Balak 24:21 · unit 1 — he saw the Keini

Parashas Balak · Aliyah 7 · Passuk 21 · TT unit 1

The Complete Passuk

וַיַּרְא֙ אֶת־הַקֵּינִ֔י וַיִּשָּׂ֥א מְשָׁל֖וֹ וַיֹּאמַ֑ר אֵיתָן֙ מוֹשָׁבֶ֔ךָ וְשִׂ֥ים בַּסֶּ֖לַע קִנֶּֽךָ׃

And he saw the Keini, and took up his discourse and said: Enduring is your dwelling-place, and set in the rock is your nest.

Chabad.org — 24:21

Source Citation

Torah Temimah: Sanhedrin 106a — Bilam to Yisro: were you not with us in that counsel?

Sefaria — Sanhedrin 106a

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
אָמַר לוֹ בִּלְעָם לְיִתְרוֹ: קֵינִי, וַהֲלֹא עִמָּנוּ הָיִיתָ בְּאוֹתָהּ עֵצָה — מִי הוֹשִׁיבְךָ אֵצֶל אֵיתָנֵי עוֹלָם? וְהַיְינוּ דַּאֲמַר רַבִּי חִיָּא בַּר אַבָּא: שְׁלֹשָׁה הָיוּ בְּאוֹתָהּ עֵצָה — בִּלְעָם, אִיּוֹב, וְיִתְרוֹ. בִּלְעָם שֶׁיָּעַץ — נֶהֱרַג; אִיּוֹב שֶׁשָּׁתַק — נִדּוֹן בְּיִסּוּרִים; יִתְרוֹ שֶׁבָּרַח — זָכוּ בְּנֵי בָּנָיו לֵישֵׁב בְּלִשְׁכַּת הַגָּזִית.

English: Bilam said to Yisro: Keini, were you not with us in that counsel — who seated you among the mighty of the world? And that is what R. Chiya bar Abba said: Three were in that counsel — Bilam, Iyov, and Yisro. Bilam who advised was killed; Iyov who was silent was judged with sufferings; Yisro who fled — his grandchildren merited to sit in the Chamber of Hewn Stone.

Type of Learning

Narrative identification of Keini with Yisro and the three advisors to Pharaoh.

What Is Learned

Flight from evil counsel earns lasting place among Israel’s judges; advice to destroy Israel ends in the advisor’s destruction.