Did Bilaam actually think G-d could be paid off with a few altars and sacrifices and would indeed permit him to curse the Jewish People? Or was he pitting Hashem against His own middah of justice in the most extreme sense?
“I have set up the seven altars and I have offered up a bull and a ram on [each] altar” (Bamidbar 23:4). Was the wicked gentile prophet Bilaam actually trying to bribe Hashem with this statement?
Bilaam had received a clear “no” from HaKadosh Baruch Hu Who had plainly said “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the nation for it is blessed” (Bamidbar 22:12); yet despite the stern warning Bilaam gave in willingly to the insistent requests of Balak king of Moav and finally appeared in the Moabite capital with the clear knowledge that he was opposing the will of G-d.
But Bilaam was also aware of his absolute dependence on G-d. He’d mentioned it himself and even announced it several times in front of the Moabite king and his entire court: “Do I have any ability to say anything? The word that G-d puts into my mouth — that will I speak” (ibid. 38).
