Numbers · Chapter 23

Bilaam said to Balak: Build me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.

SEVEN ALTARS. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra alluded here to a profound secret. Now Balaam wanted that the Will of G-d should cleave to him through these sacrifices, and therefore he offered burnt-offerings according to the number of them all, and wanted that Balak should occupy himself personally in [offering] them. Therefore Scripture states, and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram, the one slaughtering [them], and the other sprinkling the blood [upon the altar]. And the meaning of [Balaam’s words], I have prepared the seven altars is by way of prayer, as if he were saying: “I have prepared for You the perfect [number of] altars with the perfect [number of] sacrifices; may they come up with acceptance on Your altar,” this being similar to that which Scripture says: Receive the memorial of all thy meal-offerings, and accept the fat of thy burnt-offering, and it also states, I will offer unto Thee burnt-offerings of fatlings, with the sweet smoke of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah, and so also in many places. And the meaning of the definite article [in ‘hamizbechoth’ — ‘the’ seven altars] — Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra has already mentioned. Now in the end when Balaam no longer wanted to meet with enchantments, he did not want Balak to participate in the bringing of the sacrifices, in order that he should not cause them to be rejected on account of his [improper] intention; and therefore Scripture said: and ‘he’ offered up a bullock and a ram, [the singular pronoun] referring to Balaam mentioned [previously at the end of that verse: And Balak did as Balaam had said, and he offered up a bullock and a ram]. It is possible, however, that Balak [and not Balaam] offered them up, for he [Balak] did it to appease his [own] mind, while he [Balaam] no longer desired these sacrifices.

"Seven altars." There are deep mysteries that only a handful of people understand — the seventh among days, months, and years; seven lambs of the burnt-offering; and the seven sprinklings. Similarly, Hashem said to Job: "Take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams" (Job 42:8). When wholeness is given to the Complete One, a spirit of understanding is renewed — and the discerning will understand.

בנה לי בזה, for this is a place from where I can view the Jewish people.

בנה לי בזה שבעה מזבחות, "build me on this site seven altars, etc." Bileam was not prepared to reveal to Balak what he had in mind and why as the mutual trust had been breached. Balak carried out Bileam's request, i.e. he displayed confidence in Bileam at this time. When the Torah adds the words כאשר דבר בלעם, (verse 2) it means that he did so without delay.

בנה לי בזה שבעה מזבחות, “build seven altars for me in this location!” Bileam wanted to equal the numbers of altars which righteous people had built in honour of G-d up until now. They were Adam, Hevel, Noach, Avraham, Yitzchok , Yaakov, and Moses. By sacrificing offerings to the Jewish G-d on each of these altars he hoped to stave off the destruction decreed by G-d on the seven Canaanite nations. This is also why he composed seven separate poems extolling G-d. (Compare 23,7, 1824.) שבעה פרים ושבעה אלים, “seven bullocks and seven rams.” Matching the number seven was a common custom amongst people in those days, and even the Torah, on occasion, also reflects this custom.

Balak did as Bilaam had spoken, and Balak and Bilaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

"A bull and a ram on the altar" — on each altar. This is a concise manner of expression, as if he said: on one altar of all the altars.

ויעל בלק ובלעם פר ואיל, Balak and Bileam sacrificed a bull and a ram (on each altar). It appears that the Torah refers to Bileam doing the offering and not Balak. Bileam had told Balak only to prepare the animals for him. Why did Bileam do something such as this without first obtaining permission from G'd? Had he not been instructed not to do anything other than what G'd would instruct him to do? Some commentators say that Bileam did what G'd had commanded him to do and they base themselves on Bileam saying to G'd in 23,4: "the seven altars which I have established and sacrificed, etc." These words appear to imply that Bileam had carried out G'd's instructions when building the altars and offering the sacrifices. I do not believe that such an interpretation makes any sense at all. It is inconceivable that G'd would desire the offerings of wicked people, especially so when the intent of the person offering the sacrifice was to harm G'd's chosen people. I have found the very opposite in the Yalkut Shimoni item 956 on Proverbs. According to that Midrash Bileam built seven altars and offered seven offerings to match the combined number of altars which the patriarchs are recorded as having built starting with Adam, Abel, Noach, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. We also find in Sotah 47 that Rav Yehudah said that a person should study Torah even for impure motives as in the course of time he would do so for pure motives. The Rabbi claims that the 42 sacrifices Balak offered were the reason (the reward) that Ruth the Moabite who became the great-grandmother of King David was descended from him. In my estimation the correct interpretation of verses 2-4 is that Bileam considered G'd's prohibition as applying only to actions which were in themselves sinful and designed to strengthen the forces of impurity. He did not think that it would be objectionable if he emulated deeds which the patriarchs had performed and of which G'd had obviously approved at the time when the various patriarchs had performed them. This is why he offered these sacrifices in honour of G'd. The Torah uses the definitive article when mentioning את שבעת המזבחות, to show that all Bileam had done he did in G'd's honour; Bileam did this as he wanted to see if G'd objected even to this. He demonstrated his desire to offer more sacrifices to G'd than had the patriarchs, most of whom had built only a single altar. He, Bileam, on the other hand, had built seven altars. This is the difference between the Torah speaking of שבעה מזבחות, or את שבעת המזבחות. Our sages in Bamidbar Rabbah 20,18 have already said that Bileam tried to outshine the patriarchs with the seven altars he built for G'd. Bileam's whole point was to neutralise any advantage the Jewish people might have over him by their reliance on the merits of their ancestors.

פר ואיל במזבח, “a bullock and a ram to be offered on each of these altars.”

Bilaam said to Balak: Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps a word from before Hashem will come to meet me, and whatever word He shows me I will tell you. And he went alone.

'אולי יקרה ה לקראתי PERHAPS THE LORD WILL HAPPEN TO MEET ME — Perhaps: He is not accustomed to speak with me by day. וילך שפי AND HE WENT שפי — Understand this as the Targum does: “alone”; it is an expression denoting ease and tranquillity; the statement means that there was nothing with him except silence (nothing to disturb him).

"Yikareh" — from the root meaning "to meet me" [לִקְרָאתִי]. "And speak" — is connected to what follows. "And he went shefí" — the Aramaic Targum's interpretation is well known: that he went alone. Now, שְׁפִי [shefí] similarly means alone, without a companion. Others say it is like נְכֵאָה לֵב, from the root וְשָׁפּוּ עַצְמוֹתָיו ["his bones shall be laid bare"]. The correct interpretation in my view is that it is from the root קוֹל עַל שְׁפָיִים ["a voice on the bare heights"], and the word can occur with a yod as well as with an alef, like the word פְּתָאִים. The meaning is that he walked toward shefí — a bare height — and the word אֶל ["to"] is omitted, as in "and he came [to] Jerusalem" and "the people journeyed [to] Hatzerot," and there are many such cases. Behold, he was divining as he walked, as it is written: "and he did not go as at other times to seek omens" [Num. 24:1]. I have also hinted here to you a sealed mystery.

התיצב על עולותך, so that you can mentally concentrate on what you are doing during the offering of each single part of the animal, a reminder of the blood being the essence of the animal (Leviticus 17,11). 'אולי יקרה ה, perhaps through my isolating myself I can achieve to see “the King’s face, have him relate to me with a benevolent mien.” Bileam hoped, (perhaps), to achieve the kind of familiarity with G’d which the Torah reports about Moses, whom G’d described as having unrestricted access to His entire “house.” (Numbers 12,7) יקרה לי, that G’d would come toward me, as had happened to Moses at the beginning of his career as a prophet at the burning bush. G’d had waited with addressing Moses until the latter had made up his mind not to ignore the bush that burned but would not become consumed by the flames (Exodus 3,4).

וילך שפי, “he was limping,” as a result of the ass having squeezed his leg against the wall. He was so consumed with hatred for the Jewish people that he did not even take time out to wait until his injury had healed. שפי, the expression in this sense occurs in Job 33,21: עצמותיו and his bones were rubbed away.”

וילך שפי, “he went alone.” Onkelos translates it in this manner. The word does not occur elsewhere in the Bible. Ibn Ezra believes that it is derived from שפיים, meaning “a high place.” The word אל was omitted. We have a parallel construction in Numbers 11,35 נסעו העם חצרות, “the people journeyed to Chatzerot,” where the word אל is also absent. The Torah reveals that Bileam made desperate efforts to find a spot from which he could see at one and the same time the entire Jewish camp; the fact that they were arranged in different directions made this impossible. He moved in the manner of someone trying to find clues on the ground. The word שפי would indicate the fact that the people were scattered (מפוזרות) in different directions. שפ"י is thus an acronym for שה פזורה ישראל "Israel is like scattered sheep" (Jeremiah 50,17). A Midrashic approach (Sotah 10): Bileam was lame on one foot and could not walk upright, dragging one foot behind, his posture making him appear as constantly being at a slant. Samson was lame on both feet, as evidenced by the fact that he is described as שפיפון (Genesis 49,17), while Bileam is described here as שפי.

וילך שפי, “He went alone.” Ibn Ezra, quoting Onkelos, says that the word שפי means “alone,” Other commentators understand the word as meaning “at an angle,” i.e. that Bileam was limping and could not walk upright. They derive this from Job 33,21 ושפי עצמותיו לא ראו, “that (from the context) up until then the deformity of his bones had not become visible.” The correct interpretation of the verse is that it parallels Jeremiah 3,21 קול על שפיים נשמע בכי, ”a sound is heard on the bare heights, weeping, etc.” The word אל, “to,” in front of שפי is missing here.

וילך שפי; he was partially lame; we find the expression in this sense in Job 33,21 ושופו עצמותיו .

And a word from before Hashem came to meet Bilaam, and He said to him: Seven altars I have arranged, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

ויקר AND [GOD] HAPPENED TO MEET [BALAAM] — This is an expression ordinarily used to denote events of a casual character, an expression for something shameful, an expression for an unclean happening (קרי). It is as much as to say: with reluctance and in a contemptuous manner. And on this occasion He revealed Himself to him by day, only to show how dear Israel was to Him (cf. Genesis Rabbah 52:5; Rashi on Leviticus 1:1). את שבעת המזבחות — “Seven altars I have set in order” is not written here, but “THE SEVEN ALTARS”. He said to Him: The ancestors of these people together built before Thee seven altars, but I alone have built altars equal to all of them. — Abraham built four: (Genesis 12:7) “And he built there an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him”; (Genesis 12:8) “And he removed thence unto the mount… [and he built there an altar]; (Genesis 13:18) “And Abraham moved his tent … [and built there an altar]”; and one he built on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:9). Isaac built one: (Genesis 26:25) “And he built there an altar”. Jacob built two, one at Shechem and one at Bethel (Genesis 33:20 and Genesis 35:7); ואעל פר ואיל במזבח AND I HAVE OFFERED UPON EVERY ALTAR A BULLOCK AND A RAM — “but Abraham”, said he, “offered only a single ram” (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 11, Midrash Tanchuma, Tzav 1).

AND G-D HAPPENED TO MEET BALAAM. Because this man had not reached the status of prophecy, therefore Scripture speaks of him in this way, [meaning to say] that now the [Divine] communication came to him by way of chance, and in honor of Israel. Hence it says concerning him, and G-d ‘came’ unto Balaam, for this expression is not used in connection with [true] prophets, but only about a person who has not attained this status. Similarly [we find]: and G-d ‘came’ to Abimelech; and G-d ‘came’ to Laban. It is possible that [the term “coming” in these verses] means the “coming” through speech of the Will from the Most High to the [Separate] Intelligences that cause one to dream, for Balaam also would fall down at daytime, and a deep sleep would fall upon him while he was yet with opened eyes. AND G-D HAPPENED TO MEET BALAAM AND HE SAID UNTO HIM. The meaning [of this verse] is that when an occurrence happened to Balaam in the nature of those experiences which occur to men of Ruach Hakodesh when dwelling alone and a spirit passed before his face that made the hair of his flesh to stand up, fear came upon him, and trembling, and all his bones were made to shake, and his vigor turned into weakness and he fell upon his face to the ground — and then Balaam said, I have prepared the seven altars, this being by way of prayer, as I have explained. But G-d did not hearken to him and his intention, but told him: Thus shalt thou speak.

"And I have offered up a bull and a ram on the altar" — by [divine] command.

ויקר אלוקים, “and G-d met;” the letter ק has the vowel patach under it, to make sure we would understand that this “meeting” of G-d with Bileam would be understood as if per chance, מקרה. Bileam was not able to prearrange a date with G-d. Other examples of the use of this word in a similarly adjusted construction, are found in וירא, instead of ויראה, from the root ראה “to see.” Here we would have expected ויקרה.

ויקר אלו-הים אל בלעם, “G’d ‘chanced’ upon Bileam.” According to the plain meaning of the text the fact that G’d arranged to appear to Bileam was a compliment to the people of Israel. Not only is this expression unusual but the expression ויבא אלו-הים אל בלעם (22,20) is equally strange, never occurring in connection with G’d communicating with any other prophet. This expression only occurs when G’d appeared to people below the level of prophet, such as Avimelech and Lavan (Genesis 20,3 and 31,24). The word ויקר suggests that Bileam experienced a type of inspiration normally only granted to real prophets who enjoy Holy Spirit at the time when they isolate themselves from society, deliberately seek solitude, and are trembling at the thought of being in the Lord’s presence (compare Nachmanides). Later on you will find (verse 16) that ויקר ה' אל בלעם, that Bileam even experienced a vision from Hashem, a higher attribute than אלו-הים. This occurred as a result of Bileam’s visions already having elevated him to a status where he could receive prophetic inspirations from the same celestial source as did Moses. It was then that he realised that the notion of cursing Israel was quite absurd seeing Israel was under the protective wings of the attribute of Mercy. As long as Bileam had been “visited” only by the attribute of Justice he had dared hope that he would somewhere find a weak spot in Israel’s spiritual armor enabling him to curse them so that the attribute of Justice would be arraigned ready to pounce on the people. As soon as G’d addressed him in His capacity as Hashem, Bileam realised that he had hoped in vain. This great “spiritual promotion” which Bileam experienced when he was addressed by the attribute of Hashem did not last long as it had only occurred for the sake of the Jewish people not because of Bileam’s own spiritual achievements. G’d did not want the nations of the world to argue that if they had been granted the caliber of prophet of a Moses they themselves would have become spiritually uplifted similar to the Jewish people. By giving Bileam powers and insights similar to those of Moses, G’d demonstrated to the nations of the world that in spite of having at their disposal a spiritually outstandingly gifted individual such as Bileam this had had no impact on their moral/ethical modes of behavior. This also gave the Jewish people an argument in favor of their preferred standing vis-a-vis G’d when they could point to the fact that the prophet and spiritual leader of all these nations had conceded the spiritual superiority of the Jewish people in that he sang their praises. As soon as Bileam had concluded singing the praises of the Jewish people, i.e. their moral superiority over the other nations, G’d removed this spirit of prophecy from him. He reverted to relying on charms and that is why he wound up being killed by the sword instead of securing for himself the death of the righteous which he had wished himself. A Midrashic approach, based on Vayikra Rabbah 1,12 commenting on the words ויקר אלו-הים אל בלעם. The difference between Jewish prophets and Gentiles who experienced revelations by G’d or visions is 1) the former experience these visions by day whereas Gentiles do so only at night. In connection with Moses’ prophetic experiences the Torah speaks of: “it was on the day that Hashem spoke with Moses,” (Exodus 6,3) whereas in connection with communications by G’d to Gentiles the Torah writes: “G’d came to Avimelech in a dream at night;” (Genesis 20,3); G’d came to Lavan in a dream at night (Genesis 31,24);” G’d appeared to Bileam at night (Numbers 22,20).” The whole matter may be illustrated by a parable. A king had both a wife and a mistress. Whenever he would visit his wife he was not ashamed to do so by day in view of all the people. When he felt the need to visit his mistress he did so only at night, feeling embarrassed to be seen. Something similar occurs when G’d communicates with the prophets of the Jewish people. He has no need to hide the fact and does so by day and He speaks to them outright. This is documented by Leviticus 1,1 “G’d called to Moses.” When He communicates with the prophets of the Gentile nations He does so only in a חצי דבור, “half a communication,” that is why the Torah did not introduce this vision with the word ויקרא, but with the incomplete word ויקר. 2) When G’d addresses the Jewish prophets He uses language which is pure and holy, the word ויקרא brings to mind וקרא זה אל זה ואמר קדוש. When He addresses the prophets of other nations He uses words reminding us of ritual impurity (ויקר suggests קרי, nocturnal seminal emission). 3) A third difference, explained in the form of a parable. A king has two friends both of whom want to have an audience. One is healthy, the other is leprous. Whereas the king grants interviews to both friends he invites the healthy one into his palace while leaving his palace to interview to leprous friend outside. The words ויקר אלו-הים אל בלעם, suggest that “G’d went out to encounter Bileam.” את שבעת המזבחות ערכתי, “I have prepared the seven altars (Bileam speaking).” According to the plain meaning of the text Bileam spoke of the seven altars which Balak had built, on which he, Bileam, had offered sacrifices to the Lord. These offerings were supposed to ensure that G’d would look upon Bileam with favour. According to the Midrash, The reason he used the letter ה when referring to the altars, was to allude to the fact that prior to him seven people had similarly built altars for the Lord and had found grace. The people were: Adam, Kayin, Hevel, Noach, Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov. Each one of these people had built only one altar for the Lord whereas he, Bileam, had built seven altars. [There are other versions of this Midrash omitting mention of Kayin’s altar seeing his offering had been rejected and substituting Moses as building an altar. Ed.]. An approach based on astrology: The reason the Torah speaks about Bileam favouring the number seven is because it represents the medium between four different kinds of cycles, the cycle represented by the day, the cycle described by the week, the cycle described by the month, and the cycle described by the year. The cycle represented by the day is a reference to the orbit described by the sun around earth each day in an east-west direction (remember the author lived in an era prior to Copernicus, Ed.). The “weekly cycle” is a reference to another cycle which repeats itself constantly but at weekly intervals. Similarly, we have the monthly cycle and the annual cycle, all the cycles repeating themselves at regular and predetermined intervals. The cycle which is the medium between the daily cycle and the monthly cycle is the weekly cycle consisting of seven days, i.e. featuring the number seven. It is viewed as something in between the lunar and the solar cycles, the month representing a lunar cycle whereas the day represents a solar cycle. (Compare Maimonides in Moreh Nevuchim 3,43). Seeing that all matters related to nature are governed by this medium cycle and Torah always approximates nature, many commandments reflect this number seven which represents the “happy medium” between the solar and the lunar cycles, both pillars of the system we call “laws of nature.” The number seven also symbolizes the seven planets whose orbits dominate nature in a very recognizable manner. If, say Passover would extend for an entire year, i.e. corresponding to the fourth of the cycles we mentioned, it would not be recognized for what it is and represents. On the other hand, if Passover would be observed for only a single day, corresponding to the first of the cycles, it would be too short to be meaningful. If it were to be observed for a whole month it would be too long and it would lose its meaning and impact on the people observing it. This is why the Torah legislated that it be observed for seven days, corresponding to the second cycle we mentioned. Bileam took his cue from studying the Torah and its relationship to natural events and this is why he chose to build seven altars, not 30, or not one. This is the opinion of Maimonides. A kabbalistic approach: The number seven, the use of the definitive article, i.e. the letter ה when referring to the altars was all carefully calculated by Bileam. He realised that there was a seven-fold connection, link, between G’d and Israel and he wanted to sever each one of them by first matching Israel’s attachment to G’d through building seven altars in G’d’s honour (compare Zohar Balak Sullam edition page 164). Israel is directly connected to G’d on all seven lower emanations. Bileam hoped to draw down to him divine emanations of goodwill not only from these seven emanations but also from the three higher emanations. In this way he would excel what the Jewish people had achieved. His 42 sacrifices rose heavenward from three separate locations. It is possible that the seven altars represented the seven days of the week and the seven lights on the lampstand, מנורה, which are also known as צרור החיים, “a bundle of life.” These represent seven sources of life which are channeled from heaven to earth according to the degree of concentration with which man longs for them. [If I understand it correctly Bileam assumed a reciprocal action and interaction between the offerings he sent to heaven and the inspiration he would receive from heaven in return. Ed.] All of this is alluded to in the letter ה before the word מזבחות, i.e. he meant that his seven altars corresponded to the seven altars in the celestial spheres he was aware of. When he used the word ואעל, “I made rise up,” to describe the offerings he presented instead of the word הקרבתי, this was not accidental. He alluded to the interaction between heaven and earth or vice versa. According to Ibn Ezra who refers to Job 42,8 the mystical dimension of what Bileam did is concealed in the words of that verse, i.e. that G’d commanded Job’s friends who had been guilty of misrepresenting G’d’s attributes and ways of judgment, to offer seven bulls and seven rams after bringing them to Job. Job would then pray for them to receive a pardon for their trespass against the Lord. Bileam realized the mystical power which reposed in the offering of these seven bulls and seven rams in each location. Just as G’d is perceived as שלם, complete, the number seven represents the concept of a complete cycle. By offering a complete cycle to the Complete One, Bileam hoped to attain the בינה input from the eighth emanation called בינה.

ויקר אלוקים אל בלעם, “G’d happened upon (met with) Bileam, etc.” The Torah chose this expression for the encounter between G’d and Bileam in light of the fact that Bileam was not a prophet in the true sense of the word. Communications to Bileam from G’d, or even Hashem as in verse 17, are only due to G’d’s benevolent interest in the Israelites, as at the time of Avraham (Genesis 20,3) when He told Avimelech to return Sarah to her husband. This is also why the Torah speaks of G’d appearing to Lavan, warning him not to harm Yaakov. (Genesis 31,24) We must not err and assume that such nocturnal apparitions or voices of heavenly origin are testimony to the recipients being considered by G’d as especially deserving. שבעה המזבחות ערכתי, “the seven altars which I have prepared, etc.” Bileam sought to secure for himself G’d’s goodwill by means of these offerings, and he wanted that Balak join him in that endeavour. This is why the Torah describes both Balak and Bileam as presenting the bull and the ram offering (verse 2), one of them slaughtering the animal, the other sprinkling its blood on the altar. The meaning of the verse (4) ויאמר אליו וגו, “He said to Him, etc.” are a prayer by Bileam asking G’d to accept his and Balak’s offering. In the course of the account we find that later on Bileam no longer asks Balak to be a participant in his efforts, as he was afraid that Balak’s very presence, -i.e. negative attitude- would disqualify it from having any chance of G’d welcoming it. The subject of ויעל, “he (sing.) offered up,” instead of “they offered up, i.e. only Bileam, reflects precisely this feeling of Bileam that Balak’s attitude should not act as a hindrance to Hashem accepting that offering. Perhaps Balak was indeed a party to this, not because he thought that this might be effective, but because he wanted to appease Bileam.

ויקר אלהים אל בלעם, “G–d met with Bileam.” [This verb does not occur in connection with any other prophet, proving that he was not really a prophet. Ed.] All the scholars wonder why apparently G–d came towards Bileam, when He had never done so to Moses? He called to the latter to come towards Him, as we read repeatedly: ויקרא אל משה, “He called out to Moses!” Some commentators understand the description of the relationship between G–d and Bileam as comparable to a King who sits in his palace and is suddenly visited by a person displaying symptoms of the dreaded disease tzoraat. He calls out at the gate that he desires an interview with the King. When his servants tell the king about this, the king tells them not to admit him to the palace lest he infects the palace with his disease. However, the king declared himself willing to grant the stricken person an audience outside the palace. Although the person concerned wants to speak with him, he does not move from the spot, so that the king relents and admits him to his palace after all.

And Hashem placed a word in the mouth of Bilaam, and said: Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.

AND THE ETERNAL PUT A WORD IN BALAAM’S MOUTH. Some commentators explain that Balaam did not understand the words [he said], but G-d filled him with words and said to him: “Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak, for the words will come forth [automatically] from your mouth.” Perhaps this is also the opinion of our Rabbis, who have said: “He shaped his mouth and formed it [so that he would speak as He desired], like a person who fixes a nail onto a board. Rabbi Eleazar says: It was an angel that spoke: Rabbi Yehoshua says: etc.” But it does not appear to me to be correct [that Balaam did not know what he was saying], because he said [that he] heareth the words of G-d; seeth the vision of the Almighty. But the meaning of [the word] ‘vayasem’ (and He put) is “instruction,” signifying He taught him the words so that he should recite them with his mouth, and he should not forget or omit any part of it, similar to [the expression], teach thou it the children of Israel; ‘simah’ (put it) in their mouths. Similarly, for by the appointment of Absalom this hath been ‘sumah’ (‘put; determined’).

וישם ה׳ דבו בפי בלעם, G'd put words in Bileam's mouth, etc. Although most commentators have already treated this verse exhaustively, they have also left some room for our comments. G'd wanted to use this opportunity to reveal part of the future and to mention the wonderful things that would happen to Israel at that time. He was particularly interested that this future be revealed to the Gentile nations by their own prophet. This is why He chose Bileam as His instrument to predict both Israel's eventual greatness and the other nations eventual downfall at the hands of Israel. When the Gentile nations would be able to note that one of their own had predicted all this it would impress them all the more. Due to the negative spiritual influences Bileam had surrounded himself with, the Holy Spirit which would enable him to foretell the future could not come to rest on him; not only this, but the words of G'd themselves are inherently sacred and not entrusted to a member of an impure nation. This is why G'd had to resort to a special stratagem so that words of holiness would not be spoken in impure surroundings. G'd constructed a barrier between the power of the speaker and the words he spoke, and the "mouth of the pig." This is what the Torah means when it writes: "G'd put a thing, דבר, inside Bileam's mouth." The דבר was the artificial barrier between G'd's holy words and Bileam's mouth. In this way Bileam's mouth was converted into a domain all by itself, divorced from Bileam the person. When the Torah continued וכה תדבר, the meaning is that with the help of this barrier in his mouth Bileam would be able to speak the words of G'd. The Zohar volume three page 210 writes that the word כה is an allusion to something sacred. Students of the Kabbalah will understand what I mean. In the event that you do not understand the nature of this separation within Bileam's mouth, consider Chagigah 15 where the Talmud explains how G'd had divided between different great bodies of water although they are adjoining one another without any visible barrier. The separations between these bodies of water are as thin as a hair. We are also taught in Shabbat 35 concerning the well which accompanied the Israelites thanks to the merit of Miriam that if someone wishes to see it he should climb Mount Carmel and look down into the sea where he would observe something that looks like a sieve. This is the well that used to accompany the Israelites in the desert. שוב אל בלק, "go back to Balak, etc." G'd forced Bileam to say the unpalatable things he was going to say in Balak's presence.

וכה תדבר, “and thus you shall say;” there was no need to spell out the precise wording Bileam was to use at this stage, as long as he would know what would follow.

וישם ה' דבר בפי בלעם, “Hashem put words in the mouth of Bileam, etc.” There are some commentators who derive from this that Bileam was unaware of the utterances he was about to make. G’d filled his mouth with words and told him to go back to Balak and “open your mouth to speak,” and the following words would come tumbling out of his mouth. Perhaps this coincides with what our sages had in mind when they said that G’d twisted Bileam’s mouth until it looked like that of a carpenter having nails between his lips, and is the correct interpretation. I do not think so, for the Torah goes on to quote Bileam (24,4) as saying (about himself): ”the one who hears the sayings of G’d and who sees visions of Shaddai.” שומע אמרי א-ל אשר מחזה שדי יחזה. The meaning of the words וישם...דבר is more likely that G’d trains Bileam so carefully what to say. [The difference between ויתן and וישם is always one of degree, the word always implying a more deliberate action. Ed.] In other words, pronouncements made by Bileam in the name of G’d are not “off the cuff remarks,” uttered casually, but are most deliberate and deserve to be examined minutely.

כה תדבר, “G–d commenced with the same word with which He had announced to Avraham that he would become the founding father of a nation, though at that time he had not yet been able to father a single child. [Compare Genesis 15,5, a conversation between G–d and Avraham which had preceded the command for him to leave Charan in chapter 12. Ed.] He reminded Bileam by referring to that promise that any attempt by him to curse Avraham’s descendants would be futile. In fact G–d had guaranteed to Avraham that his descendants would increase and multiply.

He returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.

He took up his parable and said: From Aram, Balak king of Moab has brought me, from the mountains of the east — come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel for me.

ארה לי יעקב ולכה זעמה ישראל CURSE JACOB FOR ME AND COME EXECRATE ISRAEL — by their two names did he bid him curse them, for perhaps one of them was not distinctive enough to point them out beyond all doubt as being the people against whom the curse was directed.

"And he took up his parable and said" — the parable is: "From the top of the rocks I see him." "From the mountains of the east" — from the east. "Come, curse Jacob for me" — the word וְאָמַר ["and he said"] is omitted, and in Song of Songs there are many such cases; it is a concise manner of expression. "And denounce Israel" — the meaning is doubled, as is the rule, for it is the manner of speech to express a single meaning with varied words, repeating it for emphasis. The word זוֹעֲמָה ["denounce" — fem.] should by rights follow the pattern of זָכְרָה לִי אֱלֹהַי ["remember me, O my God"], except that because the ע, being a guttural letter, is vocalized with a pataḥ, a ḥolam takes the place of the qameṣ-ḥataf between the zayin and the ע.

וישא משלו, he explained in parable form what he had seen in a vision. ויאמר, after having related his vision (which has not been described in the Torah), he proceeded to interpret its meaning He described how Balak had brought him from a region far away.

וישא משלו ויאמר, And he began his parable and said: When Bileam noticed that G'd had neither told him what to say nor had He told him not to speak, he thought he had been given permission to speak. This is why be made ready to say what he had in his mind. At that moment G'd twisted his mouth and tongue and forced him to say something quite different. What Bileam said is introduced by the word ויאמר. We may also understand the verse to mean that Bileam abandoned his prepared parable and instead said what the Torah has recorded here. According to Bamidbar Rabbah 20,19 the words מן ארם ינחני בלק must be understood as "Balak dragged me down from a spiritually high level so that I now face destruction." According to this the word וישא may be understood to mean "he raised his voice lamenting that he had become למשל ולשנינה, an example of someone who used to be of lofty stature and now had become an example of how the mighty had fallen." We may also understand the verse in terms of the different levels of prophecy we discussed in Beha-alotcha on Numbers 12,6. We had stated there (page 1436) that there are some prophets whose powers of perception are not strong enough to be able to cope with a direct effusion of G'd's message. Such prophets receive the message in the form of a parable. Even Jewish prophets had to receive their prophecies in this fashion. It is not surprising therefore that Bileam, a Gentile, received his prophetic inspiration in the form of parables. When the Torah describes Bileam as וישא משלו, the idea is that he considered prophecy as a burden, משא. The reason for this is the extraordinary emotional stress experienced by the prophet. לכה ארה לי יעקב, "come and curse Jacob on my behalf." Inasmuch as there were two categories of Israelites, the righteous and the average ones, Balak had expressed his hope that he could smite at least the average Israelites, the ones described as Jacob as opposed to the righteous who are described as Israel. As to the righteous ones, Balak had expressed the hope to at least drive them out of his proximity. Bileam took his cue from what Balak had requested from him. The word ארה represents a curse of greater intensity than the word זעם, which Bileam reserved for the righteous Israelites. Even Balak had realised that it would be difficult to effectively curse the righteous Israelites.

מהררי קדם, “from the mountains of the East.” This was a repetition as we know that Aram is in the East, (Isaiah 9,11)

מן ארם ינחני בלק...מהררי קדם, “from Aram, Balak...led me, from the mountains of the east;” The word קדם here means “east.” When Bileam quoted Balak as asking him: ארה לי יעקב, “curse Yaakov for me,” he ridiculed Balak for even imagining that it would be possible to curse a nation of whom G’d had said that they were “part of Hashem” (Deut. 32,9). If it had not been for Yaakov, i.e. the Jewish people, i.e. Avraham who had saved Lot the ancestor of Moav, Balak’s nation would not even exist at all. Lot had been saved from the destruction of Sodom only by an act of kindness G’d performed on account of Avraham as we know from Genesis 19,29: “when G’d destroyed the towns of the valley, He remembered Avraham and sent Lot away from there.” Bileam also conceded that he himself was only on earth due to Yaakov who had served Lavan who had admitted that his blessings were due to Yaakov’s presence (Genesis 30,27). The Torah speaks of the sons of Lavan in Genesis 31,1. He, Bileam, was one of the direct descendants of Lavan. In view of the above, how could either he or Balak be so ungrateful as to curse the very people responsible for their existence on earth? לכה ארה לי יעקב, “come curse Yaakov on my behalf!” In this verse Bileam mentions both names of Israel, i.e. Yaakov and Israel. This is proof that when one curses one must mention all the names of the person to be cursed in order for the curse to have any effect. Also, one needs to use the two attributes of the name of G’d representing the attribute of night and the attribute of day. This is why Bileam mentioned both the attribute י-ה-ו-ה and the attribute א-ל in verse 8. [Bileam would not have needed to change the name of G’d’s attribute and could have said: מה אקוב לא קבה א-ל ומה אזעם לא זעם א-ל. You will note that in Psalms 7,12 David does combine זעם with the attribute א-ל, i.e. the problem is not with the type of curse but with the attributes of G’d invoked. Ed.]. In fact, Job did something similar when he cursed the day he was born and said (Job 3,8) יקבהו אררי יום. He had already cursed both the day and the night separately in the earlier verses of that chapter. According to our traditional sources the separate mention of day and night in verse 3 of that chapter was heretical, suggesting that separate powers are in charge of day and night respectively. Concerning that statement our sages in Shemot Rabbah 30,8 claim that this was heresy, (although Nachmanides points out that Jeremiah (20,14) appears to have been guilty of the same offense and no one accused him of heresy). It is also necessary to see the intended victim of one’s curse with one’s own eyes as the curse will then be far more effective. This is why Balak went out of his way to take Bileam to the tops of surrounding hills and mountains. The same principle applies to blessings. In order for blessings to be fully effective the person to be blessed must be within an area that the one bestowing the blessing can see with his eyes. All his names should be mentioned just as Bileam did in 24,5 when he spoke of the goodness of the tents of Yaakov and the dwellings of Israel. When Balak is quoted as having said to Bileam: “curse Yaakov for me,” the question is why he did not simply say: “curse Yaakov?” Actually Balak had not added the word לי “for me.” Bileam had added it to point to the incongruity of Balak’s request. By adding the word לי, Bileam hinted that Balak’s request to curse the Jewish people was equivalent to Balak asking that he himself be cursed seeing he could not have existed but for the Jewish people. We find support for this in Tanchuma Balak 12 where the Midrash says: “whoever curses these people curses himself seeing G’d had told Avraham that anyone cursing him or his descendants would be himself be cursed by G’d” (Genesis 12,3). Every type of curse Balak mentioned in connection with his attempt to have Israel cursed (22,11; 23,13; 23,27) always is accompanied by the word לי, the Torah’s way of saying that such a curse would boomerang on himself.

מהררי קדם, “from the mountains of the east.” The word קדם is reminiscent of the קדמונים, far earlier generations who had erected either a pile of stones, or a מצבה, a monument in the sense of an altar, (Lavan and Yaakov) and had entered into a formal pact of peace between them. They had promised each other that neither would cross these landmarks while intending to harm the other.

ינחני, meaning the same as the past tense הנחני. מהררי קדם, these words are simply a repetition of the words מן ארם ינחני. We know that Aram is situated in the East. Bileam’s point is that Balak bringing him all the way to Moav was an exercise in futility, a strenuous journey which would accomplish nothing. זעמה, I believe that the vowel patach here is indicative of the imperative mode. On the other hand the word zoamoh as it appears in our verse is a feminine construction meaning “being angry.” The construction is similar to the word ochlah in Deuteronomy 4,24 אש אוכלה or שופטה את ישראל in Judges 4,4.

How shall I curse one whom God has not cursed, and how shall I denounce one whom Hashem has not denounced?

מה אקב ולא קבה אל HOW SHALL I CURSE WHOM GOD HATH NOT CURSED — Even when they deserved to be cursed, they were not cursed. When their ancestor, Jacob, made mention of their sin — (Genesis 49:6) “For in their anger they slew a man” — he cursed their anger only, as it is said, (Genesis 49:7) “Cursed be their anger”. When their ancestor, Jacob, went to his father with deceit he deserved to be cursed, but what is stated there (Genesis 27:33)? “Yea, he shall be blessed”. In the case of those tribes who had to recite the blessings it is said, (Deuteronomy 27:12) “These shall stand to bless the people”, but in the case of those who had to pronounce the curses it does not state, “And these shall stand to curse the people”, but, “And these shall stand for the curse”, — it does not wish to mention the term “cursing” in direct reference to them (the people) (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayechi 1; Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 12). לא זעם ה׳” GOD IS NOT ANGRY — As for me, my power lies only in that I know to determine the exact moment when the Holy One, blessed be He, is angry, and He has not been angry all these days that I have been coming to you. And this is the meaning of what is said (Micah 6:5): “O my people, remember now what [Balak, king of Moab] devised and what Balaam [the son of Beor] answered him … that ye may know the righteous acts of the Lord” (Sanhedrin 105b).

"How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?" — the meaning is "curse," and the heh is in place of a vav, like the heh in אָהֳלָה, and similarly the heh in כִּי פָרְעָה אַהֲרֹן ["for Aaron had let loose"]. The word is from the class of doubled-root verbs, whose complete form would be קָבְבוּ, like סָבְבוּ, even though it is an uncommon word. "And how shall I denounce whom Hashem has not denounced?" — from the root זַעַם; the meaning is doubled.

מה אקב לא קבה קל, "how can I curse when G'd has not cursed ( first)?" The problem with this verse is that if G'd had indeed cursed Israel why would there be any need for Bileam to do the same? Balak had obviously invited Bileam to curse people whom G'd had not cursed! Besides what did Bileam mean when he added in verse 9 as justification for his curse or otherwise that he had observed the Isaelites "from the the top of rocks?" What did this detail have to do with cursing or failing to curse the people? In order to understand the matter properly we must first discuss the condition of the person or people who have been subjected to a curse. If the accursed had been guilty he will obviously suffer harm for his guilt even if he had not been cursed at all. If, on the other hand, the person who was subjected to a curse was innocent, and had not done anything which would make him subject to punishment at the hands of G'd, the curse would boomerang on the one who uttered it. The difference between blessings and curses is that if someone receives a blessing though he did not do anything to deserve it, seeing that the power of good exceeds that of the power of evil, the recipient of the blessing will enjoy it though he may not have done anything to deserve it. However, G'd would certainly not cause harm to a person who did not deserve to come to harm. The principal effect of a curse then has to do with G'd's attribute of extending His patience to the sinners and delaying their punishment. G'd's patience extends both to the righteous and to the wicked who are bent on sinning. It is one of the thirteen attributes G'd revealed to Moses and operates at all times when G'd is not angry. G'd's anger, however, is shortlived as we know from Psalms 30,6 "for He is angry but for a moment." At such a time the attribute of Justice is in the ascendancy and the attribute of ארך אפים is temporarily suspended. Similarly, when a person curses his fellow man the effect of the curse is that G'd will no longer extend His attibute of ארך אפים to the guilty person who has now also been cursed. As a result, the attribute of patience may be suspended as far as that person is concerned. If the person cursed did not have to depend on the attribute of ארך אפים, G'd's patience, in the first place, then the curse is quite ineffective against him. Let me explain something else. Every person who commits a sin thereby causes some blemish in the particular מדה, virtue, in the Celestial regions which fulfilment of the commandment he did not fulfil was intended to strengthen. He does not thereby destroy the entire מדה, attribute or virtue, but he causes damage to the root of his soul. The damage expresses itself in that certain spiritually negative forces which ought not to possess any hold on his soul (the sinner's) have been enabled to lay some claim to his soul. These forces now enjoy what should have been the exclusive source of life for the individual who has now sinned. If this proc...

מה אקוב וגו, “how can \_ curse where G-d has not cursed;” seeing that Bileam stood on the top of high rocks, as we have read in 22,41.

מה אקב לא קבה א-ל, “what point is there in my cursing when G’d has not cursed (the same people) first?” Bileam refers to the fact that even when the Jewish people had deserved to be cursed after their disloyal acts committed during the episode of the golden calf, G’d still did not cease to love them. How did Bileam know? The protective clouds did not cease to envelop the people, the manna did not cease to descend from heaven every day, the water from the traveling well did not stop flowing. This was not merely Bileam’s surmise; we have an explicit verse in Nechemyah 9, 18-20: “Even though they made themselves a molten calf and said: ‘this is your God who brought you out of Egypt,’ thus committing great impieties, You, in Your abundant compassion, did not abandon them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud did not depart from them to lead them on the way by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to give them light in the way they were to go. You endowed them with Your good spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth; You gave them water when they were thirsty.” It is possible to explain the choice of Bileam’s words מה אקב לא קבה א-ל as a reference to Yaakov who had been called א-ל by G’d Himself (Genesis 33,20). How could one curse someone who was characterised by G’d Himself as possessing divine attributes? Even when Yaakov had been angry (at his sons Shimon and Levi) and he had cursed (Genesis 49,7), he did not curse the two sons but only their anger, אפם. When Bileam continued: “how can I be wrathful when Hashem has not been wrathful?” He meant that during all these 40 years G’d had not been sufficiently angry at them. His own wisdom was only effective if G’d had first been sufficiently angry at the people (Berachot 7).

How can I execrate whom God has not execrated, he says to me, “Curse them,” which is greater than execrate [kavah], [but] even a simple execration [kavah] I don’t have the power [to do], how much less so a more severe curse [arah]. But according to Rashi, who [says] that kavah is greater than arah, it doesn’t fit at all why he started with arah and ended with kavah. And it’s possible to explain How can I curse Israel who has not cursed God, because when trouble comes upon the nations, they curse their king and their god. But Israel is not like that — even if the Holy One, blessed be He, comes upon them with strength and force, as indicated by the name El, nevertheless they do not execrate, and they do not curse but rather bless even for the bad. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, will not curse them even in their time of disgrace. And how can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced, because the nations transform the Lord from the attribute of mercy to judgment, but Israel has never denounced the Lord, never angered the attribute of mercy to turn it into the attribute of judgment.

'לא זועם ה, did not anger them. We find the verb zoam used similarly in Maleachi 1,4 והעם אשר זעם ה', “the people against whom G’d was angry.”

'ומה אזעום לא זעם ה, “how could I successfully curse someone whom Hashem has not cursed?” Bileam, who specialised in timing G–d’s “moods,” knew that at that time G–d had not had any reason to be angry at His people. If you were to quote the prophet Micah in Micah 6,5, who refers to Bileam having detected that G–d did display anger at Israel at the time, (as interpreted by the Talmud, tractate B’rachot 7,) that anger lasted but a moment and did not enable Bileam to pinpoint accurately. At least Bileam did not have time enough to curse all the Israelites before the curse was turned into a blessing as we know from what Moses said in Deuteronomy 23,6 where he describes G–d as interfering in Bileam’s attempt immediately He had become aware of it. If Bileam had cursed them with the single word: כלם, “make an end of them” he would have had time enough. According to the Talmud the words ותרועת מלך בו, “and the King’s shofar blast is active on their behalf,” (in verse 21 of our chapter) hints at how G–d annuls Bileam’s attempt at cursing the Jewish people. The word מלך, “King,” consisting of the same letters as the word כלם,” destroy them,” shows how G–d interfered with Bileam’s curse. Our author raises an objection to this methodology of turning curses into blessings by quoting the Talmud on the same folio where it reports Rabbi Yoshua ben Levi being harassed by a member of the Tz’doki sect, raising what he considered contradictory verses in the Torah. One day the Rabbi took a cockerel, positioned him at the bottom of his bed, and looked at that bird intently, intending that as soon as the time when G–d is briefly angry would arrive, he would curse that Tz’doki. By the time that hour arrived, the Rabbi had fallen asleep, (and missed his chance). When he awoke, he realised that he had been saved from committing a sin by having fallen asleep at the crucial time, and he interpreted Proverbs 17,26: גם ענוש לצדיק לא טוב, “it is also not good to punish the righteous,” to mean that one must not deliberately become the instrument by which G–d punishes the wicked. Our author questions how Rabbi Joshua ben Levi could have succeeded to successfully curse that Tz’doki at the precise moment of G–d’s anger, as it would have taken too long, according to what we just learned? He therefore comes to the conclusion that what is critical is only if the beginning of one’s curse coincides with the precise moment at which G–d is angry. He supports his theory by pointing to the Talmud in tractate Sanhedrin folio 105 where Rabbi Yochanan is quoted as having said that the very wording of Bileam’s blessings hinted already at the fact that they had been meant to be curses which G–d had reversed. When he had meant to say that he wished that the Israelites would lack synagogues and Torah academies he commenced with the words: ”how goodly are your tents, etc?” [The word אהל for “tent” in which to study G–d’ Torah occurs frequently, commencing with Yaakov in Genesis 25,27. Ed.] He quotes some other “blessings” of Bileam there as similarly revealing what his curse would have sounded like had he been permitted to pronounce it. Clearly, he would not have had time enough to pronounce all these curses in the minute time span G–d remains angry. This proves that the very beginning of uttering what was in his mind is what is critical.

For from the summit of the mountains I behold them, and from the heights I gaze upon them. Behold, this people, by themselves, are destined to inherit the world, and among the nations they shall not be reckoned at all.

כי מראש צורים אראנו FOR FROM THE TOP OF THE ROCKS I SEE HIM — I look at their origin and at the beginning of their root (descent), and I behold them strongly founded as younder rocks and mountains through their ancestors and ancestresses (Rashi translates thus: For (כי) starting from their very beginning (מראש) I behold them firm as rocks) (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 12). הן עם לבדד ישכן LO, THE PEOPLE SHALL DWELL ALONE — This it is what their ancestors have given them as a prerogative: to dwell in the world alone — as is the sense given to the passage by the Targum (“Lo, this people is alone destined to inherit the world"). ובגוים לא יתחשב AND SHALL NOT RECKON ITSELF AMONG THE NATIONS — Understand this as the Targum does — They will not be exterminated with the other nations, as it is said, ( 30:11) “For I will make a full end of all the nations [… but I will not make a full end of thee]”. The words therefore mean: They do not come under the same reckoning (לא יתחשב) with other nations. — Another explanation is: When they rejoice, no other nation rejoices with them, as it is said, (Deuteronomy 32:12) “The Lord will lead him alone to future bliss”, and when the nations are in prosperity they (the Israelites) eat with each one of them and yet it is not taken into account or them thereby to diminish their reward in the future life; and this is the meaning of ובגוים לא יתחשב (“and when they enjoy with the nations it is not taken into account) (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 12).

FOR FROM THE TOP OF THE ROCKS I SEE HIM. The meaning of this is that since Balak had brought him up to Bamoth-baal [which was a high place] to see Israel, Balaam said: “From the top of the rocks and from the hills I look and I see him, for he [is a people that] shall dwell alone, and there is no other nation with him that can be counted together with him, in the way that many [different] peoples and various nations gather together to become one camp — for these [people of Israel] all have one law and one ordinance, and are one nation, dwelling alone by the name of Jacob and Israel.” Therefore he [Balaam] mentioned, Come, curse me Jacob, and come defy Israel, referring to them [both] by their name of honor [Israel] and by the name of their ancestor [Jacob], meaning to say that they are a people alone, and have names befitting them from their ancestors. For Balak did not tell him [Balaam] the name “Israel,” but merely said, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt, as if he was a stranger to them and did not know them, and he was not grateful for the favor that their father had done. And the meaning of Balaam’s words is that “just as I see him now dwelling alone, so will he forever dwell in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone, and he will always be at the head, for no nation will [ever] prevail over him [and cause him to perish], and he will never become assimilated to them [i.e., other nations].

"For from the top of the rocks I see him" — because he was on the bare height [שְׁפִי], which is elevated; proof that שְׁפִי means what I interpreted it to mean is from "and he did not go as at other times to seek omens" and "he turned his face toward the wilderness" [Num. 24:1], and not toward a shefí. It is also possible that "from the top of the rocks" is a metaphor for the decrees that descend from heavenly forces — for he saw with his wisdom that this nation would stand apart and not intermingle with others, even if a stronger nation overpowered it to make it abandon its Torah, as all the other nations have done. "And among the nations it shall not be reckoned" — I will explain this at the verse "He set the boundaries of the peoples" [Deut. 32:8].

הן עם לבדד ישכון, in the final analysis, they are the only people who will eventually populate the earth. This concept is repeated by Moses in Deuteronomy 32,12 ה' בדד ינחנו, “the Lord will guide only them alone.” It will be impossible to destroy them.

ומגבעות אשורנו, “and from the hills I see it.” They encamp by themselves and are totally self sufficient. No other nation can hope to attack them successfully as their Creator has assured them of His ensuring their security. This was the promise we read in Leviticus 25,19, and 26,5.

כי מראש צורים אראנו, “for from the top of rocks I behold it.” According to the plain meaning of the text this is a reference to a place of high altitude which the Torah already alluded to when it described Bileam as climbing a solitary top in verse 3. A Midrashic approach based on Tanchuma 12: The word צורים is a simile for the patriarchs; the word מגבעות, “from elevated hills,” is a simile for the twelve founding fathers of the nations, Yaakov’s sons. The reason Bileam referred to the patriarchs as צורים is because they towered spiritually like mountains tower physically. They have been compared to mountains elsewhere such as in Micah 6,2: “Hearken, you mountains to the case (argument) of the Lord;” The same prophet also calls on these same “mountains” to hear what the Lord is saying when he portrays G’d as submitting His claims against the Jewish people. At the same time the prophet also portrays G’d as appealing to the hills. What is the point of mentioning the hills after the mountain? Clearly both words are similes. Seeing Avraham was the original rock of faith in G’d, his faith, etc., is compared to the leading rock, ראש צורים. The reason the twelve sons of Yaakov are described as hills is that they were on a lower spiritual level than the patriarchs, just as hills are lower than mountains. Having thus referred to the founders of the nation, Bileam now addresses the people at large by saying: הן עם לבדד ישכון ובגוים לא יתחשב, “they are a nation that dwells in splendid isolation, do not consider themselves as belonging to the nations.” The entire sequence of the verses 8-9 is to be understood as: “how can I curse or even express wrath when the nation I am looking at has such an outstanding past and to uproot such a nation is no easy matter both because of their past and because of the future in store for them Their past makes cursing them impossible as towering individuals such as Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov cannot be uprooted by mere mortals. The merits accumulated by the mountains and the hill, i.e. the patriarchs and the twelve sons of Yaakov are more powerful than physical mountains and hills. They (their descendants) will ultimately inherit the earth. When all the other idol-worshipping nations will perish this people alone will survive; this is the deeper meaning of the words: “they will dwell in solitude.” The word לבדד is similar to the word לבד, alone, or the word בדד as we have it in Lamentations 1,1. A hermit is described as בדד, as he isolates himself מתבודד, whereas the word לבדד conveys a double meaning. 1) the people are unique, no other people is like it. 2) They reside in freely chosen solitude, similar to the statement Moses made about G’d in Deut. 32,12 ה' בדד ינחנו “the Lord alone (unaided) guided it (the Jewish nation).“ Seeing Bileam wanted to convey both meanings of the word he did not simply describe the Jewish people as בדד ישכון, dwelling alone, but added the letter ל. The uniqueness of the Jewish people consists both of its sets of laws, the Torah, and of its religion, faith in the invisible Creator not in any intermediaries. Just as the G’d of Israel is unique among the deities of the nations so His people are not an integral part of the family of nations. Moses also alluded to this in his parting address to the people when he said (Deut. 33,29) about the people אשריך ישראל מי כמוך, “hail you Israel, who is like you? He continued extolling the uniqueness of Israel’s G’d saying אין כאל ישורון, “there is none like the G’d of Yeshurun. We find that Daniel foretold the destruction of the other nations whereas the Jewish nation would survive forever (Daniel 7,11), a prediction aimed especially at the Roman Empire which though given a prolongation of life will utterly perish. [The Roman Empire had not even begun during Daniel’s life time. Ed.]. In verses 13-14 of the same chapter Daniel contrasts the eternal survival of the Jewish nation under the kingship of the Messiah with what he had predicted about the fourth kingdom (exile of the Jewish people). An investigative/astrological approach: When Bileam speaks about the צורים, the “rocks,” he refers to the seven planets which form the “bottom line,” or “bedrock” of the world view held by the philosophers of his time. The “hills”, גבעות refer to the 12 zodiac constellations. Bileam drew a comparison between the signs of the zodiac which are affixed to the planetary system in space and to the fixed stars which were perceived as anchored in the earth (read: ‘matter’). Bileam was able to recognize that whereas the people whose world-view, religious orientation, was matter-bound would ultimately perish whereas the Jewish people whose entire orientation was dictated by considerations linking earth to celestial phenomena would survive the collapse of the terrestrial universe when the time comes for this. [The author discussed the time and the meaning of the word עולם, לעולם ועד and יובל as well as יובל הגדול in connection with that legislation in Leviticus 25,8 and elsewhere. Ed.]. The compliment Bileam paid the Jewish people at this time was that they would not have to change their world outlook and their faith when these cataclysmic events would occur as opposed to all other nations who would then recognize the error of their ways [freely translated. Ed.].

As I see them from the mountain tops [rosh tzurim]: [Israel’s] pedigree is not from Terach but rather from Abraham, who was called tzur, as it is stated, Look to the rock [tzur]you were hewn from, to the quarry you were dug from. Look back to Abraham your father (Isaiah 51:1-2). And that tzur acted completely with the Lord and destroyed all of the idols from the land. Gaze on them from the heights: These are the matriarchs. The head of its pedigree is from there. They are a people that dwells apart, etc.: From the day that it was said to Abraham, Go from your land, etc., from then on, he isolated himself from every nation and has no connection to his father’s home or to any other nation, for the Lord took him as His portion. And know that it is so! For the Holy One, blessed be He, has not given a number to any nation besides Israel. And this thing indicates their importance, as we explained above in Parashat Bemidbar. And about this, he said, who can count the dust of Jacob, etc.. As this is a sign that it has no partnership with any [other] nation or language. And this is [the meaning of] not reckoned among the nations. For the notion of any reckoning is a number. So he said that none of the nations have a specific reckoning but rather a general [one]. But Israel has a specific number, even as Judah and Israel are like the sand of the sea. And this is [the meaning of] who can count the dust of Jacob, etc. — even at the time that they are as numerous as the dust of the earth, they are given a specific number. And this number is not enough, but rather even after the numbering, He made them four camps and again gave a particular number to each camp, which is a fourth of the [whole] camp. And this is [the meaning of] what is written, and the number of the fourth part of Israel. And why so much? Rather, it comes to show us that they are the essence of the world; as if there are not four directions in the world without them, and anything that is beyond them is not considered part of the four directions of the world at all. And this is proof that Terach, the father of Abraham, was not part of the [clan], and Abraham is not related to him at all.

כי מראש צורים אראנו, “For I look upon it as if from the top of rocks.” Seeing that Balak had taken Bileam to the nearest available hill in order to afford him a glimpse of part of the Israelites, Bileam uses the simile of rocks and hills when describing the vantage point from which he caught a glimpse of the people. Bileam perceives Israel as dwelling in solitary splendour, no other nation considering itself as its companion, unlike when many nations meet and form a united front or an economic or military union. The Israelites are joined together by a common ancestry that forms their national and cultural heritage known as the Torah. They are known primarily as descendants of Yaakov/Israel. This is why Bileam refers to them once as Yaakov, and immediately afterwards as Israel. (Verse 8) While true to their historic mission, they will always tower over all the other nations, and no one will be able to humble them.

כי מראש צורים אראנו, Bileam now explains why G’d has not angered Israel and does not want to curse them. Now that Bileam has a chance to view their camp from the vantage point of a high rock and from a hilltop, he had begun to appreciate the solitary manner in which this people remains pure, not intermingling with other nations. Not only that, but they have a countless number of small children. The Jewish people are not counted until they have attained age twenty. It follows that they are far more numerous than the census figures would indicate.

Who can count the multitudes of the house of Jacob, of whom it was said they shall multiply like the dust of the earth? Or even one of the four camps of Israel? May my soul die the death of the righteous among them, and may my end be like theirs.

מי מנה עפר יעקב וגו׳ WHO HATH COUNTED THE DUST OF JACOB [AND THE NUMBER OF THE FOURTH PART OF ISRAEL] — Understand this as the Targum does: [who has counted] the infants of the house of Jacob, who are compared to the dust of the earth (Genesis 13:16). The words מארבע משריתא in the Targum mean; [who can count … even one] of the four (רבע “a fourth”) banners (companies of the tribes). — Another explanation of עפר יעקב is: Countless are the commandments which they practise in connection with dust: (Deuteronomy 22:10) “Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass [together]”; (Leviticus 19:19): “Thou shalt not sow thy field with two kinds of seeds”. There are also the ashes of the red cow (Numbers 19:9 ff.), and the dust used in the ordeal to which a woman suspected of infidelity is subjected (Numbers 5:17), and others similar to these (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 12). ומספר את רבע ישראל The word רבע implies their matings — the offspring which issues from their relations (cf. Nedarim 31a; and Rashi on Numbers 24:3). תמת נפשי מות ישרים LET ME DIE THE DEATH OF THE UPRIGHT amongst them.

WHO HATH COUNTED THE DUST OF JACOB? Balaam is saying: “I see them from the top of the rocks dwelling alone, and I cannot count them for they alone are like the dust of the earth, and no man can number the dust of the earth; nor can I count even rova Yisrael (one fourth of Israel) when they are encamped under four standards.” Thus he prophesied that they would increase in number and they shall not be diminished, and the seed of Jacob will always be alone as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered. This is Onkelos’ opinion [as to the meaning] of rova Yisrael [that it means “one fourth” of the total population of Israel, i.e., one standard of the four in which the people encamped].It is also correct that the term rova be [interpreted as in the expression], Thou dost measure my going about ‘v’riv’i’ (and my lying down), of [the same root as in]: Thou shalt not let thy cattle ‘tharbia’ (gender) with a diverse kind, and similar in expression to: and are come forth out of the fountain of Jacob. Balaam said [in this verse]: Let me die the death of ‘yesharim’ (the righteous), and let mine end be like his, meaning that they are those who are inheritors of the Garden of Eden [i.e., they are assured of eternal life after death]. For since the end of man is death, therefore he wanted to die the death of ‘yesharim’ (the righteous), these being Israel, who are called Yeshurun, because they spend their days in goodness. And let mine end be like his — like that of Israel whose portion is in [eternal] life, and who do not go to Gehenna and destruction. Thus the general tenor of Balaam’s prophecy this time was that G-d does not want us to be cursed, and that we are a people [dwelling] alone, His portion and His people; we shall not mix with the [other] nations, nor be counted amongst them, and our end will be good, according to the way of the righteous.

"Who has counted" — and the wonder is that it is not reckoned among the nations, yet it is a great people, numerous as the sand — for one might suppose that only a small nation would not be counted. "The dust of Jacob" — the meaning is that it is as numerous as the dust of the earth. "And the number of the fourth-part of Israel" — a banner of Israel, a single banner, in keeping with "its end I may see, but its entirety I cannot see" [Num. 23:13]. The Aramaic Targum renders the word יְשָׁרִים ["the upright"] well. The meaning in my view is that he desired to die and that his end would be like the end of Israel, who are Hashem's portion and not the portion of the stars — for he himself was a diviner. Some say the clause "may my end be like theirs" is a doubled expression, and that he desired to die the death of the upright, like the upright among Israel, because of his knowledge that he would die by the sword. The Gaon said that "who has counted" refers to Hashem, meaning: You who can count the dust of Jacob — [grant that] my soul may die the death of the upright. If so, what is the meaning of "and the number of the fourth-part of Israel"? And according to the opinion of many, its interpretation is like אָרְחִי וְרִבְעִי זֵרִיתָ ["You scrutinized my path and my lying down," Ps. 139:3] — meaning like my resting-places — and they interpret "the dust of Jacob" as referring to when they journeyed.

תמות נפשי מות ישרים, if I were to die now I do not mind, provided that it would be the death of the righteous who will pass over into another life. ותהי אחריתי כמוהו, so that my offspring be like that of the Israelites. The children of man and those who are the biological issue of him are known as אחריתו, [literally the ones who are following behind him. Ed.] We encounter the word אחרית in this sense in Psalms 109,13 תהי אחריתו להכרית, “may his posterity be cut off. We encounter it in this context also in Daniel 11,4 ולא לאחריתו, “but not for any of his posterity.”

מי מנה עפר יעקב, Who can count the dust of Jacob? Considering the fact that Bileam was desperate to find some way in which to make a curse against Israel stick, he had also investigated another track. That track is one often employed by the forces of the קליפה, the spiritually negative forces. It is the track of "things numbered." We have learned in Baba Metzia 42 that "blessing does not take hold on things which have been numbered, measured, or weighed, but only on things concealed from the eye." Clearly, the author of this saying is trying to tell us that the examples given are subject to the effects of "the evil eye" and even though they may have been blessed such a blessing may not endure. Bileam, the master of the evil eye, had examined if the Jewish people could be hurt by his evil eye due to their having been numbered. He found out that they enjoyed the blessing of not being subject to being numbered. [generally, only males between the ages of 20 and 60 are ever reported as having been counted. Ed.] G'd had promised Abraham long before he had even had a son that his descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth, i.e. not subject to count as one cannot count the dust of the earth. and that as a result no evil eye could invalidate any blessing bestowed upon this people (Genesis 13,16). Although this blessing had been given to Abraham, it had only been fulfilled in the days of Jacob. This is why Bileam referred to "the dust of Jacob." Bileam may also have meant that it would be a practical impossibility to count the whole people even if they wanted to count themselves. G'd had specifically forbidden them to conduct or submit to a headcount. Any attempt to arrive at the number of Israelites had to be conducted via either the counting of coins or some other object, but not the people themselves. ומספר את רבע ישראל, "or numbered the births of Israel?" We have already explained that Bileam had mentally divided the Israelites into two categories, the elite and the average Israelites. He referred to the latter as "Jacob," whereas he referred to the elite as "Israel." When he had said: "who counted the dust of Jacob," he referred to the number of average Israelites, whereas when he referred to the numbering of Israel, he meant the elite amongst the people. He was impressed to have found out that there was an innumerable number of righteous people amongst the Israelites. Alternatively, he may have meant that although the actual number of righteous was not all that impressive, their impact on the Israelite society on the whole made them appear as innumerable. The reverse is true of the wicked. Although they may be large in number, their influence may be negligible. We know this from what G'd said to King Chiskiyah who had complained about the large numbers of Assyrians facing him (compare Sanhedrin 27). G'd assured Chiskiyah that the wicked are not important in proportion to their number. The reason that Bileam referred to רבע is an all...

מי מנה עפר יעקב, “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov?” Who can even count the small dust particles of Yaakov, the young children. They have small children en masse that are never part of any census. The only Israelites that have ever been subject to a census are the ablebodied men between the ages of 2060. In other words, the number of Israelites who have never been couned by far outnumber those that have been counted. Even if we were to assume that some of the adults had been guilty of some sins, the vast majority of them, the children, certainly have not been guilty of any sins. Therefore I am unable to make any curses effective against them. ומספר את רובע ישראל, “nor who has numbered even one quarter of Israel?” Balak himself had told Bileam that only a small section of it was visible from their vantage point. (verse 13) תמות נפשי מות ישרים, “let me die the death of the righteous!” He had foreseen in the stars that he was destined to die by the sword.

מי מנה עפר יעקב, “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov?” According to the plain meaning of the text Bileam asks a rhetorical question: “who can possibly count all the Israelites, they are far too numerous to be counted.” When he said ומספר רובע ישראל, this is a continuation of the same thought, i.e. “who can count even a quarter of the Jewish people?” The word Rova may be a reference to one of the flags, seeing the four camps of the Jewish people each had a flag signifying which group they belonged to. תמות נפשי מות ישרים, “may my (own) soul die the death of the upright.” At this time Bileam wishes for death provided that his own death would also be an entrance to the future in store for the Israelites after the death of their bodies. Just as they have an eternal future seeing they are an integral part of Hashem, so Bileam wished himself a similar future. The reason he gave expression to such a wish at this time was that he had foreseen quite a different death for himself, i.e. a violent death by the sword (according to Ibn Ezra). A Midrashic approach to these verses (based on Tanchuma Balak 12). The words: “who counted,” or “who can count the dust of Yaakov,” is a rhetorical question describing all the commandments which the Jewish people perform involving dust, i.e. the dust of red cow (Numbers 19,9), the dust of the parchment containing a portion of the Torah which a Sotah has to drink to clear her name from suspicion of infidelity to her husband (Numbers 5,17). Thus far the Midrash. Seeing that there are only very few commandments involving the use of earth, dust, the meaning of the Midrash must be that the reward for performance of the commandments involving dust is viewed as especially great, unlimited in fact. Another Midrashic approach views the word עפר as עופר, “young male offspring of the hind.” Bileam acknowledges in an oblique reference the piety of young men (Israelites) who have a powerful sexual urge but conquer their urge to make sure they do not become guilty of indulging it with partners forbidden to them. A scientific/astrological approach: “counting the dust of Yaakov” is an allusion to resurrection of the dead in the future. Seeing that Bileam has already mused about how Israel will survive the destruction of the earth in the distant future whereas the nations of the world will perish, he now muses on the innumerable Jews who will be resurrected from their graves at that time and who will join their brethren who have survived the cataclysm. We know that this will be so from Daniel 12,2: “and many of those who have been asleep in the earth will wake up.” Bileam referred to these people with two different words, מנין and מספר, both meaning “number of.” The reason may be that Israel has been compared to the stars and the psalmist employs the root מנה as well as the root ספר to describe G’d counting stars (Psalms 147,4) מונה מספר לכוכבים, “He counts the number of the stars.” Bileam also refers to Israel both as Israel and as Yaakov in the same verse. We have already explained that Yaakov is the term used to describe the Jewish people in the context of their physical functions whereas the name Israel is applied when their spiritual functions are mentioned. The prophet Isaiah 43,1 speaks of בוראך יעקב ויוצרך ישראל, “the One who created you as Yaakov and fashioned you as Israel.” The second stage of Yaakov’s development is described as resulting in ישראל. The same prophet draws similar distinctions when he describes G’d’s creation of darkness as opposed to His fashioning light, i.e. something superior to darkness. Negative phenomena in this world qualify only for the elementary part of creation בריאה, as opposed to יצירה (compare Isaiah 45,7). By associating עפר with Yaakov, and רובע with Israel, Bileam hints that the soul upon leaving the body returns the four constituent parts of the body to the earth, the dust. The soul is immortal by definition. When Bileam spoke about his נפש dying this was an inaccuracy seeing the soul cannot “die.” [The assumption being that “death” means dissolution of matter which had previously been amalgamated to form a functioning whole. Ed.]. Bileam referred to his body dying. This is not the only time the word נפש means “body.” When the Torah speaks about a נפש כי תחטא what is meant is “the soul in a body which sins,” seeing that a soul without a body is incapable of committing a sin. Similarly, when Leviticus 7,18 speaks of הנפש האוכלת, “the soul which eats,” clearly the meaning is the body inhabited by a soul which eats, as disembodied souls cannot eat. The reason we often find the word נפש when a whole personality, a functioning human being is meant is simply that the body without a soul is nothing; it would hardly do to refer to a human being merely as a “body.” When the Torah wants to include every type of human being, i.e. male, female, minor, senior, priest or layman, the word נפש includes them all. Bileam revealed in these verses that there is a world (after death of the body) consisting of disembodied souls only, and that there is also a resurrection at a later stage when these disembodied souls will be reunited with their former bodies. This latter world is the ultimate purpose of man and his having been created to first live in this terrestrial universe. It is presumed to be generally known that immediately upon death of the body the soul enters the domain of disembodied spirits. Bileam had expressed the hope that when he would die he (his soul) would qualify for immediate transfer to that world (not the region in which the soul is being judged which precedes it). When he added the word ותהי אחריתי כמוהו, he meant: ”may my ultimate destiny be like that of the Jewish people,” i.e. may I enjoy the delights of life in a perfect world after my soul has been reunited with my body. All of this is included in what Bileam termed מות ישרים, ‘the death of the upright.’ The very fact that Bileam wished himself this kind of death and this kind of afterlife is proof that he paid the Jewish people the greatest compliment possible. He thereby acknowledged that Israel would inherit the physical world of the future also. If we had been paid a similar compliment by a Jewish prophet it would have been far less meaningful as Jewish prophets are naturally prejudiced in favour of their own people. When a Gentile, by definition one of our accusers, is forced to affirm our superiority, i.e. to say “Amen” to G’d’s praises of His people, this is of special significance.

And he said, “May I die the death of the upright,” which is in the plural form, and “May my end be like his,” which is in the singular form. Since death is specifically with the body that comes from the father and mother, he called them the upright [in plural]. But May my end be like his is because the end and the remnant are in the souls which come from the source of God, may He be blessed. And the soul is similar to the Creator in five ways (Berakhot 10a). That is why it is stated, like his/His. And Rabbi Yaakov Baal HaTurim explained that the final letters of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have the numerical equivalent of Balaam. And that is May my end be like his.

מי מנה עפר יעקב, “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov?” This is an apt simile, suggesting that they are as numerous as the dust of the earth that defies efforts to count it. ומספר את רובע ישראל, ”or who has numbered even a quarter of Israel?” Bileam declares himself as unable to even count a quarter of the banners of the Jewish people, suggesting that they keep forever increasing in numbers. ותהי אחריתי כמוהו, “wish that my end (final destiny) would be like theirs!” Bileam wishes himself the kind of share in life after death that is reserved for deserving Israelites. None of the Israelites are destined to perish in purgatory.

?מי מנה עפר יעקב, seeing that they have so many small children G’d does not want to curse them. Children do not know right from wrong. In fact, when adults do not know right from wrong G’d is also very reluctant to curse them as we know from the last sentence in the Book of Jonah where G’d makes this point to the prophet. In Yuma 22 the rhetorical question regarding collective punishment is asked: “granted that the adults have sinned, but what have the children been guilty of that they should suffer the fate of their elders?” רבע ישראל, the descendants of Israel. The word is derived from רביעה, a mating process. Man is the product of such a process having taken place between father and mother.

ומספר את רובע ישראל, “or count the number of Israel?” Our author traces the word רובע as related to רביעה, i.e. as a rainfall ensuring ample growth of the grass in the field. An alternate interpretation: he was able to see only one of the four flags denoting the encampment of the four (ארבע) army groups comprising the men of military age. תמות נפשי מות ישרים, “may I die in the same way as do the righteous. Here is proof that there is an afterlife, if Bileam, the arch enemy of Israel wishes for himself the same kind of afterlife reserved for righteous or repentant Israelites. After all, it is indisputable that he was speaking while having been temporarily inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Balak said to Bilaam: What have you done to me? To curse my enemies I brought you, and behold, you have surely blessed them.

The rule of the language is that in the past and future tenses the verbal noun [שֵׁם הַפּוֹעֵל] precedes [the finite verb], whereas in the imperative the order is reversed. There are also unusual forms, such as בָּרֹךְ בֵּרַךְ and בָּא בָא (and שָׁטֹף וְעָבַר).

לקב אויבי לקחתיך, "I have taken (engaged) you in order to curse my enemies, etc." Balak was furious at the blessing; whereas it was true that Bileam had warned him that he was not free to say anything, he had understood this to mean that Bileam was not free to curse, and that in the event G'd would not agree to his curse he would keep his mouth shut. It had certainly not occurred to Balak that instead Bileam would bless the Israelites. Even though Bileam had added that he would have to say the words G'd would put in his mouth (22,38), Balak had understood this to mean that in the event G'd would allow Bileam to curse he would do so with abandon. It had never crossed Balak's mind that someone whom he had hired to do him some good by cursing his enemies could actually turn around and cause him damage by blessing them. The very least he would have expected Bileam to do in such a situation was to refrain from saying anything damaging to his employer. This is what Balak meant by the additional word לי, "to me." והנה ברכת ברך. "and here you have blessed them altogether." We have to understand why the verb ברך is repeated here. We must also wonder why Balak gave Bileam a chance to complete his blessing of Israel and did not interrupt him as soon as he realised what was going on. He could have already clapped his hands at this stage, why did he wait until 24,10? The answer is that Balak was aware that Bileam wanted to trick G'd in order to ultimately curse the Israelites. He did this by lavishing extraordinary compliments on the Jewish people first in order to humiliate them later. When you examine the kind of blessing Bileam bestowed on the Israelites you will find that it actually contained elements of a curse as our sages in Yalkut Shimoni item 771 explain. This was the reason that Balak waited patiently expecting Bileam to get around to the curse. When he found out that Bileam had concluded his speech, he suddenly became aware that the blessings had not been a prelude to curses but were meant as blessings pure and simple. This is why he repeated the word ברך, i.e. the blessing was absolute, without ulterior motive. It is also possible that what "floored" Balak was that he heard Bileam wishing for himself a future similar to that of an Israelite. As soon as he heard this he realised that Bileam's blessing did not originate from his lips but from the depth of his heart. This is why he used the verb ברך in the infinitive, i.e. with a full mouth. If one wants to be oneself like the people one addresses, one naturally blesses those people without restraint.

He answered and said: Is it not what Hashem places in my mouth that I am careful to speak?

הלא את אשר ישים ה' בפי, you already know that He is the G’d of Israel, and that therefore He will only speak well of the Israelites.

הלא את אשר ישים ה׳ בפי, "Did I not tell you that whatever G'd will put into my mouth, etc." Bileam explained that Balak had erred when he thought that Bileam would not be obligated to utter blessings if G'd put these into his mouth. He was not free to shut his mouth and refuse to speak. This is why he added the word אשמר. We have learned in Shevuot 36 that the words ,השמר פן and אל are formulations preceding a negative commandment, and that if one ignores a commandment preceded by these words (by remaining silent) one may become liable to the death penalty. We have not heard previously that Bileam was under such a restriction. Our sages in Tanchuma 12 explain that Bileam said to G'd he would rather die than to be guilty of cursing the Israelites when he realised that G'd watched every move he made. This was the meaning of "may my soul die, etc." However, he acted under duress having become only G'd's mouthpiece. We may also understand Bileam's reply in terms of the Yalkut we quoted earlier that G'd put a bar in Bileam's mouth. When he wanted to curse G'd would twist the bar to make this impossible. He could only feel comfortable physically by complying with G'd's instructions. Otherwise he would become mute. It is also possible that he told Balak that he was hoping G'd would put His words in his mouth, and this was why he spoke about אשר ישים ה׳ בפי, "what G'd is going to put into my mouth I will guard carefully." This is the reason he did not say: "what G'd has put in my mouth." He told Balak that although G'd had put restrictions on what he could say, he looked forward to uttering G'd's holy words even under the forced conditions. He considered it a privilege to become G'd's mouthpiece.

Balak said to him: Come now with me to another place from which you may see them; only part of them you will see, and all of them you will not see — and curse them for me from there.

וקבנו לי — The verb is the imperative: CURSE THEM FOR ME (cf. Rashi on v. 27).

"Its end only" — only its edge. "And curse it for me" [וְקָבֶּנּוּ] — an uncommon form. Grammatically, the imperative is like the future; the only difference between them is the indicator: יִרְדְּפֵהוּ, יִרְדְּפֶנּוּ, יִרְדְּפוּהוּ — "an enemy pursues," "they pursue." This word comes compounded with a nun, and with a ḥolam. According to Rabbi Yehudah the grammarian — the first [to analyze this form] — it is from the root קָבַן; if so, it cannot be an imperative, since it would be found in that case from the simple binyan [Qal]. Perhaps it is a verbal noun, on the pattern of וּמִשְׁמְרוֹ אֶת הַשְּׁבוּעָה ["and his keeping of the oath"].

אשר תראנו משם, so that you can focus on them with your evil eye. אפס קצהו תראה וכלו לא תראה, do not try and look at all of them simultaneously, because if you will do you will not even achieve part of your objective. Compare the meaning of the word כלו, כלה in Jeremiah 46,28 כי אעשה כלה בכל הגויים ..ואותך לא אעשה כלה, “whereas I will make an end to all the nations, I will not utterly destroy you.” [seeing that the Jewish people have been assured that they will never be totally annihilated, do not try and do what is an exercise in futility, but try and make your curse effective against part of them. Ed.]

ויאמר אליו בלק לך נא אתי, Balak said to him: "please come with me, etc." On the one hand, Balak pleaded, i.e. נא; on the other hand he was authoritative as evident from the command וקבנו לי משם, "and curse for me from there!" We can understand this apparently contradictory behaviour by Balak in terms of what is written in Tanchuma 13 that Balak showed Bileam the place where Israel would become ordinary, i.e. after Moses would die there. Balak did not know what caused Israel to be נפרץ, to suffer such a breach. He thought this presaged sinfulness by Israel, but he did not realise that Israel would immediately repent its conduct which would cancel G'd's decrees against them. The word נא was a plea for Bileam to be quick and to seize the moment G'd would be angry in order to curse the Israelites. Balak wanted Bileam to even express the most powerful curse possible, קבה, while G'd would be angry with them.

לך נא אתי אל מקום אחר, “please go with me to another location.” The letter ך here is as if it had been repeated, even though the root is still הליכה, “walking.”

He brought him to the field of Tzofim, to the summit of the height, and he built seven altars and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

שדה צפים FIELD OF ZOPHIM — There was a high spot upon which the watchman (צופה) used to stand to observe whether any hostile force was coming against the city. ראש הפסגה THE TOP OF PISGAH — Balaam was not as expert a diviner as Balak. Balak forsaw that at some time a breach in Israel would originate from there — and as a matter of fact Moses died there, — and therefore he believed that there the curse would certainly fall upon them. “And this (the effects of the curse)” — he thought — “must be the breach which I behold” (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 13).

“And he took him to the field of Tzofim [watchers/seers].” After he could not find any trace of disqualification from idolatry through the roots, he returned to watch and look at the branches, namely to address the offspring through the sin of the Golden Calf that they made. And regarding this, it is said, you will see only its edge but you will not see all of it, because the patriarchs are not included among the children. Furthermore, only the inferior elements of the nation made the Golden Calf, as the tribe of Levi did not consent to it. And he said, from where you will see them, because through the Golden Calf they became exposed, as it is written And Moses saw that the people were exposed (Exodus 32:25), which Rashi explains as “uncovered,” and all the nations saw that the name of God had departed from them because of the Golden Calf. This is the meaning of field of Tzofim, which is an expression of watching/observing. And the answer came to him that they were wrong about this as well, for He did not see iniquity in Jacob, only the mixed multitude alone was the source of that deed. And he took up his discourse and said, etc., God is not a man that He should lie, or a son of man that He should change His mind. He brought him proof of his error, for it is said regarding the incident of the Golden Calf, And the Lord relented from the evil which He said He would do to His people (Exodus 32:14). Is there a change of mind before the Blessed One? Is He not not a man that He should change His mind?Rather, certainly, even initially, it never entered His blessed mind to destroy them, for they did not transgress against Him; but the mixed multitude was the main party in that deed, which they performed through sorcery and divination. And God considered that perhaps Israel might also err after it, so He threatened them with destruction, for a person may threaten but not carry out. Therefore it says which He said He would do and not which He sought to do, because He never sought to do it but only spoke of doing it as a mere threat, not to actually do it. And this specifically to His people, meaning the children of Israel, but regarding the mixed multitude, He did not relent at all, and those who forsake the Lord shall perish through the punishments explained in Parshat Ki Tisa, as Rashi explained with the three types of death sentences given there, etc. And to us it appears as if God changed His mind about this, but God, the Lord, He knows (Joshua 22:22) that even from the beginning this was His blessed intention. But if Israel had acted deliberately in the matter, then certainly He would have decreed an actual punishment for them, and there would have been a genuine change of mind, but this is not the case because He is not a son of man that He should change His mind. Rather, He has said, and will He not do it? — meaning there was only a statement and a verbal threat, not an intention to actually do and establish it. This is what is meant by and will He not do it, and will He not fulfill it? The repetition in this verse is explained as follows: When God said to Moses, Leave Me alone so that My anger may burn against them and I will destroy them, etc. (Exodus 32:10), there was a gentle statement and a good promise to Moses saying, I will make you into a great nation, and there was a harsh pronouncement against Israel. Neither of these came to pass. Corresponding to the good that He said He would do for Moses, it says here, God is not a man that He should lie, for the term “lying” refers to one who promises to do good but does not fulfill it. Corresponding to this it says, He has said — a gentle saying — and will He not do it? And corresponding to the evil, it says, or a son of man that He should change His mind, for the term “changing one’s mind” refers to changing course regarding harm. Corresponding to this it says, He has spoken, and will He not fulfill it? as has been explained. And He said: Behold, I have received a blessing, which means for myself, because I already said May my end be like his, and if I curse them, I will also curse myself. Therefore, I will not retract it. He does not see iniquity in Jacob. You brought me to a viewing field to observe and look at their iniquity and trouble. How can I look if the Lord does not see iniquity and trouble in them? Even those sinners did not completely deny God but rather associated God’s name with something else. This is why it says who brought you up with the letter vav [making who plural]. And our Sages said (Sanhedrin 63a): “If not for the vav in who brought you up, the enemies of Israel [a euphemism for Israel] would have been destroyed,” because with the vav there is an indication that they did not deny God completely, but acknowledged that the Lord is God, and this calf was appointed as king over all the earth by divine decree. Therefore they said who brought you up [in plural]. And this is the meaning of the Lord his God is with him — they claimed that the Lord their God is with him, with the calf, and handed over the leadership to it to be among them as a king, not as an actual god. This is what is meant by the signal of the King is in him. Or it may say that even at the time of sin, “the Lord his God is with him,” they did not completely deny Him, and the signal of the King of the world remained in them. And you should know that this is so, for the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Go down, for your people have become corrupt, whom you brought up (Exodus 32:7). That is, the people that Moses brought up, and this was certainly not said regarding Israel, for it was God who brought them out of Egypt, not Moses who brought them out. Rather, it was certainly said regarding the mixed multitude, whom Moses brought up on his own initiative. And the proof is that Moses said: Why, O Lord, does Your anger burn against Your people whom You brought out, etc. (Exodus 32:11), meaning Israel, whom God brought out of Egypt. For the term brought out applies to Israel who entered Egypt and came out. But regarding the mixed multitude, He said: For your people have become corrupt, whom you brought up, because the term “bring out” does not apply to them, for who put them in that they should come out? And according to the simple meaning, it is possible to explain that the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Go down, for your people have become corrupt, whom you brought up in status through the spoils of Egypt, for from there they became wealthy, and through abundance of gold they made the calf. Therefore, He said: whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, for they were elevated by the wealth of the land of Egypt. But in Moses’ prayer, there was no place to mention this; therefore he said: whom You brought out. “For there is no divination in Jacob, etc.” You already know that the [golden] calf was made through sorcery, and since there is no divination or magic in Israel, certainly the Israelites did not make the calf, but rather the mixed multitude. And if you ask: If they have no divination or magic, then how will they know what God has spoken? Regarding this, it says, at this time it is told to Jacob and to Israel what God has done. For all events dependent on time and season that come into being and pass away will be told to Jacob, even to their little ones, as it is said: And from the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times (1 Chronicles 12:32). And to Israel — that is, to their distinguished ones — it will be told what God has done, because spiritual matters were established by the Holy One, blessed be He, with His own hands, as it is written: The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established (Exodus 15:17), and it is written: How abundant is Your goodness… that You have done for those who take refuge in You (Psalms 31:20). Behold, a people rises like a lion. It is known that the main practice of sorcery is at night, for in it roam all the beasts of the forest — these are the harmful spirits. And all those who engage with them are afflicted and tormented, and when they wake in the morning, their faces are angry, with neither form nor splendor, and they are weak in strength. For most of them starve themselves so that the spirit of impurity may rest upon them. But behold, this people rises from their sleep like a lion, strong and perfectly healthy, and this is proof that they have no dealings with divination and sorcery. On the contrary, he does not lie down until he devours prey, as Rashi explains, that they recite the Shema before bed and drive away harmful spirits from themselves. Thus, certainly, they have no dealings with them at all. And this is the correct interpretation.

He said to Balak: Stand here by your burnt offering, while I draw near over there.

אקרה כה — This means, I WILL BE MET YONDER by the Holy One, blessed be He, for אקרה has a passive sense.

ואנכי אקרה כה, “and I will go toward a meeting yonder.” The letter א in אקרה has the vowel chirik.

התיצב כה על עלתך ואנכי אקרה כה, “stand here by your burnt-offering and I will seek a manifestation (of G’d) thus.” Bileam had reasoned that the Israelites had relied on G’d’s promise to Avraham (after the former had been taught to offer sacrifices in Genesis 15) כה יהיה זרעך, “thus will be your descendants.” They also relied on the merit of receiving the priestly blessing which G’d had introduced by telling the priests כה תברכו את בני ישראל, “thus you shall bless the Children of Israel” (Numbers 6,23). Moses, when requesting permission to traverse the land of Edom had also quoted his own people, Edom’s “brother” as saying: כה אמר אחיך ישראל, “thus said your brother Israel.” Seeing that the formula כה appears to be an appropriate formula for people to gain their objectives, Bileam used the formula כה when “inviting” divine inspiration or grace. He hoped to achieve with his wisdom what Balak would accomplish with his offerings. This is why he used the word כה both when telling Balak to stand by his sacrifices and when referring to his own part in the proceedings.

And I will encounter here/thus. Rabbenu Bachya explained [this means Balaam sought] to nullify from them the blessing of thus shall your descendants be (Genesis 15:5) and thus shall you bless the children of Israel (Numbers 6:23). With this, I can resolve what is concluded in Bamidbar Rabbah (20:7) that when he said perhaps we will strike him, he only sought to reduce them by a twenty-fourth portion of the 600,000, which is 25,000. One might ask: What benefit would this have given him if 25,000 were missing from 600,000? Also, we should examine why exactly 24,000 fell due to his counsel — not more, not less. Rather, certainly his main intention was to nullify from them the blessing of koh [thus] because through this, curses would take effect. Therefore, he only sought to reduce a twenty-fourth portion, just as one deducts a twenty-fourth portion from a se’ah measure (Bava Batra 93b). Similarly, he sought to reduce a twenty-fourth portion, namely 25,000, corresponding to the numerical value of koh (25). But he did not fully succeed, for he only caused the fall of 24,000 — until koh [thus] but not including koh. For when it came to the number twenty-five, the blessings of thus shall you bless and thus shall your descendants be stood firm for them.

And a word from before Hashem came to Bilaam, and He placed a word in his mouth, and said: Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.

וישם דבר בפיו AND HE PUT A WORD IN HIS MOUTH —And what was this “putting”? What would Scripture have lacked if it had stated “[And the Lord met Balaam and said,] Return to Balak, and thus shalt thou speak”? But the explanation is: When he heard that he was not permitted to curse, he said, “Why should I return to Balak to cause him annoyance?” Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, put a halter and hook in his mouth as a person who pricks an animal with a hook to make it go wherever he wants. He said to him, “Despite yourself shall you return to Balak’ (cf. Sanhedrin 105b; Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 13).

AND THE ETERNAL HAPPENED TO MEET BALAAM. Now, in honor of Israel, this man ascended to [the level of] prophesying through the Divine attribute of mercy, by the Great Name [i.e., the Tetragrammaton — here translated as “the Eternal”] that had been revealed to Moses, for until now it says about Balaam: and G-d ‘happened to meet’ Balaam, and G-d ‘came’ unto Balaam. But now he knew that he would not be able to curse them under any circumstances, seeing that He [wanted] to deal graciously with them through the attribute of mercy. For until now, since he [Balaam] heard [the words of G-d] through the attribute of justice, [the Divine Name of Elokim, symbolizing the attribute of justice, is used in all the previous verses], he thought that he might find some pretext [to curse] them because of some sin that they had committed — so that G-d would consent to the curse falling upon them], as we find in [the verse saying]: Therefore He was to be their enemy, Himself fought against them; or [he hoped] that some evil would befall them from G-d, from which they would not be able to save themselves because of the attribute of justice [but now when G-d spoke to him through the attribute of mercy, he knew that he would not succeed in cursing the people under any circumstances]. This is the meaning of [the verse], And Balaam saw that it pleased the Eternal to bless Israel, for Yea, the Eternal will give that which is good in the blessing. The student learned [in the mysteries of the Cabala] will understand.

ויקר ה' אל בלעם, ”Hashem happened upon Bileam.” Up until now G’d had manifested Himself to Bileam only in His capacity as the attribute of Justice; something that had kindled hope within the heart of Bileam that perhaps an opportunity would present itself to invoke this very attribute of G’d against the Israelites when he would recite some of their well known sins. Now that Bileam experienced a manifestation of G’d’s attribute of mercy, i.e. Hashem, he knew that there was absolutely no hope to be able to curse this people. This is why the Torah continues in 24,1 that Bileam saw that it was pleasing in the eyes of Hashem to bless the people.

He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him: What did Hashem speak?

ושרי מואב עמו AND THE PRINCES OF MOAB WITH HIM — But above (v. 6) it states, “And all the princes of Moab”?! As soon as they saw that there was no hope for them in him, part of them went away, and only part of them remained (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 13). מה דבר ה׳ WHAT HATH THE LORD SPOKEN? — This was a derisive expression, as much as to say, “You are not your own master” (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 13).

He took up his parable and said: Arise, Balak, and hear; give ear to my word, O son of Tzippor.

קום בלק RISE UP, BALAK — When he perceived that he was mocking at him, he set himself to annoy him, saying, “Stand on your feet; you have no right to remain seated, seeing that I am sent to you on a mission by the Omnipresent” (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 13). בנו צפור SON OF ZIPPOR — This (the suffix ו to mark the construct) is often found as a Biblical Hebrew form, as in (Psalms 50:10), “beast of (חיתו) the forest”; (Genesis 1:24) “beast of (חיתו) the earth”; (Psalms 114:8), “to a spring of (מעינו) water”.

"And he took up his parable" — which is "like the loftiness of the wild-ox," "as a lion it rises up." "Hearken to me" [הַאֲזִינָה עָדִי] — from the root עַד ["toward me"], as in "you have not returned to me" (Amos 4:6). The meaning is doubled. The vav in "Beno son of Zippor" [בְּנוֹ צִפּוֹר] is added, as in לְמַעְיְנוֹ מָיִם. And the meaning of "God is not a man" — because Balak had said "curse it for me from there," yet He had already said "God has not cursed."

קום בלק, "arise Balak, etc." Why did Bileam insist that Balak arise? According to our sages in Bamidbar Rabbah 20,20 that Balak made fun of Bileam who had become a toy in G'd's hands, Bileam wanted to annoy him. This is why he said to him: "get up and listen!" This leaves the question why Bileam added the word ושמע, "and listen" with the letter ו at the beginning? He may have wanted to tell Balak that he should begin to listen immediately, as soon as he stood up. Alternatively, the reason was because G'd had told Bileam to return to Balak. Bileam interpreted this to mean that Balak had to personally hear all that G'd would have Bileam say the next time. If Bileam had said to Balak simply: "get up, listen, etc," this would have sounded as if the reason Balak was to get up was to enable him to hear what Bileam would say while he was standing. It would not have implied that Balak had to listen. All he would have to do was to be standing. The formulation chosen by Bileam made certain tha Balak understood that he had been commanded to remain standing and to keep listening. One could also understand the exclamation "get up" as a compliment, i.e. it was an elevation for Balak to listen to what G'd had to say (through the mouth of Bileam). Bileam also wanted to make sure that Balak's ears would be properly attuned to what G'd had to say. Balak being granted the privilege of listening to the words of the living G'd, raised him above his previous status of divining the future by means of the צפור, the bird. This is why Bileam added: בנו צפור, "the bird is his son." Up to that time, Balak hade been the "son" of the bird, i.e. the bird had been the senior, Balak the junior. These roles would now be reversed with Balak becoming senior to the צפור. There is yet another way of explaining our verse. We had described two evils Bileam had in mind. 1) He wanted to curse the people of Israel and would have done so had G'd not placed a bar in his mouth preventing him from saying what he wanted to say. 2) Even while he pronounced blessings he endeavoured to phrase them in such a way that they were potential curses. It required the Holy Spirit to translate these "so-called blessings" into the real thing. Bileam was aware that Balak suspected him of blessing the Israelites willingly; he wanted to demonstrate to him that this was not the case. This is why he invited Balak to listen closely so that he could detect in the very blessings Bileam pronounced details which were not beneficial at all. In this manner Bileam hoped to prove to Balak that he was acting under compulsion by a higher force. The letter ו before the word ושמע invited Balak to listen carefully to the double entendre in Bileam's blessings. He added the word האזינה in order for Balak to become aware every time the angel twisted the bar in his mouth to prevent him from cursing Israel outright.

The word of God is not like the words of human beings — human beings speak and lie, nor is it like the deeds of mortals, who resolve to act and then reconsider and change their mind. He speaks and acts, and His every word endures.

לא איש וגו׳ [GOD IS] NOT A MAN [THAT HE SHOULD LIE] — He has already sworn to them that He will bring them thither and give them as a possession the land of the seven peoples, and you think to slay them in the wilderness?! (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Vayera 13) ההוא אמר וגו׳ — Read this in the form of a question: HATH HE SAID, [AND SHALL HE NOT DO IT]? — The rendering of ויתנחם in the Targum, ותיבין ומחמלכין, means, “[and not as the doings of mortals who decide to do things] and again reconsider” — to withdraw from them.

"Has He said and not done?" — אָמַר means "his utterance" [אֲמָרוֹ]. "And spoken" — דִּבֶּר means "his word/speech" [דְּבָרָהּ] — Ibn Ezra gives the nominal forms of these terms.

לא איש א־ל ויכזב, "G'd is not like man who deceives, etc." Bileam described two attributes of man on two levels comparing them with parallel attributes of G'd. 1) Man makes promises to people concerning certain matters; 2) man tries to avoid becoming dependent on others in his dealings. Concerning the former, Bileam says that the essential difference between G'd and man is that G'd keeps His promises whereas man often deceives, disappoints the people who have been promised by him. Concerning the second attribute, Bileam says that whereas man may change his mind concerning matters he had planned which did not involve undertakings to his fellow man, he nonetheless is apt to have remorse, to change his mind before executing his plan. Not so G'd. When G'd decides on a course of action He will not change His mind even if such a change of mind does not involve a third party. The examples that Bileam had in mind were twofold. 1) G'd had said (to the patriarchs) that He would establish the Kingdom of Israel and deal favourably with that nation. 2) He had planned to give His Torah to His people, the people He considers holy. This latter plan was something G'd had not revealed as a promise to anyone beforehand. Bileam said that G'd does not renege on either of these two plans of His, i.e. the promises made to the patriarchs, nor to His plan to give the holy Torah to the Jewish people and to guide them to perform the commandments. If Bileam would be allowed to curse the Jewish people, G'd would have to renege on both of these two plans of His! How could He allow this to happen? [the important part of this approach is the transitive use of the word ויכזב, and the intransitive use of the word ויתנחם. Ed.] Why are the two words ויכזב and ויתנחם both preceded by the conjunctive letter ו? Bileam means that G'd is unlike איש and unlike אדם. It is inconceivable to suspect G'd of acting in a fashion which is despicable even if a mere human being acts in such a fashion. When man deceives or reneges this is considered a serious flaw in his character. How could Balak expect G'd to become guilty of such a character flaw by asking him to curse these people? He would have to descend to the level of human beings to even become capable of acting in such a fashion! The reason Bileam once uses the word איש and once the word אדם, is because when one makes promises to others one is perceived as important, i.e. איש; whereas when one merely plans something which does not involve making undertakings to outsiders, the term אדם is more appropriate. ההוא אמר ולא יעשה, "when He said something, is He not going to do it?" According to the plain meaning of the verse the subject is man. It is, however, possible to understand the verse with the subject being G'd. The meaning would be that in contrast to man, G'd merely has to utter a word and such instructions are turned into deeds all by themselves; man, on the other hand, needs to implement instructions physically in order to accompl...

לא איש אל ויכזב, “G-d is not man who is apt to deceive;” Bileam tells Balak that G-d will not revoke a blessing once He had bestowed it, seeing that the blessings Bileam had bestowed on the Jewish people in His name had been bestowed on a people free from sin. ובן אדם ויתנחם, “nor is He a human being liable to repent what He had said.” There are three different kinds of “repents.” 1) One does not keep one’s word.” 2) One cannot keep it for reasons beyond one’s control. 3) One fails to keep a promise because the intended recipient had committed a sin against the party who made the promise. Concerning the latter two, Bileam says: “nor a human being who repents.”

לא איש אל ויכזב, “G’d is not a man that He should deceive.” Bileam meant: “with words.” Seeing G’d had told him not to curse the people, the idea that Balak would instruct Bileam to curse the Jewish people from a certain lookout point and that G’d would agree was quite absurd. ההוא אמר לא יעשה, “Would He say and not carry out (what He said)?” If the word הוא refers to G’d the whole line is a question. If Bileam merely meant to explain something based on his wisdom, the word הוא refers to a human being who has second thoughts about an oral undertaking on his part who now will not carry out such an undertaking, someone who promises but does not keep his promise. A Midrashic approach based on Tanchuma Massey 7: Bileam who foresaw that there would arise a man in the future who would proclaim himself as god (the founder of Christianity) exclaimed how can it be that a mere mortal so deceives his peers? He predicted that this individual would have to regret what he said seeing he would not be able to demonstrate the truth of it [seeing he was executed. Who can execute a god? Even men who had not claimed to be god were saved from fiery furnaces, etc. Should the god not be able to take care of himself if he really were god? Ed.]. However, of G’d it is to be expected that when He promises something good that He will invariably fulfill this promise, i.e. לא איש אל ויכזב, “G’d is not like man who promises without delivering.” On the other hand, when G’d threatens something harmful, such a threat need not come true (as it is merely a warning for the intended victim to change his ways). This is expressed here in the words ההוא אמר ולא יעשה, “He may say something (and is not bound by it) to carry it out.” Example: G’d told Avraham (Genesis 15,5) to count the stars and to see if he could count them, meaning that his descendants would be equally numerous. The promise was fulfilled as Moses told the people in Deut. 1,10: “here you are today as numerous as the stars in heaven” [no one challenged that statement. Ed.]. This was an illustration of the words: “G’d is not man that He deceives.” On the other hand, although we find the prophet Hoseah 1,9 telling the people (in the name of G’d) “you are not My people,” in Hoseah 2,25 the same prophet assures the people “I will say to Lo-Ammi,“ [the people who had previously been told that they were not G’d’s people. Ed.] “you are My people.” This is an illustration of what Bileam meant when he said about G’d: “He may say, but need not do.” This is the way Tanchuma understands the verse.

לא איש א-ל, G’d is not like man that He could renege so quickly on a blessing just bestowed, seeing that these people have not committed any sin since receiving this blessing. ויכזב, how could G’d he renege without cause? ויתנחם, how could He change His mind? ?ולא יעשה and not do what He had said?

Behold, I have received blessings, and I will bless Israel, and I shall not retract my blessing from him.

הנה ברך לקחתי BEHOLD, I HAVE RECEIVED COMMANDMENT TO BLESS — You ask me derisively, (v. 17) “What hath the Lord spoken”? I will tell you: I have received an order from Him to bless them. וברך ולא אשיבנה AND HE HAS BLESSED AND I CANNOT REVERSE IT — “He” has blessed them, and “I” cannot reverse this blessing. וברך — This is equivalent to וּבִרֵּךְ. This is the rule of the letter ר, as in (Psalms 74:18): “the enemy blasphemeth”, חֵרֵף like חִרֵּף; and similarly (Psalms 10:3): [ובצע בֵּרֵךְ [נאץ ה׳ (where בֵּרֵךְ is for בִּרֵּךְ), which means, He who praises and blesses the robber (בצע) and says, ‘Do not be afraid, for you will not be punished; peace will be unto you’, he angers (נאץ) God thereby (but see Rashi on this verse where another translation is given). — One cannot say that ברך is a noun, for if it were, it would be voweled in both syllables with Short Patach (our Segol), and its accent would be on the first syllable (בֶּרָךְ) because it is a verb in the Piel conjugation, it is voweled with Short Kametz (our Tzéré) on both syllables, and its accent is on the last syllable.

"Behold, to bless I have received" — the verbal noun [שֵׁם הַפּוֹעֵל] functions here as a substantive. "And He has blessed" — this is the past-tense verb, and the meaning is: Hashem has blessed with a blessing, and I cannot reverse it.

וברך, Israel is blessed already.

הנה ברו לקחתי, "Behold, I am bidden to bless, etc." According to our explanation of 23,5 that the word דבר there meant "a thing," i.e. that G'd inserted something inside Bileam's mouth which would insulate the Holy Spirit from Bileam's unworthy mouth, he referred to this when he said לקחתי. This "thing" must have been spiritual in the sense that it was abstract. This may be what the Yalkut Shimoni had in mind when the author called it a מלאך, an agent of G'd. The author of the Yalkut however, does not give the same reason that we gave but says that this מלאך was inserted in Bileam's mouth to prevent him from uttering a curse. Basically, what the Yalkut says and what we have said amounts to the same idea. When Bileam referred to this alien presence in his mouth as הנה, "a presence of some kind," he described this presence as the source of the blessings he was forced to utter. The repeat of the word ברך means that not only did G'd put the potential blessing in his mouth but He made him utter it. The whole verse is Bileam's attempt to show Balak that he acts under compulsion. He adds: ולא אשיבנו, "I cannot even retract it."

וברך ולא אשיבנה, “and when He has blessed, I am unable to reverse this.” The reason is explained in the verse following, i.e. that he had not seen any iniquity amongst the Israelites.

הנה ברך לקחתי, “here I have received instructions to bless.” This is an introductory comment similar to Genesis 27,39: “here from the fat parts of the earth, etc.” Bileam meant to say that he received the blessings from above, seeing G’d had put the words in his mouth. וברך לא אשיבנה, “whom He has blessed I will not contradict. it.” Seeing that the power of speech is G’d’s monopoly (as we know from Exodus 3,11).

הנה ברך לקחתי, I have taken it upon myself to bless (them) this day and I am certainly not going to reverse this blessing. וברך, this word is in the past tense, as is the word חרף in Proverbs 17,5. [same vowel pattern of two successive tzeyreh sounds. Ed.]

הנה ברך לקחתי, ”behold, I have been bidden to bless, etc.” I have received a blessing from the Lord to be an instrument of blessing Israel.” וברך ולא אשיבנה, “and I am unable to reverse the blessing.” He continues justifying the Lord Who instructed him to bless Israel, as this Lord has not found fault with Israel, i.e. לא הביט און ביעקב, and therefore ותרועת מלך בו, “and their King’s acclaim is in their midst.” The expression תרועה, reveals fondness and companionship for the subject to whom it is applied. He Who took this people out of Egypt is powerful indeed, as the prophet Ezekiel has stated also in Ezekiel 17,13: אילי הארץ לקח, “He took away the nobles of the land.”

I have looked, and there are no worshipers of idols in the house of Jacob, nor any who practice vain falsehood in Israel. The Word of Hashem their God is their support, and the Shechinah of their King is among them.

לא הביט און ביעקב וגו׳ HE HATH NOT BEHELD INIQUITY IN JACOB, etc. — Understand this as the Targum has it (“I have seen that there are no worshippers of idols in the house of Jacob”). Another explanation: According to its plain sense it can receive a beautiful exposition: לא הביט HE DOTH NOT SEE — i. e., the Holy One, blessed be He, doth not see און THE INIQUITY which is IN JACOB: when they transgress His Words He does not deal so strictly with them as to pay regard to their iniquitous doings and their transgression by which they infringe His law (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 14). עמל denotes transgression, as in (Psalms 7:15): “He conceiveth transgression (עמל)"; (Psalms 10:14) “For thou beholdest transgression (עמל) and vexation” — and it denotes this because transgression is a vexation (עמל) before the Omnipresent. ה' אלקיו עמו THE LORD HIS GOD IS WITH HIM — Even when they provoke Him to anger and act rebelliously before Him He does not depart from their midst, ותרועת מלך בו BUT THE תרועה OF A KING IS STILL WITH THEM — תרועה is an expression for love and fellowship, as (II Samuel 15:37) “the רעה of David’ — the friend of David; (Judges 15:6) “And he gave her to his friend (מרעהו)." (The translation is therefore: and the fellowship of their king is still with them). In this sense, too, does Onkelos translate it: and the Shechina of their King is among them.

HE HATH NOT BEHELD ‘AVEN’ (INIQUITY) IN JACOB. It [the pronoun “he”] refers to “G-d” mentioned [in Verse 19. G-d is not a man, that He should lie, and not to Balaam, who is referred to in Verse 20: Behold, I am bidden to bless], the verse stating that G-d has not beheld iniquity and falsehood in Jacob, nor has He seen in them anything perverse or any provocation that they have committed before Him, and therefore He is with them, and the shout of His Kingdom is among them, for He will cry, yea, He will shout aloud, He will prove Himself mighty against their enemies. This is the opinion of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, and it is correct. It is also possible to explain that the usage of the word aven here is like [that in the verse], I see the tents of Cushan under ‘aven’ (falsehood). So also the word amal [in the verse before us: neither hath He seen ‘amal’ in Israel — denotes “deception”]. Similarly, under his tongue is ‘amal v’aven’ — meaning “deception and falsehood,” for a thing which will not happen and will not come to pass because it is false, is called aven v’amal [meaning: “trouble and toil”], because a person will only derive from it toil. Balaam is thus stating: “Behold, I am bidden to bless; and when He hath blessed, I cannot call it back, for no man hath beheld in Jacob nor hath anyone seen in Israel any deceit or falsehood. Their Trust is not false. And their hope of Him is not in vain for all their blessings and their confidence will exist forever.” [The usage of the word hibit in the verse before us: lo ‘hibit’ aven b’Ya’akov] is similar in expression to: behold, such is ‘mabateinu’ (our expectation); and they shall be dismayed and ashamed, because of Ethiopia ‘mabatam’ (their expectation) — [thus making the meaning of the verse here to be: “the trust and expectation of Jacob will not end in trouble and sorrow”]. So also ‘v’lo hibatetem’ (but ye looked not) unto Him that hath done this, neither had ye respect unto Him that fashioned it long ago, [where the word hibatetem is] an expression of trust and hope [thus the verse is saying: “you trusted not in Him, nor did you hope in Him”].Balaam states the reason for this, saying: because the Eternal his G-d is with him, Who does not lie nor repent, and the shout of a mighty King is among them, Who will never be vanquished. For by bringing them forth out of Egypt He has [shown] His great might, like the lofty horns of the wild-ox which are above all animals. And so it is not possible that all their blessings should not be fulfilled, seeing that there is no enchantment or divination in Israel!

"He has not beheld iniquity." In my view, it was from this verse that Balak learned to send the women of Moab into the camp of Israel. The meaning is: since God is not like a human being who changes His mind, He has not seen iniquity in Israel — and thus, if there were iniquity among them, the word of Hashem would not be fulfilled; for all His words are conditional, except where there is an oath. Similarly the prophet says: "At one moment I may speak" [Jer. 18:7]. This is the meaning in Balaam's address. "And He has not seen trouble" — the meaning is doubled, for trouble is the brother of iniquity; the meaning is: what does a person bring upon himself in the end through iniquity? Trouble. Thus as long as there is no iniquity beheld in Jacob, Hashem is with him. "And the shout of a king is in his midst" — in the camp of Israel, and this refers to וּתְקַעְתֶּם תְּרוּעָה ["and you shall sound a teruah," Num. 10:5].

ותרועת מלך בו, whenever the whole camp begins to journey or to make camp they blow the trumpets to express the joy of having their King with them.

לא הביט און ביעקב, "He has not seen iniquity in Jacob, etc." We must try and understand this by reference to a part of the Zohar called Raaye Mehemenuta volume 3 page 265 where we are told that when man sins, the sin leaves a physical impression on the part of his body with which he committed the sin. Our sages consider such parts of the body as being blemished. The meaning of the word און is the name of the physical blemish which results from the commission of a sin. Proverbs 30,20 describes the adulterous woman as saying לא פעלתי און, "I have not done any wrong." We find the same expression in Psalms 125,5: "The Lord makes them go the way of evil-doers." Bileam says that he could not detect any physical blemishes on the body of the people called Jacob which would bear testimomy to their having committed evil. We have already explained that Bileam described the "average" Israelite as יעקב, whereas he described the spiritual elite as ישראל. He meant that though, intellectually speaking, the Israelites had erred on occasion, the result never was serious enough as to leave a blemish on their bodies. Bileam took his cue from the description of the Jewish people in Song of Songs 4,7: כלך יפה רעיתי ומום אין בך. "You are completely fair My beloved, you are totally free from any blemish." The sins the Israelites had been guilty of from time to time did not leave a permanent blemish, nothing that could not be cleansed by a thorough washing. Shir Hashirim Rabbah on Song of Songs 1,5 "I am black and yet beautiful" echoes this sentiment. ולא ראה עמל בישראל "neither has He seen perverseness in Israel." The word עמל usually means toil. Bileam means that G'd did not even find amongst the elite of Israel the kind of temporary blemish which can be scrubbed away only laboriously. Alternatively, the word און refers to sins of an intellectual nature, similar to Psalms 66,18: "Had I had an evil thought in my mind, etc." Bileam says that G'd does not consider the Israelites culpable for evil thoughts, only for evil deeds. Evil thoughts do not leave behind them the kind of permanent damage that evil deeds do. To make this distinction clear, Bileam uses the expression הבטה in connection with such intellectual sins as opposed to the expression ראיה. The former is a far more intensive kind of look than the latter. What may appear a serious sin at first glance, i.e. ראה, turns out to be less so on doser examination, הביט. The reason Bileam used the word און in connection with Jacob was to tell us that even the sins "Jacob," i.e. the average Israelites had been guilty of at one time or another, did not leave a permanent mark so that we can call Jacob blemished. As far as the elite, the צדיקים amongst the Israelites are concerned, לא ראה עמל, He did not even see that they had sinned by in intent, certainly not by deed. By referring to עמל, toil or burden, Bileam also wanted to convey that although the righteous Israelites perform a host of commandments they do not consid...

ותרועת מלך בו, “and their King’s acclaim is in their midst.” A reference to the camp of Israel; Bileam refers to what we have read in Numbers 10,9 about the efficacy of the trumpets.

לא הביט און ביעקב, “He has not seen iniquity in Yaakov.” According to the plain meaning of the text Bileam meant that the people are not guilty of any iniquity. If they were guilty of iniquities the good they experience at this time would not endure long seeing that G’d’s promises are all linked to the condition of the recipients of blessing remaining worthy of them. Seeing that at this point in time they are not guilty of any iniquity ה' אלו-היו עמו, “the Lord G’d is with it (the nation).” Not only that, but they enjoy the privilege of blowing the teruah, i.e. the sound of the shofar of the King (G’d Who blew it at Mount Sinai) signifying His approval. I have heard that the reason why Bileam had to refer to G’d as “King” in the course of his blessings was because G’d made him reverse his intended curse. We know that if a blessing is reversed for some reason, the person concerned would be wiped out instantly through the power of G’d’s curse. In Hebrew such destruction would spell כלם. The letters in the word כלם are the same as in the word מלך, “king”, only rearranged. Bileam surreptitiously chose the word כלם, anticipating a moment when G’d angers and would reverse the blessings the Jewish people enjoyed at that moment. By mentioning the word מלך, the Torah indicated that any curse Bileam had had in mind was already converted into the opposite, a blessing, just as the word כלם reversed means King instead of destruction. This was what Moses referred to in Deut. 23,6 when he reminded the people [who, of course had been unaware of all this seeing none of it had been witnessed by a single Israelite. Ed.] that G’d in His great mercy had turned all of Bileam’s intended curses into blessings. Some commentators understand these words as: “when is the Lord G’d with the people? When they blow the teruah of the King, i.e. when they demonstrate that they journey at G’d’s command as indicated by the pillar of cloud moving from the Tabernacle.” [The reason that this sound is blown, compare Numbers 10,6]. According to this interpretation the word תרועה is related to רעות, companionship, i.e. the people seek out the Shechinah, G’d’s companionship. A kabbalistic approach: The expression ה' אלו-היו is a reference to the mighty hand of G’d employed during His orchestration of the Exodus. Moses had described this in the following words: אשר הוצאת מארץ מצרים בכח גדול וביד חזקה, “who took you out of Egypt with great force and a strong hand” (Exodus 32,11). Bileam paraphrased these attributes of G’d when describing the assistance Israel received from above. He acknowledged that the attribute Hashem was indeed Israel’s national G’d. This is the כח גדול Moses had spoken of. ותרועת מלך בו, “and their King’s acclaim is in their midst.” This is a reference to the “strong hand” we mentioned earlier. To make sure we understand this Bileam added immediately: ”the G’d who took them out of Egypt.” This is also why Onkelos renders this as “the Presence of their King is among them.” The word תרועה is related to רעיא, the כלה described in Song of Songs [chapter 4,8 where the Targum understands the word as the “Jewish people, the companion of G’d.”]

לא הביט און ביעקב, “He observed no iniquity in Yaakov.” Bileam explains why he had said that he could not countermand any blessing, i.e. why Hashem would not retract blessings bestowed on Israel. They had not given Him any cause to do so. Not a single person among the Israelites had become guilty of dealing deceitfully. The meaning of the word און in our verse is iniquity based on lies, deceit. Lies are referred to as און as well as עמל seeing that as a result of lies man is apt to reap only עמל, fruitless endeavour. Bileam is explaining that seeing he had been commanded to bless the people they would not be burdened with fruitless endeavours, their expectations would not be disappointed, prove deceptive, i.e. כזב. The reason why this is so is that they do not place their trust in powerless idols but in the Lord, the Creator, the supreme power that is able to make good on His promises. He had displayed that power when taking this people out of Egypt where their condition had seemed totally hopeless. The awesome display of G’d’s power at that time was comparable to the lofty horns of the wild ox. Seeing that there is no liar or cheat among them, how could their blessings be revoked?

לא הביט און ביעקב, He does not want to punish them even when they commit sins (in error). His is what is meant in Job 11,11: “when He sees iniquity He does not discern it.” ותרועת מלך בו, from the word ריע, companion, as in Proverbs 18,24 איש רעים להתרועע, “there are friends to keep one company.”

God who brought them out of Egypt — the strength and the exaltation are His.

אל מוציאם ממצרים GOD BROUGHT THEM OUT FROM EGYPT — You said, (Numbers 22:5) “Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt” — it did not come out of its own account, but God brought it out (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 14). כתועפת ראם לו means [GOD BROUGHT THEM OUT OF EGYPT] IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE STRENGTH BEFITTING HIS SUBLIMITY (רום) and loftiness. Similar is (Job 22:25) “and silver of strength (תועפות)" — they (the word תועפות here and in the verse quoted) are both expressions signifying strength. — And I say that really it has the same meaning as the verb in (Genesis 1:20) ועוף יעופף which signifies: a bird that raises itself into the heights and lofty spheres — and this is evidence of great strength. Accordingly ותועפות ראם really signifies “a flight in the heights”. — Another explanation of תועפות ראם is: “the strength of Reemim” and our Rabbis said that this refers to “the demons’” (their strength is subject to Him) (cf. Gittin 68b).

"God who brought them out of Egypt" — this is Hashem who was with him, mighty, who showed signs in Egypt. "Like the loftiness [כְּתוֹעֲפֹת]" — like the horns of the wild-ox; and the interpretation of תוֹעֲפוֹת is strength, as in "and the loftiness of mountains is His" [Ps. 95:4]. It is also possible that the meaning is the horns of mountains; and "silver of loftiness is yours" [Job 22:25] means: the silver of the mountain-peaks. It says לוֹ ["to him"] as in "the shout of a king is in him [בוֹ]." The meaning is that this God has placed strength in Israel, and all of this because he cleaves to Hashem and seeks nothing except from Him — for they have no need of diviner or soothsayer.

כתועפות ראם לו like the horns of a wild ox for him, seeing that it does not act like a lion, a predator. It only pushes with its horns like a wild ox, i.e. while it wants to expel the nations living in the land of Canaan. It is not bent on killing the inhabitants unless they resist occupation. We find a matching verse in Psalms 80,9 תגרש גויים ותטעה, “You (G’d) expelled nations and planted it. (Israel in their place)” All of this because G’d is not interest in the death of people. This is also the meaning of what our sages said in the Jerusalem Talmud Sheviit 6,1 “Joshua sent three letters to each of the nations inhabiting the land of Canaan; offering them a number of choices: 1) anyone wishing to emigrate can do so and will not be molested. 2) anyone wishing to make peace with us, i.e. to surrender, is welcome to do so. 3) anyone wishing to resist us by fighting us is welcome to do so.” The people of Canaan were obstinate attacking the incoming Israelites so that the latter were forced to kill them. It is clear therefore that the Jewish nation did not behave at all in the manner a lion behaves when he looks for prey. Instead, they acted in the manner of a wild ox when it feels forced to resist opposition.

א־ל מוציאם ממצרים, "G'd who has brought them out of Egypt, etc." Although the Talmud Berachot 38 understands the word מוציא as if it were in the past tense [in connection with the benediction we pronounce before eating bread, Ed.], the fact is that Bileam used the present tense rather than the past tense about G'd orchestrating the Exodus. Why did he do this? Perhaps we can best explain this in light of the statement in Pessachim 116 that every Jew throughout the ages must bring himself to feel that he himself took part in the Exodus of our forefathers from Egypt. In fact, basing themselves on this statement in the Talmud, the Kabbalists are sure that each and every year on the anniversary i.e. the night of the 14th of Nissan to the 15th, people have a chance to get rid of spiritually negative influences, the forces of the קליפה which they absorbed during the year, and emerge with all the sanctity of their souls intact. Bileam therefore alluded to the annual renewal of the spiritual part of the Exodus experience that the Jewish people experience. He even provided a reason for this when he said כתועפות ראם לו, "they are for him like the lofty horns of the wild-ox." This is an allusion to G'd continuously elevating the Jewish people spiritually to ever higher levels. This process will continue until every vestige of spiritual impurity has been purged from the Israelites. כי לא נחש ביעקב ולא קסם בישראל "for there is no enchantment in Jacob nor is there any divination in Israel." Bileam employs a double entendre; on the one hand he uses the word נחש in the sense it is used by sorcerers, on the other he alludes to the original serpent, the original temptress, seducer. Bileam claims that on both counts the Israelites are in the clear. They do not have anything to fear from either as they do not indulge in the practice of any kind of magic. Eventually, Jacob will become totally free of the evil urge, the angel of death, etc. Compare Zachariah 13,2 "I will remove the spirit of impurity from earth." ולא קסם, this refers to an impurity of a lesser degree. Bileam says that the Israelites will not even be afflicted by this and will be on a higher spiritual level than the angels. We know this from our sages in Bamidbar Rabbah 20,20 who told us that the words יאמר ליעקב מה פעל א־ל are an allusion to the angels asking and consulting Israel about the works of G'd.

כתועפות, like the lofty horns;” the construction of this word implies that there is more than one of these horns. Our author cites Zecharyah 5,2 as a parallel, מגלה עפה, “a flying scroll.” The horns of the Reem, are twice as strong as ordinary horns. Although there is no known animal nowadays that is called Reem, the Torah uses the mythical animal as an example of this creature possessing strong horns. People in Moses’ time were still familiar with that species.

אל מוציאם ממצרים, “the G’d who takes them out of Egypt.” Bileam counters Balak’s statement that the people of Israel had left Egypt under their own power, without Divine assistance (compare 22,5). He explains that G’d performed outstanding miracles overcoming horoscopic forces according to which the Israelites should have remained in Egypt much longer. Seeing he had already referred to תרועת מלך (in the sense of their being the King’s companion) he now describes that their companionship is the result of His taking them out of Egypt. כתועפות ראם לו, “is for them like the horns of an aggressive ox.” In this simile Bileam compares G’d’s power to that of a wild ox just as elsewhere Hoseah had compared Him to a roaring lion (Hoseah 11,10). These two animals are the most powerful ones in creation; seeing that the Torah employs syntax which is understandable in terms of our use of the language it is not a downgrading of G’d’s greatness to employ such similes. The Torah endeavours to make its message understandable to our ears (Tanchuma Yitro 13 et al). A Midrashic approach: the word תועפות is derived from עוף, bird. When the Israelites sin even marginally, G’d reduces their loftiness like a bird descending; on the other hand, when they perform G’d’s commandments they soar like birds (Tanchuma Balak 14). The Midrash derives this thought from Isaiah 60,8: “who are these who fly like heavy clouds?”

כתועפות ראם לו, “He is for them like the horns of the wild ox.” The word תועפות is equivalent to “double, twice as much.” G–d’s protection for His people has been demonstrated to be at least twice as strong as the strength of the wild ox. The word: וכפלת in Exodus 26,9, is rendered by the Targum as ותעוף. We find that expression also used in Job 11,17: תעופה כבוקר תהיה, “you will shine you will be like morning,” (when the light is especially bright.) Bileam likens G–d to the wild ox in His listening to human beings, just as on other occasions the prophet Hoseah 11,10 likens G–d’s roaring to that of the lion, and the prophet Amos 3,8 also compared Him to a lion, as inspiring fear and dread.

For omens do not avail to bring good upon the house of Jacob, nor does divination prevail over the multitude of the house of Israel. In due time it will be declared to Jacob and to Israel: What has God wrought!

כי לא נחש ביעקב FOR THERE IS NO ENCHANTMENT IN JACOB — For they are worthy of blessing since there are no enchanters or diviners amongst them. כעת יאמר ליעקב וגו׳ IN DUE TIME IT SHALL BE SAID TO JACOB etc. — Once again will there be a time as this time (כעת) when the love which God bears them will be made manifest in the sight of all, because they sit before Him and learn the Torah at His mouth, and the place assigned to them will be inward of that of the ministering angels and these will enquire of them, מה פעל אל WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT. This is the meaning of what is said, (Isaiah 30:20) “And thine eyes shall see thy Teacher” (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 14). — Another explanation is that יאמר ליעקב does not express what is to happen in the future but expresses what takes place in the present: They require no enchanter nor diviner, for at every time (כעת) when it is necessary that there should be told to Jacob and to Israel what the Holy One, blessed be He, hath wrought and what are His decrees on High, they do not do enchantment nor divination, but it is told to them (יאמר ליעקב) by the mouth of their prophets what is the decree of the Omnipresent (מה פעל אל), or the Urim and Thummim declare it to them. — Onkelos, however, did not translate it thus.

FOR THERE IS NO ENCHANTMENT IN JACOB. “They do not need an enchanter or a diviner to tell Jacob and Israel what hath G-d wrought and what are His decrees on high. They practice neither enchantment nor divination [in order to know such matters], because they are told through the word of the prophets the decree of G-d, or the Urim and Thummim declare it to them.” This is Rashi’s language. The correct interpretation appears to me to be that since Balaam [himself] was a diviner, and Balak sent to him saying, for I know that he whom thou blessest through thy means of divination is blessed, and he whom thou cursest through them is cursed, and he sent him the tools of divination, therefore Balaam said to Balak: “There is no enchantment in Jacob which can do them evil or good, neither is there any divination in Israel to harm them or to benefit them, for at all times it shall be said to Jacob and to Israel: ‘What hath G-d wrought for them?’” For out of the mouth of the Most High proceedeth to them evil and good, meaning to say that the portion of the Eternal is His people, and they are not under the rule of the [celestial] princes and the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof, so that one should be able to harm them by means of divination and enchantment, as [one can harm] other nations. This is similar to that which Moses said: [… all the host of heaven …] which the Eternal thy G-d hath allotted unto all the peoples under the whole heaven. But you hath the Eternal taken and brought forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be unto Him a people of inheritance, as I have explained in Seder Acharei Moth.

"At this time it will be said to Jacob" — at this very time; and the meaning is: at all times it will be said to them, without the knowledge of augury. "What God has wrought" — what God will do; the past tense is used because everything is already decreed — and even if it is future, it was already decreed from the beginning. This is said to Israel in the manner of prophecy, which is the truth. "To Jacob and to Israel" — a doubled expression in prophecy, as in "from the top of Senir and Hermon" [Song 4:8].

כי לא נחש ביעקב, the reason why G’d took the Jewish people out of Egypt and expels other nations in their wake by providing them with the horns of a wild ox is that they are a generation of people looking for G’d and His proximity instead of relying on all kinds of demonically inspired methods of divining the future. Moses spelled out this stark contrast between the Jewish people and their gentile neighbours in Deuteronomy 18,14 when he said: “for these nations that you are about to dispossess do indeed resort to soothsayers and augurs; to you however, the Lord your G’d has not assigned the like.” כעת, at any time they wish to know what the future holds. 'יאמר ליעקב ולישראל מה פעל ה, they will be told by means of a prophetic message or through some other divine revelation what G’d has decreed. They will not be told what the various constellations of the stars appear to portend. The reason is that their fates are subject to direct supervision by G’d, not to the intermediaries He has appointed for that purpose for the gentile nations.

כי לא נחש ביעקב, “for there is none in Yaakov who relies on enchantments.” Compare use of that term in Genesis 30,27, where Lavan credits his financial success during Yaakov’s stay with him to such enchantments. We find it again when Joseph’s servant upon searching for the missing goblet credits his master with using it as such an instrument (Genesis 44,15). Here it is used by Bileam to tell Balak about the futility of engaging in such enchantments when dealing with the Jewish people. No sorcery will succeed in bringing a curse on Israel. כעת יאמר ליעקב, “now it will be said of Yaakov;” Bileam refers to the year following after the Israelites have crossed the river Jordan. At that time many of the miracles that G-d has performed on behalf of the Jewish nation will be recited in public. The expression is similar to: 'מה רבו מעשיך ה, “how great and manifold are Your works o Lord.” (Psalms 104,24) We know the expression כעת, as referring to the same time in the following year when the angel announces to Avraham that his wife will have son at the same time a year hence. (Genesis18,14) ליעקב ולישראל, concerning Yaakov and Israel;” but not concerning Avraham and Yitzchok, as only Yaakov/Israel had managed to raise all his children in the Avrahamitic tradition.

כי לא נחש ביעקב, “for there is no divination in Yaakov,” seeing the people are close companions of the Lord and cleave to Him they have no need for divination, magic, etc. Israel can have prophetic revelation about what G’d is going to do at any time it chooses. All G’d’s activities have been decreed in advance. A Midrashic approach: The words כעת יאמר ליעקב ולישראל מה פעל א-ל, mean that this is a reference to the arch-angel Michael of whom Daniel said (Daniel 12,1) “at that time there will stand Michael, the great heavenly prince, who stands in support of the children of your people, etc.,” The words יאמר ליעקב ולישראל refer to times when the Israelites experience G’d’s goodness seeing they qualify for the title of יראיך, “the ones who revere You.” We have another verse in Isaiah 23,18 where the prophet assures G’d’s manifest support for those who revere Him i.e. “for those who sit before the Lord will have adequate food and clothing.”

כי לא נחש ביעקב, “for there is no recourse to divination amongst the descendants of Yaakov.” Nachmanides writes, seeing that Bileam himself resorted to divinations as a tool of his trade, and Balak, who had been well aware of this had even sent him charms with which to ply his trade, charms to employ in his quest to curse Israel, Bileam felt compelled to explain now why such charms would be completely useless if used against Israel. Israel, i.e. Yaakov, have access to G’d all the time, and never have to rely on divinations to get a glimpse of what the future holds in store for them. Their fate is not determined by intermediaries of G’d, such as astrological constellations, but G’d, personally, involves Himself in supervising their fate. They are an integral part of G’d, חלק ה' עמו], compare Deut. Ed.] Concerning Israel there is already a prophecy describing that nation as rousing itself like a lion in its prime, as a result of which it will attain ascendancy among the nations of the world as does a fully grown lion among the beasts. It will not come to rest in its own land until it has first devoured the previous inhabitants, much as a lion does not rest until it has devoured its prey. It will drink the blood of its enemies, (Onkelos‘ allegorical description of Bileams’ parable.) In effect, Bileam’s message to Balak was that the Israelites would eventually conquer the land of Canaan. Balak was aware that they had no designs on his country. Nonetheless, he wanted Bileam to curse them and he hoped that at least Bileam might be able to weaken that people, inflict some kind of defeat on them; this is why he persisted in taking Bileam to yet another vantage point from where he could see part of that nation. By saying (verse 26) קבותו לי משם, “curse it for me from there,” meant that he had given up on the blessings being revoked, but merely hoped that by adding a curse he, Balak, might achieve some partial victory, as had been achieved by the Amalekites and the Canaanites in the south of the land of Canaan who had put their army to flight. (21,3) Alternately, Balak hoped that by means of Bileam’s curse, all the lands of the Moabites that had been conquered by Sichon would be restored to him now.

Why does G’d make His residence among them and is fond of them? כי לא נחש ביעקב, there are no sorcerers and other magicians among these people, they do not rely on necromancers, etc., to tell them about future events. Rather, כעת יאמר ליעקב וישראל מה פעל א-ל, seeing that G’d’s benevolent Presence resides among them and they have access to divine sources through their prophets they have no need for such unreliable assists as snake charmers, necromancers, astrologers and the like. כעת יאמר, what will occur tomorrow or in the distant future is revealed to them by means of their prophets. When Monauach and his wife had been foretold that the son that was going to be born to them would be a Saviour for his people who were severely harassed by the Philistines, Monauach’s wife was sure they would not die as a result of such a revelation as there would be no point in G’d taking the trouble to reveal this part of their future to them if He were about to let them die. (Judges 13,22) Not only that, but why would G’d have accepted their offering at that time if they were about to die? The expression כעת usually refers to the following year. Seeing that the angel had used that expression, Mrs Monauach felt certain that she would not die during the next year, otherwise how could the angel’s prophecy come true? A similar incident occurred in Kings II 4,16 where the promise of a baby being born to a woman during the following year was equivalent to telling her that she would not die before then.

כי לא נחש ביעקב, the word נחש here is to be understood as in Genesis 30,27: נחשתי ויברכני, “I have through testing found out that G–d has blessed me economically by your presence.” Bileam explains why it would be totally useless to even try and manipulate G–d [to Whom he refers to by the ineffable name. Bileam is seen by the sages as reincarnate of Lavan, and both, refer to the G–d of Israel by the ineffable name, a name that Pharaoh refused to admit he had ever heard when Moses used it. Ed.] He adds that in case Balak thought that granted that he could not curse the Jews in the name of G–d, why did he not invoke other deities or means of divinations to do so, he makes plain that no such קסם, sorcery, would be effective. כעת יאמר ליעקב, “at a time when it will be said of Yaakov and Israel all that G–d had has wrought;” we find this construction also in Genesis 18,10: כעת חיה ולשרה בן, at this time next year Sarah will have a son.” G–d will continue to perform miracles for Israel until all the nations will have to acknowledge this. This is an alternative of such expressions as מה רבו מעשיך ה', “How great are Your manifestations o Lord,” (Psalms 104,24)

Behold, the people rises like a young lion, and like a lion lifts itself up — it will not lie down in its land until it has slain the slain and inherited the possessions of the nations.

הן עם כלביא יקום וגו׳ BEHOLD, THE PEOPLE RISES AS A LIONESS, etc. — When they rise from their sleep in the morning they show themselves strong as a lioness and as a lion to “snatch at” the Divine precepts (to perform them immediately) — to clothe themselves with the Tallith, to read the Shema and to lay Tephillin (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 14). לא ישכב HE LIES NOT DOWN at night on his bed until he consumes (עד יאכל) and destroys every noxious thing which comes to prey upon him (טרף). How so? He reads the Shema at his bedside and commends his spirit into the hands of the Omnipresent (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 14). If a camp or troop comes to injure them, the Holy One, blessed be He, protects them and fights their battles and causes them (the enemies) to fall slain (חללים).— Another explanation of הן עם כלביא יקום is as the Targum has it (“Behold the people shall dwell as a lioness and as a lion shall he raise himself; he will not dwell in his land until he hath slaughtered and he will inherit the wealth of the peoples”). ודם חללים ישתה AND HE SHALL DRINK THE BLOOD OF THE SLAIN — He unwittingly foretold the future — that Moses would not die until he will have made the kings of Midean fall slain (חללים) and he (Balaam) will have been slain with them, — as it is said, (Joshua 13:22) “And Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among the rest of their slain (חלליהם)" (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 14).

Balaam prophesied also about them [Israel] that he will rise up ‘k’lavi,’ which is the lion’s whelp, and afterwards he will lift himself up like a [fully-grown] lion, and he will not rest in his Land until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the kings of Canaan, as Onkelos explained it. Thus Balaam added now in this second prophecy [to the words of his first prophecy], telling Balak that they [the Israelites] would conquer the Land and kill mighty kings. Now Balak knew that the Israelites would not receive his land as an inheritance, and therefore although Balaam told them now that the Israelites would ultimately conquer the kings of Canaan, Balak still wanted [Balaam] to curse them so that [Balak] would be victorious [over them], and that he would be able to overcome them, and possibly he could fight against them and inflict losses on them. Therefore he still said, [Come now], I will take thee unto another place; peradventure it will please G-d that thou mayest curse me them from thence. Balak did not [ask Balaam] to withdraw the blessing [which he had previously given Israel], since he had already informed him, G-d is not a man, that He should lie, neither the son of man, that He should repent, but he thought: “Indeed the Israelites are destined to conquer the land of Canaan, which is their inheritance, and to kill their kings; but it is still possible that I will prevail over them and inflict losses on them, as did the Amalekite and the Canaanite who dwelt in that hill-country, who smote them even unto Hormah.” Balak intended to do this because of his fear of them, as he mentioned to the elders of Midian, or it may be that his purpose was that he should be able to reconquer all [that land] which the Israelites had captured from the possession of Sihon which originally belonged to Moab, as is stated explicitly in the words of Jephthah. I have already mentioned this.

"Behold, a people rises up like a lioness" — a hint that they will conquer the kings of Canaan. The interpretation closest to plain sense refers to the nearest event, such as the war of Midian, unparalleled in battle — not a single one of Israel's seed fell, five kings were slain, and the young women who had not known a man in the manner of a male were thirty-two thousand. "And the blood of the slain" — referring to the plunder, "all their wealth" [Num. 31:9]; and by way of derash: "Moses shall not lie down until he has devoured prey" — this is written after "be gathered to your people."

כלביא יקום, in order to go to battle against those who have not attacked them at all. עד יאכל טרף, they will consume and destroy those nations who from now on will be like prey in their teeth.

הן עם כלביא יקום "Behold, it is a nation that arises like a lion etc." The word הן suggests that the speaker concurs with something another person has said. An example would be what we learned in Shabbat 119 that on Friday night when the Jew returns from the synagogue to a house in which the table is set for the Sabbath meal, also the "evil angel" who accompanies him has to answer Amen to the wish expressed by the "good angel" that this Jew should do likewise in the week to follow. [The concept is preserved in the song יום שבת קדש הוא sung on Friday night, i.e. ומלאך רע יענה אמן. Ed.] In our situation Bileam expressed the wish that the Israelites continue their virtuous ways. Bileam mentions two categories of lion in this verse. לביא refers to a lion that arises for the first time. Soldiers who are inexperienced in battle do not usually distinguish themselves for bravery the first time they go to war. Not so the lion. He displays bravery already the first time he faces an adversary. Bileam applies this quality to the Jewish people. The Jewish people proved valiant though they had a history of hundreds of years of slavery behind them. Nonetheless they overcame such mighty kings as Sichon and Og. Bileam continues וכארי יתנשא, saying that unlike other nations who gradually lose their strength, becoming exhausted by the many wars they fight, the Israelites will lift themselves up like a mature lion time and again without showing signs of age. Bileam may also have alluded to the fact that in addition to the strength granted them by G'd, this people enjoyed a reputation that made other people shudder at the mere mention of their name, (compare Joshua 2,24 "all the inhabitants of the country have melted before us"). The words כלביא יקום describe Israel's actual valour; the words וכארי יתנשא describe its image amongst the nations. לא ישכב עד יאכל טרף "it will not lie down until it has consumed its prey." Other nations interrupt warfare at nightfall, giving the losers a respite; not so Israel. Once it is at war it will continue without interruption until successful. Compare Joshua 10,12-13 where Joshua is described as commanding time to stand still in order to complete the pursuit of his enemies. Israel is not ready to lie down until it consumes part of its prey. ודם חללים ישתה, "and it will drink the blood of the slain (enemies)." It is human nature that the more the casualties in war mount, the more important the value of the survivors. This is so when one thinks of the enemy in terms of life or death. Not so when the Jewish people go to war. Seeing they relate to the blood of the fallen as a drink to slake their thirst with, the number of fallen does not act as a brake on their desire to kill more of their enemies. Bileam was specific in describing the blood of the fallen as something the Israelites would drink, i.e. absorb into their bodies, thereby confirming what we have already mentioned that the spark of sanctity which was trapped inside the fa...

ודם חללים ישתה, “and he shall drink the blood of the slain.” This refers to the statement about the lion drinking the blood of the prey he has slain. He eats the flesh and drinks the blood.

הן עם כלביא יקום, “behold they are a people who will arise like a lion.” This was a hint that Israel would defeat the kings of Canaan (according to Ibn Ezra). I think it is more likely that it is an allusion to the war against Midian (the punitive expedition in Numbers 31,49) an unheard of miracle as it was a war in which Israel did not suffer a single casualty. Five Midianite kings were slain in that war. There were no fewer than 32,000 young women who had still retained their virginity (31,35); we can therefore imagine the total number of warriors that the 12,000 Israelites must have faced in that campaign. ודם חללים ישתה “and drink the blood of the corpses.” This is a reference to the booty that was seized. A Midrashic view: The comment about Israel rising like a lion is a simile about Jews getting out of bed in the morning and devoting themselves to the performance of G’d’s commandments, such as the wearing of tzitzit, wearing phylacteries, and reciting the kriyat shema. The comment about “lying down only after consuming the prey,” is also a simile. Even when lying down to sleep at night they do not go to sleep without first consigning their souls to G’d in heaven. He prophesied that Moses would not die until after Israel had avenged itself from the Midianites. We know this from Numbers 31,2: “take vengeance for the people of Israel from Midian; after that you will be gathered in.”

הן עם כלביא יקום, “they are a people that rises like a lioness;” Bileam tells Balak that far from being humiliated, this nation will rise to greater heights, as do lions.”

Balak said to Bilaam: Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.

גם קב לא תקבנו NEITHER (גם) CURSE THEM AT ALL [NOR (גם) BLESS THEM AT ALL] — The first גם adds something to the second גם and the second גם something to the first גם, similar to (1 King 3:26): “Neither mine (גם לי) nor thine (גם לך) shall it be”; and similarly (Deuteronomy 32:25): “also youths (גם בכור) also maidens (גם בתולה)” (i.e. both youths and maidens).

גם קב לא חקבנו, "neither curse them, etc." Both the word גם, "also," and the repetition of the verb קב present a difficulty in this verse. Inasmuch as Bileam had told Balak to get up and listen carefully (23,18), Balak interpreted this as a hint that Bileam actually wanted to curse the Israelites but that G'd had thwarted him, as we explained. In view of what had just occurred he said גם to express his dismay that not only had Bileam not cursed the people but had even blessed them. He referred to two possibilities of cursing when he repeated the word. Alas, Bileam had not only not named Israel as the object of a curse but had not even uttered a curse without specifically naming the victim. We may infer from Balak's words that Bileam had been looking for a way of uttering a curse without at the same time incurring punishment at the hands of G'd. He wanted to utter a curse indiscriminately, naming the victim only in his heart. This is the reason that G'd had to prevent him from even uttering a curse without naming anybody. גם ברך, "also blessing, etc." In view of the fact that Bileam had explained to Balak that the blessings he had uttered were forced upon him, Balak now demurs saying that if he could not curse them at least he was not obligated to bless them. Balak was under the impression that G'd twisted Bileam's mouth so that a blessing came out only because Bileam had tried to utter a curse first. He repeated the verb i.e. לא תברכנו, do not bless them, to protest even a blessing which Bileam did not mean honestly.

גם ברך לא תברכנו, “at least do not bless it!” Bileam was concerned that Bileam’s blessings for the Jewish people were referring to the immediate future. He had no idea that Bileam spoke of what would occur in the distant future.

Bilaam answered and said to Balak: Did I not speak to you, saying: All that Hashem speaks, that will I do?

ויען בלעם…לאמור Bileam replied…saying, etc. What is the meaning of the word לאמור, in this context? To whom was Balak supposed to relate Bileam's words? Bileam meant that what he had told Balak previously was to make plain to Balak that he, Bileam, had to curse or to bless at G'd's whim, that he was not free to even keep his mouth shut.

Balak said to Bilaam: Come now, I will bring you to another place; perhaps it will be the will from before Hashem, and you will curse them for me from there.

וקבתי לי — This is not a command as is וקבנו (v. 13), but it is a future tense: perhaps it will seem right in His eyes that thou shalt curse them for me from there; malderas in O. F.

"And curse it for me" [וְקַבֹּתוֹ] — from the class of doubled-root verbs, like וְסַבֹּתִי אָנִי ["and I turned" — Eccl. 2:20].

אולי יישר בעיני האלוקים וקבותו לי משם, perhaps this section of the people will be more deserving of a curse.

לכה נא אקחך, "come on, please, I will take you, etc." The word נא in this context is merely a sort of reluctant acknowledgment of what had already happened. Balak wants to try again from another vantage point. The reason he had not yet given up hope was that he thought that the two locations from which he had shown Bileam the Israelites were opposite the righteous Israelites, the ones who had never provoked G'd's anger. He tried to find a location from where Bileam could see the whole people. He was convinced that amongst such a large number of Israelites there had to be some sinners whose presence would provide Bileam with an opening for applying his curses. Balak says "perhaps G'd will agree, etc." When he added: "and curse them for me," instead of saying "and curse them," he meant that G'd did not have to approve a curse against Israel as long as He did not prevent Bileam from speaking his mind.

Balak brought Bilaam to the summit of the height that overlooks the face of Beit Yeshimon.

ראש הפעור THE TOP OF PEOR — Balak was a great soothsayer and he foresaw that they would once be punished on account of Peor, but he knew not by what. He said: Perhaps the curse will fall upon them from there (be effective against them if pronounced there). So, too, all astrologers: they see something that will once happen but they know not exactly what they see (cf. Sotah 12b).

"The top of Peor" — "and he did not go to seek omens," therefore the spirit of God rested upon him. This he did because he saw that there was no augury in Jacob.

And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor. Now they returned to the third approach, because they saw that they had no place to cast aspersion or blemish, neither on the roots nor on the branches. If so, they [the Israelites] are in a state of perfect completion, and anything that is perfect in every way is more susceptible to the evil eye having power over it. This happens when one blesses one’s fellow with a loud voice and recounts his praises loudly so that all the nations hear and become jealous of them, introducing the evil eye among them, and through this, it will be considered a curse for him. Therefore, they took [him to] the top of Peor so that he would open his mouth without restraint and loudly recount their virtues.

Bilaam said to Balak: Build me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.

ויאמר בלעם אל בלק בנה לי בזה, “Bileam said to Balak: ‘build for me in this spot, etc.’” On the previous occasion the Torah reports Balak personally as building the altar (verse 14). Perhaps the reason was that at that time Balak still entertained some hope that Bileam would get around to cursing the people. Now, after Bileam had blessed the Israelites twice, he considered the situation as beyond repair and he was in no hurry to build more altars but took his time before following Bileam’s instructions.

Balak did as Bilaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.