PETHOR

(Peʹthor).

The home of Balaam, the prophet who attempted to curse Israel. Pethor was situated “by the River,” apparently the Euphrates, in “Aram-naharaim” (Masoretic text) or “Mesopotamia” (LXX). (Num. 22:5; 23:7; Deut. 23:4, NW, 1953 ed., ftn.) It is generally identified with the “Pitru” of Assyrian inscriptions. Pitru lay on the Sajur River, a western tributary of the Euphrates to the S of Carchemish. However, only if the region designated “Aram-naharaim” or “Mesopotamia” extended W of the Euphrates in this area would such location on the Sajur fit the Biblical description.