פרשת בלק תש"ג - משלי בלעם הראשונים

And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said: ‘Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.’

§ With regard to the verse: “And the Lord placed a matter in Balaam’s mouth” (Numbers 23:5), Rabbi Elazar says: It was an angel that spoke from his mouth. Rabbi Yonatan says: It was a hook placed in his mouth to prevent him from saying anything else.

וישם דבר בפיו AND HE PUT A WORD IN HIS MOUTH —And what was this “putting”? What would Scripture have lacked if it had stated “[And the Lord met Balaam and said,] Return to Balak, and thus shalt thou speak”? But the explanation is: When he heard that he was not permitted to curse, he said, “Why should I return to Balak to cause him annoyance?” Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, put a halter and hook in his mouth as a person who pricks an animal with a hook to make it go wherever he wants. He said to him, “Despite yourself shall you return to Balak’ (cf. Sanhedrin 105b; Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 13).

Adonoy put a message in Bil’am’s mouth. The meaning of put is that it was taught to him — Hashem taught him the words until they were fluent in his mouth so that he would not forget or detract a single word. This has the same meaning as the verse (Devorim 31:19), and teach it to Bnei Yisroel to place it in their mouths.

And he took up his parable, and said: From Aram Balak bringeth me, The king of Moab from the mountains of the East: ‘Come, curse me Jacob, And come, execrate Israel.’

For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him: Lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone, And shall not be reckoned among the nations.

כי מראש צורים אראנו FOR FROM THE TOP OF THE ROCKS I SEE HIM — I look at their origin and at the beginning of their root (descent), and I behold them strongly founded as younder rocks and mountains through their ancestors and ancestresses (Rashi translates thus: For (כי) starting from their very beginning (מראש) I behold them firm as rocks) (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 12).

For I view it, from the mountain peaks. Since Balak led Bil'am up to Bamos Ba’al (v. 22:41) in order to see the people, he said: For I view it, from the mountain peaks and from the hills I gaze upon it and I see that they dwell alone and are not united with any other nation, unlike the common practice of many other nations that join together as a single encampment. Rather, this People has a single Torah and a single law; it is a single nation. They dwell alone under the name Yaakov and Yisroel. For this reason, he said (v. 23:7), Come, curse Yaakov for me; go, invoke wrath against Yisroel. He mentioned their distinguished name and the name of their patriarchs in order to emphasize that they are a lone nation, and that they have beautiful names which they received from their patriarchs. For Balak did not mention the name Yisroel. Rather, he only said that (v. 22:5), a nation came out of Egypt, acting as if he does not know them; he was ungrateful for the good that Avraham had done for Lot, their ancestor. The intention of this verse is to say: Just as I see this people dwelling alone now, so shall they forever live alone securely, like Yaakov (Devorim 33:28). They shall be the leading nation in the world; they shall not be overtaken by any other nation, nor shall they unite with any other nation.

כי מראש צורים אראנו, Bileam now explains why G’d has not angered Israel and does not want to curse them. Now that Bileam has a chance to view their camp from the vantage point of a high rock and from a hilltop, he had begun to appreciate the solitary manner in which this people remains pure, not intermingling with other nations. Not only that, but they have a countless number of small children. The Jewish people are not counted until they have attained age twenty. It follows that they are far more numerous than the census figures would indicate.

And he came to him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him: ‘What hath the LORD spoken?’

מה דבר ה׳ WHAT HATH THE LORD SPOKEN? — This was a derisive expression, as much as to say, “You are not your own master” (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 13).

None hath beheld iniquity in Jacob, Neither hath one seen perverseness in Israel; The LORD his God is with him, And the shouting for the King is among them.

לא הביט און ביעקב וגו׳ HE HATH NOT BEHELD INIQUITY IN JACOB, etc. — Understand this as the Targum has it (“I have seen that there are no worshippers of idols in the house of Jacob”). Another explanation: According to its plain sense it can receive a beautiful exposition:

לא הביט און ביעקב וגו׳ HE HATH NOT BEHELD INIQUITY IN JACOB, etc. — Understand this as the Targum has it (“I have seen that there are no worshippers of idols in the house of Jacob”). Another explanation: According to its plain sense it can receive a beautiful exposition:

לא הביט HE DOTH NOT SEE — i. e., the Holy One, blessed be He, doth not see און THE INIQUITY which is IN JACOB: when they transgress His Words He does not deal so strictly with them as to pay regard to their iniquitous doings and their transgression by which they infringe His law (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 14).

לא הביט HE DOTH NOT SEE — i. e., the Holy One, blessed be He, doth not see און THE INIQUITY which is IN JACOB: when they transgress His Words He does not deal so strictly with them as to pay regard to their iniquitous doings and their transgression by which they infringe His law (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 14). עמל denotes transgression, as in (Psalms 7:15): “He conceiveth transgression (עמל)"; (Psalms 10:14) “For thou beholdest transgression (עמל) and vexation” — and it denotes this because transgression is a vexation (עמל) before the Omnipresent.

לא הביט און ביעקב, He does not want to punish them even when they commit sins (in error). His is what is meant in Job 11,11: “when He sees iniquity He does not discern it.”