Balaam (Βαλαάμ) is the Greek transliteration of Hebrew Bil'am (H1109), whose name possibly means "lord of the people" or "the people are destroyed." In the NT, Balaam appears as a negative example in 2 Peter 2:15, Jude 1:11, and Revelation 2:14 — the prototype of the false prophet who corrupts God's people for financial gain.
Balaam is one of the OT's most complex figures — a genuine prophet who received authentic divine revelation yet chose greed over obedience. Numbers 22–24 records his attempted cursing of Israel and his astonishing blessings instead. But Numbers 31:16 and Revelation 2:14 reveal his deeper strategy: teaching Balak to use sexual immorality and idolatry to cause Israel to sin from within. The devil's most effective attack is often through the corrupted insider, not the external enemy. Jude 11 warns against "the way of Balaam" — using religious position for financial gain.