B A L 
Rhiwlas, the feat of Richard Tav. Prie, Efq. Rhivvaidoy, 
tiie feat ofWilliam Doulben, Efq. Bala is twenty-fix miles 
north-weft of Welfh-Pool, thirty-five fouth of Holywell, 
and 195 north-weft of London. 
B.VLAAM, [OJfba of *b3 without, and dj? people, or 
j?b 3 the (wallowing up or deftruftion, and DJ? of the peo¬ 
ple, Heb. j A prophet of the city of Pethor upon the Eu¬ 
phrates, mentioned in the book of Numbers, chap. xxii. 
ft is a queftion much debated among divines, whether 
Balaam was a prophet of God or not. The jews are of 
opinion, that he was a profefted aftrologer, who, obferving 
when men were under a bad afpeft of the ftars, pronoun¬ 
ced a curfe upon them ; which, fometimes coming to pafs, 
gained him great reputation in his way. Several of the 
ancient fathers fuppofe him to be no more than a common 
loothlayer, who undertook to tell future events, and dif- 
cover leCrets, by no very iuftifiable means. Origen will 
have it, that he was no prophet, but only one ot Satan’3 
forcerers, and that of him he went to inquire; but that 
God was pleafed to prevent him, and put what anfwers 
fie pleafed into his mouth. It cannot be denied, however, 
that the feripture exprefsly calls him a prophet, Pet. ii. 5. 
and therefore fome later writers have imagined that he had 
once been a good man and true prophet, till loving the 
wages of iniquity, and proftitutipig the honour of his office 
to covetoufnefs, he apo'ftatized from God, and, betaking 
Mmfelf to- idolatrous practices, felt under the delufion of 
evil fpirits, of whom he learnt all his magical enchant¬ 
ments, though at this juncture, when the prefefvation of 
his people were concerned, it might be confident with the 
divine wifdom to vouchfafe his revelations. As to what 
pafted between Balaam and his afs, when that animal was 
miraculoufly enabled to fpeak, commentators are much 
divided, whether it really and literally happened as Mofes 
relates it, or whether it be an allegory only, or the mere 
imagination or vi-fion of Balaam. This indeed is fo won¬ 
derful an inftance,. that feveral of the Jewith doctors, who 
upon other occalions are fond enough of miracles, will not 
believe this. Philo, in his Life oTMofes, paftes it over 
jn filence; and' Maimonides contends, that it- happened to 
Balaam in a prophetic vifion only. But St. Peter, ii. 16. 
ipeaks of this faCbas literaf and certain, and fo all inter¬ 
preters explain it. St. Auftin, who nnderftands it exaftly 
according to the letter, finds nothing in the whole account 
more furprifing than the ftupidity of Balaam, who heard 
his afs fpeak,. yet (hewed no furprife, but anfwered as if 
he talked with a reafonabls perfon. He is of opinion, that 
this diviner was accuftorr.ed to prodigies like this, or that 
he was ftrangely blinded by his avarice, not to be flopped 
by an event of fo extraordinary a nature. Le Clerc thinks, 
that Balaam might have imbibed the doftrine of tranfmi-- 
gration, which was certainly very common in the eaft; and 
from thence he might be the lefs aftonifhed at hearing a 
brute fpeak. And Dr. Patrick thinks that Balaam was 
in fuch a rage at the fuppofed perverfenefs of his bead 
cradling his foot, that he could then think of nothing 
elfe ; though the concifenefs of Mofes r s relation, who 
mu ft be prefumed to have omitted many circumftances, 
■which if rightly known would difpel all the difficulties in 
this tranfaftion, does certainly furnifti us w ith a better and 
more fatisfaftory anl'weix St. Auftin is of opinion, that 
God had not given the afs a reafonable foul; but permit¬ 
ted it to pronounce certain words, in order to reprove the 
prophet’s covetoufnefs. Gregory of Nylia feems to think 
that the afs did not utter any-word articulately or diftinft- 
ly ; but that, having brayed as ufual, the diviner, whole 
practice it had been to draw prefages from the cries of 
beads and linging of birds,.comprehended eafily the afis's 
meaning by its noife; Mofes defigning to ridicule this 
iuperftitious art of augurers and foothfayers, as-if the afs 
really (poke in words articulate. We muft own, fays Cal- 
met, that this is a miraculous fa ft, related by an infpired 
writer, whofe authority we are not allowed to call in 
queftion in the lead particular : but we ftrould ftudy f'uch 
ways of explaining it as are mod conformable to reafon, 
Vol. II. No. 93. 
and mod proper to folve the difficulties of it, without at= 
tacking tlie truth of divine revelation. 
BA'LABA, one of the fmaller Philippine illands. 
BALACH’NA, a town of Ruftia, in the province of 
Niz.egorod, on the weft fide of the Volga, rzo miles E.S.E-. 
of Peterlburg. Lat. 56.30. N. Ion. 61. 15, E. Ferro. 
BA'LAD, a town of Afia, in the country of Diarbekir, 
twenty miles north-weft of Moful. 
BA'LADAN, the feripture name for a king of Baby¬ 
lon, (Ifaiah xxxix. 1. 2 Kings xx. iz\) called by profane 
authors Bclefus or Belefrs , Nabonajjar or Nanybrus. Baladan' 
at firft was no more than governor of Babylon ; but en¬ 
tering into a confederacy with Arbaces governor of Me¬ 
dia, and rebelling againft Sardanapalus king of Alfyria,' 
thefe two generals marched againft him with an army of 
400,000 men, and w'ere beaten in three different battles. 
But the Baftrians deferting the king, and coming over to-' 
Baladan and Arbaces, the rebels attacked him in the 
night, and made themfelves mafters of his camp. After 
this misfortune, Sardanapalus retreated to-Nineveh, and 
left the command of his army to his brother-in-law Sala- 
menes. The confpiratcrs attacked Sa-lamenes and defeat¬ 
ed him in two battles ; after which they laid ftege to Ni-- 
neveh. Sardanapalus fuftained the (lege for three years; 
but the Tigris, in the third year, oveiilow-ing its banks, 
beat down twenty furlongs of the walls ; whereupon the 
eonfpirators entered the city and took poflelTion of it, .after 
Sardanapalus had burnt himfelf and his mod valuable ef¬ 
fects upon a funeral pile, erefted for that purpofe in his 
palace. Baladan was acknowledged king of Babylon, as 
Arbaces was of Media. Berodach-baladan, who lent 
ambaffadors to Hezekiah, (i-Kingsxx.) was the fon of 
Baladan. 
BALCE'NA,yi [SaXauss, from to caff, from its 
power in calting up water. Kid. Becman thinks it comes 
from jfi-3 to devour, from its voracity.] The Whale. 
In zoology, a genus of the mammalia clafs, belonging to 
the order of ccte. The characters of this genus are thele: 
the balsena, in place of teeth, has a horny plate on the 
upper jaw, and a double fiftula or pipe for throwing out 
water. The fpecies are five, viz. the myfticetus, the phy- 
falus or fin-fifh, the pike-headed, the round-lipped, and 
the mufculus; all which differ from each other in (izfc 
and figure. 
The myfticetus, or common whale; which has manv. 
turnings and windings in its noltrils, and has no fin on the 
back. This is the larged of all animals; it is even at 
prefent fometimes found in the northern fcas ninety feet 
in length ; but formerly they were taken of a much greater 
fize, w hen the captures were lefs frequent, and the filh 
had time to grow. Such is their bulk within the arftlb 
circle; but in thofe of the torrid zone, where they are 
umnolefted, whales are ftill feen 160 feet long. The head 
is verv much diiproportioned to the body, being one-third 
the fize of the firh : the under lip is much broader than 
the upper. The tongue 13 compofed of a foft fpongy fat, 
capable of yielding five or fix barrels-of oil. The gullet 
is very (mall for fo vaft a filh, not exceeding four inches 
in width. In the middle of the head are two orifices, 
through which it (pouts water to a vaft height, and with 
a great noife, efpecially when difturbed or wounded. The 
eyes are not larger than thofe of an ox, and when the cry- 
(talline humour is dried, it does not appear larger than a 
pea. They are placed towards the back of the head, being 
the moft convenient fituation for enabling them to fee 
both before and behind-; as aifo to fee over them, where 
their food is principally found. Thev-are guarded by eye- 
lids and eye-lafhes, as in quadrupeds ; and they Teem to be 
very quick-lighted. Nor is their lenfc - of hearing in iefs 
perfection: for they are warned at great- difta-nces of any 
danger preparing againft; them, it would Teem as if na ¬ 
ture had delignediy given then', thefe advantages, as they 
multiply little, in order to continue their kind, it is true, 
indeed, that the external organ of hearing is not percep . 
tiWe, tbs this might Only enibar-rafs them in their natural 
~.7j element;. 
