Pethor was the hometown of Balaam, the prophet hired by Balak to curse Israel, located near the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia.
Pethor was a city in Mesopotamia, located near the Euphrates River, and is mentioned in the Bible as the hometown of Balaam, the prophet hired by Balak, king of Moab, to curse the Israelites (Num. 22:5; Deut. 23:4). When the Israelites were camped in the plains of Moab, Balak sent messengers to Pethor to summon Balaam, offering him payment to curse Israel (Num. 22:5-7). Despite God's initial warning not to go with the men, Balaam eventually set out on his donkey to meet with Balak (Num. 22:21). Along the way, the Angel of the Lord opposed Balaam, and his donkey spoke to him, revealing the presence of the Angel (Num. 22:22-35). Balaam ultimately blessed Israel instead of cursing them, following God's command (Num. 23-24). The location of Pethor is not precisely known, but its association with the Euphrates River suggests that it was situated in the upper Mesopotamian region, possibly in the area of modern-day Syria or Iraq.
Approximate location: 36.655, 38.069 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
Interpretation of dreams, identified with Pitru, on the west bank of the Euphrates, a few miles south of the Hittite capital of Carchemish (Num. 22:5, “which is by the river of the land of the children of [the god] Ammo”). (See BALAAM.)
(soothsayer), a town of Mesopotamia, where Balaam resided, and situated “upon the river,” possibly the Euphrates. (Numbers 22:5; 23:4) Its position is wholly unknown.
PE'THOR (soothsayer ?), the native place of Balaam, situated "upon the river," probably the Euphrates, as it was in Mesopotamia. Num 22:5; Deut 23:4. Pethor has been supposed to be identical with Balis, on the Euphrates, where Benjamin of Tudela states there is the "tower of Balaam, son of Beor." Some scholars have recently proposed, however, to locate the country of Balaam in Syria, but this view lacks sufficient support. See Padan-aram.
PE'THOR (soothsayer ?), the native place of Balaam, situated "upon the river," probably the Euphrates, as it was in Mesopotamia. Num 22:5; Deut 23:4. Pethor has been supposed to be identical with Balis, on the Euphrates, where Benjamin of Tudela states there is the "tower of Balaam, son of Beor." Some scholars have recently proposed, however, to locate the country of Balaam in Syria, but this view lacks sufficient support. See Padan-aram.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
2 verses in 2 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H6604
he sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates in the land of his people. “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt,” said Balak. “They cover the face of the land and have settled next to me.
For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.