Commento su Numeri 22:11

קבה לי CURSE FOR ME — this is worse than ארה לי, (the expression which Balak had actually used, v. 6), for in the case of this verb it means that one mentions and pronounces in full [the name of God] when cursing (cf. Rashi on Leviticus 24:16) (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 5).

הנה העם היוצא ממצרים, "Here are the people who have come out of Egypt, etc." Why did Bileam not repeat to G'd Balak's message to him verbatim? Balak had spoken about עם, "a people," whereas Bileam speaks about העם, "the people." Balak had described the Israelites' impact on the surrounding areas with the words: הנה כסה את עין הארץ, whereas Bileam changed the words הנה כסה to ויכס. Balak had asked Bileam to curse the people using the expression ארה, whereas Bileam tells G'd that Balak had said קבה. Whereas Balak had said אולי נכה בו, "perhaps we can smite it," Bileam changes Balak's words to read אולי אוכל להלחם בו, "perhaps I will be able to make war against them." We can explain all these changes Bileam made with the help of Bamidbar Rabbah 20,9 that Bileam made the mistake of believing that there are things which are concealed from G'd. He arrived at this conclusion because G'd asked him who these people were. Although we have already explained G'd's question in a different manner, there are 70 ways to interpret the written Torah. As soon as Bileam had been deceived into thinking that G'd' did not know everything, he felt at liberty to meddle with the exact wording of Balak's request. On the one hand, Bileam had always hated the Israelites, on the other hand he knew full well -as did every other nation- that this people was beloved by G'd. The Exodus and the subsequent drowning of the Egyptian army had been proof enough of that. Bileam commenced by saying: "here is the people who came out of Egypt," a rhetorical remark, referring to a well known historical fact. Such a wording did not reveal the hostility implied in the formula הנה עם יצא ממצרים which had been implicit in Balak's remark. The difference between הנה כסה and ויכס is similar in that the latter formulation does not reveal any implied animosity towards the people who cover the earth. Bileam also omitted the word הנה because it too suggests the contrast with other nations who do not provocatively "cover" the whole earth surrounding Moav. On the other hand, the word ויכס does reflect the fear in the heart of someone who commences the sentence with these words.

This is harsher than ארה לי. For if not so, why did Bil’am change his language? Surely Balak had said ארה לי ["curse for me"]. Therefore, this means that Bil’am despised Yisroel so much that although Balak originally requested ארה ["a regular curse"], Bil’am sought to replace it with קבה ["a harsh curse"]. Re’m

V. 11. קבה לי. Die Wurzel ”קוב“ oder ”קבב“ in der Bedeutung von fluchen, verwünschen, kommt nur in dieser Geschichte im Munde Bileams und Balaks und zwar in anormaler Form vor. Von ”קבב“ hieße es normal: קֻבָה oder קָבָה wieרָנוּ ליעקב (Jirmija 31, 7). Von קוּבָה :קוב. Für קבה findet sich keine Analogie. Kap. 23, 8 kommt in אֶקֹב in derselben Bedeutung wahrscheinlich die Wurzel נקב vor, die wir bereits Wajikra 24, 11 u. 16 in ähnlicher Anwendung finden. Wie נקב: löchern, ein Loch machen heißt, so heißt wahrscheinlich ”קבב“: aushöhlen, und daher קב ein Hohlmass (Kön. II. 6, 25 und häufig im Talmud). Wenn daher נקב: jemanden mit Worten treffen heißt, so heißt ”קבב“: jemanden mit Worten ganz hohl machen, ihm seinen ganzen Inhalt nehmen, ihn zu einer מץ, zu einer Hülse (Ps. 1. 4), zu einem Schatten machen, und מה אקב לא קבה אל hieße wörtlich: wie kann ich auch nur das kleinste Loch machen, wenn Gott nicht erst eine ganze Höhlung gemacht. Im מ׳׳ר wird קבב als ein höherer Grad von ”ארר“ begriffen.

וגרשתיו AND I WILL DRIVE THEM OUT, meaning from the world; but Balak had said only, (v. 6) “and I will drive them out from the land”: I seek only to make them move away from me. Balaam, however, hated them even more than did Balak (cf.Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 5).

As it is specific and clear. Meaning that קבה is a more specific and clear term of cursing.

When Bileam quoted Balak as saying ועתה לכה קבה לי אותו, "and now curse it for me," he implied that Balak was entitled to ask this as the people in question threatened his existence. He implied that although G'd had destined Ammon and Moav for Israel, the time for handing these nations over to Israel had not come as yet. At this point in time it was permissible to curse and make war against this people in order to expel them from Balak's area. A curse called קבה is quite different from a curse called ארה, the latter being of a general nature, i.e. a nation that has been cursed by ארה is accursed world-wide, whereas the curse called קבה is effective only vis-a-vis the one who did the cursing, i.e. Balak only cursed in self-defence. The words להלחם בו are also much milder than נכה בו, "to smite it." Whereas Balak had demanded that the Israelites be driven from the earth, מן הארץ, Bileam portrayed him as only having asked וגרשתיו, "so that I can drive them away" (locally). Perhaps Balak wanted the Israelites driven away from the lands G'd had promised them. He may have felt that if these people had once been humbled, they would desist from their attempt to invade the land of Canaan. Be that as it may, Bileam rephrased Balak's request in order to enhance the chances that G'd would permit him to go on this errand. He gave G'd to understand that Balak's concern was simply self-preservation, not hostility against Israel per se.

From the world. Not from his land alone, for if so it should have said “From the land” like Balak’s request. Re’m here also explains that it was due to his great hatred that he asked to banish them from the world. I myself say that he said so because perhaps Hashem would compromise with him in this matter, as I explained above.