ABSTRACT
The five extant cyclic manuscripts of the Chester Cycle, however, contain two markedly different versions of Play V, which relate the giving of the Laws to Moses, the episode of Balaam and Balak, and either the Vengeance of Israel or the Prophet Sequence. This chapter examines how the writers of these two versions have adapted the subject matter to meet different dramatic and thematic requirements. Although at the end of the Group-version reference is made to the fulfilment of Balaam's prophecy at Christ's Nativity, the link between Plays V and VI is weakened by the fact that Play VI was not performed immediately afterwards. On the other hand, in the last sixteen lines of Play IV in the Group, a Messenger rushes in to interrupt the action and demand room for the Balaam-Balak play (V), which evidently follows immediately.
