THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

M. R. JAMES, LITT.D., F.B.A.

CHAPTER XXX.

XXX Then had the children of Israel no man whom they might appoint as judge over them: and their heart fell away, and they forgot the promise, and transgressed the ways which Moses and Jesus the servants of the Lord had commanded them, and were led away after the daughters of the Amorites, and served their gods. Jud. 2:1

2. And the Lord was wroth with them, and sent his angel and said: Behold, I chose me one people out of all the tribes of the earth, and I said that my glory should abide with them in this world, and I sent unto them Moses my servant, to declare unto them my great majesty and my judgements, and they have transgressed my ways. Now therefore behold I will stir up their enemies and they shall rule over them, and then shall all the people[s] say: Because we have transgressed the ways of God and of our fathers, therefore are these things come upon us. Yet there shall a woman rule over them which shall give them light 40 years.

3. And after these things the Lord stirred up against them Jabin king of Asor, and he began to fight against them, and he had as captain of his might Sisara, who had 8000 chariots of iron. And he came unto the mount Effrem and fought against the people, and Israel feared him greatly, and the people could not stand all the days of Sisara.

4. And when Israel was brought very low, all the children of Israel gathered together with one accord unto the mount of Juda and said: We did call ourselves blessed more than all people, and now, lo, we are brought so low, more than all nations, that we cannot dwell in our land, and our enemies bear rule over us. And now who hath done all this unto us? Is it not our iniquities, because we have forsaken the Lord God of our fathers, and have walked in those things which could not profit us? Now therefore come let us fast seven days, both men and women, and from the least (sic) even to the sucking child. Who knoweth whether God will be reconciled unto his inheritance, that he destroy not the planting of his vineyard?

5. And after the people had fasted 7 days, sitting in sackcloth, the Lord sent unto them on the 7th day Debbora, who said unto them: Can the sheep 1 that is appointed to the slaughter answer before him that slayeth it, when both he that slayeth < . . . > and he that is slain keepeth silence, when he is sometimes provoked against it? Now ye were born to be a flock before our Lord. And he led you into the height of the clouds, and subdued angels beneath your feet, and appointed unto you a law, and gave you commandments by prophets, and chastised you by rulers, and shewed you wonders not a few, and for your sake commanded the luminaries and they stood still in the places where they were bidden, and when your enemies came upon you he rained hailstones upon them and destroyed them, and Moses and Jesus and Cenez and Zebul gave you commandments. And ye have not obeyed them.

6. For while they lived, ye shewed yourselves as it were obedient unto your God, but when they died, your heart died also. And ye became like unto iron that is thrust into the fire, which when it is melted by the flame becometh as water, but when it is come out of the fire returneth unto its hardness. So ye also, while they that admonish you burn you, do show the effect, and when they are dead ye forget all things.

7. And now, behold, the Lord will have compassion upon you this day, not for your sakes, but for his covenant's sake which he made with your fathers and for his oath's sake which he sware, that he would not forsake you for ever. But know ye that after my decease ye will begin to sin in your latter days. Wherefore the Lord will perform marvellous things among you, and will deliver your enemies into your hands. For your fathers are dead, but God, which made a covenant with them, is life.

Footnotes

170:1 XXX. 5. Can the sheep, etc. Something is wrong with this sentence. I suggest that words are wanting after occidit. See the App. on Readings.

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

M. R. JAMES, LITT.D., F.B.A.

CHAPTER XXIX.

XXIX And after these things the people appointed Zebul ruler over them, and at that time he gathered the people together and said unto them: Behold now, we know all the labour wherewith Cenez laboured with us in the days of his life. Now if he had had sons, they should have been princes over the people, but inasmuch as his daughters are yet alive, let them receive a greater inheritance among the people, because their father in his life refused to give it unto them, lest he should be called covetous and greedy of gain. And the people said: Do all that is right in thine eyes. Num. 36

2. Now Cenez had three daughters whose names are these: Ethema the firstborn, the second Pheila, the third Zelpha. And Zebul gave to the firstborn all that was round about the land of the Phnicians, and to the second he gave the olive yard of Accaron, and to the third all the tilled land that was about Azotus. And he gave them husbands, namely to the firstborn Elisephan, to the second Odiel, and to the third Doel. 1

3. Now in those days Zebul set up a treasury for the Lord and said unto the people: Behold, if any man will sanctify unto the Lord gold and silver, let him bring it to the Lord's treasury in Sylo: only let not any that hath stuff belonging to idols think to sanctify it to the Lord's treasures, for the Lord desireth not the abominations of the accursed things, lest ye disturb the synagogue of the Lord, for the wrath that is passed by sufficeth. And all the people brought that which their heart moved them to bring, both men and women, even gold and silver. And all that was brought was weighed, and it was 20 talents of gold, and 250 talents of silver. 2 Chr. 24:8

4. And Zebul judged the people twenty and five years. And when he had accomplished his time, he sent and called all the people and said: Lo, now I depart to die. Look ye to the testimonies which they that went before us testified, and let not your heart be like unto the waves of the sea, but like as the wave of the sea under standeth not save only those things which are in the sea, so let your heart also think upon nothing save only those things which belong unto the law. And Zebul slept with his fathers, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

Footnotes

168:1 XXIX 2. The giving of an inheritance to the daughters of Kenaz is modelled on Num. 36: the sacred treasury, perhaps, was suggested by 2 Kings 12; 2 Chron. 24.

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

M. R. JAMES, LITT.D., F.B.A.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

XXVIII. And when the days of Cenez drew nigh that he should die, he sent and called all men (or all the elders), and the two prophets Jabis and Phinees, and Phinees the son of Eleazar the priest, 1 and said to them: Behold now, the Lord hath showed me all his marvellous works which he hath prepared to do for his people in the last days.

2. And now will I make my covenant with you this day, that ye forsake not the Lord your God after my departing. For ye have seen all the marvels which came upon them that sinned, and all that they declared, confessing their sins of their own accord, and how the Lord our God made an end of them for that they transgressed his covenant. Wherefore now spare ye them of your house and your sons, and abide in the ways of the Lord your God, that the Lord destroy not his inheritance.

3. And Phinees, the son of Eleazar the priest, said: If Cenez the ruler bid me, and the prophets and the people and the elders, I will speak a word which I heard of my father when he was a-dying, and will not keep silence concerning the commandment which he commanded me when his soul was being received. And Cenez the ruler and the prophets said: Let Phinees say on. Shall any other speak before the priest which keepeth the commandments of the Lord our God, and that, seeing that truth proceedeth out of his mouth, and out of his heart a shining light?

4. Then said Phinees: My father, when he was a-dying, commanded me saying: Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel when they, are gathered together unto the assembly: The Lord appeared unto me the third day before this in a dream in the night, and said unto me: Behold, thou hast seen, and thy father before thee, how greatly I have laboured for my people; and it shall be after thy death that this people shall arise and corrupt their ways, departing from my commandments, and I shall be exceeding wroth with them. Yet will I remember the time which was before the ages, even in the time when there was not a man, and therein was no iniquity, when I said that the world should be, and they that should come should praise me therein, and I will plant a great vineyard, and out of it will I choose a plant, and order it and call it by my name, and it shall be mine for ever. But when I have done all that I have spoken, nevertheless my planting, which is called after me, will not know me, the planter thereof, but will corrupt his fruit, and will not yield me his fruit. These are the things which my father commanded me to speak unto this people.

5. And Cenez lifted up his voice, and the elders, and all the people with one accord, and wept with a great lamentation until the evening and said: Shall the shepherd destroy his flock to no purpose, except it continue in sin against him? And shall it not be he that shall spare according to the abundance of his mercy, seeing he hath spent great labour upon us?

6. 1 Now while they were set, the holy spirit that dwelt in Cenez leapt upon him and took away from him his bodily sense, and he began to prophesy, saying: Behold now I see that which I looked not for, and perceive that I knew not. Hearken now, ye that dwell on the earth, even as they that sojourned therein prophesied before me, when they saw this hour, even before the earth was corrupted, that ye may know the prophecies appointed aforetime, all ye that dwell therein. Ezek. 8:1

7. Behold now I see flames that burn not, and I hear springs of water awaked out of sleep, and they have no foundation, neither do I behold the tops of the mountains, nor the canopy of the firmament, but all things unappearing and invisible, which have no place whatsoever, and although mine eye knoweth not what it seeth, mine heart shall discover that which it may learn (or say).

8. Now out of the flame which I saw, and it burned not, I beheld, and lo a spark came up and as it were builded for itself a floor under heaven, and the likeness of the floor thereof was as a spider spinneth, in the fashion of a shield. And when the foundation was laid, I beheld, and from that spring there was stirred up as it were a boiling froth, and behold, it changed itself as it were into another foundation; and between the two foundations, even the upper and the lower, there drew near out of the light of the invisible place as it were forms of men, and they walked to and fro: and behold, a voice saying: These shall be for a foundation unto men and they shall dwell therein 7000 years.

9. And the lower foundation was a pavement and the upper was of froth, and they that came forth out of the light of the invisible place, they are those that shall dwell therein, 1 and the name of that man is <Adam>. And it shall be, when he hath (or they have) sinned against me and the time is fulfilled, that the spark shall be quenched and the spring shall cease, and so they shall be changed.

10. And it came to pass after Cenez had spoken these words that he awaked and his sense returned unto him: but he knew not that which he had spoken neither that which he had seen, but this only he said to the people: If the rest of the righteous be such after they are dead, it is better for them to die to the corruptible world, that they see not sin. And when Cenez had so said, he died and slept with his fathers, and the people mourned for him 30 days Num. 23:10.

Footnotes

164:1 XXVIII. 1. The "two prophets Jabis and Phinees, and Phinees the son of Eleazar" are suspicious. I should not wonder if originally there had been but one prophet, Jabis, and Phinees the son of Eleazar. The plural prophetae, which occurs again in 3, might be a consequential change.
165:1 6 seq. There are several resemblances in this section to the diction of Ezekiel. The Spirit comes upon Kenaz as he sits among the elders: so in Ezek. 8:1 (20:1, 20:2). fundamentum may be compared with στερέωμα (Ezek. 122); subdiuum with αἴθριον, (9:3, 10:4); imagines hominum with όμοίωμα ἀνθρώπου (1:9); similitudo with ὁμοίωσισ (1:10); ecce uox dicens with ἰδοὺ φωνὴ ὑπεράνωθεν τοῦ στερεώματοσ (1:25).
166:1 9. they are those that shall dwell therein, and the name of that man is *. A puts an asterisk after "dwell therein" as well as at the end of the sentence. VR read: these are they which shall have the name of that man: qui habebunt nomen eius hominis. J says "and the light which is between them and illumines the path of man is Jerusalem, and there the men will dwell."

I do not think that any mystical name filled the blank, or that there was any mention of a definite place, such as Jerusalem: the lines on which the vision is drawn are too broad to admit of this. "Adam" is the most likely supplement, if we consider the words which come next: "and it shall be when he hath sinned against me, and the time is fulfilled."

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

M. R. JAMES, LITT.D., F.B.A.

CHAPTER XXVII.

XXVII. And after this he armed of the people 300,000 men and went up to fight against the Amorites, 2 and slew on the first day 800,000 men, and on the second day he slew about 500,000.

2. And when the third day came, certain men of the people spake evil against Cenez, saying: Lo now, Cenez alone lieth in his house with his wife and his concubines, and sendeth us to battle, that we may be destroyed before our enemies.

3. And when the servants of Cenez heard, they brought him word. And he commanded a captain of fifty, and he brought of them thirty-seven men 3 who spake against him and shut them up in ward.

4. And their names are these: Le and Uz, Betul, Ephal, Dealma, Anaph, Desac, Besac, Gethel, Anael, Anazim, Noac, Cehec, Boac, Obal, Iabal, Enath, Beath, Zelut, Ephor, Ezeth, Desaph, Abidan, Esar, Moab, Duzal, Azath, Phelac, Igat, Zophal, Eliesor, Ecar, Zebath, Sebath, Nesach and Zere. And when the captain of fifty had shut them up as Cenez commanded, Cenez said: When the Lord hath wrought salvation for his people by my hand, then will I punish these men.

5. And so saying, Cenez commanded the captain of fifty, saying: Go and choose of my servants 300 men, and as many horses, and let no man of the people know of the hour when I shall go forth to battle; but only in what hour I shall tell thee, prepare the men that they be ready this night.

6. And Cenez sent messengers, spies, to see where was the multitude of the camp of the Amorites. And the messengers went and spied, and saw that the multitude of the camp of the Amorites was moving among the rocks devising to come and fight against Israel. And the messengers returned and told him according to this word. And Cenez arose by night, he and 300 horsemen with him, and took a trumpet in his hand and began to go down with the 300 men. And it came to pass, when he was near to the camp of the Amorites, that he said to his servants: Abide here and I will go down alone and view the camp of the Amorites. And it shall be, if I blow with the trumpet ye shall come down, but if not, wait for me here.

7. And Cenez went down alone, and before he went down he prayed, and said: O Lord God of our fathers, thou hast shewn unto thy servant the marvellous things which thou hast prepared to do by thy covenant in the last days: and now, send unto thy servant one of thy wonders, and I will overcome thine adversaries, that they and all the nations and thy people may know that the Lord delivereth not by the multitude of an host, neither by the strength of horsemen, when they shall perceive the sign of deliverance which thou shalt work for me this day (or horsemen, and that thou, Lord, wilt perform a sign of salvation with me this day). Behold, I will draw my sword out of the scabbard and it shall glitter in the camp of the Amorites: and it shall be, if the Amorites perceive that it is I, Cenez, then I shall know that thou hast delivered them into mine hand. But if they perceive not that it is I, and think that it is another, then I shall know that thou hast not hearkened unto me, but hast delivered me unto mine enemies. But and if I be indeed delivered unto death, I shall know that because of mine iniquities the Lord hath not heard me, and hath delivered me unto mine enemies; but he will not destroy, his inheritance by my death.

8. And he set forth after he had prayed, and heard the multitude of the Amorites saying: Let us arise and fight against Israel: for we know that our holy Nymphs are there among them and will deliver them into our hands.

9. And Cenez arose, for the spirit of the Lord clothed him as a garment, and he drew his sword, and when the light of it shone upon the Amorites like sharp lightning, they saw it, and said: Is not this the sword of Cenez which hath made our wounded many? Now is the word justified which we spake, saying that our holy Nymphs have delivered them into our hands. Lo, now, this day shall there be feasting for the Amorites, when our enemy is delivered unto us. Now, therefore, arise and let everyone gird on his sword and begin the battle.

10. And it came to pass when Cenez heard their words, he was clothed with the spirit of might and changed into another man, and went down into the camp of the Amorites and began to smite them. And the Lord sent before his face the angel Ingethel (or Gethel), who is set over the hidden things, and worketh unseen, (and another) angel of might helping with him: and Ingethel smote the Amorites with blindness, so that every man that saw his neighbour counted them his adversaries, and they slew one another. And the angel Zeruel, who is set over strength, bare up the arms of Cenez lest they should perceive him; and Cenez smote of the Amorites forty and five thousand men, and they themselves smote one another, and fell forty and five thousand men.

11. And when Cenez had smitten a great multitude, he would have loosened his hand from his sword, for the handle of the sword clave, 1 that it could not be loosed, and his right hand had taken into it the strength of the sword.

Then they that were left of the Amorites fled into the mountains; but Cenez sought how he might loose his hand: and he looked with his eyes and saw a man of the Amorites fleeing, and he caught him and said to him: I know that the Amorites are cunning: now therefore shew me how I may loose my hand from this sword, and I will let thee go. And the Amorite said: Go and take a man of the Hebrews and kill him, and while his blood is yet warm hold thine hand beneath and receive his blood, so shall thine hand be loosed. And (Zenez said: As the Lord liveth, if thou hadst said, Take a man of the Amorites, I would have taken one of them and saved thee alive: but forasmuch as thou saidest "of the Hebrews" that thou mightest show thine hatred, thy mouth shall be against thyself, and according as thou hast said, so will I do unto thee. And when he had thus said Cenez slew him, and while his blood was yet warm, he held his hand beneath and received it therein, and it was loosed.

12. And Cenez departed and put off his garments, and cast himself into the river and washed, and came up again and changed his garments, and returned to his young men. Now the Lord cast upon them a heavy sleep in the night, and they slept and knew not any thing of all that Cenez had done. And Cenez came and awaked them out of sleep; and they looked [upon him] with their eyes and saw, and behold, the field was full of dead bodies: and they were astonished in their mind, and looked every man on his neighbour. And Cenez said unto them: Why marvel ye? Are the ways of the Lord as the way of men? For with men a multitude prevaileth, but with God that which he appointeth. And therefore if God hath willed to work deliverance for this people by my hands, wherefore marvel ye? Arise and gird on every man your swords, and we will go home to our brethren.

13. And when all Israel heard the deliverance that was wrought by the hands of Cenez, all the people came out with one accord to meet him, and said: Blessed be the Lord which hath made thee ruler over his people, and hath shown that those things are sure which he spake unto thee: that which we heard by speech we see now with our eyes, for the work of the word of God is manifest.

14. And Cenez said unto them: Ask now your brethren, and let them tell you how greatly they laboured with me in the battle. And the men that were with him said: As the Lord liveth, we fought not, neither knew we anything, save only when we awaked, we saw the field full of dead bodies. And the people answered: Now know we that when the Lord appointeth to work deliverance for his people, he hath no need of a multitude, but only of sanctification.

15. And Cenez said to the captain of fifty which had shut up those men in prison: Bring forth those men that we may hear their words. And when he had brought them forth, Cenez said to them: Tell me, what saw ye in me that ye murmured among the people? And they said: Why askest thou us? Why askest thou us? Now therefore command that we be burned with fire, for we die not for this sin that we have now spoken, but for that former one wherein those men were taken which were burned in their sins; for then we did consent unto their sin, saying: Peradventure the people will not perceive us; and then we did escape the people. But now have we been (rightly) made a public example 1 by our sins in that we fell into slandering of thee. And Cenez said: If ye yourselves therefore witness against yourselves, how shall I have compassion upon you? And Cenez commanded them to be burned with fire, and cast their ashes into the place where they had burned the multitude of the sinners, even into the brook Phison.

16. And Cenez ruled over his people fifty and seven years, and there was fear upon all his enemies all his days.

Footnotes

158:2 XXVII. 1. The Amorites. In XXV. 1, the enemy were the Philistines, Allophyli. But the Amorites, of whose idols so much has been said in the interim, seem to have absorbed Philo's attention.
158:3 3. I can only make thirty-six names from the manuscripts unless Eliesor is divided into two.
161:1 11. Kenaz's hand cleaves to his sword like that of Eleazar, the mighty man in 2 Sam. 23:10.
163:1 15. made a public example: transducti. In the old Latin Bible versions transduco renders παραδειγματίζω, ἐλέγχω.