פרשת בלק - נבואת אחרית הימים

Balak’s wrath was enflamed against Bilam, as this last prophecy was all about Israel’s success in the present and the future. And he clapped his hands in anger; and Balak said to Bilam: I called you to curse my enemies and behold, you have blessed them these three times.

Now, behold, I am going to my people. However, come, I will advise you. I will tell you something else in the form of prophetic knowledge, 24 with regard to what this people will do to your people at the end of days. In contrast to the previous speeches, which referred mainly to the present, the next allegory is a prophecy that will come to pass in the future, although it is difficult to know the exact period to which it refers.

He launched his oration, and said: The utterance of Bilam son of Beor, and the utterance of the open-eyed man. This is the same preamble that appeared in his previous speech; it includes Bilam’s self-presentation and boast that he is an all-knowing prophet (24:3).

The utterance of one who hears the sayings of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, he shall see the vision of the Almighty; he falls with uncovered eyes during his revelations.

AND KNOWETH THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE MOST HIGH. By prophecy, not through enchantment.

I see him in a vision of future events, but not now. I behold him, but he will not rise in the near future; I do not know when my prophecy will happen, but I can see that it will occur only in the distant future. A star, a sparkling leader, shall rise [ darakh ] from Jacob, shooting out like an arrow from an outstretched [ darukh ] bow. 25 Some commentaries explain that darakh means embark on its route. And a ruling scepter shall rise from Israel, and shall crush the outskirts of Moav, and destroy all the descendants of Seth, all of mankind. As stated in Genesis 5, all of surviving humanity is the offspring of Seth son of Adam, as Abel was killed, and the descendants of Cain did not survive the deluge.

The fact that Bileam repeats both the description of the substance of the prophecy and the message itself in different words can also be understood by Sanhedrin 98. The sages draw a picture of the process of redemption due to Israel's merits as being quite different from what it would be like if it had to occur only in order to honour G'd's timetable. In the former event the whole process would be orchestrated by Heaven, one miracle would follow another. The Zohar volume 1 page 119 as well as volume 3 page 212 describes these miracles in detail. If the redemption occurs only as a result of G'd's timetable decreeing that it cannot be delayed any further, it will be quite different, such as the prophet Zachariah 9,9 describes in a vision of the redeemer as being a poor man, riding on the lowly donkey. When Bileam spoke of the arrival of the Messiah as a result of Israel's merits, he described his arrival as similar to that of a star, i.e. a celestial figure making a prominent appearance in the sky. When Bileam spoke of "there arises a sceptre in Jacob," he referred to the other alternative, i.e. the Messiah arriving at the end of time. The redemption will then appear as almost a natural event, devoid of the kind of miracles G'd performed when the Israelites came out of Egypt. Daniel had a similar vision (Daniel 4,14) "and the lowliest of men He will raise up over it." A poor man riding on a donkey will be elevated to become the Messiah.

Although, at first glance we would have expected Bileam to associate the early redemption with Israel and the delayed redemption with Jacob instead of vice versa, Bileam is true to form in his vision. If even the average Israelite, i.e. "Jacob" is deserving then the redemption will occur ahead of the original timetable set for it. If, however, G'd has to fall back on the elite, i.e. "Israel" in order to bring the redemption, it will only occur at the pre-arranged time.

Edom shall be a possession for Israel; Israel will occupy and possess Edom. And a possession shall be Se’ir, Edom, for Israel, as they are its enemies, since the Edomites did not let Israel pass through their land. Israel will achieve success.

(23) and יהוה answered her,“Two nations are in your womb,Two separate peoples shall issue from your body;One people shall be mightier than the other,And the older shall serve the younger.”

One shall rule from Jacob, and will rid a remnant from the city, from all the cities of Edom, 26 or from every city in the world. 27

He saw Amalek, either with his eyes, residing close to Israel, or in a vision, 28 and he launched his oration, and said: Amalek was the first of the nations to fight Israel; 29 and its end will be oblivion.

V’eileh — Wherever the term v’eileh (“and these”) is used, it comes to add to what went first (Bereishit Rabbah 30:3). [Thus, v’ eileh] indicates an increase and a multiplicity, which correspond to haughtiness and idolatry. As it is written (Deuteronomy 7:7), “It was not because you had great numbers that God embraced you”—[“great numbers”] being explained as haughtiness. This is the meaning of “it comes to add to what went first.” This is the aspect of Haman/Amalek, of whom it is written (Numbers 24:20), “First among nations is Amalek.” And [Haman/Amalek] is rectified by means of:

(3) The Mekhilta (21:1 ; Bava Kama 15a) comments: that you must place before them — Woman is equated with man in regard to all dinim (laws) of the Torah. The explanation is as follows: For all the dinim (Divine judgments/decrees) in the Torah which need to be mitigated, one must equate —i.e., unite the Holy One and His Divine Presence. This is the aspect of Mordekhai and Esther. Thus:

{“He saw Amalek, and he took up his parable and said: Amalek is the first among nations, but its fate is eternal destruction. He saw the Kenite, and he took up his parable and said: Secure is your dwelling; set in the rock is your nest” (Numbers 24:20-21) .} This is the meaning of “He saw the Kenite,” “He saw Amalek.” They are juxtaposed in the Torah because the aforementioned defilement, the defilement associated with Amalek, comes about through converts, as has been fully clarified above.

He saw the Kenites, Yitro’s children and family, who were nomads that maintained ties with Amalek, 30 and launched his oration, and said: Firm is your dwelling. Place your nest in the rock, from where it cannot be removed, as you are a friend of Israel.

Nevertheless, when Kayin shall eventually be expelled, until when will Assyria take you captive? You will be captured by Assyria only temporarily. 31

He launched his oration, and said: Alas, who shall live after God’s implementation of His plan? In those future days, distant nations will come to conquer the region:

מי יהיה משמו א־ל "Who shall live after G'd has appointed him?" Our sages in Sanhedrin 106 offer two interpretations on this verse. I recommend that you look at them. Personally, I prefer to understand this verse with the help of an introductory comment by the Zohar which I have referred to frequently. The purpose of exile is to enable the Israelites to isolate and rescue "sparks" of sanctity which are trapped in the land in which the Jews are exiled. This concept is alluded to in Kohelet 8,9 את אשר שלט האדם באדם לרע לו, "a time when man rules over man to his detriment." Solomon means that such rule will boomerang to the detriment of the pagan ruler himself. This will occur when the spiritually valuable element trapped within the ruler will be taken from him so that he will be exposed exclusively to the spiritually negative forces within him. We have explained repeatedly that the only factor which keeps a wicked person alive is the presence of a spiritually positive force trapped within him. Having said all this, we may now turn to our verse. Having previously referred to the fact that the Kenite would be exiled, the Torah (Bileam) continues the theme of exile, referring to the Israelites themselves experiencing exile. Bileam bewails the future of the nations who host Israel during its exile, predicting that all of these nations will be laid waste by G'd. The word אוי refers to the nations with whom G'd will deal by means of retribution seeing that most of them have hosted Jews as exiles. The Jews in these various countries will extract all the spiritually positive forces which alone have been reponsible for such people remaining alive.

Seafarers will emerge from Kitim, Rome 32 or Greece, 33 and they will afflict Assyria, and afflict the riverbank, the residents of the western side of the Euphrates River, not only the children of Israel, and it too, this nation that metes out affliction, will end in oblivion. Bilam describes distant events with a broad brush: Great nations will break the nations that preceded them, before eventually being destroyed in turn. Only Israel and those close with them, such as the Kenite, will survive. This prophecy is also relevant for Moav, as it teaches that even if the Moavites hold firm for the moment, they will eventually be destroyed as well.

וצים means [AND] BIG SHIPS, as it is written (Isaiah 33:21) “A gallant ship (צי)", the Targum translation of which is “a big ship” (Yoma 77b).

(11) I was seeing then, from the sound of the arrogant words that the small horn spoke; I was seeing this vision until the beast was slain, its body destroyed, and it was relegated to the burning of fire. As a result of the many boastful statements of the horn, the judgment was issued that the entire animal must be destroyed.

וצים מיד כתים, “and great ships from the coast of Kittim.” After Bileam had predicted that Ashur had taken the Kenites captive, Bileam continues prophesying that Ashur itself will suffer affliction by the Kittim who will oppress both Ashur and Ever. It is possible that the word צים is a plural of צי which appears in Isaiah as צי אדיר, “a large ship.” The reason that Bileam describes the עברים i.e. בני עבר as being captives also is that they had oppressed the Kenites. According to some opinions the Kittim were the Greeks. According to Nachmanides it is a reference to the Romans, the fourth kingdom, Edom, or, in terms of Daniel’s vision the fourth of the chayot. It is fitting that Bileam concluded his prophecies with the prediction of Rome’s downfall (see Daniel 7,11).

Bilam rose, and went, and returned to his place without receiving any reward. It seems that he was granted no more great prophecies after his return. It can be inferred from below that after Bilam went home he offered evil council against Israel, not as a prophet but as a private individual, and perhaps as a sorcerer as well (see 31:16). And Balak too went on his way, dissatisfied and frustrated, after hearing about his people’s ultimate end, whereas Israel would continue to exist.

ויקם בלעם, “Bileam rose up.” As soon as Bileam concluded his prophecies he rose on his feet as he had not been standing when making all these predictions. He had described himself as נופל וגלוי עינים, “fallen and with uncovered eyes (24,5).” וישב אל מקומו, “he returned to his place.” This means he reverted to relying on charms, etc., instead of on Divine inspiration. He found that he had become privy to Holy Spirit only temporarily for the benefit of the Jewish people as I mentioned earlier.