“For I will honor you greatly, and anything that you say to me I will do, only please go curse this people for me” (Numbers 22:17). “For I will honor you greatly” – I will give you more than what you have been accustomed to take in the past. “Bilam answered and said to the servants of Balak: If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I would be unable to violate the directive of the Lord my God, to perform a small or a great matter” (Numbers 22:18).
“Bilam answered and said…If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold” – from here you learn that there were three characteristics in him: An evil eye, a haughty spirit, and a greedy soul. An evil eye, as it is written: “Bilam lifted his eyes, and saw Israel dwelling according to its tribes” (Numbers 24:2).25It would have been sufficient to write that he saw. The fact that it is prefaced by the lifting of his eyes indicates that in his jealousy, he sought to harm them with his evil eye.
A haughty spirit, as it is written: “As the Lord refused to allow me to go with you.”26As explained above, Bilam claimed that God sought to honor him. A greedy soul, as it is stated: “Were Balak to give me his house full of silver and gold.” Had he sought to hire armies to wage war against them, it is uncertain whether they would have prevailed or fallen. Is it not worth his while to give that and ensure victory?27The midrash is explaining Bilam's line of reasoning.
You learn that this is what he requested. “I would be unable to violate” – he prophesies that he is unable to nullify the blessings that they were given by the Divine Presence. “Now, please, you, too, remain here this night, and I will know what more the Lord will speak to me” (Numbers 22:19). “Now, please, you, too, remain here” – what is “you, too”?
Ultimately, you will go frustrated, like the first ones. “I will know what more the Lord” – he prophesies that the Holy One blessed be He is destined to add blessings for them [Israel] through him.