Balak: Chapter 13

Tzelyah who threw down Bilaam

Synopsis

Rabbi Shimon informs his son that Bilaam and his sons flew into the air when they saw Pinchas. A member of the tribe of Dan named Tzelyah flew into the air after him, and having found the correct secret path due to some shouted advice from Pinchas, was able to bring Bilaam to earth. The advice from Pinchas had to do with the serpent, and in the end Tzelyah was only able to kill Bilaam with a sword that had a snake engraved on either side; thus Bilaam died by means of the same force by which he had lived. Rabbi Shimon says that Bilaam's bones rotted and turned into harmful snakes, and even the worms that ate his flesh turned into snakes. The book of Asmodeus says that people can still perform powerful witchcraft with those snakes that are found near the rock where Bilaam died. Rabbi Shimon says that the only thing that has the power to catch one of those snakes is hot semen; this is a secret that Solomon told to the Queen of Sheba.