this event; this old man had murdered the father of the soldier; the
soldier would have wasted the money in riotous living; in the hands of
the youth it will serve to nourish his aged parents, who are dying of
poverty.”[548]
10. THE MISSION OF THE SPIES. (Numb. xiii. xiv.)
And the Lord spake with Moses, saying, “Send thou keen-sighted men who
may explore the land of Canaan, which I will give to the children of
Israel; one man for each tribe of their fathers shalt thou send from the
presence of all their leaders.”
And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran; all of them acute men,
who had been appointed heads over the sons of Israel. And Moses said to
them, “Go up on this side by the south, and ascend the mountain, and
survey the country, what it is, and the people who dwell in it; whether
they be strong or weak, few or many; what the land is in which they
dwell, whether good or bad; what the cities they inhabit, whether they
live in towns that are open or walled; and the reputation of the land,
whether its productions are rich or poor, and the trees of it be
fruitful or not; and do valiantly, and bring back some of the fruit of
the land.”
And the day on which they went was the nineteenth of the month Sivan,
about the days of the first grapes. They came to the stream of the
grapes in Eshkol, and cut from thence a branch, with one cluster of
grapes, and carried it on a rod between two men; and also of the
pomegranates and of the figs; and the wine dropped from them like a
stream.[549]
And when they returned, they related, “We have seen the land which we
are to conquer with the sword, and it is good and fruitful. The
strongest camel is scarcely able to carry one bunch of grapes; one ear
of corn yields enough to feed a whole family; and one pomegranate shell
could contain five armed men. But the inhabitants of the land and their
cities are in keeping with the productions of the soil. We saw men, the
smallest of whom was six hundred cubits high. They were astonished at
us, on account of our diminutive stature, and laughed at us. Their
houses are also in proportion, walled up to heaven, so that an eagle
could hardly soar above them.”[550]
When the spies had given this report, the Israelites murmured, and said,
“We are not able to go up to the people, for they are stronger than we.”
And the spies said, “The country is a land that killeth its inhabitants
with diseases; and all the people who are in it are giants, masters of
evil ways. And we appeared as locusts before them.”
And all the congregation lifted up their voices and wept; and it was
confirmed that that day, the ninth of the month Ab, should be one of
weeping for ever to that people; and it has ever after been one of a
succession of calamities in the history of the Jews.
“Would that we had died in the land of Egypt,” said the people; “would
that we had died in the wilderness. Why has the Lord brought us into
this land, to fall by the sword of the Canaanites, and our wives and
little ones to become a prey?”[551]
Then the Lord was wroth with the spies, and the earth opened her mouth
and swallowed them up, saving only Joshua and Caleb, who had not given
an evil report of the land.[552]
The account of the Targum of Palestine is different. The Targum says
that the men who had brought an evil report of the land died on the
seventh day of the month Elul, with worms coming from their navels, and
with worms devouring their tongues.[553]
The Rabbis relate that though for the wickedness of men the fruitfulness
of the Holy Land diminished, yet in places it remained as great as of
old. “The Raf Chiji, son of Ada, was the teacher of the children of the
Resch Lakisch; and once he was absent three days, and the children were
without instruction. When he returned, the Resch Lakisch asked him why
he had been so long absent. He answered, ‘My father sent me to his vine,
which is bound to a tree, and I gathered from it, the first day, three
hundred bunches of grapes, which gave as much juice as would fill two
hundred and eighty and eight egg-shells (three gerabhs). Next day I cut
three hundred bunches, of which two gave one gerabh. The third day I cut
three hundred bunches, which yielded one gerabh of juice; and I left
more than half the bunches uncut.’ Then said the Resch Lakisch to him,
‘If thou hadst been more diligent in the education of my children, the
vine would have yielded yet more.’
“Rami, son of Ezechiel, once went to the inhabitants of Berak, and saw
goats feeding under the fig-trees, and the milk flowed from their
udders, and the honey dropped from the figs, and the two mingled in one
stream. Then he said, ‘This is the land promised to our forefathers,
flowing with milk and honey.’
“The Rabbi Jacob, son of Dosethai, said that from Lud to Ono is three
miles, and in the morning twilight I started on my way, and I was over
ankles in honey out of the figs.
“The Resch Lakisch said that he had himself seen a stream of milk and
honey in the neighbourhood of Zippori, sixteen miles long and the same
breadth.
“The Rabbi Chelbo and Rabbi Avera and Rabbi Jose, son of Hannina, once
came to a place where they were offered a honeycomb as large as the
frying-pan of the village Heiro; they ate a portion, they gave their
asses a portion, and they distributed a portion to any one who would
take it.
“Rabbi Joshua, son of Levi, once came to Gabla, and saw grape-bunches in
a vineyard as big as calves, hanging between the vines, and he said,
‘The calves are in the vineyard.’ But the inhabitants told him they were
grapes. Then said he, ‘O land, land! withdraw thy fruits. Do not offer
to these heathen those fruits which have been taken from us on account
of our sins.’
“A year after, Rabbi Chija passed that way, and he saw the bunches like
goats. So he said, ‘The goats are in the vineyard.’ But the inhabitants
said, ‘They are grape-bunches; depart from us and do not unto us as did
your fellow last year.’”[554]
11. OF KORAH AND HIS COMPANY. (Numb. xvi.)
And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the sons of Israel, and bid them
make fringes not of threads, nor of yarn, nor of fibre, but after a
peculiar fashion shall they make them. They shall cut off the heads of
the filaments, and suspend by five ligatures, four in the midst of
three, upon the four corners of their garments, and they shall put upon
the edge of their garments a border of blue (or embroidery of
hyacinth).”[555]
But Korah, son of Ezhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, with Dathan and
Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben,
refused to wear the blue border.
Moses had said, “The fringes are to be of white, with one line of blue;”
but Korah said, “I will make mine altogether of blue;” and the two
hundred and fifty men of the sons of Israel, who had been leaders of the
congregation at the time when the journeys and encampments were
appointed, supported Korah.[556]
Korah was a goldsmith, and Moses greatly honoured him, for he was his
cousin, and the handsomest man of all Israel. When Moses returned from
the Mount, he bade Korah destroy the calf; but the fire would not
consume it. Then Moses prayed, and God showed him the philosopher’s
stone, which is a plant that grows in great abundance by the shores of
the Red Sea, but none knew of its virtues before. Now, this plant turns
metals into gold, and also if a twig of it be cast into gold, it
dissolves it away. Moses instructed Korah in the virtues of this herb.
Then Korah dissolved the calf by means of it, but he also used it to
convert base metals into gold, and thus he became very rich.
Korah had great quantities of this herb, and he made vast stores of
gold. He accumulated treasures. What he desired he bought, and he
surrounded himself with servants clad in cloth of gold. He built brick
houses with brass doors, and filled them to the roof with gold, and he
made his servants walk before him with the keys of his treasure-houses
hung round their necks. He had twenty men carrying these keys; and still
he increased in wealth, so he placed the keys on camels; and when he
still built more treasuries and turned more substance into gold, he
increased the number of keys to such an extent that he had sixty camel
loads of them. Moses knew whence Korah derived his wealth, but the rest
of the congregation of Israel knew not.
After that, Korah did that which was wrong, and he broke the commandment
of Moses, and would have no blue border on his servants’ tunics, but
habited them in scarlet, and mounted them on red horses. Neither did he
confine himself to the meats which Moses permitted as clean.
Then God ordered Moses to ask Korah to give one piece of money for every
thousand that he possessed. But Korah refused. This state of affairs
continued ten years. When his destiny was accomplished, he was lifted up
with pride, and he resolved to humble Moses before all the people.
Now, there was among the children of Israel a woman of bad character.
Korah gave her large bribes, and said to her, “I will assemble all the
congregation, and bring Moses before them, and do thou bring a false
accusation against him.”
The woman consented.
Then Korah did as he had said; and when all the assembly of Israel was
gathered together, he spake against Moses all that the lying witness had
invented. Then he brought forth the woman. But when she saw all the
elders of the congregation before her, she feared, and she said, “Korah
hath suborned me with gold to speak false witness against Moses, to
cause him to be put to death.”
And when Korah was thus convicted, Moses cried, “Get yourselves up and
separate from him.” Then all the people fled away from him on either
side. And the earth opened her lips and closed them on Korah’s feet to
the ankles.
But Korah laughed, and said, “What magic is this?”
Moses cried, “Earth, seize him!”
Then the earth seized him to his knees.
Korah said, “O Moses! ask the earth to release me, and I will do all
thou desirest of me.”
But Moses was very wroth, and he would not hearken, but cried, “Earth,
seize him!”
Then the earth seized him to the waist.
Korah pleaded for his life. He said, “I will do all thou desirest of me,
only release me!”
But Moses cried again, “Earth, seize him!”
And the earth gulped him down as far as his breast, and his hands were
under the earth.
Once more he cried, “Moses! spare me and release me, because of our
relationship!”
Moses was filled with bitterness, and he bade the earth swallow him; and
he went down quick into the pit, and was seen no more.
Then, when Moses was returning thanks to God, the Lord turned His face
away from him and said, “Thy servant asked of thee forgiveness so many
times, and thou didst not forgive him.”
Moses answered, “O Lord, I desired that he should ask pardon of Thee and
not of me.”
The Lord said, “If he had cried but once to Me, I would have forgiven
him.”[557]
The earth swallowed Korah and seventy men, and they are retained in the
earth along with all his treasures till the Resurrection Day.
Every Thursday, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram go before the Messiah, and
they ask, “When wilt Thou come and release us from our prison? When will
the end of these wonders be?”
But the Messiah answers them, “Go and ask the Patriarchs;” but this they
are ashamed to do.[558]
They sit in the third mansion of Sheol, not in any lowest one; nor are
they there tormented, because Korah promised to hear and obey Moses, as
he was being engulfed.[559]
The Arabic name for Korah is Karoun, and under this name he has returned
to Rabbinic legends, and the identity of Korah and Karoun has not been
observed.
The Rabbis relate of Karoun that he is an evil angel, and that Moses dug
a deep pit for him in the land of Gad, and cast him into it. But
whenever the Israelites sinned, Karoun crept out of his subterranean
dwelling and plagued them.[560]
This is a curious instance of allegorizing upon a false interpretation
of a name. The Karoun of the Mussulmans is clearly identical with Korah,
but Karoun in Hebrew means Anger, and Karoun was supposed to be the
Angel of the Anger of the Lord, and the story of his emerging from his
pit to punish the sinful Israelites is simply a figurative mode of
saying that the anger of the Lord came upon them.
12. THE WARS OF THE ISRAELITES.
The children of Israel had many foes to contend with. Amongst these were
the Amorites. They hid in caves to form an ambuscade against the people
of God, intending, when the Israelites had penetrated into a defile
between two mountains, to sally forth upon them and to overthrow them.
But they did not know that the ark went before Israel, smoothing the
rough places and levelling the mountains.[561] Now, when the ark drew
near the place where the ambush was, the mountains fell in upon the
Amorites, and the Israelites passed on, and knew not that they had been
delivered from a great danger. But there were two lepers named Eth and
Hav, who followed the camp, and they saw the blood bubbling out from
under the mountain; and thus the fate of the Amorites was made
known.[562]
The Israelites found a redoubtable enemy in Og, king of Bashan, who was
one of the giants who had been saved from the old world by clambering on
the roof of the ark; but his weight had so depressed the vessel, that
Noah was obliged to turn out the hippopotamus and rhinoceros to preserve
the ark from foundering.
Og determined to destroy Moses. Moses was ten cubits in height, and when
Og came against him, he took a hatchet of ten cubits’ length, and he
made a jump into the air, and hit Og on the ankle. Og tore up a
mountain, and put it on his head to throw it upon Moses; but the ants
ate out the inside of the mountain, and it sank over Og’s head to his
neck, and he could not draw his head out, for his teeth grew into tusks
and thrust through the mountain, and he was blinded and caught as in a
trap. Thus Moses was able to slay him.[563]
Some further details on Og, furnished by the Rabbis, will assist the
reader in estimating the powers of Moses.
At one meal, Og ate a thousand oxen and as many wild roes, and his drink
was a thousand firkins; one drop of the sweat from his brow weighed
thirty-six pounds.[564] Of his size the following authentic details are
given. The Rabbi Johanan said, “I was once a grave-digger, and I ran
after a deer, and went in at one end of a shin-bone of a dead man, and I
ran for three miles and could not catch the deer or reach the end of the
bone. When I went back, I inquired, and was told that this was the
shin-bone of Og, king of Bashan.”[565] The sole of his foot was forty
miles long. Once, when he was quarrelling with Abraham, one of his teeth
fell out, and Abraham made a bed out of the tooth, and slept in it; but
some say he made a chair out of it.[566]
When the Israelites came to Edrei and fought against it, in the night Og
came and sat down on the wall, and his feet reached the ground. Next
morning Moses looked out and said, “I do not understand how the men of
Edrei can have built a second wall so high during the night.”
Then it was revealed to him that what he had taken for a wall was
Og.[567] Og had built sixty cities, and the smallest was sixty miles
high. These cities were in Argob.[568]
The Moabites also resisted Israel, and they were encouraged by Balaam
the son of Beor.
Balak, king of Moab, sent to Balaam to curse Israel. Then Balaam rose in
the morning and made ready his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.
The Mussulman account is that Balaam, having been told by God not to go,
resolved to obey, but the princes of Moab bribed his wife, and she gave
him no peace till he consented to go to Balak with his messengers.[569]
But the anger of the Lord was kindled, because he would go to curse
them, and the angel of the Lord stood in the way to be an adversary to
him. But he sat upon his ass, and his two sons, Jannes and Jambres, were
with him.
And the ass discerned the angel of the Lord standing in the way with a
drawn sword in his hand, and the ass turned aside out of the road to go
into the field; and Balaam smote the ass. And the angel of the Lord
stood in a narrow path that was in the midst between the vineyards, in
the place where Jacob and Laban raised the mound, the pillars on this
side and the observatory on that side,[570] that neither should pass the
limit to do evil to the other. And as the ass discerned the angel of the
Lord, and thrust herself against the hedge, and bruised Balaam’s foot by
the hedge, he smote her again. Ten things were created after the world
had been founded at the coming in of the Sabbath between sunset and
sunrise,—the manna, the well, the rod of Moses, the diamond, the
rainbow, the cloud of glory, the mouth of the earth, the writing on the
tables of the covenant, the demons, and the speaking ass.
Then the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said to Balaam, “What
have I done to thee, that thou hast smitten me twice?”
And Balaam said to the ass, “Because thou hast been false to me; if
there were now a sword in my hand, I would kill thee.”
And the ass said to Balaam, “Woe to thee, wanting in understanding!
Behold, thou hast not power with all thy skill to curse me, an unclean
beast, which am to die in this world and not to enter the world to come;
how much less canst thou curse the children of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, on whose account the world was created?”[571]
Balaam finding that he could not curse the people, and that they were
under the protection of the Most High, saw that the only way to ruin
them was by leading them into sin. Therefore he advised Balak, and the
king appointed the daughters of the Midianites for the tavern-booths at
Beth Jeshimoth, by the snow mountain, where they sold sweetmeats cheaper
than their price. And Israel trafficked with them for their sweet cakes;
and when the maidens brought out the image of Peor from their bundles,
the Israelites did not notice it to take it away, and becoming
accustomed to it they went on to sacrifice to it.[572]
And Moses saw one of the sons of Israel come by, holding a Midianitess
by the hand, and Moses rebuked him. Then said the man, “What is it that
is wrong in this? Didst not thou thyself take to wife a Midianitess, the
daughter of Jethro?”
When Moses heard this, he trembled and swooned away. But Phinehas cried,
“Where are the lions of the tribe of Judah?” and he took a lance in his
hand and slew the man and the woman.
Twelve miracles were wrought for Phinehas; but they need not be repeated
here.[573]
Then all the Israelites went forth against the Midianites and defeated
them; and when they numbered the slain, Balaam and his sons were
discovered among the dead.
13. THE DEATH OF AARON. (Numb. xx. 22-29.)
Moses was full of grief when the word of the Lord came to him that
Aaron, his brother, was to die. That night he had no rest, and when it
began to dawn towards morning, he rose and went to the tent of Aaron.
Aaron was much surprised to see his brother come in so early, and he
said, “Wherefore art thou come?”
Moses answered, “All night long have I been troubled, and have had no
sleep, for certain things in the Law came upon me, and they seemed to me
to be heavy and unendurable; I have come to thee that thou shouldest
relieve my mind.” So they opened the book together and read from the
first word; and at every sentence they said, “That is holy, and great,
and righteous.”
Soon they came to the history of Adam; and Moses stayed from reading
when he arrived at the Fall, and he cried bitterly. “O Adam, thou hast
brought death into the world!”
Aaron said, “Why art thou so troubled thereat, my brother? Is not death
the way to Eden?”
“It is however very painful. Think also, that both thou and I must some
day die. How many years thinkest thou we shall live?”
_Aaron._—“Perhaps twenty.”
_Moses._—“Oh no! not so many.”
_Aaron._—“Then fifteen.”
_Moses._—“No, my brother, not so many.”
_Aaron._—“Then ten years.”
_Moses._—“No, not so many.”
_Aaron._—“Then surely it must be five.”
_Moses._—“I say again, not so many.”
Then said Aaron, hesitating, “Is it then one?”
And Moses said, “Not so much.”
Full of anxiety and alarm, Aaron kept silence. Then said Moses gently,
“O my beloved! would it not be good to say of thee as it was said of
Abraham, that he was gathered to his fathers in peace?” Aaron was
silent.
Then said Moses, “If God were to say that thou shouldst die in a hundred
years, what wouldst thou say?”
Aaron said, “The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His
works.”
_Moses._—“And if God were to say to thee that thou shouldst die this
year, what wouldst thou answer?”
_Aaron._—“The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His
works.”
_Moses._—“And if He were to call thee to-day, what wouldst thou say?”
_Aaron._—“The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His
works.”
“Then,” said Moses, “arise and follow me.”
At that same hour went forth Moses, Aaron, and Eleazer, his son; they
ascended into Mount Hor, and the people looked on, nothing doubting, for
they knew not what was to take place.
Then said the Most High to His angels, “Behold the new Isaac; he follows
his younger brother, who leads him to death.”
When they had reached the summit of the mountain, there opened before
them a cavern. They went in, and found a death-bed prepared by the hands
of the angels. Aaron laid himself down upon it and made ready for death.
Then Moses cried out in grief, “Woe is me! we were two, when we
comforted our sister in her death; in this, thy last hour, I am with
thee to solace thee; when I die, who will comfort me?”
Then a voice was heard from heaven, “Fear not; God himself will be with
thee.”
On one side stood Moses, on the other Eleazer, and they kissed the dying
man on the brow, and took from off him his sacerdotal vestments to
clothe Eleazer his son with them. They took off one portion of the
sacred apparel, and they laid that on Eleazer; and then they removed
another portion, and laid that on Eleazer; and as they stripped Aaron, a
silvery veil of cloud sank over him like a pall and covered him.
Aaron seemed to be asleep.
Then Moses said, “My brother, what dost thou feel?”
“I feel nothing but the cloud that envelopes me,” answered he.
After a little pause, Moses said again, “My brother, what dost thou
feel?”
He answered feebly, “The cloud surrounds me and bereaves me of all joy.”
And the soul of Aaron was parted from his body. And as it went up Moses
cried once more, “Alas, my brother! what dost thou feel?”
And the soul replied, “I feel such joy, that I would it had come to me
sooner.”
Then cried Moses, “Oh thou blessed, peaceful death! Oh, may such a death
be my lot!”
Moses and Eleazer came down alone from the mountain, and the people
wailed because Aaron was no more. But the coffin of Aaron rose, borne by
angels, in the sight of the whole congregation, and was carried into
heaven, whilst the angels sang: “The priest’s lips have kept knowledge,
have spoken truth!”[574]
The Mussulman story is not quite the same.
One version is that both Moses and Aaron ascended Hor, knowing that one
of them was to die, but uncertain which, and they found a cave, and a
sarcophagus therein with the inscription on it, “I am for him whom I
fit.”
Moses tried to lie down in it, but his feet hung out; Aaron next entered
it, lay down, and it fitted him exactly.
Then Gabriel led Moses and the sons of Aaron out of the cave, and when
they were again admitted Aaron was dead.[575]
Another version is this: God announced to Moses that he would call Aaron
to Himself. Then Moses took his brother from the camp, and they went
into the desert, till they came to a tree. When Aaron saw the shadow, he
said, “O my brother, whose tree is this?”
Moses said, “God alone knows.”
Then spake Aaron, “I am weary, and the shadow is cool; suffer me to
repose a little while under the tree.”
Moses said, “Lie down, my brother; and may thy rest be sweet.”
Aaron lay down, and Moses sat beside him till he died.
Then suddenly the tree, the shadow, and Aaron vanished; and Moses
returned alone to the Israelites. They were angry with him, that he had
not brought back Aaron, and they took up stones against him. But Moses
cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed them Aaron on a bed, and he was
dead; and the people looked, and wondered, and wept: then said a voice
from heaven, “God hath taken him.” The people bewailed him many
days.[576]
14. THE DEATH OF MOSES.
When the time came for Moses to die, the Lord called Gabriel to Him, and
said, “Go and bring the soul of My servant Moses to Paradise.”