Trance

In the UPDV the term gathers around Balaam, whose two oracle-superscriptions describe him as falling down with his eyes open while he hears the words of God and sees the vision of the Almighty.

The Two Balaam Superscriptions

The third oracle opens: "He says, who hears the words of God, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, and having his eyes open" (Num 24:4). The fourth oracle expands the formula by adding the Most High to the address: "He says, who hears words of God, And knows knowledge of the Most High, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, and having his eyes open" (Num 24:16).

The shared phrase — falling down, eyes open — describes the prophetic state in which Balaam delivers his utterances: a posture of physical collapse held simultaneously with open-eyed seeing of the Almighty's vision and open-eared hearing of the divine words.