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

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.

'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.”

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.

?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.

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?

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.]

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.”

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.