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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.