Or HaChaim on Numbers 23:21/אור החיים על במדבר כ״ג:כ״א

1 לא הביט און ביעקב, "He has not seen iniquity in Jacob, etc." We must try and understand this by reference to a part of the Zohar called Raaye Mehemenuta volume 3 page 265 where we are told that when man sins, the sin leaves a physical impression on the part of his body with which he committed the sin. Our sages consider such parts of the body as being blemished. The meaning of the word און is the name of the physical blemish which results from the commission of a sin. Proverbs 30,20 describes the adulterous woman as saying לא פעלתי און, "I have not done any wrong." We find the same expression in Psalms 125,5: "The Lord makes them go the way of evil-doers." Bileam says that he could not detect any physical blemishes on the body of the people called Jacob which would bear testimomy to their having committed evil. We have already explained that Bileam described the "average" Israelite as יעקב, whereas he described the spiritual elite as ישראל. He meant that though, intellectually speaking, the Israelites had erred on occasion, the result never was serious enough as to leave a blemish on their bodies. Bileam took his cue from the description of the Jewish people in Song of Songs 4,7: כלך יפה רעיתי ומום אין בך. "You are completely fair My beloved, you are totally free from any blemish." The sins the Israelites had been guilty of from time to time did not leave a permanent blemish, nothing that could not be cleansed by a thorough washing. Shir Hashirim Rabbah on Song of Songs 1,5 "I am black and yet beautiful" echoes this sentiment. ולא ראה עמל בישראל "neither has He seen perverseness in Israel." The word עמל usually means toil. Bileam means that G'd did not even find amongst the elite of Israel the kind of temporary blemish which can be scrubbed away only laboriously.

2Alternatively, the word און refers to sins of an intellectual nature, similar to Psalms 66,18: "Had I had an evil thought in my mind, etc." Bileam says that G'd does not consider the Israelites culpable for evil thoughts, only for evil deeds. Evil thoughts do not leave behind them the kind of permanent damage that evil deeds do. To make this distinction clear, Bileam uses the expression הבטה in connection with such intellectual sins as opposed to the expression ראיה. The former is a far more intensive kind of look than the latter. What may appear a serious sin at first glance, i.e. ראה, turns out to be less so on doser examination, הביט. The reason Bileam used the word און in connection with Jacob was to tell us that even the sins "Jacob," i.e. the average Israelites had been guilty of at one time or another, did not leave a permanent mark so that we can call Jacob blemished. As far as the elite, the צדיקים amongst the Israelites are concerned, לא ראה עמל, He did not even see that they had sinned by in intent, certainly not by deed. By referring to עמל, toil or burden, Bileam also wanted to convey that although the righteous Israelites perform a host of commandments they do not consider fulfilment of all these commandments burdensome. Contrast this with Psalms 73,16 where Assaph describes the attempt to understand why the wicked appear to prosper as a burdensome task, עמל. Bileam may imply what Solomon spelled out in Proverbs 8,14 that the righteous consider preoccupation with G'd's Torah as acts of courage and the fruit of insight.

3Bileam may have something even more far-reaching in mind here. He perceived that because the Jewish people, both the average ones and the elite, perform Torah and the commandments, this "compensates" G'd in a manner of speaking for all the other nations who have not as yet embraced monotheism and acknowledged the kingdom of G'd on earth. Were it not for the מצוה-performance by the Israelites G'd would have destroyed the other nations long ago and would not have displayed so much patience vis-a-vis them. According to this we translate the words לא הביט און, "G'd did not closely scrutinise the sins of the Gentile nations on account of Jacob." Similarly, "He did not even glance at the sins of the Gentile nations superficially, לא רה עמל, on account of Israel, the righteous ones amongst the Jewish people." Our sages have pointed out more than once that as long as the Jewish people observe the Torah G'd lavished His goodness and abundance on the whole of mankind. All the Gentile nations enjoy prosperity and well being thanks to the conduct of Israel. As a result of this, the mere idea of destroying Israel by means of a curse is tantamount to suicide; by whose merit would the Gentile nations continue to exist then? Yet another meaning of Bileam saying: "and He saw no perversity in Israel," may refer to the way G'd receives all the "twittering" of the righteous Israelites who are constantly "bothering" G'd about something or other. G'd does not find this tiresome; it is not burden-some, עמל for Him. Compare Maleachi 2,17: "You have wearied the Lord with your talk."

4ה׳ אלוקיו עמו ותרועת מלך בו "the Lord his G'd with him and the shouting of the king is among him." These two statements are parallel to the two statements with which the verse began. The Lord in His capacity as "King" is with the category of Israelites whom Bileam had described previously as Jacob; The average Israelite who performs the commandments out of a sense of duty and fear, and relates to his G'd as מלך, whereas the righteous who perform the commandments out of feelings of love for G'd relate to Him as י־ה־ו־ה אלוקיו. The reason that Bileam added the suffix יו to the name אלוקים was to indicate that if G'd were to subject these people to afflictions they would not use this as an excuse to turn away from Him. The expression תרועת מלך is meant to describe the awe in which the "Jacob" category of Israelites relates to Him.

5The entire verse is also a compliment to the Israelites who are the only nation G'd has chosen for His presence to dwell amongst. Not only that, but G'd has given this people a supernatural power enabling them to destroy everything they have a mind to, much like a king. The words תרועת מלך are a reminder that they do not have to invoke G'd's help but are able to do all this by themselves. The Talmud is full of examples where the righteous killed with merely a glance when the situation demanded it.

6We could also find an allusion to an earthly king in the words ותרועת מלך בו. The Talmud Berachot 61 describes the Romans torturing Rabbi Akiva by flaying his flesh with iron combs while he tried to end his life with the words ה׳ אחד, signifying the Unity of G'd on his lips. The meaning of the words then would be that even when Jews are being tortured by earthly kings merely for being Jews, such Jews remain loyal to their G'd to their last breath.