אֱ֭לֹהִים שׁוֹפֵ֣ט צַדִּ֑יק וְ֝אֵ֗ל זֹעֵ֥ם בְּכָל־יֽוֹם׃
Allah adalah Hakim yang adil, dan Allah murka setiap hari.
Rabbeinu Bahya
לכה ארה לי יעקב, “come curse Yaakov on my behalf!” In this verse Bileam mentions both names of Israel, i.e. Yaakov and Israel. This is proof that when one curses one must mention all the names of the person to be cursed in order for the curse to have any effect. Also, one needs to use the two attributes of the name of G’d representing the attribute of night and the attribute of day. This is why Bileam mentioned both the attribute י-ה-ו-ה and the attribute א-ל in verse 8. [Bileam would not have needed to change the name of G’d’s attribute and could have said: מה אקוב לא קבה א-ל ומה אזעם לא זעם א-ל. You will note that in Psalms 7,12 David does combine זעם with the attribute א-ל, i.e. the problem is not with the type of curse but with the attributes of G’d invoked. Ed.].
In fact, Job did something similar when he cursed the day he was born and said (Job 3,8) יקבהו אררי יום. He had already cursed both the day and the night separately in the earlier verses of that chapter. According to our traditional sources the separate mention of day and night in verse 3 of that chapter was heretical, suggesting that separate powers are in charge of day and night respectively. Concerning that statement our sages in Shemot Rabbah 30,8 claim that this was heresy, (although Nachmanides points out that Jeremiah (20,14) appears to have been guilty of the same offense and no one accused him of heresy).
It is also necessary to see the intended victim of one’s curse with one’s own eyes as the curse will then be far more effective. This is why Balak went out of his way to take Bileam to the tops of surrounding hills and mountains. The same principle applies to blessings. In order for blessings to be fully effective the person to be blessed must be within an area that the one bestowing the blessing can see with his eyes. All his names should be mentioned just as Bileam did in 24,5 when he spoke of the goodness of the tents of Yaakov and the dwellings of Israel.
When Balak is quoted as having said to Bileam: “curse Yaakov for me,” the question is why he did not simply say: “curse Yaakov?” Actually Balak had not added the word לי “for me.” Bileam had added it to point to the incongruity of Balak’s request. By adding the word לי, Bileam hinted that Balak’s request to curse the Jewish people was equivalent to Balak asking that he himself be cursed seeing he could not have existed but for the Jewish people. We find support for this in Tanchuma Balak 12 where the Midrash says: “whoever curses these people curses himself seeing G’d had told Avraham that anyone cursing him or his descendants would be himself be cursed by G’d” (Genesis 12,3). Every type of curse Balak mentioned in connection with his attempt to have Israel cursed (22,11; 23,13; 23,27) always is accompanied by the word לי, the Torah’s way of saying that such a curse would boomerang on himself.
In fact, Job did something similar when he cursed the day he was born and said (Job 3,8) יקבהו אררי יום. He had already cursed both the day and the night separately in the earlier verses of that chapter. According to our traditional sources the separate mention of day and night in verse 3 of that chapter was heretical, suggesting that separate powers are in charge of day and night respectively. Concerning that statement our sages in Shemot Rabbah 30,8 claim that this was heresy, (although Nachmanides points out that Jeremiah (20,14) appears to have been guilty of the same offense and no one accused him of heresy).
It is also necessary to see the intended victim of one’s curse with one’s own eyes as the curse will then be far more effective. This is why Balak went out of his way to take Bileam to the tops of surrounding hills and mountains. The same principle applies to blessings. In order for blessings to be fully effective the person to be blessed must be within an area that the one bestowing the blessing can see with his eyes. All his names should be mentioned just as Bileam did in 24,5 when he spoke of the goodness of the tents of Yaakov and the dwellings of Israel.
When Balak is quoted as having said to Bileam: “curse Yaakov for me,” the question is why he did not simply say: “curse Yaakov?” Actually Balak had not added the word לי “for me.” Bileam had added it to point to the incongruity of Balak’s request. By adding the word לי, Bileam hinted that Balak’s request to curse the Jewish people was equivalent to Balak asking that he himself be cursed seeing he could not have existed but for the Jewish people. We find support for this in Tanchuma Balak 12 where the Midrash says: “whoever curses these people curses himself seeing G’d had told Avraham that anyone cursing him or his descendants would be himself be cursed by G’d” (Genesis 12,3). Every type of curse Balak mentioned in connection with his attempt to have Israel cursed (22,11; 23,13; 23,27) always is accompanied by the word לי, the Torah’s way of saying that such a curse would boomerang on himself.
Rabbeinu Bahya
אל נא רפא נא לה, “O Lord, please heal her.” The attribute El which Moses prayed to is the one with the power to heal; it is part of the attribute of Justice “wrapped” in Mercy. In most instances when this attribute is mentioned it represents חסד, “G’d’s loving kindness." Examples are: Psalms 22,2 אלי אלי למה עזבתני, “My G’d, My G’d why did You forsake me?” or Psalms 50,1 אל אלוהים דבר וירא ארץ, “G’d the Lord G’d spoke, and summoned forth the earth.” The sequence of these attributes is חסד-דין-רחמים, the attributes which were employed by G’d when He created the universe. We also have a verse in Psalms 99,8 where G’d is described as relating to the Jewish people as אל נושא היית להם “You related to them as a G’d who forgives.” If, in apparent contradiction to the aforementioned, we find a verse in Psalms 7,12 which describes ואל זועם בכל יום, “a G’d who pronounces doom each day,” the meaning is that only on such days as the attribute of Justice is manifest does G’d pronounce doom. There are many days when that attribute is not in evidence seeing that the attribute of חסד has displaced it as we know from Genesis 18,23. (where Avraham prayed for the good people in Sodom).