Balaam

E226662

biblical figure diviner prophet

Balaam is a biblical figure depicted in the Old Testament as a non-Israelite diviner or prophet whose story involves attempts to curse Israel and a famous encounter with a talking donkey.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
Balaam canonical	6
Balaam son of Beor	2
Balaam and His Master	1
Balaam’s way	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2027843 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Balaam
Context triple: [Second Epistle of Peter, mentions, Balaam]

A. Shadrack
Shadrack is a traumatized World War I veteran in Toni Morrison’s novel *Sula* who founds the ritual of National Suicide Day and embodies the community’s fears and marginalization.
B. Reuel
Reuel is the middle name of famed English author and philologist J. R. R. Tolkien, used as part of his full name John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.
C. Obadiah
Obadiah is a short prophetic book of the Old Testament that delivers a judgment oracle against Edom and a vision of Israel’s restoration.
D. Elisha
Elisha is the given first name of former NFL quarterback Eli Manning, who led the New York Giants to two Super Bowl championships.
E. Elisha
Elisha is a prominent Hebrew prophet in the Bible, known as the successor of Elijah and for performing numerous miracles in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Balaam
Target entity description: Balaam is a biblical figure depicted in the Old Testament as a non-Israelite diviner or prophet whose story involves attempts to curse Israel and a famous encounter with a talking donkey.

A. Shadrack
Shadrack is a traumatized World War I veteran in Toni Morrison’s novel *Sula* who founds the ritual of National Suicide Day and embodies the community’s fears and marginalization.
B. Reuel
Reuel is the middle name of famed English author and philologist J. R. R. Tolkien, used as part of his full name John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.
C. Obadiah
Obadiah is a short prophetic book of the Old Testament that delivers a judgment oracle against Edom and a vision of Israel’s restoration.
D. Elisha
Elisha is the given first name of former NFL quarterback Eli Manning, who led the New York Giants to two Super Bowl championships.
E. Elisha
Elisha is a prominent Hebrew prophet in the Bible, known as the successor of Elijah and for performing numerous miracles in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (51)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	biblical figure ⓘ diviner ⓘ prophet ⓘ
associatedConcept	Balaam’s error ⓘ Balaam’s teaching ⓘ Balaam self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Balaam’s way
associatedWith	Midian ⓘ Moab ⓘ
called	Balaam self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Balaam son of Beor
causeOfDeath	killed by the Israelites in battle ⓘ
condemnedIn	2 Peter 2:15 ⓘ Jude 11 ⓘ Book of Revelation ⓘ surface form: Revelation 2:14
deathDescribedIn	Joshua 13:22 ⓘ
ethnicity	non-Israelite ⓘ
father	Beor ⓘ
hiredBy	Balak ⓘ
knownFor	attempts to curse Israel ⓘ blessing Israel instead of cursing them ⓘ encounter with a talking donkey ⓘ oracles about Israel ⓘ prophecy about a star out of Jacob ⓘ
linkedToEvent	Israelite idolatry and immorality at Peor ⓘ
mentionedIn	Book of Deuteronomy ⓘ Book of Joshua ⓘ Epistle of Jude ⓘ surface form: Book of Jude Book of Micah ⓘ Book of Numbers ⓘ Book of Revelation ⓘ Tanakh ⓘ surface form: Hebrew Bible Bible ⓘ surface form: Old Testament Second Epistle of Peter ⓘ surface form: Second Peter
narrativeEvent	Balaam’s eyes opened to see the angel ⓘ confrontation with the angel of the LORD ⓘ donkey sees the angel and turns aside ⓘ donkey speaks to Balaam ⓘ journey to Balak with princes of Moab ⓘ pronouncement of blessings over Israel ⓘ prophecy of a star and scepter from Israel ⓘ three attempts to curse Israel from different locations ⓘ utterance of four main oracles ⓘ
occupation	seer ⓘ soothsayer ⓘ
primaryNarrativeLocation	Numbers 22–24 ⓘ
religion	Christianity ⓘ Islam ⓘ Judaism ⓘ
roleInNarrative	foreign prophet summoned to curse Israel ⓘ
textualTradition	sometimes associated with Deir Alla inscription by scholars ⓘ
viewInChristianity	symbol of greed and false teaching ⓘ
viewInJudaism	negative example of a corrupt prophet ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (10)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Second Epistle of Peter → mentions → Balaam ⓘ

Epistle of Jude → containsReferenceTo → Balaam ⓘ

Plains of Moab → associatedWithFigure → Balaam ⓘ

Moabites → biblicalFigureAssociated → Balaam ⓘ

Deir Alla dialect → associatedWith → Balaam ⓘ

this entity surface form: Balaam son of Beor

Balaam → called → Balaam self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Balaam son of Beor

Balaam → associatedConcept → Balaam self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Balaam’s way

Balaam’s oracles → spokenBy → Balaam ⓘ

Joel Chandler Harris → notableWork → Balaam ⓘ

this entity surface form: Balaam and His Master

‘Arvot Moav → associatedWithFigure → Balaam ⓘ

All labels observed (4)

How this entity was disambiguated Show

Statements (51)

How these facts were elicited Show

Referenced by (10)

How this entity was disambiguated

How these facts were elicited