Kommentar zu Bamidbar 22:36

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

ויצא לקראתו, in order to honour him, for Balak knew that Bileam was a very vain person, as our sages have made clear in Avot 5,18.

ויצא לקראתו אל עיר מואב, He came to welcome him to the city of Moav. Why did the Torah have to bother to tell us where the meeting between Bileam and Balak took place? Perhaps the Torah wanted to show us that Balak did not hold Bileam in high esteem. Although Balak had heard that Bileam was on his way, he did not leave his city to prepare a welcome such as one does for highly placed visitors. He was content to await Bileam's arrival before welcoming him.

To his metropolis. For if not so, why does it say “the city of Moav”? If it was to inform of the honor that they accorded him by coming out to greet him at the edge of the boundary, it should have said, “He went out to meet him at the city on the edge of the boundary.” Why does it need to say, “To the city of Moav which is on the boundary of Arnon.” In a similar fashion [the verse] regarding Kiryas Chutzos (v. 39) is expounded, as Rashi explains below; for [there too] why does it say, “And they came to Kiryas Chutzos”?

V. 36. אשר בקצה הגבול: er ging ihm soweit als nur immer möglich entgegen. Er empfing ihn an dem allerersten Orte, der auf seinem Gebiete lag.

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).

ויצא לקראתו אל עיר מואב אשר על גבול ארנון אשר בקצה הגבול. Why all these details about the location of the border? Perhaps the Torah wanted to tell us that if Balak did trouble himself to go to the border of Moav which was close to his capital, he did not do so in order to honour Bileam but that he had a different reason. Bamidbar Rabbah 20,16 explains that the reason Balak went to this border was to tell Bileam that this border had been established already in times of Noach [not literally speaking as Moav was not founded till after Abraham's time. Ed.] He wanted to show Bileam how both Og and Sichon had been guilty of violating these longstanding borders. At any rate, if not for these political considerations, Balak would not have troubled himself to come out towards Bileam even this little distance.