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163 plains of Mo’ab, on the side of the Jordan that is opposite Jericho,” awaiting the Moabite king’s permission to pass through his land. Unwilling to let “the horde” pass yet afraid to fight them, the king of Mo’ab—Balak the son of Zippor—had a bright idea. He sent emissaries to fetch an internationally renowned seer, Bala’am the son of Be’or, and have him “put a curse on these people for me,” to make it possible to defeat and chase them away. Balaam had to be entreated several times before he ac- cepted the assignment. First at Balaam’s home (somewhere near the Euphrates River?) and then on the way to Moab, an Angel of God (the word in Hebrew, Mal’ach, literally means “emissary”) appears and gets involved in the proceedings; he is sometimes visible and sometimes invisible. The Angel al- lows Balaam to accept the assignment only after making sure that Balaam understands that he is to utter only divinely inspired omens. Puzzlingly, Balaam calls Yahweh “my God” when he repeats this condition, first to the king’s ambassa- dors and then to the Moabite king himself. A series of oracular settings are then arranged. The king takes Balaam to a hilltop from which he can see the whole Israelite encampment, and on the Seer’s instructions he erects seven altars, sacrifices seven bullocks and seven rams, and awaits the oracle; but from Balaam’s mouth come words not of accusation but of praise for the Israelites. The persistent Moabite king then takes Balaam to another mount, from which just the edge of the Israelite encampment can be seen, and the procedure is repeated a seond time. But again Balaam’s oracle blesses rather than curses the Israel- ites: | see them coming out of Egypt protected by a god with spreading ram’s horns, he says—it is a nation destined for kingship, a nation that like a lion will arise. Determined to try again, the king now takes Balaam to a hilltop that faces the desert, facing away from the Israelite encampment; “maybe the gods will let you proclaim curses there,” he says. Seven altars are again erected, on which seven bullocks and seven rams are sacrificed. But Balaam now sees the Israelites and their future not with human eyes The Cross on the Horizon