Why did Bil'am speak so abruptly to Balak "Kum Balak ... !"?
Why did Bil'am refer to Balak as "B'no Tzipor"?
Rashi #1: He called him 'the son of Tzipor', 1 as if it had written 'ben Tzipor' (without the 'Vav' in "B'no"). 2
Rashi #2 (in 24:3): He referred to Tzipor as Balak's son, because he was inferior to him in kingship (since Balak was a king, but Tzipor was not - Hadar Zekenim in 24:3).
Ha'amek Davar (Harchev Davar Bereishis 48:8): It is humiliating to be called so, as if he did not have his own name (Rashi Tehilim 4:3). One who hates someone does not call him by his name - Sha'ul called David "Ben Yishai" (and was furious at Yehonason, who called him "David" (Shmuel 1:20:30). Bil'am says about himself "B'no Be'or" (24:3) = in addition to his name. Here, "B'no Tzipor" is in place of Balak's name. ? PF)
Rashi: As the Pasuk often tends to do - See for example Bereishis, 1:24 and Tehilim, 104:20 & 114:8.
Why did he omit the title 'Melech Mo'av' - which he inserted earlier (in 22:10)?
Oznayim la'Torah: Because some of the officers of Mo'av, having given up on his cursing Yisrael, had already left, and he knew that the other offiers, who only remained in the hope that he would still curse them, were destined to be disappointed and to leave, too, leaving Balak without a following. 1
Oznayim la'Torah: Indeed, it seems that, Balak, who had only been appointed king in face of the threat posed by Yisrael's presence, and having failed in his promise to Mo'av to remove it - See Oznayim la'Torah on Pasuk 17 - now returned to Midyan, to be killed shortly, following the debacle of Ba'al Pe'or, together with the other princes of Midyan. Refer also to 24:25:1:2.
