Ibn Ezra on Numbers 23:7

וישא משלו ויאמר. המשל הוא כי מראש צורים אראנו: AND HE TOOK UP HIS PARABLE, AND SAID. The parable referred to is, For from the top of rocks I see him (v. 9).³¹Verses 7 and 8 are not parables.

מהררי קדם. מזרח: FROM THE MOUNTAINS OF THE EAST. The word kedem means east.³²The word kedem can also mean old.

לכה ארה לי יעקב. תחסר מלת ואמר ובשיר השירים כמוהו רבים והיא דרך קצרה: COME, CURSE ME JACOB. “And he said” has been omitted from our clause.³³Our verse should be read as if written, And he said: Come curse me Jacob, and come… We find many such instances in the Song of Songs. This is an abridged style.

זועמה ישראל. הטעם כפול כמשפט שהוא דרך לדבר טעם אחד במלות משונו' וישנוהו לחזוק והיתה ראויה מלת זועמה להיותה על משקל זכרה לי אלהי רק כאשר נפתח העי"ן בעבור היותו מן הגרון היה היה בינו ובין הזי"ן חול"ם תחת קמץ חטף: EXECRATE ISRAEL. Scripture repeats itself ³⁴And come execrate Israel repeats Come curse me Jacob. as is its custom. Its manner is to employ different words to express the same thought. It repeats itself for emphasis. The word zo’amah (execrate)³⁵Zo’amah is vocalized with a cholam. should have been vocalized like the word zokhrah (remember)³⁶Zokrah is vocalized with a short kamatz. in Remember unto me, O my God (Neh. 5:19). However, since the ayin³⁷Of zo’amah. was vocalized with a pattach³⁸Rather than with a sheva. because it is a guttural, a cholam rather than a short kamatz was placed between it and the zayin.