Balaam was a pagan religious specialist called a diviner. A diviner was someone who claimed to receive messages from the spiritual world and predict the future. Balaam came from northwest Mesopotamia (see “Balaam” Profile).
Like many ancient peoples, the nations of Moab and Midian believed that spoken words had power. They believed that a blessing or a curse spoken by a skilled diviner could shape future events. Diviners claimed they had special power to discover and influence what would happen next (see Deuteronomy 18:14; 1 Samuel 6:2; 2 Kings 21:6; Isaiah 44:25; Daniel 2:1–12, 27–28; Micah 5:12; Zechariah 10:2).
Israel’s enemies asked Balaam to place curses on the Hebrews. They believed that his spoken words would harm them. In the ancient world, armies often spoke curses against their enemies before battle.
People in ancient Israel also believed that spoken words could have real effect, even when they were not part of divination (for example, Genesis 27:1–40; Deuteronomy 27:15–26; 1 Samuel 14:24–28; compare Matthew 21:18–22).
Pethor is probably the ancient city of Pitru (Numbers 22:5). It was located on the west side of the Euphrates River, south of Carchemish, about 640 kilometers (400 miles) from Moab.