Commentaire sur Les Nombres 22:32

כי ירט הדרך לנגדי BECAUSE THY WAY IS PERVERSE BEFORE ME — Our Rabbis, the Mishnaic Sages, explain it as an acrostic, יראה she feared when ראתה, she saw, and נטתה she turned aside (Shabbat 105a), because that the journey (הדרך) is לנגדי, is against me, that is to say, to anger me, to affront me. — But according to its literal meaning, it is equivalent to חרד הדרך לנגדי, the word ירט being associated in meaning with רטט, “rapid movement” (cf. 49:24). The phrase therefore signifies: for I have seen the man who is taking the journey (Balaam) that he hastened and hurried on the journey, which was taken to my anger and to my despite. It is an elliptical verse (the words בעל הדרך being omitted after ירט), just as (II Samuel 13:39) “And the soul of David longed” (the word נפש being omitted). Another explanation is: ירט is an expression denoting “being pleased”. Similar is, (Job 16:11) “Through the wicked ירטני” — i.e., He appeases and comforts me through the wicked, whilst indeed they do nought but annoy me (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 9).

FOR THE WAY ‘YARAT L’NEGDI’ — for he who is going [on this journey, i.e., Balaam], has distorted his way and perverted it in front of my eyes, for I am He that knoweth, and am witness.⁸³Jeremiah 29:23. In our verse the angel is speaking, of course, on behalf of G-d, Whose messenger he is. Or [the word] l’negdi [may not mean “in My presence”, but] that he perverted the way [i.e., the journey] to act “against My Will,” as Onkelos rendered it, [“because you wanted to go on the journey against My Will”], as in [the verse]: for they have vexed ‘l’neged’ (before) the builders.⁸⁴Nehemiah 3:37. Here too, the word l’neged does not mean “in the presence of,” but means that they have vexed the builders by speaking “against” them. The word yarat is an expression of “perverting.” Similarly, through the hands of the wicked ‘yirteini’⁸⁵Job 16:11. which means “He warps me.” And the meaning of our verse is as I have explained,⁸⁶Above, in Verse 20. namely that the [actual] journey had the permission of the Glorious Name,⁵⁷Deuteronomy 28:58. but Balaam perverted it by going with them and apparently having them believe that he would curse the people [since he had not informed them of the conditions under which G-d had allowed him to go].

על מה הכית את אתונך?; When you saw these various signs you should have been astute enough to guess that your journey is unwelcome and will not succeed.