Tanakhתנ״ך

Notable Rashi Interpretations in Chukas and Balak

These sources showcase some of Rashi's most significant interpretations of key passages in the Torah portions of Chukas and Balak, including his explanations of the copper serpent's healing power, Bilaam's blessings over Israel, the miraculous well in the wilderness, and Moshe's sin at the rock. The selections highlight Rashi's characteristic blend of textual precision and moral insight.

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9 sources · verified

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What the sources say

The most iconic passage in Chukat for Rashi is the command at Bamidbar 20:8, where Moshe is told to speak to the rock, paired immediately with the divine verdict at Bamidbar 20:12 — 'because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity' — which together form Rashi's central discussion of why Moshe and Aharon were barred from entering the Land.

Also prominent in Chukat is the copper serpent episode at Bamidbar 21:8, where God instructs Moshe to mount a seraph figure so that anyone bitten who looks at it shall recover, and the song of the well at Bamidbar 21:17, where Israel sings 'Spring up, O well,' with Miriam's death recorded tersely at Bamidbar 20:1 — a juxtaposition Rashi uses to derive that just as Moshe and Aharon had water through Miriam's merit, her passing triggered the well's disappearance.

In Balak, Rashi's most celebrated passages cluster around Bila'am's talking donkey: God opens the jenny's mouth at Bamidbar 22:28 and the donkey confronts Bila'am with his own behavior at Bamidbar 22:30, episodes that Rashi treats as a deliberate divine rebuke of the would-be curser.

Bila'am's oracles also generate well-known Rashis: the theological declaration that 'God is not human to be capricious' at Bamidbar 23:19, and the exclamation 'How fair are your tents, O Jacob' at Bamidbar 24:5, which Rashi connects to the modestly arranged entrances of the Israelite encampment.

Source 1 · Rishonim
Verified

Rashi on Chukat – The Copper Serpent

Numbers 21:8

Rashi asks: does a serpent kill or give life? He explains that when Israel looked upward toward the serpent and directed their hearts to their Father in Heaven, they were healed — it was not the serpent itself but their focus on God.

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה עֲשֵׂ֤ה לְךָ֙ שָׂרָ֔ף וְשִׂ֥ים אֹת֖וֹ עַל־נֵ֑ס וְהָיָה֙ כׇּל־הַנָּשׁ֔וּךְ וְרָאָ֥ה אֹת֖וֹ וָחָֽי׃

Then GOD said to Moses, “Make a seraph figure and mount it on a standard. And anyone who was bitten who then looks at it shall recover.”

Source 2 · Rishonim
Verified

Rashi on Balak – God Is Not a Man

Numbers 23:19

Rashi explains Bila'am's words 'God is not a man that He should lie' as meaning that unlike humans who may change their minds, God's blessings and promises to Israel are irrevocable — what He has blessed cannot be reversed.

לֹ֣א אִ֥ישׁ אֵל֙ וִֽיכַזֵּ֔ב וּבֶן־אָדָ֖ם וְיִתְנֶחָ֑ם הַה֤וּא אָמַר֙ וְלֹ֣א יַעֲשֶׂ֔ה וְדִבֶּ֖ר וְלֹ֥א יְקִימֶֽנָּה׃

God is not human to be capricious, Or mortal to have a change of heart. Would [God] speak and not act, Promise and not fulfill?

Source 3 · Rishonim
Verified

Rashi on Balak – Bila'am Silenced by His Donkey

Numbers 22:30

Rashi emphasizes that Bila'am had no answer to the donkey's rebuke, and this was meant to shame him — if he could not overcome his own animal, how could he hope to curse Israel with his mouth?

וַתֹּ֨אמֶר הָאָת֜וֹן אֶל־בִּלְעָ֗ם הֲלוֹא֩ אָנֹכִ֨י אֲתֹֽנְךָ֜ אֲשֶׁר־רָכַ֣בְתָּ עָלַ֗י מֵעֽוֹדְךָ֙ עַד־הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה הַֽהַסְכֵּ֣ן הִסְכַּ֔נְתִּי לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת לְךָ֖ כֹּ֑ה וַיֹּ֖אמֶר לֹֽא׃

The jenny said to Balaam, “Look, I am the jenny that you have been riding all along until this day! Have I been in the habit of doing thus to you?” And he answered, “No.”

Source 4 · Rishonim
Verified

Rashi on Balak – 'How Goodly Are Your Tents, O Jacob'

Numbers 24:5

Rashi explains that Bila'am saw the tent openings were not facing each other, protecting the modesty of Israel, and was moved to proclaim 'Mah tovu ohalecha Yaakov' — this verse became the basis of the morning prayer.

מַה־טֹּ֥בוּ אֹהָלֶ֖יךָ יַעֲקֹ֑ב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶ֖יךָ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

How fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel!

Source 5 · Rishonim
Verified

Rashi on Chukat – The Song of the Well

Numbers 21:17

Rashi explains the miraculous nature of the well that traveled with Israel in the wilderness, describing how it would flow through the camp and water the tribes in their encampments.

אָ֚ז יָשִׁ֣יר יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֶת־הַשִּׁירָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את עֲלִ֥י בְאֵ֖ר עֱנוּ־לָֽהּ׃

Then Israel sang this song: Spring up, O well—sing to it—

Source 6 · Rishonim
Verified

Rashi on Chukat – Speak to the Rock

Numbers 20:8

Rashi explains God's command to speak to the rock (not strike it), and later explains that Moshe's sin was in striking the rock rather than speaking to it, sanctifying God through speech rather than force.

קַ֣ח אֶת־הַמַּטֶּ֗ה וְהַקְהֵ֤ל אֶת־הָעֵדָה֙ אַתָּה֙ וְאַהֲרֹ֣ן אָחִ֔יךָ וְדִבַּרְתֶּ֧ם אֶל־הַסֶּ֛לַע לְעֵינֵיהֶ֖ם וְנָתַ֣ן מֵימָ֑יו וְהוֹצֵאתָ֨ לָהֶ֥ם מַ֙יִם֙ מִן־הַסֶּ֔לַע וְהִשְׁקִיתָ֥ אֶת־הָעֵדָ֖ה וְאֶת־בְּעִירָֽם׃

“You and your brother Aaron take the rod and assemble the community, and before their very eyes order the rock to yield its water. Thus you shall produce water for them from the rock and provide drink for the congregation and their livestock.”

Source 7 · Rishonim
Verified

Rashi on Chukat – Miriam's Death Next to Water

Numbers 20:1

Rashi notes that the Torah juxtaposes Miriam's death with the section of the Red Heifer to teach that just as sacrifices bring atonement, so too does the death of the righteous bring atonement.

וַיָּבֹ֣אוּ בְנֵֽי־יִ֠שְׂרָאֵ֠ל כׇּל־הָ֨עֵדָ֤ה מִדְבַּר־צִן֙ בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הָֽרִאשׁ֔וֹן וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב הָעָ֖ם בְּקָדֵ֑שׁ וַתָּ֤מׇת שָׁם֙ מִרְיָ֔ם וַתִּקָּבֵ֖ר שָֽׁם׃

The Israelites arrived in a body at the wilderness of Zin on the first new moon, and the people stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there.

Source 8 · Rishonim
Verified

Rashi on Balak – The Donkey Speaks

Numbers 22:28

Rashi explains that the donkey's mouth was one of the ten things created at twilight of the eve of the first Shabbat, meaning the capacity for a donkey to speak was built into creation from the beginning.

וַיִּפְתַּ֥ח יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶת־פִּ֣י הָאָת֑וֹן וַתֹּ֤אמֶר לְבִלְעָם֙ מֶה־עָשִׂ֣יתִֽי לְךָ֔ כִּ֣י הִכִּיתַ֔נִי זֶ֖ה שָׁלֹ֥שׁ רְגָלִֽים׃

Then GOD opened the jenny’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?”

Source 9 · Rishonim
Verified

Rashi on Chukat – 'Because You Did Not Believe'

Numbers 20:12

Rashi explains that had Moshe spoken to the rock instead of striking it, the Israelites would have learned a kal v'chomer: if a rock that doesn't hear or speak obeys God's word, how much more should we. The missed opportunity was a desecration of God's name.

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהֹוָה֮ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֣ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן֒ יַ֚עַן לֹא־הֶאֱמַנְתֶּ֣ם בִּ֔י לְהַ֨קְדִּישֵׁ֔נִי לְעֵינֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל לָכֵ֗ן לֹ֤א תָבִ֙יאוּ֙ אֶת־הַקָּהָ֣ל הַזֶּ֔ה אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־נָתַ֥תִּי לָהֶֽם׃

But GOD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them.”