Balaam’s Oracle as a warning to Modern Israel
— the Targum has more explicit details as Balaam gives Balak a prophetic warning before walking away:
“And now, behold, I [Balaam] return to go to my people. Come, I will give thee [Balak] counsel: Go, furnish tavern houses, and employ seductive women to sell food and drinks cheaply, and to bring this people together to eat and drink, and commit whoredom with them, that they may deny their God;
“then in a brief time will they [the Israelites] be delivered into thy hand, and many of them will fall. Nevertheless, after this they [the Israelites] will still have dominion over thy people [the Moabites] at the end of days.” Numbers 24:14 Jonathan.
Did Balak ever form any kind of alliance with the Edomites?
In the canonical narrative of the Hebrew Bible, no, Balak never formed a direct political or military alliance with the Edomites.
When facing the perceived threat of the advancing Israelite camp, the text explicitly states that Balak and the Moabites turned to and formed an alliance with the elders of Midian, not Edom (Numbers 22:4-6).
However, when you broaden the scope to include Targumic interpretations, broader biblical literature, and Midrashic traditions, the dynamic shifts dramatically. In these contexts, Balak and the Edomites are bound tightly together through prophetic destiny, covert military operations, and shared lineages.
1. The Covert Military Ambush (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan)
As explored in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Numbers 21:14, ancient Aramaic traditions reveal that while there wasn’t an official diplomatic treaty signed by Balak, a secret military coalition did exist between their peoples.
According to this Targum, the armies of Edom and Moab hid themselves inside secret caves on opposing mountain cliffs flanking a narrow valley. Their plan was to launch a devastating, joint surprise ambush to completely destroy the House of Israel as they marched through the pass. While Balak is not mentioned by name in that specific military deployment, it illustrates that in the Targumic view, the forces of Moab and Edom operated in close tactical alignment during this exact timeline.
2. The Prophetic Alignment (Balaam’s Oracle)
While Balak sought an immediate alliance to curse Israel, the oracle he bought from Balaam actually linked the ultimate fates of Moab and Edom forever. In Numbers 24:17–18, Balaam looks into the future and prophesies a singular conqueror:
“A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab… Edom shall be dispossessed…”
Through this prophecy, Balak learns that regardless of whether they stood together in his day, Moab and Edom represented a paired geopolitical destiny—both destined to fall under the future dominion of Israel’s monarchy.
3. The Liturgical Coalition (Psalm 83)
If you look at how later biblical literature conceptualizes the historical anxiety of Balak, the poetic and liturgical traditions do place them in a grand alliance. Psalm 83 details a massive, multi-nation conspiracy specifically designed to cut off Israel from being a nation. The text explicitly groups them together:
“For they conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant—the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites…” (Psalm 83:5-6)
While this psalm reflects a broader, cumulative spiritual reality of Israel’s neighbors plotting their downfall, it honors the spirit of what Balak initiated: a collective regional effort to dismantle the covenant people.
4. The Hidden Ancestral Irony: Laban, Esau, and Jacob
The deepest, most fascinating connection comes when you look at the Targumic identification of Balaam as Laban the Aramean (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Numbers 22:5).
- Balak hires Balaam (Laban, or one of his posterity of the same name) to destroy Israel (Jacob).
- Laban is the grandfather of Jacob, but he is also closely tied to the ancestral lineage of Esau (Edom); because Laban is the maternal uncle (Laban‘s sister is Rebekah) to both Jacob and Esau.
By bringing Laban into the picture, the Targum highlights a bitter family dynamic: Balak is tapping into an ancient, foundational family grudge. The spiritual animosity fueling Balak’s camp is the exact same spiritual animosity that defined the fracture between Esau (Edom) and Jacob. Thus, even without a formal treaty signed on parchment, Balak’s campaign against Israel was fundamentally an alliance with the spirit of Edom.
These days, many Americans and Canadians head to Mexico and other Latin countries for luxurious hotels and resorts, indulging in a lavish lifestyle, in regions home to Edomean heritage. Similarly, Western Europeans often take vacation in northern Africa, especially in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, areas historically linked to Ishmaelite heritage.
For other indepth Studies, see
Joel
A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob 