יהושע, פרק י״ג, פסוק כ״ב

The bitter end of Israel's great spiritual enemy is woven directly into the boundaries of the newly conquered land. The death of Balaam is recorded alongside the territorial inheritance of the tribe of Reuben because their new land included the area of Beth-peor. This was the very location of Balaam's most destructive plot, and fittingly, the place where he ultimately met his divine punishment [אברבנאל].

A lingering question surrounds his presence among the Midianites, as earlier records indicate he had returned to his homeland after failing to curse the Israelites. However, he traveled back to Midian and Moab with a specific purpose: to demand payment for the devastating advice he had provided. He had counseled them to send their beautiful women to seduce the Israelite men into prostitution, knowing this would provoke the anger of God. Upon seeing that his strategy was successful and had triggered a horrific plague, he arrived to collect his reward, only to find his death instead [רד״ק, אברבנאל]. His execution at the hands of the Israelites served as an act of retribution for his relentless attempts to destroy them [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

He is deliberately identified as a sorcerer to expose his true character. He was never a genuine prophet, but rather a practitioner of dark magic by nature. The moments he previously spoke words of prophecy were merely temporary occurrences, designed for a specific time, when an angel of God spoke through him solely to bless and bring honor to Israel [רד״ק, אברבנאל]. There is a profound irony in his downfall; despite all his supernatural abilities and spells, he was completely powerless to save himself from the swords of the Israelites [מצודת דוד].

The primary approach among commentators is that he was simply killed alongside the rest of the Midianite casualties, sharing their exact fate. Alternatively, his death is understood to be a direct consequence of the casualties he caused. He was executed because of the many Israelites who died in the plague at Peor as a result of his wicked counsel. This brings his story to a full close: in the exact place where he caused the masses to sin and perish, he faced his own judgment and death [אברבנאל].

Beyond the literal events, deeper traditions offer a dramatic account of his final moments among the dead. According to these accounts, Balaam and the Midianite kings attempted to flee the battlefield using sorcery, launching themselves into the air to escape the swords below. However, when Phinehas displayed the holy headplate, their magical powers shattered. They plummeted from the sky, crashing down directly onto the bodies of the slain. Additional traditions suggest that Phinehas executed him personally, or that Balaam was subjected to a strict judgment where he suffered all four traditional forms of capital punishment for his actions [רד״ק, אברבנאל].