פירוש על במדבר 23:25

גם קב לא תקבנו NEITHER (גם) CURSE THEM AT ALL [NOR (גם) BLESS THEM AT ALL] — The first גם adds something to the second גם and the second גם something to the first גם, similar to (1 King 3:26): “Neither mine (גם לי) nor thine (גם לך) shall it be”; and similarly (Deuteronomy 32:25): “also youths (גם בכור) also maidens (גם בתולה)” (i.e. both youths and maidens).

גם קב לא חקבנו, "neither curse them, etc." Both the word גם, "also," and the repetition of the verb קב present a difficulty in this verse. Inasmuch as Bileam had told Balak to get up and listen carefully (23,18), Balak interpreted this as a hint that Bileam actually wanted to curse the Israelites but that G'd had thwarted him, as we explained. In view of what had just occurred he said גם to express his dismay that not only had Bileam not cursed the people but had even blessed them. He referred to two possibilities of cursing when he repeated the word. Alas, Bileam had not only not named Israel as the object of a curse but had not even uttered a curse without specifically naming the victim. We may infer from Balak's words that Bileam had been looking for a way of uttering a curse without at the same time incurring punishment at the hands of G'd. He wanted to utter a curse indiscriminately, naming the victim only in his heart. This is the reason that G'd had to prevent him from even uttering a curse without naming anybody.

The first “also” is added to the second “also.” As if it had said, “Do not bless them and also do not curse them; do not curse them and also do not bless them.” You might ask: What is the reason that Balak said this to him? The answer is that Balak thought Bil’am might assume when he said, “Also do not curse them…” that if he wished he could bless them first and afterwards curse them. Therefore, he said, “Also [do not] curse them…” meaning that the first “also” refers to the second, and the second “also” refers to the first.

גם ברך לא תברכנו, “at least do not bless it!” Bileam was concerned that Bileam’s blessings for the Jewish people were referring to the immediate future. He had no idea that Bileam spoke of what would occur in the distant future.

גם ברך, "also blessing, etc." In view of the fact that Bileam had explained to Balak that the blessings he had uttered were forced upon him, Balak now demurs saying that if he could not curse them at least he was not obligated to bless them. Balak was under the impression that G'd twisted Bileam's mouth so that a blessing came out only because Bileam had tried to utter a curse first. He repeated the verb i.e. לא תברכנו, do not bless them, to protest even a blessing which Bileam did not mean honestly.