Komentarz do Liczb 22:35

לך עם האנשים GO WITH THE MEN — On that road which a man is resolved to go, he is allowed to go (Makkot 10b).

GO WITH THE MEN; BUT ONLY THE WORD THAT I SHALL SPEAK UNTO THEE, THAT THOU SHALT SPEAK. It is possible that He means to say: “Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak, and you should inform them [of this limitation of your powers].” Or it may mean that after Balaam had confessed [his evil intention, and said]: if it displease thee, I will get me back,⁹⁹Verse 34. He said to him, “Go with them, for I have forgiven you your sin, but only [on condition] that you remember My warning which I have given you [only to speak that which I tell you to say].” He had to say this [again] to him, in order that Balaam should not think that He was telling him: “Go with them to do what they have asked you to do.” It is also possible that since he who went [on the journey, i.e., Balaam] wanted to curse the people and did not want to bless them under any circumstances, therefore G-d warns him on every occasion that He speaks to him. It is for this reason that Balaam informed Balak at the very start of his speaking to him, [saying]: Lo, I am ‘come’ unto thee,¹⁰⁰Verse 38. [meaning to say that] “I have only been permitted to come, but as far as [cursing] the people [of Israel] is concerned, have I now any power at all to speak any thing¹⁰⁰Verse 38. in accordance with your wish? The word that G-d putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak — whether it be a curse or a blessing. Decide therefore if you [Balak] want me to speak about them [despite this risk], and if you do not want it, I will already now get me back.”

לך עם האנשים, do not go following your own agenda, but go with them as if you are there only at their request, so that they will not kill you for reneging.

ויאמר מלאך…לך עם האנשים, The angel said: "go with the men, etc." Why did the angel say: "with the men?" Our sages in Bamidbar Rabbah 20,15 say that the angel told him that the die had been cast, that from now on Bileam belonged to the same team as these men, and that ultimately he would be deprived of any future in the world to come. I believe that this is pure homiletics; we need to understand the plain meaning of the angel's words. We need to understand further why the angel did not tell Bileam to go home as the latter had offered to do and as we would have expected. However, the angel wanted to explain to Bileam the reason he agreed that Bileam continue to travel with the emissaries. It all had to do with what these emissaries would think if Bileam suddenly went home. They would conclude that G'd was afraid of what Bileam would be able to do once he was in Moav and that on that account G'd had forbidden him to come along. Allowing the emissaries of Balak to arrive at such a conclusion would be a desecration of the name of G'd, i.e. would lower G'd's image in their estimation as I have already explained on the words הולך הוא. Perhaps the angel's instructions have to be understood thus: "go with them and do not isolate yourself in solitude." In this way Bileam would not have an opportunity to prepare himself to contravene G'd's instructions by consulting his charms. Bileam complied, as we know from the words וילך בלעם עם שרי בלק, "Bileam went together with the ministers of Balak."

לך עם האנשים אפס את הדבר, “go with the men, but only, etc.” According to Nachmanides it is quite possible that the meaning of the line is: “go with the men but inform them that you may only speak what I allow you to say.” Alternatively, after Bileam had confessed his sin and said to the angel that he would return home if it displeased the angel that he would continue on this mission, the angel meant “go with them for I have forgiven your sin, but be careful not to say anything other than what I shall tell you to say.” The angel had to add this latter remark so that Bileam would not have an excuse to think that he had now become a free agent. This is why Bileam informed Balak of this condition he was subject to as soon as he met him.

אותו תדבר, “it you shall say.” Previously (verse 20) G’d had said to him in the dream: “it you shall do.” Clearly, the angel warned Bileam specifically about what to say. G’d’s permission for Bileam to accompany the delegation extended precisely to that, not one iota more.

A man is lead along the path he wishes to follow. For if this were not so, since Bil’am had said that he would return, the angel should have told him to return. Rather, it was because “a man [is led along] the path that he wishes…” that he told him to go. (Nachalas Yaakov) There is a difficulty as to why Rashi did not explain this above on the verse, “Arise and go with them” (v. 20). It is apparent that Rashi holds one cannot prove anything from the verse above, for there Hashem did not lead him along the path that he wished to follow. He wanted to curse them, while Hashem only led him on this path for his monetary benefit, having already warned him against cursing them. However here the angel said, “Because your way is contrary to Me” (v. 32), meaning even going for monetary benefit [is contrary to Me]. This caused him to retort saying, “If it is evil in your eyes to go for money, I shall return.” Even so the angel permitted him, by saying to go with the men for money. Perforce, “A man [is led along] the path that he wishes…”

ואפס את הדבר, “however, only the word, etc.;” (Bileam is warned that he will have to utter words against his will to do so). If these words refer to an earlier part of this chapter, as according to a different commentator, then we must assume that the angel had been sent as a warning, in order to frighten him.

לך עם האנשים GO WITH THE MEN — for thy lot is with them, for in the end you will perish from the world.

ואך את הדבר, In spite of all that has transpired I am not afraid that you will actually act against My interest as the fact is that you will not be able to do anything other than what I will command you.

הנה באתי אליך, “here I have come to you;” with these words, unnecessary words, Blieam meant to convey that although he had followed the invitation of Balak to come to him, this, and only this, is what he could do. He could not curse the Jewish people.

In spite of your wishes “the word that I will speak”… For if not so, what did the angel gain by chasing after Bil’am in response to Hashem’s anger over him going? If it was in order to say to him, “But the word that I will speak…” surely Hashem had already told him, “However, whatever [I will say]…” (v. 20) Re’m. It appears to me that Rashi learned this from the term אפס [lit. "naught"] because it is known that the term אפס refers to the disappearance of something or some matter, as also (Meir Nesiv) explains on the word אפס. Thus the words of the angel to Bil’am were that you can go, however the [purpose of the] journey which was in your mind is gone, because you are obliged to say “the word that I will speak…”

ואפס את הדבר…אותו תדבר. "However, the word which I put in your mouth, it you shall utter!" Here the angel made a new condition, something that G'd had not told Bileam outright in his dream. When G'd had spoken to Bileam previously (verse 20) He had said: "the word I shall tell you that is what you shall do!" G'd's wording at that time had allowed Bileam to plot how to get around what G'd had obviously had in mind. His own strength lay both in deed and in speech. The deeds would be the practice of magic. He also exercised his power by means of his evil eye. Zohar volume 3 page 202 draws attention to this in connection with 24,2: "Bileam raised his eyes and saw Israel, etc." This is a hint that Bileam tried to employ his evil eye against the Jewish people at that moment but that G'd covered the Israelites with His protective "shadow" so that Bileam could no longer see them. When the Torah said in 24,2 ותהי עליו רוח השם, the subject is the Jewish people, not Bileam. G'd protected Israel against the evil eye (Zohar volume 3, page 211.) The power Bileam exercised by mouth was his ability to curse. When G'd had said to him during the night: "it you shall do," He had meant to forbid him also to speak against the Jewish people if such words as he would say would result in deeds. Bileam had not understood this correctly as his mind was bent on finding a loophole in G'd's instructions. This is why at this point the angel told him unmistakably that he must not even utter a word against the Jewish people. This included the giving of advice designed to harm the Jewish people. Bileam did not comply with this part of the warning. Bamidbar Rabbah 20,18 writes on 23,5 "The Lord put a word in Bileam's mouth," that G'd placed an iron bar in Bileam's mouth and that every time Bileam tried to utter something evil the bar threatened to choke him. In this way G'd frustrated Bileam's evil intent. We also know that Bileam gave the advice to Balak which eventually caused the death of 24.000 Israelite males. He even endeavoured to violate G'd's instructions by putting his evil eye on the people until G'd intervened. All of these things combined provided sufficient excuse for the Israelites to kill Bileam by the sword in the course of their punitive expedition against Midian. According to Sanhedrin 97 Gentiles are culpable both for sins committed by deed and for sins committed by word of mouth. Bileam had been warned by G'd on both counts so that he only received his due when the Israelites killed him.

ואפס BUT — in spite of yourself, את הדבר אשר אדבר וגו׳ THE WORD THAT I SHALL SPEAK [TO THEE, THAT THOU SHALT SPEAK].

Since your portion is with them. Rashi is answering the question: Why does it say “with the men”? [He answers that] it was to hint that “your portion is with them.” [One might ask the reason why] Rashi reverses the order of the verse and comments on it [so that they are] out of sequence. The answer is that Rashi [first] comes to teach that “but…” refers [back] to the word “go” so that one can learn that “a man [is lead along] the path that he wishes…” For according to the teaching, “Go with the men — since your portion…” the words “but…” would not be relevant. Also, one cannot say that it is a new subject and the beginning of a [new] statement, because why would the vav conjunction (‘and’ indicating a continuation of the previous topic) be necessary? Rather, one must say as explained.

עם שרי בלק [SO BALAAM WENT] WITH THE PRINCES OF BALAK — he was glad to curse them, even as they were (see Rashi v. 21) (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 10).