“Balaam rose up.” There is no indication that the men of Moab had come to Balaam before he went to them. This shows that Balaam was likely so intent on personal enrichment that without the intervention of the angel he would have ignored his own statement that he could not go beyond the word of Yahweh and said whatever it took to get Balak to give him the money and honor he wanted. He had no personal love for Israel, as we see in the record of his life.