במדבר כ"ב:י"ג
וַיָּ֤קׇם בִּלְעָם֙ בַּבֹּ֔קֶר וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־שָׂרֵ֣י בָלָ֔ק לְכ֖וּ אֶֽל־אַרְצְכֶ֑ם כִּ֚י מֵאֵ֣ן יְהֹוָ֔ה לְתִתִּ֖י לַהֲלֹ֥ךְ עִמָּכֶֽם׃
Bilaam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, "Go to your land; for Hashem refuses to permit me to go with you."
רש"י במדבר כ"ב:י"ג
להלוך עמכם – אלא עם שרים גדולים מכם.
To go with you - but only with princes greater than you.Hashem never said that!! He just said not to go!! Was Bilaam lying?
Maybe. Almost everybody lies. Bilaam is no exception.
But maybe he was so חולה כבוד - desirous of honor, that he heard from Hashem when He said not to go that what He REALLY meant was to go but only with more important people. When you have mud in your mouth - everything you eat tastes like mud. When you are wearing dark glasses - everything you see is dark.
