במדבר, פרק כ״ג, פסוק י״ג

Following the failure of his initial attempt to curse the Israelites, Balak realizes he must alter his strategy to pierce their divine protection. He moves to a new location, seeking a fresh physical and spiritual vantage point, hoping to find a different angle or a more favorable astrological alignment that would allow the curse to take hold [ביאור שטיינזלץ, אברבנאל]. This relocation also represents a shift in focus. Instead of trying to damage the material success of the Israelites, Balak now aims to strike at their spiritual and intellectual destiny [רש״ר הירש]. He approaches Balaam with intense urgency and absolute resolve, emphasizing that Balaam alone is uniquely capable of executing this task [העמק דבר]. Balak senses a potential for disaster in this new place and wants to strike quickly, hoping to unleash the curse before the Israelites have any opportunity to repent and avert the decree [אור החיים]. His command is absolute, reflecting a desperate desire to ensure the curse finally materializes [אבן עזרא, גור אריה, אבי עזר, אור החיים].

A central element of this new attempt is the act of seeing. In the ancient world, it was widely believed that the human eye possessed a tangible, physical power to inflict harm, known as the evil eye. For a curse to be effective, the one delivering it had to maintain direct visual contact with the victim [אם למקרא]. However, a specific limitation is placed on Balaam's vision: he is to look only at the edge of the camp, rather than taking in the entire nation. The primary approach among commentators is theological. Balak understands that an evil eye cannot penetrate the united collective of the Israelites, as the nation as a whole remains holy, protected, and sheltered by God's mercy. A curse can only attach itself to isolated individuals who might be vulnerable due to sin. Therefore, Balak instructs Balaam to focus his gaze on just a small fraction of the people, hoping God might allow harm to befall a few, which could then spread throughout the rest of the camp [ספורנו, צרור המור, שפתי כהן, בכור שור, מלבי״ם].

Other perspectives offer different reasons for this restricted view. From a physical standpoint, Balak might simply be admitting upfront that the new vantage point offers an even more limited view than the first location, where he had initially promised a full view but only showed a portion to prevent Balaam from being intimidated by the camp's sheer size [שד״ל]. Alternatively, the new location might have actually provided a complete view, but Balak specifically ordered Balaam to divide his gaze. By looking at only one faction at a time, Balak hoped to artificially fracture the visual unity of the Israelites, thereby breaking the collective strength that shielded them from curses [הכתב והקבלה, מלבי״ם]. Conversely, some suggest that this visual limitation was not Balak's strategy at all, but rather an act of divine intervention. While Balak assumed Balaam had seen the entire nation during the first attempt, God had actually blocked Balaam's destructive gaze. Because Balaam had tried to cast an evil eye upon the holy camp, his vision was impaired, stripping him of the physical ability to ever see the nation in its entirety again [העמק דבר, קיצור בעל הטורים].