No Father Hates His Son

Shavua Tov. The Gemara in מסכת סנהדרין makes an interesting observation about how the elders of Midyan and Moab tried to convince Bilaam to come and curse עם ישראל.

When Bilaam tells them to wait until the following morning because he needed to ask permission from Hashem, the Pasuk says וישבו שרי מואב עם בלעם, that the officers of Moab remained with him.

The Gemara asks what happened to שרי מדין? The answer is that once Bilaam told them that he needed to ask for Hashem’s permission, they knew that he wasn’t coming with them. They said, כלום יש אב ששונא את בנו, “Is there any father who hates his son?” The שרי מדין understood that we are Hashem’s children. No father, and certainly not Hashem, would show such hatred for his son, that he would give anyone permission to harm his son. Therefore, they gave up and went home.