[This is a LONNNNGGGG READ, sorry to lump 3 chapters all in one, but they are interconnected and should be read straight through, so be patient and DO READ straight through.
As you must have already noticed from reading through the middle books of Wayyiqrah and Bamidbar, except for occasional insights we have to contribute, the Commentary is from Pentateuch & Haftorahs, ed. Dr. J.H. Hertz. What is great about this commentary is its variety of opinions on how should the verses be read and interpreted. Many opinions are put together, from rabbinic sages and Jewish translators and you get exposed to names like Onkelos, etc. Though the translation here is EF/Everett Fox, The Five Books of Moses, despite the difference in wording and phrasing, you can easily make the connection. True study is never that easy, folks, we have to stick our necks out a little even if we’re being spoon-fed!–Admin1.]
THE BOOK OF BALAAM
The Israelites now enter upon the last stage of their journey to the Promised Land. They are within sight of their goal.
We see an irresistible People about to undertake the conquest of its national home, and a renowned heathen prophet giving solemn testimony to its sublime destiny. Such tribute to Israel’s unique character is all the more impressive, as it is that of a stranger, speaking against his intention and interest, under the compulsion of a Higher Power. He proclaims the utter futility of all attempts on the part of man to foil the purposes of God in regard to that People; and in rapturous strains, he foretells the glorious future which awaits Israel. Such is the burden of chapters XXII-XXIV, probably known in ancient times as ‘The Book of Balaam’ . . . .
CHARACTER OF BALAAM
Balaam’s personality is an old enigma, which has baffled the skill of commentators. It seems probable that he had from the first learned some elements of pure and true religion in his home in Mesopotamia, the cradle of the ancestors of Israel. He thus belongs, with Melchizedek, Job, and Jethro, to the scattered worshippers of the True God, who are unconnected with Israel. But unlike these, he is represented in Scripture as at the same time heathen sorcerer, true Prophet, and the perverter who suggested a peculiarly abhorrent means of bringing about the ruin of Israel. Because of these fundamental contradictions in character, Bible Critics assume that the Scriptural account of Balaam is a combination of two or three varying traditions belonging to different periods. This is quite unconvincing; it is as if we were to maintain that the current life-story of Francis Bacon, for example, was due to the combination of two or three varying traditions belonging to different periods of English history, since no one man could at the same time be an illustrious philosopher, a great statesman, and ‘the meanest of mankind’. Such a view betrays a slight knowledge of the fearful complexity of the mind and soul of man. It is only in the realm of the Fable that men and women display, as it were in a single flash of light, some one aspect of human nature. It is otherwise in real life. ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceeding weak–who can know it?” (Jeremiah XVII,9) is, alas, a far truer summary of human psychology.
In post-Biblical times, most Jewish authorities represent Balaam in an unfavourable, and often in a detestable light. Although his utterances are a rhapsodic praise of Israel, they pay regard to his intention, which was to curse and not to bless. They therefore speak of him as Balaam the Wicked. An evil eye, a haughty mind, and a proud spirit—they declare—mark his disciples. With Amalek and Haman, he is a permanent type of the enmity of the impious against Israel. All the more noteworthy is the fact that some Jewish opinions are decidedly and emphatically favourable. According to these opinions, he is as a prophet on a level with Moses; and his story is of such importance that it is given in the Law, the Prophets (Micah, VI), and the ‘sacred Writings’ (Neh. III). There was even a suggestion that the utterances of Balaam should find a place in the Shema. Although this was not done, one noted saying of his (“How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, thy dwellings, O Israel”) forms the opening sentence of every Synagogue service.
In the early Church, the view taken of Balaam is one of unrelieved blackness; he is the embodiment of avarice and unholy ambition. Modern Christian theologians have depicted him as a warning example of self-deception, which persuades man in every case that the sin which he commits may be brought within the rules of conscience and revelation; and as the combination of the purest form of religious belief with a standard of conduct immeasurably below it. A violent reaction of his favour set in with Lessing and Herder, long before the rise of the Critical School; and among these newer estimates we may mention that of Kalisch, who considers Balaam faultless in character and his utterances unsurpassed for poetic beauty in the whole of Scripture: ‘firm and inexorable like eternal Fate, he regards himself solely as an instrument of that Omnipotence which guides the destinies of nations by its unerring wisdom. Free from all human passion, he is like a mysterious spirit from a higher and nobler world.’ Careful reading of chapters XXII-XXIV, however, shows that those who approve of everything Balaam says or does, are as from far a true estimate of him as those to whom he is a semi-diabolical being.]
Number/Bamidbar 22
2-4. BALAK KING OF MOAB
The Israelites, fresh from victory over the Amorite kings, were now settled on the border of Moab, and filled both king and people of Moab with dread.
1 And the Children of Israel marched on and encamped in the Plains of Moav, across from Jordan-jericho.
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3 and Moav was in exceeding fear before the people, since they were so many; they felt dread before the Children of Israel.
was overcome with dread. Or, ‘loathed’; because they hated the children of Israel, they had a horror of them.
4 Moav said to the elders of Midyan: Look now, this assembly will lick up everything around us like an ox licks up the green-things of the field! Now Balak son of Tzippor was king of Moav at that time.elders of Midian. Who conducted the general affairs of the desert tribes that had their origin in Midian, east of the Gulf of Akaba. There was no enmity on the part of Israel towards Moab (Deut. II,29). Neither did Israel in any way cross the path of the Midianites or harbour any ill0will against them. Moses had spent many years in Midian; and Jethro, the Midianite priest, was an honoured guest in Israel’s tents. The plot of the Moabites and Midianites against israel was thus the outcome of ’causeless hatred’, the source of the most terrible cruelties in human relations.
5-14. THE FIRST DEPUTATION TO BALAAM
They place their hope in Balaam, far-famed throughout the East as a soothsayer whose curse is irresistible. Balak sends messengers to Balaam inviting him to cast a baneful spell upon this rising People of the desert. In a vision, God forbids Balaam to accompany them.
5 He sent messengers to Bil’am son of Be’or, to Petor, which is beside the River (in) the land of the sons of his kinspeople, to call him, saying: Here, a people has come up out of Egypt, here, it covers the aspect of the land, it has settled hard upon me!Balaam. Heb. “Bileam’, probably a shortened form of ‘lord of the people’ (Kalisch).
Pethor. Pitru, a town in Mesopotamia, mentioned in Babylonian and Egyptian inscriptions. It was from the land of magic that the great magician was to be brought.
the River. i.e. the Euphrates; Deut I,7.
land of the children of his people. According to Heb. idiom this means Balaam’s native land (Nachmanides). Midrash and Rashi, however, refer it to Balak, and deem him a foreign conqueror of Moab.
6 Now then, pray go, damn this people for me, for it is too mighty (in number) for me! Perhaps I will prevail: we will strike it, so that I drive it from the land. For I know that whomever you bless is blessed, whomever you damn is damned!come now. The curse cannot be pronounced at a distance. The diviner must behold those whom he is to blight by his incantations.
curse me this people. The whole ancient world, Greece and Rome no less than the Near Eastern nations, had a firm belief in the real power of blessings and curses. This was especially so in Mesopotamia. Babylonian religion was rooted in demonology. It taught that certain persons had the power of directing or changing the decree of the gods, and could by their spells and incantations secure prosperity or call forth calamity. These masters of magic were employed to discover secrets, to foretell the future, to bless an undertaking, or to bring ruin upon an enemy.
too mighty for me. Exod. I,9. Balak’s phraseology, as well as his whole attitude, is reminiscent of Pharaoh—both illustrating the fatal madness of those who oppose God’s purposes (Gray).
preadventure. ‘Hesitancy and assurance, despondency and reckless courage, struggle in his uneasy and foreboding mind’ (Kalisch).
whom thou blessest is blessed. An expression of Balak’s profound belief in the efficacy of curses; also the language of flattery with the object of securing the expert soothsayer’s services before he—Balak—undertakes to fight the Israelites.
7 The elders of Moav and the elders of Midyan went, tokens-of-augury in their hand, they came to Bil’am and spoke Balak’s words to him.the rewards of divination. lit. ‘the instruments of the diviner’s art’; here, the reward or pay to be given him (Samuel Hanaggid, the famous Spanish Talmudist, poet and statesman).
8 He said to them: Spend the night here tonight, then I will bring back to you whatever word YHVH speaks to me. The nobles of Moav stayed with Bil’am.lodge here this night. Balaam is not disinclined to follow the invitation. The name ‘Israel’ has not even been mentioned. To judge by Balaam’s surprise when he caught his first glimpse of the Israelites, his knowledge of them could not have been extensive.
as the LORD may speak unto me. Balaam is a prophet of the true God, in familiar intercourse with Him, and expects to receive some Divine communication in a dream or a vision of the night; Gen. XX,3. ‘This recognition of God’s revelation of His purposes concerning Israel to a non-Israelite is striking evidence of the universality of Judaism’ (Stanley).
what men are these? A leading question (Ibn Ezra, Mendelssohn); Gen. III,11.
10 Bil’am said to God: Balak son of Tzippor, king of Moav, has sent to me:11 Here, the people that came out of Egypt, it covers the aspect of the land! Now then, pray go, revile it for me, perhaps I will be able to make war upon it and drive it away!
12 God said to Bil’am: You are not to go with them, you are not to damn the people, for it is blessed!
13 Bil’am arose at daybreak and said to Balak’s nobles: Go to your land, for YHVH refuses to give-me-leave to go with you.
the LORD refuseth. Balaam suppresses the fact that God had forbidden him to curse Israel.
15-20. A SECOND DEPUTATION
Balak thought that the seer’s motive for refusing was to elicit higher reward for his services.
14 The nobles from Moav arose, they came to Balak and said: Bil’am refuses to go with us!15 So Balak once again sent nobles, greater and more honored than those;
16 they came to Bil’am and said to him: Thus says Balak son of Tzippor: Pray do not hold back from going to me;
17 indeed, I will honor, yes, honor you exceedingly- anything that you say to me, I will do. Only: pray go, revile for me this people!
18 Bil’am answered, he said to the servants of Balak: If Balak were to give me his house’s fill of silver and gold I would not be able to cross the order of YHVH my God to do (anything) small or great!
to do anything small or great; i.e. to do anything at all against the Divine will.
19 So now, pray stay here, you as well, tonight, that I may know what YHVH will once again speak with me.tarry ye also here this night. ‘A thorough honest man would without hesitation have repeated his former answer that he would not be guilty of so infamous a degradation of the sacred character with which he was invested, as to curse those whom he knew to be blessed. But instead of this, he desires the princes of Moab to tarry that night with him also; and for the sake of the reward deliberates whether he might not be able to obtain leave to do that which had been before revealed to him to be contrary to the will of God’ (Joseph Butler).
that I may know. After God had distinctly said unto him ‘thou shalt not curse this people,’ what need was there for him to say, ‘that I may know what the LORD will speak unto me more’? It is evident that he harboured evil thoughts in his heart (Ibn Ezra). ‘Balaam said, Perhaps I may persuade Him, and He will agree that I should curse’ (Rashi).
20 And God came to Bil’am at night, he said to him: Since it is to call you that the men have come, arise, go with them; but-only the word that I speak to you, that (alone) may you do.rise up, go with them. ‘Audacity may prevail even before God. Balaam’s steadfast insistence upon his wish wrested from God His consent to Balaam’s journey to Moab. He warned him of its consequences, saying to him, I take no pleasure in the destruction of sinners, but if thou art bound to go to thy destruction, do so’ (Talmud).
BALAAM AND THE ASS
We now come to the best-known episode in the story of Balaam: viz. the speaking ass. God makes the dumb animal rebuke the blindness and obstinacy of man. Balaam, like many a one before and after him, is saved from dishonour by unforseen hindrance, and brought to reason through means which human pride despises.
Many expositors, both in ancient and modern times. take the account of the miracle in these verses literally. Nothing is impossible to Omnipotence, they hold; and a speaking ass is no more marvellous than a speaking serpent or any of the other miracles. In the Ethics of the Fathers, the mouth of the earth that swallowed Korah (XVI,32), the mouth of the well, and the mouth of Balaam’s ass, are classed among those strange and wonderful phenomena that had their origin in the interval between the close of the work of Creation and the commencement of the Sabbath. In this way the Rabbis gave expression to their conception of the miraculous in the scheme of things. Miracles, they held, were not interruptions of Nature’s laws; for at Creation, God had provided for them in advance, as part of the cosmic plan. ‘The Fathers of the Mishnah, who taught that Balaam’s ass was created on the eve of the Sabbath, in the twilight, were not fantastic fools, but subtle philosophers, discovering the reign of universal law through the exceptions, the miracles that had to be created specially and were still a part of the order of the world, bound to appear in due time much as apparently erratic comets are’ (Zangwill).
For over a thousand years, however, the literal has largely given place to other interpretations of this incident. One of these explanations—that of Saadyah and Maimonides—considers v. 22-34 as enacted in a dream, or vision of the night. Thsi would account for the many incongruous things in these verses. Thus, Balaam appears with but two attendants, and travelling alone, without the brilliant accompaniment of princes and ‘honourable’ ambassadors. Again, he does not show the least astonishment at the startling fact of the ass speaking. In the light of this interpretation, v. 22-34 depict the continuance on the subconscious plane of the mental and moral conflict in Balaam’s soul; and the dream-apparition of the angel and the speaking ass is but a further warning to Balaam against being misled through avarice to violate God’s command. Another explanation holds that the Text nowhere states that the ass gave utterance to human sounds. Its weird behaviour in the presence of the angel and its wild cries at the cruel beatings, were understood by Balaam to mean the words given in the Text (Luzzatto).
In brief, there is not in Judaism any one authoritative interpretation of the Book of Balaam; and ‘in regard to its narrative, readers are free to think what they please’ (Josephus). Therefore, those who do not deem any of the above interpretations acceptable, should feel too deeply the essential veracity of the story to be troubled overmuch with minute questions about its details. In whatever way we conceive of the narrative, its representation of the strivings of conscience is of permanent human and spiritual value.
21-35. THE JOURNEY
21 Bil’am arose at daybreak, he saddled his she-ass, and went with the nobles of Moav.22 But YHVH’S anger flared up because he was going, so YHVH’S messenger stationed himself in the way as an adversary to him. Now he was riding on his she-ass, his two serving-lads with him.
God’s anger was kindled. This seems to contradict what is said in v. 20, that God gave him permission to go. But that permission was conditional. He might go, but he must speak only what is given him to say. Balaam gladly seized the opportunity of going, for he was hankering after the reward. For the present, he ignored the condition. In his heart he hoped to evade it and satisfy Balak. But God, who is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, sees the double-mindedness of Balaam and lets him know that there must be no trifling (Dummelow).
angel of the LORD. ‘This was an angel of mercy, who desired to restrain him from committing a sin and perishing’ (Midrash). ‘In many unforeseen, singular, and often homely ways, men are checked in the endeavor to carry out the schemes which ambition and avarice prompt. The angel of the LORD who opposes one bent on a bad enterprise often appears in familiar guise. To some men their wives stand in their way, some are challenged by their children’ (Expositor’s Bible).
an adversary against him. i.e. against Balaam’s evil self. The angel tried to save Balaam from rushing to his own destruction.
23 Now the she-ass saw YHVH’S messenger stationed in the way, his sword drawn in his hand, so the she-ass turned aside from the way and went into the field. And Bil’am struck the she-ass to turn her back onto the way.24 But YHVH’S messenger stood in the furrow (between) the vineyards, a fence here and a fence there.
25 Now the she-ass saw YHVH’S messenger, so she pressed herself against the wall, pressing Bil’am’s foot against the wall; and once again he struck her.
26 But YHVH’S messenger once again crossed over, standing in a narrow place where there was no pathway to turn, right or left.
27 Now the she-ass saw YHVH’S messenger, so she crouched down beneath Bil’am. And Bil’am’s anger flared up; he struck the she-ass with his staff.
28 Then YHVH opened the mouth of the she-ass and she said to Bil’am: What have I done to you that you have struck me (on) these three occasions?
three times. ‘‘The narrator of this tale had a heart full of pity for the groans of the poor creature’ (Holzinger).
29 Bil’am said: Because you have been capricious with me! If a sword had been in my hand, by now I would have killed you!I had killed thee. ‘At this, the ass laughed. He is intent on destroying a whole people by word of mouth; and to slay a poor ass he requires a sword’ (Midrash).
30 The she-ass said to Bil’am: Am I not your she-ass upon whom you have ridden from your past until this day? Have I ever been accustomed, accustomed to do thus to you? He said: No.31 Then YHVH uncovered Bil’am’s eyes and he saw YHVH’S messenger stationed in the way, his sword drawn in his hand; he bowed and prostrated himself, to his brow.
32 YHVH’S messenger said to him: For what (cause) did you strike your she-ass (on) these three occasions? Here, I came out as an adversary, or the way was rushed out against me.
wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass. ‘I have been commissioned to demand restitution from thee for the injustice thou hast offered to the ass’ (Midrash). This v. is a classical text for the preaching of humane treatment of animals. ‘There is a rule laid down by our Sages, that it is directly prohibited in the Torah to cause pain to an animal and that rule is based on the words Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass?’ (Maimonides).
34 Bil’am said to YHVH’S messenger:
I have sinned. In cruelly beating the animal. ‘Balaam knew that Divine punishment could be averted only by penitence, and that the angels have no power to touch a man who, after sinning, says “I have sinned”‘ (Midrash).
I will get me back. Balaam was now convinced that it was useless hoping to bend God’s will to his, and wished to have nothing more to do with Balak. But Balaam must now go as God’s messenger and bless Israel.
35 YHVH’S messenger said to Bil’am: Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that (alone) may you speak. And so Bil’am went with Balak’s nobles.So Balaam went. Resolved strictly to adhere to the Divine communications that were to be made to him. Having thus changed his disposition, he received God’s revelation and was endowed with the Divine Spirit (Ewald).
36-40. ARRIVAL AND RECEPTION
unto Ir-moab. Probably the same as the Ar mentioned in XXI, 15.
37 And Balak said to Bil’am: Did I not send, yes, send to you, to call you! Why did you not go to me? Am I truly not able to honor you?to promote thee. Balak seems surprised that his power to reward the prophet had not secured immediate compliance with his request. He is the type of worldly-minded man who thinks that blessings and curses, nay all things in heaven and on earth, can be bought, if only the buyer will pay a high enough price for them.
39 Now Bil’am went with Balak;
Kiriath-huzoth. Its site is unknown.
40 Balak slaughtered oxen and sheep, and sent them out to Bil’am and to the nobles that were with him.and sent to Balaam. As a sign of hospitality to his honoured guest.
XXII, 41-XXIII,6. PREPARATION FOR THE GREAT INCANTATION
Balaam prepares for his work more after the fashion of a Babylonian soothsayer than in accordance with the spiritual ideas of Hebrew prophecy.
41 Now it was at daybreak: Balak took Bil’am and had him go up on the Heights of Baal, so that he could see from there the edge of the people.Bamoth-baal. Either the name of a place or, more probably, some local sanctuary of Baal.
the utmost part. The outermost part.
Numbers/Bamidbar 23
1 Bil’am said to Balak: Build me here seven slaughter-sites, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.build me. The altar had to be erected by the person for whom the divining was done.
2 Balak did as Bil’am had spoken to him; then Bil’am and Balak offered up a bull and a ram on (each) slaughter-site.Balak and Balaam. Both had to be engaged in the sacrifice. This is in accordance with the Babylonian practice of soothsaying (Daiches).
3 Bil’am said to Balak: Station yourself beside your offering-up, and I will go: perhaps YHVH will encounter me in an encounter, the word of whatever he lets me see, I will report to you. So he went off by-himself.stand by. Balak had to remain by the burnt-offering, while the diviner did his work.
I will go. To perform the divination ceremonies.
to a bare height. Or, ‘alone’ (Onkelos). The Heb has also been taken as an abbreviation of the words ‘to inquire of the mouth of the LORD.’
4 Now God did encounter Bil’am, he said to him: The seven slaughter-sites I have arranged, and I have offered-up a bull and a ram on (each) slaughter-site. 5 YHVH put words in Bil’am’s mouth and said: Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak. 6 So he returned to him, and here: he was standing alongside his offering-up, he and all the nobles of Moav.7-10. BALAAM’S FIRST PROPHECY
When Balaam returns to Balak and his princes, he can but break forth no instinted blessing of Israel. ‘It is a marvellous people, with a unique destiny!’
7 He took up his parable and said: From Aram Balak led me, Moav’s king from the hills of Kedem: Go, damn Yaakov for me, go, execrate Israel!parable. here in the meaning of ‘oracular utterance’.
Aram. Usually denotes Syria, here Mesopotamia, and the equivalent of ‘Aram-Naharaim’; Gen. XXIV,10.
mountains of the East. The high ranges of Mesopotamia.
execrate. i.e. provoke against him the anger of God.
8 How shall I revile (him) whom God has not reviled, h ow shall I execrate (him) whom YHVH has not execrated? 9 Indeed, from the top of crags I see him: from hills I behold him: here, a people, alone-in-security it dwells, among the nations it does not need to come-to-reckoning.from the top of the rocks I see him. Standing on the mountain peak, and looking not with the eyes of fear or envy, he is overpowered by the view he has of Israel below. Curse he cannot. He feels compelled by an irresistible Divine impulse to break forth into jubilant praise.
that shall dwell alone. Israel has always been a people apart, a people isolated and distinguished from other peoples by its religious and moral laws, by the fact that it has been chosen as the instrument of a Divine Purpose.
shall not be reckoned among the nations. The Heb. is in the Histhpael and occurs only here in Scripture; lit. ‘does not reckon itself among the nations’. A notable alternative rendering was proposed by Marcus Jastrow. He showed that in Neo-Hebrew the Hithpael of the root signifies ‘to conspire’ (see his Talmudic Dictionary,I, 508), and believes that this is the meaning intended here. ‘Israel is a people that dwelleth alone; it does not conspire against the nations,’ exclaims Balaam; why then shall he be cursed?
10. Who can count the dust of Ya’aqob, or number a quarter of Yisra’el? Let my nephesh die the death of the righteous and let my end be like him!who hath counted the dust of Jacob. An expression of amazement at the mighty multitude he sees before him.
the stock. Heb. lit. ‘fourth part’. Balaam’s poetic parable is marked by parallelism or ‘thought-rhythm’ between the two parts of a verse. Now, neither ‘stock’ nor ‘fourth part’ corresponds to the word ‘dust’ in the first half of the verse. And yet the parallelism between the two halves of the verse is perfect: forty years ago, a wandering scholar called my attention tothe fact that the true meaning of the word is ‘ashes’, and that therefore the correct rendering of the verse is: —
‘Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or, by number, the ashes of Israel?’This meaning is attested by the Samaritan Targum of ‘I am but dust and ashes’ in Gen. XVIII,27. In 1902, B. Jacob found that also in the Aramaic of the Palestinian Christians, the word is a synonym of ‘dust’. Nothing is, of course, more natural than that Balaam, the Aramean, should have made use of an Aramaism in his poetic outburst.
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die the death of the righteous. That wish was not to be fulfilled; see XXXI,9. It would have been better, had he said: ‘Let me live the life of the righteous.’ That is the only way to die their death.
11-17. NEW ARRANGEMENTS
[What Balaam had seen of the camp of Israel had so impressed him with the numbers, power and unity of Israel that he found it impossible to curse them. The distracted king changes the seer’s place of outlook, and to this Balaam consents.]
10 Who can measure the dust of Yaakov, ‘ or (find a) number (for) the dust-clouds of Israel? May I die the death of the upright, may my future be like his! 11 Balak said to Bil’am: What have you done to me? To revile my foes I took you on, and here, you have blessed, yes, blessed (them)! 12 He answered and said: is it not whatever YHVH puts in my mouth, that (alone) I must take-care to speak? 13 Balak said to him: Pray go with me to another place from where you can see them: only their edge will you see, all of them you will not see -revile them for me from there! 14 So he took him to the Field of Watchmen, to the top of the summit. He built seven slaughter-sites a nd offered-up a bull and a ram on (each) slaughter-site.field of Zophim. i.e. the field of watchers. Probably a plot of high ground used as a post for sentinels.
top of Psgah. See on XXI,20.
15 Then he said to Balak: Stand here, alongside your offering-up; as for me, I will seek-an-encounter there.here. Better, thus; Balaam shows Balak how to stand at the offering of the sacrifice (Daiches)
16 YHVH let himself be encountered by Bil’am and put words in his mouth, he said: Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak. 17 He came to him: here, he was standing alongside his offering-up, the nobles of Moav with him. Balak said to him: What did YHVH speak?what hath the LORD spoken? Balak is impatient, and asks for the result as soon as Balaam returns.
18-24. BALAAM’S SECOND PROPHECY
The change of place has all been in vain. Balaam, despite himself, must confirm and even transcend his former blessing; God is unchangeable in His purpose to bless His people. There is neither iniquity nor perverseness in Israel, and no magical arts can avail against him. With God as Defender, Israel is certain to be victorious.
18 He took up his parable and said: Arise, Balak, and hearken, turn-ear toward me, O son of Tzippor:arise, Balak. The soothsayer while giving his answer has to address the person for whom he divines (Daiches).
19 No man is God, that he should lie, or a human being, that he should retract. He, should he say and not do, speak and not fulfill?God is not a man. With this first utterance Balaam dashes Balak’s hopes to the ground. Man breaks his word: but God is not a man.
the son of man. Better, a son of man; i.e. a mere mortal.
repent. The Heb. denotes change of mind or purpose.
20 Here, to bless I was taken on, when he blesses, I cannot reverse it. 21 He spies no evil in Yaakov, he sees no trouble in Israel, YHVH their God is with them, fanfare for the king, among them!iniquity in Jacob. Israel is here, as in v. 10, spoken of ideally as a nation without spot or stain. Israel hath not committed any such wrong as would warrant God’s withdrawal of His blessing from them, much less His permitting them to suffer destruction.
perverseness. This is the translation of Septuagint and Ibn Ezra; but the Heb. means also calamity—and the phrase may indicate the absence of disasters in Israel. ‘The Israelites are with God—hence there is among them no iniquity; and God is with the Israelites—therefore they are free from calamity’ (Kalisch).
the LORD his God is with him. Israel enjoys the fellowship of God; and hence no weapon hurled against him can prosper.
the shouting for the King. Better, the trumpet call of the King; i.e. they are constantly reminded of the dominion of their God, and summoned to His worship, by the solemn sound of the Shofar, which they obey with a joyful readiness, proving the sincerity of their faith and devotion (Kalisch). All holy seasons were announced and all public sacrifices accompanied by the ‘blast of the trumpet’.
22 The God who brought them out of Egypt like the horns of the wild-ox for him.
brought them forth. lit. ‘is bringing them forth’, representing the Exodus as still in progress, and lasting up to the entrance of Canaan (Gray).
is for them . . . wild-ox. Or, ‘in Jacob.’ In Israel men do not resort to oracles, enchantments, or magic arts (Rashi). The next half-verse gives the reason. Some translate: ‘no enchantment prevails against Jacob (Mendelssohn, Luzzatto, Malbim), implying that the arts of the magician and all the ways of divination are powerless against Israel.
now. Heb. ‘at the right time’ (Septuagint); ‘whenever required’ (Rashi). Kalisch translates these two verses as follows —
‘In due time it is told to Jacob And to Israel what God doeth.’what God hath wrought. This translation is that of the Septuagint, Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Rashbam. ‘The poet reckons it among the advantages of Israel that whenever it is fitting, God causes to be announced what he intends to do’ (Kuenen). Another translation is; ‘Now one can only say concerning Israel, What hath God wrought!’ i.e. everything concerning Israel is irrevocably settled by Divine Will, and one can only exclaim in wonder at God’s dealings with His people (Dillmann).
riseth up as a lioness. Figurative description of an invincible hero (Gen. XLIX,9), and general prediction of the strength that would mark Israel’s progress in coming times.
XXIII,25-XXIV,2. REMONSTRANCES AND NEW PREPARATIONS
25 Balak said to Bil’am: If you just cannot revile, revile them, just do not bless, bless them!neither curse them at all. Balak abandons the hope of a curse, and would be satisfied if the prophet witheld his blessing from Israel. But hoping against hope, he invites Balaam to make a third attempt.
26 Bil’am spoke up and said to Balak: Did I not speak to you (before), saying: All that God speaks- that (alone) may I do?! 27 Balak said to Bil’am: Pray go, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be right in God’s eyes that you will revile them for me from there.unto another place. Change of place, thought Balak, might mean a change of fortune!
28 So Balak took Bil’am to the top of Pe’or that overlooks the wasteland.the top of Peor. A mountain in the neighbourhood of Pisgah (Deut. III. 27-29).
29 Bil’am said to Balak: Build me here seven slaughter-sites nd prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams. 30 So Balak did as Bil’am had said; and he offered-up a bull and a ram on (each) slaughter-site.
Numbers/Bamidbar 24
1 Now Bil’am saw that it was good in the eyes of YHVH to bless Israel, and so he did not go forth as time and time (before) to encounter divination-meetings; but he set his face toward the wilderness.[enchantmens. Or, ‘omens.’ He would no longer, even outwardly act the sorcerer and retire to a lonely mountain peak for his auguries. He would remain in the presence of Balak, and there and then speak as the Spirit of God moved him. ‘He now rose from the character of heathen seer to that of true prophet’ (Abarbanel).
his face toward the wilderness. i.e. towards the plain where the Israelites were encamped.
2 And Bil’am lifted up his eyes and saw Israel, dwelling by their tribes, and there came upon him the spirit of God.tribe by tribe. In orderly encampment.
the spirit of God came upon him. His conscience is now stirred to its depths. He no longer addresses Balak, as he did when he announced the results of a divination: he speaks to the future, and to all mankind.
3-9. BALAAM’S THIRD PROPHECY.
3 He took up his parable and said: Utters Bil’am the son of Be’or, utters the man of the open eye,whose eye is opened. See note on next v.
4 utters the hearer of Godly sayings who envisages a vision of Shaddai, bowed, but with eyes uncovered:fallen down, yet with opened eyes. Overpowered by the inrush of the Divine Spirit, which renders the recipient weak and unable to stand on his feet. It is spiritual ecstasy; when the bodily senses become numbed, and only the eyes of the mind are opened to see the Divine vision and to comprehend the Prophetic message.
how goodly are thy tents, O Jacob. He is swept away in rapt admiration of the Israelite encampments and homes arrayed harmoniously and peacefully, a picture of idyllic happiness and prosperity. According to the Rabbinic interpretation, the ‘tents’ are the ‘tents of Torah’, and the ‘tabernacles’ (lit. ‘homes’) are the Synagogues. There loomed up before Balaam’s mental vision the school-houses and synagogues which have ever been the source and secret of Israel’s spiritual strength.
6 like groves stretched out, like gardens beside a river, like aloes planted by YHVH, like cedars beside the water;as valleys. The encampment of Israel is like a series of vast fertile plains, stretching away into the far distance and watered by running streams.
as aloes. The simile of luxuriant prosperity. The aloe-tree furnished one of the most precious of spices.
planted of the LORD. Israel’s heritage in Canaan is compared to a Paradise, with wonderful trees of God’s own planting.
cedars beside the waters. An image of strength and beauty in combination.
7 dripping water from their boughs, their seed in many waters! Their king will rise above Agag, their kingdom be exalted.water shall flow from his branches. He is blessed with an abundant supply of water.
in many waters. In well-watered ground, and thus yield a plentiful harvest.
higher than Agag. ‘Agag was a title common to all Amalekite kings, as ‘Pharaoh’ was to those of Egypt; probably a metaphor for power and might.
8 The God who brought them out of Egypt like the horns of the wild-ox for him! They will consume enemy nations, their bones they will crush; their arrows they will smash!like the lofty horns of the wild-ox. See on XXIII,22.
lay down as a lion. This figure describes the majesty of Israel in time of peace, as XXIII,24 described his terrific might in war.
blessed be every one that blesseth thee. Far from being affected by blessings and cursings from without, Israel would himself be a source of blessing or cursing to others, according as they treated him. Hence let Balak and all Israel’s enemies be warned!
10-14. BALAK’S ANGER
Balaam, having disappointed the king three times, is dismissed by him in anger. In parting, Balaam reveals to him the fate in store for Moab.
10 Balak’s anger flared up at Bil’am, he smacked his hands (together). Balak said to Bil’am: To revile my enemies I had you called, and here: you have blessed, yes, blessed them, t hese three times! 11 So now, hasten back to your (own) place! I had said: I will honor, yes, honor you; but here: YHVH has denied you honor! 12 Bil’am said to Balak: Didn’t I speak also to the messengers that you sent to me, saying: 13 If Balak were to give me his house’s fill of silver and gold, I would not be able to cross the order of YHVH, to do good or ill from my (own) heart? What YHVH speaks, that (alone) may I speak! 14 So now, here, I am going (back) to my people; come, I will advise you as to what this people will do to your people in future days.announce. The Heb is literally ‘I will advise thee.’
in the end of days. ‘The final period of the future so far as it falls within the range of the speaker’s perspective’ (Driver); Gen.XLIX,1.
15-17. A vision of Israel’s future. Balaam foretells the rise of an Illustrious King who will put an end to the independence of Moab.
knoweth the knowledge of the Most High. To whom God reveals His secret; Amos III,7.
not now. But as he will be at some distant date in the future.
a star out of Jacob. The reference is probably to King David, the first monarch to reduce Moab to subjection; II Sam. VIII,2. In the reign of the Emperor Hadrian, this verse was applied to Bar Cozeba, the leader of the last Jewish War of Independence, whose name was consequently changed to Bar Cocheba, ‘the Son or a Star.’ His most noted follower was Rabbi Akiba, and the entire Jewish Diaspora seems to have supported the movement. Julius Severus was sent from Britain to quell the Jewish forces. Judea was brought to the lowest ebb; Jerusalem became a heathen city, even its name being changed to Aelia Capitolina; and a Jew was prohibited from entering it on pain fo death. Bar Cocheba was slain in 135 A.C.E.
a sceptre. i.e. the holder of a sceptre, a ruler of men.
the corners. lit. ‘the two temples.’ Moab is spoken of under the figure of a human head. He shall smite through its ‘two sides’; i.e. he shall crush it on either side.
the sons of Sheth. Probably the name of one of the leading tribes of Moab; RV Text translates: ‘the sons of tumult.’
18-24. ORACLES CONCERNING THE NATIONS
In prophetic ecstasy, Balaam now sees the foes of Israel fall helpless all around, until the vision fades away in the far horizon of history.
shall be a possession. i.e. shall be a conquered state. The reference is probably to David’s subjugation of Edom. On this and the succeeding v. cf. The Book of Obadiah.
Seir also. Seir (Gen. XXXIII,4, or Mount Seir, Gen. XXXVI,8) was an old name for Edom.
his enemies. Stands in apposition to Edom and Seir, both being the enemies of Israel.
doeth valiantly. Is strong and prosperous.
out of Jacob shall one have dominion. There shall arise in Jacob a powerful ruler.
from the city. Better, from the cities, as the Heb. is used collectively. Probably a reference to Joab’s action narrated in I Kings XI,16 (Ibn Ezra).
20 He saw Amalek, and he took up his parable and said: Premier of nations, Amalek, but its future: near to oblivion!looked on Amalek. ‘The country of the Amalekites and that of the Kenites (v. 21) might just be visible from the Moabite hills, lying far to the south and southwest’ (McNeile).
first of the nations. To attack Israel (Onkelos).
come to destruction. In the days of Saul (I Sam.XV,8); a remnant was subdued by David (II Sam.VIII,12).
21 He saw the Kenites, and he took up his parable, and said: Secure (is) your settlement, set in the clefts (is) your nest,Kenite. According to Judges I,16, Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, belonged to the Kenites, who must originally have formed part of the Medianites.
though firm be thy dwelling-place. Or, ‘ever-enduring is thy habitation’ (Gray). A reference to the wellnigh inaccessible rock-dwellings of the Kenites.
22 but ablaze will be Kayin, when Ashur takes-you-captive.Kain. The poetical name of the tribe.
how long? Before your final doom comes? Assyria will enslave and crush you, and carry you away into captivity. It is, however, possible that (as in Gen. XXV,18) the reference here is not to Assyria, but to Ashurim (Gen. XXV,3).
23 And he took up his parable and said: Alas, who can remain-alive whom God has condemned!who shall live. i.e. who can live.
after God hath appointed him. An obscure verse. Its probably meaning is. Who will be able to survive the terrible catastrophes wrought in Israel by Assyria (Isa. X,5) appointed by God to be the ‘rod’ of His anger?
24 Ships (come) from Kittite shore, they afflict Ashur, they afflict Ever, but they too: near to oblivion!from the cost of Kittim. Kittim (derived from Kition, a town of Cyprus) was a name also used for Greece. There is here a possible reference to those Mediterranean lands from which later were to come the conquerors of the empires of the East.
afflict. i.e. bring low, subjugate. Divine justice would finally call the Assyrian oppressor himself to account when his allotted work should be done.
Eber. This name is paraphrased by Onkelos as ‘beyond the Euphrates’; i.e. all the regions on the other side of the Euphrates. Asshur and Eber would thus denote the World Powers of the East, to whom retribution would be meted out by God.
and he also. ‘Asshur and Eber are regarded as a single idea ‘ (Gray).
returned to his place. As Balaam was slain among the Midianites shortly after (XXXI,8), he must have set off homewards, but tarried at the headquarters of the Midianites, where he met his end.