3. Now the Midianites, at the earnest request and fervent entreaties of

Balak, sent other ambassadors to Balaam, who, desiring to gratify the

men, inquired again of God; but he was displeased at [second] trial 8

and bid him by no means to contradict the ambassadors. Now Balaam did

not imagine that God gave this injunction in order to deceive him, so he

went along with the ambassadors; but when the divine angel met him in

the way, when he was in a narrow passage, and hedged in with a wall on

both sides, the ass on which Balaam rode understood that it was a divine

spirit that met him, and thrust Balaam to one of the walls, without

regard to the stripes which Balaam, when he was hurt by the wall, gave

her; but when the ass, upon the angel's continuing to distress her, and

upon the stripes which were given her, fell down, by the will of God,

she made use of the voice of a man, and complained of Balaam as acting

unjustly to her; that whereas he had no fault to find with her in her

former service to him, he now inflicted stripes upon her, as not

understanding that she was hindered from serving him in what he was now

going about, by the providence of God. And when he was disturbed by

reason of the voice of the ass, which was that of a man, the angel

plainly appeared to him, and blamed him for the stripes he had given his

ass; and informed him that the brute creature was not in fault, but that

he was himself come to obstruct his journey, as being contrary to the

will of God. Upon which Balaam was afraid, and was preparing to return

back again: yet did God excite him to go on his intended journey, but

added this injunction, that he should declare nothing but what he

himself should suggest to his mind.

4. When God had given him this charge, he came to Balak; and when the

king had entertained him in a magnificent manner, he desired him to go

to one of the mountains to take a view of the state of the camp of the

Hebrews. Balak himself also came to the mountain, and brought the

prophet along with him, with a royal attendance. This mountain lay over

their heads, and was distant sixty furlongs from the camp. Now when he

saw them, he desired the king to build him seven altars, and to bring

him as many bulls and rams; to which desire the king did presently

conform. He then slew the sacrifices, and offered them as burnt-

offerings, that he might observe some signal of the flight of the

Hebrews. Then said he, "Happy is this people, on whom God bestows the

possession of innumerable good things, and grants them his own

providence to be their assistant and their guide; so that there is not

any nation among mankind but you will be esteemed superior to them in

virtue, and in the earnest prosecution of the best rules of life, and of

such as are pure from wickedness, and will leave those rules to your

excellent children; and this out of the regard that God bears to you,

and the provision of such things for you as may render you happier than

any other people under the sun. You shall retain that land to which he

hath sent you, and it shall ever be under the command of your children;

and both all the earth, as well as the seas, shall be filled with your

glory: and you shall be sufficiently numerous to supply the world in

general, and every region of it in particular, with inhabitants out of

your stock. However, O blessed army! wonder that you are become so many

from one father: and truly, the land of Canaan can now hold you, as

being yet comparatively few; but know ye that the whole world is

proposed to be your place of habitation for ever. The multitude of your

posterity also shall live as well in the islands as on the continent,

and that more in number than are the stars of heaven. And when you are

become so many, God will not relinquish the care of you, but will afford

you an abundance of all good things in times of peace, with victory and

dominion in times of war. May the children of your enemies have an

inclination to fight against you; and may they be so hardy as to come to

arms, and to assault you in battle, for they will not return with

victory, nor will their return be agreeable to their children and wives.

To so great a degree of valor will you be raised by the providence of

God, who is able to diminish the affluence of some, and to supply the

wants of others."

5. Thus did Balaam speak by inspiration, as not being in his own power,

but moved to say what he did by the Divine Spirit. But then Balak was

displeased, and said he had broken the contract he had made, whereby he

was to come, as he and his confederates had invited him, by the promise

of great presents: for whereas he came to curse their enemies, he had

made an encomium upon them, and had declared that they were the happiest

of men. To which Balaam replied, "O Balak, if thou rightly considerest

this whole matter, canst thou suppose that it is in our power to be

silent, or to say any thing, when the Spirit of God seizes upon us?—for

he puts such words as he pleases in our mouths, and such discourses as

we are not ourselves conscious of. I well remember by what entreaties

both you and the Midianites so joyfully brought me hither, and on that

account I took this journey. It was my prayer, that I might not put any

affront upon you, as to what you desired of me; but God is more powerful

than the purposes I had made to serve you; for those that take upon them

to foretell the affairs of mankind, as from their own abilities, are

entirely unable to do it, or to forbear to utter what God suggests to

them, or to offer violence to his will; for when he prevents us and

enters into us, nothing that we say is our own. I then did not intend to

praise this army, nor to go over the several good things which God

intended to do to their race; but since he was so favorable to them, and

so ready to bestow upon them a happy life and eternal glory, he

suggested the declaration of those things to me: but now, because it is

my desire to oblige thee thyself, as well as the Midianites, whose

entreaties it is not decent for me to reject, go to, let us again rear

other altars, and offer the like sacrifices that we did before, that I

may see whether I can persuade God to permit me to bind these men with

curses." Which, when Balak had agreed to, God would not, even upon

second sacrifices, consent to his cursing the Israelites. 9 Then fell

Balaam upon his face, and foretold what calamities would befall the

several kings of the nations, and the most eminent cities, some of which

of old were not so much as inhabited; which events have come to pass

among the several people concerned, both in the foregoing ages, and in

this, till my own memory, both by sea and by land. From which completion

of all these predictions that he made, one may easily guess that the

rest will have their completion in time to come.

6. But Balak being very angry that the Israelites were not cursed, sent

away Balaam without thinking him worthy of any honor. Whereupon, when he

was just upon his journey, in order to pass the Euphrates, he sent for

Balak, and for the princes of the Midianites, and spake thus to them:—"O

Balak, and you Midianites that are here present, [for I am obliged even

without the will of God to gratify you,] it is true no entire

destruction can seize upon the nation of the Hebrews, neither by war,

nor by plague, nor by scarcity of the fruits of the earth, nor can any

other unexpected accident be their entire ruin; for the providence of

God is concerned to preserve them from such a misfortune; nor will it

permit any such calamity to come upon them whereby they may all perish;

but some small misfortunes, and those for a short time, whereby they may

appear to be brought low, may still befall them; but after that they

will flourish again, to the terror of those that brought those mischiefs

upon them. So that if you have a mind to gain a victory over them for a

short space of time, you will obtain it by following my directions:—Do

you therefore set out the handsomest of such of your daughters as are

most eminent for beauty, 10 and proper to force and conquer the modesty

of those that behold them, and these decked and trimmed to the highest

degree able. Then do you send them to be near camp, and give them in

charge, that the young men of the Hebrews desire their allow it them;

and when they see they are enamored of them, let them take leaves; and

if they entreat them to stay, let give their consent till they have

persuaded leave off their obedience to their own laws, the worship of

that God who established them to worship the gods of the Midianites and

for by this means God will be angry at them 11." Accordingly, when

Balaam had suggested counsel to them, he went his way.

7. So when the Midianites had sent their daughters, as Balaam had

exhorted them, the Hebrew men were allured by their beauty, and came

with them, and besought them not to grudge them the enjoyment of their

beauty, nor to deny them their conversation. These daughters of

Midianites received their words gladly, and consented to it, and staid

with them; but when they brought them to be enamored of them, and their

inclinations to them were grown to ripeness, they began to think of

departing from them: then it was that these men became greatly

disconsolate at the women's departure, and they were urgent with them

not to leave them, but begged they would continue there, and become

their wives; and they promised them they should be owned as mistresses

all they had. This they said with an oath, and called God for the

arbitrator of what they promised; and this with tears in their eyes, and

all such marks of concern, as might shew how miserable they thought

themselves without them, and so might move their compassion for them. So

the women, as soon as they perceived they had made their slaves, and had

caught them with their conservation began to speak thus to them:—

8. "O you illustrious young men! we have of our own at home, and great

plenty of good things there, together with the natural, affectionate

parents and friends; nor is it out of our want of any such things that

we came to discourse with you; nor did we admit of your invitation with

design to prostitute the beauty of our bodies for gain; but taking you

for brave and worthy men, we agreed to your request, that we might treat

you with such honors as hospitality required: and now seeing you say

that you have a great affection for us, and are troubled when you think

we are departing, we are not averse to your entreaties; and if we may

receive such assurance of your good-will as we think can be alone

sufficient, we will be glad to lead our lives with you as your wives;

but we are afraid that you will in time be weary of our company, and

will then abuse us, and send us back to our parents, after an

ignominious manner." And they desired that they would excuse them in

their guarding against that danger. But the young men professed they

would give them any assurance they should desire; nor did they at all

contradict what they requested, so great was the passion they had for

them. "If then," said they, "this be your resolution, since you make use

of such customs and conduct of life as are entirely different from all

other men, 12 insomuch that your kinds of food are peculiar to

yourselves, and your kinds of drink not common to others, it will be

absolutely necessary, if you would have us for your wives, that you do

withal worship our gods. Nor can there be any other demonstration of the

kindness which you say you already have, and promise to have hereafter

to us, than this, that you worship the same gods that we do. For has any

one reason to complain, that now you are come into this country, you

should worship the proper gods of the same country? especially while our

gods are common to all men, and yours such as belong to nobody else but

yourselves." So they said they must either come into such methods of

divine worship as all others came into, or else they must look out for

another world, wherein they may live by themselves, according to their

own laws.

9. Now the young men were induced by the fondness they had for these

women to think they spake very well; so they gave themselves up to what

they persuaded them, and transgressed their own laws, and supposing

there were many gods, and resolving that they would sacrifice to them

according to the laws of that country which ordained them, they both

were delighted with their strange food, and went on to do every thing

that the women would have them do, though in contradiction to their own

laws; so far indeed that this transgression was already gone through the

whole army of the young men, and they fell into a sedition that was much

worse than the former, and into danger of the entire abolition of their

own institutions; for when once the youth had tasted of these strange

customs, they went with insatiable inclinations into them; and even

where some of the principal men were illustrious on account of the

virtues of their fathers, they also were corrupted together with the

rest.

10. Even Zimri, the head of the tribe of Simeon accompanied with Cozbi,

a Midianitish women, who was the daughter of Sur, a man of authority in

that country; and being desired by his wife to disregard the laws of

Moses, and to follow those she was used to, he complied with her, and

this both by sacrificing after a manner different from his own, and by

taking a stranger to wife. When things were thus, Moses was afraid that

matters should grow worse, and called the people to a congregation, but

then accused nobody by name, as unwilling to drive those into despair

who, by lying concealed, might come to repentance; but he said that they

did not do what was either worthy of themselves, or of their fathers, by

preferring pleasure to God, and to the living according to his will;

that it was fit they should change their courses while their affairs

were still in a good state, and think that to be true fortitude which

offers not violence to their laws, but that which resists their lusts.

And besides that, he said it was not a reasonable thing, when they had

lived soberly in the wilderness, to act madly now when they were in

prosperity; and that they ought not to lose, now they have abundance,

what they had gained when they had little:— and so did he endeavor, by

saying this, to correct the young inert, and to bring them to repentance

for what they had done.

11. But Zimri arose up after him, and said, "Yes, indeed, Moses, thou

art at liberty to make use of such laws as thou art so fond of, and

hast, by accustoming thyself to them, made them firm; otherwise, if

things had not been thus, thou hadst often been punished before now, and

hadst known that the Hebrews are not easily put upon; but thou shalt not

have me one of thy followers in thy tyrannical commands, for thou dost

nothing else hitherto, but, under pretense of laws, and of God, wickedly

impose on us slavery, and gain dominion to thyself, while thou deprivest

us of the sweetness of life, which consists in acting according to our

own wills, and is the right of free-men, and of those that have no lord

over them. Nay, indeed, this man is harder upon the Hebrews then were

the Egyptians themselves, as pretending to punish, according to his

laws, every one's acting what is most agreeable to himself; but thou

thyself better deservest to suffer punishment, who presumest to abolish

what every one acknowledges to be what is good for him, and aimest to

make thy single opinion to have more force than that of all the rest;

and what I now do, and think to be right, I shall not hereafter deny to

be according to my own sentiments. I have married, as thou sayest

rightly, a strange woman, and thou hearest what I do from myself as from

one that is free, for truly I did not intend to conceal myself. I also

own that I sacrificed to those gods to whom you do not think it fit to

sacrifice; and I think it right to come at truth by inquiring of many

people, and not like one that lives under tyranny, to suffer the whole

hope of my life to depend upon one man; nor shall any one find cause to

rejoice who declares himself to have more authority over my actions than

myself."

12. Now when Zimri had said these things, about what he and some others

had wickedly done, the people held their peace, both out of fear of what

might come upon them, and because they saw that their legislator was not

willing to bring his insolence before the public any further, or openly

to contend with him; for he avoided that, lest many should imitate the

impudence of his language, and thereby disturb the multitude. Upon this

the assembly was dissolved. However, the mischievous attempt had

proceeded further, if Zimri had not been first slain, which came to pass

on the following occasion:—Phineas, a man in other respects better than

the rest of the young men, and also one that surpassed his

contemporaries in the dignity of his father, [for he was the son of

Eleazar the high priest, and the grandson of [Aaron] Moses's brother,]

who was greatly troubled at what was done by Zimri, he resolved in

earnest to inflict punishment on him, before his unworthy behavior

should grow stronger by impunity, and in order to prevent this

transgression from proceeding further, which would happen if the

ringleaders were not punished. He was of so great magnanimity, both in

strength of mind and body, that when he undertook any very dangerous

attempt, he did not leave it off till he overcame it, and got an entire

victory. So he came into Zimri's tent, and slew him with his javelin,

and with it he slew Cozbi also, Upon which all those young men that had

a regard to virtue, and aimed to do a glorious action, imitated

Phineas's boldness, and slew those that were found to be guilty of the

same crime with Zimri. Accordingly many of those that had transgressed

perished by the magnanimous valor of these young men; and the rest all

perished by a plague, which distemper God himself inflicted upon them;

so that all those their kindred, who, instead of hindering them from

such wicked actions, as they ought to have done, had persuaded them to

go on, were esteemed by God as partners in their wickedness, and died.

Accordingly there perished out of the army no fewer than fourteen 13

[twenty-four] thousand at this time.

13. This was the cause why Moses was provoked to send an army to destroy

the Midianites, concerning which expedition we shall speak presently,

when we have first related what we have omitted; for it is but just not

to pass over our legislator's due encomium, on account of his conduct

here, because, although this Balaam, who was sent for by the Midianites

to curse the Hebrews, and when he was hindered from doing it by Divine

Providence, did still suggest that advice to them, by making use of

which our enemies had well nigh corrupted the whole multitude of the

Hebrews with their wiles, till some of them were deeply infected with

their opinions; yet did he do him great honor, by setting down his

prophecies in writing. And while it was in his power to claim this glory

to himself, and make men believe they were his own predictions, there

being no one that could be a witness against him, and accuse him for so

doing, he still gave his attestation to him, and did him the honor to

make mention of him on this account. But let every one think of these

matters as he pleases.

CHAPTER 7. How The Hebrews Fought With The Midianites, And Overcame

Them.

1. Now Moses sent an army against the land of Midian, for the causes

forementioned, in all twelve thousand, taking an equal number out of

every tribe, and appointed Phineas for their commander; of which Phineas

we made mention a little before, as he that had guarded the laws of the

Hebrews, and had inflicted punishment on Zimri when he had transgressed

them. Now the Midianites perceived beforehand how the Hebrews were

coming, and would suddenly be upon them: so they assembled their army

together, and fortified the entrances into their country, and there

awaited the enemy's coming. When they were come, and they had joined

battle with them, an immense multitude of the Midianites fell; nor could

they be numbered, they were so very many: and among them fell all their

kings, five in number, viz. Evi, Zur, Reba, Hur, and Rekem, who was of

the same name with a city, the chief and capital of all Arabia, which is

still now so called by the whole Arabian nation, Arecem, from the name

of the king that built it; but is by the Greeks called—Petra. Now when

the enemies were discomfited, the Hebrews spoiled their country, and

took a great prey, and destroyed the men that were its inhabitants,

together with the women; only they let the virgins alone, as Moses had

commanded Phineas to do, who indeed came back, bringing with him an army

that had received no harm, and a great deal of prey; fifty-two thousand

beeves, seventy-five thousand six hundred sheep, sixty thousand asses,

with an immense quantity of gold and silver furniture, which the

Midianites made use of in their houses; for they were so wealthy, that

they were very luxurious. There were also led captive about thirty-two

thousand virgins. 14 So Moses parted the prey into parts, and gave one

fiftieth part to Eleazar and the two priests, and another fiftieth part

to the Levites; and distributed the rest of the prey among the people.

After which they lived happily, as having obtained an abundance of good

things by their valor, and there being no misfortune that attended them,

or hindered their enjoyment of that happiness.

2. But Moses was now grown old, and appointed Joshua for his successor,

both to receive directions from God as a prophet, and for a commander of

the army, if they should at any time stand in need of such a one; and

this was done by the command of God, that to him the care of the public

should be committed. Now Joshua had been instructed in all those kinds

of learning which concerned the laws and God himself, and Moses had been

his instructor.

3. At this time it was that the two tribes of Gad and Reuben, and the

half tribe of Manasseh, abounded in a multitude of cattle, as well as in

all other kinds of prosperity; whence they had a meeting, and in a body

came and besought Moses to give them, as their peculiar portion, that

land of the Amorites which they had taken by right of war, because it

was fruitful, and good for feeding of cattle; but Moses, supposing that

they were afraid of fighting with the Canaanites, and invented this

provision for their cattle as a handsome excuse for avoiding that war,

he called them arrant cowards, and said they had only contrived a decent

excuse for that cowardice; and that they had a mind to live in luxury

and ease, while all the rest were laboring with great pains to obtain

the land they were desirous to have; and that they were not willing to

march along, and undergo the remaining hard service, whereby they were,

under the Divine promise, to pass over Jordan, and overcome those our

enemies which God had shown them, and so obtain their land. But these

tribes, when they saw that Moses was angry with them, and when they

could not deny but he had a just cause to be displeased at their

petition, made an apology for themselves; and said, that it was not on

account of their fear of dangers, nor on account of their laziness, that

they made this request to him, but that they might leave the prey they

had gotten in places of safety, and thereby might be more expedite, and

ready to undergo difficulties, and to fight battles. They added this

also, that when they had built cities, wherein they might preserve their

children, and wives, and possessions, if he would bestow them upon them,

they would go along with the rest of the army. Hereupon Moses was

pleased with what they said; so he called for Eleazar the high priest,

and Joshua, and the chief of the tribes, and permitted these tribes to

possess the land of the Amorites; but upon this condition, that they

should join with their kinsmen in the war until all things were settled.

Upon which condition they took possession of the country, and built them

strong cities, and put into them their children and their wives, and

whatsoever else they had that might be an impediment to the labors of

their future marches.

4. Moses also now built those ten cities which were to be of the number

of the forty-eight [for the Levites;]; three of which he allotted to

those that slew any person involuntarily, and fled to them; and he

assigned the same time for their banishment with that of the life of

that high priest under whom the slaughter and flight happened; after

which death of the high priest he permitted the slayer to return home.

During the time of his exile, the relations of him that was slain may,

by this law, kill the manslayer, if they caught him without the bounds

of the city to which he fled, though this permission was not granted to

any other person. Now the cities which were set apart for this flight

were these: Bezer, at the borders of Arabia; Ramoth, of the land of

Gilead; and Golan, in the land of Bashan. There were to be also, by

Moses's command, three other cities allotted for the habitation of these

fugitives out of the cities of the Levites, but not till after they

should be in possession of the land of Canaan.

5. At this time the chief men of the tribe of Manasseh came to Moses,

and informed him that there was an eminent man of their tribe dead,

whose name was Zelophehad, who left no male children, but left

daughters; and asked him whether these daughters might inherit his land

or not. He made this answer, That if they shall marry into their own

tribe, they shall carry their estate along with them; but if they

dispose of themselves in marriage to men of another tribe, they shall

leave their inheritance in their father's tribe. And then it was that

Moses ordained, that every one's inheritance should continue in his own

tribe.

CHAPTER 8. The Polity Settled By Moses; And How He Disappeared From

Among Mankind.

1. When forty years were completed, within thirty days, Moses gathered

the congregation together near Jordan, where the city Abila now stands,

a place full of palm-trees; and all the people being come together, he

spake thus to them:—

2. "O you Israelites and fellow soldiers, who have been partners with me

in this long and uneasy journey; since it is now the will of God, and

the course of old age, at a hundred and twenty, requires it that I

should depart out of this life; and since God has forbidden me to be a

patron or an assistant to you in what remains to be done beyond Jordan;

I thought it reasonable not to leave off my endeavors even now for your

happiness, but to do my utmost to procure for you the eternal enjoyment

of good things, and a memorial for myself, when you shall be in the

fruition of great plenty and prosperity. Come, therefore, let me suggest

to you by what means you may be happy, and may leave an eternal

prosperous possession thereof to your children after you, and then let

me thus go out of the world; and I cannot but deserve to be believed by

you, both on account of the great things I have already done for you,

and because, when souls are about to leave the body, they speak with the

sincerest freedom. O children of Israel! there is but one source of

happiness for all mankind, the favor of God 15 for he alone is able to

give good things to those that deserve them, and to deprive those of

them that sin against him; towards whom, if you behave yourselves

according to his will, and according to what I, who well understand his

mind, do exhort you to, you will both be esteemed blessed, and will be

admired by all men; and will never come into misfortunes, nor cease to

be happy: you will then preserve the possession of the good things you

already have, and will quickly obtain those that you are at present in

want of,—only do you be obedient to those whom God would have you to

follow. Nor do you prefer any other constitution of government before

the laws now given you; neither do you disregard that way of Divine

worship which you now have, nor change it for any other form: and if you

do this, you will be the most courageous of all men, in undergoing the

fatigues of war, and will not be easily conquered by any of your

enemies; for while God is present with you to assist you, it is to be

expected that you will be able to despise the opposition of all mankind;

and great rewards of virtue are proposed for you, if you preserve that

virtue through your whole lives. Virtue itself is indeed the principal

and the first reward, and after that it bestows abundance of others; so

that your exercise of virtue towards other men will make your own lives

happy, and render you more glorious than foreigners can be, and procure

you an undisputed reputation with posterity. These blessings you will be

able to obtain, in case you hearken to and observe those laws which, by

Divine revelation, I have ordained for you; that is, in case you withal

meditate upon the wisdom that is in them. I am going from you myself,

rejoicing in the good things you enjoy; and I recommend you to the wise

conduct of your law, to the becoming order of your polity, and to the

virtues of your commanders, who will take care of what is for your

advantage. And that God, who has been till now your Leader, and by whose

goodwill I have myself been useful to you, will not put a period now to

his providence over you, but as long as you desire to have him your

Protector in your pursuits after virtue, so long will you enjoy his care

over you. Your high priest also Eleazar, as well as Joshua, with the

senate, and chief of your tribes, will go before you, and suggest the

best advices to you; by following which advices you will continue to be

happy: to whom do you give ear without reluctance, as sensible that all

such as know well how to be governed, will also know how to govern, if

they be promoted to that authority themselves. And do not you esteem

liberty to consist in opposing such directions as your governors think

fit to give you for your practice,—as at present indeed you place your

liberty in nothing else but abusing your benefactors; which error if you

can avoid for the time to come, your affairs will be in a better

condition than they have hitherto been. Nor do you ever indulge such a

degree of passion in these matters, as you have oftentimes done when you

have been very angry at me; for you know that I have been oftener in

danger of death from you than from our enemies. What I now put you in

mind of, is not done in order to reproach you; for I do not think it

proper, now I am going out of the world, to bring this to your

remembrance, in order to leave you offended at me, since, at the time

when I underwent those hardships from you, I was not angry at you; but I

do it in order to make you wiser hereafter, and to teach you that this

will be for your security; I mean, that you never be injurious to those

that preside over you, even when you are become rich, as you will be to

a great degree when you have passed over Jordan, and are in possession

of the land of Canaan. Since, when you shall have once proceeded so far

by your wealth, as to a contempt and disregard of virtue, you will also

forfeit the favor of God; and when you have made him your enemy, you

will be beaten in war, and will have the land which you possess taken

away again from you by your enemies, and this with great reproaches upon

your conduct. You will be scattered over the whole world, and will, as

slaves, entirely fill both sea and land; and when once you have had the

experience of what I now say, you will repent, and remember the laws you

have broken, when it is too late. Whence I would advise you, if you

intend to preserve these laws, to leave none of your enemies alive when

you have conquered them, but to look upon it as for your advantage to

destroy them all, lest, if you permit them to live, you taste of their

manners, and thereby corrupt your own proper institutions. I also do

further exhort you, to overthrow their altars, and their groves, and

whatsoever temples they have among them, and to burn all such, their

nation, and their very memory with fire; for by this means alone the

safety of your own happy constitution can be firmly secured to you. And

in order to prevent your ignorance of virtue, and the degeneracy of your

nature into vice, I have also ordained you laws, by Divine suggestion,

and a form of government, which are so good, that if you regularly

observe them, you will be esteemed of all men the most happy."

3. When he had spoken thus, he gave them the laws and the constitution

of government written in a book. Upon which the people fell into tears,

and appeared already touched with the sense that they should have a

great want of their conductor, because they remembered what a number of

dangers he had passed through, and what care he had taken of their

preservation: they desponded about what would come upon them after he

was dead, and thought they should never have another governor like him;

and feared that God would then take less care of them when Moses was

gone, who used to intercede for them. They also repented of what they

had said to him in the wilderness when they were angry, and were in

grief on those accounts, insomuch that the whole body of the people fell

into tears with such bitterness, that it was past the power of words to

comfort them in their affliction. However, Moses gave them some

consolation; and by calling them off the thought how worthy he was of

their weeping for him, he exhorted them to keep to that form of

government he had given them; and then the congregation was dissolved at

that time.

4. Accordingly, I shall now first describe this form of government which

was agreeable to the dignity and virtue of Moses; and shall thereby

inform those that read these Antiquities, what our original settlements

were, and shall then proceed to the remaining histories. Now those

settlements are all still in writing, as he left them; and we shall add

nothing by way of ornament, nor any thing besides what Moses left us;

only we shall so far innovate, as to digest the several kinds of laws

into a regular system; for they were by him left in writing as they were

accidentally scattered in their delivery, and as he upon inquiry had

learned them of God. On which account I have thought it necessary to

premise this observation beforehand, lest any of my own countrymen

should blame me, as having been guilty of an offense herein. Now part of

our constitution will include the laws that belong to our political

state. As for those laws which Moses left concerning our common

conversation and intercourse one with another, I have reserved that for

a discourse concerning our manner of life, and the occasions of those

laws; which I propose to myself, with God's assistance, to write, after

I have finished the work I am now upon.

5. When you have possessed yourselves of the land of Canaan, and have

leisure to enjoy the good things of it, and when you have afterward

determined to build cities, if you will do what is pleasing to God, you

will have a secure state of happiness. Let there be then one city of the

land of Canaan, and this situate in the most agreeable place for its

goodness, and very eminent in itself, and let it be that which God shall

choose for himself by prophetic revelation. Let there also be one temple

therein, and one altar, not reared of hewn stones, but of such as you

gather together at random; which stones, when they are whited over with

mortar, will have a handsome appearance, and be beautiful to the sight.

Let the ascent to it be not by steps 16 but by an acclivity of raised

earth. And let there be neither an altar nor a temple in any other city;

for God is but one, and the nation of the Hebrews is but one.

6. He that blasphemeth God, let him be stoned; and let him hang upon a

tree all that day, and then let him be buried in an ignominious and

obscure manner.

7. Let those that live as remote as the bounds of the land which the

Hebrews shall possess, come to that city where the temple shall be, and

this three times in a year, that they may give thanks to God for his

former benefits, and may entreat him for those they shall want

hereafter; and let them, by this means, maintain a friendly

correspondence with one another by such meetings and feastings together,

for it is a good thing for those that are of the same stock, and under

the same institution of laws, not to be unacquainted with each other;

which acquaintance will be maintained by thus conversing together, and

by seeing and talking with one another, and so renewing the memorials of

this union; for if they do not thus converse together continually, they

will appear like mere strangers to one another.

8. Let there be taken out of your fruits a tenth, besides that which you

have allotted to give to the priests and Levites. This you may indeed

sell in the country, but it is to be used in those feasts and sacrifices

that are to be celebrated in the holy city; for it is fit that you

should enjoy those fruits of the earth which God gives you to possess,

so as may be to the honor of the donor.

9. You are not to offer sacrifices out of the hire of a woman who is a

harlot 17 for the Deity is not pleased with any thing that arises from

such abuses of nature; of which sort none can be worse than this

prostitution of the body. In like manner no one may take the price of

the covering of a bitch, either of one that is used in hunting, or in

keeping of sheep, and thence sacrifice to God.

10. Let no one blaspheme those gods which other cities esteem such; 18

nor may any one steal what belongs to strange temples, nor take away the

gifts that are dedicated to any god.

11. Let not any one of you wear a garment made of woolen and linen, for

that is appointed to be for the priests alone.

12. When the multitude are assembled together unto the holy city for

sacrificing every seventh year, at the feast of tabernacles, let the

high priest stand upon a high desk, whence he may be heard, and let him

read the laws to all the people; and let neither the women nor the

children be hindered from hearing, no, nor the servants neither; for it

is a good thing that those laws should be engraven in their souls, and

preserved in their memories, that so it may not be possible to blot them

out; for by this means they will not be guilty of sin, when they cannot

plead ignorance of what the laws have enjoined them. The laws also will

have a greater authority among them, as foretelling what they will

suffer if they break them; and imprinting in their souls by this hearing

what they command them to do, that so there may always be within their

minds that intention of the laws which they have despised and broken,

and have thereby been the causes of their own mischief. Let the children

also learn the laws, as the first thing they are taught, which will be

the best thing they can be taught, and will be the cause of their future

felicity.

13. Let every one commemorate before God the benefits which he bestowed

upon them at their deliverance out of the land of Egypt, and this twice

every day, both when the day begins and when the hour of sleep comes on,

gratitude being in its own nature a just thing, and serving not only by

way of return for past, but also by way of invitation of future favors.

They are also to inscribe the principal blessings they have received

from God upon their doors, and show the same remembrance of them upon

their arms; as also they are to bear on their forehead and their arm

those wonders which declare the power of God, and his good-will towards

them, that God's readiness to bless them may appear every where

conspicuous about them. 19

14. Let there be seven men to judge in every city, 20 and these such as

have been before most zealous in the exercise of virtue and

righteousness. Let every judge have two officers allotted him out of the

tribe of Levi. Let those that are chosen to judge in the several cities

be had in great honor; and let none be permitted to revile any others

when these are present, nor to carry themselves in an insolent manner to

them; it being natural that reverence towards those in high offices

among men should procure men's fear and reverence towards God. Let those

that judge be permitted to determine according as they think to be

right, unless any one can show that they have taken bribes, to the

perversion of justice, or can allege any other accusation against them,

whereby it may appear that they have passed an unjust sentence; for it

is not fit that causes should be openly determined out of regard to

gain, or to the dignity of the suitors, but that the judges should

esteem what is right before all other things, otherwise God will by that

means be despised, and esteemed inferior to those, the dread of whose

power has occasioned the unjust sentence; for justice is the power of

God. He therefore that gratifies those in great dignity, supposes them

more potent than God himself. But if these judges be unable to give a

just sentence about the causes that come before them, [which case is not

unfrequent in human affairs,] let them send the cause undetermined to

the holy city, and there let the high priest, the prophet, and the

sanhedrim, determine as it shall seem good to them.

15. But let not a single witness be credited, but three, or two at the

least, and those such whose testimony is confirmed by their good lives.

But let not the testimony of women be admitted, on account of the levity

and boldness of their sex 21 Nor let servants be admitted to give

testimony, on account of the ignobility of their soul; since it is

probable that they may not speak truth, either out of hope of gain, or

fear of punishment. But if any one be believed to have borne false

witness, let him, when he is convicted, suffer all the very same

punishments which he against whom he bore witness was to have suffered.

16. If a murder be committed in any place, and he that did it be not

found, nor is there any suspicion upon one as if he had hated the man,

and so had killed him, let there be a very diligent inquiry made after

the man, and rewards proposed to any one who will discover him; but if

still no information can be procured, let the magistrates and senate of

those cities that lie near the place in which the murder was committed,

assemble together, and measure the distance from the place where the

dead body lies; then let the magistrates of the nearest city thereto

purchase a heifer, and bring it to a valley, and to a place therein

where there is no land ploughed or trees planted, and let them cut the

sinews of the heifer; then the priests and Levites, and the senate of

that city, shall take water and wash their hands over the head of the

heifer; and they shall openly declare that their hands are innocent of

this murder, and that they have neither done it themselves, nor been

assisting to any that did it. They shall also beseech God to be merciful

to them, that no such horrid act may any more be done in that land.

17. Aristocracy, and the way of living under it, is the best

constitution: and may you never have any inclination to any other form

of government; and may you always love that form, and have the laws for

your governors, and govern all your actions according to them; for you

need no supreme governor but God. But if you shall desire a king, let

him be one of your own nation; let him be always careful of justice and

other virtues perpetually; let him submit to the laws, and esteem God's

commands to be his highest wisdom; but let him do nothing without the

high priest and the votes of the senators: let him not have a great

number of wives, nor pursue after abundance of riches, nor a multitude

of horses, whereby he may grow too proud to submit to the laws. And if

he affect any such things, let him be restrained, lest he become so

potent that his state be inconsistent with your welfare.

18. Let it not be esteemed lawful to remove boundaries, neither our own,

nor of those with whom we are at peace. Have a care you do not take

those landmarks away which are, as it were, a divine and unshaken

limitation of rights made by God himself, to last for ever; since this

going beyond limits, and gaining ground upon others, is the occasion of

wars and seditions; for those that remove boundaries are not far off an

attempt to subvert the laws.

19. He that plants a piece of land, the trees of which produce fruits

before the fourth year, is not to bring thence any first-fruits to God,

nor is he to make use of that fruit himself, for it is not produced in

its proper season; for when nature has a force put upon her at an

unseasonable time, the fruit is not proper for God, nor for the master's

use; but let the owner gather all that is grown on the fourth year, for

then it is in its proper season. And let him that has gathered it carry

it to the holy city, and spend that, together with the tithe of his

other fruits, in feasting with his friends, with the orphans, and the

widows. But on the fifth year the fruit is his own, and he may use it as

he pleases.

20. You are not to sow with seed a piece of land which is planted with

vines, for it is enough that it supply nourishment to that plant, and be

not harassed by ploughing also. You are to plough your land with oxen,

and not to oblige other animals to come under the same yoke with them;

but to till your land with those beasts that are of the same kind with

each other. The seeds are also to be pure, and without mixture, and not

to be compounded of two or three sorts, since nature does not rejoice in

the union of things that are not in their own nature alike; nor are you

to permit beasts of different kinds to gender together, for there is

reason to fear that this unnatural abuse may extend from beasts of

different kinds to men, though it takes its first rise from evil

practices about such smaller things. Nor is any thing to be allowed, by

imitation whereof any degree of subversion may creep into the

constitution. Nor do the laws neglect small matters, but provide that

even those may be managed after an unblamable manner.

21. Let not those that reap, and gather in the corn that is reaped,

gather in the gleanings also; but let them rather leave some handfuls

for those that are in want of the necessaries of life, that it may be a

support and a supply to them, in order to their subsistence. In like

manner when they gather their grapes, let them leave some smaller

bunches for the poor, and let them pass over some of the fruits of the

olive-trees, when they gather them, and leave them to be partaken of by

those that have none of their own; for the advantage arising from the

exact collection of all, will not be so considerable to the owners as

will arise from the gratitude of the poor. And God will provide that the

land shall more willingly produce what shall be for the nourishment of

its fruits, in case you do not merely take care of your own advantage,

but have regard to the support of others also. Nor are you to muzzle the

mouths of the oxen when they tread the ears of corn in the thrashing-

floor; for it is not just to restrain our fellow-laboring animals, and

those that work in order to its production, of this fruit of their

labors. Nor are you to prohibit those that pass by at the time when your

fruits are ripe to touch them, but to give them leave to fill themselves

full of what you have; and this whether they be of your own country or

strangers,—as being glad of the opportunity of giving them some part of

your fruits when they are ripe; but let it not be esteemed lawful for

them to carry any away. Nor let those that gather the grapes, and carry

them to the wine-presses, restrain those whom they meet from eating of

them; for it is unjust, out of envy, to hinder those that desire it, to

partake of the good things that come into the world according to God's

will, and this while the season is at the height, and is hastening away

as it pleases God. Nay, if some, out of bashfulness, are unwilling to

touch these fruits, let them be encouraged to take of them [I mean,

those that are Israelites] as if they were themselves the owners and

lords, on account of the kindred there is between them. Nay, let them

desire men that come from other countries, to partake of these tokens of

friendship which God has given in their proper season; for that is not

to be deemed as idly spent, which any one out of kindness communicates

to another, since God bestows plenty of good things on men, not only for

themselves to reap the advantage, but also to give to others in a way of

generosity; and he is desirous, by this means, to make known to others

his peculiar kindness to the people of Israel, and how freely he

communicates happiness to them, while they abundantly communicate out of

their great superfluities to even these foreigners also. But for him

that acts contrary to this law, let him be beaten with forty stripes

save one 22 by the public executioner; let him undergo this punishment,

which is a most ignominious one for a free-man, and this because he was

such a slave to gain as to lay a blot upon his dignity; for it is proper

for you who have had the experience of the afflictions in Egypt, and of

those in the wilderness, to make provision for those that are in the

like circumstances; and while you have now obtained plenty yourselves,

through the mercy and providence of God, to distribute of the same

plenty, by the like sympathy, to such as stand in need of it.

22. Besides those two tithes, which I have already said you are to pay

every year, the one for the Levites, the other for the festivals, you

are to bring every third year a third tithe to be distributed to those

that want; 23 to women also that are widows, and to children that are

orphans. But as to the ripe fruits, let them carry that which is ripe

first of all into the temple; and when they have blessed God for that

land which bare them, and which he had given them for a possession, when

they have also offered those sacrifices which the law has commanded them

to bring, let them give the first-fruits to the priests. But when any

one hath done this, and hath brought the tithe of all that he hath,

together with those first-fruits that are for the Levites, and for the

festivals, and when he is about to go home, let him stand before the

holy house, and return thanks to God, that he hath delivered them from

the injurious treatment they had in Egypt, and hath given them a good

land, and a large, and lets them enjoy the fruits thereof; and when he

hath openly testified that he hath fully paid the tithes [and other

dues] according to the laws of Moses, let him entreat God that he will

be ever merciful and gracious to him, and continue so to be to all the

Hebrews, both by preserving the good things which he hath already given

them, and by adding what it is still in his power to bestow upon them.

23. Let the Hebrews marry, at the age fit for it, virgins that are free,

and born of good parents. And he that does not marry a virgin, let him

not corrupt another man's wife, and marry her, nor grieve her former

husband. Nor let free men marry slaves, although their affections should

strongly bias any of them so to do; for it is decent, and for the

dignity of the persons themselves, to govern those their affections. And

further, no one ought to marry a harlot, whose matrimonial oblations,

arising from the prostitution of her body, God will not receive; for by

these means the dispositions of the children will be liberal and

virtuous; I mean, when they are not born of base parents, and of the

lustful conjunction of such as marry women that are not free. If any one

has been espoused to a woman as to a virgin, and does not afterward find

her so to be, let him bring his action, and accuse her, and let him make

use of such indications 24 to prove his accusation as he is furnished

withal; and let the father or the brother of the damsel, or some one

that is after them nearest of kin to her, defend her If the damsel

obtain a sentence in her favor, that she had not been guilty, let her

live with her husband that accused her; and let him not have any further

power at all to put her away, unless she give him very great occasions

of suspicion, and such as can be no way contradicted. But for him that

brings an accusation and calumny against his wife in an impudent and

rash manner, let him be punished by receiving forty stripes save one,

and let him pay fifty shekels to her father: but if the damsel be

convicted, as having been corrupted, and is one of the common people,

let her be stoned, because she did not preserve her virginity till she

were lawfully married; but if she were the daughter of a priest, let her

be burnt alive. If any one has two wives, and if he greatly respect and

be kind to one of them, either out of his affection to her, or for her

beauty, or for some other reason, while the other is of less esteem with

him; and if the son of her that is beloved be the younger by birth than

another born of the other wife, but endeavors to obtain the right of

primogeniture from his father's kindness to his mother, and would

thereby obtain a double portion of his father's substance, for that

double portion is what I have allotted him in the laws,—let not this be

permitted; for it is unjust that he who is the elder by birth should be

deprived of what is due to him, on the father's disposition of his

estate, because his mother was not equally regarded by him. He that hath

corrupted a damsel espoused to another man, in case he had her consent,

let both him and her be put to death, for they are both equally guilty;

the man, because he persuaded the woman willingly to submit to a most

impure action, and to prefer it to lawful wedlock; the woman, because

she was persuaded to yield herself to be corrupted, either for pleasure

or for gain. However, if a man light on a woman when she is alone, and

forces her, where nobody was present to come to her assistance, let him

only be put to death. Let him that hath corrupted a virgin not yet

espoused marry her; but if the father of the damsel be not willing that

she should be his wife, let him pay fifty shekels as the price of her

prostitution. He that desires to be divorced from his wife for any cause

25 whatsoever, [and many such causes happen among men,] let him in

writing give assurance that he will never use her as his wife any more;

for by this means she may be at liberty to marry another husband,

although before this bill of divorce be given, she is not to be

permitted so to do: but if she be misused by him also, or if, when he is

dead, her first husband would marry her again, it shall not be lawful

for her to return to him. If a woman's husband die, and leave her

without children, let his brother marry her, and let him call the son

that is born to him by his brother's name, and educate him as the heir

of his inheritance, for this procedure will be for the benefit of the

public, because thereby families will not fail, and the estate will

continue among the kindred; and this will be for the solace of wives

under their affliction, that they are to be married to the next relation

of their former husbands. But if the brother will not marry her, let the

woman come before the senate, and protest openly that this brother will

not admit her for his wife, but will injure the memory of his deceased

brother, while she is willing to continue in the family, and to bear him

children. And when the senate have inquired of him for what reason it is

that he is averse to this marriage, whether he gives a bad or a good

reason, the matter must come to this issue, That the woman shall loose

the sandals of the brother, and shall spit in his face, and say, He

deserves this reproachful treatment from her, as having injured the

memory of the deceased. And then let him go away out of the senate, and

bear this reproach upon him all his life long; and let her marry to whom

she pleases, of such as seek her in marriage. But now, if any man take

captive, either a virgin, or one that hath been married, 26 and has a

mind to marry her, let him not be allowed to bring her to bed to him, or

to live with her as his wife, before she hath her head shaven, and hath

put on her mourning habit, and lamented her relations and friends that

were slain in the battle, that by this means she may give vent to her

sorrow for them, and after that may betake herself to feasting and

matrimony; for it is good for him that takes a woman, in order to have

children by her, to be complaisant to her inclinations, and not merely

to pursue his own pleasure, while he hath no regard to what is agreeable

to her. But when thirty days are past, as the time of mourning, for so

many are sufficient to prudent persons for lamenting the dearest

friends, then let them proceed to the marriage; but in case when he hath

satisfied his lust, he be too proud to retain her for his wife, let him

not have it in his power to make her a slave, but let her go away

whither she pleases, and have that privilege of a free woman.

24. As to those young men that despise their parents, and do not pay

them honor, but offer them affronts, either because they are ashamed of

them or think themselves wiser than they,—in the first place, let their

parents admonish them in words, [for they are by nature of authority

sufficient for becoming their judges,] and let them say thus to

them:—That they cohabited together, not for the sake of pleasure, nor

for the augmentation of their riches, by joining both their stocks

together, but that they might have children to take care of them in

their old age, and might by them have what they then should want. And

say further to him, "That when thou wast born, we took thee up with

gladness, and gave God the greatest thanks for thee, and brought time up

with great care, and spared for nothing that appeared useful for thy

preservation, and for thy instruction in what was most excellent. And

now, since it is reasonable to forgive the sins of those that are young,

let it suffice thee to have given so many indications Of thy contempt of

us; reform thyself, and act more wisely for the time to come;

considering that God is displeased with those that are insolent towards

their parents, because he is himself the Father of the whole race of

mankind, and seems to bear part of that dishonor which falls upon those

that have the same name, when they do not meet with dire returns from

their children. And on such the law inflicts inexorable punishment; of

which punishment mayst thou never have the experience." Now if the

insolence of young men be thus cured, let them escape the reproach which

their former errors deserved; for by this means the lawgiver will appear

to be good, and parents happy, while they never behold either a son or a

daughter brought to punishment. But if it happen that these words and

instructions, conveyed by them in order to reclaim the man, appear to be

useless, then the offender renders the laws implacable enemies to the

insolence he has offered his parents; let him therefore be brought forth

27 by these very parents out of the city, with a multitude following

him, and there let him be stoned; and when he has continued there for

one whole day, that all the people may see him, let him be buried in the

night. And thus it is that we bury all whom the laws condemn to die,

upon any account whatsoever. Let our enemies that fall in battle be also

buried; nor let any one dead body lie above the ground, or suffer a

punishment beyond what justice requires.

25. Let no one lend to any one of the Hebrews upon usury, neither usury

of what is eaten or what is drunken, for it is not just to make

advantage of the misfortunes of one of thy own countrymen; but when thou

hast been assistant to his necessities, think it thy gain if thou

obtainest their gratitude to thee; and withal that reward which will

come to thee from God, for thy humanity towards him.

26. Those who have borrowed either silver or any sort of fruits, whether

dry or wet, [I mean this, when the Jewish affairs shall, by the blessing

of God, be to their own mind,] let the borrowers bring them again, and

restore them with pleasure to those who lent them, laying them up, as it

were, in their own treasuries, and justly expecting to receive them

thence, if they shall want them again. But if they be without shame, and

do not restore it, let not the lender go to the borrower's house, and

take a pledge himself, before judgment be given concerning it; but let

him require the pledge, and let the debtor bring it of himself, without

the least opposition to him that comes upon him under the protection of

the law. And if he that gave the pledge be rich, let the creditor retain

it till what he lent be paid him again; but if he be poor, let him that

takes it return it before the going down of the sun, especially if the

pledge be a garment, that the debtor may have it for a covering in his

sleep, God himself naturally showing mercy to the poor. It is also not

lawful to take a millstone, nor any utensil thereto belonging, for a

pledge, that the debtor, may not be deprived of instruments to get their

food withal, and lest they be undone by their necessity.

27. Let death be the punishment for stealing a man; but he that hath

purloined gold or silver, let him pay double. If any one kill a man that

is stealing something out of his house, let him be esteemed guiltless,

although the man were only breaking in at the wall. Let him that hath

stolen cattle pay fourfold what is lost, excepting the case of an ox,

for which let the thief pay fivefold. Let him that is so poor that he

cannot pay what mulet is laid upon him, be his servant to whom he was

adjudged to pay it.

28. If any one be sold to one of his own nation, let him serve him six

years, and on the seventh let him go free. But if he have a son by a

woman servant in his purchaser's house, and if, on account of his good-

will to his master, and his natural affection to his wife and children,

he will be his servant still, let him be set free only at the coming of

the year of jubilee, which is the fiftieth year, and let him then take

away with him his children and wife, and let them be free also.

29. If any one find gold or silver on the road, let him inquire after

him that lost it, and make proclamation of the place where he found it,

and then restore it to him again, as not thinking it right to make his

own profit by the loss of another. And the same rule is to be observed

in cattle found to have wandered away into a lonely place. If the owner

be not presently discovered, let him that is the finder keep it with

himself, and appeal to God that he has not purloined what belongs to

another.

30. It is not lawful to pass by any beast that is in distress, when in a

storm it is fallen down in the mire, but to endeavor to preserve it, as

having a sympathy with it in its pain.

31. It is also a duty to show the roads to those who do not know them,

and not to esteem it a matter for sport, when we hinder others'

advantages, by setting them in a wrong way.

32. In like manner, let no one revile a person blind or dumb.

33. If men strive together, and there be no instrument of iron, let him

that is smitten be avenged immediately, by inflicting the same

punishment on him that smote him: but if when he is carried home he lie

sick many days, and then die, let him that smote him not escape

punishment; but if he that is smitten escape death, and yet be at great

expense for his cure, the smiter shall pay for all that has been

expended during the time of his sickness, and for all that he has paid

the physician. He that kicks a woman with child, so that the woman

miscarry, 28 let him pay a fine in money, as the judges shall determine,

as having diminished the multitude by the destruction of what was in her

womb; and let money also be given the woman's husband by him that kicked

her; but if she die of the stroke, let him also be put to death, the law

judging it equitable that life should go for life.

34. Let no one of the Israelites keep any poison 29 that may cause

death, or any other harm; but if he be caught with it, let him be put to

death, and suffer the very same mischief that he would have brought upon

them for whom the poison was prepared.

35. He that maimeth any one, let him undergo the like himself, and be

deprived of the same member of which he hath deprived the other, unless

he that is maimed will accept of money instead of it 30 for the law

makes the sufferer the judge of the value of what he hath suffered, and

permits him to estimate it, unless he will be more severe.

36. Let him that is the owner of an ox which pusheth with his horn, kill

him: but if he pushes and gores any one in the thrashing-floor, let him

be put to death by stoning, and let him not be thought fit for food: but

if his owner be convicted as having known what his nature was, and hath

not kept him up, let him also be put to death, as being the occasion of

the ox's having killed a man. But if the ox have killed a man-servant,

or a maid-servant, let him be stoned; and let the owner of the ox pay

thirty shekels 31 to the master of him that was slain; but if it be an

ox that is thus smitten and killed, let both the oxen, that which smote

the other and that which was killed, be sold, and let the owners of them

divide their price between them.

37. Let those that dig a well or a pit be careful to lay planks over

them, and so keep them shut up, not in order to hinder any persons from

drawing water, but that there may be no danger of falling into them. But

if any one's beast fall into such a well or pit thus digged, and not

shut up, and perish, let the owner pay its price to the owner of the

beast. Let there be a battlement round the tops of your houses instead

of a wall, that may prevent any persons from rolling down and perishing.

38. Let him that has received any thing in trust for another, take care

to keep it as a sacred and divine thing; and let no one invent any

contrivance whereby to deprive him that hath intrusted it with him of

the same, and this whether he be a man or a woman; no, not although he

or she were to gain an immense sum of gold, and this where he cannot be

convicted of it by any body; for it is fit that a man's own conscience,

which knows what he hath, should in all cases oblige him to do well. Let

this conscience be his witness, and make him always act so as may

procure him commendation from others; but let him chiefly have regard to

God, from whom no wicked man can lie concealed: but if he in whom the

trust was reposed, without any deceit of his own, lose what he was

intrusted withal, let him come before the seven judges, and swear by God

that nothing hath been lost willingly, or with a wicked intention, and

that he hath not made use of any part thereof, and so let him depart

without blame; but if he hath made use of the least part of what was

committed to him, and it be lost, let him be condemned to repay all that

he had received. After the same manner as in these trusts it is to be,

if any one defraud those that undergo bodily labor for him. And let it

be always remembered, that we are not to defraud a poor man of his

wages, as being sensible that God has allotted these wages to him

instead of land and other possessions; nay, this payment is not at all

to be delayed, but to be made that very day, since God is not willing to

deprive the laborer of the immediate use of what he hath labored for.

39. You are not to punish children for the faults of their parents, but

on account of their own virtue rather to vouchsafe them commiseration,

because they were born of wicked parents, than hatred, because they were

born of bad ones. Nor indeed ought we to impute the sin of children to

their fathers, while young persons indulge themselves in many practices

different from what they have been instructed in, and this by their

proud refusal of such instruction.

40. Let those that have made themselves eunuchs be had in detestation;

and do you avoid any conversation with them who have deprived themselves

of their manhood, and of that fruit of generation which God has given to

men for the increase of their kind: let such be driven away, as if they

had killed their children, since they beforehand have lost what should

procure them; for evident it is, that while their soul is become

effeminate, they have withal transfused that effeminacy to their body

also. In like manner do you treat all that is of a monstrous nature when

it is looked on; nor is it lawful to geld men or any other animals. 32

41. Let this be the constitution of your political laws in time of

peace, and God will be so merciful as to preserve this excellent

settlement free from disturbance: and may that time never come which may

innovate any thing, and change it for the contrary. But since it must

needs happen that mankind fall into troubles and dangers, either

undesignedly or intentionally, come let us make a few constitutions

concerning them, that so being apprised beforehand what ought to be

done, you may have salutary counsels ready when you want them, and may

not then be obliged to go to seek what is to be done, and so be

unprovided, and fall into dangerous circumstances. May you be a

laborious people, and exercise your souls in virtuous actions, and

thereby possess and inherit the land without wars; while neither any

foreigners make war upon it, and so afflict you, nor any internal

sedition seize upon it, whereby you may do things that are contrary to

your fathers, and so lose the laws which they have established. And may

you continue in the observation of those laws which God hath approved

of, and hath delivered to you. Let all sort of warlike operations,

whether they befall you now in your own time, or hereafter in the times

of your posterity, be done out of your own borders: but when you are

about to go to war, send embassages and heralds to those who are your

voluntary enemies, for it is a right thing to make use of words to them

before you come to your weapons of war; and assure them thereby, that

although you have a numerous army, with horses and weapons, and, above

these, a God merciful to you, and ready to assist you, you do however

desire them not to compel you to fight against them, nor to take from

them what they have, which will indeed be our gain, but what they will

have no reason to wish we should take to ourselves. And if they hearken

to you, it will be proper for you to keep peace with them; but if they

trust in their own strength, as superior to yours, and will not do you

justice, lead your army against them, making use of God as your supreme

Commander, but ordaining for a lieutenant under him one that is of the

greatest courage among you; for these different commanders, besides

their being an obstacle to actions that are to be done on the sudden,

are a disadvantage to those that make use of them. Lead an army pure,

and of chosen men, composed of all such as have extraordinary strength

of body and hardiness of soul; but do you send away the timorous part,

lest they run away in the time of action, and so afford an advantage to

your enemies. Do you also give leave to those that have lately built

them houses, and have not yet lived in them a year's time; and to those

that have planted them vineyards, and have not yet been partakers of

their fruits,—to continue in their own country; as well as those also

who have betrothed, or lately married them wives, lest they have such an

affection for these things that they be too sparing of their lives, and,

by reserving themselves for these enjoyments, they become voluntary

cowards, on account of their wives.

42. When you have pitched your camp, take care that you do nothing that

is cruel. And when you are engaged in a siege; and want timber for the

making of warlike engines, do not you render the land naked by cutting

down trees that bear fruit, but spare them, as considering that they

were made for the benefit of men; and that if they could speak, they

would have a just plea against you, because, though they are not

occasions of the war, they are unjustly treated, and suffer in it, and

would, if they were able, remove themselves into another land. When you

have beaten your enemies in battle, slay those that have fought against

you; but preserve the others alive, that they may pay you tribute,

excepting the nation of the Canaanites; for as to that people, you must

entirely destroy them.

43, Take care, especially in your battles, that no woman use the habit

of a man, nor man the garment of a woman.

44. This was the form of political government which was left us by

Moses. Moreover, he had already delivered laws in writing 33 in the

fortieth year [after they came out of Egypt], concerning which we will

discourse in another book. But now on the following days [for he called

them to assemble continually] he delivered blessings to them, and curses

upon those that should not live according to the laws, but should

transgress the duties that were determined for them to observe. After

this, he read to them a poetic song, which was composed in hexameter

verse, and left it to them in the holy book: it contained a prediction

of what was to come to pass afterward; agreeably whereto all things have

happened all along, and do still happen to us; and wherein he has not at

all deviated from the truth. Accordingly, he delivered these books to

the priest, 34 with the ark; into which he also put the ten

commandments, written on two tables. He delivered to them the tabernacle

also, and exhorted the people, that when they had conquered the land,

and were settled in it, they should not forget the injuries of the

Amalekites, but make war against them, and inflict punishment upon them

for what mischief they did them when they were in the wilderness; and

that when they had got possession of the land of the Canaanites, and

when they had destroyed the whole multitude of its inhabitants, as they

ought to do, they should erect an altar that should face the rising sun,

not far from the city of Shechem, between the two mountains, that of

Gerizzim, situate on the right hand, and that called Ebal, on the left;

and that the army should be so divided, that six tribes should stand

upon each of the two mountains, and with them the Levites and the

priests. And that first, those that were upon Mount Gerizzim should pray

for the best blessings upon those who were diligent about the worship of

God, and the observation of his laws, and who did not reject what Moses

had said to them; while the other wished them all manner of happiness

also; and when these last put up the like prayers, the former praised

them. After this, curses were denounced upon those that should

transgress those laws, they, answering one another alternately, by way

of confirmation of what had been said. Moses also wrote their blessings

and their curses, that they might learn them so thoroughly, that they

might never be forgotten by length of time. And when he was ready to

die, he wrote these blessings and curses upon the altar, on each side of

it; where he says also the people stood, and then sacrificed and offered

burnt-offerings, though after that day they never offered upon it any

other sacrifice, for it was not lawful so to do. These are the

constitutions of Moses; and the Hebrew nation still live according to

them.

45. On the next day, Moses called the people together, with the women

and children, to a congregation, so as the very slaves were present

also, that they might engage themselves to the observation of these laws

by oath; and that, duly considering the meaning of God in them, they

might not, either for favor of their kindred, or out of fear of any one,

or indeed for any motive whatsoever, think any thing ought to be

preferred to these laws, and so might transgress them. That in case any

one of their own blood, or any city, should attempt to confound or

dissolve their constitution of government, they should take vengeance

upon them, both all in general, and each person in particular; and when

they had conquered them, should overturn their city to the very

foundations, and, if possible, should not leave the least footsteps of

such madness: but that if they were not able to take such vengeance,

they should still demonstrate that what was done was contrary to their

wills. So the multitude bound themselves by oath so to do.

46. Moses taught them also by what means their sacrifices might be the

most acceptable to God; and how they should go forth to war, making use

of the stones [in the high priest's breastplate] for their direction, 35

as I have before signified. Joshua also prophesied while Moses was

present. And when Moses had recapitulated whatsoever he had done for the

preservation of the people, both in their wars and in peace, and had

composed them a body of laws, and procured them an excellent form of

government, he foretold, as God had declared to him that if they

transgressed that institution for the worship of God, they should

experience the following miseries:—Their land should be full of weapons

of war from their enemies, and their cities should be overthrown, and

their temple should be burnt that they should be sold for slaves, to

such men as would have no pity on them in their afflictions; that they

would then repent, when that repentance would no way profit them under

their sufferings. "Yet," said he, "will that God who founded your

nation, restore your cities to your citizens, with their temple also;

and you shall lose these advantages not once only, but often."

47. Now when Moses had encouraged Joshua to lead out the army against

the Canaanites, by telling him that God would assist him in all his

undertakings, and had blessed the whole multitude, he said, "Since I am

going to my forefathers, and God has determined that this should be the

day of my departure to them, I return him thanks while I am still alive

and present with you, for that providence he hath exercised over you,

which hath not only delivered us from the miseries we lay under, but

hath bestowed a state of prosperity upon us; as also, that he hath

assisted me in the pains I took, and in all the contrivances I had in my

care about you, in order to better your condition, and hath on all

occasions showed himself favorable to us; or rather he it was who first

conducted our affairs, and brought them to a happy conclusion, by making

use of me as a vicarious general under him, and as a minister in those

matters wherein he was willing to do you good: on which account I think

it proper to bless that Divine Power which will take care of you for the

time to come, and this in order to repay that debt which I owe him, and

to leave behind me a memorial that we are obliged to worship and honor

him, and to keep those laws which are the most excellent gift of all

those he hath already bestowed upon us, or which, if he continue

favorable to us, he will bestow upon us hereafter. Certainly a human

legislator is a terrible enemy when his laws are affronted, and are made

to no purpose. And may you never experience that displeasure of God

which will be the consequence of the neglect of these his laws, which

he, who is your Creator, hath given you."

48. When Moses had spoken thus at the end of his life, and had foretold

what would befall to every one of their tribes 36 afterward, with the

addition of a blessing to them, the multitude fell into tears, insomuch

that even the women, by beating their breasts, made manifest the deep

concern they had when he was about to die. The children also lamented

still more, as not able to contain their grief; and thereby declared,

that even at their age they were sensible of his virtue and mighty

deeds; and truly there seemed to be a strife betwixt the young and the

old who should most grieve for him. The old grieved because they knew

what a careful protector they were to be deprived of, and so lamented

their future state; but the young grieved, not only for that, but also

because it so happened that they were to be left by him before they had

well tasted of his virtue. Now one may make a guess at the excess of

this sorrow and lamentation of the multitude, from what happened to the

legislator himself; for although he was always persuaded that he ought

not to be cast down at the approach of death, since the undergoing it

was agreeable to the will of God and the law of nature, yet what the

people did so overbore him, that he wept himself. Now as he went thence

to the place where he was to vanish out of their sight, they all

followed after him weeping; but Moses beckoned with his hand to those

that were remote from him, and bade them stay behind in quiet, while he

exhorted those that were near to him that they would not render his

departure so lamentable. Whereupon they thought they ought to grant him

that favor, to let him depart according as he himself desired; so they

restrained themselves, though weeping still towards one another. All

those who accompanied him were the senate, and Eleazar the high priest,

and Joshua their commander. Now as soon as they were come to the

mountain called Abarim, [which is a very high mountain, situate over

against Jericho, and one that affords, to such as are upon it, a

prospect of the greatest part of the excellent land of Canaan,] he

dismissed the senate; and as he was going to embrace Eleazar and Joshua,

and was still discoursing with them, a cloud stood over him on the

sudden, and he disappeared in a certain valley, although he wrote in the

holy books that he died, which was done out of fear, lest they should

venture to say that, because of his extraordinary virtue, he went to

God.

49. Now Moses lived in all one hundred and twenty years; a third part of

which time, abating one month, he was the people's ruler; and he died on

the last month of the year, which is called by the Macedonians Dystrus,

but by us Adar, on the first day of the month. He was one that exceeded

all men that ever were in understanding, and made the best use of what

that understanding suggested to him. He had a very graceful way of

speaking and addressing himself to the multitude; and as to his other

qualifications, he had such a full command of his passions, as if he

hardly had any such in his soul, and only knew them by their names, as

rather perceiving them in other men than in himself. He was also such a

general of an army as is seldom seen, as well as such a prophet as was

never known, and this to such a degree, that whatsoever he pronounced,

you would think you heard the voice of God himself. So the people

mourned for him thirty days: nor did ever any grief so deeply affect the

Hebrews as did this upon the death of Moses: nor were those that had

experienced his conduct the only persons that desired him, but those

also that perused the laws he left behind him had a strong desire after

him, and by them gathered the extraordinary virtue he was master of. And

this shall suffice for the declaration of the manner of the death of

Moses.

FOOTNOTES:

1 (return) [ Reland here takes notice, that although our Bibles say

little or nothing of these riches of Corah, yet that both the Jews and

Mahommedans, as well as Josephus, are full of it.]

2 (return) [ It appears here, and from the Samaritan Pentateuch, and, in

effect, from the psalmist, as also from the Apostolical Constitutions,

from Clement's First Epistle to the Corinthians, from Ignatius's Epistle

to the Magnesians, and from Eusebius, that Corah was not swallowed up

with the Reubenites, but burned with the Levites of his own tribe. See

Essay on the Old Testament, p. 64, 65.]

3 (return) [ Concerning these twelve rods of the twelve tribes of

Israel, see St. Clement's account, much larger than that in our Bibles,

1 Epist. sect. 45; as is Josephus's present account in measure larger

also.]

4 (return) [ Grotius, on Numbers 6:18, takes notice that the Greeks

also, aswell as the Jews, sometimes consecrated the hair of their heads

to the gods.]

5 (return) [ Josephus here uses this phrase, "when the fortieth year was

completed," for when it was begun; as does St. Luke when the day of

Pentecost was completed," Acts 2:1.]

6 (return) [ Whether Miriam died, as Josephus's. Greek copies imply, on

the first day of the month, may be doubted, because the Latin copies say

it was on the tenth, and so say the Jewish calendars also, as Dr.

Bernard assures us. It is said her sepulcher is still extant near Petra,

the old capital city of Arabia Petraea, at this day; as also that of

Aaron, not far off.]

7 (return) [ What Josephus here remarks is well worth our remark in this

place also; viz. that the Israelites were never to meddle with the

Moabites, or Ammonites, or any other people, but those belonging to the

land of Canaan, and the countries of Sihon and Og beyond Jordan, as far

as the desert and Euphrates, and that therefore no other people had

reason to fear the conquests of the Israelites; but that those countries

given them by God were their proper and peculiar portion among the

nations, and that all who endeavored to dispossess them might ever be

justly destroyed by them.]

8 (return) [ Note that Josephus never supposes Balaam to be an idolater,

nor to seek idolatrous enchantments, or to prophesy falsely, but to be

no other than an ill-disposed prophet of the true God; and intimates

that God's answer the second time, permitting him to go, was ironical,

and on design that he deceived [which sort of deception, by way of

punishment for former crimes, Josephus never scruples to admit, as ever

esteeming such wicked men justly and providentially deceived]. But

perhaps we had better keep here close to the text which says Numbers

23:20, 21, that God only permitted Balaam to go along with the

ambassadors, in case they came and called him, or positively insisted on

his going along with them, on any terms; whereas Balaam seems out of

impatience to have risen up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and

rather to have called them, than staid for their calling him, so zealous

does he seem to have been for his reward of divination, his wages of

unrighteousness, Numbers 23:7, 17, 18, 37; 2 Peter 2:15; Jude 5, 11;

which reward or wages the truly religious prophets of God never required

nor accepted, as our Josephus justly takes notice in the cases of

Samuel, Antiq. B. V. ch. 4. sect. 1, and Daniel, Antiq. B. X. ch. 11.

sect. 3. See also Genesis 14:22, 23; 2 Kings 5:15, 16, 26, 27; and Acts

8;17-24.]

9 (return) [ Whether Josephus had in his copy but two attempts of Balaam

in all to curse Israel; or whether by this his twice offering sacrifice,

he meant twice besides that first time already mentioned, which yet is

not very probable; cannot now be certainly determined. In the mean time,

all other copies have three such attempts of Balaam to curse them in the

present history.]

10 (return) [ Such a large and distinct account of this perversion of

the Israelites by the Midianite women, of which our other copies give us

but short intimations, Numbers 31:16 2 Peter 2:15; Jude 11; Revelation

2:14, is preserved, as Reland informs us, in the Samaritan Chronicle, in

Philo, and in other writings of the Jews, as well as here by Josephus.]

11 (return) [ This grand maxim, That God's people of Israel could never

be hurt nor destroyed, but by drawing them to sin against God, appears

to be true, by the entire history of that people, both in the Bible and

in Josephus; and is often taken notice of in them both. See in

particular a most remarkable Ammonite testimony to this purpose, Judith

5:5-21.]

12 (return) [ What Josephus here puts into the mouths of these Midianite

women, who came to entice the Israelites to lewdness and idolatry, viz.

that their worship of the God of Israel, in opposition to their idol

gods, implied their living according to the holy laws which the true God

had given them by Moses, in opposition to those impure laws which were

observed under their false gods, well deserves our consideration; and

gives us a substantial reason for the great concern that was ever shown

under the law of Moses to preserve the Israelites from idolatry, and in

the worship of the true God; it being of no less consequence than,

Whether God's people should be governed by the holy laws of the true

God, or by the impure laws derived from demons, under the pagan

idolatry.]

13 (return) [ The mistake in all Josephus's copies, Greek and Latin

which have here fourteen thousand instead of twenty-four thousand, is so

flagrant, that our very learned editors, Bernard and Hudson, have put

the latter number directly into the text. I choose rather to put it in

brackets.]

14 (return) [ The slaughter of all the Midianite women that had

prostituted themselves to the lewd Israelites, and the preservation of

those that had not been guilty therein; the last of which were no fewer

than thirty-two thousand, both here and Numbers 31:15-17, 35, 40, 46,

and both by the particular command of God; are highly remarkable, and

show that, even in nations otherwise for their wickedness doomed to

destruction, the innocent were sometimes particularly and providentially

taken care of, and delivered from that destruction; which directly

implies, that it was the wickedness of the nations of Canaan, and

nothing else, that occasioned their excision. See Genesis 15;16; 1

Samuel 15:18, 33; Apost. Constit. B. VIII. ch. 12. p. 402. In the first

of which places, the reason of the delay of the punishment of the

Amorites is given, because "their iniquity was not yet full." In the

secured, Saul is ordered to go and "destroy the sinners, the

Amalekites;" plainly implying that they were therefore to be destroyed,

because they were sinners, and not otherwise. In the third, the reason

is given why king Agag was not to be spared, viz. because of his former

cruelty: "As thy sword hath made the [Hebrew] women childless, so shall

thy mother be made childless among women by the Hebrews." In the last

place, the apostles, or their amanuensis Clement, gave this reason for

the necessity of the coming of Christ, that "men had formerly perverted

both the positive law, and that of nature; and had cast out of their

mind the memory of the Flood, the burning of Sodom, the plagues of the

Egyptians, and the slaughter of the inhabitants of Palestine," as signs

of the most amazing impenitence and insensibility, under the punishments

of horrid wickedness.]

15 (return) [ Josephus here, in this one sentence, sums up his notion of

Moses's very long and very serious exhortations in the book of

Deuteronomy; and his words are so true, and of such importance, that

they deserve to be had in constant remembrance.]

16 (return) [ This law, both here and Exodus 20:25, 26, of not going up

to God's altar by ladder-steps, but on an acclivity, seems not to have

belonged to the altar of the tabernacle, which was in all but three

cubits high, Exodus 27:4; nor to that of Ezekiel, which was expressly to

be gone up to by steps, ch. 43:17; but rather to occasional altars of

any considerable altitude and largeness; as also probably to Solomon's

altar, to which it is here applied by Josephus, as well as to that in

Zorobabel's and Herod's temple, which were, I think, all ten cubits

high. See 2 Chronicles 4:1, and Antiq. B. VIII. ch. 3. sect. 7. The

reason why these temples, and these only, were to have this ascent on an

acclivity, and not by steps, is obvious, that before the invention of

stairs, such as we now use, decency could not be otherwise provided for

in the loose garments which the priests wore, as the law required. See

Lamy of the Tabernacle and Temple, p. 444.]

17 (return) [ The hire of public or secret harlots was given to Venus in

Syria, as Lucian informs us, p. 878; and against some such vile practice

of the old idolaters this law seems to have been made.]

18 (return) [ The Apostolical Constitutions, B. II. ch. 26. sect. 31,

expound this law of Moses, Exodus 22. 28, "Thou shalt not revile or

blaspheme the gods," or magistrates, which is a much more probable

exposition than this of Josephus, of heathen gillis, as here, and

against Apion, B. II. ch. 3. sect. 31. What book of the law was thus

publicly read, see the note on Antiq. B. X. ch. 5. sect. 5, and 1 Esd.

9:8-55.]

19 (return) [ Whether these phylacteries, and other Jewish memorials of

the law here mentioned by Josephus, and by Muses, [besides the fringes

on the borders of their garments, Numbers 15:37,] were literally meant

by God, I much question. That they have been long observed by the

Pharisees and Rabbinical Jews is certain; however, the Karaites, who

receive not the unwritten traditions of the elders, but keep close to

the written law, with Jerome and Grotius, think they were not literally

to be understood; as Bernard and Reland here take notice. Nor indeed do

I remember that, either in the ancienter books of the Old Testament, or

in the books we call Apocrypha, there are any signs of such literal

observations appearing among the Jews, though their real or mystical

signification, i.e. the constant remembrance and observation of the laws

of God by Moses, be frequently inculcated in all the sacred writings.]

20 (return) [ Here, as well as elsewhere, sect. 38, of his Life, sect.

14, and of the War, B. II. ch. 20. sect. 5, are but seven judges

appointed for small cities, instead of twenty-three in the modern

Rabbins; which modern Rabbis are always but of very little authority in

comparison of our Josephus.]

21 (return) [ I have never observed elsewhere, that in the Jewish

government women were not admitted as legal witnesses in courts of

justice. None of our copies of the Pentateuch say a word of it. It is

very probable, however, that this was the exposition of the scribes and

Pharisees, and the practice of the Jews in the days of Josephus.]

22 (return) [ This penalty of "forty stripes save one," here mentioned,

and sect. 23, was five times inflicted on St. Paul himself by the Jews,

2 Corinthians 11:24]

23 (return) [ Josephus's plain and express interpretation of this law of

Moses, Deuteronomy 14:28, 29; 26:12, etc., that the Jews were bound

every third year to pay three tithes, that to the Levites, that for

sacrifices at Jerusalem, and this for the indigent, the widow, and the

orphans, is fully confirmed by the practice of good old Tobit, even when

he was a captive in Assyria, against the opinions of the Rabbins, Tobit

1:6-8.]

24 (return) [ These tokens of virginity, as the Hebrew and Septuagint

style them, Deuteronomy 22:15, 17, 20, seem to me very different from

what our later interpreters suppose. They appear rather to have been

such close linen garments as were never put off virgins, after, a

certain age, till they were married, but before witnesses, and which,

while they were entire, were certain evidences of such virginity. See

these, Antiq. B. VII. ch. 8. sect. 1; 2 Samuel 13:18; Isaiah 6:1

Josephus here determines nothing what were these particular tokens of

virginity or of corruption: perhaps he thought he could not easily

describe them to the heathens, without saying what they might have

thought a breach of modesty; which seeming breach of modesty laws cannot

always wholly avoid.]

25 (return) [ These words of Josephus are very like those of the

Pharisees to our Savior upon this very subject, Matthew 19:3, "Is it

lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?"]

26 (return) [ Here it is supposed that this captive's husband, if she

were before a married woman, was dead before, or rather was slain in

this very battle, otherwise it would have been adultery in him that

married her.]

27 (return) [ See Herod the Great insisting on the execution of this

law, with relation to two of his own sons, before the judges at Berytus,

Antiq. B. XVI. ch. 11. sect. 2.]

28 (return) [ Philo and others appear to have understood this law,

Exodus 21:22, 23, better than Josephus, who seems to allow, that though

the infant in the mother's womb, even after the mother were quick, and

so the infant had a rational soul, were killed by the stroke upon the

mother, yet if the mother escaped, the offender should only be fined,

and not put to death; while the law seems rather to mean, that if the

infant in that case be killed, though the mother escape, the offender

must be put to death, and not only when the mother is killed, as

Josephus understood it. It seems this was the exposition of the

Pharisees in the days of Josephus.]

29 (return) [ What we render a witch, according to our modern notions of

witchcraft, Exodus 22:15, Philo and Josephus understood of a poisoner,

or one who attempted by secret and unlawful drugs or philtra, to take

away the senses or the lives of men.]

30 (return) [ This permission of redeeming this penalty with money is

not in our copies, Exodus 21:24, 25; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy

19:21.]

31 (return) [ We may here note, that thirty shekels, the price our

Savior was sold for by Judas to the Jews, Matthew 26:15, and 27;3, was

the old value of a bought servant or slave among that people.]

32 (return) [ This law against castration, even of brutes, is said to be

so rigorous elsewhere, as to inflict death on him that does it which

seems only a Pharisaical interpretation in the days of Josephus of that

law, Leviticus 21:20, and 22:24: only we may hence observe, that the

Jews could then have no oxen which are gelded, but only bulls and cows,

in Judea.]

33 (return) [ These laws seem to be those above-mentioned, sect, 4, of

this chapter.]

34 (return) [ What laws were now delivered to the priests, see the note

on Antiq. B. III. ch. 1. sect. 7.]

35 (return) [ Of the exact place where this altar was to be built,

whether nearer Mount Gerizzim or Mount Ebal, according to Josephus, see

Essay on the Old Testament, p. 168—171. Dr. Bernard well observes here,

how unfortunate this neglect of consulting the Urim was to Joshua

himself, in the case of the Gibeonites, who put a trick upon him, and

ensnared him, together with the rest of the Jewish rulers, with a solemn

oath to preserve them, contrary to his commission to extirpate all the

Canaanites, root and branch; which oath he and the other rulers never

durst break. See Scripture Politics, p. 55, 56; and this snare they were

brought into because they "did not ask counsel at the mouth of the

Lord," Joshua 9:14.]

36 (return) [ Since Josephus assures us here, as is most naturally to be

supposed, and as the Septuagint gives the text, Deuteronomy 33:6, that

Moses blessed every one of the tribes of Israel, it is evident that

Simeon was not omitted in his copy, as it unhappily now is, both in our

Hebrew and Samaritan copies.]

BOOK V. Containing The Interval Of Four Hundred And Seventy-Six

Years.—From The Death Of Moses To The Death Of Eli.

CHAPTER 1. How Joshua, The Commander Of The Hebrews, Made War With The

Canaanites, And Overcame Them, And Destroyed Them, And Divided Their

Land By Lot To The Tribes Of Israel.

1. When Moses was taken away from among men, in the manner already

described, and when all the solemnities belonging to the mourning for

him were finished, and the sorrow for him was over, Joshua commanded the

multitude to get themselves ready for an expedition. He also sent spies

to Jericho to discover what forces they had, and what were their

intentions; but he put his camp in order, as intending soon to pass over

Jordan at a proper season. And calling to him the rulers of the tribe of

Reuben, and the governors of the tribe of Gad, and [the half tribe of]

Manasseh, for half of this tribe had been permitted to have their

habitation in the country of the Amorites, which was the seventh part of

the land of Canaan, 1 he put them in mind what they had promised Moses;

and he exhorted them that, for the sake of the care that Moses had taken

of them who had never been weary of taking pains for them no, not when

he was dying, and for the sake of the public welfare, they would prepare

themselves, and readily perform what they had promised; so he took fifty

thousand of them who followed him, and he marched from Abila to Jordan,

sixty furlongs.

2. Now when he had pitched his camp, the spies came to him immediately,

well acquainted with the whole state of the Canaanites; for at first,

before they were at all discovered, they took a full view of the city of

Jericho without disturbance, and saw which parts of the walls were

strong, and which parts were otherwise, and indeed insecure, and which

of the gates were so weak as might afford an entrance to their army. Now

those that met them took no notice of them when they saw them, and

supposed they were only strangers, who used to be very curious in

observing everything in the city, and did not take them for enemies; but

at even they retired to a certain inn that was near to the wall, whither

they went to eat their supper; which supper when they had done, and were

considering how to get away, information was given to the king as he was

at supper, that there were some persons come from the Hebrews' camp to

view the city as spies, and that they were in the inn kept by Rahab, and

were very solicitous that they might not be discovered. So he sent

immediately some to them, and commanded to catch them, and bring them to

him, that he might examine them by torture, and learn what their

business was there. As soon as Rahab understood that these messengers

were coming, she hid the spies under stalks of flax, which were laid to

dry on the top of her house; and said to the messengers that were sent

by the king, that certain unknown strangers had supped with her a little

before sun-setting, and were gone away, who might easily be taken, if

they were any terror to the city, or likely to bring any danger to the

king. So these messengers being thus deluded by the woman, 2 and

suspecting no imposition, went their ways, without so much as searching

the inn; but they immediately pursued them along those roads which they

most probably supposed them to have gone, and those particularly which

led to the river, but could hear no tidings of them; so they left off

the pains of any further pursuit. But when the tumult was over, Rahab

brought the men down, and desired them as soon as they should have

obtained possession of the land of Canaan, when it would be in their

power to make her amends for her preservation of them, to remember what

danger she had undergone for their sakes; for that if she had been

caught concealing them, she could not have escaped a terrible

destruction, she and all her family with her, and so bid them go home;

and desired them to swear to her to preserve her and her family when

they should take the city, and destroy all its inhabitants, as they had

decreed to do; for so far she said she had been assured by those Divine

miracles of which she had been informed. So these spies acknowledged

that they owed her thanks for what she had done already, and withal

swore to requite her kindness, not only in words, but in deeds. But they

gave her this advice, That when she should perceive that the city was

about to be taken, she should put her goods, and all her family, by way

of security, in her inn, and to hang out scarlet threads before her

doors, [or windows,] that the commander of the Hebrews might know her

house, and take care to do her no harm; for, said they, we will inform

him of this matter, because of the concern thou hast had to preserve us:

but if any one of thy family fall in the battle, do not thou blame us;

and we beseech that God, by whom we have sworn, not then to be

displeased with us, as though we had broken our oaths. So these men,

when they had made this agreement, went away, letting themselves down by

a rope from the wall, and escaped, and came and told their own people

whatsoever they had done in their journey to this city. Joshua also told

Eleazar the high priest, and the senate, what the spies had sworn to

Rahab, who continued what had been sworn.

3. Now while Joshua, the commander, was in fear about their passing over

Jordan, for the river ran with a strong current, and could not be passed

over with bridges, for there never had been bridges laid over it

hitherto; and while he suspected, that if he should attempt to make a

bridge, that their enemies would not afford him time to perfect it, and

for ferry-boats they had none,-God promised so to dispose of the river,

that they might pass over it, and that by taking away the main part of

its waters. So Joshua, after two days, caused the army and the whole

multitude to pass over in the manner following:—The priests went first

of all, having the ark with them; then went the Levites bearing the

tabernacle and the vessels which belonged to the sacrifices; after which

the entire multitude followed, according to their tribes, having their

children and their wives in the midst of them, as being afraid for them,

lest they should be borne away by the stream. But as soon as the priests

had entered the river first, it appeared fordable, the depth of the

water being restrained and the sand appearing at the bottom, because the

current was neither so strong nor so swift as to carry it away by its

force; so they all passed over the river without fear, finding it to be

in the very same state as God had foretold he would put it in; but the

priests stood still in the midst of the river till the multitude should

be passed over, and should get to the shore in safety; and when all were

gone over, the priests came out also, and permitted the current to run

freely as it used to do before. Accordingly the river, as soon as the

Hebrews were come out of it, arose again presently, and came to its own

proper magnitude as before.

4. So the Hebrews went on farther fifty furlongs, and pitched their camp

at the distance of ten furlongs from Jericho; but Joshua built an altar

of those stones which all the heads of the tribes, at the command of the

prophets, had taken out of the deep, to be afterwards a memorial of the

division of the stream of this river, and upon it offered sacrifice to

God; and in that place celebrated the passover, and had great plenty of

all the things which they wanted hitherto; for they reaped the corn of

the Canaanites, which was now ripe, and took other things as prey; for

then it was that their former food, which was manna, and of which they

had eaten forty years, failed them.

5. Now while the Israelites did this, and the Canaanites did not attack

them, but kept themselves quiet within their own walls, Joshua resolved

to besiege them; so on the first day of the feast [of the passover], the

priests carried the ark round about, with some part of the armed men to

be a guard to it. These priests went forward, blowing with their seven

trumpets; and exhorted the army to be of good courage, and went round

about the city, with the senate following them; and when the priests had

only blown with the trumpets, for they did nothing more at all, they

returned to the camp. And when they had done this for six days, on the

seventh Joshua gathered the armed men and all the people together, and

told them these good tidings, That the city should now be taken, since

God would on that day give it them, by the falling down of the walls,

and this of their own accord, and without their labor. However, he

charged them to kill every one they should take, and not to abstain from

the slaughter of their enemies, either for weariness or for pity, and

not to fall on the spoil, and be thereby diverted from pursuing their

enemies as they ran away; but to destroy all the animals, and to take

nothing for their own peculiar advantage. He commanded them also to

bring together all the silver and gold, that it might be set apart as

first-fruits unto God out of this glorious exploit, as having gotten

them from the city they first took; only that they should save Rahab and

her kindred alive, because of the oath which the spies had sworn to her.

6. When he had said this, and had set his army in order, he brought it

against the city: so they went round the city again, the ark going

before them, and the priests encouraging the people to be zealous in the

work; and when they had gone round it seven times, and had stood still a

little, the wall fell down, while no instruments of war, nor any other

force, was applied to it by the Hebrews.

7. So they entered into Jericho, and slew all the men that were therein,

while they were affrighted at the surprising overthrow of the walls, and

their courage was become useless, and they were not able to defend

themselves; so they were slain, and their throats cut, some in the ways,

and others as caught in their houses; nothing afforded them assistance,

but they all perished, even to the women and the children; and the city

was filled with dead bodies, and not one person escaped. They also burnt

the whole city, and the country about it; but they saved alive Rahab,

with her family, who had fled to her inn. And when she was brought to

him, Joshua owned to her that they owed her thanks for her preservation

of the spies: so he said he would not appear to be behind her in his

benefaction to her; whereupon he gave her certain lands immediately, and

had her in great esteem ever afterwards.

8. And if any part of the city escaped the fire, he overthrew it from

the foundation; and he denounced a curse 3against its inhabitants, if

any should desire to rebuild it; how, upon his laying the foundation of

the walls, he should be deprived of his eldest son; and upon finishing

it, he should lose his youngest son. But what happened hereupon we shall

speak of hereafter.

9. Now there was an immense quantity of silver and gold, and besides

those of brass also, that was heaped together out of the city when it

was taken, no one transgressing the decree, nor purloining for their own

peculiar advantage; which spoils Joshua delivered to the priests, to be

laid up among their treasures. And thus did Jericho perish.

10. But there was one Achar, 4 the son [of Charmi, the son] of Zebedias,

of the tribe of Judah, who finding a royal garment woven entirely of

gold, and a piece of gold that weighed two hundred shekels; 5 and

thinking it a very hard case, that what spoils he, by running some

hazard, had found, he must give away, and offer it to God, who stood in

no need of it, while he that wanted it must go without it,—made a deep

ditch in his own tent, and laid them up therein, as supposing he should

not only be concealed from his fellow soldiers, but from God himself

also.

11. Now the place where Joshua pitched his camp was called Gilgal, which

denotes liberty; 6 for since now they had passed over Jordan, they

looked on themselves as freed from the miseries which they had undergone

from the Egyptians, and in the wilderness.

12. Now, a few days after the calamity that befell Jericho, Joshua sent

three thousand armed men to take Ai, a city situate above Jericho; but,

upon the sight of the people of Ai, with them they were driven back, and

lost thirty-six of their men. When this was told the Israelites, it made

them very sad, and exceeding disconsolate, not so much because of the

relation the men that were destroyed bare to them, though those that

were destroyed were all good men, and deserved their esteem, as by the

despair it occasioned; for while they believed that they were already,

in effect, in possession of the land, and should bring back the army out

of the battles without loss, as God had promised beforehand, they now

saw unexpectedly their enemies bold with success; so they put sackcloth

over their garments, and continued in tears and lamentation all the day,

without the least inquiry after food, but laid what had happened greatly

to heart.

13. When Joshua saw the army so much afflicted, and possessed with

forebodings of evil as to their whole expedition, he used freedom with

God, and said, "We are not come thus far out of any rashness of our own,

as though we thought ourselves able to subdue this land with our own

weapons, but at the instigation of Moses thy servant for this purpose,

because thou hast promised us, by many signs, that thou wouldst give us

this land for a possession, and that thou wouldst make our army always

superior in war to our enemies, and accordingly some success has already

attended upon us agreeably to thy promises; but because we have now

unexpectedly been foiled, and have lost some men out of our army, we are

grieved at it, as fearing what thou hast promised us, and what Moses

foretold us, cannot be depended on by us; and our future expectation

troubles us the more, because we have met with such a disaster in this

our first attempt. But do thou, O Lord, free us from these suspicions,

for thou art able to find a cure for these disorders, by giving us

victory, which will both take away the grief we are in at present, and

prevent our distrust as to what is to come."

14. These intercessions Joshua put up to God, as he lay prostrate on his

face: whereupon God answered him, That he should rise up, and purify his

host from the pollution that had got into it; that "things consecrated

to me have been impudently stolen from me," and that "this has been the

occasion why this defeat had happened to them;" and that when they

should search out and punish the offender, he would ever take care they

should have the victory over their enemies. This Joshua told the people;

and calling for Eleazar the high priest, and the men in authority, he

cast lots, tribe by tribe; and when the lot showed that this wicked

action was done by one of the tribe of Judah, he then again proposed the

lot to the several families thereto belonging; so the truth of this

wicked action was found to belong to the family of Zachar; and when the

inquiry was made man by man, they took Achar, who, upon God's reducing

him to a terrible extremity, could not deny the fact: so he confessed

the theft, and produced what he had taken in the midst of them,

whereupon he was immediately put to death; and attained no more than to

be buried in the night in a disgraceful manner, and such as was suitable

to a condemned malefactor.

15. When Joshua had thus purified the host, he led them against Ai: and

having by night laid an ambush round about the city, he attacked the

enemies as soon as it was day; but as they advanced boldly against the

Israelites, because of their former victory, he made them believe he

retired, and by that means drew them a great way from the city, they

still supposing that they were pursuing their enemies, and despised

them, as though the case had been the same with that in the former

battle; after which Joshua ordered his forces to turn about, and placed

them against their front. He then made the signals agreed upon to those

that lay in ambush, and so excited them to fight; so they ran suddenly

into the city, the inhabitants being upon the walls, nay, others of them

being in perplexity, and coming to see those that were without the

gates. Accordingly, these men took the city, and slew all that they met

with; but Joshua forced those that came against him to come to a close

fight, and discomfited them, and made them run away; and when they were

driven towards the city, and thought it had not been touched, as soon as

they saw it was taken, and perceived it was burnt, with their wives and

children, they wandered about in the fields in a scattered condition,

and were no way able to defend themselves, because they had none to

support them. Now when this calamity was come upon the men of Ai, there

were a great number of children, and women, and servants, and an immense

quantity of other furniture. The Hebrews also took herds of cattle, and

a great deal of money, for this was a rich country. So when Joshua came

to Gilgal, he divided all these spoils among the soldiers.