Balaam Tells Balak They Both Owe Their Lives to Abraham and Jacob

Another interpretation of (Numbers 23:7) “From Aram he leads me”: Balaam said to Balak: We are alike, the two of us, in being ungrateful, for were it not for our father Abraham, there would have been no Balak, as it is said (Genesis 19:29) “And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out.” For were it not for Abraham, Lot would not have escaped from Sodom, and you are one of the children of the children of Lot. And were it not for Jacob their father, I would not have endured in the world, for Laban saw no sons except by the merit of Jacob, since at first it is written (Genesis 29:9) “And Rachel came with the sheep.” Now if he had sons, how was his daughter a shepherdess? Once Jacob went there, sons were given to him, as it is said (Genesis 31:1) “And he heard the words of the sons of Laban,” and it says (Genesis 30:27) “I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.” And were it not for their fathers, I and you would not have endured in the world.