Commentaire de citation sur Les Nombres 24:14

באחרית הימים, at the end of the period allocated to life on earth as we know it. Yaakov speaks of the arrival of the Messiah which will signify the end of the existence of the nations that oppose G’d and the Kingdom of G’d on earth. At that time the measure of sin that these nations accumulate will be full to overflowing, so that G’d will feel at liberty to bring about the appropriate retribution. [the concept is as old as Avraham, to whom G’d explained that realisation of his offspring disinheriting the Canaanites will have to await the time when the measure of sin of these people will be full. (Genesis 15,16). Ed.] Our author, drawing on various prophecies of the Books of Prophets to support his interpretation of באחרית הימים, “the end of days,” quotes Jeremiah 46,28: “for I will make an end to all the nations among which I have banished you; but I will not make an end of you!” He also quotes Bileam’s prophecy in Numbers 24,14 detailed in verse 17, in which he prophesies the doom befalling all the nations pre-eminent in his time and describes Israel as triumphant at that time. He adds that his prophecy is not one the fulfillment of which is imminent, but that much time will elapse before it will be realised. Similar prophecies are not only found in Michah 4,1 but even in our chapter when blessing Yehudah in verse 10, Yaakov speaks of the time frame he has in mind as the one when Shiloh will arrive, the one to whom nations will pay homage.

If even a single one of the causes we have mentioned had not been present, they never would have engaged Bileam and nothing would have happened. If Balak, for instance, had not foreseen with his bird what fate was in store for himself and Midian, the Moabites would never have been willing to make peace with their natural enemies, the Midianites. The idea of sending to Midian for a prophet to curse Israel would not even have been entertained. They most certainly would not have been prepared to let their women sleep with the Israelites. After all, the Midianites had not felt confident about facing Israel in war, only the Moabites were confident because they knew that whatever Israel was going to do to them was in the far distant future (24,14). [You will note that the Moabites did not fear for their lives from verse 4. Ed.] This is why the Moabites could have remained confident about any military encounter with Israel at this time. The Moabites were quite confident about sending their women into the camp of the Israelites, as opposed to the Midianites who allowed only a single woman, Kosbi bat Tzur, to entice the Israelites into immoral behaviour. In fact we have it on the authority of Midrash Hagadol on 25,15 that this Kosbi was a daughter of Balak himself who was also called Tzur. If the Moabites had not been afraid of העם because of their numbers or had detested them because they had divine support they never would have made peace with Midian and accepted a Midianite prince to be king over them. To make all these points clear, the Torah informed us first about Balak seeing, Moav being afraid, and the Moabites detesting Israel. The combined reactions of the Moabites and the Midianite Balak led to the desperate decision to invite a Midianite prophet to curse the Israelites.

Bilaam, while being overcome with the Divine Spirit, could not be astonished by his own evil acts; as he was the prophet of the nations of the world with thoughts immersed in the roots of impurity. It was [self-evident that] he was not as righteous and pious as Avraham, Yitzchak or Yaakov. Rather, he was taken aback by his own societal behavior: Even if it would be natural for him to abhor Israel with an extreme hatred – as they are the children of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov with their thoughts immersed in the roots of holiness – yet, it was unacceptable to attempt to uproot an entire nation, contrary to being yashar and maintaining the existence of the world. For this reason he cried, Let me die the death of the yesharim, meaning those who uphold creation.
This explanation [of yashar] can be used to clarify what is stated in Tractate Sanhedrin 105a:
Let me die the death of the upright: If I die the death of the upright, my end will be like his; but if not, then behold I go unto my people.
Rashi explains [death of the righteous] refers to natural death, [being interpreted as: “Let me die the death of the upright — meaning, If I die the death of the righteous (i.e., a natural death), my end will be like his [i.e. to receive life in the world to come]; but if not (i.e., if I die a violent death), then behold I go unto my people [to descend with them together to Gehinom.]
It is unclear how the words, death of the yesharim, allude to a natural death [and receiving eternal life in the world to come] and [certainly] the ending words, but if not, then behold I go unto my people, do not seem to allude [to Gehinom] at all.¹⁸18The Netziv in Ha’amek Davar (Num. 23:10) argues that Bilaam would not entertain the thought of receiving a life in the world to come equal to that of the Israelites who were immersed in the study of Torah and the practice of mitzvos. Further the Netziv seems to object that descending to Gehinom does not align well with “my people,” i.e. an expression denoting a national impact. Rather, using what I wrote above [it is to be explained as follows]: Let me die the death of the yesharim, meaning, if I do not desire the extermination of man [as Avraham, Ytzchak and Yaakov],¹⁹The Netziv aligns tractate Sanhedrin with tractate Avodah Zarah that yesharim is referring to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. This is unlike Rashi who explains yesharim to be referring to righteous individuals. “then my end should be the same [as the Jewish nation, where I will live on in perpetuity].”²⁰Bilaam at the moment of being overcome with the Divine Spirit stated that if he wishes for the survival of the Jewish nation, then “measure for measure” his end should be as theirs, to live on in history (or through his progeny) among those who contributed to the good of the world.. But if not, i.e., I wish for the extermination of Israel [and hence not be yashar] – [which he actually attempted to achieve] as stated: Come I shall advise you [how to cause their downfall] etc.,²¹Num. 24:14. See Rashi ad loc. explaining Sanhedrin 106a that this verse relates how Bilaam advised Balak how to destroy the Jews by seducing them to sin with immorality.] – then alas I will go unto my people; [I will be] exterminated, as [will indeed befall] all “of my people.”²²However, if he wishes for their extermination, Bilaam laments, so will his end be as his people, i.e. an eventual extermination from the world and the disappearance from history.

my counsel Aram. מִלְכִּי, my counsel, like (Num. 24:14): “I shall advise you (אִיעָצְךָ),” which is translated: אֲמַלְּכִינָךְ.