As retold by Ginzberg, it was the one hundred and thirtieth year after the Israelites arrived in Egypt. Pharaoh, uneasy in his power, had a disturbing dream. He saw an old man, scales in hand, weighing the elders and nobles of Egypt against… a tender kid. Incredibly, the kid outweighed them all! Understandably, Pharaoh woke up shaken.
He summoned his wise men and servants, demanding an interpretation. Fear hung heavy in the air, but Balaam, son of Beor – a figure known for his complex relationship with the Israelites – stepped forward. He declared the dream a prophecy of doom: a son would be born to Israel, one who would destroy Egypt and lead his people to freedom. "Take counsel," Balaam urged, "and frustrate the hope of Israel before it's too late!"
Pharaoh, already feeling the weight of the dream, turned to Balaam and asked for solutions. But, as Ginzberg tells us, Pharaoh didn't stop there. He sought broader advice, specifically from two other counselors: Reuel the Midianite, and Job the Uzite. These were men known for their wisdom, but they held very different perspectives.
Reuel, also known as Jethro, the future father-in-law of Moses, spoke first. "Desist from the Hebrews!" he pleaded. "Do not stretch forth your hand against them, for the Lord chose them long ago!" He reminded Pharaoh of the mighty deeds God had performed for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He even invoked the memory of a previous Pharaoh who had honored Joseph, recognizing his wisdom and saving Egypt from famine. Reuel’s advice was clear: either leave the Israelites alone or let them return to Canaan, the land of their ancestors.
Can you imagine the courage it took to speak such words to a Pharaoh?
Pharaoh, unsurprisingly, was enraged. Reuel was dismissed in disgrace and fled to Midian.
Next, Pharaoh turned to Job. "What say you, Job? What is your advice?" Job, in contrast to Reuel, offered a chillingly simple response: "Behold, all the inhabitants of the land are in thy power. Let the king do as seemeth good in his eyes." Silence. Ambivalence. Acquiescence. A blank check for oppression.
Finally, Balaam spoke again, pushing Pharaoh toward a particularly cruel solution. According to Ginzberg, he argued that the Hebrews were invincible to fire (like Abraham), the sword (like Isaac), and even relentless labor (like Jacob). So, what was left? "Let him order all the male children that shall be born in Israel from this day forward to be thrown into the water." This, Balaam reasoned, was a trial neither they nor their fathers had faced. This was a way to erase their name.
This is where the story takes a truly dark turn.
The Zohar tells us of the profound consequences of offering bad advice to a ruler. Balaam's counsel, rooted in fear and hatred, led to the tragic decree of infanticide. Imagine the weight of that decision, the horror it inflicted on the Israelite families.
And Reuel? He faced disgrace but ultimately found his destiny in guiding Moses and embracing the God of Israel. Job's silence is a stark reminder of the dangers of moral neutrality in the face of injustice.
So, what can we take away from this ancient tale of three counselors? Perhaps it's a reminder of the power of our words, the importance of courageous truth-telling, and the devastating consequences of fear-driven decisions. It certainly gives you pause, doesn't it?
In the one hundred and thirtieth year after Israel's going down to Egypt Pharaoh dreamed that he was sitting upon his throne, and he lifted up his eyes, and he beheld an old man before him with a balance in his hand, and he saw him taking all the elders, nobles, and great men of Egypt, tying them together, and laying them in one scale of the balance, while he put a tender kid into the other. The kid bore down the pan in which it lay until it hung lower than the other with the bound Egyptians. Pharaoh arose early in the morning, and called together all his servants and his wise men to interpret his dream, and the men were greatly afraid on account of his vision. Balaam the son of Beor then spake, and said: "This means nothing but that a great evil will spring up against Egypt, for a son will be born unto Israel, who will destroy the whole of our land and all its inhabitants, and he will bring forth the Israelites from Egypt with a mighty hand. Now, therefore, O king, take counsel as to this matter, that the hope of Israel be frustrated before this evil arise against Egypt." The king said unto Balaam: "What shall we do unto Israel? We have tried several devices against this people, but we could not prevail over it. Now let me hear thy opinion." At Balaam's instance, the king sent for his two counsellors, Reuel the Midianite and Job the Uzite, to hear their advice. Reuel spoke: "If it seemeth good to the king, let him desist from the Hebrews, and let him not stretch forth his hand against them, for the Lord chose them in days of old, and took them as the lot of His inheritance from amongst all the nations of the earth, and who is there that hath dared stretch forth his hand against them with impunity, but that their God avenged the evil done unto them?" Reuel then proceeded to enumerate some of the mighty things God had performed for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he closed his admonition with the words: "Verily, thy grandfather, the Pharaoh of former days, raised Joseph the son of Jacob above all the princes of Egypt, because he discerned his wisdom, for through his wisdom he rescued all the inhabitants of the land from the famine, after which he invited Jacob and his sons to come down to Egypt, that the land of Egypt and the land of Goshen be delivered from the famine through their virtues. Now, therefore, if it seem good in thine eyes, leave off from destroying the children of Israel, and if it be not thy will that they dwell in Egypt, send them forth from here, that they may go to the land of Canaan, the land wherein their ancestors sojourned." When Pharaoh heard the words of Jethro-Reuel, he was exceedingly wroth with him, and he was dismissed in disgrace from before the king, and he went to Midian. The king then spoke to Job, and said: "What sayest thou, Job, and what is thy advice respecting the Hebrews?" Job replied: "Behold, all the inhabitants of the land are in thy power. Let the king do as seemeth good in his eyes." Balaam was the last to speak at the behest of the king, and he said: "From all that the king may devise against the Hebrews, they will be delivered. If thou thinkest to diminish them by the flaming fire, thou wilt not prevail over them, for their God delivered Abraham their father from the furnace in which the Chaldeans cast him. Perhaps thou thinkest to destroy them with a sword, but their father Isaac was delivered from being slaughtered by the sword. And if thou thinkest to reduce them through hard and rigorous labor, thou wilt also not prevail, for their father Jacob served Laban in all manner of hard work, and yet he prospered. If it please the king, let him order all the male children that shall be born in Israel from this day forward to be thrown into the water. Thereby canst thou wipe out their name, for neither any of them nor any of their fathers was tried in this way.
