Or HaChaim on Numbers 22:20/אור החיים על במדבר כ״ב:כ׳

1 אם לקרא לך באו האנשים, "if the men simply came to call you, etc." Why did G'd describe the purpose of this delegation as in doubt, i.e. "if?" After all, G'd knew full well what was in the minds of these delegates? A more difficult question is why G'd consented that Bileam go on an errand the purpose of which was for him to curse Israel? Why, in the process, did G'd appear to reverse Himself seeing He had told Bileam previously not to go with Balak's delegates nor to curse that people? How had conditions changed since the arrival of the first set of emissaries so that G'd's decision now would not be viewed as a reversal of His previous decision?

2It appears from what the Torah reports that G'd could have dealt with this request in one of two ways. Each one of these ways contained the appearance of His being unfair in some way. If G'd were to agree to Bileam going on such a mission, the nations of the world would conclude that Bileam was totally free to make his own decisions in the matter, and they would not appreciate that just as the master controls the line by which his dog is tied so G'd pulled the strings limiting Bileam's freedom of action. It was important to G'd to demonstrate to the world at large that Bileam was unable to cause harm to anyone whom G'd did not want to be harmed. On the other hand, if G'd refused to let Bileam go altogether Bileam would conclude that G'd Himself was afraid of what Bileam would be able to do once he got to Moav, i.e. that G'd was afraid of Bileam! As a result of these two considerations G'd was very clever in resolving both possible misunderstandings. He first told Bileam לא תלך, "you must not go." In this way He had shown the world that the wicked dog Bileam was not at liberty to cause havoc wherever and whenever he wanted to. He also paid Bileam the reward due to him for having explained to Balak's emissaries that he was not at liberty to disobey G'd. The reward that G'd gave Bileam was related to G'd's foreknowledge that in the end Bileam would go to Moav with the next set of delegates. This was something that would not be to his advantage, as we know from Balak's own remarks in 24,11 that G'd had prevented Bileam from receiving the honour Balak had intended to bestow upon him. However, his very trip would lead to his being killed by the sword as we know from 31,8. Bileam was caught in Midian at the time, as he had gone there to collect his reward for the 24.000 Israelites whom G'd had killed because they had allowed themselves to be enticed by Moabite women at the suggestion of Bileam. Originally, G'd had not stopped Bileam from going because He does hold back people who are bent on their own destruction by telling them not to go. This was an additional form of reward to the one we mentioned earlier that Balak was to send higher ranking delegates.

3When Balak now sent a second delegation, G'd had to address His second fear, namely that if He forbade Bileam to go this would be interpreted as His inability to stop Bileam from wreaking havoc once he was near the Jewish people. Bileam would arrive at the conclusion that once he arrived in Moav G'd would not be able to stop him from doing what he wanted. This is why G'd said to Bileam קום לך אתם, "arise and accompany them;" G'd implied that "if" Bileam really thought that going with these delegates would be to his advantage, He, G'd did not want to stop him. The conditional "if" was a warning to Bileam that He, G'd, did not think that this journey would be to Bileam's advantage. G'd may even have hinted that Bileam should consult his charms to find out for himself if his trip augured well for him. Even this warning was part of G'd's reward to Bileam for having pointed out that he was bound by G'd's decisions. It would work to his advantage if Bileam's mind had not been made up to commit evil. However, under the circumstances, Bileam did plan to to commit evil, and he was bent on ignoring G'd's warnings. This may have been the reason G'd became angry when he went with the delegates. The fact that Bileam went with the delegates proves that he expected to profit from his trip; this was only possible if he did indeed curse the Jewish people, something G'd had forbidden him to do. We will still provide another reason which caused G'd to become angry at Bileam at this stage.