We often think of Balaam as the sorcerer hired to curse the Israelites, and Jannes and Jambres as the magicians who opposed Moses in Pharaoh’s court, but they had lives, families, and reputations before their infamous roles.

According to Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, Balaam wasn't always just a wandering sorcerer. He was once a king! Imagine that. The story goes that he ruled over a city. But when that city fell under siege, Balaam, not one to stick around for a lost cause, used his magic to escape. It's almost like a scene from a fantasy movie, right? He didn't just save himself, though. He grabbed his two sons, Jannes and Jambres, his eight brothers, and they all fled to... Egypt.

Why Egypt? Well, according to the legend, they sought refuge there. And, wouldn't you know it, Balaam's counsel proved invaluable to the Egyptian king. He was, after all, a powerful sorcerer and, apparently, a pretty good strategist. So, what happened? "Seeing that they had been saved by the king, and the city had been taken by his good counsel," Ginzberg writes, "the people became more than ever attached to him."

They were so grateful, in fact, that they did something pretty extraordinary. "They set the royal crown upon his head," and gave him Adoniah, the widow of Kikanos, as a wife. Talk about a thank-you gift!

Now, this Adoniah detail is interesting because it brings us to another figure in the story: Moses himself. See, Moses was living in Egypt at this time, and the story suggests that Moses, too, was offered Adoniah as a wife. What did he do?

The text says, "But Moses feared the stern God of his fathers, and he went not in unto Adoniah, nor did he turn his eyes toward her." Why? Because, as Ginzberg tells us, Moses remembered the oaths that Abraham and Isaac made regarding their sons' marriages: "Thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell." Moses also remembered what Isaac said to Jacob when he fled before his brother Esau: "Thou shalt not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan, nor ally thyself by marriage with any of the children of Ham, for the Lord our God gave Ham the son of Noah and all his seed as slaves to the children of Shem and Japheth forever."

So, Moses, mindful of these ancestral commands, refused the offer. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the values and beliefs that shaped Moses, even before his encounter with the burning bush. It shows us that even when surrounded by power and temptation, he remained true to his heritage.

What's the takeaway here? Perhaps it's a reminder that even the most infamous figures in our stories have complex backstories. And that even amidst power and influence, staying true to one's values can be a defining act.