And now, as I go back to my people, let me inform you/advise you (eyatzkha) of what this people will do to your people in days to come.”
לך איעצך COME AND I WILL COUNSEL THEE what you have to do. And what is the counsel? The God of these people hates unchastity, therefore tempt them to sin by means of thy women-folk, as is related in the chapter חלק (Sanhedrin 106a) — You can know that it was Balaam who gave this counsel, to make them fall by the sin of unchastity, for it is stated, of the women of Midian (Numbers 31:16), “Behold, these were an enticement to the children of Israel through the word of Balaam”.
(1) While Israel was staying at Shittim, the menfolk profaned themselves by whoring with the Moabite women, (2) who invited the menfolk to the sacrifices for their god. The menfolk partook of them and worshiped that god. (3) Thus Israel attached itself to Baal-peor, and ה' was incensed with Israel. (4) ה' said to Moses, “Take all the ringleaders and have them publicly impaled before ה', so that ה’s wrath may turn away from Israel.” (5) So Moses said to Israel’s officials, “Each of you slay those of his men who attached themselves to Baal-peor.” (6) Just then a certain Israelite man came and brought a Midianite woman over to his companions, in the sight of Moses and of the whole Israelite community who were weeping at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. (7) When Phinehas, son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he left the assembly and, taking a spear in his hand, (8) he followed the Israelite man into the chamber and stabbed both of them, the Israelite man and the woman, through the belly. Then the plague against the Israelites was checked. (9) Those who died of the plague numbered twenty-four thousand.
(14) Moses became angry with the commanders of the army, the officers of thousands and the officers of hundreds, who had come back from the military campaign. (15) Moses said to them, “You have spared every female! (16) Yet they are the very ones who, at the bidding of Balaam, induced the Israelites to trespass against ה' in the matter of Peor, so that ה’s community was struck by the plague.
AND ISRAEL ABODE IN SHITTIM, AND THE PEOPLE BEGAN TO COMMIT HARLOTRY WITH THE DAUGHTERS OF MOAB — “because of the advice of Balaam, as is related in [the Chapter of] Cheilek.” This is Rashi’s language. And indeed this [seduction to] immorality was not instigated as a plan of the [Moabite] women, but was done upon the advice of their men and their leaders. [The idea] came to them from the elders of Midian, as it says of the Midianites, for they harass you, by their wiles wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, for they beguiled them by means of immorality in order to draw them astray [to worship] Baal-peor. Therefore it is [indeed] possible that Balaam was behind this counsel, since he was considered by them [the Moabites] great in counsel, and his intention was to bring evil upon Israel, and therefore he did everything in his power to this end, as it is said, And the Eternal thy G-d would not hearken unto Balaam, and therefore they slew him with the sword.
But according to the simple meaning of Scripture, it is not alluding here to the counsel of Balaam, but only [alludes to it] when it says afterwards, Behold, these [women] caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam etc., just as it does not mention here the counsel of the elders of Midian, and only [mentions it] when it says, for they harass you. Thus [it is only] after the event [had happened], at the time of [describing] their punishment, that They mentions what was the source of the evil that befell them. God is [thus] saying that what happened [to them] as a result of the desire for sexual pleasure which exists naturally in people from [the time of] their youth, was only [the result] of an evil plan [whose purpose was] to lead them astray [into worshipping Baal-peor]; therefore [the instigators of this plan] deserve a severe punishment. The interpretation of the verse, Come and I will counsel thee what this people shall do to thy people in the end of days is thus indeed as I have explained [there].
It is also possible according to the simple meaning of Scripture that Balak at first wanted to curse them [the Israelites] and to wage war against them, and he did not want to give them permission to enter his borders at all. But when Balaam told him that he would not prevail over them, and informed him that they would only destroy his land and his people in the end of days, then he [Balak] brought forth bread and wine in the plains of Moab [i.e., in Shittim], and enticed them [with the daughters of Moab] as if he were their friend. This is [the meaning of the phrase] ‘bidvar’ (through ‘the word’ of) Balaam, for it was because of his words [i.e., his prophecy that the Israelites would not conquer their land now, that the Moabites] did so [i.e., that they did not fight them, but tried to seduce them and lead them astray through their women]. But because it was Balaam’s desire to curse them, and he allowed Balak to hire him [and would indeed have cursed them] were it not for the righteous acts of the Eternal Who turned the curse into a blessing, therefore they slew him with the sword, for both the hirer [Moab] and the hired one [Balaam] were punished, just as He said, and because he hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor etc.
על ידי עצת בלעם. ...ולי נראה דדייק, דהוי למכתב 'אל נשי מואב', למה כתב "בנות מואב", למה תולה ב"בנות", אלא מפני שהיה זה בעצת בלעם, שנתן להם עצה להפקיר בנותיהם לישראל, ולא היו מפקירים רק הבנות. ואילו היה זנות מעצמו למה היה דוקא לבנות, כי כל נשי גוים מזנין תחת בעליהן (ר' רש"י שמות יב, ל), ופשוט הוא:
By the advice of Balaam.
...to me it seems one derives this from a close read, as it could have written "with the Moabite women," why did it write "with the daughters (bnot) of Moab"? Why ascribe this specifically to the bnot? Rather because this was at the advice of Balaam, who gave [the Moabites] advice to give over their daughters to Israel, and they only gave over their daughters. If it was just any sexual impropriety/for its own sake, why would it be limited to their daughters? For all the women of the other nations commit sexual impropriety even while married.
ויחל העם לזנות אל בנות מואב המפרשים נתקשו בזה שא"כ למה צוה להכות את המדינים ולא את מואב, ואמר הרמב"ן מפני שעל מואב היו מוזהרים אל תצורם ואל תתגר בם, וזה דוחק אחר שהם התחילו בריב מדוע לא ינקמו מהם, והנכון מ"ש הרי"א שלא זנו רק עם בנות מדין והם אמרו להם שהם בנות מואב וישראל חשבו כן, עד שגלה להם המקום שהם בנות מדין, ונראה שמ"ש בפסוק הקודם וגם בלק הלך לדרכו פי' שבלק לא קבל עצת בלעם מ"ש לכה איעצך, והלך לדרכו ולא פנה לעצת בלעם, ובלעם הלך לשוב למקומו ועבר דרך מדין וגלה עצתו להמדינים והם קבלו עצתו, ולכן נשאר במדין עד שהרגוהו ישראל שם כי נשאר לראות מה יפעל ע"י עצתו, והם שלחו את בנותיהם להחטיא את ישראל, וכזבי בת הנשיא בראשן, אמנם מ"ש שהעם החל לזנות אל בנות מואב זה לא היה מדעת מואב ומלכם, ולא באו בנותיהן אל מחנה ישראל להחטיאם, רק עם ההמונים של ב"י החלו לבא בערי שכניהם ולזנות עם הקדשות המוכנות שם לזנות בערי מואב ואז באו לשם בנות מדין שהמדינים היו סוחרים במיני מאכלות במ"ש ויעברו מדינים סוחרים, ובנותיהם באו בחניות מוכרות מיני מאכל, והם באו אל מחנה ישראל וב"י קנו מאתם, ועי"כ עברה גוררת עברה:
And the people profaned themselves by whoring with the daughters of Moab. The commentators challenged this, asking, if this is so, why did God command them [later on in Numbers 31] to attack the Midianites and not Moab?
The Ramban stated that because B'nei Yisrael were warned with regard to Moab, "Do not bother or strive with them," but this is a difficult explanation--if Moab instigated a fight, why would B'nei Yisrael not be permitted to get their revenge?
The correct answer is that which Rav Yitzchak Abarbanel wrote, that Yisrael only whored with the daughters of Midian, and these women said they were the daughters of Moab and so the Israelites thought, until Hashem revealed to them that these were Midianites. And it seems that which was written in the previous line, "And Balak also went on his way," that Balak did not accept the advice of Balaam, and so he went on his way and did not turn toward Balaam's advice, and Balaam returned to his place and went by way of Midian, where he gave his advice to the Midianites and they accepted it, and therefore he remained in Midian until the Israelites killed him there--he'd remained to see what would come of his advice. They sent their daughters to make the Israelites sin, and Cozbi daughter of the prince was first...
And the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab: It seems that initially they engaged only in whoring, and from this it followed that the women called them to [join in] their sacrifices, and then [the Israelites] bowed to their gods and joined them in serving Ba'al Peor. And the Israelites began whoring with the women of Moab, which was not on account of any plan by the Moabites, for they didn't offer up their daughters; rather the Israelites whored with the immodest ones. And after that, when they'd begun to bow to other gods, then the Midianites (according to the advice of Balaam), planned to offer up their more modest and more important daughters, such as Cozbi daughter of the Midianite prince, in order to make Israel sin and remove from them the love and protection of their God.