Balak i Balaam – zdrajcy bogów
Balak and Balaam – Traitors to the Gods

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of the study is to analyze the conduct and motivations of two bibli- cal figures, King Balak and the soothsayer Balaam, in relation to the deities they worshipped. The study shows that their conduct has a common trait: both of these characters abandoned their god and turned against him. Therefore, Balak and Ba- laam can and should be described as traitors to their gods. The two betrayals had different character and causes. Balak turned away from his god, turning to the God YHWH. His actions were guided by his disbelief that the god of Moab could provide a defense against the Israelites. Therefore, he did not engage the prophet of his god to obtain the curse of the Israelites from him, but abandoned him and turned to the prophet of YHWH, the God of Israel, for this purpose. Balaam, on the other hand, turned away from his God, going against His will to help the enemies of His people. The motivation for his conduct was payment for his assistance in acting against Israel. Since Balaam did not receive it because he could not get YHWH to curse the Israelites, he decided to obtain it by giving the Moabites another way to deprive Israel of God's protection.

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