(Numb. 23:1:) THEN BALAAM SAID [UNTO BALAK]: BUILD SEVEN ALTARS FOR ME HERE, AND MAKE SEVEN BULLS AND SEVEN RAMS READY FOR ME HERE…. Why seven altars? They corresponded to seven righteous ones from Adam to Moses, who built seven altars and had been accepted: Adam, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. Then Balaam said: Why did you accept these? Was it not because of a liturgy which they performed before you that you accepted them? Is it not more suitable for you to be served by seventy nations and not by merely one nation? The Holy Spirit answered him (in Prov. 17:1): BETTER A DRY MORSEL WITH TRANQUILITY THAN A HOUSE FULL OF QUARRELSOME FEASTING. Better (in the words of Lev. 7:10) A GRAIN OFFERING MIXED WITH OIL OR DRY than (in Prov. 17:1) A HOUSE FULL OF QUARRELSOME FEASTING;⁵³ for you want to introduce strife between me and Israel.

footnotes: ⁵³ The words HOUSE and FEASTING can also mean “temple” and “sacrifice” respectively.

(Numb. 23:2–3:) THEN BALAK DID AS BALAAM HAD {SAID} [COMMANDED]. SO BALAK AND BALAAM OFFERED A BULL AND A RAM ON EACH ALTAR. THEN BALAAM SAID TO BALAK: STAND BESIDE YOUR BURNT OFFERINGS, AND LET ME GO. PERHAPS THE LORD WILL COME TO MEET ME, AND WHATEVER HE SHOWS ME I WILL TELL YOU. SO HE WENT ALONE (rt.: ShPH). Balaam had been at ease (rt.: ShPH) about cursing. Thus he had been at ease until that moment, but from that moment on he was troubled.

(Numb. 23:4:) THEN GOD ENCOUNTERED BALAAM. The Holy One said to him: You evil man! What are you doing?⁵⁴., Numb. 7:12.

footnotes: ⁵⁴ Tanh

(Ibid., cont.:) AND BALAAM SAID UNTO HIM: I HAVE PREPARED THE SEVEN ALTARS AND OFFERED A RAM AND A BULL ON EACH ALTAR. The matter is comparable to a money-changer who lies about the weights. When the head of the market place came, he noticed him. He said to him: Why are you breaking the law and lying about the weights? The money changer said to him: I have already sent a gift⁵⁵ to the house of my lord. So also it was in the case of Balaam. The Holy Spirit cried out to him. It said to him: You Evil Man! What are you doing. He said to it (in Numb. 23:4): I HAVE PREPARED THE SEVEN ALTARS AND OFFERED A RAM AND A BULL ON EACH ALTAR. It said to him (in Prov. 15:17): BETTER A MEAL OF VEGETABLE GREENS [WHERE THERE IS LOVE THAN A FATTENED OX WITH HATRED IN IT]. Better⁵⁶., Numb. 7:12, and Numb. R. 20:18. the dinner of unleavened bread and bitter herbs which Israel ate in Egypt, than bulls which you offer with hands of [hatred]. {Thus it is stated:} (Numb. 23:5:) SO THE LORD PUT A DAVAR IN BALAAM's MOUTH, which twisted his mouth and pierced it,⁵⁷ as one would drive a nail into a board. R. Eliezer (understanding DAVAR as WORD) says: An angel was speaking, while R. Joshua (understanding DAVAR as THING) says: His mouth was pierced with a hook.⁵⁸. For this interpretation, see n. 103 in the Buber text. Note also that this interpretation of Numb. 23:5 also occurs in Sanh. 105b, where the hook allusion is clearer.

footnotes: ⁵⁵ Gk.: doron. ⁵⁶ This word is found in the parallels of Tanh ⁵⁷ Both “twisted” and “pierced” connote the use of a bit on a horse. ⁵⁸ MHKH

(Numb. 23:5–6:) … AND SAID: RETURN UNTO BALAK AND SPEAK THUS. SO HE RETURNED UNTO HIM, AND THERE HE WAS STANDING BESIDE HIS BURNT OFFERINGS WITH ALL THE PRINCES OF MOAB, who stood anxiously awaiting the time when he would come.