ויסעו בני ישראל, “The Children of Israel resumed journeying;” after the victory of the men over Og and his army they brought their wives and children to encamp on the east bank of the Jordan river in the region between the rivers Arnon and Yabok.

וירא בלק, “Balak saw,” (realised) Balak heard, as in Exodus 20,15: וכל העם רואים את הקולות, “and the whole nation saw the thunder.”

ויגר מואב, “Moav was afraid;” when the Moabites saw that the Israelites after having conquered the land of Sichon, part of which the latter had conquered from Moav, had not restored that part to them, the original owners, they suspected the Israelites of having designs on their land also. Moreover, they realised that seeing that the Israelites had overcome Sichon, who had previously overcome them, they would have no problem overcoming the remaining part of Moav. They did not realise that legally speaking, the lands formerly belonging to Moav had been acquired by the Israelites legally, as they had conquered it from a nation that had made war on them although not provoked. (Compare Talmud, tractate Chulin folio 60)

ויגר מואב,”Moav was afraid (of the Israelites) but not the Bney Ammon, as Rashi has explained on Deuteronomy 2,9, where the Israelites were told by G-d not to harass the Moabites.

ויאמר מואב אל זקני מדין, “Moav said to the elders of Midian, etc.;” They were their neighbours and they were contractually allied to them. We know this from Genesis 36,35: where Midian is referred to as having made common cause with Moav. Combined, they had defeated Haddad ben B’dad.

עתה ילחכו, “now they will lick up, etc.” after the Israelites had defeated Sichon and surrounding areas, they were afraid it would be their turn next.

כלחון השור, “like the ox licks up, etc.;” the ox licks the grass with its tongue, which acts like a comb as it has no upper dentures, like all the beasts that are pure and allowed to be slaughtered by the Israelites.

ארץ בני עמו, “the land of his people,” the people of Bileam.

אולי אוכל נכה בו, “perhaps I can inflict a defeat on it;” the plural mode in the word נכה i.e. “we will inflict a defeat,” is not as surprising as it appears at first glance. We find a parallel in Song of Songs: 1,4: משכני אחריך נרוצה, “draw me after you, let us run.”An alternate interpretation: “Let us inflict a defeat on it, you and me by engaging it in war; “I will wage war, and you will do the cursing.” The use of the word הכאה, “striking” in the sense of cursing is also not unique, as we find it in Jeremiah 18,18: לכו ונכנו בלשון, “come and let us strike him with the tongue.

ואגרשנו מן הארץ, “so that I may drive them out of the land.” Balak is referring to the land that Sichon had taken from Moav during the rule of Moav’s first king.

וקסמים בידם, “with tools of divination in their hands.” The “tools” were books of instruction on that subject, as explained by Rashi. This is also how the Jerusalem Targum understands this phrase. We find a parallel of this when even in our time, sorcerers utter curses by sticking needles into dolls symbolising the party to be cursed. An alternate interpretation: Balak’s emissaries took financial rewards with them to pay Bileam for the use of these instruments used in sorcery. Compare Targum Yonatan on Nachum 3,17, according to Rabbi Chavell.

וישבו שרי מואב עם בלעם, “the emissaries of Moav stayed overnight with Bileam. They did so as they did not know anyone in Midian who would offer them hospitality. On the other hand, the dignitaries of Midian who had been accompanying them, had where to spend the night, as they were well known there.

לא תאור את העם, ”do not curse the people.” G-d was well aware of the plague that would strike many Israelites who would worship Baal Peor, as a result of Bileam’s advice to seduce the Israelites by becoming sexually licentious. G-d did not want that plague to be attributed to Bileam’s curse.

ויאמר אל שרי בלק, “he said to Balak’s emissaries, etc.” the emissaries of Midian are no longer mentioned as they were only of secondary interest their land not bordering on the land of Canaan and not under threat by the Israelites.

שרים רבים, “more and higher ranking emissaries.” We have a parallel for this in Esther 1,8 where the word רב in the singular is used in the same sense, i.e. על כל רב ביתו, “over the highest ranking officials of his household.” Compare also Jeremiah 39,13: וכל רבי מלך בבל, ”and all the commanders of the King of Babylonia.”

ואדעה מה יוסף ה' דבר עמי, “and I will know what G-d will say to me in addition.” Even though G-d had told him already: “do not go with them!” Bileam was so anxious to find a way to go and curse the Israelites that he was convinced that his curse would be effective. He said to himself: “if G-d considered my curses as ineffective, why did He bother to try and stop me?”

אם לקרא לך, “if these men simply extended an invitation to you to visit Balak, etc.” G-d referred to a social visit, involving food and drink. If you were to ask what happened in the interval so that G-d appeared to give Bileam an opening now that He did not know about previously, whereas previously He had spoken to him in absolute terms: “do not go with them!?”We must interpret G-d’s previous instruction as having meant only: “do not go with them to curse the people,” but not as an absolute refusal to let Bileam make the journey. A different interpretation: there was no change in G-d’s attitude at all; this time G-d related to a new delegation of officials, and whatever G-d permitted now was not relevant to what He had forbidden to an invitation issued by lower ranking emissaries. A third possible interpretation: “if these people are so foolish as to believe that I will change My basic attitude whichI already expressed to Bileam the first time, go ahead and travel with them, and you will see soon how useless this journey will be.”

וילך עם שרי מואב, “he went with the emissaries from Moav.” He did not literally go with them, i.e. keep pace with them, but he followed them. Had the Torah written: וילך אתם, this would have meant that he literally accompanied them.

ויחר אף ה' כי הולך הוא, “The Lord was angry that he was going;” G-d’ had not given a “green light,” although Bileam made believe that he had obtained full approval. He should have understood from the first nocturnal conversation with G-d that it was not His intention for him to be going. We find something similar in the story of the spies that Moses sent out to evaluate the land of Canaan. G-d had said: שלח לך אנשים, “send out for your own peace of mind men, etc, (Numbers 13,2)” It had been quite clear to Moses that when G-d had agreed to the people’s demand to send spies, that G-d had entertained reservations from the start about the success of such a mission. An alternate interpretation of the line: “G-d was a angry, etc.” He had told Bileam that he was not able to say what he wished but could say only the words G-d would put in his mouth. Surely this was a clear warning to Bileam to desist, as he was going to make a fool or worse of himself if after having come all the way from Midian to Moav he could not deliver what was expected of him. At least he should have asked G-d what precisely he was allowed to say once he faced Balak in person. He was too hasty due to his hatred of the Jewish people. The paragraph about Balak and Bileam, which did not directly impact on the Israelites, was written to teach us why G-d deprived the nations of the world of any share in holy spirit, as it demonstrates the effect of granting holy spirit to the wrong kind of people, who would use it to try and manipulate G-d for their desires instead of to help them to serve Him better.

ושני נעריו עמו “accompanied by his two loyal servants.” He took only two. G-d arranged it so in order that the strangebehaviour of Bileam’s ass could not be attributed to the ass having become confused in the presence of so many people.

וחרבו שלופה בידו, “with his sword drawn in his sword.” This is a case of the punishment fitting the crime, i.e. Bileam had said that he would kill his ass for its rebellious behaviour; (verse 29) now the angel makes Bileam realise that the one who deserved to be killed for rebelling against G-d was not the ass but Bileam himself.

גדר מזה וגדר מזה, “with a fence being on either side.” There are some commentators who claim that this “fence” was the same as the stone piles erected by Yaakov and Lavan, at the time they parted company; the same commentators also identify Bileam as being the reincarnation of Lavan, as he displayed the same attitude towards the Jewish people as had Lavan towards the first Jewish family. They go further and identify Bileam as Kushan Rishatayim, Judges 3,8 (compare Talmud tractate Sanhedrin folio 105), where they describe all three characters as basically the same, each a reincarnation of the former. At this point Bileam/Lavan is perceived as having violated the pact concluded at that stone pile between Yaakov and Lavan (Genesis 31, 4454) It was logical therefore that this stone pile would now threaten Bileam for violating the oath sworn by Lavan to Yaakov at the time. The קיר, wall, mentioned in our story is a clear reference to the stones erected by both Lavan and Yaakov at that time. If Bileam is described a little while later as being lame, this is attributed to the ass having pressed him against that wall as punishment for his violating the original oath of peace between Yaakov and Lavan. (Compare 23,3, וילך שפי, “he walked with a limp.”)

ויוסף מלאך ה עבור, “and the angel of the Lord went further;” according to Rashi he hinted to him that a people founded on the merits of three patriarchs such as Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov, would hardly be intimidated by the curses of the likes of a moneyoriented Bileam. In Lavan’s time Yaakov had not yet been able to draw on the merits of three patriarchs as could the Israelites in the meantime. When Bileam thought that the fact that Yishmael and the sons of Keturah, all of whom Avraham expelled, were asign of spiritual weakness in that house, the merit acquired by Yitzchok at the binding of him at Mount Moriah, offset any such notion. When Bileam thought that the fact that Yitzchok had also sired Esau showed spiritual weakness in the family of that patriarch, the fact that all of Yaakov’s children had remained true to the Abrahamitic tradition blocked his attempts in that direction to harm the Israelites by cursing them. This is the implied meaning of the words: אשר אין דרך לנטות ימין ושמאל, “where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left.”

ותרבץ תחת בלעם ויחר אף בלעם, “when she lay down beneath Bileam, Bileam became very angry.” His anger was prompted by the fact that his ass had chosen to deny him her services at the very moment when her master had been injured and was in need of her more than ever before.

ויך את האתון במקל, “he struck the ass; the first time with the palm of his hand, the second time with a kind of riding whip, and the third time with his walking staff, as one does to obstinate domestic beasts.

מה עשיתי לך , “what have I done to you?” [It did not dawn on the ass that her master had not seen the angel barring the path. Ed.] The letter ל in the word לך, has a semivowel sheva.

אשר רכבת עלי, “the one upon which you have ridden.” There are several interruptions in the cantillation signs in this verse, indicating that the ass did not immediately add the words: “all your life.”

מעודך עד היום הזה, “from the time you have learned how to ride.” These words complement the ass’ question if it had ever been in the habit of acting so strangely. You should have asked yourself what could possibly be the reason for my having acted so strangely and out of character. Surely I must have had a valid reason for acting as I did.

כי ירט הדרך לנגדי, “because your way is contrary to me.” The word כי is used here in the sense of “although,” just as in Genesis 48,14: “כי נמשה הבכור, “although Menashe is the firstborn.” The same meaning for the word כי is true inPsalms 41,5: כי חטאתי לך, which correctly translated means: “although I have sinned against You.” It would not make sense to translate this as “for I have sinned against you,” although most translated editions of Psalms translate it this way. One does not ask for mercy because one has sinned, but in spite of having sinned. The angel explains to Bileam that although the latter had undertaken a mission against G-d’s will, G-d gives him this opportunity to desist from his evil intent and the resulting punishment. [This is also why the angel is associated with G-d’s attribute of Mercy, Hashem, instead of with His attribute of Justice, i.e. elokim. Ed.]

.ותראני האתון ותט לפני, “and the ass saw me andturned aside.” It was facing me all the time but attempted to detour either to the right or to the left so as to pass me. If it had turned backwards on account of your having struck it, I would have killed you as you had abused it.

מפני, “only on my account;” only on account of her having seen me. She was totally innocent, as her behaviour was due to my not having given her any other choice.

ואותה החייתי, “but I would have let her live,” as she acted under duress, as opposed to you. There is a difference between the words: לפני, and מפני. as in Deuteronomy 7,22: The latter means “out of your sight; ונשל הגוים האלה מפניך, “He will fling out these nations before you (so that you will no longer see them;)” or Deuteronomy 9,4: “He will dispossess them so that you will no longer see them.)

גם אותך הרגתי “but I would have killed you also;” according to Rashi, this is a truncated phrase, and we have to translate it as if the word גם had been written before the word הרגתי so that the meaning is: “not only would I have impeded the ass’ progress, but I would even have also killed you in order to prevent your progress any further.” Now that the phrase has been truncated, taking into consideration that your own ass has already remonstrated with you, I have only “killed” the ass but have let you live. An alternate interpretation: If I had interpreted this verse strictly in accordance with how it appears here, I would have placed you on the same level as your ass, and the meaning of the phrase would have been: “I also would have killed your two loyal servants.”

חטאתי כי לא ידעתי, “I have sinned for I did not know;” the word כי here is to be understood in the sense of אשר, “in that,” i.e. Bileam explains that he had not known previously why his journey would not be successful.”

ויעלהו במות בעל, “he brought him up to the heights of Baal;” the word בעל as a description of a plain, also occurs in Numbers 21,28: when it describes a similar plain in the region of the river Arnon. Our author draws the reader’s attention to what he had written on that verse. It also occurs in this sense in Joshua 11,17 בעל גד.