We know that Balak and Bilaam thought with their pocketbooks – they both were profoundly motivated by money, and believed that it could change the world.
Isn’t it interesting that Moab, inspired by Bilaam’s advice, is also the source of the sexual corruption of the Jewish people? That there is a tension between Israel and Moab that is the tension between physicality and spirituality?
Perhaps these might be explained from their source? After all, Lot chose to move to Sodom because it was a rich and fertile land. And his daughters seduced him and (in sharp contrast to Avraham and Sarah’s lifetime of difficulty) produced sons from a single event. One of these sons was, of course, Moab!
So it is reasonable that the Torah is telling us that the nature and culture of the people of Moav come from their ancestry from Lot and his daughter? That they were fixated with every kind of fertility?
Does this explain why Bilaam refers to G-d as Shaddai – a name only elsewhere found in the Torah to refer to the promise of procreation and fertility? Shaddai is a relatively immature understanding of G-d’s power – doesn’t that fit with a prophet who nevertheless lacks a deeper understanding?
Falling?
Bilaam also calls himself “falling” nafal.
Every time this word is found in the text (Adam falling asleep, Cain losing his temper, Fleeing kings falling into pits, Avram falling into the dream, and the brothers falling before Yosef), it refers to losing power or agency, becoming the nail and not the hammer. Cain, for example, becomes controlled by his anger. While there are a great many uses of this word in the Torah, they are all connected to this theme.
Does this mean that Bilaam desired to lose control, to enter a euphoric state where he would have no power or accountability? Is this not the antithesis of Moshe’s approach – a man who had to remove his shoes to remain “grounded” while talking to G-d?