1. Now the Egyptians, after they had been preserved by Moses,

entertained a hatred to him, and were very eager in compassing their

designs against him, as suspecting that he would take occasion, from his

good success, to raise a sedition, and bring innovations into Egypt; and

told the king he ought to be slain. The king had also some intentions of

himself to the same purpose, and this as well out of envy at his

glorious expedition at the head of his army, as out of fear of being

brought low by him and being instigated by the sacred scribes, he was

ready to undertake to kill Moses: but when he had learned beforehand

what plots there were against him, he went away privately; and because

the public roads were watched, he took his flight through the deserts,

and where his enemies could not suspect he would travel; and, though he

was destitute of food, he went on, and despised that difficulty

courageously; and when he came to the city Midian, which lay upon the

Red Sea, and was so denominated from one of Abraham's sons by Keturah,

he sat upon a certain well, and rested himself there after his laborious

journey, and the affliction he had been in. It was not far from the

city, and the time of the day was noon, where he had an occasion offered

him by the custom of the country of doing what recommended his virtue,

and afforded him an opportunity of bettering his circumstances.

2. For that country having but little water, the shepherds used to seize

on the wells before others came, lest their flocks should want water,

and lest it should be spent by others before they came. There were now

come, therefore, to this well seven sisters that were virgins, the

daughters of Raguel, a priest, and one thought worthy by the people of

the country of great honor. These virgins, who took care of their

father's flocks, which sort of work it was customary and very familiar

for women to do in the country of the Troglodytes, they came first of

all, and drew water out of the well in a quantity sufficient for their

flocks, into troughs, which were made for the reception of that water;

but when the shepherds came upon the maidens, and drove them away, that

they might have the command of the water themselves, Moses, thinking it

would be a terrible reproach upon him if he overlooked the young women

under unjust oppression, and should suffer the violence of the men to

prevail over the right of the maidens, he drove away the men, who had a

mind to more than their share, and afforded a proper assistance to the

women; who, when they had received such a benefit from him, came to

their father, and told him how they had been affronted by the shepherds,

and assisted by a stranger, and entreated that he would not let this

generous action be done in vain, nor go without a reward. Now the father

took it well from his daughters that they were so desirous to reward

their benefactor; and bid them bring Moses into his presence, that he

might be rewarded as he deserved. And when Moses came, he told him what

testimony his daughters bare to him, that he had assisted them; and

that, as he admired him for his virtue, he said that Moses had bestowed

such his assistance on persons not insensible of benefits, but where

they were both able and willing to return the kindness, and even to

exceed the measure of his generosity. So he made him his son, and gave

him one of his daughters in marriage; and appointed him to be the

guardian and superintendent over his cattle; for of old, all the wealth

of the barbarians was in those cattle.

CHAPTER 12. Concerning The Burning Bush And The Rod Of Moses.

1. Now Moses, when he had obtained the favor of Jethro, for that was one

of the names of Raguel, staid there and fed his flock; but some time

afterward, taking his station at the mountain called Sinai, he drove his

flocks thither to feed them. Now this is the highest of all the

mountains thereabout, and the best for pasturage, the herbage being

there good; and it had not been before fed upon, because of the opinion

men had that God dwelt there, the shepherds not daring to ascend up to

it; and here it was that a wonderful prodigy happened to Moses; for a

fire fed upon a thorn bush, yet did the green leaves and the flowers

continue untouched, and the fire did not at all consume the fruit

branches, although the flame was great and fierce. Moses was affrighted

at this strange sight, as it was to him; but he was still more

astonished when the fire uttered a voice, and called to him by name, and

spake words to him, by which it signified how bold he had been in

venturing to come into a place whither no man had ever come before,

because the place was divine; and advised him to remove a great way off

from the flame, and to be contented with what he had seen; and though he

were himself a good man, and the offspring of great men, yet that he

should not pry any further; and he foretold to him, that he should have

glory and honor among men, by the blessing of God upon him. He also

commanded him to go away thence with confidence to Egypt, in order to

his being the commander and conductor of the body of the Hebrews, and to

his delivering his own people from the injuries they suffered there:

"For," said God, "they shall inhabit this happy land which your

forefather Abraham inhabited, and shall have the enjoyment of all good

things." But still he enjoined them, when he brought the Hebrews out of

the land of Egypt, to come to that place, and to offer sacrifices of

thanksgiving there, Such were the divine oracles which were delivered

out of the fire.

2. But Moses was astonished at what he saw, and much more at what he

heard; and he said, "I think it would be an instance of too great

madness, O Lord, for one of that regard I bear to thee, to distrust thy

power, since I myself adore it, and know that it has been made manifest

to my progenitors: but I am still in doubt how I, who am a private man,

and one of no abilities, should either persuade my own countrymen to

leave the country they now inhabit, and to follow me to a land whither I

lead them; or, if they should be persuaded, how can I force Pharaoh to

permit them to depart, since they augment their own wealth and

prosperity by the labors and works they put upon them?"

3. But God persuaded him to be courageous on all occasions, and promised

to be with him, and to assist him in his words, when he was to persuade

men; and in his deeds, when he was to perform wonders. He bid him also

to take a signal of the truth of what he said, by throwing his rod upon

the ground, which, when he had done, it crept along, and was become a

serpent, and rolled itself round in its folds, and erected its head, as

ready to revenge itself on such as should assault it; after which it

become a rod again as it was before. After this God bid Moses to put his

right hand into his bosom: he obeyed, and when he took it out it was

white, and in color like to chalk, but afterward it returned to its

wonted color again. He also, upon God's command, took some of the water

that was near him, and poured it upon the ground, and saw the color was

that of blood. Upon the wonder that Moses showed at these signs, God

exhorted him to be of good courage, and to be assured that he would be

the greatest support to him; and bid him make use of those signs, in

order to obtain belief among all men, that "thou art sent by me, and

dost all things according to my commands. Accordingly I enjoin thee to

make no more delays, but to make haste to Egypt, and to travel night and

day, and not to draw out the time, and so make the slavery of the

Hebrews and their sufferings to last the longer."

4. Moses having now seen and heard these wonders that assured him of the

truth of these promises of God, had no room left him to disbelieve them:

he entreated him to grant him that power when he should be in Egypt; and

besought him to vouchsafe him the knowledge of his own name; and since

he had heard and seen him, that he would also tell him his name, that

when he offered sacrifice he might invoke him by such his name in his

oblations. Whereupon God declared to him his holy name, which had never

been discovered to men before; concerning which it is not lawful for me

to say any more 24 Now these signs accompanied Moses, not then only, but

always when he prayed for them: of all which signs he attributed the

firmest assent to the fire in the bush; and believing that God would be

a gracious supporter to him, he hoped he should be able to deliver his

own nation, and bring calamities on the Egyptians.

CHAPTER 13. How Moses And Aaron Returned Into Egypt To Pharaoh.

1. So Moses, when he understood that the Pharaoh, in whose reign he fled

away, was dead, asked leave of Raguel to go to Egypt, for the benefit of

his own people. And he took with him Zipporah, the daughter of Raguel,

whom he had married, and the children he had by her, Gersom and Eleazer,

and made haste into Egypt. Now the former of those names, Gersom, in the

Hebrew tongue, signifies that he was in a strange land; and Eleazer,

that, by the assistance of the God of his fathers, he had escaped from

the Egyptians. Now when they were near the borders, Aaron his brother,

by the command of God, met him, to whom he declared what had befallen

him at the mountain, and the commands that God had given him. But as

they were going forward, the chief men among the Hebrews, having learned

that they were coming, met them: to whom Moses declared the signs he had

seen; and while they could not believe them, he made them see them, So

they took courage at these surprising and unexpected sights, and hoped

well of their entire deliverance, as believing now that God took care of

their preservation.

2. Since then Moses found that the Hebrews would be obedient to

whatsoever he should direct, as they promised to be, and were in love

with liberty, he came to the king, who had indeed but lately received

the government, and told him how much he had done for the good of the

Egyptians, when they were despised by the Ethiopians, and their country

laid waste by them; and how he had been the commander of their forces,

and had labored for them, as if they had been his own people and he

informed him in what danger he had been during that expedition, without

having any proper returns made him as he had deserved. He also informed

him distinctly what things happened to him at Mount Sinai; and what God

said to him; and the signs that were done by God, in order to assure him

of the authority of those commands which he had given him. He also

exhorted him not to disbelieve what he told him, nor to oppose the will

of God.

3. But when the king derided Moses; he made him in earnest see the signs

that were done at Mount Sinai. Yet was the king very angry with him and

called him an ill man, who had formerly run away from his Egyptian

slavery, and came now back with deceitful tricks, and wonders, and

magical arts, to astonish him. And when he had said this, he commanded

the priests to let him see the same wonderful sights; as knowing that

the Egyptians were skillful in this kind of learning, and that he was

not the only person who knew them, and pretended them to be divine; as

also he told him, that when he brought such wonderful sights before him,

he would only be believed by the unlearned. Now when the priests threw

down their rods, they became serpents. But Moses was not daunted at it;

and said, "O king, I do not myself despise the wisdom of the Egyptians,

but I say that what I do is so much superior to what these do by magic

arts and tricks, as Divine power exceeds the power of man: but I will

demonstrate that what I do is not done by craft, or counterfeiting what

is not really true, but that they appear by the providence and power of

God." And when he had said this, he cast his rod down upon the ground,

and commanded it to turn itself into a serpent. It obeyed him, and went

all round, and devoured the rods of the Egyptians, which seemed to be

dragons, until it had consumed them all. It then returned to its own

form, and Moses took it into his hand again.

4. However, the king was no more moved when it was done than before; and

being very angry, he said that he should gain nothing by this his

cunning and shrewdness against the Egyptians;—and he commanded him that

was the chief taskmaster over the Hebrews, to give them no relaxation

from their labors, but to compel them to submit to greater oppressions

than before; and though he allowed them chaff before for making their

bricks, he would allow it them no longer, but he made them to work hard

at brick-making in the day-time, and to gather chaff in the night. Now

when their labor was thus doubled upon them, they laid the blame upon

Moses, because their labor and their misery were on his account become

more severe to them. But Moses did not let his courage sink for the

king's threatenings; nor did he abate of his zeal on account of the

Hebrews' complaints; but he supported himself, and set his soul

resolutely against them both, and used his own utmost diligence to

procure liberty to his countrymen. So he went to the king, and persuaded

him to let the Hebrews go to Mount Sinai, and there to sacrifice to God,

because God had enjoined them so to do. He persuaded him also not to

counterwork the designs of God, but to esteem his favor above all

things, and to permit them to depart, lest, before he be aware, he lay

an obstruction in the way of the Divine commands, and so occasion his

own suffering such punishments as it was probable any one that

counterworked the Divine commands should undergo, since the severest

afflictions arise from every object to those that provoke the Divine

wrath against them; for such as these have neither the earth nor the air

for their friends; nor are the fruits of the womb according to nature,

but every thing is unfriendly and adverse towards them. He said further,

that the Egyptians should know this by sad experience; and that besides,

the Hebrew people should go out of their country without their consent.

CHAPTER 14. Concerning The Ten Plagues Which Came Upon The Egyptians.

1. But when the king despised the words of Moses, and had no regard at

all to them, grievous plagues seized the Egyptians; every one of which I

will describe, both because no such plagues did ever happen to any other

nation as the Egyptians now felt, and because I would demonstrate that

Moses did not fail in any one thing that he foretold them; and because

it is for the good of mankind, that they may learn this caution—Not to

do anything that may displease God, lest he be provoked to wrath, and

avenge their iniquities upon them. For the Egyptian river ran with

bloody water at the command of God, insomuch that it could not be drunk,

and they had no other spring of water neither; for the water was not

only of the color of blood, but it brought upon those that ventured to

drink of it, great pains and bitter torment. Such was the river to the

Egyptians; but it was sweet and fit for drinking to the Hebrews, and no

way different from what it naturally used to be. As the king therefore

knew not what to do in these surprising circumstances, and was in fear

for the Egyptians, he gave the Hebrews leave to go away; but when the

plague ceased, he changed his mind again, end would not suffer them to

go. 25

2. But when God saw that he was ungrateful, and upon the ceasing of this

calamity would not grow wiser, he sent another plague upon the

Egyptians:—An innumerable multitude of frogs consumed the fruit of the

ground; the river was also full of them, insomuch that those who drew

water had it spoiled by the blood of these animals, as they died in, and

were destroyed by, the water; and the country was full of filthy slime,

as they were born, and as they died: they also spoiled their vessels in

their houses which they used, and were found among what they eat and

what they drank, and came in great numbers upon their beds. There was

also an ungrateful smell, and a stink arose from them, as they were

born, and as they died therein. Now, when the Egyptians were under the

oppression of these miseries, the king ordered Moses to take the Hebrews

with him, and be gone. Upon which the whole multitude of the frogs

vanished away; and both the land and the river returned to their former

natures. But as soon as Pharaoh saw the land freed from this plague, he

forgot the cause of it, and retained the Hebrews; and, as though he had

a mind to try the nature of more such judgments, he would not yet suffer

Moses and his people to depart, having granted that liberty rather out

of fear than out of any good consideration.

3. Accordingly, God punished his falseness with another plague, added to

the former; for there arose out of the bodies of the Egyptians an

innumerable quantity of lice, by which, wicked as they were, they

miserably perished, as not able to destroy this sort of vermin either

with washes or with ointments. At which terrible judgment the king of

Egypt was in disorder, upon the fear into which he reasoned himself,

lest his people should be destroyed, and that the manner of this death

was also reproachful, so that he was forced in part to recover himself

from his wicked temper to a sounder mind, for he gave leave for the

Hebrews themselves to depart. But when the plague thereupon ceased, he

thought it proper to require that they should leave their children and

wives behind them, as pledges of their return; whereby he provoked God

to be more vehemently angry at him, as if he thought to impose on his

providence, and as if it were only Moses, and not God, who punished the

Egyptians for the sake of the Hebrews: for he filled that country full

of various sorts of pestilential creatures, with their various

properties, such indeed as had never come into the sight of men before,

by whose means the men perished themselves, and the land was destitute

of husbandmen for its cultivation; but if any thing escaped destruction

from them, it was killed by a distemper which the men underwent also.

4. But when Pharaoh did not even then yield to the will of God, but,

while he gave leave to the husbands to take their wives with them, yet

insisted that the children should be left behind, God presently resolved

to punish his wickedness with several sorts of calamities, and those

worse than the foregoing, which yet had so generally afflicted them; for

their bodies had terrible boils, breaking forth with blains, while they

were already inwardly consumed; and a great part of the Egyptians

perished in this manner. But when the king was not brought to reason by

this plague, hail was sent down from heaven; and such hail it was, as

the climate of Egypt had never suffered before, nor was it like to that

which falls in other climates in winter time, 26 but was larger than

that which falls in the middle of spring to those that dwell in the

northern and north-western regions. This hail broke down their boughs

laden with fruit. After this a tribe of locusts consumed the seed which

was not hurt by the hail; so that to the Egyptians all hopes of the

future fruits of the ground were entirely lost.

5. One would think the forementioned calamities might have been

sufficient for one that was only foolish, without wickedness, to make

him wise, and to make him Sensible what was for his advantage. But

Pharaoh, led not so much by his folly as by his wickedness, even when he

saw the cause of his miseries, he still contested with God, and

willfully deserted the cause of virtue; so he bid Moses take the Hebrews

away, with their wives and children, to leave their cattle behind, since

their own cattle were destroyed. But when Moses said that what he

desired was unjust, since they were obliged to offer sacrifices to God

of those cattle, and the time being prolonged on this account, a thick

darkness, without the least light, spread itself over the Egyptians,

whereby their sight being obstructed, and their breathing hindered by

the thickness of the air, they died miserably, and under a terror lest

they should be swallowed up by the dark cloud. Besides this, when the

darkness, after three days and as many nights, was dissipated, and when

Pharaoh did not still repent and let the Hebrews go, Moses came to him

and said, "How long wilt thou be disobedient to the command of God? for

he enjoins thee to let the Hebrews go; nor is there any other way of

being freed from the calamities you are under, unless you do so." But

the king angry at what he said, and threatened to cut off his head if he

came any more to trouble him these matters. Hereupon Moses said he not

speak to him any more about them, for he himself, together with the

principal men among the Egyptians, should desire the Hebrews away. So

when Moses had said this, he his way.

6. But when God had signified, that with one plague he would compel the

Egyptians to let Hebrews go, he commanded Moses to tell the people that

they should have a sacrifice ready, and they should prepare themselves

on the tenth day of the month Xanthicus, against the fourteenth, [which

month is called by the Egyptians Pharmuth, Nisan by the Hebrews; but the

Macedonians call it Xanthicus,] and that he should carry the Hebrews

with all they had. Accordingly, he having got the Hebrews ready for

their departure, and having sorted the people into tribes, he kept them

together in one place: but when the fourteenth day was come, and all

were ready to depart they offered the sacrifice, and purified their

houses with the blood, using bunches of hyssop for that purpose; and

when they had supped, they burnt the remainder of the flesh, as just

ready to depart. Whence it is that we do still offer this sacrifice in

like manner to this day, and call this festival Pascha which signifies

the feast of the passover; because on that day God passed us over, and

sent the plague upon the Egyptians; for the destruction of the first-

born came upon the Egyptians that night, so that many of the Egyptians

who lived near the king's palace, persuaded Pharaoh to let the Hebrews

go. Accordingly he called for Moses, and bid them be gone; as supposing,

that if once the Hebrews were gone out of the country, Egypt should be

freed from its miseries. They also honored the Hebrews with gifts; 27

some, in order to get them to depart quickly, and others on account of

their neighborhood, and the friendship they had with them.

CHAPTER 15. How The Hebrews Under The Conduct Of Moses Left Egypt.

1. So the Hebrews went out of Egypt, while the Egyptians wept, and

repented that they had treated them so hardly.—Now they took their

journey by Letopolis, a place at that time deserted, but where Babylon

was built afterwards, when Cambyses laid Egypt waste: but as they went

away hastily, on the third day they came to a place called Beelzephon,

on the Red Sea; and when they had no food out of the land, because it

was a desert, they eat of loaves kneaded of flour, only warmed by a

gentle heat; and this food they made use of for thirty days; for what

they brought with them out of Egypt would not suffice them any longer

time; and this only while they dispensed it to each person, to use so

much only as would serve for necessity, but not for satiety. Whence it

is that, in memory of the want we were then in, we keep a feast for

eight days, which is called the feast of unleavened bread. Now the

entire multitude of those that went out, including the women and

children, was not easy to be numbered, but those that were of an age fit

for war, were six hundred thousand.

2. They left Egypt in the month Xanthicus, on the fifteenth day of the

lunar month; four hundred and thirty years after our forefather Abraham

came into Canaan, but two hundred and fifteen years only after Jacob

removed into Egypt. 28 It was the eightieth year of the age of Moses,

and of that of Aaron three more. They also carried out the bones of

Joesph with them, as he had charged his sons to do.

3. But the Egyptians soon repented that the Hebrews were gone; and the

king also was mightily concerned that this had been procured by the

magic arts of Moses; so they resolved to go after them. Accordingly they

took their weapons, and other warlike furniture, and pursued after them,

in order to bring them back, if once they overtook them, because they

would now have no pretense to pray to God against them, since they had

already been permitted to go out; and they thought they should easily

overcome them, as they had no armor, and would be weary with their

journey; so they made haste in their pursuit, and asked of every one

they met which way they were gone. And indeed that land was difficult to

be traveled over, not only by armies, but by single persons. Now Moses

led the Hebrews this way, that in case the Egyptians should repent and

be desirous to pursue after them, they might undergo the punishment of

their wickedness, and of the breach of those promises they had made to

them. As also he led them this way on account of the Philistines, who

had quarreled with them, and hated them of old, that by all means they

might not know of their departure, for their country is near to that of

Egypt; and thence it was that Moses led them not along the road that

tended to the land of the Philistines, but he was desirous that they

should go through the desert, that so after a long journey, and after

many afflictions, they might enter upon the land of Canaan. Another

reason of this was, that God commanded him to bring the people to Mount

Sinai, that there they might offer him sacrifices. Now when the

Egyptians had overtaken the Hebrews, they prepared to fight them, and by

their multitude they drove them into a narrow place; for the number that

pursued after them was six hundred chariots, with fifty thousand

horsemen, and two hundred thousand foot-men, all armed. They also seized

on the passages by which they imagined the Hebrews might fly, shutting

them up 29 between inaccessible precipices and the sea; for there was

[on each side] a [ridge of] mountains that terminated at the sea, which

were impassable by reason of their roughness, and obstructed their

flight; wherefore they there pressed upon the Hebrews with their army,

where [the ridges of] the mountains were closed with the sea; which army

they placed at the chops of the mountains, that so they might deprive

them of any passage into the plain.

4. When the Hebrews, therefore, were neither able to bear up, being

thus, as it were, besieged, because they wanted provisions, nor saw any

possible way of escaping; and if they should have thought of fighting,

they had no weapons; they expected a universal destruction, unless they

delivered themselves up to the Egyptians. So they laid the blame on

Moses, and forgot all the signs that had been wrought by God for the

recovery of their freedom; and this so far, that their incredulity

prompted them to throw stones at the prophet, while he encouraged them

and promised them deliverance; and they resolved that they would deliver

themselves up to the Egyptians. So there was sorrow and lamentation

among the women and children, who had nothing but destruction before

their eyes, while they were encompassed with mountains, the sea, and

their enemies, and discerned no way of flying from them.

5. But Moses, though the multitude looked fiercely at him, did not,

however, give over the care of them, but despised all dangers, out of

his trust in God, who, as he had afforded them the several steps already

taken for the recovery of their liberty, which he had foretold them,

would not now suffer them to be subdued by their enemies, to be either

made slaves or be slain by them; and, standing in midst of them, he

said, "It is not just of us to distrust even men, when they have

hitherto well managed our affairs, as if they would not be the same

hereafter; but it is no better than madness, at this time to despair of

the providence of God, by whose power all those things have been

performed he promised, when you expected no such things: I mean all that

I have been concerned in for deliverance and escape from slavery. Nay,

when we are in the utmost distress, as you see we ought rather to hope

that God will succor us, by whose operation it is that we are now in

this narrow place, that he may out of such difficulties as are otherwise

insurmountable and out of which neither you nor your enemies expect you

can be delivered, and may at once demonstrate his own power and his

providence over us. Nor does God use to give his help in small

difficulties to those whom he favors, but in such cases where no one can

see how any hope in man can better their condition. Depend, therefore,

upon such a Protector as is able to make small things great, and to show

that this mighty force against you is nothing but weakness, and be not

affrighted at the Egyptian army, nor do you despair of being preserved,

because the sea before, and the mountains behind, afford you no

opportunity for flying, for even these mountains, if God so please, may

be made plain ground for you, and the sea become dry land."

CHAPTER 16. How The Sea Was Divided Asunder For The Hebrews, When They

Were Pursued By The Egyptians, And So Gave Them An Opportunity Of

Escaping From Them.

1. When Moses had said this, he led them to the sea, while the Egyptians

looked on; for they were within sight. Now these were so distressed by

the toil of their pursuit, that they thought proper to put off fighting

till the next day. But when Moses was come to the sea-shore, he took his

rod, and made supplication to God, and called upon him to be their

helper and assistant; and said "Thou art not ignorant, O Lord, that it

is beyond human strength and human contrivance to avoid the difficulties

we are now under; but it must be thy work altogether to procure

deliverance to this army, which has left Egypt at thy appointment. We

despair of any other assistance or contrivance, and have recourse only

to that hope we have in thee; and if there be any method that can

promise us an escape by thy providence, we look up to thee for it. And

let it come quickly, and manifest thy power to us; and do thou raise up

this people unto good courage and hope of deliverance, who are deeply

sunk into a disconsolate state of mind. We are in a helpless place, but

still it is a place that thou possessest; still the sea is thine, the

mountains also that enclose us are thine; so that these mountains will

open themselves if thou commandest them, and the sea also, if thou

commandest it, will become dry land. Nay, we might escape by a flight

through the air, if thou shouldst determine we should have that way of

salvation."

2. When Moses had thus addressed himself to God, he smote the sea with

his rod, which parted asunder at the stroke, and receiving those waters

into itself, left the ground dry, as a road and a place of flight for

the Hebrews. Now when Moses saw this appearance of God, and that the sea

went out of its own place, and left dry land, he went first of all into

it, and bid the Hebrews to follow him along that divine road, and to

rejoice at the danger their enemies that followed them were in; and gave

thanks to God for this so surprising a deliverance which appeared from

him.

3. Now, while these Hebrews made no stay, but went on earnestly, as led

by God's presence with them, the Egyptians supposed first that they were

distracted, and were going rashly upon manifest destruction. But when

they saw that they were going a great way without any harm, and that no

obstacle or difficulty fell in their journey, they made haste to pursue

them, hoping that the sea would be calm for them also. They put their

horse foremost, and went down themselves into the sea. Now the Hebrews,

while these were putting on their armor, and therein spending their

time, were beforehand with them, and escaped them, and got first over to

the land on the other side without any hurt. Whence the others were

encouraged, and more courageously pursued them, as hoping no harm would

come to them neither: but the Egyptians were not aware that they went

into a road made for the Hebrews, and not for others; that this road was

made for the deliverance of those in danger, but not for those that were

earnest to make use of it for the others' destruction. As soon,

therefore, as ever the whole Egyptian army was within it, the sea flowed

to its own place, and came down with a torrent raised by storms of wind,

30 and encompassed the Egyptians. Showers of rain also came down from

the sky, and dreadful thunders and lightning, with flashes of fire.

Thunderbolts also were darted upon them. Nor was there any thing which

used to be sent by God upon men, as indications of his wrath, which did

not happen at this time, for a dark and dismal night oppressed them. And

thus did all these men perish, so that there was not one man left to be

a messenger of this calamity to the rest of the Egyptians.

4. But the Hebrews were not able to contain themselves for joy at their

wonderful deliverance, and destruction of their enemies; now indeed

supposing themselves firmly delivered, when those that would have forced

them into slavery were destroyed, and when they found they had God so

evidently for their protector. And now these Hebrews having escaped the

danger they were in, after this manner, and besides that, seeing their

enemies punished in such a way as is never recorded of any other men

whomsoever, were all the night employed in singing of hymns, and in

mirth. 31 Moses also composed a song unto God, containing his praises,

and a thanksgiving for his kindness, in hexameter verse. 32

5. As for myself, I have delivered every part of this history as I found

it in the sacred books; nor let any one wonder at the strangeness of the

narration if a way were discovered to those men of old time, who were

free from the wickedness of the modern ages, whether it happened by the

will of God or whether it happened of its own accord;—while, for the

sake of those that accompanied Alexander, king of Macedonia, who yet

lived, comparatively but a little while ago, the Pamphylian Sea retired

and afforded them a passage 33 through itself, had no other way to go; I

mean, when it was the will of God to destroy the monarchy of the

Persians: and this is confessed to be true by all that have written

about the actions of Alexander. But as to these events, let every one

determine as he pleases.

6. On the next day Moses gathered together the weapons of the Egyptians,

which were brought to the camp of the Hebrews by the current of the sea,

and the force of the winds resisting it; and he conjectured that this

also happened by Divine Providence, that so they might not be destitute

of weapons. So when he had ordered the Hebrews to arm themselves with

them, he led them to Mount Sinai, in order to offer sacrifice to God,

and to render oblations for the salvation of the multitude, as he was

charged to do beforehand.

FOOTNOTES

1 (return) [ We may here observe, that in correspondence to Joseph's

second dream, which implied that his mother, who was then alive, as well

as his father, should come and bow down to him, Josephus represents her

here as still alive after she was dead, for the decorum of the dream

that foretold it, as the interpretation of the dream does also in all

our copies, Genesis 37:10.]

2 (return) [ The Septuagint have twenty pieces of gold; the Testament of

Gad thirty; the Hebrew and Samaritan twenty of silver; and the vulgar

Latin thirty. What was the true number and true sum cannot therefore now

be known.]

3 (return) [ That is, bought it for Pharaoh at a very low price.]

4 (return) [ This Potiphar, or, as Josephus, Petephres, who was now a

priest of On, or Heliopolis, is the same name in Josephus, and perhaps

in Moses also, with him who is before called head cook or captain of the

guard, and to whom Joseph was sold. See Genesis 37:36; 39:1, with 41:50.

They are also affirmed to be one and the same person in the Testament of

Joseph, sect. 18, for he is there said to have married the daughter of

his master and mistress. Nor is this a notion peculiar to that

Testament, but, as Dr. Bernard confesses, note on Antiq. B. II. ch. 4.

sect. 1, common to Josephus, to the Septuagint interpreters, and to

other learned Jews of old time.]

5 (return) [ This entire ignorance of the Egyptians of these years of

famine before they came, told us before, as well as here, ch. 5. sect.

7, by Josephus, seems to me almost incredible. It is in no other copy

that I know of.]

6 (return) [ The reason why Symeon might be selected out of the rest for

Joseph's prisoner, is plain in the Testament of Symeon, viz. that he was

one of the bitterest of all Joseph's brethren against him, sect. 2;

which appears also in part by the Testament of Zabulon, sect. 3.]

7 (return) [ The coherence seems to me to show that the negative

particle is here wanting, which I have supplied in brackets, and I

wonder none have hitherto suspected that it ought to be supplied.]

8 (return) [ Of the precious balsam of Judea, and the turpentine, see

the note on Antiq. B. VIII. ch. 6. sect. 6.]

9 (return) [ This oration seems to me too large, and too unusual a

digression, to have been composed by Judas on this occasion. It seems to

me a speech or declamation composed formerly, in the person of Judas,

and in the way of oratory, that lay by him, and which he thought fit to

insert on this occasion. See two more such speeches or declamations,

Antiq. B. VI. ch. 14. sect. 4]

10 (return) [ In all this speech of Judas we may observe, that Josephus

still supposed that death was the punishment of theft in Egypt, in the

days of Joseph, though it never was so among the Jews, by the law of

Moses.]

11 (return) [ All the Greek copies of Josephus have the negative

particle here, that Jacob himself was not reckoned one of the 70 souls

that came into Egypt; but the old Latin copies want it, and directly

assure us he was one of them. It is therefore hardly certain which of

these was Josephus's true reading, since the number 70 is made up

without him, if we reckon Leah for one; but if she be not reckoned,

Jacob must himself be one, to complete the number.]

12 (return) [ Josephus thought that the Egyptians hated or despised the

employment of a shepherd in the days of Joseph; whereas Bishop

Cumberland has shown that they rather hated such Poehnician or Canaanite

shepherds that had long enslaved the Egyptians of old time. See his

Sanchoniatho, p. 361, 362.]

13 (return) [ Reland here puts the question, how Josephus could complain

of its not raining in Egypt during this famine, while the ancients

affirm that it never does naturally rain there. His answer is, that when

the ancients deny that it rains in Egypt, they only mean the Upper Egypt

above the Delta, which is called Egypt in the strictest sense; but that

in the Delta [and by consequence in the Lower Egypt adjoining to it] it

did of old, and still does, rain sometimes. See the note on Antiq. B.

III. ch. 1. sect. 6.]

14 (return) [ Josephus supposes that Joseph now restored the Egyptians

their lands again upon the payment of a fifth part as tribute. It seems

to me rather that the land was now considered as Pharaoh's land, and

this fifth part as its rent, to be paid to him, as he was their

landlord, and they his tenants; and that the lands were not properly

restored, and this fifth part reserved as tribute only, till the days of

Sesostris. See Essay on the Old Testament, Append. 148, 149.]

15 (return) [ As to this encomium upon Joseph, as preparatory to Jacob's

adopting Ephraim and Manasses into his own family, and to be admitted

for two tribes, which Josephus here mentions, all our copies of Genesis

omit it, ch. 48.; nor do we know whence he took it, or whether it be not

his own embellishment only.]

16 (return) [ As to the affliction of Abraham's posterity for 400 years,

see Antiq. B. I. ch. 10. sect. 3; and as to what cities they built in

Egypt, under Pharaoh Sesostris, and of Pharaoh Sesostris's drowning in

the Red Sea, see Essay on the Old Testament, Append. p. 132-162.]

17 (return) [ Of this building of the pyramids of Egypt by the

Israelites, see Perizonius Orig. Aegyptiac, ch. 21. It is not impossible

they might build one or more of the small ones; but the larger ones seem

much later. Only, if they be all built of stone, this does not so well

agree with the Israelites' labors, which are said to have been in brick,

and not in stone, as Mr. Sandys observes in his Travels. p. 127, 128.]

18 (return) [ Dr. Bernard informs us here, that instead of this single

priest or prophet of the Egyptians, without a name in Josephus, the

Targum of Jonathan names the two famous antagonists of Moses, Jannes and

Jambres. Nor is it at all unlikely that it might be one of these who

foreboded so much misery to the Egyptians, and so much happiness to the

Israelites, from the rearing of Moses.]

19 (return) [ Josephus is clear that these midwives were Egyptians, and

not Israelites, as in our other copies: which is very probable, it being

not easily to be supposed that Pharaoh could trust the Israelite

midwives to execute so barbarous a command against their own nation.

(Consult, therefore, and correct hence our ordinary copies, Exodus 1:15,

22.) And, indeed, Josephus seems to have had much completer copies of

the Pentateuch, or other authentic records now lost, about the birth and

actions of Moses, than either our Hebrew, Samaritan, or Greek Bibles

afford us, which enabled him to be so large and particular about him.]

20 (return) [ Of this grandfather of Sesostris, Ramestes the Great, who

slew the Israelite infants, and of the inscription on his obelisk,

containing, in my opinion, one of the oldest records of mankind, see

Essay on the Old Test. Append. p. 139, 145, 147, 217-220.]

21 (return) [ What Josephus here says of the beauty of Moses, that he

was of a divine form, is very like what St. Stephen says of the same

beauty; that Moses was beautiful in the sight of Acts 7:20.]

22 (return) [ This history of Moses, as general of the Egyptians against

the Ethiopians, is wholly omitted in our Bibles; but is thus by

Irenaeus, from Josephus, and that soon after his own age:—"Josephus

says, that when Moses was nourished in the palace, he was appointed

general of the army against the Ethiopians, and conquered them, when he

married that king's daughter; because, out of her affection for him, she

delivered the city up to him." See the Fragments of Irenaeus, ap. edit.

Grab. p. 472. Nor perhaps did St. Stephen refer to any thing else when

he said of Moses, before he was sent by God to the Israelites, that he

was not only learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, but was also

mighty in words and in deeds, Acts 7:22.]

23 (return) [ Pliny speaks of these birds called ibes; and says, "The

Egyptians invoked them against the serpents," Hist. Nat. B. X. ch. 28.

Strabo speaks of this island Meroe, and these rivers Astapus and

Astaboras, B. XVI. p. 771, 786; and B XVII. p. 82].]

24 (return) [ This superstitious fear of discovering the name with four

letters, which of late we have been used falsely to pronounce Jehovah,

but seems to have been originally pronounced Jahoh, or Jao, is never, I

think, heard of till this passage of Josephus; and this superstition, in

not pronouncing that name, has continued among the Rabbinical Jews to

this day [though whether the Samaritans and Caraites observed it so

early, does not appear]. Josephus also durst not set down the very words

of the ten commandments, as we shall see hereafter, Antiq. B. III. ch.

5. sect. 4, which superstitious silence I think has yet not been

continued even by the Rabbins. It is, however, no doubt but both these

cautious concealments were taught Josephus by the Pharisees, a body of

men at once very wicked and very superstitious.]

25 (return) [ Of this judicial hardening the hearts and blinding the

eyes of wicked men, or infatuating them, as a just punishment for their

other willful sins, to their own destruction, see the note on Antiq. B.

VII. ch. 9. sect. 6.]

26 (return) [ As to this winter or spring hail near Egypt and Judea, see

the like on thunder and lightning there, in the note on Antiq. B. VI.

ch. 5. sect. 6.]

27 (return) [ These large presents made to the Israelites, of vessels of

and vessels of gold, and raiment, were, as Josephus truly calls them,

gifts really given them; not lent them, as our English falsely renders

them. They were spoils required, not of them, Genesis 15:14; Exodus

3:22; 11:2; Psalm 105:37,] as the same version falsely renders the

Hebrew word Exodus 12:35, 36. God had ordered the Jews to demand these

as their pay and reward, during their long and bitter slavery in Egypt,

as atonements for the lives of the Egyptians, and as the condition of

the Jews' departure, and of the Egyptians' deliverance from these

terrible judgments, which, had they not now ceased, they had soon been

all dead men, as they themselves confess, ch. 12. 33. Nor was there any

sense in borrowing or lending, when the Israelites were finally

departing out of the land for ever.]

28 (return) [ Why our Masorete copy so groundlessly abridges this

account in Exodus 12:40, as to ascribe 430 years to the sole

peregrination of the Israelites in Egypt, when it is clear even by that

Masorete chronology elsewhere, as well as from the express text itself,

in the Samaritan, Septuagint, and Josephus, that they sojourned in Egypt

but half that time,--and that by consequence, the other half of their

peregrination was in the land of Canaan, before they came into Egypt,--

is hard to say. See Essay on the Old Testament, p. 62, 63.]

29 (return) [ Take the main part of Reland's excellent note here, which

greatly illustrates Josephus, and the Scripture, in this history, as

follows: "[A traveller, says Reland, whose name was] Eneman, when he

returned out of Egypt, told me that he went the same way from Egypt to

Mount Sinai, which he supposed the Israelites of old traveled; and that

he found several mountainous tracts, that ran down towards the Red Sea.

He thought the Israelites had proceeded as far as the desert of Etham,

Exodus 13:20, when they were commanded by God to return back, Exodus

14:2, and to pitch their camp between Migdol and the sea; and that when

they were not able to fly, unless by sea, they were shut in on each side

by mountains. He also thought we might evidently learn hence, how it

might be said that the Israelites were in Etham before they went over

the sea, and yet might be said to have come into Etham after they had

passed over the sea also. Besides, he gave me an account how he passed

over a river in a boat near the city Suez, which he says must needs be

the Heroopolia of the ancients, since that city could not be situate any

where else in that neighborhood." As to the famous passage produced here

by Dr. Bernard, out of Herodotus, as the most ancient heathen testimony

of the Israelites coming from the Red Sea into Palestine, Bishop

Cumberland has shown that it belongs to the old Canaanite or Phoenician

shepherds, and their retiring out of Egypt into Canaan or Phoenicia,

long before the days of Moses. Sanchoniatho, p. 374, &c.]

30 (return) [ Of these storms of wind, thunder, and lightning, at this

drowning of Pharaoh's army, almost wanting in our copies of Exodus, but

fully extant in that of David, Psalm 77:16-18, and in that of Josephus

here, see Essay on the Old Test. Append. p. 15,1, 155.]

31 (return) [ What some have here objected against this passage of the

Israelites over the Red Sea, in this one night, from the common maps,

viz. that this sea being here about thirty miles broad, so great an army

could not pass over it in so short a time, is a great mistake. Mons.

Thevenot, an authentic eye-witness, informs us, that this sea, for about

five days' journey, is no where more than about eight or nine miles

over-cross, and in one place but four or five miles, according to De

Lisle's map, which is made from the best travelers themselves, and not

copied from others. What has been further objected against this passage

of the Israelites, and drowning of the Egyptians, being miraculous also,

viz. that Moses might carry the Israelites over at a low tide without

any miracle, while yet the Egyptians, not knowing the tide so well as

he, might be drowned upon the return of the tide, is a strange story

indeed! That Moses, who never had lived here, should know the quantity

and time of the flux and reflux of the Red Sea better than the Egyptians

themselves in its neighborhood! Yet does Artapanus, an ancient heathen

historian, inform us, that this was what the more ignorant Memphites,

who lived at a great distance, pretended, though he confesses, that the

more learned Heliopolitans, who lived much nearer, owned the destruction

of the Egyptians, and the deliverance of the Israelites, to have been

miraculous: and De Castro, a mathematician, who surveyed this sea with

great exactness, informs us, that there is no great flux or reflux in

this part of the Red Sea, to give a color to this hypothesis; nay, that

at the elevation of the tide there is little above half the height of a

man. See Essay on the Old Test. Append. p. 239, 240. So vain and

groundless are these and the like evasions and subterfuges of our modern

sceptics and unbelievers, and so certainly do thorough inquiries and

authentic evidence disprove and confute such evasions and subterfuges

upon all occasions.]

32 (return) [ What that hexameter verse, in which Moses's triumphant

song is here said to be written, distinctly means, our present ignorance

of the old Hebrew metre or measure will not let us determine. Nor does

it appear to me certain that even Josephus himself had a distinct notion

of it, though he speaks of several sort of that metre or measure, both

here and elsewhere. Antiq. B. IV. ch. 8. sect. 44; and B. VII. ch. 12.

sect. 3.]

33 (return) [ Take here the original passages of the four old authors

that still remain, as to this transit of Alexander the Great over the

Pamphylian Sea: I mean, of Callisthenes, Strabu, Arrian, and Appian. As

to Callisthenes, who himself accompanied Alexander in this expedition,

Eustathius, in his Notes on the third Iliad of Homer, [as Dr. Bernard

here informs us,] says, That "this Callisthenes wrote how the Pamphylian

Sea did not only open a passage for Alexander, but, by rising and did

pay him homage as its king." Strabo's is this [Geog. B. XIV. p. 666]:

"Now about Phaselis is that narrow passage, by the sea-side, through

which his army. There is a mountain called Climax, adjoins to the Sea of

Pamphylia, leaving a narrow passage on the shore, which, in calm

weather, is bare, so as to be passable by travelers, but when the sea

overflows, it is covered to a great degree by the waves. Now then, the

ascent by the mountains being round about and steep, in still weather

they make use of the road along the coast. But Alexander fell into the

winter season, and committing himself chiefly to fortune, he marched on

before the waves retired; and so it happened that were a whole day in

journeying over it, and were under water up to the navel." Arrian's

account is this [B. I. p. 72, 73]: "Alexander removed from Phaselis, he

sent some part his army over the mountains to Perga; which road the

Thracians showed him. A difficult way it was, but short. He himself

conducted those that were with him by the sea-shore. This road is

impassable at any other time than when the north wind blows; but if the

south wind prevail, there is no passing by the shore. Now at this time,

after strong south winds, a north wind blew, and that not without the

Divine Providence, [as both he and they that were with him supposed,]

and afforded him an easy and quick passage." Appian, when he compares

Cæsar and Alexander together, [De Bel. Civil. B. II. p. 522,] says,

"That they both depended on their boldness and fortune, as much as on

their skill in war. As an instance of which, Alexander journeyed over a

country without water, in the heat of summer, to the oracle of [Jupiter]

Hammon, and quickly passed over the Bay of Pamphylia, when, by Divine

Providence, the sea was cut off—thus Providence restraining the sea on

his account, as it had sent him rain when he traveled [over the

desert]." N. B.—Since, in the days of Josephus, as he assures us, all

the more numerous original historians of Alexander gave the account he

has here set down, as to the providential going back of the waters of

the Pamphylian Sea, when he was going with his army to destroy the

Persian monarchy, which the fore-named authors now remaining fully

confirm, it is without all just foundation that Josephus is here blamed

by some late writers for quoting those ancient authors upon the present

occasion; nor can the reflections of Plutarch, or any other author later

than Josephus, be in the least here alleged to contradict him. Josephus

went by all the evidence he then had, and that evidence of the most

authentic sort also. So that whatever the moderns may think of the thing

itself, there is hence not the least color for finding fault with

Josephus: he would rather have been much to blame had he omitted these

quotations.]

BOOK III. Containing The Interval Of Two Years.—From The Exodus Out Of

Egypt, To The Rejection Of That Generation.

CHAPTER 1. How Moses When He Had Brought The People Out Of Egypt Led

Them To Mount Sinai; But Not Till They Had Suffered Much In Their

Journey.

1. When the Hebrews had obtained such a wonderful deliverance, the

country was a great trouble to them, for it was entirely a desert, and

without sustenance for them; and also had exceeding little water, so

that it not only was not at all sufficient for the men, but not enough

to feed any of the cattle, for it was parched up, and had no moisture

that might afford nutriment to the vegetables; so they were forced to

travel over this country, as having no other country but this to travel

in. They had indeed carried water along with them from the land over

which they had traveled before, as their conductor had bidden them; but

when that was spent, they were obliged to draw water out of wells, with

pain, by reason of the hardness of the soil. Moreover, what water they

found was bitter, and not fit for drinking, and this in small quantities

also; and as they thus traveled, they came late in the evening to a

place called Marah, 1 which had that name from the badness of its water,

for Mar denotes bitterness. Thither they came afflicted both by the

tediousness of their journey, and by their want of food, for it entirely

failed them at that time. Now here was a well, which made them choose to

stay in the place, which, although it were not sufficient to satisfy so

great an army, did yet afford them some comfort, as found in such desert

places; for they heard from those who had been to search, that there was

nothing to be found, if they traveled on farther. Yet was this water

bitter, and not fit for men to drink; and not only so, but it was

intolerable even to the cattle themselves.

2. When Moses saw how much the people were cast down, and that the

occasion of it could not be contradicted, for the people were not in the

nature of a complete army of men, who might oppose a manly fortitude to

the necessity that distressed them; the multitude of the children, and

of the women also, being of too weak capacities to be persuaded by

reason, blunted the courage of the men themselves,—he was therefore in

great difficulties, and made everybody's calamity his own; for they ran

all of them to him, and begged of him; the women begged for their

infants, and the men for the women, that he would not overlook them, but

procure some way or other for their deliverance. He therefore betook

himself to prayer to God, that he would change the water from its

present badness, and make it fit for drinking. And when God had granted

him that favor, he took the top of a stick that lay down at his feet,

and divided it in the middle, and made the section lengthways. He then

let it down into the well, and persuaded the Hebrews that God had

hearkened to his prayers, and had promised to render the water such as

they desired it to be, in case they would be subservient to him in what

he should enjoin them to do, and this not after a remiss or negligent

manner. And when they asked what they were to do in order to have the

water changed for the better, he bid the strongest men among them that

stood there, to draw up water 2 and told them, that when the greatest

part was drawn up, the remainder would be fit to drink. So they labored

at it till the water was so agitated and purged as to be fit to drink.

3. And now removing from thence they came to Elim; which place looked

well at a distance, for there was a grove of palm-trees; but when they

came near to it, it appeared to be a bad place, for the palm-trees were

no more than seventy; and they were ill-grown and creeping trees, by the

want of water, for the country about was all parched, and no moisture

sufficient to water them, and make them hopeful and useful, was derived

to them from the fountains, which were in number twelve: they were

rather a few moist places than springs, which not breaking out of the

ground, nor running over, could not sufficiently water the trees. And

when they dug into the sand, they met with no water; and if they took a

few drops of it into their hands, they found it to be useless, on

account of its mud. The trees were too weak to bear fruit, for want of

being sufficiently cherished and enlivened by the water. So they laid

the blame on their conductor, and made heavy complaints against him; and

said that this their miserable state, and the experience they had of

adversity, were owing to him; for that they had then journeyed an entire

thirty days, and had spent all the provisions they had brought with

them; and meeting with no relief, they were in a very desponding

condition. And by fixing their attention upon nothing but their present

misfortunes, they were hindered from remembering what deliverances they

had received from God, and those by the virtue and wisdom of Moses also;

so they were very angry at their conductor, and were zealous in their

attempt to stone him, as the direct occasion of their present miseries.

4. But as for Moses himself, while the multitude were irritated and

bitterly set against him, he cheerfully relied upon God, and upon his

consciousness of the care he had taken of these his own people; and he

came into the midst of them, even while they clamored against him, and

had stones in their hands in order to despatch him. Now he was of an

agreeable presence, and very able to persuade the people by his

speeches; accordingly he began to mitigate their anger, and exhorted

them not to be over-mindful of their present adversities, lest they

should thereby suffer the benefits that had formerly been bestowed on

them to slip out of their memories; and he desired them by no means, on

account of their present uneasiness, to cast those great and wonderful

favors and gifts, which they had obtained of God, out of their minds,

but to expect deliverance out of those their present troubles which they

could not free themselves from, and this by the means of that Divine

Providence which watched over them. Seeing it is probable that God tries

their virtue, and exercises their patience by these adversities, that it

may appear what fortitude they have, and what memory they retain of his

former wonderful works in their favor, and whether they will not think

of them upon occasion of the miseries they now feel. He told them, it

appeared they were not really good men, either in patience, or in

remembering what had been successfully done for them, sometimes by

contemning God and his commands, when by those commands they left the

land of Egypt; and sometimes by behaving themselves ill towards him who

was the servant of God, and this when he had never deceived them, either

in what he said, or had ordered them to do by God's command. He also put

them in mind of all that had passed; how the Egyptians were destroyed

when they attempted to detain them, contrary to the command of God; and

after what manner the very same river was to the others bloody, and not

fit for drinking, but was to them sweet, and fit for drinking; and how

they went a new road through the sea, which fled a long way from them,

by which very means they were themselves preserved, but saw their

enemies destroyed; and that when they were in want of weapons, God gave

them plenty of them;-and so he recounted all the particular instances,

how when they were, in appearance, just going to be destroyed, God had

saved them in a surprising manner; and that he had still the same power;

and that they ought not even now to despair of his providence over them;

and accordingly he exhorted them to continue quiet, and to consider that

help would not come too late, though it come not immediately, if it be

present with them before they suffer any great misfortune; that they

ought to reason thus: that God delays to assist them, not because he has

no regard to them, but because he will first try their fortitude, and

the pleasure they take in their freedom, that he may learn whether you

have souls great enough to bear want of food, and scarcity of water, on

its account; or whether you rather love to be slaves, as cattle are

slaves to such as own them, and feed them liberally, but only in order

to make them more useful in their service. That as for himself, he shall

not be so much concerned for his own preservation; for if he die

unjustly, he shall not reckon it any affliction, but that he is

concerned for them, lest, by casting stones at him, they should be

thought to condemn God himself.

5. By this means Moses pacified the people, and restrained them from

stoning him, and brought them to repent of what they were going to do.

And because he thought the necessity they were under made their passion

less unjustifiable, he thought he ought to apply himself to God by

prayer and supplication; and going up to an eminence, he requested of

God for some succor for the people, and some way of deliverance from the

want they were in, because in him, and in him alone, was their hope of

salvation; and he desired that he would forgive what necessity had

forced the people to do, since such was the nature of mankind, hard to

please, and very complaining under adversities. Accordingly God promised

he would take care of them, and afford them the succor they were

desirous of. Now when Moses had heard this from God, he came down to the

multitude. But as soon as they saw him joyful at the promises he had

received from God, they changed their sad countenances into gladness. So

he placed himself in the midst of them, and told them he came to bring

them from God a deliverance from their present distresses. Accordingly a

little after came a vast number of quails, which is a bird more

plentiful in this Arabian Gulf than any where else, flying over the sea,

and hovered over them, till wearied with their laborious flight, and,

indeed, as usual, flying very near to the earth, they fell down upon the

Hebrews, who caught them, and satisfied their hunger with them, and

supposed that this was the method whereby God meant to supply them with

food. Upon which Moses returned thanks to God for affording them his

assistance so suddenly, and sooner than he had promised them.

6. But presently after this first supply of food, he sent them a second;

for as Moses was lifting up his hands in prayer, a dew fell down; and

Moses, when he found it stick to his hands, supposed this was also come

for food from God to them. He tasted it; and perceiving that the people

knew not what it was, and thought it snowed, and that it was what

usually fell at that time of the year, he informed them that this dew

did not fall from heaven after the manner they imagined, but came for

their preservation and sustenance. So he tasted it, and gave them some

of it, that they might be satisfied about what he told them. They also

imitated their conductor, and were pleased with the food, for it was

like honey in sweetness and pleasant taste, but like in its body to

bdellium, one of the sweet spices, and in bigness equal to coriander

seed. And very earnest they were in gathering it; but they were enjoined

to gather it equally 3—the measure of an omer for each one every day,

because this food should not come in too small a quantity, lest the

weaker might not be able to get their share, by reason of the

overbearing of the strong in collecting it. However, these strong men,

when they had gathered more than the measure appointed for them, had no

more than others, but only tired themselves more in gathering it, for

they found no more than an omer apiece; and the advantage they got by

what was superfluous was none at all, it corrupting, both by the worms

breeding in it, and by its bitterness. So divine and wonderful a food

was this! It also supplied the want of other sorts of food to those that

fed on it. And even now, in all that place, this manna comes down in

rain, 4 according to what Moses then obtained of God, to send it to the

people for their sustenance. Now the Hebrews call this food manna: for

the particle man, in our language, is the asking of a question. What is

this? So the Hebrews were very joyful at what was sent them from heaven.

Now they made use of this food for forty years, or as long as they were

in the wilderness.

7. As soon as they were removed thence, they came to Rephidim, being

distressed to the last degree by thirst; and while in the foregoing days

they had lit on a few small fountains, but now found the earth entirely

destitute of water, they were in an evil case. They again turned their

anger against Moses; but he at first avoided the fury of the multitude,

and then betook himself to prayer to God, beseeching him, that as he had

given them food when they were in the greatest want of it, so he would

give them drink, since the favor of giving them food was of no value to

them while they had nothing to drink. And God did not long delay to give

it them, but promised Moses that he would procure them a fountain, and

plenty of water, from a place they did not expect any. So he commanded

him to smite the rock which they saw lying there, 5 with his rod, and

out of it to receive plenty of what they wanted; for he had taken care

that drink should come to them without any labor or pains-taking. When

Moses had received this command from God, he came to the people, who

waited for him, and looked upon him, for they saw already that he was

coming apace from his eminence. As soon as he was come, he told them

that God would deliver them from their present distress, and had granted

them an unexpected favor; and informed them, that a river should run for

their sakes out of the rock. But they were amazed at that hearing,

supposing they were of necessity to cut the rock in pieces, now they

were distressed by their thirst and by their journey; while Moses only

smiting the rock with his rod, opened a passage, and out of it burst

water, and that in great abundance, and very clear. But they were

astonished at this wonderful effect; and, as it were, quenched their

thirst by the very sight of it. So they drank this pleasant, this sweet

water; and such it seemed to be, as might well be expected where God was

the donor. They were also in admiration how Moses was honored by God;

and they made grateful returns of sacrifices to God for his providence

towards them. Now that Scripture, which is laid up in the temple, 6

informs us, how God foretold to Moses, that water timid in this manner

be derived out of the rock.'

CHAPTER 2. How The Amalekites And The Neighbouring Nations, Made War

With The Hebrews And Were Beaten And Lost A Great Part Of Their Army.

1. The name of the Hebrews began already to be every where renowned, and

rumors about them ran abroad. This made the inhabitants of those

countries to be in no small fear. Accordingly they sent ambassadors to

one another, and exhorted one another to defend themselves, and to

endeavor to destroy these men. Those that induced the rest to do so,

were such as inhabited Gobolitis and Petra. They were called Amalekites,

and were the most warlike of the nations that lived thereabout; and

whose kings exhorted one another, and their neighbors, to go to this war

against the Hebrews; telling them that an army of strangers, and such a

one as had run away from slavery under the Egyptians, lay in wait to

ruin them; which army they were not, in common prudence and regard to

their own safety, to overlook, but to crush them before they gather

strength, and come to be in prosperity: and perhaps attack them first in

a hostile manner, as presuming upon our indolence in not attacking them

before; and that we ought to avenge ourselves of them for what they have

done in the wilderness, but that this cannot be so well done when they

have once laid their hands on our cities and our goods: that those who

endeavor to crush a power in its first rise, are wiser than those that

endeavor to put a stop to its progress when it is become formidable; for

these last seem to be angry only at the flourishing of others, but the

former do not leave any room for their enemies to become troublesome to

them. After they had sent such embassages to the neighboring nations,

and among one another, they resolved to attack the Hebrews in battle.

2. These proceedings of the people of those countries occasioned

perplexity and trouble to Moses, who expected no such warlike

preparations. And when these nations were ready to fight, and the

multitude of the Hebrews were obliged to try the fortune of war, they

were in a mighty disorder, and in want of all necessaries, and yet were

to make war with men who were thoroughly well prepared for it. Then

therefore it was that Moses began to encourage them, and to exhort them

to have a good heart, and rely on God's assistance by which they had

been put in a state of freedom and to hope for victory over those who

were ready to fight with them, in order to deprive them of that

blessing: that they were to suppose their own army to be numerous,

wanting nothing, neither weapons, nor money, nor provisions, nor such

other conveniences as, when men are in possession of, they fight

undauntedly; and that they are to judge themselves to have all these

advantages in the Divine assistance. They are also to suppose the

enemy's army to be small, unarmed, weak, and such as want those

conveniences which they know must be wanted, when it is God's will that

they shall be beaten; and how valuable God's assistance is, they had

experienced in abundance of trials; and those such as were more terrible

than war, for that is only against men; but these were against famine

and thirst, things indeed that are in their own nature insuperable; as

also against mountains, and that sea which afforded them no way for

escaping; yet had all these difficulties been conquered by God's

gracious kindness to them. So he exhorted them to be courageous at this

time, and to look upon their entire prosperity to depend on the present

conquest of their enemies.

3. And with these words did Moses encourage the multitude, who then

called together the princes of their tribes, and their chief men, both

separately and conjointly. The young men he charged to obey their

elders, and the elders to hearken to their leader. So the people were

elevated in their minds, and ready to try their fortune in battle, and

hoped to be thereby at length delivered from all their miseries: nay,

they desired that Moses would immediately lead them against their

enemies without the least delay, that no backwardness might be a

hindrance to their present resolution. So Moses sorted all that were fit

for war into different troops, and set Joshua, the son of Nun, of the

tribe of Ephraim, over them; one that was of great courage, and patient

to undergo labors; of great abilities to understand, and to speak what

was proper; and very serious in the worship of God; and indeed made like

another Moses, a teacher of piety towards God. He also appointed a small

party of the armed men to be near the water, and to take care of the

children, and the women, and of the entire camp. So that whole night

they prepared themselves for the battle; they took their weapons, if any

of them had such as were well made, and attended to their commanders as

ready to rush forth to the battle as soon as Moses should give the word

of command. Moses also kept awake, teaching Joshua after what manner he

should order his camp. But when the day began, Moses called for Joshua

again, and exhorted him to approve himself in deeds such a one as a his

reputation made men expect from him; and to gain glory by the present

expedition, in the opinion of those under him, for his exploits in this

battle. He also gave a particular exhortation to the principal men of

the Hebrews, and encouraged the whole army as it stood armed before him.

And when he had thus animated the army, both by his words and works, and

prepared every thing, he retired to a mountain, and committed the army

to God and to Joshua.

4. So the armies joined battle; and it came to a close fight, hand to

hand, both sides showing great alacrity, and encouraging one another.

And indeed while Moses stretched out his hand towards heaven 7 the

Hebrews were too hard for the Amalekites: but Moses not being able to

sustain his hands thus stretched out, [for as often as he let down his

hands, so often were his own people worsted,] he bade his brother Aaron,

and Hur their sister Miriam's husband, to stand on each side of him, and

take hold of his hands, and not permit his weariness to prevent it, but

to assist him in the extension of his hands. When this was done, the

Hebrews conquered the Amalekites by main force; and indeed they had all

perished, unless the approach of the night had obliged the Hebrews to

desist from killing any more. So our forefathers obtained a most signal

and most seasonable victory; for they not only overcame those that

fought against them, but terrified also the neighboring nations, and got

great and splendid advantages, which they obtained of their enemies by

their hard pains in this battle: for when they had taken the enemy's

camp, they got ready booty for the public, and for their own private

families, whereas till then they had not any sort of plenty, of even

necessary food. The forementioned battle, when they had once got it, was

also the occasion of their prosperity, not only for the present, but for

the future ages also; for they not only made slaves of the bodies of

their enemies, but subdued their minds also, and after this battle,

became terrible to all that dwelt round about them. Moreover, they

acquired a vast quantity of riches; for a great deal of silver and gold

was left in the enemy's camp; as also brazen vessels, which they made

common use of in their families; many utensils also that were

embroidered there were of both sorts, that is, of what were weaved, and

what were the ornaments of their armor, and other things that served for

use in the family, and for the furniture of their rooms; they got also

the prey of their cattle, and of whatsoever uses to follow camps, when

they remove from one place to another. So the Hebrews now valued

themselves upon their courage, and claimed great merit for their valor;

and they perpetually inured themselves to take pains, by which they

deemed every difficulty might be surmounted. Such were the consequences

of this battle.

5. On the next day, Moses stripped the dead bodies of their enemies, and

gathered together the armor of those that were fled, and gave rewards to

such as had signalized themselves in the action; and highly commended

Joshua, their general, who was attested to by all the army, on account

of the great actions he had done. Nor was any one of the Hebrews slain;

but the slain of the enemy's army were too many to be enumerated. So

Moses offered sacrifices of thanksgiving to God, and built an altar,

which he named The Lord the Conqueror. He also foretold that the

Amalekites should utterly be destroyed; and that hereafter none of them

should remain, because they fought against the Hebrews, and this when

they were in the wilderness, and in their distress also. Moreover, he

refreshed the army with feasting. And thus did they fight this first

battle with those that ventured to oppose them, after they were gone out

of Egypt. But when Moses had celebrated this festival for the victory,

he permitted the Hebrews to rest for a few days, and then he brought

them out after the fight, in order of battle; for they had now many

soldiers in light armor. And going gradually on, he came to Mount Sinai,

in three months' time after they were removed out of Egypt; at which

mountain, as we have before related, the vision of the bush, and the

other wonderful appearances, had happened.

CHAPTER 3. That Moses Kindly Received-His Father-In-Law, Jethro, When He

Came To Him To Mount Sinai.

Now when Raguel, Moses's father-in-law, understood in what a prosperous

condition his affairs were, he willingly came to meet him and Moses and

his children, and pleased himself with his coming. And when he had

offered sacrifice, he made a feast for the multitude, near the Bush he

had formerly seen; which multitude, every one according to their

families, partook of the feast. But Aaron and his family took Raguel,

and sung hymns to God, as to Him who had been the author procurer of

their deliverance and their freedom. They also praised their conductor,

as him by whose virtue it was that all things had succeeded with them.

Raguel also, in his eucharistical oration to Moses, made great encomiums

upon the whole multitude; and he could not but admire Moses for his

fortitude, and that humanity he had shewn in the delivery of his

friends.

CHAPTER 4. How Raguel Suggested To Moses To Set His People In Order,

Under Their Rulers Of Thousands, And Rulers Of Hundreds, Who Lived

Without Order Before; And How Moses Complied In All Things With His

Father-In-Law's Admonition.

1. The next day, as Raguel saw Moses in the middle of a crowd of

business for he determined the differences of those that referred them

to him, every one still going to him, and supposing that they should

then only obtain justice, if he were the arbitrator; and those that lost

their causes thought it no harm, while they thought they lost them

justly, and not by partiality. Raguel however said nothing to him at

that time, as not desirous to be any hinderance to such as had a mind to

make use of the virtue of their conductor. But afterward he took him to

himself, and when he had him alone, he instructed him in what he ought

to do; and advised him to leave the trouble of lesser causes to others,

but himself to take care of the greater, and of the people's safety, for

that certain others of the Hebrews might be found that were fit to

determine causes, but that nobody but a Moses could take of the safety

of so many ten thousands. "Be therefore," says he, "insensible of thine

own virtue, and what thou hast done by ministering under God to the

people's preservation. Permit, therefore, the determination of common

causes to be done by others, but do thou reserve thyself to the

attendance on God only, and look out for methods of preserving the

multitude from their present distress. Make use of the method I suggest

to you, as to human affairs; and take a review of the army, and appoint

chosen rulers over tens of thousands, and then over thousands; then

divide them into five hundreds, and again into hundreds, and into

fifties; and set rulers over each of them, who may distinguish them into

thirties, and keep them in order; and at last number them by twenties

and by tens: and let there be one commander over each number, to be

denominated from the number of those over whom they are rulers, but such

as the whole multitude have tried, and do approve of, as being good and

righteous men; 8 and let those rulers decide the controversies they have

one with another. But if any great cause arise, let them bring the

cognizance of it before the rulers of a higher dignity; but if any great

difficulty arise that is too hard for even their determination, let them

send it to thee. By these means two advantages will be gained; the

Hebrews will have justice done them, and thou wilt be able to attend

constantly on God, and procure him to be more favorable to the people."

2. This was the admonition of Raguel; and Moses received his advice very

kindly, and acted according to his suggestion. Nor did he conceal the

invention of this method, nor pretend to it himself, but informed the

multitude who it was that invented it: nay, he has named Raguel in the

books he wrote, as the person who invented this ordering of the people,

as thinking it right to give a true testimony to worthy persons,

although he might have gotten reputation by ascribing to himself the

inventions of other men; whence we may learn the virtuous disposition of

Moses: but of such his disposition, we shall have proper occasion to

speak in other places of these books.

CHAPTER 5. How Moses Ascended Up To Mount Sinai, And Received Laws From

God, And Delivered Them To The Hebrews.

1. Now Moses called the multitude together, and told them that he was

going from them unto mount Sinai to converse with God; to receive from

him, and to bring back with him, a certain oracle; but he enjoined them

to pitch their tents near the mountain, and prefer the habitation that

was nearest to God, before one more remote. When he had said this, he

ascended up to Mount Sinai, which is the highest of all the mountains

that are in that country 9 and is not only very difficult to be ascended

by men, on account of its vast altitude, but because of the sharpness of

its precipices also; nay, indeed, it cannot be looked at without pain of

the eyes: and besides this, it was terrible and inaccessible, on account

of the rumor that passed about, that God dwelt there. But the Hebrews

removed their tents as Moses had bidden them, and took possession of the

lowest parts of the mountain; and were elevated in their minds, in

expectation that Moses would return from God with promises of the good

things he had proposed to them. So they feasted and waited for their

conductor, and kept themselves pure as in other respects, and not

accompanying with their wives for three days, as he had before ordered

them to do. And they prayed to God that he would favorably receive Moses

in his conversing with him, and bestow some such gift upon them by which

they might live well. They also lived more plentifully as to their diet;

and put on their wives and children more ornamental and decent clothing

than they usually wore.

2. So they passed two days in this way of feasting; but on the third

day, before the sun was up, a cloud spread itself over the whole camp of

the Hebrews, such a one as none had before seen, and encompassed the

place where they had pitched their tents; and while all the rest of the

air was clear, there came strong winds, that raised up large showers of

rain, which became a mighty tempest. There was also such lightning, as

was terrible to those that saw it; and thunder, with its thunderbolts,

were sent down, and declared God to be there present in a gracious way

to such as Moses desired he should be gracious. Now, as to these

matters, every one of my readers may think as he pleases; but I am under

a necessity of relating this history as it is described in the sacred

books. This sight, and the amazing sound that came to their ears,

disturbed the Hebrews to a prodigious degree, for they were not such as

they were accustomed to; and then the rumor that was spread abroad, how

God frequented that mountain, greatly astonished their minds, so they

sorrowfully contained themselves within their tents, as both supposing

Moses to be destroyed by the Divine wrath, and expecting the like

destruction for themselves.

3. When they were under these apprehensions, Moses appeared as joyful

and greatly exalted. When they saw him, they were freed from their fear,

and admitted of more comfortable hopes as to what was to come. The air

also was become clear and pure of its former disorders, upon the

appearance of Moses; whereupon he called together the people to a

congregation, in order to their hearing what God would say to them: and

when they were gathered together, he stood on an eminence whence they

might all hear him, and said, "God has received me graciously, O

Hebrews, as he has formerly done; and has suggested a happy method of

living for you, and an order of political government, and is now present

in the camp: I therefore charge you, for his sake and the sake of his

works, and what we have done by his means, that you do not put a low

value on what I am going to say, because the commands have been given by

me that now deliver them to you, nor because it is the tongue of a man

that delivers them to you; but if you have a due regard to the great

importance of the things themselves, you will understand the greatness

of Him whose institutions they are, and who has not disdained to

communicate them to me for our common advantage; for it is not to be

supposed that the author of these institutions is barely Moses, the son

of Amram and Jochebed, but He who obliged the Nile to run bloody for

your sakes, and tamed the haughtiness of the Egyptians by various sorts

of judgments; he who provided a way through the sea for us; he who

contrived a method of sending us food from heaven, when we were

distressed for want of it; he who made the water to issue out of a rock,

when we had very little of it before; he by whose means Adam was made to

partake of the fruits both of the land and of the sea; he by whose means

Noah escaped the deluge; he by whose means our forefather Abraham, of a

wandering pilgrim, was made the heir of the land of Canaan; he by whose

means Isaac was born of parents that were very old; he by whose means

Jacob was adorned with twelve virtuous sons; he by whose means Joseph

became a potent lord over the Egyptians; he it is who conveys these

instructions to you by me as his interpreter. And let them be to you

venerable, and contended for more earnestly by you than your own

children and your own wives; for if you will follow them, you will lead

a happy life you will enjoy the land fruitful, the sea calm, and the

fruit of the womb born complete, as nature requires; you will be also

terrible to your enemies for I have been admitted into the presence of

God and been made a hearer of his incorruptible voice so great is his

concern for your nation, and its duration."

4. When he had said this, he brought the people, with their wives and

children, so near the mountain, that they might hear God himself

speaking to them about the precepts which they were to practice; that

the energy of what should be spoken might not be hurt by its utterance

by that tongue of a man, which could but imperfectly deliver it to their

understanding. And they all heard a voice that came to all of them from

above, insomuch that no one of these words escaped them, which Moses

wrote on two tables; which it is not lawful for us to set down directly,

but their import we will declare 10

5. The first commandment teaches us that there is but one God, and that

we ought to worship him only. The second commands us not to make the

image of any living creature to worship it. The third, that we must not

swear by God in a false matter. The fourth, that we must keep the

seventh day, by resting from all sorts of work. The fifth, that we must

honor our parents. The sixth that we must abstain from murder. The

seventh that we must not commit adultery. The eighth, that we must not

be guilty of theft. The ninth, that we must not bear false witness. The

tenth, that we must not admit of the desire of any thing that is

another's.

6. Now when the multitude had heard God himself giving those precepts

which Moses had discoursed of, they rejoiced at what was said; and the

congregation was dissolved: but on the following days they came to his

tent, and desired him to bring them, besides, other laws from God.

Accordingly he appointed such laws, and afterwards informed them in what

manner they should act in all cases; which laws I shall make mention of

in their proper time; but I shall reserve most of those laws for another

work, 11 and make there a distinct explication of them.

7. When matters were brought to this state, Moses went up again to Mount

Sinai, of which he had told them beforehand. He made his ascent in their

sight; and while he staid there so long a time, [for he was absent from

them forty days,] fear seized upon the Hebrews, lest Moses should have

come to any harm; nor was there any thing else so sad, and that so much

troubled them, as this supposal that Moses was perished. Now there was a

variety in their sentiments about it; some saying that he was fallen

among wild beasts; and those that were of this opinion were chiefly such

as were ill-disposed to him; but others said that he was departed, and

gone to God; but the wiser sort were led by their reason to embrace

neither of those opinions with any satisfaction, thinking, that as it

was a thing that sometimes happens to men to fall among wild beasts and

perish that way, so it was probable enough that he might depart and go

to God, on account of his virtue; they therefore were quiet, and

expected the event: yet were they exceeding sorry upon the supposal that

they were deprived of a governor and a protector, such a one indeed as

they could never recover again; nor would this suspicion give them leave

to expect any comfortable event about this man, nor could they prevent

their trouble and melancholy upon this occasion. However, the camp durst

not remove all this while, because Moses had bidden them afore to stay

there.

8. But when the forty days, and as many nights, were over, Moses came

down, having tasted nothing of food usually appointed for the

nourishment of men. His appearance filled the army with gladness, and he

declared to them what care God had of them, and by what manner of

conduct of their lives they might live happily; telling them, that

during these days of his absence he had suggested to him also that he

would have a tabernacle built for him, into which he would descend when

he came to them, and how we should carry it about with us when we remove

from this place; and that there would be no longer any occasion for

going up to Mount Sinai, but that he would himself come and pitch his

tabernacle amongst us, and be present at our prayers; as also, that the

tabernacle should be of such measures and construction as he had shown

him, and that you are to fall to the work, and prosecute it diligently.

When he had said this, he showed them the two tables, with the ten

commandments engraven upon them, five upon each table; and the writing

was by the hand of God.

CHAPTER 6. Concerning The Tabernacle Which Moses Built In The Wilderness

For The Honor Of God And Which Seemed To Be A Temple.

1. Hereupon the Israelites rejoiced at what they had seen and heard of

their conductor, and were not wanting in diligence according to their

ability; for they brought silver, and gold, and brass, and of the best

sorts of wood, and such as would not at all decay by putrefaction;

camels' hair also, and sheep-skins, some of them dyed of a blue color,

and some of a scarlet; some brought the flower for the purple color, and

others for white, with wool dyed by the flowers aforementioned; and fine

linen and precious stones, which those that use costly ornaments set in

ouches of gold; they brought also a great quantity of spices; for of

these materials did Moses build the tabernacle, which did not at all

differ from a movable and ambulatory temple. Now when these things were

brought together with great diligence, [for every one was ambitious to

further the work even beyond their ability,] he set architects over the

works, and this by the command of God; and indeed the very same which

the people themselves would have chosen, had the election been allowed

to them. Now their names are set down in writing in the sacred books;

and they were these: Besaleel, the son of Uri, of the tribe of Judah,

the grandson of Miriam, the sister of their conductor and Aholiab, the

son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. Now the people went on with what

they had undertaken with so great alacrity, that Moses was obliged to

restrain them, by making proclamation, that what had been brought was

sufficient, as the artificers had informed him; so they fell to work

upon the building of the tabernacle. Moses also informed them, according

to the direction of God, both what the measures were to be, and its

largeness; and how many vessels it ought to contain for the use of the

sacrifices. The women also were ambitious to do their parts, about the

garments of the priests, and about other things that would be wanted in

this work, both for ornament and for the divine service itself.

2. Now when all things were prepared, the gold, and the silver, and the

brass, and what was woven, Moses, when he had appointed beforehand that

there should be a festival, and that sacrifices should be offered

according to every one's ability, reared up the tabernacle 12 and when

he had measured the open court, fifty cubits broad and a hundred long,

he set up brazen pillars, five cubits high, twenty on each of the longer

sides, and ten pillars for the breadth behind; every one of the pillars

also had a ring. Their chapiters were of silver, but their bases were of

brass: they resembled the sharp ends of spears, and were of brass, fixed

into the ground. Cords were also put through the rings, and were tied at

their farther ends to brass nails of a cubit long, which, at every

pillar, were driven into the floor, and would keep the tabernacle from

being shaken by the violence of winds; but a curtain of fine soft linen

went round all the pillars, and hung down in a flowing and loose manner

from their chapiters, and enclosed the whole space, and seemed not at

all unlike to a wall about it. And this was the structure of three of

the sides of this enclosure; but as for the fourth side, which was fifty

cubits in extent, and was the front of the whole, twenty cubits of it

were for the opening of the gates, wherein stood two pillars on each

side, after the resemblance of open gates. These were made wholly of

silver, and polished, and that all over, excepting the bases, which were

of brass. Now on each side of the gates there stood three pillars, which

were inserted into the concave bases of the gates, and were suited to

them; and round them was drawn a curtain of fine linen; but to the gates

themselves, which were twenty cubits in extent, and five in height, the

curtain was composed of purple, and scarlet, and blue, and fine linen,

and embroidered with many and divers sorts of figures, excepting the

figures of animals. Within these gates was the brazen laver for

purification, having a basin beneath of the like matter, whence the

priests might wash their hands and sprinkle their feet; and this was the

ornamental construction of the enclosure about the court of the

tabernacle, which was exposed to the open air.

3. As to the tabernacle itself, Moses placed it in the middle of that

court, with its front to the east, that, when the sun arose, it might

send its first rays upon it. Its length, when it was set up, was thirty

cubits, and its breadth was twelve [ten] cubits. The one of its walls

was on the south, and the other was exposed to the north, and on the

back part of it remained the west. It was necessary that its height

should be equal to its breadth [ten cubits]. There were also pillars

made of wood, twenty on each side; they were wrought into a quadrangular

figure, in breadth a cubit and a half, but the thickness was four

fingers: they had thin plates of gold affixed to them on both sides,

inwardly and outwardly: they had each of them two tenons belonging to

them, inserted into their bases, and these were of silver, in each of

which bases there was a socket to receive the tenon; but the pillars on

the west wall were six. Now all these tenons and sockets accurately

fitted one another, insomuch that the joints were invisible, and both

seemed to be one entire and united wall. It was also covered with gold,

both within and without. The number of pillars was equal on the opposite

sides, and there were on each part twenty, and every one of them had the

third part of a span in thickness; so that the number of thirty cubits

were fully made up between them; but as to the wall behind, where the

six pillars made up together only nine cubits, they made two other

pillars, and cut them out of one cubit, which they placed in the

corners, and made them equally fine with the other. Now every one of the

pillars had rings of gold affixed to their fronts outward, as if they

had taken root in the pillars, and stood one row over against another

round about, through which were inserted bars gilt over with gold, each

of them five cubits long, and these bound together the pillars, the head

of one bar running into another, after the nature of one tenon inserted

into another; but for the wall behind, there was but one row of bars

that went through all the pillars, into which row ran the ends of the

bars on each side of the longer walls; the male with its female being so

fastened in their joints, that they held the whole firmly together; and

for this reason was all this joined so fast together, that the

tabernacle might not be shaken, either by the winds, or by any other

means, but that it might preserve itself quiet and immovable

continually.

4. As for the inside, Moses parted its length into three partitions. At

the distance of ten cubits from the most secret end, Moses placed four

pillars, the workmanship of which was the very same with that of the

rest; and they stood upon the like bases with them, each a small matter

distant from his fellow. Now the room within those pillars was the most

holy place; but the rest of the room was the tabernacle, which was open

for the priests. However, this proportion of the measures of the

tabernacle proved to be an imitation of the system of the world; for

that third part thereof which was within the four pillars, to which the

priests were not admitted, is, as it were, a heaven peculiar to God. But

the space of the twenty cubits, is, as it were, sea and land, on which

men live, and so this part is peculiar to the priests only. But at the

front, where the entrance was made, they placed pillars of gold, that

stood on bases of brass, in number seven; but then they spread over the

tabernacle veils of fine linen and purple, and blue, and scarlet colors,

embroidered. The first veil was ten cubits every way, and this they

spread over the pillars which parted the temple, and kept the most holy

place concealed within; and this veil was that which made this part not

visible to any. Now the whole temple was called The Holy Place: but that

part which was within the four pillars, and to which none were admitted,

was called The Holy of Holies. This veil was very ornamental, and

embroidered with all sorts of flowers which the earth produces; and

there were interwoven into it all sorts of variety that might be an

ornament, excepting the forms of animals. Another veil there was which

covered the five pillars that were at the entrance. It was like the

former in its magnitude, and texture, and color; and at the corner of

every pillar a ring retained it from the top downwards half the depth of

the pillars, the other half affording an entrance for the priests, who

crept under it. Over this there was a veil of linen, of the same

largeness with the former: it was to be drawn this way or that way by

cords, the rings of which, fixed to the texture of the veil, and to the

cords also, were subservient to the drawing and undrawing of the veil,

and to the fastening it at the corner, that then it might be no

hinderance to the view of the sanctuary, especially on solemn days; but

that on other days, and especially when the weather was inclined to

snow, it might be expanded, and afford a covering to the veil of divers

colors. Whence that custom of ours is derived, of having a fine linen

veil, after the temple has been built, to be drawn over the entrances.

But the ten other curtains were four cubits in breadth, and twenty-eight

in length; and had golden clasps, in order to join the one curtain to

the other, which was done so exactly that they seemed to be one entire

curtain. These were spread over the temple, and covered all the top and

parts of the walls, on the sides and behind, so far as within one cubit

of the ground. There were other curtains of the same breadth with these,

but one more in number, and longer, for they were thirty cubits long;

but these were woven of hair, with the like subtilty as those of wool

were made, and were extended loosely down to the ground, appearing like

a triangular front and elevation at the gates, the eleventh curtain

being used for this very purpose. There were also other curtains made of

skins above these, which afforded covering and protection to those that

were woven both in hot weather and when it rained. And great was the

surprise of those who viewed these curtains at a distance, for they

seemed not at all to differ from the color of the sky. But those that

were made of hair and of skins, reached down in the same manner as did

the veil at the gates, and kept off the heat of the sun, and what injury

the rains might do. And after this manner was the tabernacle reared.

5. There was also an ark made, sacred to God, of wood that was naturally

strong, and could not be corrupted. This was called Eron in our own

language. Its construction was thus: its length was five spans, but its

breadth and height was each of them three spans. It was covered all over

with gold, both within and without, so that the wooden part was not

seen. It had also a cover united to it, by golden hinges, after a

wonderful manner; which cover was every way evenly fitted to it, and had

no eminences to hinder its exact conjunction. There were also two golden

rings belonging to each of the longer boards, and passing through the

entire wood, and through them gilt bars passed along each board, that it

might thereby be moved and carried about, as occasion should require;

for it was not drawn in a cart by beasts of burden, but borne on the

shoulders of the priests. Upon this its cover were two images, which the

Hebrews call Cherubims; they are flying creatures, but their form is not

like to that of any of the creatures which men have seen, though Moses

said he had seen such beings near the throne of God. In this ark he put

the two tables whereon the ten commandments were written, five upon each

table, and two and a half upon each side of them; and this ark he placed

in the most holy place.

6. But in the holy place he placed a table, like those at Delphi. Its

length was two cubits, and its breadth one cubit, and its height three

spans. It had feet also, the lower half of which were complete feet,

resembling those which the Dorians put to their bedsteads; but the upper

parts towards the table were wrought into a square form. The table had a

hollow towards every side, having a ledge of four fingers' depth, that

went round about like a spiral, both on the upper and lower part of the

body of the work. Upon every one of the feet was there also inserted a

ring, not far from the cover, through which went bars of wood beneath,

but gilded, to be taken out upon occasion, there being a cavity where it

was joined to the rings; for they were not entire rings; but before they

came quite round they ended in acute points, the one of which was

inserted into the prominent part of the table, and the other into the

foot; and by these it was carried when they journeyed: Upon this table,

which was placed on the north side of the temple, not far from the most

holy place, were laid twelve unleavened loaves of bread, six upon each

heap, one above another: they were made of two tenth-deals of the purest

flour, which tenth-deal [an omer] is a measure of the Hebrews,

containing seven Athenian cotyloe; and above those loaves were put two

vials full of frankincense. Now after seven days other loaves were

brought in their stead, on the day which is by us called the Sabbath;

for we call the seventh day the Sabbath. But for the occasion of this

intention of placing loaves here, we will speak to it in another place.

7. Over against this table, near the southern wall, was set a

candlestick of cast gold, hollow within, being of the weight of one

hundred pounds, which the Hebrews call Chinchares, if it be turned into

the Greek language, it denotes a talent. It was made with its knops, and

lilies, and pomegranates, and bowls [which ornaments amounted to seventy

in all]; by which means the shaft elevated itself on high from a single

base, and spread itself into as many branches as there are planets,

including the sun among them. It terminated in seven heads, in one row,

all standing parallel to one another; and these branches carried seven

lamps, one by one, in imitation of the number of the planets. These

lamps looked to the east and to the south, the candlestick being situate

obliquely.

8. Now between this candlestick and the table, which, as we said, were

within the sanctuary, was the altar of incense, made of wood indeed, but

of the same wood of which the foregoing vessels were made, such as was

not liable to corruption; it was entirely crusted over with a golden

plate. Its breadth on each side was a cubit, but the altitude double.

Upon it was a grate of gold, that was extant above the altar, which had

a golden crown encompassing it round about, whereto belonged rings and

bars, by which the priests carried it when they journeyed. Before this

tabernacle there was reared a brazen altar, but it was within made of

wood, five cubits by measure on each side, but its height was but three,

in like manner adorned with brass plates as bright as gold. It had also

a brazen hearth of network; for the ground underneath received the fire

from the hearth, because it had no basis to receive it. Hard by this

altar lay the basins, and the vials, and the censers, and the caldrons,

made of gold; but the other vessels, made for the use of the sacrifices,

were all of brass. And such was the construction of the tabernacle; and

these were the vessels thereto belonging.

CHAPTER 7. Concerning The Garments Of The Priests, And Of The High

Priest.

1. There were peculiar garments appointed for the priests, and for all

the rest, which they call Cohanoeoe [-priestly] garments, as also for

the high priests, which they call Cahanoeoe Rabbae, and denote the high

priest's garments. Such was therefore the habit of the rest. But when

the priest approaches the sacrifices, he purifies himself with the

purification which the law prescribes; and, in the first place, he puts

on that which is called Machanase, which means somewhat that is fast

tied. It is a girdle, composed of fine twined linen, and is put about

the privy parts, the feet being to be inserted into them in the nature

of breeches, but above half of it is cut off, and it ends at the thighs,

and is there tied fast.

2. Over this he wore a linen vestment, made of fine flax doubled: it is

called Chethone, and denotes linen, for we call linen by the name of

Chethone. This vestment reaches down to the feet, and sits close to the

body; and has sleeves that are tied fast to the arms: it is girded to

the breast a little above the elbows, by a girdle often going round,

four fingers broad, but so loosely woven, that you would think it were

the skin of a serpent. It is embroidered with flowers of scarlet, and

purple, and blue, and fine twined linen, but the warp was nothing but

fine linen. The beginning of its circumvolution is at the breast; and

when it has gone often round, it is there tied, and hangs loosely there

down to the ankles: I mean this, all the time the priest is not about

any laborious service, for in this position it appears in the most

agreeable manner to the spectators; but when he is obliged to assist at

the offering sacrifices, and to do the appointed service, that he may

not be hindered in his operations by its motion, he throws it to the

left, and bears it on his shoulder. Moses indeed calls this belt

Albaneth; but we have learned from the Babylonians to call it Emia, for

so it is by them called. This vestment has no loose or hollow parts any

where in it, but only a narrow aperture about the neck; and it is tied

with certain strings hanging down from the edge over the breast and

back, and is fastened above each shoulder: it is called Massabazanes.

3. Upon his head he wears a cap, not brought to a conic form nor

encircling the whole head, but still covering more than the half of it,

which is called Masnaemphthes; and its make is such that it seems to be

a crown, being made of thick swathes, but the contexture is of linen;

and it is doubled round many times, and sewed together; besides which, a

piece of fine linen covers the whole cap from the upper part, and

reaches down to the forehead, and hides the seams of the swathes, which

would otherwise appear indecently: this adheres closely upon the solid

part of the head, and is thereto so firmly fixed, that it may not fall

off during the sacred service about the sacrifices. So we have now shown

you what is the habit of the generality of the priests.

4. The high priest is indeed adorned with the same garments that we have

described, without abating one; only over these he puts on a vestment of

a blue color. This also is a long robe, reaching to his feet, [in our

language it is called Meeir,] and is tied round with a girdle,

embroidered with the same colors and flowers as the former, with a

mixture of gold interwoven. To the bottom of which garment are hung

fringes, in color like pomegranates, with golden bells 13 by a curious

and beautiful contrivance; so that between two bells hangs a

pomegranate, and between two pomegranates a bell. Now this vesture was

not composed of two pieces, nor was it sewed together upon the shoulders

and the sides, but it was one long vestment so woven as to have an

aperture for the neck; not an oblique one, but parted all along the

breast and the back. A border also was sewed to it, lest the aperture

should look too indecently: it was also parted where the hands were to

come out.

5. Besides these, the high priest put on a third garment, which was

called the Ephod, which resembles the Epomis of the Greeks. Its make was

after this manner: it was woven to the depth of a cubit, of several

colors, with gold intermixed, and embroidered, but it left the middle of

the breast uncovered: it was made with sleeves also; nor did it appear

to be at all differently made from a short coat. But in the void place

of this garment there was inserted a piece of the bigness of a span,

embroidered with gold, and the other colors of the ephod, and was called

Essen, [the breastplate,] which in the Greek language signifies the

Oracle. This piece exactly filled up the void space in the ephod. It was

united to it by golden rings at every corner, the like rings being

annexed to the ephod, and a blue riband was made use of to tie them

together by those rings; and that the space between the rings might not

appear empty, they contrived to fill it up with stitches of blue

ribands. There were also two sardonyxes upon the ephod, at the

shoulders, to fasten it in the nature of buttons, having each end

running to the sardonyxes of gold, that they might be buttoned by them.

On these were engraven the names of the sons of Jacob, in our own

country letters, and in our own tongue, six on each of the stones, on

either side; and the elder sons' names were on the right shoulder.

Twelve stones also there were upon the breast-plate, extraordinary in

largeness and beauty; and they were an ornament not to be purchased by

men, because of their immense value. These stones, however, stood in

three rows, by four in a row, and were inserted into the breastplate

itself, and they were set in ouches of gold, that were themselves

inserted in the breastplate, and were so made that they might not fall

out. Now the first three stones were a sardonyx, a topaz, and an

emerald. The second row contained a carbuncle, a jasper, and a sapphire.

The first of the third row was a ligure, then an amethyst, and the third

an agate, being the ninth of the whole number. The first of the fourth

row was a chrysolite, the next was an onyx, and then a beryl, which was

the last of all. Now the names of all those sons of Jacob were engraven

in these stones, whom we esteem the heads of our tribes, each stone

having the honor of a name, in the order according to which they were

born. And whereas the rings were too weak of themselves to bear the

weight of the stones, they made two other rings of a larger size, at the

edge of that part of the breastplate which reached to the neck, and

inserted into the very texture of the breastplate, to receive chains

finely wrought, which connected them with golden bands to the tops of

the shoulders, whose extremity turned backwards, and went into the ring,

on the prominent back part of the ephod; and this was for the security

of the breastplate, that it might not fall out of its place. There was

also a girdle sewed to the breastplate, which was of the forementioned

colors, with gold intermixed, which, when it had gone once round, was

tied again upon the seam, and hung down. There were also golden loops

that admitted its fringes at each extremity of the girdle, and included

them entirely.