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וירא את עמלק AND HE SAW AMALEK — i.e. He perceived the retribution destined to befall Amalek.

VAYAR’ (AND HE SAW) AMALEK. “He contemplated the punishment of Amalek and he said, Amalek was the first of the nations — he was the first of them all to wage war against Israel. And so did Onkelos translate it. But his end will be to be destroyed by their hands, [as it is said], thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek.”²⁵⁶Deuteronomy 25:19. This is Rashi’s language.
It is possible that the word vayar is to be understood in its literal meaning [“and he saw,” and not, as Rashi explained it, “and he contemplated”], since Balaam was on the top of Peor, that looketh down upon the desert²⁵⁷Above, 23:28. and so he looked towards the land of Amalek who dwelt in that hill-country.²⁵⁸Ibid., 14:45. Thus he said that Amalek is now ‘the first’ of the nations, meaning that he is considered a leader of the nations, because they were mighty men, and valiant men for the war;²⁵⁹Jeremiah 48:14. for were it not so, it would not have occurred to them to come and attack Israel, and Moses would not have had to choose a select number of men [to fight them],²⁶⁰Exodus 17:9. or to pray and lift up his hands [towards heaven] until he was weakened.²⁶¹Ibid., Verses 11-12. He [Moses] also built an altar and called its name ‘Ado-nai nissi’ (the Eternal is my banner),²⁶²Ibid., Verse 15. because he considered [the defeat of Amalek] a great miracle. Therefore this [man Balaam] said that Amalek is the first of the nations, but his end shall come to destruction more than all the others, as He said, For I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.²⁶³Ibid., Verse 14. Similarly, ‘the first’ oils²⁶⁴Amos 6:6. means “the best” of them, which are counted first [in quality].²⁶⁵Of the quality used for lighting the lamps in the candelabrum (see Menachoth 86a). The same [usage is also found in these expressions]: ‘the first’ [i.e., “the best”] of the devoted things;²⁶⁶I Samuel 15:21. ‘head’ and chief over them;²⁶⁷Judges 11:11. Literally: ‘first’ and chief. ‘the chief’ spices.²⁶⁸Exodus 30:23. Literally: ‘the first spices.’ See Ramban, Vol. II, p. 528.

ראשית גוים עמלק ואחריתו עדי אבד, "Amalek was the first of the nations, but its end will be utter destruction." The word "the first" refers to the first nation Israel has been commanded to destroy (compare Exodus 17,14) where G'd orders the Israelites to record this commandment in a book (before the Torah had been revealed at Mount Sinai) and where G'd promises to wipe out the memory of Amalek. This occurred shortly after the Exodus when Amalek attacked the Israelites in no-man's land without provocation. At that time, the Amalekites left the battlefield and went home. Later on, in the days of Saul, the Israelites almost wiped out Amalek completely except for their king. In the days of Mordechai the Jews killed over 75.000 of their enemies, presumably mostly people descended from Amalek. When Bileam refers to אחריתו, "the end of Amalek," he refers to the messianic era when the Messiah will wipe them out completely.

וירא את עמלק, from a location where these people were visible he beheld them.

וירא את עמלק, “He saw Amalek;” According to Rashi the word וירא, “he saw,” refers to Bileam’s mind’s eye; he observed the retribution that would befall Amalek. Nachmanides writes that it is possible that we can understand the word וירא at face value, i.e. as what Bileam saw with his physical eye, seeing that from his vantage point on the top of Peor, it was quite possible to look down on the cities of Amalek who dwelled in the mountains across the valley. He went on to say that although Amalek was (among) the first organized nation-states at his time, so that it bore the title ראש העמים, “first among the nations,” nonetheless, in the end it would be utterly destroyed. Bileam paraphrased what G’d had already foretold Moses in Exodus 17,14 that He, personally, would utterly destroy that nation.

וירא את עמלק, “he saw Amalek;” (in a prophetic vision, seeing that nation was hundreds of miles distant). The reason this prophecy commences with Amalek is that this nation is both a descendant of Esau and was the first to engage Israel in military combat after the Exodus. It will also be the last nation to do so prior to its utter destruction. In our days Amalek is represented by the Roman Empire. This is the reason Bileam concluded his prophecy with predicting the destruction of the Kingdom of the Kittim, another name for the Roman Empire. Bileam predicts utter destruction for these kingdoms, using the word עדי אובד as something parallel to G’d’s prediction in Exodus 17,14 where the words are מחה אמחה.

He gazed at Amalek’s punishment. Not referring to a physical vision, for afterwards it is written, “And his end will be total destruction” meaning that the word וירא ["saw"] must refer to vision in thought. The reason why Rashi did not explain above (v. 17) that the word אראנו ["I see it"], which is a sense of gazing, refers to a vision in thought [as Rashi does here] is because the verse above speaks about the praiseworthiness and greatness of Yaakov, which is obviously a vision in thought. However here it says “Amalek was the first among nations” and one might have said that it is referring to a physical vision, therefore he explains that it refers to a vision in thought. Re’m

V. 20. ראשית גוים, das erste im Range; denn der Zeit nach war Moab älter. Es war auch das erste der Völker, das, völlig unprovoziert, den Kampf mit Israel begonnen, ואחריתו und sein Ende lautet: עדי אבד, es verfolgt seine Bahn so lange, bis es אבד, ein völlig Verlorenes wird. Selbst sein Andenken schwindet aus dem Bewusstsein der Menschen.

וירא את עמלק, “he saw Amalek” (in a prophetic vision). Bileam is also described as seeing the Kenite, the descendants of Yitro in our verse, also a prophetic vision. These two nations are lumped together here because the Amalekites were the first anti Jewish nation, whereas the descendants of Yitro, the Kenites were the first pro Jewish nation. This is why Bileam predicts total destruction for Amalek, and lofty dwellings for the Kenites. The word שים here is not an imperative mode of the root שום, “to place, to set,” but is a noun meaning: “the place of, the seat of.” They will dwell on rocks, i.e. secure from attack from below

וירא את עמלק, “He saw (with his mental eye) Amalek, i.e. the descendants of Amalek; seeing that this was the first nation to engage the recently liberated Israelites in battle, Bileam details its eventual demise as separate from all the other nations who will share a similar fate.

ראשית גוים עמלק AMALEK WAS THE BEGINNING OF NATIONS — he was the first of them all to war against Israel; thus, too, does Onkelos translate it. ואחריתו BUT HIS LATTER END will be to be destroyed by their hands, as it is said, (Deuteronomy 25:19) “Thou shalt blot out the memory of Amalek”.

ראשית גויים, as per Onkelos, i.e. the first organised nation militarily opposing the Jewish nation.

In waging war against Yisroel. Rashi wishes to answer the question: Surely there were many nations before Amalek. And one cannot explain that ראשית ["first"] is an expression of importance, for Amalek descended from the concubine of Elifaz son of Eisav.

Another way of explaining this verse may be as follows. The word ראשית does not describe something chronological, but is derived from ראש, head, i.e. "first in importance." There was a time when the people of Amalek ranked very high amongst the nations. Nonetheless, the time would come when it would be utterly destroyed. It is part of the everlasting glory of Israel that it will be the nation which destroys Amalek. Bileam continues in verse 24 by describing other nations which will experience destruction at the hands of third nations, such as Tzim at the hands of the Kittim, etc. It will be to Israel's advantage that these various nations will be destroyed.

Will be to perish by their hand. As if to say that [their end] will not be like that of the kings of other nations, who will perish through war [with other nations]. It is because the Torah writes, “You shall obliterate the memory of Amalek” that we know that it will be through our hand.