Midian, however, and one notes that there are puzzling references to the Midianites in 22:4 and 7, which have no substantive role in the present form of the story. Other OT references to Balaam focus primarily on the futility of King Balak’s attempt to thwart God’s care for Israel (Deut. 23:4–6; Josh. 13:22; 24:9–10; Judg. 11:25; Neh. 13:2; Mic. 6:5), while the NT references take quite a different tack and criticize Balaam for trying to make a financial profit from wrongdoing (2 Pet. 2:15–16; Jude
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