Комментарий к Бамидбар 23:2

ויעל בלק ובלעם פר ואיל, Balak and Bileam sacrificed a bull and a ram (on each altar). It appears that the Torah refers to Bileam doing the offering and not Balak. Bileam had told Balak only to prepare the animals for him. Why did Bileam do something such as this without first obtaining permission from G'd? Had he not been instructed not to do anything other than what G'd would instruct him to do? Some commentators say that Bileam did what G'd had commanded him to do and they base themselves on Bileam saying to G'd in 23,4: "the seven altars which I have established and sacrificed, etc." These words appear to imply that Bileam had carried out G'd's instructions when building the altars and offering the sacrifices. I do not believe that such an interpretation makes any sense at all. It is inconceivable that G'd would desire the offerings of wicked people, especially so when the intent of the person offering the sacrifice was to harm G'd's chosen people. I have found the very opposite in the Yalkut Shimoni item 956 on Proverbs. According to that Midrash Bileam built seven altars and offered seven offerings to match the combined number of altars which the patriarchs are recorded as having built starting with Adam, Abel, Noach, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. We also find in Sotah 47 that Rav Yehudah said that a person should study Torah even for impure motives as in the course of time he would do so for pure motives. The Rabbi claims that the 42 sacrifices Balak offered were the reason (the reward) that Ruth the Moabite who became the great-grandmother of King David was descended from him.

פר ואיל במזבח, “a bullock and a ram to be offered on each of these altars.”

In my estimation the correct interpretation of verses 2-4 is that Bileam considered G'd's prohibition as applying only to actions which were in themselves sinful and designed to strengthen the forces of impurity. He did not think that it would be objectionable if he emulated deeds which the patriarchs had performed and of which G'd had obviously approved at the time when the various patriarchs had performed them. This is why he offered these sacrifices in honour of G'd. The Torah uses the definitive article when mentioning את שבעת המזבחות, to show that all Bileam had done he did in G'd's honour; Bileam did this as he wanted to see if G'd objected even to this. He demonstrated his desire to offer more sacrifices to G'd than had the patriarchs, most of whom had built only a single altar. He, Bileam, on the other hand, had built seven altars. This is the difference between the Torah speaking of שבעה מזבחות, or את שבעת המזבחות. Our sages in Bamidbar Rabbah 20,18 have already said that Bileam tried to outshine the patriarchs with the seven altars he built for G'd. Bileam's whole point was to neutralise any advantage the Jewish people might have over him by their reliance on the merits of their ancestors.