חסידי השם בארם נהרים?

מאת: אבנר רמו

In the Book of Numbers we hear about a diviner named Balaam. We are told that Balak:
וישלח מלאכים אל-בלעם בן-בער, פתורה אשר על-הנהר ארץ בני-עמו
“And he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people” (Num 22:5).

The Latin translator of the Bible wrote here: “the land of the Children of Ammon” which suggests that he believed that ארץ בני-עמו (erets benei-a’mo) is a letter-deletion error of
ארץ בני-עמון (erets benei-a’mon) - “the Land of the Amonnites.” However, Balaam himself says: מן-ארם ינחני בלק מלך-מואב - “From Aram Balak brings me” (Num 23:7). Furthermore, in the Book of Deuteronomy we read about the Ammonites and the Moabites:
ואשר שכר עליך את-בלעם בן-בעור, מפתור ארם נהרים—לקללך - “and they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Aram-naharaim, to curse you” (Deu 23:5).

Now we hear Balaam answering Balak’s messengers:
ויען בלעם ויאמר אל-עבדי בלק, אם-יתן-לי בלק מלא ביתו כסף וזהב--לא אוכל לעבר את-פי יהוה אלהי, לעשות קטנה או גדולה.
“And Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak: If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of YHWH my God, to do anything, small or great” (Num 22: 18).

It is peculiar the Balaam who was not an Israelite refers to God as: “YHWH my God.” If he was indeed from “Pethor of Aram-naharaim” - “Pethor in Mesopotamia” Do we have to consider the possibility that in that country there were others beside Abraham who were YHWH’s followers?