my daughter! For a hundred and twenty years hast thou inhabited this
undefiled body of dust. But now thine hour is come; come forth and
mount to Paradise!”
But the soul answered, trembling and with pain, “In this pure and
undefiled body have I spent so many years, that I have learned to love
it, and I have not the courage to desert it.”
“My daughter, come forth! I will place thee in the highest heaven
beneath the Cherubim and Seraphim who bear up My eternal throne.”
Yet the soul doubted and quaked.
Then God bent over the face of Moses, and kissed him. And the soul
leaped up in joy, and went with the kiss of God to Paradise.
Then a sad cloud draped the heavens, and the wind wailed, “Who lives
now on earth to fight against sin and error?”
And a voice answered, “Such a prophet never arose before.”
And the Earth lamented, “I have lost the holy one!”
And Israel lamented, “We have lost the Shepherd!”
And the angels sang, “He is come in peace to the arms of God!”[580]
But the Mussulmans narrate the last scene differently.
They say that the Angel of Death stood over Moses, as he lay in the
grave, and said, “Prophet of God, I must take thy soul.”
“How wilt thou take it?”
“From thy mouth.”
“Thou canst not, for my mouth hath spoken with God.”
“Then from thine eyes.”
“Thou canst not, for my eyes have seen the uncreated Light of God.”
“Then from thy ears.”
“Thou canst not, for my ears have heard the Voice of God.”
“Then from thy hands.”
“Thou canst not, for my hands have held the diamond tables, on which
was engraven the Tora.”
Then God bade the Angel of Death obtain from Rhidwan, the porter of
Paradise, an apple from the garden, and give it to Moses to smell.
Moses took the apple out of the hand of the Angel of Death, and smelt
at it; and as he smelt thereat, the angel drew his soul forth at his
nostrils.
None know where is the grave of Moses, save Gabriel, Michael, Israfiel,
and Azrael, for they buried him and defend his grave to the Judgment
Day.[581]
By Nebo’s lonely mountain,
On this side Jordan’s wave,
In a vale in the land of Moab
There lies a lonely grave.
And no man knows that sepulchre,
And no man saw it e’er,
For the angels of God upturned the sod,
And laid the dead man there.
That was the grandest funeral
That ever passed on earth;
But no man heard the trampling,
Or saw the train go forth--
Noiselessly as the daylight
Comes back when night is done,
And the crimson streak on Ocean’s cheek
Grows into the great sun;
Noiselessly as the spring-time
Her crown of verdure weaves,
And all the trees on all the hills
Open their thousand leaves;
So without sound of music,
Or voice of them that wept,
Silently down from the mountain’s crown
The great procession swept.
* * * * *
And had he not high honor--
The hill-side for a pall,
To lie in state, while angels wait
With stars for tapers tall;
And the dark rock-pines, like tossing plumes.
Over his bier to wave,
And God’s own hand in that lonely land
To lay him in the grave?[582]
Once when the Persian Empire was at the summit of its power, an attempt
was made to discover the body of Moses. A countless host of Persian
soldiers was sent to search Mount Nebo. When they had reached the
top of the mountain, they saw the sepulchre of Moses distinctly at
the bottom. They hastened to reach the valley, and then they clearly
distinguished the tomb of Moses at the summit. Thus, whenever they were
at the top, they saw it at the foot; and when they were at the foot, it
appeared at the top; so they were forced to abandon the prosecution of
their search.[583]
The incident of the contention of Michael with Satan for the body of
Moses mentioned by S. Jude is contained in the apocryphal “Assumption
of Moses,” now lost, but which has been quoted by Origen and other
Fathers.
XXXIII.
JOSHUA.
Hitherto Israel had required a lawgiver, and they had been given one in
Moses; now they needed a general, and they were provided with one in
Joshua.
After the death of Moses and his brother Aaron, the children of Israel
remained seven years in the wilderness, till the forty years were
accomplished. Then God conferred on Joshua the function of prophet, and
ordered him to lead the chosen people out of the desert and to attack
the three cities of the giants.
Joshua was of the tribe of Joseph. He was the son of Nun, who was the
son of Ephraim, who was the son of Joseph; and his mother was Miriam,
the sister of Moses and Aaron.[584]
Before Joshua led the people of the Lord to the conquest of the Holy
Land, Joshua sent three deputations into Canaan; of these the first
proclaimed, “Let any one who will escape death, leave the country.”
Then came the second deputation, and declared, “Let such people as will
make an alliance with us, do so, and we will receive them.”
Then came the third deputation, and cried, “Let those who persist in
desiring war prepare for it.”
The result of these deputations was that one nation deserted the
country and settled in Africa, and that another nation made terms with
Israel. But thirty-one princes made ready for war.[585]
Joshua marched with his army against Jericho, took the city, and slew
all the men therein; they were giants, and it took a hundred men to cut
off the head of each giant.
After the capture of Jericho, Joshua went against Ai, which is beside
Beth-aven, on the east side of Bethel. And as the people went up, the
men of Ai came forth, and routed them, and they fled.[586]
Then Joshua rent his clothes, and fell on his face to the earth before
the ark of the Lord, until eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and
put dust on their heads.
And the Lord said to Joshua, “Get thee up. I am wroth with the people,
for there is amongst them a sin which is not put away, and till that
accursed thing is cast out, victory shall not attend their arms.”
Now Joshua had ordered all the plunder of Jericho to be burnt with
fire; but although it was heaped up, the fire would not consume it.
Then he knew that the pile could not be complete, for the flames danced
up, but would consume nothing, as though they waited for the entirety
of their prey.
So Joshua made inquisition; and it was found that Achan (Adjezan in
Arabic) had concealed a portion of the booty, which he desired to
appropriate to his own use.
Then the booty taken by Achan was added to the heap, and instantly the
flames roared up, and devoured the whole of the spoil.[587]
And when Ai was taken, Joshua said: “Enter into this town; for God
has taken it from the giants, and has given it to you to be your
inheritance. But when you pass through the gates, prostrate yourselves,
with your heads in the dust, and adore God, saying, Hittaton, hittaton,
which is by interpretation, Pardon our sins.”
Some of those who entered Ai obeyed the voice of Joshua, and God gave
them a possession in that city, and their posterity retain it to this
day.
But there were some ungodly men who disobeyed the voice of Joshua, and
when they passed through the gates, they did not prostrate themselves,
but they raised their heads to heaven, and instead of saying
“_hittaton_,” as commanded, they said “_hintaton_,” asking for corn.
Then the wrath of God was kindled against these men, and fire fell
from heaven, and consumed all that had said _hintaton_ in place of
_hittaton_.[588]
Near Ai there were mountains, in which reigned two kings, Kuma and
Djion (Sihon). These Amorites were wealthy. When Joshua attacked these
kings, they asked to make a league with the people of Israel; and they
were accepted, on condition that they believed in the religion of Moses.
Another of these mountain kingdoms was governed by a king called Barak
(Adoni-bezek). He also sought by submission to escape ruin, and Joshua
accepted him on the same terms as Kuma and Djion.
To the west were five cities, whose inhabitants were also Amorites. The
kings of these cities made war on Joshua. Joshua routed them, and these
five kings took refuge in a cave. Joshua ordered the cave to be closed
with a stone, whilst he pursued the routed army. Then God sent hail
from heaven, and each hailstone struck down and killed a man.[589]
On that day Joshua cried to the Lord, for the sun hastened to go
down, and it was a Friday, and he feared that he should not have
utterly discomfited the host before the Sabbath came in. Then the
Lord lengthened the day one hour, so as to enable him to complete his
victory.[590]
After the battle, it was announced to him that Barak and the other
kings who had made submission to him had taken advantage of the rising
of the kings of the five cities to renounce their allegiance, and to
return to the worship of false gods. Therefore Joshua prayed, “O Lord!
because they have become unfaithful, take from them their riches, and
make them poor, that they may become bondsmen; and that their king may
fall into misery!”
Joshua was sick and unable to march against them. He was aged a hundred
and twenty-eight years. He was a hundred years old when Moses died, and
he governed Israel twenty-eight years.[591]
For the benefit of coin-collectors, the following information is
inserted. “On the coins struck by Abraham are figured, on the obverse,
an old man and an ass; on the reverse, a boy and a girl. On the coins
of Joshua are, on one side a bull, on the other a unicorn. On those of
David, on one side a staff and wallet, on the other a tower. On those
of Mordecai, on the obverse, sackcloth and ashes; and on the reverse a
crown.”[592]
After Joshua, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Othniel, the son of
Kenaz,[593] Caleb’s brother, governed Israel. They collected the
people, and marched against Barak (Adoni-bezek)[594] and his people who
had apostatized, and attacked them, and slew great numbers of them.
They took the king and cut off his thumbs. This Barak had, during his
reign, treated seventy kings in like fashion, so that they were unable
to pick up any thing off the ground. And when Barak was feasting, these
kings were brought before him. Then he cast bread among them, but they
were unable to pick it up, having no thumbs, and they were obliged to
stoop to the ground, and take it in their mouths like dogs; and this
caused huge merriment to the king.[595]
XXXIV.
THE JUDGES.
If Joshua, the first of the Judges, has, to a great extent, escaped the
hands of legend manufacturers, the same may be said of his successors,
Phinehas, Othniel, Ehud, Deborah and Barak, Gibeon, Abimelech, Tola,
Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon. Even Samson has not been
surrounded by such a multitude of traditions as might have been
expected.
The Mussulmans have little to say of him, and the Jewish legends are
not numerous.
The Rabbi Samuel, son of Nahaman, said that Samson once took two
mountains, one in each hand, and knocked them together, as a man will
strike together two pebbles. The Rabbi Jehuda said that when the
Spirit of the Lord rested on him he strode in one stride from Zorah to
Eshtaol. The Rabbi Nahaman added that his hair stood up, and one hair
tinkled against another, so that the sound could be heard, like that of
bells, from Zorah to Eshtaol.[596]
Abulfaraj says that Phinehas, the son of Eleazer, the son of Aaron,
after the death of Joshua, was commanded by an angel to put the manna,
the rods, the tables of the covenant, and the five books of Moses in
a brazen urn, seal it with lead, and conceal it in a cave, as the
Israelites were too wicked to be entrusted with such a treasure.[597]
XXXV.
SAMUEL.
Gjalout (Goliath) was king of the Philistines. He was of the race of
the ancient giants, the Adites and the Themudites, who were from fifty
to a hundred cubits in height.
The children of Israel were grievously oppressed by him, and they
besought God to send them a prophet who would reinstruct them in
the law of Moses, and in the true religion. For thirty years they
besought God, but no prophet was given to them. In the meanwhile, the
Philistines oppressed them more and more, and whenever the Israelites
rose against them they defeated the Israelites with great slaughter.
There died a man of the tribe of Levi, Rayyan (Elkanah), son of Elkama,
who was descended from Aaron the brother of Moses. The elders of Israel
hearing that he had died, leaving his wife pregnant, went to her and
surrounded her with the greatest care and comforts.
There was amongst them a wise man named Hil (Eli) who was high-priest;
to him they confided the care of the widow. In time she bore a son, who
was named Ischmawil (Samuel).
Eli brought up the child Samuel in the temple, to the age of seven
years, and he taught him the Pentateuch and the religion of Moses.
Samuel regarded Eli as his father, because he had been brought up by
him, and he loved and reverenced him greatly.
One night when he was asleep, Gabriel came into the room and made a
noise, so that Samuel awoke.
He saw no one, so he called to Eli, “Master! didst thou summon me?”
Eli replied, “No, my son, I did not summon thee.”
Next night the same occurred; so also the third night.
Then Eli thought that God wished to give to Samuel the gift of
prophecy; therefore he said, “My son, if thou art called again in the
night, reply, Here am I; what wouldest Thou? I am in Thy hands.”
Samuel did so. Then Gabriel appeared to him and communicated to him the
message of God.
Samuel told Eli that the Lord had given him the gift of prophecy, by
the mouth of His messenger Gabriel.
Then Eli was rejoiced, and he announced the glad tidings to all Israel.
Eli had two sons whom he had instructed in the art of offering
sacrifice according to the law of Moses, but he had taught them nothing
else. Eli himself moreover neglected to sacrifice, and he allowed
his sons to live after their lusts, unrestrained by his paternal and
priestly rebuke.
Therefore God spake to Samuel that He would punish Eli and his sons;
but Samuel feared to show it to the high priest.
Then said Eli to him, “Has God given thee a message to me?”
And Samuel answered, “God has said, Why hast thou neglected to offer
sacrifice, so that thy sons add thereto or detract therefrom? And why
hast thou not constrained them? Because of this sin, I shall deliver
thee into the hands of an enemy, who shall slay thy sons, and take the
ark, and cause thee to perish also.”[598]
Then Gjalout came, and made war against the children of Israel, and
there was a great battle, and Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli,
were slain, and the ark was taken; and Eli fell backward from off his
seat when he heard the news, and his neck brake, and he died.
In the ark, that now fell into the hands of the Philistines, were
preserved the tables of the Law, which God had given to Moses, and
a basin in which the angels washed and purified the hearts of the
prophets, and the mitre and breastplate and potificial robes of Aaron.
The Israelites had been accustomed, in times of peril, to produce the
ark, and it had delivered them from evil by virtue of the sacred relics
it contained. As for the Shekinah which rested upon it, and from which
the ark took its name of Tabut-Shekinah, the Mussulman authors assure
us it had the form of a leopard, which, whenever the ark was carried
against the enemies of God’s people, rose on its legs, and uttered
so potent a roar, that the foes of Israel fell to the ground. These
authors, however, derive this fable from Rabbinic writers.[599]
The king of the Philistines, having obtained possession of the ark,
placed it in a draught-house, purposing thereby to express his hatred
of the Jews, and his contempt for that which they regarded as most
sacred.
But a terrible disease broke out among the Philistines, and the ark was
sent from Gaza to another city. There the plague appeared immediately,
and the Philistines were at length obliged to return the ark to the
Israelites.
In the mean time, the Israelites, in consternation at the loss of their
ark, gathered about Samuel, and besought him to consecrate a king for
them, who might go forth to battle before them, and recover for them
the ark.
Then Samuel said: “If I consecrate a king for you, will you not desert
him, and refuse to obey him?”
But they all protested, “We will follow him wherever he leads, and we
will obey all his commands.”[600]
Then Schareh, who was surnamed Thalout (Saul), on account of the
greatness of his stature, was chosen by Samuel to be their king. He
was poor, and by trade a water-carrier, and his ancestors had all been
water-carriers.
Now the father of Saul had lost an ass, which had escaped into the
desert. Saul went after it.
Then Samuel came to meet him, and said to him: “Thou shalt reign as
king over the people of Israel.”
Saul replied: “O prophet of God! thou knowest that my tribe is the
least among the tribes, and that I am the poorest among the members of
my tribe.”
Samuel said: “Nevertheless, God has ordered that so it should be.”
Then he poured on his head the sacred oil which had been brought to
Samuel out of heaven by Gabriel.
But some say that this oil belonged to Joseph the son of Jacob, and it
was preserved by the prophets. When this oil was poured on Saul’s head
and face, it made his skin brilliant and pure.
Now the prophets all came out of the tribe of Levi, and the tribe of
Benjamin was despised greatly by the Israelites. And when they heard
that their king was from that tribe, and was a water-carrier, they were
angry, and exclaimed, “Why should he reign over us? We are as worthy to
reign as he!”[601]
Samuel answered, “God gives power to whom He wills.”
The Israelites said, “Show us a sign.”
Samuel brought the sacred oil forth, and it boiled in the presence of
Saul.[602]
But that did not suffice them. They then asked another sign; and Samuel
said, “The ark shall return.”
And they lifted their eyes, and lo! the ark was coming to them attached
to the tails of two cows, and angels guided the cows.[603]
Then the children of Israel doubted no longer, but accepted Saul as
their king.
Then said Samuel to the people: “The God of your fathers has sent me
unto you, to promise you victory over the Philistines, and deliverance
from your bondage, if you will turn and leave your evil ways.”
“What shall we do?” asked one of the elders, “that we may obtain the
favor of God?”
Samuel answered, “Ye must pray to God alone, and offer no sacrifices
to idols, nor eat the flesh of swine, or blood; neither must you eat
any thing which is not slaughtered in the name of the Most High. Ye
must assist one another, honor your parents, entreat your wives with
kindness, and support the widows, orphans, and poor. Ye shall believe
in the prophets who have gone before me, especially in Abraham, for
whom God turned a fiery pile into a pleasure garden; in Ishmael, whose
neck God made as a flint stone, and for whom He opened a fountain in
the stony desert; and in Moses, who with his staff opened twelve clay
paths through the sea. Also ye shall believe in the prophets who shall
follow after me, especially in Isa Ibn Mariam (Jesus, Son of Mary), the
Spirit of God, and in Mohammed Ibn Abd-Allah.”
“And who is this Isa?” asked one of the elders of Israel.
“Isa,” pursued Samuel, “is the prophet foretold in the Tora as the Word
of God. His mother Mariam (Mary) shall conceive him by the will of God,
and by a breath of the angel Gabriel. In his mother’s womb will he
praise the almighty power of God, and testify to the immaculate purity
of his mother; afterwards will he heal the sick and crippled, will
quicken the dead, and will create living birds out of clay.[604] His
godless cotemporaries will deal cruelly with him, and will crucify him;
but God will deceive their eyes and will let another die in his room,
and he will be carried up into heaven like the prophet Idris (Enoch).”
“And Mohammed,” asked the same Israelite, “who is he? His name sounds
strange in our ears, never have we heard that name before.”
“Mohammed,” answered Samuel, “does not belong to the race of Israel;
he will descend from the seed of Ishmael, and he will be the last and
greatest of the prophets, before whom Moses and Christ will bend at
the Resurrection Day. His name, which signifies the Much Praised, is
prophetic of the laud and honor he will receive from all creatures on
earth, and all the angels in heaven. The miracles he will work are
numberless, so that a man’s life is not long enough to relate them
all. I shall be able to tell you only the events of a single night.
“One fearful night of tempest, in which neither cock will crow nor dog
bark, Mohammed shall be aroused from sleep by Gabriel, who shall appear
to him in the shape he has when he appears before God, with seven
hundred wings streaming with light; between each a space such as a
fleet-footed horse could scarce traverse in five hundred years. Gabriel
will lead the prophet forth into the open air, where the wondrous
horse Borak will be ready. That is the horse on which Abraham mounted
when he made his pilgrimages from Syria to Mecca. This horse has two
wings as an eagle, and feet like a dromedary, and a body like a costly
gem, shining like the sun, and a head like the fairest maiden. On this
wondrous beast, whose brow bears the inscription, ‘There is no God save
God, and Mohammed is his prophet,’ he will mount and ride, first to
Medina, then to Sinai, thence to Bethlehem, and finally to Jerusalem,
to view the holy places, and at them to offer up his prayers. From
Jerusalem he will ascend on a golden ladder, with rungs of rubies,
emeralds, and jacinths, into the seventh heaven, where he will be
instructed in all the mysteries of the creation, and the governance
of the world. He will see the blessed in all their joy, in Paradise,
and the sinners, in all their pain, in Hell. There will he see many
pasturing wild cattle in unfruitful fields. These are they who in the
time of life used the gifts of God without giving to those in need.
Others will he see running about, and carrying in one hand fresh, and
in the other putrid, meat, and as often as they attempt to taste the
former, a fiery rod will smite them on the hand, till they devour the
latter. This is the punishment of those who have violated marriage,
and have preferred forbidden pleasures. Others have a swollen body,
swelling daily more and more; these are the fraudulent and avaricious.
Others have their tongues and lips fastened together with iron clamps;
these are the slanderers and backbiters. Between Paradise and Hell
sits Adam, laughing with joy when the gate of Heaven opens to receive
one of his sons, and he hears the songs and shouts of the blessed;
weeping with self-reproach when the gate of Hell uncloses to take in
one of his descendants, and he hears the sobbing of the damned. On this
night will Mohammed also see, besides Gabriel, the other angels, who
have each seventy thousand heads, and in each head seventy thousand
faces, and in each face seventy thousand mouths, and in each mouth
seventy thousand tongues, wherewith they cease not day or night to
praise God in seventy thousand diverse languages. He will also see
the angel of atonement, who is half fire, half ice; also the angel
who watches the treasure of fire with gloomy countenance and flashing
eyes; also the angel of death, with a great writing-table in his hand,
whereon are inscribed many names, and from which at every instant he
wipes off several hundreds; finally, the angel who guards the waters,
and weighs in great scales the water allotted to each spring and
well, and brook and river; and the angel who bears up the throne of
God on his shoulders, and has a horn in his mouth, wherewith he will
blow the blast that is to wake the dead. Moreover, the prophet will
be conducted through many seas of light near to the throne itself,
which is so great that the whole world will be beside it as a link in
a coat of mail dropped in the desert. What will be further revealed
to him,” answered Samuel, “is unknown to me; this only I know, that,
after having contemplated the Majesty of God a bowshot off, he will
descend the ladder precipitately, and, mounting Borak, will return to
Mecca. Now the whole of this journey, his sojourn in Medina, Bethlehem,
Jerusalem, and the seventh heaven, will occupy so little time, that a
water-pitcher which he upset as he left the house in Mecca will not
have run all its waters out by his return.”
The assembled Israelites listened to Samuel, and when he was silent
they cried with one voice, “We believe in God and in all the past
prophets, and in all those who are yet for to come. Pray for us that we
may escape the tyrrany of Gjalout (Goliath).”