thus appeared more openly to the prophets of Israel than to those of other nations. The Rabbis compared God's action to those of a king who has both a wife and a concubine; to his wife he goes openly, but to his concubine he goes stealthily. And a Midrash taught that God's appearance to Laban in and God's appearance to Abimelech in were the two instances where the Pure and Holy One allowed God's self to be associated with impure (idolatrous) people, on behalf of righteous ones. Similarly, a Midrash cited as an application of the principle that all miracles that God did for Israel, and the punishment of the wicked on their behalf, took place at night. To this end, the Midrash cited , "And he divided himself against them by night"; , "But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night"; , "And God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night"; , "It was a night of watching unto the Lord . . . this same night"; , "And it came to pass at midnight"; , "And there was the cloud and the darkness here, yet gave it light by night there"; and , "And God came to Balaam at night." A Midrash taught that the words of , "And God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night," indicated God's distance from Laban. Rabbi Leazar taught that the words of , "The Lord is far from the wicked," refer to the prophets of other nations. But the continuation of , "He hears the prayer of the righteous," refers to the prophets of Israel. God appears to nations other that Israel only as one who comes from a distance, as says, "They came from a far country to me." But in connection with the prophets of Israel, says, "And the Lord appeared," and says, "And the Lord called," implying from the immediate vicinity. Rabbi Haninah compared the difference between the prophets of Israel and the prophets of other nations to a king who was with his friend in a chamber (separated by a curtain). Whenever the king desired to speak to his friend, he folded up the curtain and spoke to him. (But God speaks to the prophets of other nations without folding back the curtain.) The Rabbis compared it to a king who has a wife and a