ולא הלך כפעם כפעם לקראת נחשים, “he no longer went as every other time, toward divinations.” Nachmanides writes that on the previous occasions Bileam employed his sorcerer’s tools, wanting to curse the people, but Hashem happened upon him, i.e. as if by accident, not to endow him with real prophetic insights. Now that Bileam had been told by G’d, i.e. had been made to declare publicly that Israel is superior because it does not resort to divinations, etc., he absorbed the lesson and no longer resorted to the tools of his trade before viewing the people and awaiting inspiration. This is also why the Torah now explains that the source of Bileam’s inspiration had changed and

ותהי עליו רוח אלוקים, “the spirit of G’d remained upon him.” Now the hand of Hashem rested upon Bileam similar to the phenomena experienced by true prophets. This is similar to what Moses had had in mind when he told Joshua that he wished every member of the Jewish people would be endowed with the kind of prophetic visions granted to Eldod and Meydod. (Numbers 11,29) As a result of this experience Bileam was now able to refer to himself as

שומע אמרי א-ל, “the one who has first-hand experience in hearing G’d’s words.” This was another way of declaring himself as a prophet.

אשר מחזה שדי יחזה, “who sees the vision of Shaddai.” He had now received the kind of vision which men such as the patriarchs enjoyed when at the beginning of Avraham’s career the Torah reports in Exodus 6,3וארא אל אברהם, אל יצחק, ואל יעקב בא-ל שדי, “I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchok, and to Yaakov in My capacity as the G’d Shadday.” It is also possible that here we speak about one rung lower for מחזה שדי is not equivalent to א-ל שדי.

וירם מאגג מלכו, “his king shall be exalted over Agog.” According to Rashi this is a reference to the king of Amalek, who had been named by Bileam before he was even born. Nachmanides writes that it is quite possible that every Amalekite King was known as Agag, much as every King of Egypt was known as Pharaoh seeing that the original Amalekite King was in fact called Agag. Any descendants of that king, if they ascended the throne, adopted the name of the original King.

ועתה ברח לך אל מקומך, “and now, flee to your place, etc.” He did no longer ask him to curse the Israelites seeing that Bileam had told him that G’d had told Avraham that anyone cursing him or his descendants would himself be cursed by Him. (Genesis 12,3) Another reason was that Bileam had told Balak that the Israelites would consume all those who would oppress them. (24,8) He had included oppressors from all nations. Originally, Bileam had limited his remarks to what would happen to the Kings of the Canaanites, but now that he had widened the scope by including oppressors of the Israelites from any quarter, Balak had decided to refrain from antagonizing their G’d. He was convinced that he could not prevail.

לכה איעצך, “I shall advise you;” Nachmanides writes that seeing that Bileam wanted to predict the disaster that would befall Moav as we read in 24,17 ומחץ פאתי מואב, “it will smash the nobles of Moav, this is why he now introduces his comments as “well-meaning advice.” This was said to Balak in private, not within the hearing of any of his servants. Rashi interprets the words לכה איעצך, as Bileam adding further details to what he had already said concerning what the Israelites would achieve in the future. Nachmanides adds that in his own opinion Bileam is telling Balak that he is about to reveal to Balak the advice G’d will give to His people how to deal with Moav when the time comes, just as He gives this kind of advice to Israel concerning any of the other nations at that time. The word עצה appears in that sense in Isaiah A person receiving and accepting advice is called נועץ. The prophecy announced here by Bileam applies to the end of time, i.e. to the period immediately preceding the final redemption and the coming of the Messiah. All of Bileam’s prophecies refer to the future, but follow a chronological pattern once the period to which they apply has commenced. They begin with describing the Jewish people as an integral part of G’d Himself and His heritage, followed by the description of their conquest of the land of Canaan, how they will kill many kings, etc. In his third prophecy he envisions Israel on its own land being fruitful and multiplying. A later stage, that of the defeat of Agag, at the hands of a Jewish king, but not yet a king of the Davidic dynasty whose descendant in due course will usher in the Messianic age, is envisioned by Bileam, but he qualifies it by saying that though he foresees it, it is not relevant at this time. At this point, Bileam describes himself as knowing what is in G’d’s mind even in the distant future. In other words, he presumes to foretell events that he has not been specifically told about in a vision, but which he knows by intuition, his being on a wavelength with G’d. When the Torah commences with the words:וישא משלו ויאמר, in verse 16, and he does not mention that what follows is a prophecy as he had done on the previous three occasions, it is clear that what follows is not something that he had heard from the mouth of the divine vision he had experienced. Nonetheless, the fact that he speaks of himself also here as the שומע אמרי א-ל, “the one who has heard words of G’d,” it is clear that the origin of what follows is divine, no less so than the previous prophecy.

דרך כוכב מיעקב, “A star has come forth from Yaakov;” The reason why the Messiah is compared to a star is that he will gather in the Israelites who at that time are dispersed all over the globe, and a star shines in the sky and is visible all over the world. He envisions a man who will come forth from the edges of the horizon and wield a staff of authority.

ומחץ פאתי מואב וקרקר כל בני שת, “he shall smash the nobles of Moav and the foundations of all of mankind.” The Messiah will not just be a King of the Jews but will be accepted as head of all the nations. The reason that Bileam singles out the nobles of Moav in that context, is to set Balak’s mind at rest that the ultimate destiny of the Moabites is not to fall victim to an Israelite King in his guise as an Israelite, but in his capacity as mankind’s saviour. The Moabites will not escape this man’s grasp although they are insignificant among the nations, and had not fought against the Israelites in the war preceding the coming of the Messiah..

והיה אדום ירשה, ”Edom will become a conquest;” Bileam prophesied concerning the defeat of Edom at the hands of the Messiah. Nowadays, (at the time of the author) our exile is that imposed upon us by Edom, seeing that the Romans are descendants of the original Edom. The reason Bileam singled out Edom from all the other nations is that Edom had been the first to contest Israel’s right to exist as a separate nation. That dichotomy had already started in the womb of Rivkah, as she had been told by G’d in Genesis

והאביד שריד מעיר, “he will destroy even the remnant of the city.” In other words, there will not remain any survivors of the Amalekites in any city on the globe. At the beginning Bileam had spoken of וקרקר כל בני שת, that the Messiah would uproot all the various nations of the world; now he amplifies that there would not remain any survivors from the people of Amalek anywhere According to Ibn Ezra this whole prophecy describes David’s rule. Some commentators understand the words כל בני שת as the descendants of Lot, and that seeing that Bileam mentioned the פאתי מואב, the nobles of Moav [Moav was a son of Lot and his daughter. Ed.], Bileam expands further on the theme of what would happen to the various descendants of Lot. Some commentators understand the שריד מעיר as referring to people whose descent from the original Sheth can be verified. Yet other commentators derive the word שת here not from the third son of Chavah, but from השחית, destroying, so that Bileam would describe the Messiah as destroying even all those who try to hide from him, i.e. he would destroy all organized states.

וירא את עמלק, “He saw Amalek;” According toRashi the word וירא, “he saw,” refers to Bileam’s mind’s eye; he observed the retribution that would befall Amalek. Nachmanides writes that it is possible that we can understand the word וירא at face value, i.e. as what Bileam saw with his physical eye, seeing that from his vantage point on the top of Peor, it was quite possible to look down on the cities of Amalek who dwelled in the mountains across the valley. He went on to say that although Amalek was (among) the first organized nation-states at his time, so that it bore the title ראש העמים, “first among the nations,” nonetheless, in the end it would be utterly destroyed. Bileam paraphrased what G’d had already foretold Moses in Exodus 17,14 that He, personally, would utterly destroy that nation.

וירא את הקיני, “He saw the Kenite, etc.” The land of the Kenite was also visible from the elevation on which Bileam was standing, seeing that he dwelled among the Amalekites, as we know from when King Sha’ul asked the Kenites to leave that land before he made war against Amalek (compare Samuel I 15,6) Bileam’s words to them, i.e. וישא משלו ויאמר, were in the nature of advice, such as when he describes the place where that tribe resides. At the time, the Kenite i.e. descendants of Yitro, were still dwelling in Midian, and only after they were allocated land by the Israelites did they become a separate tribe. Their settling on a rock is meant to show that they had something in common with the Jewish nation when they (the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law) ascended from the city of Palms in the valley to higher ground with the tribe of Yehudah. (Judges 1,16) He continued:

כי אם יהיה לבער קין, “for if the Kenite should be laid waste, etc.” They would have no reason to worry, as their exile would end at the time the Assyrians would take the ten tribes captive. There would be no residents left in the land formerly occupied by the ten tribes, so that the Kenites would have no one to restrict their tenure.

עד מה אשר תשבך, “where to can Assyria take you captive?” This is a rhetorical question, designed to reassure; “how long could your exile under the Assyrians possibly continue?” You would, at the least, be redeemed at the same time as will Israel, whereas if you were to throw in your lot with Amalek you would face utter annihilation just as Amalek.

וצים מיד כתים, “and Tzim from Kittim;” a reference to the Romans.”

וענו אשור, “they will afflict Ashur.”(Assyria)

וענו עבר, “they will afflict those on the other bank of the great river.”

וגם הוא עדי אובד, “but it too will be destroyed forever.” It will face destruction in the end just as will the Kittim (the Romans). Bileam concluded his words with a reference to the Romans and their perishing ultimately, as they were symbolized by the fourth of the four beasts in Daniel’s famous vision (Daniel chapter 8) According to the unanimous opinion of our sages the Roman Empire, or its successors, will be vanquished by the Messiah. May we soon live to see this prophecy come true! Even though in Genesis 10,4 כתים is listed as one of the four sons of Yavan, (commonly regarded as the forerunner of the Macedonians and Greeks) and they are the third (not fourth) of the four beasts in Daniel’s vision, the true state of affairs is as follows: seeing that the descendants of Elisha Dodanim and Tarshish, the other sons of Yavan, were not numerous, they were lumped together under the heading of their father Yavan, who between them formed the third empire discussed in that chapter of Daniel. The Kittim, however, developed into a numerous and powerful nation so that they are considered the fourth of the empires in Daniel’s vision. This power will be predominant until the Messiah will destroy it when he comes. Ibn Ezra explains the expression ראשית גוים, not as “the first of the nations (ever),” but as the first of the nations warring against Israel. Its end will be utter destruction in the days of the first Jewish King, Sha’ul who killed every man woman and child, the prophet Samuel killing the King, Agag, whom Sha’ul had failed to kill, a sin of omission which cost him his dynasty. He explains the words ושים בסלע קנך, (verse 21) not as an advice but as a warning that even if you were to build your nest in a solitary inaccessible rock this will not save you. The words לבער קין refer to the time when the Kenite will be laid waste by the all-consuming army of the Assyrians. “Ashur” is in the feminine mode, a reference to the camp of Ashur [the word מחנה in Hebrew may be used both in the masculine and in the feminine mode. Ed.] When Bileam refers to Ashur taking the Kenite captive, however, in verse 25, Bileam foresees the time when the Assyrians who had thus far taken others captive, will themselves become victims and will perish completely. The meaning of the word עבר, is a reference to the Kenites who had “crossed over” to the Israelites, had thrown in their lot with theirs, and as a result had suffered exile when the Israelites did, but they would not be wiped out as did the other pagan nations Bileam speaks of. Some commentators say that the meaning of צים is similar to that of ציים in Isaiah 34,14 where it refers to wildcats or hyenas. Bileam compares Ashur to these animals, animals that men sometimes dress up as, i.e. they are impostors. This explains the previous line אוי מי יחיה משמו א-ל, “who can survive when he comes up against human (such as the King of Ashur) beings that try to play G’d?” [An appropriate comment in view of the boastful messenger of Pul, the King of the Assyrians. [Ravshakeh in Kings II 18,9-19-8. Ed.]