Balak: Chapter 39

The eye of David and the eye of Bilaam

Synopsis

Rabbi Elazar says that David killed the Philistine by looking at him with an evil eye, and this caused leprosy on his forehead; thus the stone was sunk into his forehead. We hear that David's eye was beautiful and gazed with love on those who feared sin, but that the wicked were afraid of him. The eye of Bilaam, on the other hand, was entirely wicked. Next Rabbi Elazar says that the punishment for all the other causes of plagues listed earlier is always leprosy. He tells Rabbi Aba how Bilaam perpetrated all these sins, and that Bilaam tried to draw the abundance of Yisrael to his own evil side.