Commentary for Berakhot 31:1
אהלים לנחלים דכתיב (במדבר כד, ו) כנחלים נטיו כגנות עלי נהר כאהלים נטע וגו' לומר לך מה נחלים מעלין את האדם מטומאה לטהרה אף אהלים מעלין את האדם מכף חובה לכף זכות:
"tents" and "streams" — for it is written, "As streams stretched out, as gardens by the river-side, as tents planted by the Lord, as cedars beside the waters" (Num. xxiv. 6)? Its intention is to tell thee that as streams bring a man up from impurity to purity, so do "tents" bring a man up from the scale of guilt to the scale of merit.
Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
The word אהלים may be pointed to mean "aloes" (so R.V. here) or "tents." In the preceding verse, "thy tents" has the same letters ; they are consequently given the same meaning here. By "tents" the Rabbis frequently understand "houses of study"; e.g. "And Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents" (Gen. xxv. 27) is explained (cf. the Targum): attending schools of learning.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
"For it is written" etc. is a later addition to the text; cf. A.P.A.i.p.451 n. 4.
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