Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L

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Bilam's Journey to Balak

Bilam wakes up in the morning and tells Balak's officers that G-d will not let him go back with them. Due to his conceit, he made it sound like G-d wouldn't let him go because Balak's men weren't prestigious enough . So Balak kept sending more and more officers of higher rank. If Balak knew that G-d forbidding Bilam from going had nothing to do with the rank of the officers he would not have sent more messengers to him.

The messengers told Bilam that Balak said that Bilam should not refuse him as Balak will give him more honor than he had received in the past and that he will obey anything Bilam tells him to do.

Bilam replies that even if Balak were to give him his entire houseful of silver and gold (demonstrating Bilam's greed that he thought not only of silver and gold but of Balak's silver and gold specifically), he would not be able to go against G-d's word even slightly.

Bilam tells these new messengers to stay the night as the others did (thus inadvertently hinting at the fact that they would fail in their efforts just as the first ones did). He says that that night he will see what else G-d will tell him ("what else" was him inadvertently foretelling that G-d would end up adding blessing to the Israelites through him).

G-d comes to Bilam at night and tells Bilam regarding these new men who came to summon him that if it is for Bilam's benefit he should go with them however he should only do what G-d tells him to do.

Bilam thought that he would be able to later on convince G-d to let him curse Israel.