikely that there were only two midwives to attend to them. It's also unlikely that a king would interact with a couple of people pursuing a certain trade, whenever there's legislation that affects everyone who pursues it. Shiphrah, one of the two midwives mentioned in the passage has been identified by almost every Jewish commentator as Jochebed, mother to Aaron, Moses and Miriam. [e.g. Sotah 11b:11]. Anyway, the legislation addressed god-fearing Jewish women who would never kill their own babies. Thus, Advisor #1's advice got fizzled out.

This was the juncture at which Balaam arrived in Egypt.

Prior to his arrival, he spent several years as advisor to a few Edomite kings. He was renowned to be shrewd and wise from a very young age. At first he was the advisor to the king of Africa (that was then the name of the region presently known as Tunisia). The captain of the Tunisian forces then was Zepho, one of the grandsons of Esau. (Gen 36:10, 11). Balaam masterminded the formation of Edomite alliances to wage wars against Egypt, to destroy the Israelites who were sojourners therein. Later on, when Zepho became the king of Kittim (present day Cyprus), Balaam became his advisor. Though he formed Edomite alliances, again, he gave up the plans to attack Egypt as his own divination predicted the defeat of Edomite forces.

It was after the death of Zepho that Balaam decided to relocate himself to Egypt, so that he could attempt to destroy Israelites in Egypt from within, instead of attacking Egypt from outside. The king of Egypt welcomed him as he was a sworn enemy of Israelites.

Another attempt at containing Israeli population growth.

Balaam was appointed as the chief advisor of the king. He started executing his game plan from the word go, and made a prophecy, saying a leader will rise up among the Israelites and free them from Egypt. This was at a time the king of Egypt and his people were in fear of the Israelites and all their schemes to destroy Israelites having fizzled out.

So, the King sought from Balaam, his chief advisor, his advice on how to handle the situation. Balaam advised the king that there should be a legislation to the effect that all the newborn male children of Israelites should be thrown into rivers. (This pleased the king and a legislation was made to that effect. Exo 1:22.) Balaam also suggested that the king should seek the opinions of Advisor #1 and Advisor #2.

Advisor #1 (whose earlier advice had fizzled out) opted not to take a stance, and told the king to do whatever seemed good in his sight.

Advisor #2 opposed the move, citing various instances in the history of Israel to prove that God is with them and He will protect him from its enemies.

The king's wrath was upon Advisor #2, and he had to flee to Midian, where he spent his life as a priest. Years later, when Moses had to flee Egypt, he also reached the same region. One day Moses saw a bunch of shepherds harassing a few girls who were drawing water from a well. He chased away the shepherds and helped the girls. (Apparently, those girls had to face such harassment every day.) While they reached home, earlier than usual, their father, Advisor #2, asked them what made them come home early. They told him about the harassment they had to face and how an Egyptian protected them. Then their father told him that they should have invited the Egyptian home for dinner. (,Exo 2:15-22).

Moses stayed with them and the Advisor #2, Jethro, who was also known as Reuel, gave his daughter Zipporah as wife to him.

Hierarchical Structure of Judiciary

In Exodus 18, we read about Jethro visiting Israelites who were journeying to the land of Canaan, while they were around Sinai. He observed Moses' hard toil in settling issues between the people. He suggested a kind of hierarchical structure of judiciary, so that more people would get justice faster. It pleased Moses and the elders of Israel, and it was implemented. (Exo 18:20-27).

Jethro returned to Midian, but it appears that his son(s) continued with the Israelites. A while later, Hobab, Jethro's son, desired to return to his homeland, but Moses requested to continue with the Israelites so that they could be guides (eyes) in their journey through unfamiliar territories. (Num 10:29-32)

Kenites, the descendants of Jethro, became Scribes

Next we get to hear about the descendants of Jethro, a.k.a Reuel in:

Jdg 1:16 And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees (Jericho) with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.

Though we won't dwell upon how the descendants of Jethro got the title of Kenites, please do note that they were the descendants of Jethro (a.k.a, Reuel) and his son, Hobab. (Many are often confused while reading KJV's mentioning Hobab as the father-in-law of Moses. This is because the Hebrew word for father-in-law, brother-in-law, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and giving in marriage are same: חָתַן, H2859 in Strong's lexicon.)

The most famous Kenite that we get to read about in the Bible should be Jael, the wife of Heber, a Kenite, who killed Sisera, (the captain of Jabin, the king of Canaan) by driving her tent's nail into his forehead. (Judges, chapters 4 and 5).

The most important and the least understood mention about Kenites is found in:

1Ch 2:55 And the families of the scribes ^H5608 which dwelt at Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and Suchathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab.

As in the case of most of the Jewish writings, my focus here in this verse is on the fact that the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez were Kenites, descendants of Jethro, a.k.a Reuel, and Hobab.

The Hebrew word translated as “scribes” in this verse is ספרים, plural of ספר, H5608 in Strong’s Lexicon. (Some Hebrew texts available in the public domain have it as H5613.) The word (as seen in 1Ch 2:55) is translated as “scribes” in ‎1Ki 4:3 and Jer 8:8 as well.

Most of the Jewish writings say that these Kenites were made recorders in the Sanhedrin (the supreme judicial and ecclesiastical council of Jews), of which the original idea came from Jethro, their ancestor.

While Herod expanded the temple at Jerusalem, it had wings on either side. Within the southern wing there was a chamber named “the Chamber of Hewn Stone” in which the Sanhedrin used to assemble.

“the Chamber of Hewn Stone”

At the farthest end of the chamber was the seat of the high priest. Standing across him is the person under trial. On either side of the chamber sat the rest of the members of the Sanhedrin. The scribes are seated at the nearest end, with tables and seats to carry out their job. We can safely assume that the role of scribes, in this context, was similar to those of recorders in  Anglo-American judicial systems.

The descendants of the Advisor #2, Jethro, a.k.a Reuel, who is called a Midianite, and a Kenite (which Strong’s Lexicon defines as: a Kenite or member of the tribe of Kajin/Cain) were made to sit in the apex council of the Jews, Sanhedrin, as scribes or recorders. As we learn from the New Testament, scribes occupied the highest echelons of the Jewish society, along with priests, Pharisees, Sadducces, and Herodians. This, according to almost all the Jewish commentaries, was Jehovah’s way of rewarding Jethro, the Advisor #2 of the king of Egypt, for taking a strong stance against the killing of the newborn male children of Israelites.

If Jehovah thus rewarded the Advisor #2, isn’t it likely that the Advisor #1, who, some of the Jewish commentaries say advised the king to make a legislation to ensure all the newborn male children of Israelites be killed, and chose not to take a stance when Balaam advised the king to enact another legislation to ensure that all the newborn male children be thrown into rivers, be suitably rewarded?

Yes, almost all the Jewish writings are unanimous in stating that the Advisor #1 was, indeed, rewarded. He was made to feel the pinch of losing one’s own children and it’s recorded in the Book of Job. Yes, according to almost all the Jewish writings, Job was the Advisor #1.

Sanhedrin 106a:4: (formatting is mine) Three were associates in that counsel, and they are: Balaam, Job, and Yitro. 

• Balaam, who advised to drown the newborn males, was killed.

• Job, who was silent and was reluctant to express his opinion, was sentenced to suffer afflictions.

• And Yitro, who fled after he disagreed with that counsel and Pharaoh sought to kill him, his descendants were privileged to sit as scribes in session with the Sanhedrin in the Chamber of Hewn Stone, as it is stated: “And the families of the scribes who dwelt in Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, the Sucathites. These were the Kenites who came of Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab” (I Chr 2:55). And it is written there with regard to the identity of the Kenites: “And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the city of the palm trees” (Jdg 1:16).

The most vital question: Did Job's and Moses' lifetimes overlap?

Honestly, I don't have an answer to such a question. The Book of Job ends with the statement:

Job 42:16 After this (after all the fortunes were restored to him, and 7 sons and 3 daughters were born to him) lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations. 

Job 42:17 So Job died, being old and full of days.

Unless his 10 children were born as decuplets (10 babies in one delivery), it should have taken 20-30 years for accomplishing this.

Likewise in the beginning of the book it's told that he had 7 sons and 3 daughters (Job 1:2) and they used to party in his sons' houses (Job 1:4), on a rotational basis, implying they were old enough to stay separately. Since nothing is told about their marital status, or their families perishing, we may assume that they should have been in the age group of 20-30 years. To have 10 children in that age group, Job should have been 50+ years old.

So, Job would have lived long enough (140 + 30 + 50 = 220 years) to have his lifetime overlap with that of Moses who lived for 120 years.

We don't have means of knowing the era in which he was born. Many do resort to the ancestry of Elihu, the young man whose discourse is given in Job 32:6-37:24, to ascertain the time frame in which Job lived. It is said of Elihu:

Job 32:2…Elihu ^H453 the son of Barachel ^H1292 the Buzite ^H940, of the kindred of Ram ^H7410…

• There are 2 more persons with the name Elihu mentioned in the Old Testament, one was prophet Samuel's grandfather (1Sa 1:1) and the other was of the tribe of Manasseh (1Ch 12:20).
• There are none with the name Barachel mentioned in any other book of the Old Testament.
• Strong's Lexicon says Buzite (H940, בּוּזִי, boo-zee) is a derivative of Buz (H938, בּוּז, booz).
  • Nahor, Abraham's brother, had a son by the name Buz (Gen 22:21)
    Interestingly, the Hebrew noun עוץ [H5780 in Strong's, pronounced as oots], translated as Uz, everywhere else, is translated as Huz or Hus in Gen 22:21 in many translations, including KJV, YLT, DRB, and MKJV. Though neither the Hebrew nor the Greek text warrants such a special treatment for this noun in this verse. The only reason for this special treatment is that Latin Vulgate has it as Hus in this verse).
    
    Gen 22:21 Huz ^H5780 his firstborn, and Buz ^H938 his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram ^H758.
    
    It appears to me that the brains behind the aforementioned special treatment didn't want anyone to associate Job from the land of Uz, and Elihu the Buzite with this verse (and as the descendants of Nahor). It's quite likely that they seek to silence an ongoing debate on whether Elihu belonged to the kindred of Aram or Ram (see details below).
  • There is one more person, and a place with the same name, (See 1Ch 5:14, and Jer 25:23, respectively). 
• There're a couple of Rams mentioned in the Old Testament.
  • Ram, son of Hezron, who was the son of Judah (Ruth 4:19; 1Ch 2:9. This Ram is mentioned as Aram in Mat 1:3, 4 and Luk 3:33, based on which it is conjectured that the Ram mentioned in Job 32:2 should be read as Aram. From the various editions of the Greek Septuagint available in the public domain, it's hard for us to determine which form of the noun is accurate, and why Matthew and Luke opted for rendering it Aram. Anyway, since when have people started interpreting the Old Testament, written in Hebrew, using Greek versions of proper names? 
  • Ram, son of Jerahmeel, who was the son of Hezron (1Ch 2:25).

I don't think trying to ascertain the era in which Job lived by traversing the ancestry of Elihu will take us anywhere.

Interestingly, Talmud Bava Batra 15a, makes Job a contemporary of practically every important person in the Bible, from Jacob and Isaac down to the period of Babylonian Exile. At one point it even says this: "איוב לא היה ולא נברא אלא משל היה " (Job never was and never existed, but is only a typical figure). My take on Job is, though there should have been a real person named Job, it's quite likely that the Jewish scholars have clubbed together the deeds and misdeeds of several persons, who lived over different ages.

Job…was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. (Job 1:1)

The strongest objection against Job being the perpetrator of all the wrong doings against Israelites would be verses like the above one, and:

Eze 14:14 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD. (see also: Eze 14:20)

Now, let's assume that YOU are one tenth as perfect, god-fearing, and upright as Job. Do you expect God would hand you over to a cosmic monster called Satan, to have your hard earned possessions destroyed, your children killed, your body affected with sores all over, and your wife berate your faith? Not having seen many faithfuls who have lost all their fortunes, and family being restored to whatever they have lost, would you believe in a god who would potentially let you to be brought to the state of Job, to have your faithfulness, loyalty, and righteousness tested and proved? Honestly, I won't. My faith in God is limited to His being the savior of the entire human race, not as someone who would potentially put me through untold miseries to prove my faith or whatever.

If it be the will of God, the next post will be on Balaam's Ass.

In Christ,

Tomsan Kattackal