24 myths
Ancient enemies who had fought for generations suddenly stood together. Midrash Tanchuma explains what threat was large enough to silence a feud.
A gentile seer who could gaze on the Shekhinah shoves past his servants at dawn to saddle his own donkey, so hungry is his hatred for Israel.
Balaam's rivals could not figure out how he worked. The rabbis said he had learned to read a rooster's comb, and it told him when God was furious.
Balaam saddled his donkey before dawn, eager to curse Israel for Balak's money. The donkey saw the angel blocking the road. Balaam saw nothing.
A hired prophet opens his mouth to curse and blessings pour out instead. A walnut tree in the Song of Songs explains why Israel cannot be destroyed.
Laban chased Jacob to Gilead to wipe out his house, and the same hunter rose again as Balaam, the Devourer of Nations, mouth open over Israel.
Balaam launches himself into the air to escape the Israelite army. Phinehas holds a divine name that can reach any height. He drags Balaam down and kills him.
Balak paid Balaam to curse Israel. Instead, a king from Jacob and the Messiah from Israel forced their way through his mouth.
God asked Bilam a question He already knew. Bamidbar Rabbah hears Cain and Hezekiah standing behind that dangerous answer.
Balaam had divining tools, royal messengers, greed, timing, and a curse ready. God blocked every door before he could speak.
God gave Balaam prophetic gifts equal to Moses. He spent them on curses-for-hire and a scheme to destroy Israel from within. The tradition never forgave him.
It would have been better for the wicked if they had been blind. Midrash Tanchuma traces every catastrophe to the same act: looking at what they should not.
Balaam's prophetic vision reached back to God consulting the angels before creation. He saw everything. He aimed it at Israel's destruction anyway.
Three times every day, according to 3 Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ascend from their graves to stand before God and demand the redemption of their children
Balak paid for a curse. From the mountain Balaam's mouth opened and he saw David, the star from Jacob, and the King Messiah rising at the end of days.
God hid from Balaam that the road to Balak led to his grave. Ha-Satan cleared the path, Balaam saddled his own donkey before dawn, and the trap was already set.
The donkey saw the angel, spoke in the holy tongue, outwitted the greatest prophet the nations produced, and died before anyone could worship her.
After Balaam's eyes were opened, the angel asked about the donkey first, not the curse. The answer reveals what God will do for an entire people.
Zimri grabbed Cozbi by the braid, walked to the Tent of Meeting, and asked Moses in front of the whole camp if she was permitted.
The Torah says God came to Balaam at night, and Midrash Tanchuma turned that scheduling detail into a verdict on the nature of prophecy itself.
God comes to the greedy prophet by night and hides the cliff behind an open door, while Ha-Satan dances ahead on the road until the soul is lost.
Three times the Judge descended to argue His own case, and three times the watching nations leaned in certain this stubborn people was finished.
One scroll fixes God's armies at a thousand thousands, another swears they cannot be counted, and Rebbi unknots which heaven is true.
A sinner reborn as a killer filly, the soul of Ishmael in a speaking donkey, a dead man in a widow. Gilgul made flesh, and the rabbis who set it free.
