24:15–19 Balaam agrees that he will return home, but before leaving he speaks another oracle, again indicating the divine intent to bless Israel and give Israel military success. Because this oracle departs from the narrative structure of the first three, it is clearly the climax of the story. No sacrifice, sorcery, or even mention of the divine spirit is here; Balaam simply speaks as a prophet of God. The opening of the fourth oracle is almost identical to that of the third. One line is added: who has knowledge from the Most High, further indication of the divine origin of Balaam’s words. Balaam then prophesies that one will come out of Israel. That interpretation seems better than interpreting the him in the first part of verse 17 as Israel.

The next lines say, A star will come out of J…