The Bible KJV Old Testament

The Biblical Antiquities of Philo, Chapter 19

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER XIX.

XIX. At that time Moses slew the nations, and gave half of the spoils to the people, and he began to declare to them the words of the law which God spake to them in Oreb.

2. And he spake to them, saying: Lo, I sleep with my fathers, and shall go unto my people. But I know that ye will arise and forsake the words that were ordained unto you by me, and God will be wroth with you and forsake you and depart out of your land, and bring against you them that hate you, and they shall have dominion over you, but not unto the end, for he will remember the covenant which he made with your fathers.Dt. 31:27

3. But then both ye and your sons and all your generations after you will arise and seek the day of my death and will say in their heart: Who will give us a shepherd like unto Moses, or such another judge to the children of Israel, to pray for our sins at all times, 1 and to be heard for our iniquities?Dt. 4:26

4. 2 Howbeit, this day I call heaven and earth to witness against you, for the heaven shall hear this and the earth shall take it in with her ears, that God hath revealed the end of the world, that he might covenant with you upon his high places, and hath kindled an everlasting lamp among you. Remember, ye wicked, how that when I spake unto you, ye answered saying: All that God hath said unto us we will hear and do. But if we transgress or corrupt our ways, he shall call a witness against us and cut us off.

5. But know ye that ye did eat the bread of angels 40 years. And now behold I do bless your tribes, before my end come. But ye, know ye my labour wherein I have laboured with you since the day ye came up out of the land of Egypt.

6. And when he had so said, God spake unto him the third time, saying: Behold, thou goest to sleep with thy fathers, and this people will arise and seek me, and will forget my law wherewith I have enlightened them, and I shall forsake their seed for a season.Dt. 32:52, 34:4

7. But unto thee will I show the land before thou die, but thou shall not enter therein in this age, lest thou see the graven images whereby this people will be deceived and led out of the way. I will show thee the place wherein they shall serve me 740 (l. 850) years. And thereafter it shall be delivered into the hand of their enemies, and they shall destroy it, and strangers shall compass it about, and it shall be in that day as it was in the day when I brake the tables of the covenant which I made with thee in Oreb: and when they sinned, that which was written therein vanished away. Now that day was the 17th day of the 4th month.

8. And Moses went up into Mount Oreb, as God had bidden him, and prayed, saying: Behold, I have fulfilled the time of my life, even 120 years. And now I pray thee let thy mercy be with thy people and let thy compassion be continued upon thine heritage, Lord, and thy long-suffering in thy place upon the race of thy choosing, for thou hast loved them more than all.

9. And thou knowest that I was a shepherd of sheep, and when I fed the flock in the desert, I brought them unto thy Mount Oreb, and then first saw I thine angel in fire out of the bush; but thou calledst me out of the bush, and I feared and turned away my face, and thou sentest me unto them, and didst deliver them out of Egypt, and their enemies thou didst sink in the water. And thou gavest them a law and judgements whereby they should live. For what man is he that hath not sinned against thee? How shall thine heritage be established except thou have mercy on them? Or who shall yet be born without sin? Yet wilt thou correct them for a season, but not in anger.1 K. 8:45

10. Then the Lord shewed him the land and all that is therein and said: This is the land which I will give to my people. And he shewed him the place from whence the clouds draw up water to water all the earth, and the place whence the river receiveth his water, and the land of Egypt, and the place of the firmament, from whence the holy land only drinketh. 1 He shewed him also the place from whence it rained manna for the people, and even unto the paths of paradise. And he shewed him the measures of the sanctuary, and the number of the offerings, and the sign whereby men shall interpret (lit. begin to look; upon) the heaven, and said: These are the things which were forbidden to the sons of men because they sinned.Dt. 34:1

11. And now, thy rod wherewith the signs were wrought shall be for a witness between me and my people. And when they sin I shall be wroth with them and remember my rod, and spare them according to my mercy, and thy rod shall be in my sight for a remembrance all the days, 1 and shall be like unto the bow wherein I made a covenant with Noe when he came out of the ark, saying: I will set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign between me and men that the water of a flood be no more upon the earth.

12. But thee will I take hence and give thee sleep 2 with thy fathers and give thee rest in thy slumber, and bury thee in peace, and all the angels shall lament for thee, and the hosts of heaven shall be sorrowful. But there shall not any, of angels or men, know thy sepulchre wherein thou art to be buried, but thou shalt rest therein until I visit the world, and raise thee up and thy fathers out of the earth [of Egypt] 3 wherein ye shall sleep, and ye shall come together and dwell in an immortal habitation that is not subject unto time.

13. But this heaven shall be in my sight as a fleeting cloud, and like yesterday when it is past, and it shall be when I draw near to visit the world, I will command the years and charge the times, and they shall be shortened, and the stars shall be hastened, and the light of the sun make speed to set, neither shall the light of the moon endure, because I will hasten to raise up you that sleep, that in the place of sanctification which I shewed thee, all they that can live may dwell therein.

14. And Moses said: If I may ask yet one thing of thee, O Lord, according to the multitude of thy mercy, be not wroth with me. And shew me what measure of time hath passed by and what remaineth.

15. And the Lord said to him: An instant, the topmost part of a hand, 1 the fulness of a moment, 2 and the drop of a cup. And time hath fulfilled all. For 4 have passed by, and 2 remain. 3 Dt. 34:6

16. And Moses when he heard was filled with under standing, and his likeness was changed gloriously: and he died in glory according to the mouth of the Lord, and he buried him as he had promised him, and the angels lamented at his death, and lightnings and torches and arrows went before him with one accord. And on that day the hymn of the hosts was not said because of the departure of Moses. Neither was there any day like unto it since the Lord made man upon earth, neither shall there be any such for ever, that he should make the hymn of the angels to cease because of a man; for he loved him greatly; and he buried him with his own hands on an high place of the earth, and in the light of the whole world.

Footnotes

127:1 XIX. 3. to pray for our sins at all times. cf. Assumption of Moses, 11:11, 11:17; 12:3.
127:2 4. DCCXL. years of the MSS. should, as Dr. Cohn suggests, be changed to DCCCL. From the death of Moses to the building of the first temple 440 years are reckoned, and from thence to its destruction 410. The Seder Olam Rabbah XI. reckons seventeen Jubilees (850 years) from the entrance into the Holy Land to the Captivity (Cohn, p. 327, note).
129:1 10. the place of the firmament from whence the holy land only drinketh. cf. Babylonian Talmud Taanith I (tr. Rodkinson, p. 24). "The land of Israel is watered by the Lord himself, while the rest of the world is watered by a messenger. . . The land of Israel is watered by rain, while the rest of the world is watered by the residue remaining in the clouds."
130:1 11. The rod of Moses is to be transported to heaven and to become a sign like the rainbow. Perhaps the Milky Way is meant. No such tradition is cited in Mr. I. Abrahams' interesting paper on "The Rod of Moses," in Papers read before the Jews' College Literary Society (1887, p. 28), nor in Daehnhardt's Natursagen, nor in other sources which I have consulted.
130:2 12. give thee sleep. Dormificabo R., which must be preferred, I think, to glorificabo of AP.
130:3 the earth [of Egypt]. The word Aegypti is certainly intrusive, written mechanically after excitabo te, etc., de terra.
131:1 Lit.: Here is honey, a great summit.
131:2 15. The corrupt words istic mel apex magnus I emend into stigma et apex manus, cf. 4 Esdr. 4:48-50; 6:9, 6:10. The fulness of a moment: momenti plenitudo. Perhaps this renders ρηοπῆσ πλήρωμα, that which fills the scale of the balance and causes it to sink.
131:3 four and a half have passed and two and a half remain (cf. 4 Esdr. 14:11). The total, seven, agrees with that in the Vision of Kenaz (XXVI I 1. 8), "men shall dwell in the world VII. (i.e. 7000) years." The calculation in the present passage ought to mean that 4500 years are past and 2500 remain: but no other authority seems to place the death of Moses so late as AM. 4500. The Assumption of Moses puts it in 2500, the Hebrew in 2706, the LXX in 3859, Jubilees in 2450.

There is a certain plausibility in the following view: 4 stands for 45, and 2 for 25: the 45 and 25 consist of weeks of years. Then 45 = 3150, and 25 = 1750: total 4900, or 7 X 700, a good mystical number. Only it disagrees with the 7000 of XXVIII. 8. With that passage in view, I think we must take it that 4 = 4500, and 2 2500, the unit being 100 years.

The Assumption of Moses (10:11) says that from the death of Moses "to the advent of Messiah there will be 250 times," which is superficially like 2. The "times" here are commonly taken to mean weeks of years, making 1750. But if we could take each "time" to be ten years, then 250 times would be 2500 years or fifty jubilees, and we should only have to alter bis millesimus et quingentesimus (I:2) to quater (IIII.) millesimus, etc., to bring it into exact agreement with Philo! Perhaps this method of dealing with authorities may find more favour with others than it does with me.

I think it quite possible that the unexplained verse in Apoc. Bar. 28:2, "and the measure and reckoning of that time are two parts weeks (or two parts a week), of seven weeks" may contain the same calculation, the week being 1000 years, and "two parts a week" being corrupt for 2 weeks. But if so we should have to assume that the writer of Apoc. Bar. had not allowed for the difference in date between Moses and Baruch--some 850 years. I do not think that such an inadvertence is quite out of the question.

Another possibility is that our author, in making his calculation, has in mind not so much the date of Moses, as that at which he is himself writing.

Taking the texts as they stand, the calculation, and the whole account of the death of Moses, show that Philo quite disregards the Assumption, though he may very likely have read it. When I came across the passage as a separate extract in a MS. and published it, in 1893, I spent much space in trying to prove that it was actually part of the Assumption. The view neither was nor deserved to be accepted.

September 24, 2011
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Published in The Biblical Antiquities of Philo
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The Biblical Antiquities of Philo, Chapter 18

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER XVIII.

XVIII. At that time Moses slew Seon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and divided all their land unto his people, and they dwelt therein. Num. 21

2. But Balac was the king of Moab, that lived over against them, and he was greatly afraid, and sent to Balaam the son of Beor the interpreter of dreams, which dwelt in Mesopotamia, and charged him saying: Behold I know how that in the reign of my father Sefor, when the Amorites fought against him, thou didst curse them and they were delivered up before him. And now come and curse this people, for they are many, more than we, and will do thee great honour. Num. 22

3. And Balaam said: Lo, this is good in the sight of Balac, but he knoweth not that the counsel of God is not as man's counsel. And he knoweth not that the spirit which is given unto us is given for a time, and our ways are not guided except God will. Now therefore abide ye here, and I will see what the Lord will say to me this night. Num. 22:17, 22:8, 22:9

4. And in the night God said unto him: Who are the men that are come unto thee? And Balaam said: Wherefore, Lord, dost thou tempt the race of man? They therefore cannot sustain it, for thou knewest more than they, all that was in the world, before thou foundedst it. And now enlighten thy servant if it be right that I go with them.

5. And God said to him: Was it not concerning this people that I spake unto Abraham in a vision saying: Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven, when I raised him up above the firmament and showed him all the orderings of the stars, and required of him his son for a burnt offering? and he brought him to be laid upon the altar, but I restored him to his father. And because he resisted not, his offering was acceptable in my sight, and for the blood of him did I choose this people. And then I said unto the angels that work subtilly: 1 Said I not of him: To Abraham will I reveal all that I do? Gen. 22:17, Gen. 18:15

6. Jacob also, when he wrestled in the dust with the angel that was over the praises, did not let him go until he blessed him. And now, behold, thou thinkest to go with these, and curse them whom I have chosen. But if thou curse them, who is he that shall bless thee? Num. 22:13

7. And Balaam arose in the morning and said: Go your way, for God will not have me to come with you. And they went and told Balac all that was said of Balaam. And Balac sent yet again other men to Balaam saying: Behold, I know that when thou offerest burnt offerings to God, God will be reconciled with man, and now ask yet again of thy Lord, and entreat by burnt offerings, as many as he will. For if peradventure he will be propitiated in my necessity, thou shalt have thy reward, if so be God accept thy offerings.

8. And Balaam said to them: Lo, the son of Sephor is foolish, and knoweth not that he dwelleth hard by (lit. round about) the dead: 2 Andnow tarry here this night and I will see what God will say unto me. And God said to him: Go with them, and thy journey shall be an offence, and Balac himself shall go unto destruction. And he arose and went with them. Num. 22:19

9. And his she-ass came by the way of the desert and saw the angel, and he opened the eyes of Balaam and he saw the angel and worshipped him on the earth. And the angel said to him: Haste and go on, for what thou sayest shall come to pass with him.

10. And he came unto the land of Moab and built an altar and offered sacrifices: and when he had seen a part of the people, the spirit of God abode not in him, and he took up his parable and said: Lo, Balac hath brought me hither unto the mount, saying: Come, run into the fire of these men. <<Lo>> I cannot abide that <<fire>> which waters quench, but that fire which consumeth water who shall endure? And he said to him: It is easier to take away the foundations and all the topmost part of them, and to quench the light of the sun and darken the shining of the moon, than for him who will to root up the planting of the Most Mighty or spoil his vineyard. And Balac himself hath not known it, because his mind is puffed up, to the intent his destruction may come swiftly. Num. 23, 24

11. For behold, I see the heritage which the Most Mighty showed me in the night, and lo the days come when Moab shall be amazed at that which befalleth her, for Balac desired to persuade the Most Mighty with gifts and to purchase decision 1 with money. Oughtest thou not to have asked what he sent upon Pharao and upon his land because he would bring them into bondage? Behold an overshadowing vine, desirable exceedingly, and who shall be jealous against it, for it withereth not? But if any say in his counsel that the Most Mighty hath laboured in vain or chosen them to no purpose, lo now I see the salvation of deliverance which is to come unto them. I am restrained in the speech of my voice and I cannot express that which I see with mine eyes, for but a little is left to me of the holy spirit which abideth in me, since I know that in that I was persuaded of Balac I have lost the days of my life:

12. Lo, again I see the heritage of the abode of this people, 1 and the light of it shineth above the brightness of lightning, and the running of it is swifter than arrows. And the time shall come when Moab shall groan, and they that serve Cham (Chemosh?) shall be weak, even such as took this counsel against them. But I shall gnash my teeth because I was deceived and did transgress that which was said to me in the night. Yet my prophecy shall remain manifest, and my words shall live, and the wise and prudent shall remember my words, for when I cursed I perished, and though I blessed I was not blessed. And when he had so said he held his peace. And Balac said: Thy God hath defrauded thee of many gifts from me. Num. 24:11

13. Then Balaam said unto him: 2 Come and let us advise what thou shalt do to them. Choose out the most comely women that are among you and that are in Midian and set them before them naked, and adorned with gold and jewels, and it shall be when they shall see them and lie with them, they will sin against their Lord and fall into your hands, for otherwise thou canst not subdue them.

Num. 31:16

14. And so saying Balaam turned away and returned to his place. And thereafter the people were led astray after the daughters of Moab, for Balac did all that Balaam had showed him.

Footnotes

124:1 XVIII. 5. And then I said unto the angels that work subtilly. The clause has dropped out of AP, but must be genuine. Angelis minute operantibus is a curious expression. Minute should be λεπτῶσ. Is the reference to evil angels (as in XXXIV.), or to angels set over small things, or to the angels who envied Abraham, as in XXXII. 1, 2?

Probably we ought to follow R in the next words also, and read: "Unto Abraham will I reveal all that I do, and unto Jacob his son's son whom he (1) called (my) first born. Who when he wrestled," etc.
124:2 8. nescit quoniam inhabitat in gyro mortuorum. Are the "mortui" anything more than Balak's idols?
125:1 11. decision: dogma.
126:1 12. the heritage of the abode of this people: haereditatem dissolutionis. I take dissolutionis to be a wrong rendering of κατάλυσισ, which means "abode" in Jer. 49:19 (LXX).
126:2 13. Pirke R. Eliezer 47: Balaam said: "You will not be able to prevail against this people, unless they have sinned before their Creator." peccabunt domino suo . . . aliter expugnare eos non poteris.

September 24, 2011
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The Biblical Antiquities of Philo, Chapter 17

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER XVII.

XVII. Then was the lineage of the priests of God declared by the choosing of a tribe, and it was said unto Moses: Take throughout every tribe one rod and put them in the tabernacle, and then shall the rod of him to whomsoever my glory shall speak, flourish, and I will take away the murmuring from my people. Num. 17

2. And Moses did so and set 12 rods, and the rod of Aaron came out, and put forth blossom and yielded seed of almonds.

3. And this likeness which was born there was like unto the work which Israel wrought while he was in Mesopotamia with Laban the Syrian, when he took rods of almond, and put them at the gathering of waters, and the cattle came to drink and were divided among the peeled rods, and brought forth [kids] white and speckled and parti-coloured.

4. Therefore was the synagogue of the people made like unto a flock of sheep, and as the cattle brought forth according to the almond rods, so was the priesthood established by means of the almond rods.

September 24, 2011
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The Biblical Antiquities of Philo, Chapter 16

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER XVI.

XVI. 1 At that time did he give him commandment concerning the fringes: and then did Choreb rebel and 200 men with him and spake saying: What if a law which we cannot bear is ordained for us? Num. 16

2. And God was wroth and said: I commanded the earth and it gave me man, and unto him were born at the first two sons. And the elder arose and slew the younger, and the earth hasted and swallowed his blood. But I drove forth Cain, and cursed the earth and spake unto Sion saying: Thou shalt not any more swallow up blood. And now are the thoughts of men greatly polluted.

3. Lo, I will command the earth, and it shall swallow up body and soul together, and their dwelling shall be in darkness and in destruction, and they shall not die but shall pine away until I remember the world and renew the earth. And then shall they die and not live, and their life shall be taken away out of the number of all men: neither shall Hell vomit them forth again, and destruction shall not remember them, and their departure shall be as that of the tribe of the nations of whom I said, "I will not remember them," that is, the camp of the Egyptians, and the people whom I destroyed with the water of the flood. And the earth shall swallow them, and I will not do any more unto them. 1

4. And when Moses spake all these words unto the people, Choreb, and his men were yet unbelieving. And Choreb sent to call his seven sons which were not of counsel with him.

5. But they sent to him in answer saying: As the painter showeth not forth an image made by his art unless he be first instructed, so we also when we received the law of the Most Mighty which teacheth us his ways, did not enter . therein save that we might walk therein. Our father begat us [not], but the Most Mighty formed us, and now if we walk in his ways we shall be his children. But if thou believe not, go thine own way. And they came not up unto him.

6. And it came to pass after this that the earth opened before them, and his sons sent unto him saying: If thy madness be still upon thee, who shall help thee in the day of thy destruction? and he hearkened not unto them. And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their houses, and four times was the foundation of the earth moved to swallow up the men, as it was commanded her. And thereafter Choreb and his company groaned, until the firmament of the earth should be delivered back. 1

7. But the assemblies of the people said unto Moses: We cannot abide round about 2 this place where Choreb and his men have been swallowed up. And he said to them. Take up your tents from round about them, neither be ye joined to their sins. And they did so.

Footnotes

120:1 XVI. 1. In Num. 15:37 the ordinance of fringes immediately precedes the story of Korah; and the two are brought into connexion by the Targum on, Numbers and by others: Jerahmeel 55 connects them in this fashion: "and when God commanded Moses to tell the children of Israel to make themselves fringes, Korah arose in the night, and, weaving 400 garments of blue, put them on 400 men. Then, standing before Moses, he said to him: "Do these garments require fringes, as they are now made wholly of this blue?" Moses replied: "Korah, does a house full of holy books require a Mezuzah?" "Yes," said Korah. "So also do these garments require fringes." This encounter of Korah with Moses is the last of several which are told at some length in Jerahmeel.
121:1 3. it appears that Korah and his company are to be annihilated at the final judgement. The people of whom I said: I will not remember them. Compare Pirke R. Eliezer 33. "All the dead will rise at the resurrection of the dead, except the generation of the Flood." Christianity (1 Peter 3) did not recognize this exception.
122:1 6. until the firmament (AP) or foundation (VR) of the earth should be restored: quousque redderetur firmamentum terrae. Probably to be understood in the same sense as the words of 3: ero innouans terram.
122:2 The MSS. have: in Sina of this place.

September 24, 2011
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Published in The Biblical Antiquities of Philo
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The Biblical Antiquities of Philo, Chapter 15

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER XV.

XV. And Moses sent spies to spy out the land, even 12 men, for so was it commanded him. And when they had gone up and seen the land, they returned to him bringing of the fruits of the land, and troubled the heart of the people, saying: Ye will not be able to inherit the land, for it is shut up with iron bars by their mighty men.

Num. 13

2. But two men out of the 12 spake not so, but said: Like as hard iron can overcome the stars, or as weapons can conquer the lightnings, or the fowls of the air put out the thunder, so can these men resist the Lord. For they saw how that as they went up the lightnings of the stars shone and the thunders followed, sounding with them.

3. And these are the names of the men: 3 Chaleb the son of Jephone, the son of Beri, the son of Batuel, the son of Galipha, the son of Zenen, the son of Selimun, the son of Selon, the son of Juda. The other, Jesus the son of Naue, the son of Eliphat, the son of Gal, the son of Nephelien, the son of Emon, the son of Saul, the son of Dabra, the son of Effrem, the son of Joseph.

4. But the people would not hear the voice of the twain, but were greatly troubled, and spake saying: Be these the words which God spake to us saying: I will bring you into a land flowing with milk and honey? And how now doth he bring us up that we may fall on the sword, and our women shall go into captivity?

5. And when they said thus, the glory of God appeared suddenly, and he said to Moses: Doth this people thus persevere to hearken unto me not at all? Lo now the counsel which hath gone forth from me shall not be in vain. I will send the angel of mine anger upon them to break up their bodies with fire in the wilderness. And I will give commandment to mine angels which watch over them that they pray not for them, for I will shut up their souls in the treasuries of darkness, and I will say to my servants their fathers: Behold, this is the seed unto which I spake saying: Your seed shall come into a land that is not theirs, and the nation whom they shall serve I will judge. And I fulfilled my words and made their enemies to melt away, and subjected angels under their feet, and put a cloud for a covering of their heads, and commanded the sea, and the depths were broken before their face and walls of water stood up. Gen. 15:13, 15:14

6. And there hath not been the like of this word since the day when I said: Let the waters under the heaven be gathered into one place, unto this day. And I brought them out, and slew their enemies and led them before me unto the Mount Sina. And I bowed the heavens and came down to kindle a lamp for my people, and to set bounds to all creatures. And I taught them to make me a sanctuary that I might dwell among them. But they have forsaken me and become faithless in my words, and their mind hath fainted, and now behold the days shall come when I will do unto them as they have desired and I will cast forth their bodies in the wilderness.

7. And Moses said: Before thou didst take seed wherewith to make man upon the earth, did I order his ways? therefore now let thy mercy suffer us unto the end, and thy pity for the length of days.

Footnotes

118:3 XV. 3. The names in the pedigrees of Caleb and Joshua are not easily reconciled with those in 1 Chron. 2, 7:23 sqq.

September 24, 2011
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The Biblical Antiquities of Philo, Chapter 14

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER XIV.

XIV. At that time God said unto him: Begin to number my people from 20 years and upwards unto 40 years, that I may show your tribes all that I declared unto their fathers in a strange land. For by the 50th part of them did I raise them up out of the land of Egypt, but 40 and 9 parts of them died in the land of Egypt. Num. 1:2

2. When thou hast ordered them and numbered them (or, While ye abode there. And when thou hast numbered them, etc.), write the tale of them, till I fulfil all that I spake unto their fathers, and set them firmly in their own land: for I will not diminish any word of those I have spoken unto their fathers, even of those which I said to them: Your seed shall be as the stars of heaven for multitude. By number shall they enter into the land, and in a short time shall they become without number.

3. Then Moses went down and numbered them, and the number of the people was 604,550. But the tribe of Levi numbered he not among them, for so was it commanded him; only he numbered them that were upwards of 50 years, of whom the number was 47,300. Also he numbered them that were below 20 years, and the number of them was 850,850. And he looked over the tribe of Levi and the whole number of them was CXX. CCXD. DCXX. CC. DCCC. 1 Num. 1:46

4. And Moses declared the number of them to God; and God said to him: These are the words which I spake to their fathers in the land of Egypt, and appointed a number, even 210 years, unto all that saw my wonders. Now the number of them all was 9000 times 10,000, 200 times 95,000 men, besides women, and I put to death the whole multitude of them 1 2 because they believed me not, and the 50th part of them I was left and I sanctified them unto me. Therefore do I command the generation of my people to give me tithes of their fruits, to be before me for a memorial of how great oppression I have removed from them.

5. And when Moses came down and declared these things to the people, they mourned and lamented and abode in the desert two years.

Footnotes

117:1 XIV. 3. The number at the end of this verse is hopelessly corrupt.
118:1 i.e. 2,180,000.
118:2 4. The number 2,180,000 seems as if it ought to bear a relation to the 210 years spent in Egypt: qu. 2,100,000?

September 24, 2011
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The Biblical Antiquities of Philo, Chapter 13

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER XIII.

XIII. And Moses hasted and did all that God commanded him, and came down and made the tables <<and the tabernacle>>, and the vessels thereof, and the ark and the lamps and the table and the altar of burnt offerings and the altar 3 of incense and the shoulderpiece and the breastplate and the precious stones and the laver and the bases and all things that were shewn him. And he ordered all the vestures of the priests, the girdles and the rest, the mitre, the golden plate and the holy crown: he made also the anointing oil for the priests, and the priests themselves he sanctified. And when all things were finished the cloud covered all of them. Ex. 34

2. 1 Then Moses cried unto the Lord, and God spake to him from the tabernacle saying: This is the law of the altar, whereby ye shall sacrifice unto me and pray for your souls. But as concerning that which ye shall offer me, offer ye of cattle the calf, the sheep and the she goat: but of fowls the turtle and the dove.

Lev. 14

3, And if there be leprosy in your land, and it so be that the leper is cleansed, let them take for the Lord two live young birds, and wood of cedar and hyssop and scarlet; and he shall come to the priest, and he shall kill one, and keep the other. And he shall order the leper according to all that I have commanded in my law.

4. 2 And it shall be when the times come round to you, ye shall sanctify me with a feast-day and rejoice before me at the feast of the unleavened bread, and set bread before me, keeping a feast of remembrance because on that day ye came forth of the land of Egypt. Lev. 23

5. And in the feast of weeks ye shall set bread before me and make me an offering for your fruits.

6. But the feast of trumpets shall be for an offering for your watchers, because therein I oversaw my creation, that ye may be mindful of the whole world. In the beginning of the year, when ye show them me, I will acknowledge the number of the dead and of them that are born, and the fast of mercy. For ye shall fast unto me for your souls, that the promises of your fathers may be fulfilled.

7. Also the feast of tabernacles bring ye to me: ye shall take for me the pleasant fruit of the tree, and boughs of palm-tree and willows and cedars, and branches of myrrh: and I will remember the whole earth in rain, and the measure of the seasons shall be established, and I will order the stars and command the clouds, and the winds shall sound and the lightnings run abroad, and there shall be a storm of thunder, and this shall be for a perpetual sign. Also the nights shall yield dew, 1 as I spake after the flood of the earth.

8. when I (or Then he) gave him precept as concerning the year of the life of Noe, and said to him: These are the years which I ordained after the weeks wherein I visited the city of men, at what time I shewed them (or him) the place of birth and the colour (or and the serpent), and I (or he) said: This is. the place of which I taught the first man saying: If thou transgress not that I bade thee, all things shall be subject unto thee. But he transgressed my ways and was persuaded of his wife, and she was deceived by the serpent. And then was death ordained unto the generations of men.

9. And furthermore the Lord shewed (or, And the Lord said further: I shewed) him the ways of paradise 2 and said unto him: These are the ways which men have lost by not walking in them, because they have sinned against me.

10. And the Lord commanded him concerning the salvation of the souls of the people and said: If they shall walk in my ways I will not forsake them, but will always be merciful unto them, and will bless their seed, and the earth shall haste to yield her fruit, and there shall be rain for them to increase their gains, and the earth shall not be barren. Yet verily I know that they will corrupt their ways, and I shall forsake them, and they will forget the covenants which I made with their fathers. Yet will I not forget them for ever: for in the last days they shall know that because of their sins their seed was forsaken; for I am faithful in my ways.

Footnotes

113:3 XIII. 1, 2. altar: thuribulum (lit. censer).
114:1 2-7. This short section contains practically all that is said of the ceremonial law. It is remarkably "scrappy" and unsystematic.
114:2 4-7. This passage is well illustrated by one in the Talmud. Tract. Rosh ha-Shana (tr. Schwab, p. 63): A 4 époques différentes de l'année, le monde est jugé par Dieu: à Pâques pour la récolte; à Pentecôte pour les produits des arbres; à la féte du nouvel-an tous les êtres de la terre passent devant l'Éternel comme les troupeaux devant le berger, puisqu'il est dit (Ps. xxxiii. 15): Celui qui a créé tous les curs, qui connaît toutes leurs actions (il sait et scrute tout). Enfin, aux Tabernacles, la question des eaux sera résolue.

This corresponds fairly well with our text. The same four feasts are spoken of in connexion with the Passover. The harvest is not mentioned; it is only said constituetis in conspectu meo panem. At Pentecost (the Feast of Weeks) we have facietis mihi oblationem pro fructibus vestris. At the Feast of Trumpets (the New Year feast) the words are no doubt obscure, but they contain mention of a review of the whole creation. "But the Feast of Trumpets shall be for an offering to (or for) your watchers (prospeculatoribus vestris: or pro spec. I suppose angelic guardians to be meant), inasmuch as I reviewed (praespexi, perspexi) the whole creation, that ye may be mindful of the whole world" (the connexion of this clause is obscure): "and at the beginning of the year I will acknowledge, when ye show them, the number of your dead, and of them that are born, and the fast of mercy. For ye shall fast unto me for your souls," etc. This represents the sense of the text as I understand it. Lastly, of the Feast of Tabernacles it is said: "I will remember the whole earth in rain." The comment on this passage of the Talmud makes it clear that this is the meaning of the "question des eaux": prayer for rain was offered at the Feast of Tabernacles (cf. Taanith I.).
116:1 7. fin., 8. "As I spake after the flood of the earth, at what time I gave commandment concerning the year of the life of Noah, and said unto him.. These are the years which I ordained after that I visited the city of men (i.e. at the flood) at the time when I showed them (? him) the place of generation and the colour, and said: This is the place whereof I taught the first-formed man," etc. This is the text of VR, and on the whole it seems the best, but it is not at all clear. As is remarked in the Introduction, there may be a reference to a passage in Jubilees. It seems to be implied that God showed Paradise to Noah. The words, "and the colour: et colorem" are particularly puzzling. Ought we to read et colubrum "and the serpent"? Two lines below we have de colubro. Or is there a reference to what we find in the Revelation of Moses in Jerahmeel 92:10? God showed him the heavenly temple, and the four different hues in which the tabernacle was made, by means of angels clothed in blue, white, scarlet, and purple.
116:2 9. Here God seems certainly to show Paradise to Moses.

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The Biblical Antiquities of Philo, Chapter 12

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER XII.

XII. 1 And Moses came down: and whereas he was covered with invisible light--for he had gone down into the place where is the light of the sun and moon,--the light of his face overcame the brightness of the sun and moon, and he knew it not. And it was so, when he came down to the children of Israel, they saw him and knew him not. But when he spake, then they knew him.

Ex. 34:29 And this was like that which was done in Egypt when Joseph knew his brethren but they knew not him. And it came to pass after that, when Moses knew that his face was become glorious, he made him a veil to cover his face.Gen. 42:8

2. But while he was in the mount, the heart of the people was corrupted, and they came together to Aaron saying: Make us gods that we may serve them, as the other nations also have. Ex. 32 For this Moses by whom the wonders were done before us, is taken from us. And Aaron said unto them: Have patience, for Moses will come and bring judgement near to us, and light up a law for us, and set forth from his mouth the great excellency of God, and appoint judgements unto our people.

3. And when he said this, they hearkened not unto him, that the word might be fulfilled which was spoken in the day when the people sinned in building the tower, when God said: And now if I forbid them not, they will adventure all that they take in mind to do, and worse. Gen. 11:6 But Aaron feared, because the people was greatly strengthened, and said to them: Bring us the earrings of your wives. And the men sought every one his wife, and they gave them straightway, and they put them in the fire and they were made into a figure, and there came out a molten calf. Ex. 32:2

4. 1 And the Lord said to Moses: Make haste hence, for the people is corrupted and hath dealt deceitfully with my ways which I commanded them. Ex. 32:7 What and if the promises are at an end which I made to their fathers when I said: To your seed will I give this land wherein ye dwell? For behold the people is not yet entered into the land, even though they bear my judgements, yet have they forsaken me. And therefore I know that if they enter the land they will do yet greater iniquities. Now therefore I also will forsake them: and I will turn again and make peace with them, that a house may be built for me among them; and that house also shall be done away, because they will sin against me, and the race of men shall be unto me as a drop of a pitcher, and shall be counted as spittle. Isa. 40:1

5. And Moses hasted and came down and saw the calf, and he looked upon the tables and saw that they were not written: 1 and he hasted and brake them; and his hands were opened and he became like a woman travailing of her firstborn, which when she is taken in her pangs her hands are upon her bosom, and she shall have no strength to help her to bring forth.

6. And it came to pass after an hour he said within himself: Bitterness prevaileth not for ever, neither hath evil the dominion alway. Now therefore will I arise, and strengthen my loins: for albeit they have sinned, yet shall not these things be in vain that were declared unto me above. Ex. 32:20

7. 2 And he arose and brake the calf and cast it into the water, and made the people drink. And it was so, if any man's will in his mind were that the calf should be made, his tongue was cut off, but if any had been constrained thereto by fear, his face shone.

8. And then Moses went up into the mount and prayed the Lord, saying: Behold now, thou art God which hast planted this vineyard and set the roots thereof in the deep, and stretched out the shoots of it unto thy most high seat. Look upon it at this time, for the vineyard hath put forth her fruit and hath not known him that tilled her. And now if thou be wroth with thy vineyard and root it up out of the deep, and wither up the shoots from thy most high eternal seat, the deep will come no more to nourish it, neither thy throne to refresh that thy vineyard which thou hast burned.

9. For thou art he that art all light, and hast adorned thy house 1 with precious stones and gold and perfumes and spices (or and jasper), and wood of balsam and cinnamon, and with roots of myrrh and costum 2 hast thou strewed thine house, and with divers meats and sweetness of many drinks hast thou satisfied it. If therefore thou have not pity upon thy vineyard, all these things are done in vain, Lord, and thou wilt have none to glorify thee. For even if thou plant another vineyard, neither will that one trust in thee, because thou didst destroy the former. For if verily thou forsake the world, who will do for thee that that thou hast spoken as God? And now let thy wrath be restrained from thy vineyard the more <<because of>> that thou hast said and that which remaineth to be spoken, and let not thy labour be in vain, neither let thine heritage be torn asunder in humiliation.

10. And God said to him: Behold I am become merciful according to thy words. Hew thee out therefore two tables of stone from the place whence thou hewedst the former, and write upon them again my judgements which were on the first.

Footnotes

110:1 XII. 1. descended into the place where is the light of the suit and moon. Compare with this the Revelation vouchsafed to Moses which is related in Jerahmeel, c. 52, as reported by R. Joshua ben Levi.
111:1 4. even though they bear my judgements: etiam portans iudicium; i.e. even though they carry with them the law I have given.
112:1 5. the writing vanishes from the tables. Cf. XIX. 7. The Pirke R. Eliezer, c. 45 (tr. Friedlander), says, "the writing fled from off the tables," and Cohn quotes the same story from other Midrashim.
112:2 7. The common story is that the beards of those who had sinned appeared gilt (Historia Scholastica). This detail was occasionally embodied in mediæval pictures of the scene.
113:1 9. The house, which is described in terms somewhat resembling Enoch (see Introd., p. 44 ), is Paradise.
113:2 9. costum, for which there is no English equivalent, occurs in Jub. 16:24, and fairly often in Latin literature.

September 24, 2011
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The Biblical Antiquities of Philo, Chapter 11

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER XI.

XI. And in the 3rd month of the journeying of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. And God remembered his word and said: I will give light unto the world, and lighten the habitable places, and make my covenant with the children of men, and glorify my people above all nations, for unto them will I put forth an eternal exaltation 1 which shall be unto them a light, but unto the ungodly a chastisement. Ex. 19:1

2. And he said unto Moses: Behold, I will call thee to-morrow: be thou ready and tell my people: "For three days let not a man come near his wife," and on the 3rd day I will speak unto thee and unto them, and after that thou shalt come up unto me. And I will put my words in thy mouth and thou shalt enlighten my people. For I have given into thy hands an everlasting law whereby I will judge all the world. For this shall be for a testimony. For if men say: "We have not known thee, 2 and therefore we have not served thee," therefore will I take vengeance upon them, because they have not known my law.

3. And Moses did as God commanded him, and sanctified the people and said unto them: Be ye ready on the 3rd day, for after 3 days will God make his covenant with you. Ex. 19:14 And the people were sanctified.

4. And it came to pass on the 3rd day that, lo, there were voices of thunderings (lit. them that sounded) and brightness of lightnings and the voice of instruments sounding aloud. And there was fear upon all the people that were in the camp. And Moses put forth the people to meet God. Ex. 19:16

5. 1 And behold the mountains burned with fire and the earth shook and the hills were removed and the mountains overthrown: the depths boiled, and all the habitable places were shaken: and the heavens were folded up and the clouds drew up water. And flames of fire shone forth and thunderings and lightnings were multiplied and winds and tempests made a roaring: the stars were gathered together and the angels ran before, until God established the law of an everlasting covenant with the children of Israel, and gave unto them an eternal commandment which should not pass away.

6. And at that time the Lord spake unto his people all these words, saying: I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Ex. 20:1 Thou shalt not make to thyself graven gods, neither shalt thou make any abominable image of the sun or the moon or any of the ornaments of the heaven, nor the likeness of all things that are upon the earth nor of such as creep in the waters or upon the earth. I am the Lord thy God, a jealous God, requiting the sins of them that sleep upon the living children of the ungodly, if they walk in the ways of their fathers; unto the third and fourth generation, doing (or shewing) mercy unto 1000 generations to them that love me and keep my commandments. Ex. 20:4

7. Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, that my ways be not made vain. For God abominateth him that taketh his name in vain. Ex. 20:7

8. 1 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it. Six days do thy work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord. Ex. 20:8 In it thou shall do no work, thou and all thy labourers, saving that therein ye praise the Lord in the congregation of the elders and glorify the Mighty One in the seat of the aged.

Ps. 107:32 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that are in them, and all the world, the wilderness that is not inhabited, and all things that do labour, 2 and all the order of the heaven, and God rested the seventh day. Therefore God sanctified the seventh day, because he rested therein. Gen. 2:3

9. Thou shalt love thy father and my mother and fear them: and then shall thy light rise, and I will command the heaven and it shall pay thee the rain thereof, and the earth shall hasten her fruit and thy days shall be many, and thou shalt dwell in thy land, and shalt not be childless, for thy seed shall not fail, even that of them that dwell therein. Ex. 20:12

10. Thou shalt not commit adultery, for thine enemies did not commit adultery with thee, but thou camest out with a high hand. Ex. 20:1

11. Thou shall not kill: because thine enemies got not the mastery over thee to slay thee, but thou beheldest their death. Ex. 20:13

12. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour, speaking falsely, lest thy watchmen 1 speak falsely against thee. Ex. 20:16

13. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's house, nor that which he hath, lest others also covet thy land. Ex. 20:17

14. And when the Lord ceased speaking, the people feared with a great fear: and they saw the mountain burning with torches of fire, and they said to Moses: Speak thou unto us, and let not God speak unto us, lest peradventure we die. For, lo, to-day we know that God speaketh with man face to face, and man shall live.

Ex. 20:18And now have we perceived of a truth how that the earth bare the voice of God with trembling. And Moses said unto them: Fear not, for this cause came this voice unto you, that ye should not sin (or, for this cause, that he might prove. you, God came unto you, that ye might receive the fear of him unto you, that ye sin not).

15. And all the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near unto the cloud, knowing that God was there. And then God spake unto him his justice and judgements, and kept him by him 40 days and 40 nights. Ex. 20:21 And there did he command him many things, and showed him the tree of life, 2 whereof he cut and took and put it into Mara, and the water of Mara was made sweet and followed them in the desert 40 years, and went up into the hills with them and came down into the plain. Also he commanded him concerning the tabernacle and the ark of the Lord, and the sacrifice of burnt offerings and of incense, and the ordinance of the table and of the candlestick and concerning the laver and the base thereof, and the shoulder-piece and the breastplate, and the very precious stones, that the children of Israel should make them so: and he shewed him the likeness of them to make them according to the pattern which he saw. And said unto him: Make for me a sanctuary and the tabernacle of my glory shall be among you.

Footnotes

106:1 XI. 1. For upon them will I put forth an eternal exaltation: in quem eliciam excelsa sempiterna, or in whom I have ordained high things eternal. In quo disposui excelsa sempiterna. In either case the Law is meant.
106:2 2. If men say, "we have not known thee," etc. Compare p. 107 the injunction to the Apostles in a fragment of the Preaching of Peter: "After twelve years go forth into the world, lest any say, 'we did not hear.'"
107:1 5. Similar lists of the wonders which accompanied the giving of the Law are in XV. 6, XXIII. 10, XXXII. 7, 8.
108:1 8. The gloss on the 4th Commandment, as Dr. Cohn says, shows that the writer has little interest in the Temple services, and is appropriate to a time when those services had ceased. It is rather the Synagogue and its ritual that occur to him as the obvious form of worship. The words are adapted from Ps. cvii. 32.
108:2 all things that do labour: quaecunque oberantur.
109:1 12. thy watchmen: custodes. I interpret this of angels.
109:2 15. The statement that the tree of life sweetened the waters of Marah, and that these were the waters that followed Israel, are both peculiar to this book. For Marah the MSS. seen by me read myrrha, but the Fulda MS. has myrra; it is Μεῤῥα in the LXX.

September 24, 2011
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The Biblical Antiquities of Philo, Chapter 10

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER X.

X. Now when the king of Egypt was dead another king arose, and afflicted all the people of Israel. But they cried unto the Lord and he heard them, and sent Moses and delivered them out of the land of Egypt: and God sent also upon them 10 plagues and smote them. Now these were the plagues, namely, blood, and frogs, and all manner of flies, 1 hail, and death of cattle, locusts and gnats, and darkness that might be felt, and the death of the firstborn. Ex. 14:8

2. And when they had gone forth thence and were journeying, the heart of the Egyptians was yet again hardened, and they continued to pursue them, and found them by the Red Sea. And the children of Israel cried unto their God and spake to Moyses saying: Lo, now is come the time of our destruction, for the sea is before us and the multitude of enemies behind us, and we in the midst. Was it for this that God brought us out, or are these the covenants which he made with our fathers saying: To your seed will I give the land wherein ye dwell? and now let him do with us that which seemeth good in his sight.

3. Then did the children of Israel sever their counsels into three divisions of counsels, 2 because of the fear of the time. For the tribe of Ruben and of Isachar and. of Zabulon and of Symeon said: Come, let us cast ourselves into the sea, for it is better for us to die in the water than to be slain of our enemies. And the tribe of Gad and of Aser and of Dan and Neptalim said: Nay, but let us return with them, and if they will give us our lives, we will serve them. But the tribe of Levi and of Juda and Joseph and the tribe of Benjamin said: Not so, but let us take our weapons and fight them, and God will be with us.

4. Moses also cried unto the Lord and said: O Lord God of our fathers, didst thou not say unto me: Go and tell the sons of Lia, God hath sent me unto You? And now, behold, thou hast brought thy people to the brink of the sea, and the enemy follow after them: but thou, Lord, remember thy name.

5. And God said: Whereas thou hast cried unto me, take thy rod and smite the sea, and it shall be dried up. And when Moses did all this, God rebuked the sea, and the sea was dried up: the seas of waters stood still and the depths of the earth appeared, and the foundations of the dwelling-place were laid bare at the noise of the fear of God and at the breath of the anger of my Lord. 1

6. And Israel passed over on dry land in the midst of the sea. And the Egyptians saw and went on to pursue after them, and God hardened their mind, and they knew not that they were entering into the sea. And so it was that while the Egyptians were in the sea God commanded the sea yet again, and said to Moses: Smite the sea yet once again. And he did so. And the Lord commanded the sea and it returned unto his waves, and covered the Egyptians and their chariots and their horsemen unto this day.

7. But as for his own people, he led them forth into the wilderness: forty years did he rain bread from heaven for them, and he brought them quails from the sea, and a well of water following them 2 brought he forth for them. And in a pillar of cloud he led them by day and in a pillar of fire by night did he give light unto them. Ps. 78:52

Footnotes

104:1 X. 1. All manner of flies, pammixia. See p. 23 .
104:2 3. The idea of the divided counsels of the tribes comes from Deborah's song (Judges 5:15, 15:16): "for the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart." It appears in Jashar, but there four divisions are given.
105:1 5. The breath of the anger of my Lord. This sudden adopting of the first person does not occur again. R omits mei here.
105:2 7. A well of water following them. Cf. 1 Cor. 10:4, and XI. 15 of our text, which agrees very closely with the wording of the Targum of Onkelos on Numbers. See Thackeray, St. Paul and Contemporary Jewish Thought, p. 206, etc., on the genesis of the legend. He shows that it arises from a current interpretation of Num. 20:61 seq. The Bible has: (16) And from thence (they journeyed) to Beer. . (18) And from the wilderness (they journeyed) to Mattanah, (19) And from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth. The Targum of Onkelos has: (16) "And thence was given them the well (Beer = well) . . . (18) It was given to them from (in) the wilderness (Mattanah =gift). (19) And from (the time) that it was given them, it descended with them to the rivers, and from the rivers it went up with them to the height (Nahaliel = rivers of God, Bamoth = height)." This Targum represents first-century teaching: the later Targum of Palestine amplifies the theme to some extent. See also Driver in Expositor, 1889, I. 15.

September 24, 2011
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The Biblical Antiquities of Philo, Chapter 9

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER IX.

IX. 3 And it came to pass after the departure of Joseph, the children of Israel were multiplied and increased greatly.

Ex. 1:6, 1:7And there arose another king in Egypt which knew not Joseph: and he said to his people: Lo, this people is multiplied more than we. Come let us take counsel against them that they multiply not. And the king of Egypt commanded all his people saying: Every son that shall be born to the He brews, cast into the river, but keep the females alive.

Ex. 1:8, 1:9 And the Egyptians answered their king saying: Let us slay their males and keep their females, to give them to our bondmen for wives: and he that is born of them shall be a bondman and serve us. And this is that that did appear most evil before the Lord. Ex. 1:22

2. Then the elders of the people assembled the people with mourning and mourned and lamented saying: An untimely birth have the wombs of our wives suffered. Our fruit is delivered over to our enemies and now we are cut off. Yet let us appoint us an ordinance, that no man come near his wife, lest the fruit of their womb be defiled, and our bowels serve idols: for it is better to die childless, until we know what God will do.

3. And Amram answered and said: It will sooner come to pass that the age shall be utterly abolished and the immeasurable world fall, 1 or the heart of the depths touch the stars, than that the race of the children of Israel should be diminished. And it shall be, when the covenant is fulfilled whereof God when he made it spake to Abraham saying: Surely thy sons shall dwell in a land that is not theirs, and shall be brought into bondage and afflicted 400 years.--And lo, since the word was passed which God spake to Abraham, there are 350 years. (And) since we have been in bondage in Egypt it is 130 years.

4. Now therefore I will not abide by that which ye ordain, but will go in and take my wife and beget sons, that we may be made many on the earth. For God will not continue in his anger, neither will he always forget his people, nor cast forth the race of Israel to nought upon the earth, neither did he in vain make his covenant with our fathers: yea, when as yet we were not, God spake of these things.

5. Now therefore I will go and take my wife, neither will I consent to the commandment of this king. And if it be right in your eyes, so let us do all of us, for it shall be, when our wives conceive, they shall not be known to be great with child until 3 months are fulfilled, like as also our mother Thamar 1 did, for her intent was not to fornication, but because she would not separate herself from the sons of Israel she took thought and said: It is better for me to die for sinning with my father-in-law than to be joined to Gentiles. And she hid the fruit of her womb till the 3rd month, for then was it perceived. And as she went to be put to death she affirmed it 2 saying: The man whose is this staff and this ring and goatskin, of him have I conceived. And her device delivered her out of all peril.

6. Now therefore let us also do thus. And it shall be when the time of bringing forth is come, if it be possible, we will not cast forth the fruit of our womb. And who knoweth if thereby God will be provoked, to deliver us from our humiliation?

7. And the word which Amram had in his heart was pleasing before God: and God said: Because the thought of Amram is pleasing before me, and he hath not set at nought the covenant made between me and his fathers, therefore, lo now, that which is begotten of him shall serve me for ever, and by him will I do wonders in the house of Jacob, and will do by him signs and wonders for my people which I have done for none other, and will perform in them my glory and declare unto them my ways.

8. I the Lord will kindle for him my lamp to dwell in him, and will show him my covenant which no man hath seen, and manifest to him my great excellency, and my justice and judgments and will shine for him a perpetual light. For in ancient days I thought of him, saying: My spirit shall not be a mediator among these men for ever, for they are flesh, and their days shall be 120 years. 1

9. And Amram of the tribe of Levi went forth and took a wife of his tribe, and it was so when he took her, that the residue did after him and took their wives. Now he had one son and one daughter, and their names were Aaron and Maria,

10. And the spirit of God came upon Maria by night, and she saw a dream, 2 and told her parents in the morning saying: I saw this night, and behold a man in a linen garment stood and said to me: Go and tell thy parents: behold, that which shall be born of you shall be cast into the water, for by him water shall be dried up, and by him will I do signs, and I will save my people, and he shall have the captaincy thereof always. And when Maria had told her dream her parents believed her not.

11. But the word of the king of Egypt prevailed against the children of Israel and they were humiliated and oppressed in the work of bricks.

12. But Jochabeth conceived of Amram and hid the child in her womb 3 months, for she could not hide it longer: because the king of Egypt had appointed overseers of the region, that when the Hebrew women brought forth they should cast the males into the river straightway. And she took her child and made him an ark of the bark of a pine-tree and set the ark on the edge of the river.

13. Now the boy was born in the covenant of God and in the covenant of his flesh.

14. And it came to pass, when they cast him out, all the elders gathered together and chode with Amram saying: Are not these the words which we spake saying: "It is better for us to die childless than that our fruit should be cast into the water?" And when they said so, Amram hearkened not to them.

15. But the daughter of Pharao came down to wash in the river according as she had seen in a dream, 1 and her maids saw the ark, and she sent one of them and took it and opened it. And when she saw the child and looked upon the covenant, 2 that is, the testament in his flesh, she said: He is of the children of the Hebrews.

16. And she took him and nourished him and he became her son, and she called his name Moyses. But his mother called him Melchiel. 3 And the child was nourished and became glorious above all men, and by him God delivered the children of Israel, as he had said.

Footnotes

99:3 IX. 1. A Midrash quoted by Cohn (p. 317) agrees that the Egyptians desired to marry the Hebrew girls. Jashar and other authorities also say that Amram, in common with others, put away his wife when the Egyptian decree was promulgated.
100:1 3. in uictoria minuatur seculum: utterly, εἰσ νῖκοσ. The Hebraism (למנצח) occurs again, XII. 6, and perhaps in XLIX. 6.
101:1 5. Tamar. Here the author first introduces a story from the past history of Israel by way of illustration: it is his constant practice later on.
101:2 Affirmed it: statuit hoc. Perhaps "presented" the staff, etc.
102:1 8. fin. The point of the quotation is that Moses was 120 years old when he died. Cf. II. 2.
102:2 10. Miriam's vision. In Jashar and elsewhere (e.g. Talmud Bab. Megillah, tr. Rodkinson, p. 36) Miriam prophesies the birth of Moses. Cf. Cohn, p. 318.
103:1 15. according as she had seen in a dream. The usual story is that God sent a great heat upon Egypt, so that the people were constrained to bathe (Jashar, etc.).
103:2 covenant. Zaticon = διαθήκην. The Midrashim (Cohn, l.c.) agree that Moses was born circumcised.
103:3 16. Melchiel. Syncellus and Cedrenus say that he was called by his parents Melchias. Clement of Alexandria (Strom. I. 23) says they called him Ioacim, and he "had a third name after the assumption, as the initiated (μύσται) say, viz. Melchi." Jashar (and Jerahmeel) give a number of names, but Melchiel is not among them.

September 24, 2011
0
Published in The Biblical Antiquities of Philo
Written by LC Geerts

The Biblical Antiquities of Philo, Chapter 8

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER VIII.

VIII. But Abram went forth thence and dwell in the land of Chanaan, and took with him Loth his brothers son, and Sarai his wife. And because Sarai was barren and had no offspring, then Abram took Agar her maid, and she bare him Ismahel. And Ismahel begat 12 sons. Gen. 12:5, Gen. 16:1, Gen. 25:12

2. 1 Then Loth departed from Abram and dwelt in Sodom [but Abram dwelt in the land of Cam]. And the men of Sodom were very evil and sinners exceedingly. Gen. 13:12, 13:13

3. And God appeared unto Abraham saying: Unto thy seed will I give this land; and thy name shall be called Abraham, and Sarai thy wife shall be called Sara. Ana I will give thee of her an eternal seed and make my covenant with thee. And Abraham knew Sara his wife, and she conceived and bare Isaac. Gen. 13:14, 17:3, Gen. 17:16, Gen. 21:2, 21:3

4. And Isaac took him a wife of Mesopotamia, the daughter of Bathuel, which conceived and bare him Esau and Jacob. And Esau took to him for wives Judin the daughter of Bereu, and Basemath the daughter of Elon, and Elibema the daughter of Anan, and Manem the daughter of Samahel. Gen. 25:20, Gen. 26:3, 36

5. And <<Basemath>> bare him Adelifan, and the sons of Adelifan were Temar, Omar, Seffor, Getan, Tenaz, Amalec. And Judin bare Tenacis, Ieruebemas, Bassemen, Rugil: and the sons of Rugil were Naizar, Samaza; and Elibema bare Auz, Iollam, Coro. Manem bare Tenetde, Thenatela. Gen. 36:11,1 Chron. 1:36, Gen. 36:12, 1 Chron. 1:37

6. And Jacob took to him for wives the daughters Gen. of Laban the Syrian, Lia and Rachel, and two concubines, Bala and Zelpha. And Lia bare him Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Juda, Isachar, Zabulon, and Dina their sister. But Rachel bare Joseph and Benjamin. Bala bare Dan and Neptalim, and Zelpha bare Gad and Aser. These are the 12 sons of Jacob and one daughter.

7. And Jacob dwelt in the land of Chanaan, and Sichem the son of Emor the Correan forced his daughter Dina and humbled her. And Simeon and Levi the sons of Jacob went in and slew all their city with the edge of the sword, and took Dina their sister, and went out thence.

8. 1 And thereafter Job took her to wife and begat of her 14 sons and 6 daughters, even 7 sons and 3 daughters before he was smitten with affliction, and thereafter when he was made whole 7 sons and 3 daughters. And these are their names: Eliphac, Erinoe, Diasat, Philias, Diffar, Zellud, Thelon: and his daughters Meru, Litaz, Zeli. And such as had been the names of the former, so were they also of the latter.

9. Now Jacob and his 12 sons dwelt in the land of Chanaan: and his sons hated their brother Joseph, whom also they delivered into Egypt, to Petephres the chief of the cooks of Pharao, and he abode with him 14 years. Gen. 37

10. And it came to pass after that the king of Egypt had seen a dream, that they told him of Joseph, and he declared him the dreams. And it was so after he declared his dreams, that Pharao made him prince over all the land of Egypt. At that time there was a famine in all the land, as Joseph had foreseen. And his brethren came down into Egypt to buy food, because in Egypt only was there food. And Joseph knew his brethren, and was made known to them, and dealt not evilly with them. And he sent and called his father out of the land of Chanaan, and he came down unto him.

Gen. 41,42

11. 1 And these are the names of the sons of Israel which came down into Egypt with Jacob, each one with his house.

Gen. 46:8

The sons of Reuben, Enoch and Phallud, Esrom and Carmin; the sons of Simeon, Namuhel and Iamin and Dot and Iachin, and Saul the son of a Canaanitish woman. Gen. 46:9, 46:10

The sons of Levi, Gerson, Caat and Merari: but the sons of Juda, Auna, Selon, Phares, Zerami. Gen. 46:11, 46:12

The sons of Isachar, Tola and Phua, Job and Sombram. The sons of Zabulon, Sarelon and Iaillil. And Dina their sister bare 14 sons and 6 daughters.

Gen. 46:13, 46:14

And these are the generations of Lia whom she bare to Jacob. All the souls of sons and daughters were 72. Gen. 46:15

12. Now the sons of Dan were Usinam. 1 The sons of Neptalim, Betaal, Neemmu, Surem, Optisariel. And these are the generations of Balla which she bare to Jacob. All the souls were 8.

Gen. 46:25, Gen. 46:23, 46:24

13. But the sons of Gad: . . . Sariel, Sua, Visui, Mophat and Sar: 2 their sister the daughter of Seriebel, Melchiel. These are the generations of Zelpha the wife of Jacob which she bare to him. And all the souls of sons and daughters were in number 10. Gen. 46:16, 46:17

14. And the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manassen: and Benjamin begat Gela, Esbel, Abocmephec, Utundeus. And these were the souls which Rachel bare to Jacob, 14. And they went down into Egypt and abode there 210 years. Gen. 46:20, 46:21

Footnotes

96:1 VIII. 2. [But Abram dwelt in the land of Cam] obviously intrusive, repeated from ver. 1, Cam being for Canaan.
97:1 8. That Job married Dinah after his affliction is told in the Testament of Job and the Targum on Job. etc. Note that Philo disregards the Biblical names of Job's daughters, though he accepts the Bible story of Job.
98:1 11 seq. On the names here see Appendix on Readings.
99:1 Read: Usin. But the sons of N.
99:2 Read: But the sons of Gad (gap, to Sariel: and the sons of Aser). . . . Mophat, and Sara their sister: and the sons of Beria, Heber, Melchiel.

September 24, 2011
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Published in The Biblical Antiquities of Philo
Written by LC Geerts

The Biblical Antiquities of Philo, Chapter 7

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER VII.

VII. And it came to pass after these things, that the people of the land turned not from their evil thoughts: and they came together again unto their princes and said: The people shall not be overcome for ever: and now let us come together and build us a city and a tower which shall never be removed.

2. And when they had begun to build, God saw the city and the tower which the children of men were building, and he said: Behold, this is one people and their speech is one, and this which they have begun to build the earth will not sustain, neither will the heaven suffer it, beholding it: and it shall be, if they be not now hindered, that they shall dare all things that they shall take in mind to do. Gen. 11:6

3. Therefore, lo, I will divide their speech, and scatter them over all countries, that they may not know every man his brother, neither every man understand the speech of his neighbour. And I will deliver them to the rocks, and they shall build themselves tabernacles of stubble and straw, and shall dig themselves caves and shall live therein like beasts of the field, and thus shall they continue before my face for ever, that they may never devise such things. And I will esteem them as a drop of water, and liken them unto spittle: 1 and unto some of them their end shall come by water, and other of them shall be dried up with thirst.

4. And before all of them will I choose my servant Abram, and I will bring him out from their land, and lead him into the land which mine eye hath looked upon from the beginning when all the dwellers upon earth sinned before my face, and I brought on them the water of the flood: and then I destroyed not that land, but preserved it. Therefore the fountains of my wrath did not break forth therein, neither did the water of my destruction come down upon it. For there will I make my servant Abram to dwell, and I will make my covenant with him, and bless his seed, and will be called his God for ever.

5. Howbeit when the people that dwelt in the land had begun to build the tower, God divided their speech, and changed their likeness. 2 And they knew not every man his brother, neither did each understand the speech of his neighbour. So it came to pass that when the builders commanded their helpers to bring bricks they brought water, and if they asked for water, the others brought them straw. And so their counsel was broken and the), ceased building the city: and God scattered them thence over the face of all the earth. Therefore was the name of that place called Confusion, because there God confounded their speech, and scattered them thence over the face of all the earth.

Footnotes

95:1 VII. 3. I will liken them unto spittle (also XII. 4). The source is Isa. 40:15; but this clause is not in our present Hebrew text. It occurs, however, in the LXX; it is also in 4 Esdras 6:56, Apoc. Bar. 82:5, both of which books are believed to have been written in Hebrew. We need not, therefore, count its occurrence in Philo as implying dependence on the LXX. Compare the combinations of phrases from Isaiah in XXVI. 13.
95:2 5. changed their likeness. J adds "into that of monkeys," probably from the Book of Jashar (see Migne, Dict. des Apocryphes II. s. v. Yaschar). The Greek Apocalypse of Baruch describes the builders of the Tower as changed into bestial forms. The story of the workmen misunderstanding each other is in Bereshith Rabbah, Jashar, etc.

September 24, 2011
1
Published in The Biblical Antiquities of Philo
Written by LC Geerts

The Biblical Antiquities of Philo, Chapter 6

THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO

TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION

BY

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

CHAPTER VI.

VI. 2 Then all they that had been divided and dwelt upon the earth gathered together there after, and dwelt together; and they set forth from the East and found a plain in the land of Babylon: and there they dwelt, and they said every man to his neighbour: Behold, it will come to pass that we shall be scattered every man. from his brother, and in the latter days we shall be fighting one against another. Now, therefore, come and let us build for ourselves a tower, the head whereof shall reach unto heaven, and we shall make us a name and a renown upon the earth.Gen. 11:2

2. And they said everyone to his neighbour: Let us take bricks (lit. stones), and let us, each one, write our names upon the bricks and burn them with fire: and that which is thoroughly burned shall be for mortar and brick. (Perhaps, that which is not thoroughly burned shall be for mortar, and that which is, for brick.)

3. 1 And they took every man their bricks, saving 12 men, which would not take them, and these are their names: Abraham, Nachor, Loth, Ruge, Tenute, Zaba, Armodath, Iobab, Esar, Abimahel, Saba, Auphin.

4. And the people of the land laid hands on them and brought them before their princes and said: These are the men that have transgressed our counsels and will not walk in our ways. And the princes said unto them: Wherefore would ye not set every man your bricks with the people of the land? And they answered and said: We will not set bricks with you, neither will we be joined with your desire. One Lord know we, and him do we worship. And if ye should cast us into the fire with your bricks, we will not consent to you.

5. And the princes were wroth and said: As they have said, so do unto them, and if they consent not to set bricks with you, ye shall burn them with fire together with your bricks.

6. Then answered Jectan which was the first prince of the captains: Not so, but there shall be given them a space of 7 days. And it shall be, if they repent of their evil counsels, and will set bricks along with us, they shall live; but if not, let them be burned according to your word. But he sought how he might save them out of the hands of the people; for he was of their tribe, and he served God.

7. And when he had thus said he took them and shut them up in the king's house: and when it was evening the prince commanded 50 mighty men of valour to be called unto him, and said unto them: Go forth and take to-night these men that are shut up in mine house, and put provision for them from my house upon 10 beasts, and the men bring ye to me, and their provision together with the beasts take ye to the mountains and wait for them there: and know this, that if any man shall know what I have said unto you, I will burn you with fire.

8. And the men set forth and did all that their prince commanded them, and took the men from his house by night; and took provision and put it upon beasts and took them to the hill country as he commanded them.

9. And the prince called unto him those 12 men and said to them: Be of good courage and fear not, for ye shall not die. For God in whom ye trust is mighty, and therefore be ye stablished in him, for he will deliver you and save you. And now lo, I have commanded So men to take [you with] provision from my house, and go before you into the hill country 1 and wait for you in the valley: and I will give you other 50 men which shall guide you thither: go ye therefore and hide yourselves there in the valley, having water to drink that floweth down from the rocks: hold yourselves there for 30 days, until the anger of the people of the land be appeased and until God send his wrath upon them and break them. For I know that the counsel of iniquity which they have agreed to perform shall not stand, for their thought is vain. And it shall be when 7 days are expired and they shall seek for you, I will say unto them: They have gone forth and have broken the door of the prison wherein they were shut up and have fled by night, and I have sent 100 men to seek them. So will I turn them from their madness that is upon them.

10. And there answered him 11 of the men saying: Thy servants have found favour in thy sight, in that we are set free out of the hands of these proud men.

11. But Abram only kept silence, and the prince said unto him: Wherefore answerest thou not me, Abram, servant of God? Abram answered and said: Lo, I flee away to-day into the hill country, and if I escape the fire, wild beasts will come out of the mountains and devour us. Or our victuals will fail and we shall die of hunger; and we shall be found fleeing from the people of the land and shall fall in our sins. And now, as he liveth in whom I trust, I will not remove from my place wherein they have put me: and if there be any sin of mine so that I be indeed burned, the will of God be done. And the prince said unto him: Thy blood be upon thy head, if thou refuse to go forth with these. But if thou consent, thou shall be delivered. Yet if thou wilt abide, abide as thou art. And Abram said: I will not go forth, but I will abide here.

12. And the prince took those 11 men and sent other 50 with them, and commanded them saying: Wait, ye also, in the hill country for 15 days with those 50 which were sent before you; and after that ye shall return and say We have not found them, as I said to the former ones. And know that if any man transgress one of all these words that I have spoken unto you, he shall be burned with fire. So the men went forth, and he took Abram by himself and shut him up where he had been shut up aforetime.

13. And after 7 days were passed, the people were gathered together and spake unto their prince saying: Restore us the men which would not consent unto us, that we may burn them with fire. And they sent captains to bring them, and they found them not, save Abram only. And they gathered all of them to their prince saying: The men whom ye shut up are fled and have escaped that which we counselled.

14. And Phenech and Nemroth said unto Jectan: Where are the men whom thou didst shut up? But he said: They have broken prison and fled by night: but I have sent 100 men to seek them, and commanded them if they find them that they should not only burn them with fire but give their bodies to the fowls of the heaven and so destroy them.

15. Then said they: This fellow which is found alone, let us burn him. And they took Abram and brought him before their princes and said to him: Where are they that were with thee? And he said: Verily at night I slept, and when I awaked I found them not.

16. And they took him and built a furnace and kindled it with fire, and put bricks burned with fire into the furnace. Then Jectan the prince being amazed (lit. melted) in his mind took Abram and put him with the bricks into the furnace of fire.

17. But God stirred up a great earthquake, and the fire gushed forth of the furnace and brake out into flames and sparks of fire and consumed all them that stood round about in sight of the furnace; and all they that were burned in that day were 83,500. But upon Abram was there not any the least hurt by the burning of the fire. Dan. 3:22

18. And Abram arose out of the furnace, and the fiery furnace fell down, and Abram was saved. And he went unto the 11 men that were hid in the hill country and told them all that had befallen him, and they came down with him out of the hill country rejoicing in the name of the Lord, and no man met them to affright them that day. And they called that place by the name of Abram, and in the tongue of the Chaldeans Deli, which is being interpreted, God.Dan. 3:27

Footnotes

89:2 VI. This particular legend of the rescue of Abram from the fire is peculiar to Philo. Most of the stories make Nimrod the principal actor. Various forms may be seen in Beer's Leben Abrahams or Baring-Gould's Legends of O. T. Characters.
90:1 3. Several of the names here are those of the sons of Jectan in IV. 10. Auphin is probably for Ophir.
92:1 9. and go before you, etc., et praecedite uos in montana et sustinete uos in ualle. Some such change as I have made in the translation appears necessary.

September 24, 2011
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Published in The Biblical Antiquities of Philo
Written by LC Geerts