Balak: Chapter 11

"Bilaam also, of the son of Beor did...slay with the sword"

Synopsis

Rabbi Elazar asks how Bilaam was killed, and he receives a superficial explanation from Rabbi Yitzchak that says he was killed by Pinchas and his people. Rabbi Elazar is not satisfied with this, and Rabbi Shimon says that Bilaam was as powerful and wise in the aspect of the left as Moses was in the higher levels; the question is, then, how were they able to kill him? As Bilaam had praised himself so much, Rabbi Shimon speaks about the verse in Mishlei to do with praising oneself, saying that a person should speak about the Torah so that people will know who he is from his words.