Ansers to Balak

Balak 5723

במדבר פרק כד

(א) וירא בלעם כי טוב בעיני יקוק לברך את ישראל ולא הלך כפעם בפעם לקראת נחשים וישת אל המדבר פניו:

(ב) וישא בלעם את עיניו וירא את ישראל שכן לשבטיו ותהי עליו רוח אלקים:

(ג) וישא משלו ויאמר נאם בלעם בנו בער ונאם הגבר שתם העין:

(ד) נאם שמע אמרי אל אשר מחזה שקי יחזה נפל וגלוי עינים:

(ה) מה טבו אהליך יעקב משכנתיך ישראל:

(ו) כנחלים נטיו כגנת עלי נהר כאהלים נטע יקוק כארזים עלי מים:

(ז) יזל מים מדליו וזרעו במים רבים וירם מאגג מלכו ותנשא מלכתו:

(ח) קל מוציאו ממצרים כתועפת ראם לו יאכל גוים צריו ועצמתיהם יגרם וחציו ימחץ:

(ט) כרע שכב כארי וכלביא מי יקימנו מברכיך ברוך וארריך ארור:

(י) ויחר אף בלק אל בלעם ויספק את כפיו ויאמר בלק אל בלעם לקב איבי קראתיך והנה ברכת ברך זה שלש פעמים:

(יא) ועתה ברח לך אל מקומך אמרתי כבד אכבדך והנה מנעך יקוק מכבוד:

(יב) ויאמר בלעם אל בלק הלא גם אל מלאכיך אשר שלחת אלי דברתי לאמר:

(יג) אם יתן לי בלק מלא ביתו כסף וזהב לא אוכל לעבר את פי יקוק לעשות טובה או רעה מלבי אשר ידבר יקוק אתו אדבר:

(יד) ועתה הנני הולך לעמי לכה איעצך אשר יעשה העם הזה לעמך באחרית הימים:

And when Bila’am saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Yisrael, he went not, as at other times, to seek for  enchantments, but he set his faith towards the wilderness.

And Bila’am lifted up his eyes and he saw Yisrael abiding according to its tribes, and the Spirit of God Came upon  him.

And he took up his discourse and said: The speech of Bila’am son of Be’or and the speech of the man whose eyes are  open

The saying of him who hears the Word of God, who sees the Vision of the Almighty, falling down, but having his eyes  open.

How goodly are your tents, oh Yaakov and your tabernacles oh Yisrael.

Like the winding brooks, like gardens by the river’s side, like aloes that the Lord has Planted, and cedar trees beside  the waters.

He Shall Pour the water out of his buckets, moistening his seed plentifully, and his king will be higher than Agag, and  his kingdom shall be exalted.

God Brought him out of Mitzrayim, he has as it were the strength of a wild ox, he shall eat up the nations, his  enemies, and shall break their bones and pierce them through with his arrows.

He crouched, he lay down like a lion and like a great lion, who shall stir him up? Blesses is he who blesses you and  cursed is he who curses you.

And Balak’s anger was kindled against Bila’am and he smote his hands together. And Balak said to Bila’am: I called  upon you to curse my enemies and behold you have altogether blessed them these three times.

Therefore now flee to your place. I thought to promote you to great honor,  but the Lord has Kept you back from  honor.

And Bila’am said to Balak: And did I not speak also to your messengers which you sent to me, saying:

If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the Commandment of the Lord to do  either good or bad of my own mind, but what the Lord Says, that will I speak? 

במדבר פרק כד	במדבר פרק כג	במדבר פרק כג
א) וירא בלעם כי טוב בעיני יקוק לברך את ישראל ולא הלך כפעם בפעם לקראת נחשים וישת אל המדבר פניו:	טז) ויקר יקוק אל בלעם וישם דבר בפיו ויאמר שוב אל בלק וכה תדבר:	(ה) וישם יקוק דבר בפי בלעם ויאמר שוב אל בלק וכה תדבר:
ב) וישא בלעם את עיניו וירא את ישראל שכן לשבטיו ותהי עליו רוח אלקים:	יז) ויבא אליו והנו נצב על עלתו ושרי מואב אתו ויאמר לו בלק מה דבר יקוק:	(ו) וישב אליו והנה נצב על עלתו הוא וכל שרי מואב: (ז) וישא משלו ויאמר מן ארם ינחני בלק מלך מואב מהררי קדם לכה ארה לי יעקב ולכה זעמה ישראל:
ג) וישא משלו ויאמר נאם בלעם בנו בער ונאם הגבר שתם העין:	יח) וישא משלו ויאמר קום בלק ושמע האזינה עדי בנו צפר:	ח) מה אקב לא קבה אל ומה אזעם לא זעם יקוק:
ד) נאם שמע אמרי אל אשר מחזה שדי יחזה נפל וגלוי עינים:	יט) לא איש אל ויכזב ובן אדם ויתנחם ההוא אמר ולא יעשה ודבר ולא יקימנה:	ט) כי מראש צרים אראנו ומגבעות אשורנו הן עם לבדד ישכן ובגוים לא יתחשב:
ה) מה טבו אהליך יעקב משכנתיך ישראל:	כ) הנה ברך לקחתי וברך ולא אשיבנה:	י) מי מנה עפר יעקב ומספר את רבע ישראל תמת נפשי מות ישרים ותהי אחריתי כמהו:
ו) כנחלים נטיו כגנת עלי נהר כאהלים נטע יקוק כארזים עלי מים:	כא) לא הביט און ביעקב ולא ראה עמל בישראל יקוק אלהיו עמו ותרועת מלך בו:
ז) יזל מים מדליו וזרעו במים רבים וירם מאגג מלכו ותנשא מלכתו:	כב) אל מוציאם ממצרים כתועפת ראם לו:
ח) קל מוציאו ממצרים כתועפת ראם לו יאכל גוים צריו ועצמתיהם יגרם וחציו ימחץ:	כג) כי לא נחש ביעקב ולא קסם בישראל כעת יאמר ליעקב ולישראל מה פעל קל:
ט) כרע שכב כארי וכלביא מי יקימנו מברכיך ברוך וארריך ארור:	כד) הן עם כלביא יקום וכארי יתנשא לא ישכב עד יאכל טרף ודם חללים ישתה:

Alef.

1. The evil prophet wishes by means of the negative associations that the Jews have with the desert, i.e., the context of the sin of the Golden Calf, to be inspired to carry out Balak’s commission of cursing the Jews. The Midrash notes that the desert, per se, possesses an equally potent positive association, i.e., the receiving of the Tora that would mitigate the negative effects of the connection to the Calf.

2. ישעיהו פרק מט

(יד) ותאמר ציון עזבני יקוק ואדני שכחני:

(טו) התשכח אשה עולה מרחם בן בטנה גם אלה תשכחנה ואנכי לא אשכחך:

Even if man’s mind is selective, in this case, Bila’am wishes to emphasize one event over another, there should be a recognition that God is All-Remembering and therefore such a selective perception of past history will not influence God’s Outlook regarding the symbolism of the desert.

Beit.

(Paraphrase of Targum Onkelos: In contrast to the first two times when Bila’am let things take their own course to see if God would Allow him to curse the Jewish people, this time he deliberately and exclusively attempted to invoke magical forces in order to carry out Balak’s commission.)

1. The phrase “ותהי עליו רוח אלקים” appears only before the third prophecy but not the first and second. Those are preceded by (23:5, 16)  “וישם יקוק דבר בפי בלעם”. Whereas the first two prophecies are introduced as if a specific script was given to Bila’am by God, the third prophecy resulted in blessing only when Bila’am’s entire persona is taken over by God, preventing him from carrying out his negative intentions. Perhaps this was necessary because of Bila’am’s greater determination at this point to curse the Jewish people.

2. In both of the verses, there is an unstated “אלא" that turns the statement into a double negative, i.e., a positive. (Kohelet 4:17) “because they don’t know but to do evil”; (Ibid. 2:24) “There is no good for man but to eat and drink.” Consequently, by extension, “he went not, as at other times, but to seek for enchantments”.

Gimel.

1. RaShI explains that Bila’am after his first two failures decided to abandon using magic and depending upon the sins of the Jews to cause the curses to take hold. However, he becomes suffused with the Spirit of God and abandons his intention.

      RaMBaN suggests that in light of his two previous failures, Bila’am no longer even tried to curse the Jewish people, but just allowed God to Speak through him, in the manner typical for prophets. And when the Spirit of God Descended upon him, the blessings that God always Intended were articulated by Bila’am.

      The essential difference between RaShI and RaMBaN is whether the Spirit of God constituted a reversal of Bila’am’s intentions or a fulfillment of them.

2. Their difference in approach appears to revolve around the implication of “וישת אל המדבר פניו”, i.e., was this a means by which to summon up negative associations with the Jews in order to effectuate the curses that he had been commissioned to impart, or was this a way to properly focus upon the people in order to better bless them.

3. “כפעם בפעם” could connote any number of instances. Therefore RaShI wishes to clarify that the phrase a reference to nothing more than the two previous attempts that Bila’am made to curse the people.

4. Bila’am’s suffusion with Ruach Elokim is immediately preceded by the phrase “וירא את ישראל שכן לשבטיו”, suggesting that there was a cause and effect relationship between these two elements—once Bila’am saw the domestic modesty exercised by the Jews, his commitment to curse them dissipated and he surrendered himself to God’s ultimate Plan.

5. RaShI understands the idea of “לשית פנים” as thinking about a particular aspect of what you are looking at which occurred in the past in order to invoke the associations with it, in this case the sins that the Jews perpetrated in the desert. RaMBaN takes the phrase to mean that Bila’am focused his attention upon the environment where the Jews were presently found in order to speak to/of them with his entire being.

6. RaShI’s interpretation of the effect of being suffused with Ruach Elokim upon Bila’am was perhaps based upon the content of this third speech as well as what he tells Balak subsequently in order to explain his behavior. As part of the prophetic speech, he states:

מברכיך ברוך וארריך ארור, suggesting that it is God rather than he himself who is control over whether blessings or curses emerge from his mouth. And later, in his final discussion with Balak, he says: מלבי אשר ידבר יקוק אתו אדבר, again emphasizing that God is in Control of what Bila’am says, not Bila’am himself. Consequently, the experience of feeling filled with God’s Presence disavowed Bila’am of any further attempts at cursing the Jews.

7. Whereas Bila’am had attempted to apply black arts in order to curse the Jews, when the text states that he was filled with the Spirit of God, this is an indication of true prophecy, which is used within the context of the Jewish people in general in BaMidbar as well as Yeshayahu himself when he describes what occurs during his prophetic moments.  

Daled.

1. As long as the Jewish people are unified, organized, faithful to their families and attentive to their origins, they are immune to the evil designs of outsiders.

2. במדבר פרק לא

(טז) הן הנה היו לבני ישראל בדבר בלעם למסר מעל ביקוק על דבר פעור ותהי המגפה בעדת יקוק:

      If Bila’am thought that it was the clear lines of demarcation of family life that allowed the Jewish people not to be susceptible to attacks and curses, for this very reason Bila’am recommended to the Moabites to undermine such a high standard of morality by sexual attraction resulting in idolatrous practices.  

Heh.

1. Usually a piece of advice is associated with some sort of action, but we find nothing mentioned in this place of what Bila’am advised Balak to do. Furthermore, how does describing what the Jews will do to the Moabites at the end of days constitute “advice”?

      RaShBaM: a) Since the Jews will have the upper hand only at the end of days, therefore Balak should be confident that his plots against them at this time will be effective. b) The reason why the plan is not spelled out at this point, is because it was a secretive plot and it is only disclosed by Moshe when he feels that it is important to justify the war against the Moabites.

      Bechor Shor: The reason why you should not worry about doing anything to these people is because only at the end of days will the Jews pose a problem for your people. Consequently, there was no plot hatched at this point by Bila’am, accounting for no mention of it.

2. The “need to know” that precipitated Moshe’s informing the people of Bila’am’s plot was the war against Moav to avenge the problems that they had caused the Jewish people.

3. It seems to me that Bechor Shor’s interpretation fits our immediate context since any “advice” is not being recorded and what the Jews will do to Moav is mentioned.