Kommentar zu Bamidbar 22:34

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).

ויאמר בלעם…חטאתי, Bileam said…"I have sinned, etc." The word "I have sinned" referred to the angel having hinted that he had sinned by his having set out on the way. Regarding the angel's question of why he had beaten his ass, Bileam said: "I did not know." The word ועתה means that Bileam had now become a penitent. He no longer wanted to curse the Jewish people Concerrning the fact that he had set out on the way, Bileam offered that if this displeased the angel he was willing to turn back. The word לי meant that he now saw that it would be beneficial for him to go back home.

ויאמר בלעם אל מלאך ה' חטאתי, ”Bileam said to the angel of the Lord: ‘I sinned;’” our sages in Tanchuma Balak 10 state that this verse is proof that if someone confesses his guilt by saying “I have sinned,” the angel no longer has permission to touch him.

An attack against the Omnipresent. Rashi is answering the question: It was certainly wicked in his eyes given that he was angry with him! An additional difficulty is why does it say “in your eyes” which implies in your eyes but not in anyone else’s eyes? A further difficulty is why it says לי (lit. [I will return] "for myself"). In response Rashi explains that it was “an attack against the Omnipresent…” and with this all the questions are answered.

V. 34. חטאתי: ich habe aus Unwissenheit gefehlt. ועתה אם רע וגו׳: damit war er endlich in die demütig bescheidene Gesinnung gelangt, die ihm von Anfang an Gott gegenüber gebührt hätte und die Aufgabe, die er nun lösen soll, bedingt.

חטאתי כי לא ידעתי, “I have sinned for I did not know;” the word כי here is to be understood in the sense of אשר, “in that,” i.e. Bileam explains that he had not known previously why his journey would not be successful.”

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).

כי לא ידעתי, “for I had been unaware, etc.” He, who had boasted that he was יודע מחשבות עליון, “aware of the thoughts of the Supreme One,” now had to humble himself by admitting that he did not know anything.