Kommentar zu Bamidbar 23:9

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 FROM THE TOP OF THE ROCKS I SEE HIM. The meaning of this is that since Balak had brought him up to Bamoth-baal¹²⁸Above, 22:41. [which was a high place] to see Israel, Balaam said: “From the top of the rocks and from the hills I look and I see him, for he [is a people that] shall dwell alone, and there is no other nation with him that can be counted together with him, in the way that many [different] peoples and various nations gather together to become one camp — for these [people of Israel] all have one law and one ordinance,¹²⁹Ibid., 15:16. and are one nation, dwelling alone by the name of Jacob and Israel.” Therefore he [Balaam] mentioned, Come, curse me Jacob, and come defy Israel,¹³⁰Above, Verse 7. referring to them [both] by their name of honor [Israel] and by the name of their ancestor [Jacob], meaning to say that they are a people alone, and have names befitting them from their ancestors. For Balak did not tell him [Balaam] the name “Israel,” but merely said, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt,¹³¹Above, 22:5. as if he was a stranger to them and did not know them, and he was not grateful for the favor that their father had done.¹³²This refers to Abraham risking his life in order to save his nephew Lot — who was the ancestor of the Moabites (Genesis 14:12-16; 19:36-37). And the meaning of Balaam’s words is that “just as I see him now dwelling alone, so will he forever dwell in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone,¹³³Deuteronomy 33:28. and he will always be at the head, for no nation will [ever] prevail over him [and cause him to perish], and he will never become assimilated to them [i.e., other nations].

הן עם לבדד ישכון, in the final analysis, they are the only people who will eventually populate the earth. This concept is repeated by Moses in Deuteronomy 32,12 ה' בדד ינחנו, “the Lord will guide only them alone.” It will be impossible to destroy them.

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.

כי מראש צורים אראנו, “For I look upon it as if from the top of rocks.” Seeing that Balak had taken Bileam to the nearest available hill in order to afford him a glimpse of part of the Israelites, Bileam uses the simile of rocks and hills when describing the vantage point from which he caught a glimpse of the people. Bileam perceives Israel as dwelling in solitary splendour, no other nation considering itself as its companion, unlike when many nations meet and form a united front or an economic or military union. The Israelites are joined together by a common ancestry that forms their national and cultural heritage known as the Torah. They are known primarily as descendants of Yaakov/Israel. This is why Bileam refers to them once as Yaakov, and immediately afterwards as Israel. (Verse 8) While true to their historic mission, they will always tower over all the other nations, and no one will be able to humble them.

And powerful like the mountains … because of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. The Patriarchs are called “mountains” and the Matriarchs are called “hills.”

V. 9. כי מראש צרים וגו׳. Von hohem Standpunkte sehe ich es nahe, von niederem noch ferne. Wie räumlich dem Rundblick aus der Höhe Entfernungen zusammenrücken, so auch zeitlich. Dem höheren, Jahrhunderte zusammenfassenden weltgeschichtlichen Überblick erscheinen Ereignisse nahe, die dem mehr auf dem Boden der Gegenwart sich Umschauenden fern auseinander liegen. שור ist die Fernsicht, die das sieht, was dem Blicke anderer verborgen bleibt (siehe Bereschit 49, 22). Er sagt: ich sehe dieses Volk in einer wenngleich nicht unmittelbar nahen, doch in der Entwicklung der Zeiten nicht fernen Zukunft, in welcher es das Ideal seiner Bestimmung erreicht haben wird (vergl. Kap. 24, 17).

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").

This was acquired for them by their forefathers. Meaning though the word הן ["behold"] refers to the beginning of the verse, “For [I view it] from the mountain peaks…” which refers to the Forefathers as Rashi explains. Thus it comes to teach what it was that was acquired for them by their Forefathers, as rendered by Targum Onkelos, “You are destined [to live] alone.” For if not so, what is the meaning of the term הן ["behold"]? But now it means the same as הנה ["here it is"], as if to say that when I said, “It was acquired for them by their forefathers,” this was that they would dwell alone.

הן עם לבדד ישכן וגו׳: es wird in einem räumlich umgrenzten Lande, ohne vielen Verkehr mit andern Völkern, seiner "innern" nationalen Aufgabe als "עם", als soziale Volksgesellschaft leben, und wird seine Größe nicht als "גוי" unter den גוים, nicht als durch Macht imponierender "Volkskörper" unter den Völkerindividuen suchen.

ומגבעות אשורנו, “and from the hills I see it.” They encamp by themselves and are totally self sufficient. No other nation can hope to attack them successfully as their Creator has assured them of His ensuring their security. This was the promise we read in Leviticus 25,19, and 26,5.

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).

Another interpretation: When they rejoice, no nation rejoices with them. According to the first reason there is the difficulty as to how one would think that He would annihilate them along with the nations, therefore Rashi brought the other interpretation. However, according to the other interpretation there is the difficulty as to how one would determine to differentiate between rejoicing and punishment, therefore he brought the first reason.