Comentario sobre Números 22:8

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, for I am preparing myself to receive a prophetic message.

לינו פה, "stay here overnight." Bileam may have meant that the messengers stay overnight in his own home, and that is what he meant by the word פה, "here." He concluded by saying that he would tell them what G'd was going to say, כאשר ידבר, not what G'd had said. He hinted that by staying overnight at his home he could inform them immediately G'd would give him instructions. When he emphasised הלילה, "this night," he might have inadvertently revealed his miserly nature as he was not willing to play host to them for more than one night.

לינו פה הלילה, “stay here overnight!” Bileam’s great arrogance made him view Balak’s emissaries as people not deserving especial consideration; this is why his invitation was of the grossest variety. Instead of inviting them graciously as he did the second set of emissaries to whom he said: שבו נא בזה, “please stay here,” he said: “spent the night here.” There is no mention of food, making them comfortable, etc. The word שבו by contrast implies a longer stay such as in Deut.1,15 “they stayed in Kadesh, וישבו, for many years.” Also, the word נא, used by Bileam to the second set of emissaries indicates that he urged them to stay, pleaded with them.

Perhaps it is beneath His dignity to allow me to go… You might ask: Perhaps, the meaning is like the plain understanding [that perhaps] Hashem would not want him to go with them? Similarly when it is written shortly (v. 13) “[Hashem refuses to allow me] to go with you” and Rashi explains “but with higher ranking officials,” there is also a difficulty as to what is Rashi’s source. The answer is that since it is written “Balak persisted and sent dignitaries in greater number and of higher rank than these” (v. 15) this implies that he said that it was not dignified for him to go with the first ones. [Alternatively] If “according to what Hashem tells me” means whether he commands me to curse them or not, why did the elders of Midian have depart once he said that he would do the will of Hashem? Rather it means “if He allows me go with lowly people such as you.” Consequently, the Midianites saw that there was certainly no solution here, given that he was so haughty, and as a result they departed. There is a difficulty [according to the first explanation] that Rashi should have said this there (v. 13) rather than here. It appears that Rashi inferred this from the term כאשר “according to” because it should have said אשר ידבר ["what He tells"] meaning that I will relate to you what he says. However, since it states כאשר ידבר ["according to what he tells"] it implies that Bil’am was like one who has dispute with someone and says “this will decide it, according to what He says about this matter [I shall do] whether [He says] to go or not.” Accordingly, there is a difficulty as to how one might think that he would not want go, for surely he despised Yisroel. Rather, [the question] was whether he would go with people like you. R. Yaakov Triosh.

V. 8. ויאמר וגו׳ כאשר ידבר ד׳ אלי. Wie schon zu Abrahams Zeit mitten in einer polytheistischen Welt es noch einen Malki Zedek gab, der Priester des höchsten Gottes war, welcher den Abrahamiden wieder der Einzige ward, wie Hiob und seine Freunde durchaus als reine Verehrer dieses Einzigen erscheinen, so sehen wir auch Bileam nur im Dienste dieses Einzigen sich begreifen und nennen. Bildet doch überhaupt die monotheistische Wahrheit im Gegensatz zum polytheistischen Wahn nicht das Eigentliche, geschweige das Ganze des Charakteristischen des Judentums. Vielmehr ist dies die monotheistische Wahrheit mit ihrer vollen Konsequenz fürs menschliche Leben: die Gotteinheit mit der Lebenseinheit durch Sein Gesetz. Weit ab aber selbst von einem Malki Zedek, weit ab von einem Hiob und seinen Genossen erscheint Bileams monotheistische geistige Höhe sittlich getrübt. Seine hohe, Gott nahe geistige Begabung steht im Dienste seiner Selbstsucht und stellt sich in den Dienst der irdischen Hoheiten und Mächte und ihrer niedrigsten Begehren. Willst du den Unterschied sehen zwischen den Propheten Israels und den Männern prophetischen Geistes der Völker, spricht der Weisen Wort, so vergleiche einen Bileam mit einem Jesaias, einem Jeremias, einem Ezechiel und deren Genossen. Israels Propheten warnen als Gotteswächter die Völker vor Versündigungen, Bileam rät zu sittlicher Verführung, um Menschen ins Verderben zu locken (Kap. 25). Israels Prophetengeist stand im Dienste des Erbarmens über Israel und die Völker, Jesaias Eingeweide zittern wie eine Harfe um Moabs Weh (16, 11), Ezechiel erhebt Klagelied bei Trus Fall (Kap. 27), und Bileam — möchte mit seinem Fluch ein ganzes Volk schuldlos verderben. Du kannst ganz eigentlich sagen, dies ganze Bileamskapitel habe den Zweck, das Motiv zu veranschaulichen, weshalb Gott mit dem Erguss seines heiligen Geistes bei den Völkern aufgehört. Bileam war von ihnen und siehe, wozu er seine Geistesgaben missbraucht (Tanchuma). — וישבו שרי מואב. Die Midjaniten scheinen fortgegangen zu sein. Weil er von Midjan nichts zu erwarten hatte, dürften sie vielleicht bei Bileam nicht mit derselben Rücksicht behandelt worden sein, wie die זקני מואב, in denen er die eigentlichen Gesandten Balaks erblickte und sie daher wie שרי מואב behandelte.

וישבו שרי מואב עם בלעם, “the emissaries of Moav spent the night with Bileam.” This raises the question of why the elders of Midian did not remain there also? When they heard that Bileam was going to consult with the G–d of the Israelites about how to conduct himself, they reasoned that a father (G–d as Israel’s father-figure) will not display hatred for his son, so what possible answer could Bileam expect from him asking permission to curse G–d’s son? They therefore left.

וישבו שרי מואב עם בלעם, “the emissaries of Moav stayed overnight with Bileam. They did so as they did not know anyone in Midian who would offer them hospitality. On the other hand, the dignitaries of Midian who had been accompanying them, had where to spend the night, as they were well known there.

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).