The Greek word Bosór, represented by G1007, is derived from the Hebrew name Beor. It appears only 1 time in 1 unique verse in the Bible. Its sole function is to identify the father of Balaam, a Moabite figure mentioned in the New Testament as an archetype of a false teacher.
The single use of G1007 is found in 2 Peter 2:15. The verse describes false teachers who have "forsaken the right way, and are gone astray." Their error is directly compared to the path taken by "Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness." Here, the name Bosor provides a specific ancestral link, grounding the warning in a known Old Testament account of a prophet led astray by greed.
Several related words from its only context in 2 Peter 2:15 illuminate the error associated with Balaam, the son of Bosor:
- G903 Balaám (Balaam, a Mesopotamian): The individual whose father is identified as Bosor. He serves as a symbol of a false teacher Revelation 2:14.
- G4105 planáō (to go astray, deceive, err): This word describes the action of abandoning the correct path, which is the central theme of the passage where Bosor is mentioned 2 Peter 2:15.
- G2641 kataleípō (to abandon, forsake): This verb emphasizes the deliberate choice to leave the "right way" to follow the erroneous path of Balaam 2 Peter 2:15.
- G3408 misthós (pay for service, reward, wages): This identifies the motivation for Balaam's error, which was the love of a reward for unrighteous acts.
- G93 adikía (iniquity, unrighteousness, wrong): This term specifies the nature of the "wages" that Balaam, son of Bosor, loved, defining his actions as morally wrong 2 Peter 2:15.
The theological significance of G1007 is entirely tied to its role in identifying Balaam and the warning against his particular error.
- Apostasy and Error: The name Bosor is part of a key passage on apostasy, where individuals forsake the "right way" (G2117, G3598) and have "gone astray" G4105.
- Symbol of False Teachers: By identifying Balaam as the "son of Bosor," the text anchors him as a real, historical figure who serves as a powerful symbol for all false teachers who are motivated by greed and lead others astray Jude 1:11.
- The Corrupting Influence of Greed: The passage explicitly states that the son of Bosor "loved the wages of unrighteousness" 2 Peter 2:15. This connects the act of going astray directly to a love for wrongful gain, a central theme in biblical warnings against false prophets.
In summary, G1007 is a proper name, Bosor, used once in scripture to specify the father of Balaam. Its importance is not in the name itself, but in how it grounds the New Testament's warning against false teaching in a specific historical context. It is part of a passage that contrasts the "right way" with the erring way of Balaam, son of Bosor, who serves as an enduring example of a teacher corrupted by a love for the "wages of unrighteousness" 2 Peter 2:15.
TRV