(Vol. iv., p. 481.)
MR. MARGOLIOUTH, in his communication on this subject, has not dealt
fairly with the text which he quotes. It is as follows:
"But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the
one was Eldad, and the name of the other was Medad; and the Spirit
rested upon them, and they were of them that were written, _but
they went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the
camp_."
The concluding clause, which I have printed in italics, has been omitted
by MR. MARGOLIOUTH, although it is plainly an essential part of the
passage, and necessary to the complete statement of the facts narrated.
MR. MARGOLIOUTH would translate the passage thus: "And the Spirit rested
upon them, and they were in _The Cethubrin_ (_i.e._ in Wady Mokatteb),
but they went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the
camp."
He does not, however, explain how Eldad and Medad were in Wady Mokatteb,
more than Moses and the rest of the seventy. The camp itself was in Wady
Mokatteb, according to MR. MARGOLIOUTH's hypothesis, and therefore there
is no opposition between Eldad and Medad being there, and yet remaining
in the camp. But assuredly some opposition is evidently intended between
Eldad and Medad being בכתובים amongst them that were written, and the
clause (omitted by MR. MARGOLIOUTH) "but they went not out unto the
tabernacle."
The authorized English version is in accordance with all the ancient
versions, the Chaldee paraphrase, and the commentators, Jewish as well
as Christian. And I think it gives also the common sense view of the
passage.
Moses had complained of the great burden which rested upon him. "I am
not able (he says) to bear all this people alone, because it is too
heavy for me." He was directed, therefore, to choose seventy men of the
elders of Israel; and God promised him "I will take of the spirit which
is upon thee, and will put it upon them, and they shall bear the burden
of the people with thee, that thou bear it not alone."
Accordingly Moses brought out the seventy chosen elders, and stationed
them round the tabernacle, and they there received the spirit of
prophecy in some visible manner, so as to make their divine commission
publicly known among the people; but two of them, named Eldad and Medad
(the text goes on to say) remained in the camp, and nevertheless they
also received the spirit of prophecy, for they were of them that were
written בכתובים (_i.e._ they were of the number of the seventy whom
Moses had selected), although they went not out to the tabernacle with
the others: "καὶ οὗτοι ἦσαν ἐκ τῶν καταγεγραμμένων, nam et ipsi
descripti fuerant," are the versions of the LXX. and Latin Vulgate. And
this is evidently the meaning of the passage; for if Eldad and Medad
had not been of the chosen seventy, they would have had no right to go
out with the others to the tabernacle, and the remark of the historian,
"that they remained in the camp _and went not out unto the
tabernacle_," would have been without point or meaning. MR.
MARGOLIOUTH, therefore, was quite right to omit these words, as they
completely overturn his hypothesis.
Why these two elders remained in the camp is not expressly stated in the
inspired narrative. Raschi says,--
מאותן שנבחרו אמרו אין אנו כדאי לגדולה הזה׃
"They were of those who were chosen, but they said, we are not
sufficient for this great thing."
He goes on to tell us that Moses being perplexed how to choose seventy
elders out of the twelve tribes, without giving offence to some one
tribe by choosing a smaller number out of it, selected six out of each
tribe, which made seventy-two, and determined by lot the two who were to
be omitted. Raschi does not say (as Lightfoot, and after him, Bishop
Patrick, seem to have imagined) that the two rejected elders were Eldad
and Medad, for this would be inconsistent with the words just quoted,
where he ascribes their remaining behind to their humility and sense of
insufficiency for so great a work; and I need scarcely say that the text
of the Scripture gives no authority for the story of the seventy-two
chosen, and the two rejected by lot. But even this story sufficiently
proves that the ancient Jewish commentators understood the words
ומה כתובים as they are rendered by our English translators.
MR. MARGOLIOUTH's conjecture, therefore, is totally without foundation;
it is not supported by any authority, and is even inconsistent with the
plain words of the text. I should be sorry to see "N. & Q." made the
vehicle of such rash and unsound criticisms, and therefore I send you
this refutation of it.
With respect to Wady Mokatteb, it would be very desirable to have the
singular inscriptions there extant carefully copied by competent
scholars. Hitherto we have been forced to content ourselves with the
drawings sent home by chance travellers; would it not be possible to
organize a caravan of competent persons, having some knowledge of
oriental tongues and alphabets, to explore these interesting valleys,
and bring home correct transcripts of their inscriptions? Many noblemen
and gentlemen spend annually on travelling and yachting much more money
than would be necessary to organize such an expedition as I am
suggesting; and if a party put their funds together, and took with them
artists to make the drawings, with a couple of well qualified scholars
to assist in deciphering them, I think they might spend as pleasant, and
certainly a much more profitable, summer, than in ascending Mont Blanc,
or drinking sack in the Rhine steam-boats. Perhaps, also, the
improvements in the daguerreotype and talbotype processes might be made
available for securing absolute accuracy in the fac-similes of the
inscriptions.