Balak

Balak (meaning empty or spoiler) was the son of Zippor and king of Moab when Israel camped in the plains of Moab before the conquest of Canaan. Alarmed by Israel's military victories over Sihon and Og, Balak sent to the Euphrates to hire Balaam to curse Israel, believing that Balaam's blessing and cursing had decisive power. The narrative of Numbers 22–24 shows Balak making three attempts to position Balaam advantageously — at Bamoth-baal, Pisgah, and Peor — each time receiving a blessing rather than a curse.

Balak's frustration mounts through the narrative until he dismisses Balaam without the payment he promised. In Joshua 24:9, Joshua recounts Balak's hostility in his rehearsal of Israel's history, and Micah 6:5 invokes Balak and Balaam together as examples of how God turned a potential curse into blessing. The book of Revelation's letter to Pergamum (Revelation 2:14) accuses false teachers of holding to the teaching of Balaam who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before Israel — connecting Balak to the subsequent Baal-peor apostasy.