THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER XXVI.

XXVI. And when Cenez had taken all these words and written them in a book and read them before the Lord, God said to him: Take the men and that which was found with them and all their goods and put them in the bed of the river Phison, and burn them with fire that mine anger may cease from them.

2. And Cenez said: Shall we burn these precious stones also with fire, or sanctify them unto thee, for among us there are none like unto them? And God said to him: If God should receive in his own name any of the accursed thing, what should man do? Therefore now take these precious stones and all that was found, both books and men: and when thou dealest so with the men, set apart these stones with the books, for fire will not avail to burn them, and afterwards I will shew thee how thou must destroy them. But the men and all that was found thou shalt burn with fire. And thou shalt assemble all the people, and say to them: Thus shall it be done unto every man whose heart turneth away from his God.

3. And when the fire hath consumed those men, then the books and the precious stones which cannot be burned with fire, neither cut with iron, nor blotted out with water, lay them upon the top of the mount beside the new altar; and I will command a cloud, and it shall go and take up dew and shed it upon the books, and shall blot out that which is written therein, for they cannot be blotted out with any other water than such as hath never served men. And thereafter I will send my lightning, and it shall burn up the books themselves.

4. But as concerning the precious stones, I will command mine angel and he shall take them and go and cast them into the depths of the sea, and I will charge the deep and it shall swallow them up, for they may not continue in the world because they have been polluted by the idols of the Amorites, And I will command another angel, and he shall take for me twelve stones out of the place whence these seven were taken; and thou, when thou findest them in the top of the mount where he shall lay them, take and put them on the shoulder-piece over against the twelve stones which Moses set therein in the wilderness, and sanctify them in the breastplate (lit. oracle) according to the twelve tribes: and say not, How shall I know which stone I shall set for which tribe? Lo, I will tell thee the name of the tribe answering unto the name of the stone, and thou shall find both one and other graven.

5. And Cenez went and took all that had been found and the men with it, and assembled all the people again, and said to them: Behold, ye have seen all the wonders which God hath shewed us unto this day, and lo, when we sought out all that had subtilly devised evil against the Lord and against Israel, God hath revealed them according to their works, and now cursed be every man that deviseth to do the like among you, brethren. And all the people answered Amen, Amen. And when he had so said, he burned all the men with fire, and all that was found with them, saving the precious stones.

6. And after that Cenez desired to prove whether the stones could be burned with fire, and cast them into the fire. And it was so, that when they fell therein, forthwith the fire was quenched. And Cenez took iron to break them, and when the sword touched them the iron thereof was melted; and thereafter he would at the least blot out the books with water; but it came to pass that the water when it fell upon them was congealed. And when he saw that, he said: Blessed be God who hath done so great wonders for the children of men, and made Adam the first-created and shewed him all things; that when Adam had sinned thereby, then he should deny him all these things, lest if he shewed them unto the race of men they should have the mastery over them.

7. And when he had so said, he took the books and the stones and laid them on the top of the mount 1 by the new altar as the Lord had commanded him, and took a peace-offering and burnt-offerings, and offered upon the new altar 2000, offering them all for a burnt sacrifice. And on that day they kept a great feast, he and all the people together.

8. And God did that night as he spake unto Cenez, for he commanded a cloud, and it went and took dew from the ice of paradise and shed it upon the books and blotted them out. And after that an angel came and burned them up, and another angel took the precious stones and cast them into the heart of the sea, and he charged the depth of the sea, and it swallowed them up. And another angel went and brought twelve stones and laid them hard by the place whence he had taken those seven. And he graved thereon the names of the twelve tribes.

9. And Cenez arose on the morrow and found those twelve stones on the top of the mount where himself had laid those seven. And the graving of them was so as if the form of eyes was portrayed upon them. Zech. 39

10. 2 And the first stone, whereon was written the name of the tribe of Ruben, was like a sardine stone. The second stone was graven with a tooth (or ivory), and therein was graven the name of the tribe of Simeon, and the likeness of a topaz was seen in it; and on the third stone was graven the name of the tribe of Levi, and it was like unto an emerald. But the fourth stone was called a crystal, wherein was graven the name of the tribe of Juda, and it was likened to a carbuncle. The fifth stone was green, and upon it was graven the name of the tribe of Isachar, and the colour of a sapphire stone was therein. And of the sixth stone the graving was as if it had been inscribed, (or as a chrysoprase) speckled with diverse markings, and thereon was written the tribe of Zabulon, And the jasper stone was likened unto it. Ex. 28:17

11. Of the seventh stone the graving shone and shewed within itself, as it were, enclosed the water of the deep, and therein was written the name of the tribe of Dan, which stone was like a ligure. But the eighth stone was cut out with adamant, and therein was written the name of the tribe of Neptalim, and it was like an amethyst. And of the ninth stone 1 the graving was pierced, and it was from Mount Ophir, and therein was written the tribe of Gad, and an agate stone was likened unto it. And of the tenth stone the graving was hollowed, and gave the likeness of a stone of Theman, and there was written the tribe of Aser, and a chrysolite was likened unto it. And the eleventh stone was an elect stone from Libanus, and thereon was written the name of the tribe of Joseph, and a beryl was. likened to it. And the twelfth stone was cut out of the height of Sion 1 (or the quarry), and upon it was written the tribe of Benjamin; and the onyx stone was likened unto it.

12. And God said to Cenez: Take these stones and put them in the ark of the covenant of the Lord with the tables of the covenant which I gave unto Moses in Oreb, and they shall be there with them until Jahel arise 2 to build an house in my name, and then he shall set them before me upon the two cherubim, and they shall be in my sight for a memorial of the house of Israel.

13. And it shall be when the sins of my people are filled up, and their enemies have the mastery over their house, that I will take these stones and the former together with the tables, and lay them up in the place whence they were brought forth in the beginning, and they shall be there until I remember the world, and visit the dwellers upon earth. And then will I take them and many other better than they, from that place which eye hath not seen 3 nor ear heard neither hath it come up into the heart of man, until the like cometh to pass unto the world, and the just shall have no need for the light of the sun nor of the shining of the moon, for the light of the precious stones shall be their light.

Isa. 60:19, 60:20, 64:4,

14. And Cenez arose and said: Behold what good things God hath done for men, and because of their sins have they been deprived of them all. And now know I this day that the race of men is weak, and their life shall be accounted as nothing. 15. And so saying, he took the stones from the place where they were laid, and as he took them there was as it were the light of the sun poured out upon them, and the earth shone with their light. And Cenez put them in the ark of the covenant of the Lord with the tables as it was commanded him, and there they are unto this day. 1

Footnotes

155:1 XXVI. 7. superponens (ea in holocaustum). This is the word used in the old Latin of Lev. iv., etc, in the Würzburg palimpsest. The Lyons Pentateuch has inponens.
155:2 10. seq. The order of the stones agrees with that of Exod. 28:17 sqq., except that agate and amethyst are here transposed, and in the Hebrew carbuncle precedes emerald. The principle of the list seems to be that each of the new stones is "likened to" (should we render "placed opposite to" or "corresponds to"?) a stone already in the breastplate; but the new stones, being supernatural, have as a rule no names of their own.
156:1 11. (The 9th stone) pierced. I read terebrata, with R, for tenebrata.
157:1 11. (The 12th stone) cut out of the height of Sion. Again I prefer R's reading, de excelso Syon, to de excisione of AP.
157:2 12. until Jahel (Jabel R) shall arise. J substitutes Solomon in its paraphrase of the passage, and no doubt Solomon is meant; but I cannot find any other instance of this name being applied to him, or any reason for it. The Jael of judges iv. means a gazelle: Jael is also found as a name of God (Jah El) in the Greek Apoc. of Moses: neither helps us here. It can hardly be a corruption of Ἰεδδεδί, the Greek form of Jedidiah (2 Sam. 12:25).
157:3 13. from that place which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it come up into the heart of man. This is a combination of phrases from Isa. 64:4; 65:16, 65:17. It is quoted in this form by St. Paul in 1 Cor. 2:9. Mr. Thackeray, in St. Paul and Contemporary Jewish Thought, p. 240 seq., discusses the source in the light of this passage, and concludes, I believe rightly, that the combination was already current in Jewish circles when Paul wrote. The early commentators on the Epistle assigned to the Secreta Eliae (Origen), Apocalypse of Elias, or Ascension of Isaiah.
158:1 15. there they are unto this day. See p. 63 .

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER XXV.

XXV. And the Philistines sought to fight with the men of Israel: 1 and they inquired of the Lord and said: Shall we go up and fight against the Philistines? and God said to them: If ye go up with a pure heart, fight; but if your heart is defiled, go not up. And they inquired yet again saying: How shall we know if all the heart of the people be alike? and God said to them: Cast lots among your tribes, and it shall be unto every tribe that cometh under the lot, that it shall be set apart into one lot, and then shall ye know whose heart is clean and whose is defiled.

2. And the people said: Let us first appoint over us a prince, and so cast lots. And the angel of the Lord said to them: Appoint. And the people said: Whom shall we appoint that is worthy, Lord? And the angel of the Lord said to them: Cast the lot upon the tribe of Caleb, and he that is shown by the lot, even he shall be your prince. And they cast the lot for the tribe of Caleb and it came out upon Cenez, and they made him ruler over Israel.

3. And Cenez said to the people: Bring your tribes unto me and hear ye the word of the Lord. And the people gathered together and Cenez said to them: Ye know that which Moses the friend of the Lord charged you, that ye should not transgress the law to the right hand or to the left. And Jesus also who was after him gave you the same charge. And now, lo, we have heard of the mouth of the Lord that your heart is defiled. And the Lord hath charged us to cast lots among your tribes to know whose heart hath departed from the Lord our God. Shall not the fury of anger come upon the people? But I promise you this day that even if a man of mine own house come out in the lot of sin, he shall not be saved alive, but shall be burned with fire. And the people said: Thou hast spoken a good counsel, to perform it.

4. And the tribes were brought before him, and there were found of the tribe of Juda 345 men, and of the tribe of Ruben 560, and of the tribe of Simeon 775, and of the tribe of Levi 150, and of the tribe of Zabulon 655 (or 645), and of the tribe of Isachar 665, and of the tribe of Gad 380. Of the tribe of Aser 665, and of the tribe of Manasse 480, and of the tribe of Effraim 468, and of the tribe of Benjamin 267. And all the number of them that were found by the lot of sin was 6110. And Cenez took them all and shut them up in prison, till it should be known what should be done with them. 1

5. And Cenez said: Was it not of this that Moses the friend of the Lord spake saying: There is a strong root among you bringing forth gall and bitterness? Now blessed be the Lord who hath revealed all the devices of these men, neither hath he suffered them to corrupt his people by their evil works. Bring hither therefore the Demonstration and the Truth and call forth Eleazar the priest, and let us inquire of the Lord by him. Dt. 29:18

6. Then Cenez and Eleazar and all the elders and the whole synagogue prayed with one accord saying: Lord God of our fathers, reveal unto thy servants the truth, for we are found not believing in the wonders which thou didst for our fathers since thou broughtest them out of the land of Egypt unto this day. And the Lord answered and said: First ask them that were found, and let them confess their deeds which they did subtilly, and afterwards they shall be burned with fire.

7. And Cenez brought them forth and said to them: Behold now ye know how that Achiar confessed when the lot fell on him, and declared all that he had done. And now declare unto me all your wickedness and your inventions: who knoweth, if ye tell us the truth, even though ye die now, yet God will have mercy upon you when he shall quicken the dead?

8. And one of them named Elas said unto him: Shall not death come now upon us, that we shall die by fire? Nevertheless I tell thee, my Lord, there are none inventions like unto these which we have made wickedly. But if thou wilt search out the truth plainly, ask severally the men of every tribe, and so shall some one of them that stand by perceive the difference of their sins.

9. And Cenez asked them of his own tribe and they told him: We desired to imitate and make the calf that they made in the wilderness. And after that he asked the men of the tribe of Ruben, which said: We desired to sacrifice unto the gods of them that dwell in the land. And he asked the men of the tribe of Levi, which said: We would prove the tabernacle, whether it were holy. And he asked the remnant of the tribe of Isachar, which said: We would inquire by the evil spirits of the idols, to see whether they revealed plainly: and he asked the men of the tribe of Zabulon, which said: We desired to eat the flesh of our children and to learn whether God hath care for them. And he asked the remnant of the tribe of Dan, which said: The Amorites taught us that which they did, that we might teach our children. And lo, they are hid under the tent of Elas, 1 who told thee to inquire of us. Send therefore and thou shall find them. And Cenez sent and found them.

10. 2 And thereafter asked he them that were left over of the tribe of Gad, and they said: We committed adultery with each other's wives. And he asked next the men of the tribe of Aser, which said: We found seven golden images which the Amorites called the holy Nymphs, and we took them with the precious stones that were set upon them, and hid them: and lo, now they are laid up under the top of the mount Sychem. 1 Send therefore and thou shalt find them. And Cenez sent men and removed them thence.

11. Now these are the Nymphs which when they were called upon did show unto the Amorites their works in every hour. For these are they which were devised by seven evil men after the flood, whose names are these: <? Cham> Chanaan, Phuth, Selath, Nembroth, Elath, Desuath. Neither shall there be again any like similitude in the world graven by the hand of the artificer and adorned with variety of painting, but they were set up and fixed for the consecration (i.e. the holy place?) of idols. Now the stones were precious, brought from the land of Euilath, among which was a crystal and a prase (or one crystalline and one green), and they shewed their fashion, being carved after the manner of a stone pierced with open-work, 2 and another of them was graven on the top, and another as it were marked with spots (or like a spotted chrysoprase) 3 so shone with its graving as if it shewed the water of the deep lying beneath.

12. And these are the precious stones which the Amorites had in their holy places, and the price of them was above reckoning. For when any entered in by night, he needed not the light of a lantern, so much did the natural light of the stones shine forth. Wherein that one gave the greatest light which was cut after the form of a stone pierced with open-work, and was cleansed with bristles; 1 for if any of the Amorites were blind, he went and put his eyes thereupon and recovered his sight. Now when Cenez found them, he set them apart and laid them up till he should know what should become of them.

13. And after that he asked them that were left of the tribe of Manasse, and they said: We did only defile the Lord's sabbaths. And he asked the forsaken of the tribe of Effraim, which said: We desired to pass our sons and our daughters through the fire, that we might know if that which was said were manifest. And he asked the forsaken of the tribe of Benjamin, which said: We desired at this time to examine the book of the law, whether God had plainly written that which was therein, or whether Moses had taught it of himself.

Footnotes

146:1 XXV. Up to this point Philo has followed the Bible story faithfully enough. He now draws freely on his own imagination, and presents us with an entirely new history of the beginning of the period of the Judges.

Kenaz is the first judge. He and Seenamias, as we read in XX. 6, were the sons of Caleb, and were the two spies sent by Joshua to Jericho (who in the Bible are nameless): at Caleb's request (XX. 10) Joshua gave Kenaz the territory of the three towers (or the tribe of the towers). The context in which this is told is copied from Josh. 14:6 (Cf. 15:16 sqq.). In that place, and in Num. 32:12, Caleb is called the Kenezite. In Josh. 15, Othniel, son of Kenaz, the (younger) brother of Caleb (but another view makes Othniel brother of Caleb), takes Kirjath-sepher and marries Caleb's daughter. This is repeated in Judges 1:13. In Judges 3:10, 3:11 Othniel figures as the first of the judges proper: but all that is said of him is that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel and conquered Chushan-rishathaim.

Thus in the Bible Kenaz is a mere name: he is a younger brother (or other relative) of Caleb, and father of Othniel the first judge: and his is an ancestral or clan-name in the family of Caleb. In Philo he completely ousts Othniel, and there is no pretence of assimilating his story to that of any one who appears in the Bible. He figures as a divinely appointed ruler, a detecter of crime, a mediator, it may be said, between God and Israel, and the recipient of God's own instructions: then as a mighty man of valour, and lastly as a seer. In respect of the amount of space devoted to him be is second only to Moses. It may be merely the author's desire to strike out a new line, or perhaps to import a fresh religious interest into the history of the Judges (though this he could do in other ways, and much of the story of Kenaz has no religious value) that has prompted this sudden burst of inventiveness; or there may have been another motive at work and a hidden meaning in the tale, which I cannot penetrate. I do not find any hint in other writings that tradition clustered round the name of Kenaz: but it is noticeable that the best text of Josephus (Ant. V. 33) substitutes his name (Κενιαζοσ) for that of Othniel: and that in the Pseudo-Epiphanian Lives of the Prophets it is said that Jonah was buried "in the cave of Kainezias, who was judge of one tribe in the days of the anarchy," a sentence which neither suggests a knowledge of Philo nor explains itself. All that it, and the passage of Josephus, do suggest is that Philo may be following a current fashion in discarding the name of Othniel, and that he has taken as his text the words in judges: "the Spirit of the Lord came upon" Othniel, and has written a variation upon that theme.

The next judge is Zebul. The name is taken, no doubt, from the story of Abimelech in judges 9:28, etc. Otherwise he is a completely imaginary figure. From him we pass to Deborah; she is followed by Aod (= Ehud), who is here not a judge, but a Midianitish wizard. As in the case of Zebul, Philo has borrowed a Biblical name from another part of Judges, and affixed it to a totally different personality. The remainder of his judges follow the Biblical order fairly well: Gideon, Abimelech (Tola may have disappeared in a lacuna), Jair (whose character is gratuitously blackened), Jephtha (Ibzan is then omitted), Addo (= Abdon), Elon (these two being transposed from the Biblical order), Samson. Then follow, as in the Bible, the stories of Micah's idolatry (the migration of the Danites being wholly passed over) and of the Benjamite outrage, which is located at Nob, the priestly city, instead of Gibeah. Thus the narrative in Judges is represented with approximate faithfulness, save in the case of the first judges, where Philo substitutes Kenaz and Zebul for Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar.
148:1 XXV. 4. In the enumeration of the sinners among the tribes Dan has accidentally dropped out, though it appears in 9. The separate numbers in the text add up to 5410 or 5400, so that 700 or 710 is the number to be assigned to Dan in order to make up the total of 6110.
150:1 9. under the tent of Elas, who told thee to inquire of us. R. has: under the mount of Abraham, and laid up under a mound of earth. J has: under the mount of Abarim.
150:2 10 seq. The Amorites are described in Jubilees 29:11 as being particularly wicked. A special section in the Talmud treating of superstitious practices is called "the ways of the Amorites" (see Jewish Encycl., s.v. Amorites).

The idols are too vaguely described to enable us to form an idea of them: Philo does not seem to have had any special heathen deities in mind. Of the seven sinners who made them we recognize the names of Canaan, Phuth, Nimrod, Elath, who are mentioned in IV. 6, 7, as descendants of Ham. The land of Euilat (Havilah) is described in Gen. 2:11, 2:12 as the home of gold, bdellium, and onyx.
151:1 10. the mount Sychem: possibly a malicious allusion to the Samaritans.
151:2 11. stone pierced with open-work: uelut in diatrium sculpti. Here, and a few lines below, where we have in modum diatridis or diatriti sculptus, I think diatretos must be restored. The word is used by Martial and in the Digest.
151:3 as it were marked with spots. The variants are caraxatus stigminis and chrysoprassus stigmatus. I prefer the first, because it seems clearly right in XXVI. 10. There we have: "The 6th stone was as if it had been a chrysoprase chrysoprassus (or marked (in) caraxatus) . . . and was like a jasper," and there the chrysoprase is plainly superfluous. Caraxatus is also the harder word.
152:1 12. "was cleansed with bristles": de setis emundabatur (-bitur VR). This looks as if it must be wrong, but I find in Damigeron, de labidibus, 47 (ap. Pitra, Spicil. Solesm III. 335), that the chrysolite "pertusus et transiectus cum setis aseminis (? asininis") and worn on the left arm, puts demons to flight. This suggests that, though emundabatur is not very clear, de setis is probably correct.

I may remark in passing that the old Latin version of Epiphanius, de XII. lapidibus (ed. Dindorf, Opp. IV. 1), has phrases recalling our text, e.g. p. 193: flauum ostentat colorem; p. 198: hyacinthus tranquilli maris similtudinem refert.

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER XXIV.

XXIV. And after these days Jesus the son of Naue assembled all the people yet again, and said unto them: Behold now the Lord hath testified unto you this day: I have called heaven and earth to witness to you that if ye will continue to serve the Lord ye shall be unto him a peculiar people. But if ye will not serve him and will obey the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell, say so this day before the Lord and go forth. But I and my house will serve the Lord. Dt. 4:26, Jos. 24:15

2. And all the people lifted up their voice and wept saying: Peradventure the Lord will account us worthy, and it is better for us to die in the fear of him, than to be destroyed out of the land.

3. And Jesus the son of Naue blessed the people and kissed them and said unto them: Let your words be for mercy before our Lord, and let him send his angel, and preserve you: Remember me after my death, and remember ye Moses the friend of the Lord. And let not the words of the covenant which he hath made with you depart from you all the days of your life. And he, sent them away and they departed every man to his inheritance.

4. But Jesus laid himself upon his bed, and sent and called Phineës the son of Eleazar the priest and said unto him: Behold now I see with mine eyes the transgression of this people wherein they will begin to deceive: but thou, strengthen thy hands in the time that thou art with them, And he kissed him and his father and his sons and blessed him and said: The Lord God of your fathers direct your ways and the ways of this people. Gen. 49:33

5. And when he ceased speaking unto them, he drew up his feet into the bed and slept with his fathers. And his sons laid their hands upon his eyes. Gen. 46:4

6. And then all Israel gathered together to bury him, and they lamented him with a great lamentation, and thus said they in their lamentation: Weep ye for the wing of this swift eagle, for he hath flown away from us. And weep ye for the strength of this lion's whelp, for he is hidden from us. Who now will go and report unto Moses the righteous, that we have had forty years a leader like unto him? And they fulfilled their mourning and buried him with their own hands in the mount Effraim and returned every man unto his tent. And after the death of Jesus the land of Israel was at rest.

Jos. 24:30

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER XXIII.

XXIII. And Jesus the son of Naue ordered the people and divided unto them the land, being a mighty man of valour. And while yet the adversaries of Israel were in the land, the days of Jesus drew near that he should die, and he sent and called all Israel throughout all their land with their wives and their children, and said unto them: Gather yourselves together before the ark of the covenant of the Lord in Silo and I will make a covenant with you before I die. Jos. 24

2. And when all the people were gathered together on the 16th day of the 3rd month before the face of the Lord in Silo with their wives and their children, Jesus said unto them: Hear, O Israel, behold I make with you the covenant of this law which the Lord ordained with our fathers in Oreb, and therefore tarry ye here this night and see what God will say unto me concerning You. Num. 22:19

3. And as the people waited there that night, the Lord appeared unto Jesus in a vision and spake saying: According to all these words will I speak unto this people.

4. And Jesus came in the morning and assembled all the people and said unto them: Thus saith the Lord: One rock was there from whence I digged out your father, and the cutting of that rock brought forth two men, whose names were Abraham and Nachor, and out of the chiselling of that place were born two women whose names were Sara and Melcha. And they dwelled together beyond the river. And Abraham took Sara to wife and Nachor took Melcha. Isa. 51:1, 51:2

5. And when the people of the land were led astray, every man after his own devices, Abraham believed in me and was not led aside after them. And I saved him out of the fire and took him and brought him over into all the land of Chanaan. And I spake unto him in a vision saying: Unto thy seed will I give this land. And he said unto me: Behold now thou hast given me a wife and she is barren. And how shall I have seed of that womb that is shut up? Gen. 15

6. And I said unto him: Take for me a calf of three years old and a she-goat of three years and a ram of three years, a turtledove and a pigeon. And he took them as I commanded him. And I sent a sleep upon him and compassed him about with fear, and I set before him the place of fire wherein the works of them that commit iniquity against me shall be avenged, and I showed him the torches of fire whereby the righteous which have believed in me shall be enlightened. 1 Gen. 15:9, 15:12, 15:17

7. And I said unto him: These shall be for a witness between me and thee that I will give thee seed of the womb that is shut up. And I will liken thee unto the dove, because thou hast received for me the city which thy sons shall (begin to) build in my sight. But the turtle-dove I will liken unto the prophets which shall be born of thee. And the ram will I liken unto the wise men which shall be born of thee and enlighten thy sons. But the calf I will liken unto the multitude of the peoples which shall be multiplied through thee. And the she-goat I will liken unto the women whose wombs I will open and they shall bring forth. These things shall be for a witness betwixt us that I will not transgress my words.

8. And I gave him Isaac and formed him in the womb of her that bare him, and commanded it that it should restore him quickly and render him unto me in the 7th month. And for this cause every woman that bringeth forth in the 7th month, her child shall live: because upon him did I call my glory, and showed forth the new age.

9. And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau, and unto Esau I gave the land of Seir for an heritage. And Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt. And the Egyptians brought your fathers low, as ye know, and I remembered your fathers, and sent Moses my friend and delivered them from thence and smote their enemies.

10. And I brought them out with a high hand and led them through the Red Sea, and laid the cloud under their feet, and brought them out through the depth, and brought them beneath the mount Sina, and I bowed the heavens and came down, and I congealed the flame of the fire, and stopped up the springs of the deep, and impeded the course of the stars, and tamed the sound of the thunder, and quenched the fulness; of the wind, and rebuked the multitude of the clouds, and stayed their motions, and interrupted the storm of the hosts, that I should not break my covenant, for all things were moved at my coming down, and all things were quickened at my advent, and I suffered not my people to be scattered, but gave unto them my law, and enlightened them, that if they did these things they may live and have length of days and not die.

Ps. 18:9

11. And I have brought you into this land and given you vineyards. Ye dwell in cities which ye built not. And I have fulfilled the covenant which I spake unto your fathers.

12. And now if ye obey your fathers, I will set my heart upon you for ever, and will overshadow you, and your enemies shall no more fight against you, and your land shall be renowned throughout all the world and your seed be elect in the midst of the peoples, which shall say: Behold the faithful people; because they believed the Lord, therefore hath the Lord delivered them and planted them. And therefore will I plant you as a desirable vineyard and will rule you as a beloved flock, and I will charge the rain and the dew, and they shall satisfy you all the days of your life.

13. And it shall be at the end that the lot of every one of you shall be in eternal life, both for you and your seed, and I will receive your souls and lay them up in peace, until the time of the age is fulfilled, and I restore you unto your fathers and your fathers unto you, and they shall know at your hand that it is not in vain that I have chosen you. These are the words that the Lord hath spoken unto me this night.

14. And all the people answered and said: The Lord is our God, and him only will we serve. And all the people made a great feast that day and a renewal 1 thereof for 28 days.

Footnotes

142:1 XXIII. 6. The vision in Gen. 15 is here the occasion of Abraham's receiving revelations of a future state. Compare the Slavonic Apocalypse of Abraham, in which future history is revealed to him at this time.
144:1 14. a renewal: innouationem. qu. ἐγκαινισμόν: Cf. 2 Chron. 30:23.