Kommentar zu Bamidbar 22:2
וַיַּ֥רְא בָּלָ֖ק בֶּן־צִפּ֑וֹר אֵ֛ת כָּל־אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לָֽאֱמֹרִֽי׃
Als Balak, Sohn Zippors, alles sah, was Israel dem Emori getan,
Rashi on Numbers
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).
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Sforno on Numbers
וירא בלק, a man who was famous as well schooled in all the martial arts. We find proof of this in Judges 11,25:הטוב טוב אתה מבלק בן צפור מלך מואב?, “do you imagine yourself to be superior to Balak son of Tzippor? Balak, in spite of his expertise, “saw” what had happened to Sichon who had refused to let the Israelites pass and had paid for this error with the loss of his life and his kingdom.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Or HaChaim on Numbers
וירא בלק בן צפור...ויגר מואב, Balak son of Tzippor saw- ..and Moav was afraid, etc. Why does the Torah describe only Balak as "seeing," whereas his countrymen are only described as being afraid of the Israelites? Secondly, why was only Moav afraid and not Midian? After all, Midian had much more reason to be afraid seeing that their horoscope told them they would be lost whereas there was nothing in the horoscope of the Moabites which foretold them disaster at this time?
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy