And Balak sent messengers to Bilaam...... to tell him, “Behold, the Nation (Am Yisrael) left Egypt...... now go and curse this nation.....”
Why did Balak state the whole introduction with regards to Egypt? We know that Bilaam was one of the three advisors that Pharaoh asked what they should do with the Bnei Yaakov and Bilaam gave his evil advice to Pharaoh – so why did Balak have to go through the whole history with Bilaam?
The Ohr haChaim answers: that Bilaam wasn’t content with just giving his evil advice to Pharaoh – he employed the dark forces of sorcery to ensure that no Hebrew slave will ever be able to escape Egypt. So at that time, Bilaam guaranteed Balak that the Bnei Yisrael will never leave Egypt, due to his witchcraft interventions. That is why Balak prefaced his comments with the fact that Am Yisrael did indeed leave Egypt – and all his paranormal activities were for naught. So Balak asked him, “Go and curse this nation – maybe your curses will help.”
