Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Numbers 22:5/אבן עזרא על במדבר כ״ב:ה׳

אפתורה. כמו מצרימה אל פתור:

1TO PETHOR. Pethorah means to Pethor.⁶ at the end of the word is in place of the preposition to. Compare, mitzrayemah (to Egypt) (Gen. 37:25).

בארץ בני עמו. והם ארמים וכן מפתור ארם נהרים ובדרש שבלעם הוא בלע כי זה ארמי ואם בעבור בעור אביו הנה בן אחשורוש קודם אחשורוש רק הם שנים:

2TO THE LAND OF THE CHILDREN OF HIS PEOPLE. Who were Arameans. Scripture similarly states, from Pethor of Aram-naharaim (Deut. 23:5). The midrash⁷. 105a. Also see Targum Jonathan on Gen. 36:32. identifies Balaam with Bela.⁸ [However, the identification is untenable] because Balaam was an Aramean. If we identify Balaam with Bela because of Beor his father,⁹. then, lo and behold, the son of Ahasuerus¹⁰ lived before Ahasuerus.¹¹ 1:1), King Ahasuerus mentioned in the Book of Esther had a son called Darius. There was also a King Darius who lived before Ahasuerus mentioned in the book of Esther. If every Darius in the Bible is one and the same person, then Darius son of Ahasuerus lived before Ahasuerus his father. See I.E. on Dan. 9:1 and Esth. 1:1. They¹² are definitely two different people.

גאשר על הנהר. פירוש ארם נהרים:

3WHICH IS BY THE RIVER. The reference is to Aram-naharaim.

דעין הארץ. פירשתיו:

4THE FACE OF THE EARTH. I have already explained the meaning of this expression.¹³