Balak בלק

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

וירא בלק ... את כל אשר עשה ישראל לאמרי AND BALAK … SAW ALL THAT ISRAEL HAD DONE TO THE AMORITES — He said to his people: Those two kings (Sihon and Og) on whom we relied (see Rashi on Numbers 21:23) could not resist them; how much less can we do so; on this account (because he said this to his people) ויגר מואב MOAB (the whole people) WAS SORE AFRAID (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 2).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

ויגר is an expression signifying fear, as in (Job. 19:29): “Be ye afraid (גורו‎)" .

ויקץ מואב means they (Moab) were sick of their lives (the expression is similar to קצתי בחיי in Genesis 27:46, being an abbreviated form of it).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

אל זקני מדין AND MOAB SAID] TO THE ELDERS OF MIDIAN But did not these (Moab and Midian) always hate one another, just as is stated, (Genesis 36:35) “who had smitten Midian in the country of Moab”, from which it is evident that Midian had come against Moab in war? But out of fear of Israel they now made peace between themselves (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 3; cf. Sanhedrin 105a). And what induced Moab to take counsel of Midian? When they saw that Israel was victorious in a supernatural manner they said: the leader of these people grew up in Midian; let us ask them what is his chief characteristic. They replied to them; “His power lies only in his mouth (in prayer)”. Whereupon they said: “Then we must come against them with a man whose power lies in his mouth” (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 3).

כלחך השור AS THE OX LICKETH — they used this comparison because whatever piece of ground the ox licks has no blessing left in it (cf. Shabbat 140b, 141a; Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 3).

בעת ההוא [BALAK WAS KING OF MOAB] AT THAT TIME — at that time: he was not really entitled to the kingdom; he was actually one of the Midianite princes, but when Sihon died they (the Moabites) appointed him as king over them to meet the needs of the time (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 4).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

פתורה HE SENT TO BALAAM פתורה because he was like a money changer before whom everyone lays coins; similarly all the kings used to send him their letters, asking for his advice. However, according to the literal sense of the text, this was the name of the place (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 4).

ארץ בני עמו THE LAND OF THE CHILDREN OF HIS PEOPLE — of Balak's people, for he came from there, and this man (Balaam) had prophesied saying to him, “You are destined to be king”. — And if you ask: Why did the Holy One blessed be He, let his Shechina rest upon so wicked a heathen, I reply that in order that the heathen peoples should have no excuse to say, “If we had prophets, we would have changed for the better”, He raised up prophets for them. Yet they (these prophets) broke down the moral fence of the world, because at first they (the heathens) were fenced in against (they refrained from) immoral living, but this man (Balaam) counselled them to freely offer themselves to prostitution (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 1; cf. Rashi on Numbers 24:14).

לקרא לו TO CALL HIM — the call was for him, for his benefit; for he (Balak) fixed for him (agreed to pay him) a large sum.

עם יצא ממצרים [THERE IS] A PEOPLE COME OUT FROM EGYPT — and if you ask: What harm does that do you?

הנה כסה את עין הארץ BEHOLD THEY COVER THE FACE OF THE EARTH — Sihon and Og who used to protect us stood up against them, but they slew them (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 4).

והוא ישב ממלי AND THEY ARE STATIONED OPPOSITE ME — ממלי is written deficient in the ו (the full form is ממולי, so that it may be connected with מול “to cut off”) — they are near enough to cut me off. The word is the same as in (Psalms 118:10): “that I shall cut them off (אמילם)” (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 4).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

נכה בו (this may mean, “we may smite them”) I and my people may smite them. — Another explanation is that this is a Mishnaic Hebrew expression as in (Bava Metzia 105b) “he deducts (מנכה) for him something from the price”, so that it means: [perhaps I may be able] to reduce them a little in numbers (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 4).

כי ידעתי וגו׳ FOR I KNOW etc., through the war of Sihon against Moab, because you assisted him to smite Moab (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 4; cf. Rashi on 21:27).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

וקסמים בידם AND DIVINATIONS WERE IN THEIR HANDS — all kinds of divination, in order that he should not say, “I have not got my tools with me”. — Another explanation is: this omen (קסם) the elders of Midyan took with them: — they said, “If he comes with us this time, there is something substantial in him, but if he puts us off there is no use of him”. — Consequently when he told them, “Stay here tonight”, they said, There is no hope in him”; they left him and went away, as it is said, (v. 8) And the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam”, but the princes of Midyan went away (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 5).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

לינו פה הלילה LODGE HERE THIS NIGHT — The Holy Spirit rested upon him only at night time, and similarly in the case of all the prophets of the heathen peoples, and similarly He revealed Himself to Laban in a dream at night, as it is said, (Genesis 31:24) “And God came to Laban in a dream of the night” — as a man who comes to his concubine furtively (cf. Leviticus Rabbah 1 13; Rashi on Job 12:4).

כאשר ידבר ה' אלי [AND I WILL GIVE YOU AN ANSWER] AS THE LORD SHALL SPEAK TO ME — If He advises me to go with people such as you I will go with you; but perhaps it is not compatible with His dignity to permit me to go except with princes greater than you.

וישבו — this is an expression for “remaining”, (they remained with Balaam).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

מי האנשים האלה עמך WHO ARE THESE MEN WITH THEE? — By putting this question He intended to delude him. And indeed he (Balaam) thereupon said: “It seems, then, that there are times when everything is not manifest to Him; His knowledge is not always alike. I will select a time when I can curse and when He will not observe it” (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 5).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

בלק בן צפור וגו׳ BALAK THE SON OF ZIPPOR [KING OF MOAB, HAS SENT TO ME] — Although I am of no importance in Your eyes, I am of importance in the eyes of kings (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 5).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

קבה לי CURSE FOR ME — this is worse than ארה לי, (the expression which Balak had actually used, v. 6), for in the case of this verb it means that one mentions and pronounces in full [the name of God] when cursing (cf. Rashi on Leviticus 24:16) (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 5).

וגרשתיו AND I WILL DRIVE THEM OUT, meaning from the world; but Balak had said only, (v. 6) “and I will drive them out from the land”: I seek only to make them move away from me. Balaam, however, hated them even more than did Balak (cf.Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 5).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

לא תלך עמהם THOU SHALT NOT GO WITH THEM — He said: If so, I will curse them in my own place. Whereupon God answered: לא תאור את העם THOU SHALT NOT CURSE THE PEOPLE. — He said to Him: If so, I will bless them. He replied to him: They do not need your blessing, כי ברוך הוא FOR THEY ARE ALREADY BLESSED. A parable! People say to the hornet: neither any of your honey nor any of your sting! (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 6).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

להלך עמכם [THE LORD REFUSES TO GIVE ME LEAVE] TO GO WITH YOU, but only with princes greater than you. This tells us that he was of a proud nature and he did not wish to divulge that he was under the control of the Omnipresent except in arrogant terms (“God will not permit me to go with you”). Consequently (v. 15), ויוסף עוד בלק “Balak sent yet again [more princes, and more honorable than these] (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 6).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

כי כבד אכבדך מאד FOR I WILL HONOR THEE EXCEEDINGLY — Exceedingly: more than you have ever received as a fee in the past (cf. Rashi Numbers 21:27) will I now give you (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 6).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

מלא ביתו כסף וזהב [IF BALAK WOULD GIVE ME HIS HOUSE] FULL OF SILVER AND GOLD — This tells us that he was avaricious and covetous of other peoples wealth. He said: He ought to give me all his silver and gold, for, behold, he would otherwise have to hire many armies to fight against them. Even then it is doubtful whether he would conquer or not conquer, but “I” would certainly conquer (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 6).

לא אוכל לעבר I CANNOT GO BEYOND [THE WORD OF THE LORD] — Against his own will he divulged to them that he was under the control of others, and he prophesied here that he would be unable to annul those blessings with which the patriarchs had been blessed by the mouth of God (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 6).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

גם אתם [ABIDE] ALSO YE [HERE] — His mouth tripped him up (unwittingly he spoke the truth): you also in the end will go away disappointed as the former princes (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 6).

מה יסף WHAT MORE [THE LORD WILL SAY TO ME] — He certainly will not change His words from a blessing to a curse: I only hope that he will not add a further blessing. — He here prophesied that He would in the end give them a further blessing by his agency (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 6).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

אם לקרא לך IF [THE MEN COME] TO CALL THEE — If the call be for you, for your benefit, and you think to take a fee for it.

קום לך אתם ARISE, GO WITH THEM, ואך BUT, in spite of yourself, את הדבר אשר אדבר אליך אתו תעשה THE WORD WHICH I SHALL SPEAK TO THEE, THAT SHALL YOU DO, and, nevertheless, Balaam went (as it is stated in the next verse), for he said: perhaps I may persuade Him and He will agree that I should curse.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

ויחבש את אתנו AND HE SADDLED HIS SHE-ASS — From here we may learn that the hatred one bears for a person makes one disregard the rule imposed upon him by his exalted position, for he, himself, not a servant, did the saddling. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: You wicked man! Their ancestor Abraham has already anticipated you in this, as it is said, (Genesis 22:3) “And Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his ass”) (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 8; cf. Sanhedrin 105b).

עם שרי מואב [HE WENT] WITH THE PRINCES OF MOAB — his heart alike with their hearts (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 8).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

כי הולך הוא [AND GOD'S ANGER WAS KINDLED] BECAUSE HE WENT — He perceived that the matter was evil in the eyes of the Omni-present and yet he longed to go.

לשטן לו [AND THE ANGEL OF THE LORD STOOD IN THE WAY] FOR AN OBSTRUCTION AGAINST HIM — It was an Angel of Mercy מלאך ה׳, an angel of the Lord,( the designation of God as a God of Mercy), and he wished to deter him from sinning — so that he should not sin and perish (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 8).

ושני נעריו עמו AND HIS TWO LADS WERE WITH HIM — From here we have a rule for a distinguished personage who is going on a journey, that he should take with him two men to serve him, so that these in turn may serve one another (i.e., act for one another by taking over the other’s duties if he must leave his master for a short time) (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 8). (See Rashi Genesis 22:3).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

ותרא האתון AND THE SHE-ASS SAW [THE ANGEL] — but he did not see him, for the Holy One, blessed be He, gave an animal power to see more than the man, for just because he possesses sense his mind would become perturbed if he sees noxious beings.

וחרבו שלופה בידו AND HIS SWORD DRAWN IN HIS HAND — He (God) said: This wicked man has abandoned the tools of his own craft, — for the offensive weapons of the heathen peoples consist in the sword, — and he is attacking them with his mouth which is their metier; I will take his implement and come against him with his own metier. Thus, indeed, was his end (Numbers 31:8): “And Balaam the son of Beor they slew by the sword” (Midrash Tanchuma 4:7:23).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

במשעול — Understand this as the Targum does: IN A PATH. And similar is, (1 Kings 20:10) “If the dust of Samaria shall suffice לשעלים” — the dust that attaches itself to the soles of peoples’ feet when they walk. And similarly, (Isaiah 40:12) “Who hath measured the water בשעלו” — with his feet and through his walking (as one measures by pacing).

גדר מזה וגדר מזה A FENCE BEING ON THIS SIDE AND A FENCE ON THAT SIDE — The term גדר without further definition is one of stone (and that is why in the next verse it is called a קיר which is a term for a stone wall; cf. Leviticus 14:37—40).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

וַתִּלָּחֵץ — the Niphal form denotes that SHE PRESSED HERSELF.

וַתִּלְחַץ — the Kal denotes that SHE PRESSED something else — viz., את רגל בלעם BALAAM’S FOOT.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

ויוסף מלאך ה' עובר AND THE ANGEL OF THE LORD WENT FURTHER — went further in front of him — it went on so as to be before him in another spot. It is similar to, (Genesis 33:3) “And he passed in front of them”. — And there is a Midrashic explanation in Tanchuma: What reason had he to stand in three places? He (the Angel) showed him (Balaam) symbols referring to the three patriarchs (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 8).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

זה שלש רגלים THESE THREE TIMES — By these words he suggested to him: You seek to root out a nation that celebrates three festivals (שלש רגלים) annually?! (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 9).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

התעללת — Understand this as the Targum does: an expression denoting scorn and disdain — [THOU HAST MADE SPORT OF ME].

לו יש חרב בידי I WOULD THERE WERE A SWORD IN MY HAND — This utterance was a great shame for him in the sight of the princes: this man was going for the purpose of slaying a whole nation by his mouth, and for this animal he required a weapon! (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 9).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

ההסכן הסכנתי — Understand this as the Targum does — HAVE I EVER LEARNT? Similar is, (Job 22:2) “Does a man learn (יסכן) for God’s benefit” (see Rashi on this verse). And our Rabbis have explained this verse in the Talmud: They said to him, “What is the reason you are not riding on a horse?” He replied to them: “I have left it in the meadow grass” (i.e., I have put it out to graze). Whereupon the ass exclaimed: Am I not your ass upon whom thou hast ridden from my very youth unto this day?!” (so you see, you have never possessed a horse) — as it is related in Treatise Avodah Zarah 4b.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

כי ירט הדרך לנגדי BECAUSE THY WAY IS PERVERSE BEFORE ME — Our Rabbis, the Mishnaic Sages, explain it as an acrostic, יראה she feared when ראתה, she saw, and נטתה she turned aside (Shabbat 105a), because that the journey (הדרך) is לנגדי, is against me, that is to say, to anger me, to affront me. — But according to its literal meaning, it is equivalent to חרד הדרך לנגדי, the word ירט being associated in meaning with רטט, “rapid movement” (cf. 49:24). The phrase therefore signifies: for I have seen the man who is taking the journey (Balaam) that he hastened and hurried on the journey, which was taken to my anger and to my despite. It is an elliptical verse (the words בעל הדרך being omitted after ירט), just as (II Samuel 13:39) “And the soul of David longed” (the word נפש being omitted). Another explanation is: ירט is an expression denoting “being pleased”. Similar is, (Job 16:11) “Through the wicked ירטני” — i.e., He appeases and comforts me through the wicked, whilst indeed they do nought but annoy me (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 9).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

אולי נטתה — This is the same as לולא: UNLESS SHE HAD [TURNED ASIDE]. Sometimes אולי is used in the sense of לולא “unless”.

גם אתכה הרגתי SURELY NOW ALSO THEE HAD I SLAIN — This is an inverted sentence, and it is the same as גם הרגתי אותך — I would also have slain thee, as much as to say: not only would this delay have happened to you through me, but death also.

ואותה החייתי AND IT WOULD I HAVE KEPT ALIVE — but now because it spoke and rebuked you andyou could not stand against its rebuke, — just as it is written, "and he said, No!" — I have killed it in order that people should not be able to say: This is the animal that silenced Balaam by its rebuke, so that he could not reply. For God has regard for human dignity. Similar is (Leviticus 20:16): “And thou shalt slay the woman and the animal (with which sin was committed)”, and similarly Leviticus 20:15): “And the animal shalt thou slay” (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 9).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

כי לא ידעתי FOR I KNEW NOT — This statement, too, (cf. v. 29), was a disgrace for him, for in spite of himself he had to admit it — because he used to boast that he knew the will of of the Most High (24:16) and now his own mouth bore testimony: “I knew not” (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 10).

אם רע בעיניך אשובה לי IF IT BE EVIL IN THINE EYES, I WILL RETURN — To set himself in opposition to the Omnipresent was the purpose of this reply. He said, in effect, “He Himself commanded me to go, and you, angel, annul His words. He is accustomed to this — that He says something and an angel recalls it. He said to Abraham, (Genesis 22:2) Take now thy son, etc.’ and by an angel annulled His words. I, too: "If it be evil in thine eyes, then I must return” (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 10).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

לך עם האנשים GO WITH THE MEN — On that road which a man is resolved to go, he is allowed to go (Makkot 10b).

לך עם האנשים GO WITH THE MEN — for thy lot is with them, for in the end you will perish from the world.

ואפס BUT — in spite of yourself, את הדבר אשר אדבר וגו׳ THE WORD THAT I SHALL SPEAK [TO THEE, THAT THOU SHALT SPEAK].

עם שרי בלק [SO BALAAM WENT] WITH THE PRINCES OF BALAK — he was glad to curse them, even as they were (see Rashi v. 21) (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 10).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

וישמע בלק AND BALAK HEARD [THAT BALAAM WAS COMING] — He sent messengers to announce this to him.

אל עיר מואב [AND HE WENT TOWARDS HIM] UNTO THE CITY OF MOAB — to his metropolis, the most important city he had, as much as to say: See what these Israelites wish to exterminate (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 10).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

האמנם לא אוכל כבדך AM I NOT ABLE INDEED TO HONOUR YOU — He prophesied unwittingly that he (Balaam) would eventually leave him in disgrace (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 10).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

קרית חצות — a city (קריה) full of streets (חצות), — men and women and children thronging the streets, as much as to say: Look and have pity that these should not be exterminated (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 11).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

בקר וצאן THE HERD AND FLOCK — a small matter (one ox and one sheep, nothing in comparison with what he had promised him) (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 11).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

במות בעל BAMOTH-BAAL — Understand this as the Targum does: to the heights of his god (more lit., of that which he reverenced); Baal is the name of a god.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

'אולי יקרה ה‎‎ לקראתי PERHAPS THE LORD WILL HAPPEN TO MEET ME — Perhaps: He is not accustomed to speak with me by day.

וילך שפי AND HE WENT שפי — Understand this as the Targum does: “alone”; it is an expression denoting ease and tranquillity; the statement means that there was nothing with him except silence (nothing to disturb him).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

ויקר AND [GOD] HAPPENED TO MEET [BALAAM] — This is an expression ordinarily used to denote events of a casual character, an expression for something shameful, an expression for an unclean happening (קרי). It is as much as to say: with reluctance and in a contemptuous manner. And on this occasion He revealed Himself to him by day, only to show how dear Israel was to Him (cf. Genesis Rabbah 52:5; Rashi on Leviticus 1:1).

את שבעת המזבחות — “Seven altars I have set in order” is not written here, but “THE SEVEN ALTARS”. He said to Him: The ancestors of these people together built before Thee seven altars, but I alone have built altars equal to all of them. — Abraham built four: (Genesis 12:7) “And he built there an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him”; (Genesis 12:8) “And he removed thence unto the mount… [and he built there an altar]; (Genesis 13:18) “And Abraham moved his tent … [and built there an altar]”; and one he built on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:9). Isaac built one: (Genesis 26:25) “And he built there an altar”. Jacob built two, one at Shechem and one at Bethel (Genesis 33:20 and Genesis 35:7);

ואעל פר ואיל במזבח AND I HAVE OFFERED UPON EVERY ALTAR A BULLOCK AND A RAM — “but Abraham”, said he, “offered only a single ram” (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 11, Midrash Tanchuma, Tzav 1).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

ארה לי יעקב ולכה זעמה ישראל CURSE JACOB FOR ME AND COME EXECRATE ISRAEL — by their two names did he bid him curse them, for perhaps one of them was not distinctive enough to point them out beyond all doubt as being the people against whom the curse was directed.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

מה אקב ולא קבה אל HOW SHALL I CURSE WHOM GOD HATH NOT CURSED — Even when they deserved to be cursed, they were not cursed. When their ancestor, Jacob, made mention of their sin — (Genesis 49:6) “For in their anger they slew a man” — he cursed their anger only, as it is said, (Genesis 49:7) “Cursed be their anger”. When their ancestor, Jacob, went to his father with deceit he deserved to be cursed, but what is stated there (Genesis 27:33)? “Yea, he shall be blessed”. In the case of those tribes who had to recite the blessings it is said, (Deuteronomy 27:12) “These shall stand to bless the people”, but in the case of those who had to pronounce the curses it does not state, “And these shall stand to curse the people”, but, “And these shall stand for the curse”, — it does not wish to mention the term “cursing” in direct reference to them (the people) (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayechi 1; Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 12).

לא זעם ה׳” GOD IS NOT ANGRY — As for me, my power lies only in that I know to determine the exact moment when the Holy One, blessed be He, is angry, and He has not been angry all these days that I have been coming to you. And this is the meaning of what is said (Micah 6:5): “O my people, remember now what [Balak, king of Moab] devised and what Balaam [the son of Beor] answered him … that ye may know the righteous acts of the Lord” (Sanhedrin 105b).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

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).

הן עם לבדד ישכן LO, THE PEOPLE SHALL DWELL ALONE — This it is what their ancestors have given them as a prerogative: to dwell in the world alone — as is the sense given to the passage by the Targum (“Lo, this people is alone destined to inherit the world").

ובגוים לא יתחשב AND SHALL NOT RECKON ITSELF AMONG THE NATIONS — Understand this as the Targum does — They will not be exterminated with the other nations, as it is said, ( 30:11) “For I will make a full end of all the nations [… but I will not make a full end of thee]”. The words therefore mean: They do not come under the same reckoning (לא יתחשב) with other nations. — Another explanation is: When they rejoice, no other nation rejoices with them, as it is said, (Deuteronomy 32:12) “The Lord will lead him alone to future bliss”, and when the nations are in prosperity they (the Israelites) eat with each one of them and yet it is not taken into account or them thereby to diminish their reward in the future life; and this is the meaning of ובגוים לא יתחשב (“and when they enjoy with the nations it is not taken into account) (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 12).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

מי מנה עפר יעקב וגו׳ WHO HATH COUNTED THE DUST OF JACOB [AND THE NUMBER OF THE FOURTH PART OF ISRAEL] — Understand this as the Targum does: [who has counted] the infants of the house of Jacob, who are compared to the dust of the earth (Genesis 13:16). The words מארבע משריתא in the Targum mean; [who can count … even one] of the four (רבע “a fourth”) banners (companies of the tribes). — Another explanation of עפר יעקב is: Countless are the commandments which they practise in connection with dust: (Deuteronomy 22:10) “Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass [together]”; (Leviticus 19:19): “Thou shalt not sow thy field with two kinds of seeds”. There are also the ashes of the red cow (Numbers 19:9 ff.), and the dust used in the ordeal to which a woman suspected of infidelity is subjected (Numbers 5:17), and others similar to these (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 12).

ומספר את רבע ישראל The word רבע implies their matings — the offspring which issues from their relations (cf. Nedarim 31a; and Rashi on Numbers 24:3).

תמת נפשי מות ישרים LET ME DIE THE DEATH OF THE UPRIGHT amongst them.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

וקבנו לי — The verb is the imperative: CURSE THEM FOR ME (cf. Rashi on v. 27).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

שדה צפים FIELD OF ZOPHIM — There was a high spot upon which the watchman (צופה) used to stand to observe whether any hostile force was coming against the city.

ראש הפסגה THE TOP OF PISGAH — Balaam was not as expert a diviner as Balak. Balak forsaw that at some time a breach in Israel would originate from there — and as a matter of fact Moses died there, — and therefore he believed that there the curse would certainly fall upon them. “And this (the effects of the curse)” — he thought — “must be the breach which I behold” (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 13).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

אקרה כה — This means, I WILL BE MET YONDER by the Holy One, blessed be He, for אקרה has a passive sense.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

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).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

ושרי מואב עמו AND THE PRINCES OF MOAB WITH HIM — But above (v. 6) it states, “And all the princes of Moab”?! As soon as they saw that there was no hope for them in him, part of them went away, and only part of them remained (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 13).

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).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

קום בלק RISE UP, BALAK — When he perceived that he was mocking at him, he set himself to annoy him, saying, “Stand on your feet; you have no right to remain seated, seeing that I am sent to you on a mission by the Omnipresent” (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 13).

בנו צפור SON OF ZIPPOR — This (the suffix ו to mark the construct) is often found as a Biblical Hebrew form, as in (Psalms 50:10), “beast of (חיתו) the forest”; (Genesis 1:24) “beast of (חיתו) the earth”; (Psalms 114:8), “to a spring of (מעינו) water”.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

לא איש וגו׳ [GOD IS] NOT A MAN [THAT HE SHOULD LIE] — He has already sworn to them that He will bring them thither and give them as a possession the land of the seven peoples, and you think to slay them in the wilderness?! (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Vayera 13)

ההוא אמר וגו׳ — Read this in the form of a question: HATH HE SAID, [AND SHALL HE NOT DO IT]? — The rendering of ויתנחם in the Targum, ותיבין ומחמלכין, means, “[and not as the doings of mortals who decide to do things] and again reconsider” — to withdraw from them.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

הנה ברך לקחתי BEHOLD, I HAVE RECEIVED COMMANDMENT TO BLESS — You ask me derisively, (v. 17) “What hath the Lord spoken”? I will tell you: I have received an order from Him to bless them.

וברך ולא אשיבנה AND HE HAS BLESSED AND I CANNOT REVERSE IT — “He” has blessed them, and “I” cannot reverse this blessing.

וברך — This is equivalent to וּבִרֵּךְ. This is the rule of the letter ר, as in (Psalms 74:18): “the enemy blasphemeth”, חֵרֵף like חִרֵּף; and similarly (Psalms 10:3): [ובצע בֵּרֵךְ [נאץ ה׳ (where בֵּרֵךְ is for בִּרֵּךְ), which means, He who praises and blesses the robber (בצע) and says, ‘Do not be afraid, for you will not be punished; peace will be unto you’, he angers (נאץ) God thereby (but see Rashi on this verse where another translation is given). — One cannot say that ברך is a noun, for if it were, it would be voweled in both syllables with Short Patach (our Segol), and its accent would be on the first syllable (בֶּרָךְ) because it is a verb in the Piel conjugation, it is voweled with Short Kametz (our Tzéré) on both syllables, and its accent is on the last syllable.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

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).

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.

ה' אלקיו עמו THE LORD HIS GOD IS WITH HIM — Even when they provoke Him to anger and act rebelliously before Him He does not depart from their midst,

ותרועת מלך בו BUT THE תרועה OF A KING IS STILL WITH THEM — תרועה is an expression for love and fellowship, as (II Samuel 15:37) “the רעה of David’ — the friend of David; (Judges 15:6) “And he gave her to his friend (מרעהו)." (The translation is therefore: and the fellowship of their king is still with them). In this sense, too, does Onkelos translate it: and the Shechina of their King is among them.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

אל מוציאם ממצרים GOD BROUGHT THEM OUT FROM EGYPT — You said, (Numbers 22:5) “Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt” — it did not come out of its own account, but God brought it out (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 14).

כתועפת ראם לו means [GOD BROUGHT THEM OUT OF EGYPT] IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE STRENGTH BEFITTING HIS SUBLIMITY (רום) and loftiness. Similar is (Job 22:25) “and silver of strength (‎תועפות‎)"‏ — they (the word תועפות here and in the verse quoted) are both expressions signifying strength. — And I say that really it has the same meaning as the verb in (Genesis 1:20) ועוף יעופף which signifies: a bird that raises itself into the heights and lofty spheres — and this is evidence of great strength. Accordingly ותועפות ראם really signifies “a flight in the heights”. — Another explanation of תועפות ראם is: “the strength of Reemim” and our Rabbis said that this refers to “the demons’” (their strength is subject to Him) (cf. Gittin 68b).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

כי לא נחש ביעקב FOR THERE IS NO ENCHANTMENT IN JACOB — For they are worthy of blessing since there are no enchanters or diviners amongst them.

כעת יאמר ליעקב וגו׳ IN DUE TIME IT SHALL BE SAID TO JACOB etc. — Once again will there be a time as this time (כעת) when the love which God bears them will be made manifest in the sight of all, because they sit before Him and learn the Torah at His mouth, and the place assigned to them will be inward of that of the ministering angels and these will enquire of them, מה פעל אל WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT. This is the meaning of what is said, (Isaiah 30:20) “And thine eyes shall see thy Teacher” (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 14). — Another explanation is that יאמר ליעקב does not express what is to happen in the future but expresses what takes place in the present: They require no enchanter nor diviner, for at every time (כעת) when it is necessary that there should be told to Jacob and to Israel what the Holy One, blessed be He, hath wrought and what are His decrees on High, they do not do enchantment nor divination, but it is told to them (יאמר ליעקב) by the mouth of their prophets what is the decree of the Omnipresent (מה פעל אל), or the Urim and Thummim declare it to them. — Onkelos, however, did not translate it thus.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

הן עם כלביא יקום וגו׳ BEHOLD, THE PEOPLE RISES AS A LIONESS, etc. — When they rise from their sleep in the morning they show themselves strong as a lioness and as a lion to “snatch at” the Divine precepts (to perform them immediately) — to clothe themselves with the Tallith, to read the Shema and to lay Tephillin (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 14).

לא ישכב HE LIES NOT DOWN at night on his bed until he consumes (עד יאכל) and destroys every noxious thing which comes to prey upon him (טרף). How so? He reads the Shema at his bedside and commends his spirit into the hands of the Omnipresent (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 14). If a camp or troop comes to injure them, the Holy One, blessed be He, protects them and fights their battles and causes them (the enemies) to fall slain (חללים).— Another explanation of הן עם כלביא יקום is as the Targum has it (“Behold the people shall dwell as a lioness and as a lion shall he raise himself; he will not dwell in his land until he hath slaughtered and he will inherit the wealth of the peoples”).

ודם חללים ישתה AND HE SHALL DRINK THE BLOOD OF THE SLAIN — He unwittingly foretold the future — that Moses would not die until he will have made the kings of Midean fall slain (חללים) and he (Balaam) will have been slain with them, — as it is said, (Joshua 13:22) “And Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among the rest of their slain (חלליהם)" (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 14).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

גם קב לא תקבנו NEITHER (גם) CURSE THEM AT ALL [NOR (גם) BLESS THEM AT ALL] — The first גם adds something to the second גם and the second גם something to the first גם, similar to (1 King 3:26): “Neither mine (גם לי) nor thine (גם לך) shall it be”; and similarly (Deuteronomy 32:25): “also youths (גם בכור) also maidens (גם בתולה)” (i.e. both youths and maidens).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

וקבתי לי — This is not a command as is וקבנו (v. 13), but it is a future tense: perhaps it will seem right in His eyes that thou shalt curse them for me from there; malderas in O. F.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

ראש הפעור THE TOP OF PEOR — Balak was a great soothsayer and he foresaw that they would once be punished on account of Peor, but he knew not by what. He said: Perhaps the curse will fall upon them from there (be effective against them if pronounced there). So, too, all astrologers: they see something that will once happen but they know not exactly what they see (cf. Sotah 12b).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

וירא בלעם כי טוב וגו׳ AND BALAAM SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD, etc. He said: I do not need to put the Holy One, blessed be He, to a further test for it is evident that He does not wish to curse them.

ולא הלך כפעם בפעם HE WENT NOT, AS AT OTHER TIMES — as he had already done twice.

לקראת נחשים TO SEEK SEEK FOR ENCHANTMENTS — to practise enchantments whereby the Lord might perhaps come to meet him according to his (Balaam’s) wish. He said: Whether He wishes or does not wish to curse them, I will make mention of their sins, and the curse will fall upon them at the mention of their sins, therefore —

וישת אל המדבר פניו HE SET HIS FACE TOWARDS THE WILDERNESS — Understand this as the Targum has it (Rashi’s Targum read, as in some editions: He directed his face towards the calf that the children of Israel had made in the wilderness).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

וישא בלעם את עיניו AND BALAAM LIFTED UP HIS EYES — he wished to cast the evil eye upon them. Thus you have his three characteristics — an evil eye mentioned here, and pride and greed which have been mentioned above (see Rashi on Numbers 22:13 and 18).

שכן לשבטיו DWELLING ACCORDING TO HIS TRIBES — He saw each tribe dwelling by itself not intermingled one with another; he saw that the entrances of their tents were not exactly facing each other so that one could not peer into the other's tent (Bava Batra 60a).

ותהי עליו רוח אלהים AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD WAS UPON HIM — Then he made up his mind not to curse them (i.e. he decided to comply with the will of God, רוח אלהים).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

בנו בער — The grammatical form בנו is exactly like that in (Psalms 114:8) “To a spring of (מעינו) water” (see Rashi on Numbers 23:18). But a Midrashic statement is: Both of them (Balak and Balaam) were superior to their fathers, for it states (Numbers 23:18): “Balak — his son was Zippor”, i.e. that his father (Zippor) was his son (his inferior) in respect to royalty, and Balaam was greater than his father in prophecy (because it states here, בלעם בנו בעור i.e. Balaam — his son was Beor): he was, so to speak, a Maneh, son of a Half-Maneh (Sanhedrin 105a, Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 13, cf. Taanit 28b).

שתום העין WITH THE PENETRATING EYE — his eye was bored out and had been extracted and its eye socket could be seen to be open. The word שתום used in the sense of “boring a hole” is a Mishnaic usage: sufficient time that we can bore a hole (ישתום) in the cask and stop it up, and it (the clay of which the stopper is made) can dry (Avodah Zarah 69a). And our Rabbis said, Because he had said, (Numbers 23:10) ומספר את רבע ישראל, meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, occupies Himself with counting the issue of the marital life of the Israelites, awaiting the time when a righteous man will be born, he therefore said to himself, “Does He who is holy and whose ministers are holy direct his mind to matters such as these?” On this account Balaam’s eye was blinded (Niddah 31a). But some explain that שתום העין means “open-eyed”, just as Onkelos translated (“who can see well”). And since it says, שתום העין "with an open eye” and it does not say, “with open eyes”, we may learn that in one of his eyes he was blind (Sanhedrin 105a).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

נפל וגלוי עינים FALLING BUT HAVING HIS EYES OPEN — Its plain sense is as the Targum has it (“lying down when it was revealed to him”), meaning, that God revealed Himself to him only at night when he was lying on his bed. — And a Midrashic explanation of it is: When He revealed Himself to him he had no strength to stand on his feet, and he, therefore, fell on his face — because he was uncircumcised and it was therefore a loathsome thing that He should reveal Himself to him whilst he stood in an erect posture before Him (cf. Tar. Jon. and Rashi on Genesis 17:3).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

מה טבו אהליך HOW GOODLY ARE THY TENTS — He said this because he saw that the entrances of their tents were not exactly facing each other (Bava Batra 60a; cf. v. 2).

משכנתיך means thy encampments, as the Targum has it. — Another explanation — מה טבו אהליך HOW GOODLY ARE THY TENTS — How goodly are the tent of Shiloh and the Temple when these flourished, in that sacrifices were offered therein to atone for you;

משכנתיך How goodly are they even when they are in ruins, because then they are a pledge (משכון) for you, and the fact that they are in ruins is an atonement for your souls, as it is said. (Lamentations 4:11) “The Lord hath brought His fury to an end”. And by what means hath He brought it to an end? “He hath kindled a fire in Zion! (i.e. hath destroyed the Temple) (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Mishpatim 11).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

כנחלים נטיו AS THE BROOKS THAT WIND — which lengthen and draw themselves out so that they extend (נטיו) into the distance. — Our Rabbis said: From the blessings uttered by that wicked man we may learn what was in his heart as regards cursing them, when he thought to set his face towards the wilderness (cf. v. 1). When the Omnipresent turned the words of his mouth he uttered blessings corresponding to the contents of those curses which he had wished to pronounce as it is related in the chapter beginning with the word חלק Sanhedrin 105b.

כאהלים — Understand this as the Targum does (“as aromatic plants”), — taking it in the same meaning as in (Psalms 45:9) “Myrrh and aloes (אהלים).

נטע ה' (LIKE THE ALOES] WHICH THE LORD HATH PLANTED in the Garden of Eden. - Another explanation: כאהלים נטע ה׳ LIKE TENTS WHICH THE LORD HATH PLANTED — i.e., like the heavens which are stretched forth as a tent (cf. Isaiah 40:22: וימתחם כאהל לשבת).

נטע ה׳ [LIKE TENTS] WHICH THE LORD HAS PLANTED — We can speak of planting a tent for we find the expression “planting” in connection with tents, as it is said, (Daniel 11:45) “And he shall plant (ויטע) the tents of his palace”.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

מדליו means OUT OF HIS SPRINGS, and its explanation is as given in the Targum (“The king appointed from amongst his sons shall be great”).

וזרעו במים רבים AND HIS SEED SHALL BE IN MANY WATERS — This is an expression denoting prosperity — he shall be as seed which is sown upon well-watered soil.

וירם מאגג מלכו AND HIS KING SHALL BE HIGHER THAN AGAG — Their first king will conquer Agag king of the Amalakites.

ותנשא מלכתו AND HIS KINGDOM SHALL BE EXALTED — i.e. the kingdom of Jacob (the Israelitish people) shall be exalted more and more, because the powerful monarchs David and Solomon will succeed him (their first king).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

אל מוציאו ממצרים GOD WHO BROUGHT THEM OUT OF EGYPT — Who was the cause of all this greatness? God who brought them out from Egypt; by his strength and his sublimity HE EATS UP (יאכל) THE NATIONS (גוים) who are (צריו) HIS ADVERSARIES.

ועצמתיהם AND THEIR BONES — those of the adversaries.

יגרם — Menachem ben Seruk explained it in the sense of “breaking to pieces”, similar to, (Zephaniah 3:3) “who have not broken to pieces (גרמו) in the morning”, and similar to, (Ezekiel 23:34) “and thou shalt crunch (תגרמי) the sherds thereof”. I, however, say that it has the meaning of “bone” (גרם in Aramaic corresponds to Hebrew עצם) — it means that one pulls away the flesh with his teeth from around the bone, and the marrow from inside, and brings the bone into its original bare condition (i.e., as it was before flesh grew upon it).

וחציו ימחץ AND PIERCE THEM THROUGH WITH HIS ARROWS — Onkelos translated this as meaning, the חצים of the adversaries, taking it in the sense of “their postion of land”, similar to (Genesis 44:23) בעלי חצים, which he translated by מרי פלנותא “those who part (differ) from him”. So, too, according to the Targum ימחץ denotes “dividing” having the same meaning as in (Judges 5:26): “She divided (מחצה) and struck through his temples”. The meaning therefore is, that they will divide amongst themselves their (the adversaries’) land (Hence the translation of Onkelos: “they shall take possession of their land”). — But it can also be explained as meaning חצים literally (i.e., arrows): the arrows of the Holy One, blessed be He, He will ימחץ in the blood of the adversaries — i.e., he will dip and thus dye the arrows in their blood. Similar is, (Psalms 68:24) “In order that thou mayest colour thy foot (תמחץ) by the blood”. However, even in this sense it does not lose the usual meaning of “wounding”, as in (Deuteronomy 32:39): “I wound (מחצתי)”, for what is dyed by blood, looks as though it were wounded and stricken.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

כרע שכב כארי HE CROUCHED, HE LAY DOWN AS A LION — Understand this as the Targum does (“He will have rest, he will dwell in strength like a lion”), meaning, they will be settled in their land in strength and might.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

ויספק means he clapped one hand upon the other.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

לעבר את פי ה׳ [I AM UNABLE] TO GO BEYOND THE WORD OF THE LORD — Here it does not say “[the Lord] my God”, as it is said at first (Numbers 22:18), because he had now become conscious that he was regarded by the Holy One, blessed be He, as something vile and banished from His presence.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

הולך לעמי [AND NOW, BEHOLD, I] GO TO MY PEOPLE — “From now on, behold, I am like the rest of my people”. He said this because he knew that the Holy One, blessed be He, had departed from him.

לך איעצך COME AND I WILL COUNSEL THEE what you have to do. And what is the counsel? The God of these people hates unchastity, therefore tempt them to sin by means of thy women-folk, as is related in the chapter חלק (Sanhedrin 106a) — You can know that it was Balaam who gave this counsel, to make them fall by the sin of unchastity, for it is stated, of the women of Midian (Numbers 31:16), “Behold, these were an enticement to the children of Israel through the word of Balaam”.

אשר יעשה העם הזה לעמך WHAT THIS PEOPLE SHALL DO TO THY PEOPLE — This is an elliptical verse, the meaning being: I will give thee counsel how to make them fall into sin, and I also will tell thee what evil they will once do to thy people Moab in later days: viz., (v. 17) “they will pierce the corners of Moab”. — The Targum explains at length what is implied by the terseness of the Hebrew text (“Come I will give thee counsel what thou shouldst do and I will show thee what this people etc.")

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

וידע דעת עליון WHO KNOWETH THE MIND OF THE MOST HIGH — i.e., who knoweth to determine the precise moment when He is angry. (The meaning of the text is: “who knoweth His state of mind”, not, ”who knoweth his thoughts”) (Sanhedrin 105b).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

אראנו I SEE HIM — I see the preeminence of Jacob and his greatness, but it is not now (ולא עתה), but will be after some time.

דרך כוכב A STAR COMETH OUT [OF JACOB] — Understand this as the Targum does (“a king will arise from Jacob”). The word דרך has the same meaning as in (Lamentations 2:4): “He has bent (דרך lit., trodden) his bow; this expression is used because the star shoots across [the heavens] as an arrow does when the bow is trodden. In O. F. destent. It is as much as to say, “Prosperity (a good fortune) will rise”.

וקם שבט AND A שבט RISES [OUT OF ISRAEL] — a king, who chastises with the rod (שבט) and has sovereign power.

ומחץ פאתי מואב AND PIERCETH THE CORNERS OF MOAB — This is a reference to David of whom it is stated, (II Samuel 8:2) “[And he smote Moab] … making them to lie down on the ground and he measured two lines to put to death etc.”.

וקרקר AND UNDERMINETH — This is an expression denoting “digging”, as in (2 Kings 19:24): “I have dug (קרתי)”; (Isaiah 51:1): “The hole of the pit from which you were dug out (נקרתם); (Proverbs 30:17) “The ravens of the valley shall dig it out (יקרהו)". In O. F. forer.

כל בני שת ALL THE CHILDREN OF SETH — i.e., all nations, because all of them issued from Seth, the son of Adam, the first man (cf. Onkelos).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

והיה ירשה שעיר איביו SEIR ALSO SHALL BE A POSSESSION [FOR HIS ENEMIES] — for his enemy, Israel.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

וירד מיעקב AND OUT OF JACOB ONE SHALL RULE — and there will be yet another ruler from Jacob,

והאביד שריד מעיר AND HE WILL DESTROY THE REMNANT OF THE CITY — the most important city of Edom, and that is Rome. It is of King Messiah that he is thus speaking, of whom it is said, (Psalms 72:8) “And he shall have dominion (וירד) from sea to sea”; (Obadiah v. 18) “And there shall be no remnant (שריד) of the house of Esau".

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

וירא את עמלק AND HE SAW AMALEK — i.e. He perceived the retribution destined to befall Amalek.

ראשית גוים עמלק AMALEK WAS THE BEGINNING OF NATIONS — he was the first of them all to war against Israel; thus, too, does Onkelos translate it. ואחריתו BUT HIS LATTER END will be to be destroyed by their hands, as it is said, (Deuteronomy 25:19) “Thou shalt blot out the memory of Amalek”.

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

וירא את הקיני AND HE SAW THE KENITES — Because the Kenites were settled near the Amalekites — just as it is stated, (I Samuel 15:6) “And Saul said unto the Kenites, [Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites]’’ — he mentioned them immediately after the Amalekites. He beheld the greatness of the descendants of Jethro, of whom it is said, (I Chronicles 2:55) “The תרעתים, שמעתים, שוכתים" — [These are the Kenites] (see Sifrei Bamidbar 78:1 on Numbers 10:29; Sanhedrin 104a, 106a, Sotah 11a).

איתן מושבך FIRM IS THY DWELLING PLACE — “I wonder whence you merited this; for were you not with me in the advice we gave Pharaoh (Exodus 1:10): ‘Come, let us deal wisely with them’, and now you have a seat in the strength and power of Israel, (in the Sanhedrin)’’! (Sanhedrin 106a).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

כי אם יהיה לבער קין וגו׳ FOR IF THE KENITES WILL BE REMOVED etc. — Happy are you that you have firmly settled yourself in such strength, to which I have referred, so that thou will therefore never be driven from the world. For even if you will in the future go into exile with the Ten Tribes and be removed from the place where you had settled, what does it matter?

עד מה אשור תשבך HOW FAR WILL ASSYRIA CARRY YOU AWAY CAPTIVE? Possibly as far as Chaloch and Chabor — this is not being driven from the world, but only being moved from place to place, and in the end you will return with the other exiles!

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

וישא משלו וגו׳ AND HE TOOK UP HIS PARABLE etc. — Because he mentioned the captivity into Assyria he exclaimed, אוי מי יחיה משמו אל, who is able to save himself alive, so that He who decrees (God) should not place upon him (משמו) these things (אל, the equivalent of אלה) — for Sannacherib, king of Assyria, shall rise up and bring all the nations into confusion. And further, there will come —

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

צים מיד כתים SHIPS FROM THE LAND OF CHITTIM and the people of Chittim — these are the Romans — will pass over in big ships against Assyria.

וענו עבר AND WILL AFFLICT THEM ON THE OTHER SIDE (עבר) of the river Euphrates.

וגם הוא עדי אבד BUT HE ALSO SHALL PERISH EVERLASTINGLY — (“He” means the Romans). And so, too, did Daniel expressly state, (Daniel 7:11) “until the beast (Rome) was slain and its body destroyed".

וצים means [AND] BIG SHIPS, as it is written (Isaiah 33:21) “A gallant ship (צי)", the Targum translation of which is “a big ship” (Yoma 77b).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

בשטים — Thus was its name: SHITTIM.

לזנות אל בנות מואב TO COMMIT WHOREDOM WITH THE DAUGHTERS OF MOAB — by the advice of Balaam, — as is related in the chapter חלק (Sanhedrin 106a).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

וישתחוו לאלהיהן AND THEY PROSTRATED THEMSELVES BEFORE THEIR GODS — When anyone’s passions overpowered him and he said to her, “Submit to me”, she took out for him an image of Peor from her bosom, saying to him, “First prostrate yourself before this" (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 18).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

פעור — It was so named because they bared (פער) their anus and relieved themselves before it: this was its ceremonial rite (Sanhedrin 60b).

ויחר אף ה' בישראל AND THE ANGER OF THE LORD WAS KINDLED AGAINST ISRAEL — he sent a plague among them (cf. v. 8).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

קח את כל ראשי העם TAKE ALL THE HEADS OF THE PEOPLE, to judge those who worshipped Peor (Sanhedrin 35a),

והוקע אותם AND HANG THEM — those who worshipped it (not the heads of the people).

והוקע — This is “hanging”, just as we find in the case of Saul’s sons, (II Samuel XXL 6) “And we will kill them by הוקעה unto the Lord”, and there (II Samuel vv. 12—13) hanging is distinctly mentioned (Sanhedrin 34b). It is true that idolatry (the sin committed here) is punishable by stoning, but all who were stoned were also hanged (Sanhedrin 45b).

נגד השמש AGAINST THE SUN — i.e., in the sight of everyone. A Midrashic statement is: the sun made known who were the sinners, for the cloud rolled itself up from in front of him (the sinner) so that the sun shone upon him (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 19).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

הרגו איש אנשיו KILL EVERYONE HIS MEN — Each one of the judges of Israel killed two men (אנשיו is plural), and the judges of Israel were eighty-eight thousand in number, as it is related in Sanhedrin (cf. Sanhedrin 18a).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

והנה איש וגו׳ AND BEHOLD, ONE [OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL CAME] The tribe of Simeon gathered to Zimri who was their prince, saying to him. “We are sentenced to death and you remain quiet!?”, — as it is related in the chapter beginning אלו הן הנשרפין (Sanhedrin 82a).

את המדינית THE MIDIANITISH WOMAN — Kozbi the daughter of Zur.

לעיני משה BEFORE THE EYES OF MOSES — They said to him: “Moses, is this Midianite woman forbidden or permissible as a wife. If you say she is forbidden, then who made Jethro’s daughter, a Midianite woman, permissible to you, etc.” as is related there (Sanhedrin 82a).

והמה בכים AND THEY WERE WEEPING — the law (decision on this matter) escaped him and therefore they all burst out into weeping (Sanhedrin 82a). — In the case of the golden calf Moses successfully resisted six hundred thousand men, as it is said, (Exodus 32:20) “And he ground it to powder [and he made the children of Israel drink of it]”, and here his hands were weak (he did not know what to do)?! But this was intentionally caused by God in order that Phineas might come and receive that which was meant for him (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 20).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

וירא פנחס AND PHINEAS SAW — He saw what was being done and he was thereby reminded of the law on this subject (Sanhedrin 82a). He said to Moses, “I have received a tradition from you: he who has intercourse with an Aramean (heathen) woman, zealous people may attack him”. He replied to him: “Let him who reads the letter be the agent for executing it”; — straightway, ויקח רמח בידו HE TOOK A JAVELIN IN HIS HAND, etc. (Sanhedrin 82a).

Rashi — M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann

אל הקבה means TO THE TENT.

אל קבתה means IN HER STOMACH, similar to (Deut 18:3): “And the two cheeks and the maw (והקיבה)”. He miraculously struck exactly at Zimri’s male and her female parts so that everyone could plainly perceive that he had not killed them without just cause. Many other miracles, too, were wrought for him, as is related there (Sanhedrin 82b).