Balak

Douay Bible, Ba·lac

[bey-lak]

noun

1. (in the Bible) a Moabite king who sent for Balaam to come and curse the Israelites.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Balak¹

From Hebrew Balaq, of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces a second round of contentious elections in mid-September, said in a news conference that Thursday’s revelations should “make clear that we will not stand idly by and let our enemies arm themselves with deadly weapons. Already this week, I told our enemies: Watch your actions. And today we say to them: ‘Dir balak — pay attention.’

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Handcarts rule – with shouts of “balak, balak” to warn all to move aside as they make their way through the narrow passages.

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Although the study's authors, Finkelstein, Nadav Na’aman and Thomas Römer, have theorized that Balak may have been an actual person, their "proposal is very tentative," Ronald Hendel, a professor of the Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, told Live Science.

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However, the researchers, led by the study's lead author, Israel Finkelstein, believe the letter "B" is there and it is not a reference to "beth," the Hebrew word for "house," but rather Balak.

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Hendel also told Live Science that according to the Bible, King Balak existed 200 years prior to the tablet's creation, so a reference to him is unlikely.

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