עקידת יצחק — לא תלך עמהם / מה טבו אהליך יעקב

Q — Why does God let Bilam go after first forbidding it? Why turn his curses into blessings rather than simply silence him? What is the point of a hostile prophet praising Israel?

A — The whole episode teaches that no sorcerer or prophet has power to harm Israel when God desires them — Bilam's mouth becomes the very instrument of their blessing. God permits him to go precisely so that the nations witness, from their own prophet, that Israel's protection is absolute. Turning curse to blessing is more instructive than silence: it proves before the world that the source of harm has been commandeered into a source of good, and that Israel's standing rests on God's love, immune to enmity from without.