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(a) The Editio Princeps and after |
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(b) Earlier history |
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(a) The printed edition |
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(b) MSS. of the text |
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(c) Subsidiary authorities |
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(d) Geographical distribution |
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(f) Grouping of authorities, illustrated by specimen passages |
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(a) Enoch |
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(b) Jubilees |
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(c) Apocalypse of Baruch |
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(d) Fourth Book of Esdras |
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(e) New Testament Writings |
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APPENDICES -- [[not
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I. On various readings and corrupt passages . . . . . 243 |
243 |
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II. On the vocabulary, etc., of the Latin version. . . . 269 |
269 |
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INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . 275 |
275 |
1. THE book now presented to English readers has never been translated before: not only is this so, but the very existence of it has remained unknown to the great mass of students for over three hundred years, although it was printed no less than five times in the course of the sixteenth century.
What is it, and why is it worth reviving after so long a period of oblivion? It is a Bible history, reaching, in its present imperfect form, from Adam to the death of Saul. It has come to us only in a Latin translation (made from Greek, and that again from a Hebrew original), and by an accident the name of the great Jewish philosopher of the first century, Philo, has been attached to it. Let me say at once that the attribution of it to him is wholly unfounded, and quite ridiculous: nevertheless I shall use his name in italics (Philo) as a convenient short title.
Its importance lies in this, that it is a genuine and unadulterated Jewish book of the first century--a product of the same school as the Fourth Book of Esdras and the Apocalypse of Baruch, and written, like them, in the years which followed the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. It is thus contemporary with some of the New Testament writings, and throws light upon them as well as upon the religious thought of the Jews of its time.
2. (a) The HISTORY OF THE BOOK, as known to us, can be shortly told. It was printed by Adam Petri in 1527, at Basle, in a small folio volume, along with the genuine Philo's Quaestiones et Solutiones in Genesim 1 and a fragment of the De Vita contemplativa (called De Essaeis). These were followed by the Onomasticon (de Nominibus Hebraicis) ascribed in Philo, in Jerome's version, and a Latin rendering of the De Mundo by Guillaume Budé. The whole volume is in Latin, and was edited by Joannes Sichardus: for the first three tracts he used two manuscripts, from Fulda and Lorsch, of which more hereafter. In 1538 Henricus Petri (son of Adam) reprinted this collection in a quarto volume, which I have not seen, and in 1550 included it all in a larger collection of patristic writings called Micropresbyticon. In 1552 our book (without the accompanying tracts) was printed from Sichardus' text in a small volume issued by Gryphius at Lyons, under the title Antiquitatum diversi auctores, and in 1599 in a similar collection Historia antiqua, by Commelin, at Heidelberg, edited by Juda Bonutius.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Philo was read and occasionally quoted, e.g. by Sixtus Senensis in the Bibliotheca Sancta, and by Pineda in his treatise on Solomon: but the greatest critics and scholars of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries seem never to have seen it. J. A. Fabricius would certainly have accorded it a place in his Codex pseudepigraphus Veteris Testamenti if he had read it: and very little escaped his notice. He does speak of it in his Bibliotheca Graeca (ed. Harles, IV. 743, 746), but only from the[[p. 9]] point of view of the editions. It is not too much to say that the chance which kept it from him has kept it also from the flock of scholars who have followed him like sheep for two hundred years. The first investigator to pay any attention to it seems to have been Cardinal J. B. Pitra. In the Spicilegium Solesmense (1855, II. 345 note, III. 335 note, etc.) there are allusions to it: in the later Analecta Sacra (II. 321; 1884) he printed the Lament of Jephthah's daughter from a Vatican MS. of it, treating it as a known work, and referring to the printed edition.
In 1893 I came upon four detached fragments in a manuscript at Cheltenham, in the Phillipps collection, and printed them as a new discovery in a volume of Apocrypha Anecdota (1st series, Texts and Studies, II. 3). No one who reviewed the book in England or abroad recognized that they were taken from a text already in print. At length, in 1898, the late Dr. L. Cohn, who was engaged for many years upon an edition of Philo's works, published in the Jewish Quarterly Review an article in which the source of my fragments was pointed out and a very full account given of the whole book, with copious quotations. This article of Dr. Cohn's is at present our standard source of information. Nothing to supersede it has, so far as I know, appeared since. A few scholars, but on the whole surprisingly few, have used Philo in recent years, notably Mr. H. St. John Thackeray in his book, The Relation of St. Paul to Contemporary Jewish Thought.
(b) Can we trace the history of Philo further back than the printed edition of 1527 by means of quotations or allusions to it? The whole body of evidence is remarkably small. At the very end of the fifteenth century Joannes Trithemius, Abbot [[p. 10]] of Sponheim, writes a book, De Scriptoribus ecclesiasticis, printed at Paris in 1512. On f. 18b is a notice of Philo, derived principally from Jerome, and a list of his writings. Among these he includes De generationum successu, lib. I. (which is our book), and adds the opening words: Adam genuit tres filios, which shows that he had seen the text. It is the only item so distinguished in all his list. Then, going back and setting aside certain extracts from the text (of which we shall speak under the head of authorities), we find, in the twelfth century, Petrus Comestor of Troyes, in his Historia Scholastica (one of the famous text-books of the Middle Ages), making a single incorrect quotation from our book (V. 8). He calls his source 'Philo the Jew, or, as some say, a heathen philosopher, in his book of questions upon Genesis': the words show that he was quoting a manuscript which contained that work as well as our text. His quotation is borrowed by several later mediaeval chroniclers.
In the catalogues of monastic libraries Philo is of rare occurrence. The Fulda catalogue of the sixteenth century 1 has "Repertorii noni ordo primus, liber Philonis antiquitatum 36." The number 36 is the older library number, perhaps as old as the thirteenth century, which was written on the cover of the volume. This was one of the two manuscripts used by Sichardus: we shall return to it.
In the twelfth century a monk writes to the Abbot of Tegernsee for the loan of the "liber Philonis." In 831 the abbey of St. Riquier, near Abbeville, has in its catalogue "liber Philonis Judaei [[p. 11]] unum volumen." Both these references may be found in Becker's Catalogi. 1
One possible hint, and one only, of the existence of Philo in the Eastern Church is known to me. The Taktikon of Nicon, cap. 13, in the Slavonic version, as quoted by Berendts (Zacharias-Apokrypken, p. 5, note 3), reckons among the canonical books of the Old Testament "the Palaea (the Eastern text-book of Bible history comparable to the Historia Scholastica in the West) and Philo."
The Decretum Gelasianum of the fifth or sixth century condemns, among many other apocryphal books, "liber de filiabus Adae Leptogeneseos." The natural and usual interpretation of the words is that they refer to the Book of Jubilees, which the Greeks called ἡ λεπτὴ γένεσισ, but it is worth noting that Philo mentions the daughters of Adam in the first few lines, whereas in Jubilees they do not occur before the fourth chapter.
I know of nothing in earlier centuries which looks like an allusion to Philo, unless it be a passage in Origen on John (Tom. VI. 14.) in which he says 2: "I know not what is the motive of the Jewish tradition that Phinees the son of Eleazar, who admittedly lived through the days of many of the Judges, is the same as Elias, and that immortality was promised to him in Numbers [[p. 12]] (XXV. 12)," with more to the same effect. He refers to no book, but to a tradition which is, in fact, preserved in several Midrashim. The identification is found in Philo, c. XLVIII. See the note in loc.
8:1 A volume issued by Ascensius at Paris in I 520, edited by Aug. Justiniani, contained only the Quaestiones et Sol. in Genesim.
10:1 C. Scherer, Der Fuldaer Handschriften-Katalog aus dem 16 Jahrh. (Centralblatt f. Bibliothekswesen XXVI. p. 105; 1902).
11:1 The Abbey of St. Bertin and that of Corbie in Picardy in their twelfth-century catalogues (Becker, nos. 77, 247, 79, 263) both have an entry of Questiones in Genesim; seemingly not those of St. Jerome, which occur elsewhere in the catalogues.
11:2 καὶ περὶ μετωνυμίασ γάρ, ὡσ ἐν ἀποκρύφοισ, οὐκ οἶδα πόθεν κινούμενοι οἱ ἑβραῖοι παραδιδόασι Φινεέσ, τὸν Ἐλεαζάρου υἱόν, ὁμολογουμένωσ παρατείναντα τὴν ζωὴν ἔωσ πολλῶν κριτῶν, ὡσ ἐν τοῖσ κριταῖσ ἀνέγνωμεν, αἰτὸν εἶναι Ἠλίαν, καὶ τὸ ἀθάνατον ἐν τοῖσ Ἀριθμοῖσ αὐτῷ, διὰ τῆσ ὀνομαζομένησ εἰρήνησ ἐπηγγέλθαι, ἀνθ᾽ ὧν ζηλώσασ. . . ἐξεκέντησε τὴν Μαδιανῖτιν, κ.τ.λ.
3. The next business is to describe the AUTHORITIES FOR THE TEXT of Philo.
(a) We will take the printed edition of 1527 first (of which the four others of 1538-50-53-99 are mere reprints). Its symbol shall be A. In his preface, addressed to the monks of Fulda, Sichardus, like many editors of the Renaissance period, tells us but little of the manuscripts he used. The substance of what he says is as follows. At one time he had hoped to be able to remedy the many corruptions of the manuscripts, of which he had two; but he gradually came to despair of doing so, and resolved to give the text as he found it. His two manuscripts were as like each other as two eggs, so that he could not doubt that one was a copy of the other, though they were preserved in libraries far apart. He employed the Fulda copy, and had previously obtained the use of one from Lorsch Abbey, which was very old, and had expected that these would provide the materials for a satisfactory edition; moreover, he had got wind of the existence of another copy. But his manuscripts proved disappointing, and he is well aware that the present edition is inadequate. In preparing it he has aimed at following his manuscripts as closely as possible, and in issuing it now has judged that the evils of delay are greater than those of haste; especially as he looks forward to putting forth a greatly improved text in the future. 1 [[p. 13]]
(b) We have seen that the Fulda MS. is traceable in the library catalogues late in the sixteenth century. Until lately it was thought to have been lost, along with the bulk of the Fulda MSS.: but it has been identified, first by Dr. Cohn, and then, independently, by Dr. P. Lehmann, with a MS. at Cassel (Theol. 4° 3) of the eleventh century. The Lorsch MS. still remains undiscovered.
The identity of the Cassel MS. with that used by Sichardus is not doubtful. In its cover is an inscription by him stating that he had it rebound in 1527. It also retains the old label, of the fourteenth century, with the title Liber Philonis Antiquitatum, and the old Fulda press-mark.
For the purposes of the present volume only four of the above authorities have been employed, namely, the Fulda-Cassel MS. as represented by Sichardus's edition (and with it we must allow for some use of the lost MS. from Lorsch), the Cheltenham, Vatican, and Vienna MSS. The fact that Dr. Cohn was known to have in contemplation a full critical edition precluded others from trying to cover the whole ground, and, even had it been otherwise desirable to do so, the investigation would have been very difficult for anyone outside Germany. There are, for instance, no printed catalogues of the Admont, Cassel, or Würzburg libraries.[[p. 15]]
Of the Fulda MS. we now learn that it is the work of more than one scribe, of the eleventh century. The Antiquities occupy ff. 1-65a, and have a title in a late medieval hand: Libri Philonis Iudei de initio mundi, which, or the like, is "usual in the MSS." The Quaestiones, entitled (in the original hand): Filonis Questionum in genisi et solutionum, follow on ff. 65a-89a, and in them is a noteworthy feature. On f. 86, in the middle of the page the MS. omits, without any sign of a break, a long passage containing the end of the Quaestiones and the beginning of the De Essaeis, and corresponding to pp. 82, l. 40-84, l. 16 of Sichardus's edition. At this point Sichardus has a marginal note: "Here the copies differed, but we have followed that of Lorsch, as being the older." Now this same gap is found in most, if not in all, of the other MSS., and not all of these are copied directly from the Fulda MS. We may say, therefore, that all MSS. showing this gap are independent of the Lorsch MS., but not necessarily dependent on the Fulda MS.[[p. 16]]
It is clear from what has been said that Sichardus was wrong in regarding the Fulda MS. as a copy of that of Lorsch, and that the latter represented an old and valuable tradition: and, further, that he exaggerates greatly when he says that the two MSS. were as alike as two eggs. 1 Dr. Lehmann's final remark is that the disappearance of the Lorsch MS. is very much to be deplored, for, judged by the Greek fragments and the Armenian version of the Quaestiones, it represented a better tradition than all the extant Latin MSS.
Of the other MSS. in the list given above, it may be observed that the Cues MS. (written at Gottweih in 1451) and the two Würzburg MSS. are not likely to be of very much value: and that, of the three Munich MSS., that from Tegernsee (18481) is to all appearance the parent of the other two. Probably the monk who wrote to Tegernsee to borrow a Philo (see p. 10) was a member of Benedictbeuren or Schäftlarn. The Schäftlarn copy (17133) was written between 1160 and 1164. 2
I now proceed to give a detailed account of the three complete MSS. which I have been able to use, and of certain subsidiary authorities. The three MSS. are those mentioned by Dr. Cohn in his article, and I have been led to examine them during recent years by my interest in the text, and without serious thought of using them for the purposes of an edition. They are the copies preserved at Cheltenham, Vienna, and Rome.[[p. 17]]
P. The Phillipps MS. 461 is a small vellum book (6 5/8 x 4 3/4 in.) of 124 leaves, with 20 lines to a page; a few leaves palimpsest, over not much older writing. It is of cent. XII., clearly written: on f. 1a the provenance is stated, in this inscription: Codex SX (?) Sci. Eucharii primi Trevirorum archiepi. siquis eum abstulerit anathema sit. Amen. A hand of cent. XV. adds the word Mathie. Then follows the title, of cent. XV.: Philo iudeus de successione generacionis veteris Testamenti. On f. 1b is Jerome's account of Philo (de virr. illustr. c. XI.): the text of the book begins on 3a: Adam genuit, and ends on 119b without colophon. It is followed by a few pieces of medieval Latin verse, of no great interest. The first begins; Carnis in ardore flagrans monialis amore. Another is on Chess: Qui cupit egregium scacorum noscere ludum Audiat. ut potui carmine composui.
V. Vindobonensis lat. 446, a small folio of 53 leaves, with 31 lines to a page, in a tall, narrow, rather sloping hand, doubtless German, by more than one scribe: of cent. XII. late or XIII. early. There is an old press-mark of cent. XVI.: XI°. 68. The text is preceded by Jeronimus de Phylone in catalogo uirorum illustrium. It begins Incip. Genesis. INITIUM MUNDI. Adam genuit, and ends on 53a without colophon, occupying the whole volume.
R. Vaticanus lat. 488, of cent. XV., in a very pretty Roman hand, in double columns of 35 lines. The first 8c, leaves contain tracts of Augustine, Prosper and Jerome. Our book, to which is prefixed the extract from Jerome, begins on f. 81. It is headed: Genesis, and begins: Inicium mundi. Adam Genuit. The colophon is: Explicit ystoria philonis ab initio mundi usque ad David regent. It is followed by the Quaestiones et Solutiones in Genesim, which occupy ff. 129-148 (end). The arms of Paul V. and of Cardinal Scipione Borghese the librarian are on the binding: there is no other mark of provenance.
P is thus the only one of the three manuscripts whose old home can be definitely fixed. It belonged to the abbey of St. Eucharius, otherwise called of St. Matthias (whose body lies there), just outside Trèves.
(c) Next come certain manuscripts which contain extracts from the text.
Ph. The Phillipps MS. 391, Of 92 ff., of cent. XII. early, contains principally tracts of Jerome, notably Quaestiones Hebraicae. On ff. 87-8 it has the four extracts which I printed in 1893 (see above). It belonged to Leander van Ess, and has an old press-mark C I or C 7.
T. No. 117 in the Town Library at Trèves. A paper MS., dated 1459. It contains five of the same tracts as Ph and two of the extracts from Philo. It retains its old press-mark, B II, and an inscription showing that it belonged to the abbey of S. Maria ad Martyres at Trèves. The contents of the book and the text of the extracts make it clear that T is a copy of Ph or of a sister-book, while the form of the press-mark shows that Ph and T belonged to the same library. Thus T is only important as helping to "place" Ph.
F. MS. McClean 31 in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (fully described in my catalogue of the McClean MSS.), is a remarkable copy of the Aurora, or versified Bible, of Petrus de Riga. It is of cent. XIII., and is copiously annotated. Among the marginalia are many extracts (a complete list will be found at the beginning of the Appendix on various Readings) from Philo, uniformly introduced under that name, and for the most part abridged. The manuscript may have been written in the Rhine Provinces, or in Eastern France.
J. The Hebrew Chronicle of Jerahmeel, edited in an English translation by Dr. M. Gaster (Oriental Translation Fund, New series IV., 1899), was compiled early in cent. XIV. somewhere in the Rhineland. It contains large portions of Philo, some in extenso, some abridged. A list is given in the Appendix. Dr. Gaster will have it that the Hebrew is the original text; but Hebraists do not agree with him, and it is, in fact, possible to show that the Hebrew writer was translating from Latin, and from a manuscript which contained misreadings common to those we now have. See the Appendix of Readings on III. 10, VII. 3.
(d) Glancing back over the list, we see that for all but one of the items a German origin is established. The Vatican MS. is the exception, and even this presents certain indications of German origin. Near the beginning of the book (III. 3) is a speech beginning Deleam. R reads Vel eam. [[p. 19]] Now it is a habit with German scribes of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries to write their capital D's with a sharply-pointed base, making the letter very like the outline of the conventional harp, and also very like a capital V; nor do I know any other script in which the likeness between D and V is so striking. My guess is that the scribe of R, encountering the puzzling letter near the beginning of his work, made the mistake, which he does not repeat; and I regard it as an indication that his archetype was a German book of the same age as V (and, I may say by anticipation, presenting a remarkably similar text to that of V).
Thus the geographical distribution of the authorities combines with the evidence of the literature to show that in the Middle Ages Philo was circulated within very narrow limits, and practically confines those limits to Germany and Northern France.
(e) Of these authorities I have transcribed A, collated P (on the spot),and R (from a photograph) in full; have examined and partially collated V (on the spot), and have transcribed Ph, T, and F: J is in print, and I have collated that also.
The complete copies which are known to us are all ultimately derived from a single imperfect ancestor. All exhibit the same lacunae. The text, as we have it, ends abruptly in the midst of Saul's last dying speech: "Say to David: Thus saith Saul: Be not mindful of my hatred nor of my unrighteousness." How much further the story went we shall discuss later on. That it is imperfect is clear, and all our copies agree in the imperfection. Two other obvious lacunae occur about two-thirds of the way through the book, in the story of Abimelech. After the death of Gideon (XXXVII. 1) we read that "he had a son by a concubine who slew all his brethren, [[p. 20]] desiring to be ruler over the people. Then came together all the trees of the field to the fig-tree, and said: Come reign over us." Thus we pass from the first entry of Abimelech to a point somewhere in the Parable of Jotham. I think we must assume that at this place a leaf was missing in the ancestor of all our copies. None of them make any attempt to fill the gap. At the end of the story of Abimelech is another bad place (XXXVIII. 1): "After these things Abimelech ruled over the people for one year and six months, and died (under a certain tower) when a woman let fall half a millstone upon him. (Then Jair judged Israel twenty and two years.) He built a sanctuary to Baal," etc. The words in parentheses represent the supplements of P. The text as read in A would imply that Abimelech built a sanctuary to Baal; but it was in fact Jair who did so. Here, then, is another gap, the extent of which is uncertain. The immediate successor of Abimelech in the Bible is Tola. Our historian may or may not have noticed him: he does, later on, omit one of the minor judges, Ibzan. At most, another leaf is wanting at this point: at least, a few lines have been lost by casual damage.
There are, further, indications that the imperfect archetype was an uncial MS. with undivided words. In the early pages of the book much space is occupied by lists of names, which, being invented by the author, could not be corrected by recourse to the Bible. The many disagreements as to the divisions of the names (e.g. Sifatecia Sifa. Tecia, Lodo. Otim Lodoothim, filii aram filiarum, etc.) point to a stage at which the scribe had no guidance in this matter. So do such variants as memoraret artari for memorare tartari, in chaoma tonata for in chaomate nata. Again, in XIX 15 certain unintelligible [[p. 21]] words (istic mel apex magnus) are written in capitals in V, which I interpret as an attempt on the part of the scribe to represent exactly the ductus litterarum of an ancestor.
A minuscule stage is evidenced by frequent confusions (in proper names) of f and s, of c and z, of ch and di, and an occasional r for n or the converse. This last error, were it more frequent, might point to an "insular" ancestor somewhere in the pedigree. There is an a priori likelihood that a rare text current in the Rhenish district would have attracted the notice of Irish monks and have been preserved by them. A closer study of the variants may perhaps confirm this notion. 1
External and internal evidence combined lead me to the conclusion that our text was preserved in a single imperfect copy written in uncials, and containing the Antiquities, the Quaestiones in Genesim, and De Essaeis, which had survived at some centre of ancient culture in the Rhenish district, most likely in or near Trèves.
(f) The authorities used in this book fall into three groups: (1) Lorsch and Fulda, represented by the printed text, which I call A; (2) The Trèves group P, Ph, T; (3) VRFJ. This is a rough division. Sichardus gives us no means of distinguishing readings peculiar to either of his MSS. and, as we have seen, is probably wrong in saying that they were very closely allied. The Trèves MSS. are in more frequent agreement with A than VR. V and R, if not parent and child (and probably they are not) are at least uncle and nephew. Generally speaking I am of opinion that, though manifestly wrong in a number of small points, A is preferable to any one of the complete MSS. that I have seen. [[p. 22]]
It will be readily understood that, in an edition like this, a complete exposition of the evidence for the text is impossible: but by way of illustration we will take a short passage for which all our authorities except J are available, and in which the grouping is (if imperfectly) shown. The Song of David before Saul (LX. 2 sqq.) runs thus in APPhTVRF. A is taken as the basis.
Tenebrae et silentium erant (erat RF) antequam fieret seculum, et locutum est silentium et apparuerunt tenebrae.
Et factum est tunc (om. tunc RF) nomen tuum in compaginatione extensionis quod appellatum (+ est VRFPhT) superius coelum, inferius vocatum (invocatum. V) est terra.
Et praeceptum est superiori ut plueret secundum tempus eius (suum F) et inferiori pracceptum est (praec. est inf. F: om. praec. est R) ut crearet escam omnibus quae facta sunt (homini qui factus est VRF).
Et post haec facta est tribus spiritum uestrorum (nostrorum F).
Et nunc molesta, esse noli tanquam secunda creatura (factura VRF).
Si comminus memoraret artari in quo ambulas A.
Si comminus memorarer artare, etc. PPhT (artare rather obscure in T).
Si quominus memorare tartari (tractari R) in quo ambulabas VRF.
Aut non audire tibi sufficit quoniam per ea quae consonant in conspectu tuo multis (in multis VRF) psallo?
Aut immemor es quoniam de resultatione in chaoma tonata (in chaomate nata VRF) est uestra creatura?
Arguet autem tempora noua (te metra noua VRF) unde natus sum, de quo nascitur (de qua nascetur VRF) post tempus de lateribus meis qui uos donauit (domauit P, domabit PhTVRF).
VRF here show themselves
the best in some important readings. The first (homini for omnibus)
is the least obvious: but it will be quickly seen that the point of the
invective is that evil spirits are a secondary creation, and
particularly that they are inferior to man. If not actually created
after man, at least they came into being after the earth, which was to
supply food to him. Moreover, a similar variant occurs early in the
book (III. 2), non diiudicabit spiritus meus in omnibus (AVR: hominibus
P) istis, The [[p.
23]]
LXX of Gen. 63, ἐν τοῖσ ἀνθρώποισ τούτοισ,
shows that P is right.
But VR (F is rarely available) are not uniformly successful. They sometimes shirk difficulties. In IX. 13 Moses "natus est in testamento dei et in testamento carnis eius" (i.e. was born circumcised). Here VR read "in testamentum carnis, which makes nonsense: and a few lines later, where it is said of Pharaoh's daughter: "et dum uidisset in Zaticon (sc. διαθήκην) hoc est in testamento carnis," the whole clause is omitted by VIZ.
In III. 10, we have "et reddet infernus debitum suum, et perditio restituet paralecem suam." This is the obviously right reading of AP: VR read partem suam, and J betrays itself not only as a version from Latin, but as dependent on a Latin MS. allied to VR, by saying "and Abaddon shall return its portion."
When Pharaoh has determined to destroy the Hebrew children, the people say (IX. 2): "ὠμοτοκείαν (ometocean cett.) passa sunt viscera mulierum nostrarum." All the authorities, including F, keep the strange word, but V writes "Ometocean id est passa sunt," showing that at some stage there was an intention to insert a Latin equivalent. Still, the word has survived.
The shirking of difficulties is not confined to VR. The priestly vestments, epomis (XI. 15) and cidaris (XIII. 1), become ebdomas and cithara in AP, but not in VR. In a list of the plagues of Egypt (X. 1), one, pammixia, is omitted by AP and retained by VR. This word pammixia (panimixia in the MSS.) deserves a passing note, for it does not seem to have made its way into dictionaries or concordances. It is intended to mean the plague of all manner of flies, for which the LXX and Vulgate equivalent is κυνομυια, coenomyia. Jerome, writing on this, says it ought to be κοινομυια, signifying a mixture of all manner of flies, and adds that Aquila's word for it was παμμικτον. Older editors read παμμυιαν for παμμικτον, but Field, or some one before him, corrected it, and our text confirms the correction.
VR do not always go together: R, as being later, has corruptions of its own. Psalphinga, a trumpet, is a favourite word with our author: R at first writes this as psalmigraphus; later, when he has realised that this is nonsense, he reproduces psalphinga as he should.
We have not yet cited examples in which the Trèves MSS. stand apart. I will give two specimens, one of a few words, the other longer, in which this is the case. [[p. 24]]
i. XXII1. 4. Una petra erat unde effodi patrem uestrum. et genuit uir scopuli illius duos uiros A. P has: incisco petre illius, which is nearly right: VRF have "incisio petre illius," which is quite right.
ii. In the Lament of Jephthah's Daughter (XL. 6 seq.) all our authorities are available except F. J is very loose and paraphrastic, and its evidence will be given after the rest.
It will be seen that J has some equivalent for every clause (though in (g) he has wandered far from the text).
In (b) he read sedens in uirginitate or ingenuitate with the Trèves MSS.: in (k) "garlands of my crown" seems nearer to flores corone of VR. For the rest he is too paraphrastic to be followed closely.
It is very odd that three times over in this short passage the words in genua mea, genuam meam, in genuam meam should occur in one of the groups, each time disturbing the sense, while another group somehow avoids the difficulty. It looks suspicious for the group which does so. But the evidence of the Trèves group is not to be lightly dismissed. It would justify a theory that where the words first occur they are corrupt for ingenuitate, that on the second occasion an obscurity of a few letters genu . . . eam, present in the ancestor of the other MSS., was not in that of the Trèves group: and that in the third case the words are merely intrusive--perhaps wrongly inserted from a margin. Another blurring of a few letters would account for the differences between moysi and preciosi, and between odoris and odoramenti. But I do not regard this as a really satisfactory explanation.
12:1 The important sentences in the original are : ut sensimus . . . exemplaria, quorum duo habuimus, tam constanter p. 13 tamque ex composito mendos suos tueri, consilium, quod mutandorum quorundam coeperamus, plane abiecimus, imitati id quod utrumque exemplar haberet, quae tamen ita erant inter se similia, ut nec ouum diceres ouo magis, ut dubium mihi non esset, quin ex altero esset alterum descriptum, utcunque magno loci intervallo dissita. Quippe attuleramus commodum illud Fuldense uestrum, cum antea ex Laurissensi coenobio impetrassemus pervetustum quidem illud, et quod nobis felicissimae editionis magnam spem fecerat: sed progressos paululum non modo foede destituit, sed et fecit ut praeproperae nos editionis plurimum. poeniteret . . . dedimus operam ut ab exemplaribus quam minimum discederemus, ut sicubi fortasse extaret aliud exemplar, id quod tum inaudieramus, eius collatione nostra . . . absolverentur.
15:1 P. Lehmann: Johannes Sichardus und die von ihm benutzten Bibliotheken und Handschriften (Quellen und Untersuchungen zur Lateinische Philologie des Mittelalters, IV. 1. 19 12).
16:1 Dr. Lehmann quotes a number of instances in which Sichardus has deviated from the MS. in spelling: he is also clear that conjecture was resorted to. This last statement applies especially, I think, to the Quaestiones.
16:2 The printed catalogue gives the title of the Antiquities in 4569 and 18481 as Historia ab initio mundi usque ad Dauid regem. In 18481 it is preceded by Jerome's notice of Philo.
21:1 In XVI. 7 in syna seems to be a mistake for in gyro.
4. The TITLE of the book is somewhat of a puzzle. Sichardus calls it Philonis Judaei antiquitatum Biblicarum liber, the Fulda catalogue (and the label on the Fulda MS.) Philonis antiquitatum liber; a late title in the same MS. is: libri Philonis iudei de initio mundi; P has a title of cent. XV.: Philo iudeus de successione generationum veteris testamenti; R, in the colophon: "ystoria Philonis ab initio mundi usque ad David regem" (so also two at least of the Munich M SS.); Trithemius has De generationis successu. Sixtus Senensis has two notices of the book: in the first, which is drawn from Sichardus., he calls it Biblicarum antiquitatum liber; in the second, which depends on some MS., his words are: "In Gen. Cap. 5 de successione generis humani liber unus, continens enarrationem genealogiae seu posteritatis Adae. Liber incipit: Ἀδὰμ ἐγέννησε Adam genuit [[p. 27]] tres filios." The two Greek words I take to be no more than a re-translation from Latin. The MS. V has no title at all.
Thus we have authority for three names. The first, Biblicarum antiquitatum, I think, must be in part due to Sichardus; the epithet "Biblicarum" savours to my mind of the Renaissance, and has no certain MS. attestation. "Antiquitatum" (which is as old as cent. XIV.) is probably due to a recollection of Josephus's great work, the Jewish Antiquities. The other name, de successione generationum or the like, has rather better attestation, and: Historia ab initio mundi, etc. (if original in the Munich MSS.) the oldest of all. I can hardly believe, however, that any of them are original; it seems more probable that some Biblical name was prefixed to the book when it was first issued. Rather out of respect to the first editor than for any better reason I have retained the title Biblical Antiquities, under which the text was introduced to the modern world.
The ATTRIBUTION TO PHILO I regard as due to the accident that the text was transmitted in company with genuine Philonic writings. 1 Certainly, if the Antiquities had come down to us by themselves, no one in his senses could have thought of connecting them with Philo; unless, indeed, knowing of but two Jewish authors, Philo and Josephus, he assumed that, since one had written a history of the Jews, the other must needs have followed suit.
5. The ORIGINAL LANGUAGE of the book, its
date, its form and its purpose, must now be discussed.
[[p. 28]]
Original Language.--The Latin version, in which alone we possess the work, is quite obviously a translation from Greek. The forms of proper names, the occurrence of Greek words which puzzled the translator, ometocea, pammixia, epomis, etc., make this abundantly clear. It is hardly less plain that the Greek was a translation from Hebrew. As Dr. Cohn has pointed out, the whole complexion, and especially the connecting links of the narrative, are strongly Hebraic, and there is a marked absence of the Greek use of particles, or of any attempt to link sentences together save by the bald "et," which occurs an incredible number of times.
Some statistics may be given: Et factum est occurs at least 33 times; Et tum (usually of the past) 37; Tunc 25; Et nunc (of present or future) 85; In tempore illo 18; In diebus illis (and the like) 10; Et post haec, or postea 30; Ecce 105; Ecce nunc 47; Et ideo 27; Et erit cum, or si 24. Other common links which I have not counted are Et ut (uidit, etc.), Et cum, His dictis, Propterea.
The leading Hebraisms are present: adiicere, or apponere with another verb, meaning "he did so yet again," 9 times at least; the intensive participle and verb (Illuminans illuminaui) 15 times. We have Si introducing a question 4 times; a uiro usque ad mulierem and the like (XXX. 4; XLVII. 10); ad uictoriam, in uictoria (= למנצח, "Utterly"); IX. 3; XII. 6; XLIX. 6.
Hebraists, among whom I cannot reckon
myself, may probably detect
the presence of plays upon words, passages written in poetical form
(some of which are indeed obvious), and mistranslations. 1
[[p. 29]]
From what has just been said it will be rightly gathered that the literary style of Philo is not its strong point. Indeed, it is exceedingly monotonous, full of repetitions and catchwords. The author's one device for obtaining an "effect" is to string together a number of high-sounding clauses, as he does, for example, in his repeated descriptions of the giving of the Law. As a narrator, he has another trick. An incident is often compared to another in the past (or future) history of Israel, and many times is an episode from that history related in a speech or prayer.
Some of the recurrent phrases are: I spake of old saying about 25 times; in vain, or not in vain 14; it is better for us to do this than . . . 7; not for our sakes, but for . . . about 5 times; who knoweth whether 4; dost thou not remember 3; To thy seed will I give this land (or the like) 7-9; the covenant which he made 5-8; I know that the people will sin 8-9; God's anger will not endure for ever 10; The Gentiles will say 4-8; I call heaven and earth to witness 4-5; in the last days 4; make straight your ways 5-6; corrupt (your ways, etc.) 18; remember or visit the world 6; be for a testimony 10. Of single words accipere occurs 88 times in the first half of the text; habitare, inhabitare about 80 times in the whole text; iniquitas 33; disponere 37; testamentum 47; ambulare 21; uia, uiae 25; adducere 19; seducere 21; saeculum 27; sempiternus 15; constituere 20; expugnare 27; zelari 14; illuminare 12; renunciare 15.
Other lists are given in Appendix II.
27:1 Pitra thought that the Latin versions of these were by the same hand: I cannot confirm this idea, and indeed incline to question its correctness.
28:1 Of mistranslations I can only point to one. In VIII. 13 Visui appears as a proper name. It seems clearly to be a mistake for "and Isui." The error implies a Hebrew original: it is not found in the LXX. See the Appendix on Readings in loc.
6. As to the DATE of the book, a positive indication of a terminus a quo has been detected in the text by Dr. Cohn. He draws attention to a speech of God to Moses (XIX. 7): "I will show thee the place wherein the people shall serve me 850 (MSS. 740) years, and thereafter it shall be delivered into the hands of the enemies, and they shall destroy it, and strangers shall compass it[[p. 30]] about; and it shall be on that day like as it was in the day when I brake the tables of the covenant which I made with thee in Horeb: and when they sinned, that which was written thereon vanished away. Now that day was the 17th day of the 4th month." Dr. Cohn's comment is: "These words are meant to signify that Jerusalem was taken on the 17th of Tamuz, on the same day on which the Tables of the Law were broken by Moses. The capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, however, took place on the 9th of Tamuz (Jer. 526; Cf. 2 Kings 253). The . . . 17th of Tamuz can relate only to the second temple (read capture) as it is expressly mentioned in the Talmud (Taanith IV. 6, cf. Seder Olam Rabbah, cap. 6 and 30) that on that date the Tables of the Law were destroyed and Jerusalem was taken by Titus. Thus the author betrays himself by giving as the date of the capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonians what is really the date of the capture by Titus."
The point is so important that I have felt it only right to present the evidence in some detail. The Mishnah of Taanith IV. 6 says "Five calamities befell our fathers on the 17th of Tamuz and five on the 9th of Ab. On the 17th Tamuz the Tables of the Law were broken: the daily sacrifice ceased to be offered: the city of Jerusalem was broken into: Apostomos burnt the Law and set up an idol in the sanctuary. On the 9th of Ab our fathers were told that they should not enter the holy land (Num. xiv.). The first and the second temple were destroyed; Bethar was taken, and the plough passed over the soil of Jerusalem."
It must be borne in mind that the capture of Jerusalem, and not the destruction of the Temple,[[p. 31]] is the event of which the date is important. To establish Dr. Cohn's argument, it is necessary that the capture of the city by Titus, and not the capture by Nebuchadnezzar, should be assigned to the 17th Tamuz.
The Gemara of the Jerusalem Talmud on the Mishnah quoted above attempts to show that there is a confusion in the chronology, and that probably both captures took place on the 17th Tamuz. But that of the Babylonian Talmud, which Mr. I. Abrahams has kindly translated for me, makes the requisite distinction between the dates, in these terms --
The city was broken up on the 17th. Was it indeed so? Is it not written "in the 4th month, on the 9th of the month, the famine was sore" (Jer. 526): and is it not written in the following verse: "then the city was broken up"? Raba replied: There is no difficulty: for the one refers to the first, the other to the second Temple. For there is a baraitha (teaching) which teaches: "On the first occasion the city was broken into on the 9th of Tamuz, and on the second occasion on the 17th."
This clearly justifies Dr. Cohn in taking the 17th of Tamuz as the date primarily associated with the capture by Titus. The attempt of the Jerusalem Talmud to place the Babylonian capture on the same date is of a later complexion, and is made, it seems, in the interests of a factitious symmetry. The baraitha quoted in the Babylonian Talmud is of the same age as the Mishnah (i.e. before A.D. 200).
Thus Philo is indeed referring to the capture by Titus, and is therefore writing at a date later than A.D. 70. But, apart from this piece of positive evidence, the general complexion of the book[[p. 32]] strongly supports Dr. Cohn when he holds that it was written after the destruction of the second Temple. There is a singular absence of interest in the Temple services and in the ceremonial Law, whereas the moral Law, and especially the Decalogue, is dwelt upon again and again. Of course we read of sacrifices and the like, and it was impossible for the author to avoid all mention of the Tabernacle and its vessels, and of the yearly feasts. But the space devoted to them is strikingly small. The Passover is twice mentioned by name, and its institution is once referred to, together with that of the Feasts of Weeks, of Trumpets, and of Tabernacles, but no stress is laid upon it. The prescriptions for the observance of the Sabbath mention only synagogal services. When we compare Philo with Jubilees (second cent. B.C.), where the constant effort is to antedate the ceremonial Law in every part, we feel that we are in a wholly different stage of Judaism. Further, the evidence derivable from the resemblances between Philo and other books certainly written after A.D. 70, which will be found collected in another part of this Introduction, points unequivocally in the same direction.
In the portion of the book which we have (and it is important to remember that it is but a fragment) the writer's anticipations of a restoration and his allusions to the desolation of Jerusalem are equally faint and dim. It is probable that as occasion served--e.g. when he came to treat of Solomon's temple--he would have spoken more plainly than he could well do when dealing with the earlier history. If an opinion based upon what we possess of his work is demanded, my own is that an appreciable interval must be placed between the destruction of the city and our[[p. 33]] author's time. I should assign him to the closing years of the first Christian century. 1
33:1 It might even be said that the vagueness of his hopes and aspirations points to an even later period, after the crushing of the Bar-Cochba rising in A.D. 135. However, the fact of the acceptance of the book by the Christian Church, which alone has preserved it, and the absence of anti-Christian polemic, forbid us to assign to it a date at all late in the second century.
7. As to the FORM, I suggest that the chief model which the author set before himself was the Biblical Book of Chronicles. He begins abruptly, as that does, with genealogies and with Adam: he introduces from time to time short pieces of narrative, which rapidly increase in importance until they occupy the whole field: he devotes much space to speeches and prayers, and is fond of statements of numbers. His aim is to supplement existing narratives, and he wholly passes over large tracts of the history, occasionally referring to the Biblical books in which further details are to be found: and it is to be noted that he seems to place his own work on a level with them. "Are not these things written in the book of" the Judges, or the Kings, is his formula, and it is that of the Bible also. In all these respects he follows the Chronicler: only, as has been said, we miss in him the liturgical and priestly interest of that writer. Like the Chronicler, too, he is, and I believe was from the first, anonymous; I can find no trace of an attempt to personate any individual prophet, priest or scribe.
8. The PURPOSE of the author I read thus. He wishes to supplement existing narratives, as has been said; and this he does by means of his fabulous genealogies (which, especially in the corrupt state in which we have them, arouse but a faint
interest) and also by his paraphrases 1 of Bible stories, (for example, those of Korah, Balaam, Jael, Micah) and by his fresh inventions, especially that of Kenaz, the first judge, which is on the whole his most successful effort. In this side of his work he seeks to interest rather than to instruct. On the religious side I detect a wish to infuse a more religious tone into certain episodes of the history, particularly into the period of the judges, and to emphasize certain great truths, foremost among which I should place the indestructibility of Israel, and the duty of faithfulness to the one God. Lapse into idolatry and union with Gentiles are the dangers he most dreads for his people. I have collected the passages in which his positive teaching, is most clear and prominent, and purpose in this place to digest them under several heads, usually in the order in which they occur in the text.
The Future State of Souls and the End of the World.
III. 10. When the years of the world (or age) are fulfilled, God will quicken the dead, and raise up from the earth them that sleep: Sheol will restore its debt, and Abaddon its deposit, and every man will be rewarded according to his works. There will be an end of death, Sheol will shut its mouth, the earth will be universally fertile. No one who is "justified in God" shall be defiled. There will be a new heaven and a new earth, an everlasting habitation.
XIX. 4. God will reveal the end of the world.
XIX. 7. Moses is not to enter into the promised land "in this age."
12. He is to be made to sleep with the fathers, and have rest, until God visits the earth, and raises him and the fathers from the earth in which they sleep, and they come together and dwell in an immortal habitation.
13. This heaven will pass away like a cloud, and the times and seasons be shortened when the end draws near, for God will hasten to raise up them that sleep, and all who are able to live will dwell in the holy place which he has shown to Moses.
XXI. 9. God told the fathers in the secret places of souls, how he had fulfilled his promises: cf. XXIV. 6; XXXII. 13.
XXIII. 6. He showed Abraham the place of fire in which evil deeds will be expiated, and the torches which will enlighten the righteous who have believed.
13. The lot of the righteous Israelites will be in eternal life: their souls will be taken and laid up in peace, until the time of the world is fulfilled, and God restores them, to the fathers, and the fathers to them.
XXVI. 12. The precious stones of the temple will be hidden away until God remembers the world, and then will be brought out with others from the place which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, etc. The righteous will not need the light of the sun or moon, for these stones will give them light.
XXVIII. 10. The rest (requies) of the righteous when they are dead.
XXXII. 17. The renewal of the creation (cf. XVI. 3).
XXXIII. 2-5. There is no room for repentance
after death, nor can the fathers after their death intercede for Israel.
XXXVIII. 4. Jair's victims are quickened with "living fire" and are delivered. (This, however, does not seem strictly to apply to the future state: see the passage.)
XLVIII. 1. When God remembers the world Phinehas will taste of death. Until then he will dwell with those who have been "taken up" before him.
LI. 5. God quickens the righteous, but shuts up the wicked in darkness. When the bad die they perish: when the righteous sleep they are delivered.
LXII. 9. Jonathan is sure that souls will recognize each other after death.
The Lot of the Wicked.
XVI. 3. Korah and his company: their dwelling will be in darkness and perdition, and they will pine away until God remembers the world, and then they will die and not live, and their remembrance will perish like that of the Egyptians in the Red Sea and the men who perished in the Flood. 6. Korah and his company, when they were swallowed up, "sighed until the firmament should be restored to the earth."
XVIII. 12. Balaam will gnash his teeth because of his sins.
XXXI. 7. Sisera is to go and tell his father in hell that he has fallen by the hand of a woman.
XXXVIII. 4. Jair will have his dwelling-place in fire: so also Doeg, LXIII. 4.
XLIV. 10. Micah and his mother will die in torments, punished by the idols he has made. And this will be the rule for all men, that they shall suffer in such fashion as they have sinned.
Punishment, long deferred, for past sins, is much in our author's mind.
VI. 11. Abram says "I may be burned to death on account of my (former) sins. God's will be done."
XXVII. 7. If Kenaz falls in battle it will be because of his sins.
15. Certain men were punished, not for their present offence, but for a former one.
XLII. 2. Manoah's wife is barren because of sins.
XLV. 3. The Levite's concubine had sinned years before and is now punished.
XLIX. 5. Elkanah says: If my sins have overtaken me, I had better kill myself.
The greatness of Israel and of the Law.
VII. 4. The Holy Land was not touched by the Flood.
IX. 3. The world will come to naught sooner than Israel can be destroyed.
4. When Israel was not yet in being, God spoke of it.
XII. 9. If God destroys Israel there will be none left to glorify him.
XVIII. 13. Israel can only be defeated if it sins.
XXXII. 9, 14. The heavenly bodies are ministers to Israel, and will intercede with God if Israel is in a strait.
15. Israel was born of the rib of Adam.
XXXIX. 7. The habitable places of the world were made for Israel.
IX. 8. God thought of the Law in ancient days.
XI. 1. It is a light to Israel but a punishment to the wicked.
2. It is an everlasting Law by which God will
judge the world. Men shall not be able to say "we have not heard."
5. It is an eternal commandment which shall not pass away.
XXXII. 7. It was prepared from the birth of the world.
Of Union with Gentiles.
IX. 1. The worst feature of the Egyptian oppression was the proposal that the Hebrew girls should marry Egyptians.
5. Tamar sinned with Judah rather than mingle with Gentiles, and was justified.
XVIII. 13. The union with the daughters of Moab and Midian would be fatal to Israel.
XLIII. 5. Samson mingled with Gentiles, and was therefore punished. He was unlike Joseph.
Angelology.
The service of angels is fairly prominent, and several are named.
XI. 12. "Bear not false witness, lest thy guardians do so of thee." This, I think, refers to angels.
XV. 5. The angels will not intercede for the people if they sin. The angel of God's wrath will smite the people.
"I put angels under their feet." (Also XXX. 5.)
XVIII. 5. "I said to the angels that work subtilly (?)."
6. Jacob wrestled with the angel that is over the praises.
XIX. 16. The angels lament for Moses.
XXVII. 10. Gethel or Ingethel is the angel of hidden things; Zeruel the angel of strength. (Also LXI. 5.)
XXXII. 1, 2. The angels were jealous of Abraham,
XXXIV. 3. Certain angels were judged: those who were condemned had powers which were not given to others after them. They still assist men in sorceries.
XXXVIII. Nathaniel the angel of fire.
XLII. 10. The angel Phadahel.
LXIV. 6. When Samuel is raised up by the witch, two angels appear leading him.
Demons and Idols.
Of evil spirits hardly anything is said, but some space is devoted to descriptions of idols.
XIII. 8. Adam's wife was deceived by the serpent.
XXV. 9. "The demons of the idols."
9 seq. The idols and precious stones of the Amorites are dwelt upon.
XLIV. 5 seq. Micah's idols are described in terms which remind one slightly of the images in a sanctuary of Mithras. (See the note.)
XLV. 6. "The Lord said to the Adversary" (anticiminus, ὁ ἀντικείμενοσ). He is quite suddenly introduced, and without any explanation.
LIII. 3, 4. Eli wonders if an unclean spirit has deceived Samuel. If one hears two calls at night, it will be an evil spirit that is calling: three will mean an angel.
LXI. An evil spirit oppresses Saul.
Evil spirits were created after heaven and earth (on the Second Day) and are a secondary creation. They sprang from an echo in chaos: their abode was in "Tartarus."
A holy spirit is mentioned occasionally, but in rather vague terms.
XVIII. 3. Balaam says that the spirit (of prophecy) is given "for a time."
11. "Little is left of that holy spirit which is in me."
XXVIII. 6. The holy spirit leapt upon Kenaz.
XXXII. 14. (Deborah addressing herself.) "Let the grace of the holy spirit in thee awake."
The character of God and His dealings with men are, naturally, illustrated in many passages, in some of which there is a strange lack of perception of what is worthy and befitting.
XII. 9. Moses says, "Thou art all light."
XXII. 3. "Light dwells with him."
XVI. 5. The sons of Korah say that God, not Korah, is their true father: if they walk in his ways, they will be his sons.
XVIII. 4. God knew what was in the world before he made it.
XXI. 2. He knows the mind of all generations before they are born (cf. L. 4).
XXVIII. 4. He willed that the world should be made and that they who should inhabit it should glorify him.
XXX. 6. God is life.
XXXV. 3. He will have mercy on Israel "not for your sakes, but because of them that sleep" (cf. XXXIX. 11 end).
5. Men look on glory and fame, God on uprightness of heart.
XXXVI. 4. God will not punish Gideon in this life, lest men should say "It is Baal who punishes him": he will chastise him after death.
XXXIX. 4. (LXII. 6.) If God forgives, why should not mortal man?
God, being God, has time to cast away his anger.
11. He is angry with Jephthah for his vow. "If a dog were the first to meet him, should a dog be offered to me? It shall fall upon his only child."
XLV. 6. Israel took no notice of Micah's idols;
but is horrified at the Benjamite outrage: therefore God will allow Benjamin to defeat them, and will deceive them (cf. LXIII. 3).
XLVI. He deceives Israel, telling them to attack Benjamin.
XLVII. 3. If God had not sworn an oath to Phinehas, he would not hear him now.
LII. 4. He will not allow Eli's sons to repent, because aforetime they had said "When we grow old we will repent."
LXIV. 1. Saul put away the wizards in order to gain renown: so he shall be driven to resort to them.
Man, especially in relation to sin.
XIII. 8. Man lost Paradise by sin.
XIX. 9. What man hath not sinned? Who will be born without sin? Thou wilt correct us for a time, and not in wrath.
XXXII. 5. Esau was hated because of his deeds.
XXXVI. 1. The Midianites say, "Our sins are fulfilled, as our gods told us, and we believed them not."
LII. 3. Eli says to his sons: "Those whom you have wronged will pray for you if you reform."
LXIV. 8. Saul thinks that perhaps his fall may be an atonement for his sins.
The Messiah.
Dr. Cohn speaks of the Messianic hope of the writer, but I am myself unable to find any anticipation of a Messiah in our text. It is always God, and no subordinate agency, that is to "visit the world" and put all things right.
The word Christus occurs in two chapters: in LI. 6, and LIX. 1, 4, which refer to Saul or David.
There are two other puzzling passages, of which [[p. 42]] one inclines at first to say that the meaning is Messianic.
XXI. 6. Joshua says: "O Lord, lo, the days
shall come when the house
of Israel shall be likened to a brooding dove which setteth her young
in the nest, and will not leave them or forget her place, like as also
these, turning (conuersi) from their acts, shall fight against (or
overcome) the salvation which shall be born of them (or is born
to them)." [[NOTE: The passage
here attributed to Joshua is not found in the biblical texts]]
LI. 5. Hannah says: "But so doth all judgement endure, until he be revealed who holdeth it (qui tenet)." As, a few lines later, she says: "And these things remain so until they give a horn to his (or their) Anointed," which certainly refers to Saul; it is probable that Saul or David is meant in the present passage also. Nevertheless the resemblance between qui tenet and ὁ κατέχων of St. Paul (2 Thess. ii. 6, 7) is noteworthy. [[NOTE: The long passage here attributed to Hannah is not found as such in the biblical texts -- see 1 Sam/Kgs 2.1ff.]]
34:1 Which in some cases rather deserve the name of perversions. Great liberties are taken with them: a notable fact.
9. I have not raised the question of the UNITY of the book. No one has as yet suggested that it is composite, and I am content to wait until a theory is broached. That there are inconsistencies in it I do not deny (for instance, the story of Korah is told in two ways in XVI. and in LVII.), but they are not of a kind that suggest a plurality of writers. It may be that their presence here will furnish an argument against dissection of other books based on the existence of similar discrepancies.
As to the INTEGRITY of the text: We know that it is imperfect, and this matter will be discussed at a later stage.
The CONTENTS will be found summarized in a synopsis at the end of the Introduction.
10. THE RELATION OF PHILO TO OTHER BOOKS
now comes up for
consideration. The author's knowledge of the Old Testament
literature [[awareness of Jewish
scriptural traditions]] is [[p. 43]] apparent on every page. There are
obvious borrowings from all the
books to the end of 2 Kings; of Chronicles he seems to be a definite
imitator [[see above, FORM]]. He knows the story of Job [[8.8 and 11, married to Dinah! (see
TJob, etc., not canonical Job)]], and quotes a Psalm [[51.6 by Asaph (Ps 99.6); 59.4 and
60.1ff, by David, but not canonical Psalms!]]; he draws from
Isaiah [[unnamed; in 50.1 "dry
tree" and 53.13 (a proverb?)]], Jeremiah [[by name in 56.6 (see below)]],
Ezekiel [[in 28.6ff; see MRJ
note]], Daniel [[chapters
6 and 38, references to fiery furnaces!]]. With the Wisdom
literature he has
not much in common, and traces of the use of the Minor Prophets, of
Ezra, Nehemiah, or Tobit, are hard to find, though I will not deny
their presence. 1
If he lived, as I believe he did, near the end of the first century, we
should naturally credit him with a knowledge of the whole Jewish canon [[!!]].
[[Rewritten
#10a. The
Relation of Ps-Philo to Jewish Scriptures: The LAB is an
excellent example of a "scripturally enhanced" text. From the outset,
its interest in genealogies is apparent and carries through to chapter
42 (see also 51), although surprisingly, David's genealogy is not
presented in detail (see 59). The pastiche of other interwoven
traditions, doubtless some of them ancient, is laced with passages from
various Jewish scriptural writings which are sometimes referred to
explicitly (see below) but usually simply blended into the narrative.
The compiler knows of Moses and his law (chs. 25-26), of his successor
Jesus/Joshua (25.2, 32 et passim),
of Job who experienced a major crisis (ch. 8), of David as a psalmist
(chs 59-60), and of Jeremiah as a prophet to come (56.6, which may
suggest that the compiler assumes a pre-Jeremiah context for the work).
Books of Judges (35.7, 43.4)
and of Kings (56.7, and 63.5
"Kings of Israel") are mentioned by name, after the manner of similar
references in the biblical books of Kings
and Chronicles. It is
impossible to determine whether the compiler had direct access to
Jewish scriptural texts, and if so, which., although it is clear that a
multiplicity of Jewish traditions (oral or written, drawn from full
texts or excerpts or secondary presentations) were available. Any
impact that generations of copying and stages of translating may have
had on the relationship of the lost earler versions of LAB to what
became canonical scriptures in Judaism and in Christianity is no longer
possible to determine.
Explicit
mention of what appear to be Jewish scriptural "books" or passages or
sacred writings occurs at:
Perhaps
the reference to the "book of the law" of Moses in 25.13 is a
direct reference to (part of) the Pentateuch, although it does not need
to be so.
See also 56.6 [Saul says] "I do not understand what you are saying,
because I am young." And Samuel said to Saul "...Consider this, that
your words will be compared to the words of the prophet whose name will
be Jeremiah (Hieremias)" (see Jer 1.6 "I do not know how to speak
for I am only a youth"; the name Jeremiah occurs only here in LAB)
The
peculiar story in 25-26 about "books and stones" that need to be
destroyed by special divine action is worth separate attention here.
Presumably these are "books" and "stones" of the "Amorites," who taught
or revealed secret things to the two tribes of Dan [25.9, without
explicit mention of "books"] and Asher [25.10, with special light
bearing "stones"]:
26.1ff 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. . . . . 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.
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 . . . 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.
[[10b.]] It is more important to determine his relation to the apocryphal books -- the literature to which he was himself a contributor. Four of these, Enoch, Jubilees, the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch, and the Fourth Book of Esdras, afford interesting material.
(a) Certain affinities with the Book of Enoch are traceable in Philo. It is true that Enoch is not one of his heroes; in fact, he tells us no more of him than is found in Genesis, but I believe that the Book was known to him, though it is only in the first part of it that I find any striking parallels.
In the first place, his view of the stars and other heavenly bodies is like that of Enoch. They are sentient beings, who receive commands from God and move about to execute them. See the story of Sisera, and the hymn of Deborah, and compare in Enoch 6, etc., the punishment of the errant stars.
Again, a passage in Enoch (148) seems to be the model of some in Philo. "Behold, clouds called me in my vision, and mists cried to me, and runnings of stars and lightnings hastened me, and in the vision winds gave me wings and lifted me [[p. 44]] up." Compare Philo XI. 5: "The heavens were folded up, and the clouds drew up water . . . and the thunders and lightnings were multiplied, and the winds and tempests sounded; the stars were gathered together, and the angels ran before " (XIII. 7); "the winds shall sound and the lightnings run on," etc. (XV. 2); "the lightnings of the stars shone, and the thunders followed, sounding with them" (XXXII. 7); "the lightnings hasted to their courses, and the winds gave a sound out of their storehouses," etc. The phrase in Enoch 14 8, 10, 11 is διαδρομαὶ ἀστέρων καὶ ἀστραπαί. In 161 we have ὁ αἰὼν ὁ μέγασ, which may be the source of the immensurabilis mundus (seculum tempus) of Philo IX. 3, XXXII. 3, XXXIV. 2.
In Enoch 173, τόξον πυρὸσ καὶ βέλη. Philo XIX. 16, praecedebant eum fulgura et lampades et sagittae omnes unanimes.
Enoch 181, Εῖ᾽δον τοὺσ θησαυροὺσ τῶν ἀνέμων; cf. Philo XXXII. 7, above. The winds gave a sound out of their storehouses (promptuariis).
In Enoch 186 seq. we hear something of precious stones which reminds us of those of Kenaz in Philo XXVI. seq.
The words of 212: "I saw neither heaven above nor earth founded, but a place imperfect and terrible" recall the vision of Kenaz in Philo XXVIII. 6 seq.
So also the description of the sweet plants of Paradise in Enoch 24 may have suggested the words of Moses in Philo XII. 9.
In Enoch 252 "to Visit the earth" has more than one parallel in Philo, e. g. XIX. 12, 13, visitare seculum, orbem: and Enoch 257 (Then I blessed the God of glory . . . who hath prepared such things for righteous men, etc.) is like Philo XXVI. 6: Blessed be God who hath wrought such signs for[[p. 45]] the sons of men, and 14: Lo, how great good things God hath wrought for men.
(b) The Book of Jubilees is perhaps most nearly comparable to Philo, in that it follows the form of a chronicle of Bible history. Its spirit and plan are, to be sure, wholly different; it is regulated by a strict system of chronology, and its chief interest is in the ceremonial law. It is also far earlier in date, belonging to the last years of the second century B.C.
Our author has read Jubilees, and to a certain extent supplements it in the portions which are common to both books. Thus Jubilees supplies us with the names of the wives of the early patriarchs: Philo omits these, but gives the names of their sons and daughters. It is true that he gives other names for the daughters of Adam, and that in the one case in which he supplies the name of a wife he also differs from Jubilees: with him Cain's wife is Themech, in Jubilees it is Awân (daughter of Adam and sister of Cain, which Philo may have wished to disguise). In the same way Philo devotes much space to the names and number of the grandsons of Noah and their families, which are wanting in Jubilees; and whereas Jubilees gives full geographical details of the provinces which fell to Shem, Ham and Japhet, Philo indulges only in a series of bare names of places, now for the most part hopelessly corrupt. There is a small and seemingly intentional contradiction of Jubilees in this part of his history: Jubilees 118, says that Serug taught Nahor to divine, and worshipped idols. Philo agrees that divination began in the days of Terah and Nahor, but adds that Serug and his sons did not join in it, or in idolatry.
Then, whereas the bulk of Jubilees is occupied with the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Philo [[p. 46]] tells in detail one episode--the rescue of Abram from the fire--which Jubilees omits, and passes over the rest of the period in a single page. Anything else that he has to say about Abraham and the rest is introduced into the speeches of later personages (Joshua, Deborah, etc.) by way of illustration. The two books agree in giving the names of the seventy souls who went down into Egypt.
All this seems to me to show a consciousness of Jubilees, and an intentional avoidance, in the main, of the ground traversed by that book. Very rarely is there any coincidence of thought, but two possible examples can be cited. Philo has surprisingly little to say about Satan or evil spirits, as we have seen: but suddenly (in XLV. 6) he says: Et dixit Dominus ad anticiminum: And the Lord said to the Adversary. This must surely be the equivalent of the "prince Mastema" whom we meet so frequently in Jubilees. There is also a difficult passage (XIII. 8) which may go back to Jubilees. God is speaking to Moses, and says: "And the nights shall yield their dew, as I spake after the flood of the earth, at that time when I commanded him (or Then he commanded him) concerning the year of the life of Noah, and said to him: These are the years which I ordained," etc. The words, which may be corrupt, at least remind me of the stress laid in Jubilees 6, upon the yearly feast that is to be kept by Noah after the Flood.
Upon the whole Philo's knowledge of Jubilees is to be inferred rather from what he does not say than from what he does.
(c) The Syriac APOCALYPSE OF BARUCH has, as I have elsewhere shown (JTS 1915, 403), certain very marked resemblances to Philo. It will be[[p. 47]] right to repeat and expand the list of them here. We will take the passages in the order in which they appear in the Apocalypse, in Dr. R. H. Charles's last translation (Pseudepigrapha of O.T.).
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Bar. IV. 3. The building now built in your midst is not that which is revealed with Me, that which was prepared beforehand here from the time when I took counsel to make Paradise and shewed it to Adam before he sinned, but when he transgressed the commandment it was removed from him, as also Paradise. |
Ph. XIII. 8. And he said: This is the place which I showed the first-made man, saying: If thou transgress not that which I have commanded thee, all things shall be subject unto thee. But he transgressed my ways. . . . And the Lord further shewed him (Moses) the ways of Paradise, and said to him: These are the ways which men have lost because they walked not in them. XXVI. 6. Kenaz says: Blessed be God who hath wrought such marvels for the sons of men, and made the protoplast Adam and shewed him all things, that when Adam had sinned therein, then, he should deprive him of all things . . . |
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IV. 4. And after these things I shewed it to my servant Abraham by night among the portions of the victims. |
XXIII. 6. (of Abraham) And sent a sleep upon him and compassed him about with fear, and set before him the place of fire wherein the deeds of them that work wickedness against me shall be expiated, etc. |
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IV. 5. And again also I shewed it to Moses on Mount Sinai when I shewed to him the likeness of the tabernacle and all its vessels. |
XI. 15. (on Sinai) He charged him concerning the tabernacle and the ark . . . and the candlesticks and the laver and the base, and the breastplate and the oracle and the precious stones, and shewed him the likeness of them. |
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XIX. 10. (on Pisgah) He shewed him the place whence the manna rained upon the people, even up to the paths of paradise; and he shewed him the manner of the sanctuary and the number of the offerings ... (See also XIII. 8 above.) |
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V. 5. Jabish, an unknown person, summoned with others by Baruch. |
XXVIII. 1. Kenaz summons the prophets Jabis and Phinees. |
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VI. 7. The forty-eight precious stones. |
See below, p. 64. |
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X. Baruch's lamentation generally resembles that of Jephthah's daughter. |
XL. 5. |
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X. 11. And do ye, O heavens, withhold your dew and open not the treasures of rain. |
XLIV. 10. I will command the heaven, and it shall deny them rain. XI. 9. I will command the heaven, and it shall give its rain. XIII. 7. The nights shall yield their dew. XXIII. 12. I will command the rain and the dew. XXXII. 7. the storehouses of the wind. XV. 5. the treasuries of darkness. |
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XI. 4. The righteous sleep in the earth in tranquillity. |
III. 10. I will raise up them that sleep from the earth. |
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XXI. 24. Abraham, etc., who sleep in the earth. |
XI. 6. I will recompense the sins of them that sleep. XIX. 12. I will raise up thee and thy fathers from the earth (of Egypt intrusive) wherein ye shall sleep. XXXV. 3. because of them that are fallen asleep. LI. 5. when the righteous shall fall asleep, then shall they be delivered. |
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XI. 6, 7. That ye might go and announce in Sheol and say to the dead: Blessed are ye more than we who live. |
XXIV. 6. Who shall go and tell the righteous Moses (that Joshua is dead)? XXXI. 7. (To Sisera) Go and boast thyself to thy father in hell. XXXII. 13. Go, ye angels, tell the fathers in the treasuries of souls. LXI. 6. (To Goliath) then shall ye tell your mother (after death). |
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XV. 5. Unless he had accepted my law. |
Emphasized in XLIV. 6 seq. (Cf. XI. 2). |
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XVII. 4. brought the law to the seed of Jacob and lighted a lamp for the nation of Israel (cf. LIX.). |
IX. 8. I will light for (Moses) my lamp. XV. 6. I came down to light a lamp for my people. |
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LIX. 2. the lamp of the eternal law. |
XIX. 4. kindling among you an eternal lamp. Besides repeated references to the Law as a light. |
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XIX. 1. (Moses) called heaven and earth to witness against them; also LXXXIV. 2. |
Occurs 4 times, of Moses (twice), Joshua, Jonathan. |
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XX. 1. The times shall hasten more than the former, and the seasons shall speed on . . . the years shall pass more quickly. LIV. 1. Thou dost hasten the beginnings of the times. LXXXIII. 1. The most High will assuredly hasten his times and . . . bring on his hours. |
XIX. 13. When I shall draw near to visit the world, I will command the times and they shall be shortened, and the stars shall be hastened, and the light of the sun shall make haste to set, etc. |
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XX. 2. That I may the more speedily visit the world in its season. |
XIX. 12. Until I visit the world. (See also III. 10, XXVI. 12, XLVIII. 1.) |
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XXI. 23. Let Sheol be sealed, so that from this time forward it may not receive the dead, and let the treasuries [[p. 50]] of souls restore those which are enclosed in them (Cf. XXX. 2). |
III. 10. Hell shall pay its debt and destruction restore its deposit . . . hell shall shut its mouth. [[p. 50]] XXXIII. 3. Death is now sealed up. |
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XLII. 7, 8. the dust shall be called, and there shall be said to it: Give back that which is not thine, and raise up all that thou hast kept until this time (cf. L. 2). |
Hell will not restore its deposit unless it be required of him who gave it. |
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XXI. 9. our fathers in the hidden places of souls. XXXII. 13. the fathers in the treasuries of their souls. |
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XXV. 4. The Mighty one doth no longer remember the earth. XXVIII. 2. The measure and reckoning of that time are two parts a week of seven weeks. |
XXVI. 13. until I remember the world. The phrase occurs at least five times. (See the Note on Ph. XIX. 15.) |
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XXIX. 8. the treasury of manna shall again descend from on high. |
XIX. 10. the place whence the manna rained upon the people. |
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XXX. 4. the souls of the wicked . . . shall then waste away the more. |
XVI. 3. Korah shall pine away until I remember the world. XLIV. Micah's mother is to waste away in his sight. So also Doeg LXIII. 4. |
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XLIV. 15. the dwelling of the rest who are many shall be in the fire. |
XXXVIII. 4. (of Jair) in the fire wherein thou shalt die, therein shalt thou have thy dwelling-place. |
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LXIV. 7. (Manasseh) finally his abode was in the fire. |
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LXIII. 4. (of Doeg) his dwelling shall be with Jair in unquenchable fire for ever. |
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L. 3, 4. it will be necessary to show to the living that the dead have come to life again . . . and . . . when they have severally recognized those whom they now know. |
XXIII. 1. until I restore you to the fathers and the fathers to you. LXII. 9. (Jonathan) Even if death part us, I know that our souls will recognize each other. |
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LI. 11. the armies of the angels. |
militiae, of angels, occurs five times. |
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LIV. 1. the inhabitants of the earth. |
one of Philo's most frequent catchwords. |
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5. thou breakest up the enclosure (of the ignorant). |
XXXIII. 6. Deborah closed up the hedge of her generation. |
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9. What am I amongst men? |
Cf. Gideon XXXV. 5, Saul LVI. 6. |
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11. I will not be silent in praising. |
Cf. Deborah and Hannah. |
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LV. 3. Ramiel who presides over true visions. |
XVIII. 6. the angel who was over the praises. XXVII, 10. Gethel set over hidden things. Zeruel, over strength (LXI. 5). XXXIV. 2. angels are sorcerers. XXXVIII. 3. Nathaniel who is over fire. |
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LVI. 6. The list of disasters that followed the Fall is much in Philo's manner. |
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LIX. 2. The law which announced to them that believe the promise of their reward, and to them that deny, the torment of fire which is reserved for them. |
XXIII. 6. I set before (Abraham) the place of fire wherein the deeds of them that work wickedness against me shall be expiated, and showed him the torches of fire whereby the righteous that have believed in me shall be enlightened. |
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3. but also the heavens at that time were shaken from their place. |
XI. 5. at Sinai. The heavens were folded up. I bared the heavens (XV. 6), XXIII. 10. I stopped the courses of the stars, etc. There are several lists of the portents which accompanied the giving of the law. |
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4-11. He showed him the pattern of Zion and its measures, "the measures of the fire, the number of the drops of rain," etc., c. [[p. 52]] 4-11. The greatness of Paradise . . . the number of the offerings. |
XIX. 10. He showed him the place whence the clouds draw up water, the place whence the river takes its watering the place [[p. 52]] whence the manna rained . . . up to the paths of Paradise . . . the measures of the sanctuary and the number of the offerings. |
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The splendour of the lightnings. |
Very frequent in Philo. |
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LX. 1. The works which the Amorites wrought and the spells of the incantations which they wrought, and the wickedness of their mysteries. 1 |
XXV. 10. seq. The Amorites figure as great idolaters in the story of Kenaz the first judge: their idols are called the holy Nymphs. The episode of Kenaz is almost the longest in Philo. XXXIV. A wizard Aod came from Midian who sacrificed to fallen angels, and made the sun appear at night and seduced Israel. |
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2. But even Israel was then polluted by sins in the days of the Judges, though they saw many signs which were from Him who made them. |
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LXVI. 2. Josiah removed the magicians and enchanters and necromancers from the land. |
LXIV. 1. Saul said: I will surely remove the wizards out of the land of Israel (though for unworthy motives). |
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LXXI. 1. The holy land will . . . protect its inhabiters at that time. |
Compare the statement (VII. 4) that the holy land was not touched by the Flood. |
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LXXVI. 2. Baruch is to be taken up (cf. XIII. 3; XXV. 1) and is to go up into a certain mountain, and the whole world will be shown to him. (See on LIX.) |
XLVIII. Phinehas is to go and live in a named mountain till be has fulfilled his destiny in the person of Elijah and then is to be taken up into the place where those before him have [[p. 53]] been taken up. These "priores tui" are the "others like thee" who are mentioned in Bar. II. 1; XIII. 5; (LVII.; LIX. 1); XXI. 24; LXVI. 7. |
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LXXVII. 6. if ye direct your ways. |
At least five times. |
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13. shepherds of Israel. |
XIX. 3. Of Moses. |
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20. he sends a letter by an eagle. |
XLVIII. An eagle is to feed Phinehas. |
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25. Solomon's mastery over birds. |
LX. 3. David predicts Solomon's mastery over evil spirits. |
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LXXXII. 3-5. The Gentiles will be like a vapour ... like a drop . . . as spittle. |
VII. 3; XII. 4. like a drop and like spittle. |
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9. as a passing cloud. |
XIX. 13. like a running cloud. |
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LXXXIV. 4. after Moses' death ye cast them (the precepts) away from you. |
XXX. 5. Moses (and others) commanded you . . . while they lived ye shewed yourselves servants of God; but when they died, your heart died also. |
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7. (let this epistle) be for a testimony between me and you. |
At least nine times. |
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10. that he may not reckon the multitude of your sins, but remember the rectitude of your fathers. |
XXXV. 3. God will have mercy, not for your sakes, but because of those that have fallen asleep (cf. XXXIX. 11). |
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11. for if He judge us not according to the multitude of His mercies, woe unto all us who are born. |
XIX. 9. What man hath not sinned against thee? How shall thine heritage be stablished if thou have not compassion, etc. XXVIII. 5. Is it not he that shall spare us according to the abundance of His mercy (cf. XXXIX. 7; LV. 2). |
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LXXXV. 9. That we may rest with our fathers. |
XXVIII. 10. The rest of the righteous after they are dead. |
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12. There will be no place . . . for prayer . . . nor intercessions of the fathers, nor prayer of the prophets, nor help of the righteous. |
XXXIII. 5. While a man yet liveth he can pray for himself and for his sons, but after the end he will not be able to pray . . . Put not your trust therefore in your fathers. |
It will be seen that these resemblances (not all of which, of course, are supposed by me to be equally strong) are scattered over the whole text of Baruch. To me they seem to constitute one among a good many weighty arguments against the hypothesis that Baruch is a composite work but this is not the place to discuss that matter.
(d) We will examine 4 ESDRAS in the same fashion, only here it will be better to cite the Latin of both texts. We must keep in mind the difference between coincidences of vocabulary and parallels in matter. The versions of the two books are extraordinarily alike in their Latinity. One is tempted to say that they are by the same hand; but it will be safer to regard them as products of the same school and age.
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4 Esdr. III. 13. Et factum est cum iniquitatem facerent coram te, elegisti ex his unum (Abraham) . . . et demonstrasti ei temporum finem solo secrete noctu et disposuisti ei testamentum aeternum et dixisti et ut non unquam derelinqueres semen eius. |
Philo XXIII. 5. Et cum seducerentur habitantes terram singuli quique post praesumptiones suas credidit Abraham mihi . . . et dixi ei in uisu dicens: semini tuo dabo terram hanc. VII. 4. Et ante onmes hos eligam puerum meum Abram . . . et disponam testamentum meum cum eo, etc. |
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17. Et adduxisti eos super montem Sina. |
XV. 3. et adduxi eos sub montem Sina. [[p. 55]] XXIII. 10. et adduxi eos in conspectu meo usque ad montem Sina. XXXII. 7. et duxit in montem Sina. |
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18. et inclinasti coelos. |
XV. 3; XXIII. 10. et inclinaui coelos. |
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et statuisti terram et commouisti orbem et tremere fecisti abyssos et conturbasti saeculum. |
XXIII. 10. mouebantur in descensu meo omnia . . . obturaui uenas abyssi. XXXII. 7. terra mota est de firmamento suo et tremuerunt montes et rupes, etc. |
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22. permanens. 24. oblationes. 27. tradidisti ciuitatem. |
All very common words in Philo. |
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34. pondera in statera. |
XL. 1. quis dabit cor meum in statera et animam meam in pondere. |
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momentum puncti. |
XIX. 14. momenti plenitudo. |
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IV. 7. quantae uenae sunt in principio abyssi. |
uena five to six times; abyssus nine times. |
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exitus paradisi. |
uiae, semitae paradisi XIII. 9; XIX. 10. |
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12. (and elsewhere) melius erat nos . . . quam. |
At least seven times. |
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16. factus est in uano. |
Fourteen times. |
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18. incipiebas (iustificare) = μέλλειν. |
Three times at least. |
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35. animae iustorum in promptuariis suis. |
XXXII. 13. patribus in promptuariis animarum eorum. |
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42. festinant reddere ea quae commendata sunt. |
III. 10. reddet infernus debitum suum et perditio restituet paratecem suam. XXXIII. 3. mensura et tempus et anni reddiderunt depositum tuum infernus accipiens sibi deposita non restituet nisi reposcetur ab eo qui deposuit ei. |
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44. si possibile est et si idoneus sum. |
LIII. 7. si possibilis sum. |
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si plus quam praeteriit habet uenire, etc. |
XIX. 14. quanta quantitas temporis transiit, etc.? . . . |
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IV. 50. superhabundauit quae transiuit mensura; superauerunt autem guttae et fumus. |
cyathi guttum, et omnia compleuit tempus. Quatuor enim semis transierunt et duae semis supersunt. |
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V. 4. relucescet sol noctu. |
XXXIV. Nunquid aliquando uidistis solem noctu? . . . ostendit populis solem noctu. |
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12. non dirigentur uiae eorum. |
Frequent. |
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16. quare uultus tuus tristis. |
L. 3. quare tristis es, etc. |
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18. pastor. |
XIX. 3. of Moses. |
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23. elegisti uineam unam (also IX. 21). |
Israel as vine or vineyard occurs six times. |
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26. columbam. |
Israel as dove thrice. |
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29. sponsionibus. |
Seven times. |
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42. adsimilabo. |
Very common. |
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VI. 2. coruscuum. |
Six times in varying forms (coruscus -atio -ans). |
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3. militiae (angelorum). |
Five times. |
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8-10. manus Jacob tenebat calcaneum Esau, etc. |
XIX. 13. apex ma(g)nus remains. |
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16. finem eorum oportet commutari. |
XXVIII. 9. cum completum fuerit tempus . . . pausabit uena et sic mutabuntur. |
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VI. 18. quando adpropinquare incipio ut uisitem habitantes in terra. |
XIX. 13. cum appropinquauero uisitare orbem. |
|
IX 2. uisitare saeculum. |
12. donec uisitem seculum. XXVI. 13. et uisitabo habitantes terram. |
|
VI. 26. qui recepti sunt homines qui mortem non gustauerunt. |
XLVIII. eleuaberis . . . ubi eleuati sunt priores tui . . . et adducam uos et gustabitis quod est mortis. |
|
39. tenebrae circumferebantur et silentium. |
LX. 2. Tenebrae et silentium erant antequam fieret seculum. |
|
41. ut pars quidem sursum recederet, pars uero deorsum maneret. |
Both the song of David and the vision of Kenaz (XX VIII.) dwell on the division of the firmaments. |
|
42. imperasti aquis congregari, etc. |
XV. 6. nihil simile factum est uerbo huic ex qua die dixi congregentur aquae sub caelo, etc. |
|
56. gentes saliuae adsimilatae sunt, et sicut stillicidium de urceo. |
VII. 3. et tanquam stillicidium arbitrabor eos et in scuto (sputo) approximabo eos. XII. 4. erit mihi hominum genus tanquam stillicidium urcei et tanquam sputum aestimabitur. |
|
VII. 32. terra reddet qui in ea dormiunt. |
III. 10. erigam dormientes de terra. XIX. 12. excitabo te et patres tuos de terra [Aegypti] in qua dormietis, etc. |
|
74. non propter eos, sed. |
About five times. |
|
75. creaturam renouare. |
XVI. 3. ero innouans terram (cf. III. 10). XXXII. 17. ut in innouatione creaturae. |
|
87. detabescent . . . marcescent. |
XVI. Korah, etc., tabescent. XLIV. Micah's mother, erit marcescens. |
|
92. cum eis plasmatum cogitamentum malum. |
XXXIII. 3. plasmatio iniqua perdet potestatem suam. |
|
102. etc. Si iusti impios excusare poterint, etc. |
5. Adhuc uiuens homo potest orare . . . post finem autem non poterit, etc. |
|
VIII. 15. tu magis scis. |
tu plus scis, tu prae omnibus scis two or three times. |
|
53. Radix signata est a uobis. |
XXXIII. 3. signata est iam mors. |
|
IX. 22. cum multo labore perfeci haec. |
XXVIII. 4. tu uidisti . . . quantum laborauerim populo meo: also XIX. 5. |
|
XII. 20. anni citati. |
XIX. 13. iubebo annis . . . et breuiabuntur. |
|
XIII. 26. liberabit creaturam suam. |
LI. 5. cum dormierint iusti tunc liberabuntur. |
|
52. scire quid sit in profundo maris. |
XXI. 2. tu scis . . . quid agat cor maris (cf. XXIX. 4) |
|
53. inluminatus es. |
Twelve times in this sense. |
|
XIV. 3. Reuelans reuelatus sum super rubum. |
LIII. 8. Illuminans illuminaui domum Israel. |
|
et locutus sum Moysi. |
et elegi tunc mihi prophetam Mosen. |
|
et adduxi eum super montem Sina. |
See above on III. 17. |
|
et detinui eum apud me . . . et enarraui ei mirabilia et ostendi ei temporum finem. |
Cf. XIII. and XIX. quoted above on Bar. LIX. 4. |
|
9. Tu enim recipieris ab hominibus et conuerteris . . . cum similibus tuis. |
XLVIII. non descendes iam ad homines . . . eleuaberis in locum ubi eleuati sunt priores tui. |
In the later chapters of Esdras, which are taken up with visions, we--perhaps naturally--find fewer parallels than in the earlier.
Other instances of words and phrases common to the two books, which are stylistic rather than anything else, are--
Ecce dies uenient, qui inhabitant terram, sensus, delere orbis, sustinere, adinuentio, renuntiare, in nouissimis temporibus, odoramentum, in nihilum deputare, requietio, aeramentum, corruptibilis, plasmare, uiuificare, mortificare, conturbare, exterminare, humiliare, fructus uentris, apponere or adicere (loqui, etc.), oblatio, pessimus in the positive sense, a minimo usque ad maximum, expugnare, scintilla.
With the Assumption of Moses I find no community of ideas. Moses' intercession for the people and Joshua's lament are rather like those of the people over Joshua and Deborah. But Philo discards the story of the Assumption proper. Nor do I find illustrative matter in the Testaments of the XII. Patriarchs.
My general conclusion is that Philo is a product of the circle from which both Baruch and 4 Esdras emanated: and it seems to me clear that the writer of Baruch at least was acquainted with Philo. Let it be noted once more that a feature common to all three books is a remarkable want of [[p. 59]] interest in the subject of Satan and evil spirits: Esdras never mentions them, Baruch very seldom, Philo
(e) What points of contact are there, it will be asked, between Philo and the NEW TESTAMENT?
My answer is that there are not many direct resemblances. There are a few coincidences of language, and one or two illustrations of beliefs. That the author, living at the date to which I assign him, was conscious of the existence of Christianity, I do not doubt: whether he allows his consciousness to find expression in his book, I do doubt. He is not a speculative theologian or a controversialist; he sticks very close to the language of the Old Testament, and steers clear of disputed questions. I see no veiled polemic in his stories of the idolatry under Kenaz, or of Aod the Magician and Micah. The persecution under Jair may very well be an imitation of the Maccabæan martyrdoms, or of the story of the Three Children. The stress laid on the eternity of the Law may as well be a prophylactic against heathenism as against Christianity. Paganism is, I think, a more formidable adversary in his eyes than heresy.
The tradition of the "rock that followed them" (X. 7, XI. 15: see the notes) and of the identity of Phinehas with Elijah (XLVIII.) are the chief that bear on New Testament thought. With reference to the latter it should be noted that the words of St. Mark (ix. 13), "as it is written of him," are specially interesting, as showing that Elijah upon his return to earth was to suffer death (in which Philo agrees), and that there was written teaching to that effect.
Among coincidences of language I reckon: new heavens and earth, III. 10; they that sleep, ibid. and elsewhere;[[p. 60]] justified, ibid.; fiat uoluntas dei, VI. ii; that which shall be born of thee, IX. 10; I will judge all the world, XI. 2; the law shall not pass away, XI. 5; Thou art all light, XII. 9; we shall be the sons of God, XVI. 5; gnashing of teeth, XVIII. 12; the end of the world, XIX. 4, etc.; uerbum (dei) uiuum, XXI. 4; God which knowest before the hearts of all men, XXII. 7 (Acts i. 24); eye hath not seen, etc., XXVI. 13; the righteous have no need of the light of the sun, etc., XXVI. 13; qui tenet (cf. ὁ κατέχων, 2 Thess. ii. 6, 7), LI. 5; lumen genti huic, LI. 6.
43:1
Esther and Judith seem to be quoted, pp. 173,
188.
52:1 I see that this parallel is noticed by a writer in the Jewish Encyclopædia, s. v. Amorites. He quotes Philo through the medium of Jerahmeel only.
11. A question remains to be discussed, for answered it can hardly be unless fresh manuscript evidence comes to hand. It is this: How far did Philo carry on his narrative, and are there any traces of the lost conclusion?
There are certain anticipations in our text which, it is reasonable to suppose, were fulfilled. We can predict with confidence that Edab the son of Agag, who appears in the last few lines as the slayer of Saul, will be killed (as in 2 Sam. 1.), with appropriate denunciation. Again, there is a sensational story of the slaying of Ishbi-benob by David and Abishai (Talmud, Tract Sanhedr., f. 45, ap. Eisenmenger, I. 413), in which Abishai kills Orpah the mother of the giant, and eventually David says to Ishbi, "Go, seek thy mother in the grave," whereat he falls. Now, in Philo (LXI. 6) David reminds Goliath that Orpah was his mother, and says to him, "After thy death thy three brethren also will fall into my hands, and then shall ye say unto your mother: He that was born of thy sister (Ruth) did not spare us." I see a foreshadowing here of another tale of giants slain by David. Further, David in his song before Saul (LX.) predicts the mastery over evil spirits that will be attained by Solomon; and elsewhere the writer, in his own person, names Solomon, and speaks of his building the Temple (XXII. 9). The allusion to[[p. 61]] Solomon and the demons, though unmistakable, is veiled, and, if I may judge from Philo's usual practice, would have received an explanation, accompanied by a reference back to David's song: Nonne haec sunt uerba quae locutus est pater tuus, etc. Another possible instance of foreshadowing is this: Phinehas (XLVIII.), when he has reached the term of 120 years, is commanded to go up into the Mount Danaben and dwell there. In years to come the heavens will be shut at his prayer, and opened again, and then he will be "taken up," and in a yet more remote future will taste of death. In other words, he will be Elijah. I do not think this obscure prediction would have been left hanging in the air: in some form it would have received interpretation. I imagine, therefore, that the story of Elijah (and Elisha) was told in the book. I hardly know if one can fairly adduce here the fact that in an old treatise called Inuentiones Nominum (printed by me in JTS, 1903) some names are given of personages belonging to that period who are anonymous in the Bible. Thus, Abisaac is the 'little maid" of 2 Kings v., Meneria is the Shunamite, and Phua the woman who devoured her child in the siege of Samaria. I lay no stress on this suggestion, for other names are given in the same document which disagree with those in Philo. Still, those I have cited did come from some written source of similar character. 1
Here is another curious phenomenon. In the Apostolic Constitutions (II. 22, 23) the whole story of Manasseh is quoted in a text avowedly compounded from 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, with the addition of the Prayer and deliverance of Manasseh,[[p. 62]] which are non-Biblical, and after a short interval the story of Amon is given, with a spurious insertion to this effect: "Amon said, 'My father did very wickedly from his youth, and repented in his old age. Now therefore I will walk as my soul listeth, and afterward I will return to the Lord.'" just so, in Philo LII. 4, when Eli said to Hophni and Phinehas, "Repent of your wicked ways," they said, "When we are grown old we will repent": and therefore God would not grant them repentance. The resemblance is arresting. The consideration of it suggests the question whether this of Amon and the Prayer of Manasseh and the story of his deliverance can be excerpts from Philo. So far as the Prayer is concerned I cannot think it likely, for that composition is not in our author's manner, and is not believed to be a translation from Hebrew. And, if the Prayer is not from Philo, we need not unnecessarily multiply the authorities used by Const. Ap.
For all that, the story of Manasseh and his deliverance may have been told in Philo: the form of it which appears in the Apocalypse of Baruch (64) rather suggests to me that it was. The Apocalyptist uses Philonic language when he says of Manasseh that "his abode was in the fire"; and, further, he does not account Manasseh's repentance to have been genuine or final, and in this--if I read my author rightly--he writes in the Philonic spirit: for Philo, if he is willing to dwell on the repentance and reform of Israel as a whole, seems to take pleasure in recording the apostasies and transgressions of individuals who do not repent--the sinners under Kenaz, Jair, Gideon, Micah, Doeg.
When Saul protests to Samuel that he is too obscure to be made King, Samuel says (LVI. 6):[[p. 63]] "Your words will be like those of a prophet yet to come who will be called Jeremiah." This odd prediction is modelled, I suppose, upon the mention of Josiah in 1 Kings 132, and is comparable to Hannah's quotation of a psalm by Asaph (LI. 6). That the fulfilment of it was mentioned is likely enough, but by no means necessary.
Lastly, a phrase in the story of Kenaz demands notice. When God gives him the new set of twelve precious stones to replace certain others that had been destroyed, He says (XXVI. 12) that they are to be placed in the ark, and to be there "until Jahel shall arise to build an house in my name, and then he shall set them before me upon the two cherubim . . . and when the sins of my people are fulfilled, and their enemies begin to prevail over their house, I will take those stones and the former ones (i.e. those already in the priest's breastplate) and put them back in the place whence they were brought, and there shall they be until I remember the world and visit them that dwell on the earth. . . . And Kenaz placed them in the ark . . . and they are there unto this day."
Apart from the mention of Jahel (by whom Solomon is meant, but why so called I know not) this is rather a perplexing passage. Taken as it stands, it ought to mean that the temple, or at least the ark, was extant at the supposed date of the writer, i.e. that the story was not carried down as far as the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar; which, on general grounds, one would select as a likely point for the conclusion. We must however, remember the legend that the ark and its contents were preserved and hidden by Jeremiah or by an angel (2 Macc. 2. Apoc. Bar. 64) . Besides, Philo elsewhere says (XXII. 9)[[p. 64]] that in the new sanctuary which was at Gilgal, "Joshua appointed unto this day (usque in hodiernum diem)" the yearly sacrifices of Israel, and that until the temple was built sacrifice at the other place was lawful. We cannot, then, press his use of the phrase "unto this day"; yet if it be insisted upon, there is a detail in Baruch (67) which may throw some light on Philo's meaning. Baruch says that the angel took, among other things, "the forty-eight precious stones wherewith the priest was adorned" and committed them to the guardianship of the earth. No one offers any reason for the mention of forty-eight (instead of twelve) stones, and though only twelve more figure in the story of Kenaz, I think it not unreasonable to suggest that here as elsewhere the Apocalyptist has our text in his mind, and that a belief in the legend of the hidden ark was common to both.
The sketch of Israel's history contained in Apoc. Bar. 56-67 (a section which shows many resemblances to Philo), with its alternations of righteousness and sin, gives, to my mind, a very fair idea of what Philo may have comprised when it was complete. We begin with the sin of Adam and of the angels: both are alluded to more than once in Philo. Then we have Abraham (important in Philo), the wickedness of the Gentiles, and especially of the Egyptians (not emphasized in Philo), the ages of Moses and Joshua (treated at length), the sorceries of the Amorites under the Judges (dwelt on at great length), the age of David and Solomon (Philo breaks off in David), the times of Jeroboam and Jezebel and the captivity of the nine and a half tribes, the reign of Hezekiah, the wickedness of Manasseh, the reforms of Josiah, the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar. Baruch then continues the history to the Messianic kingdom
and the final triumph of right, of which Philo speaks only in general terms, though it may have developed clearer views as it proceeded. For the present, my conjecture is that Philo ended with the Babylonian captivity, and not without an anticipation of the Return. 1
61:1 Another book which deserves consideration in this connexion is the Lives of the Prophets, attributed to Epiphanius.
65:1 But see the Additional Note, p. 73.
12. I fear that we cannot regard the writer of Philo as a man of very lofty mind or of great literary talent. He has some imagination, and is sensible of the majesty of the Old Testament literature, but he has not the insight, the power, or the earnestness of the author of 4 Esdras, nor again the ethical perception of him who wrote the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. From this point of view the obscurity which has hung over his book is not undeserved. Nevertheless it is a source by no means to be neglected by the student of Christian origins and of Jewish thought, and for that reason I have suggested that it should find a place in this series of translations.
I hope that the pretensions of this edition will not be misconceived. It is not a critical edition in the sense that it presents all the variants of all the authorities and lays the whole body of evidence before the reader. Such a presentation would only be possible if the text as well as the translation were included in this volume. (I do not myself, let me say in passing, believe that the result of a complete statement of various readings would differ very importantly from what the reader now has before him, seeing that the text depends upon a single thread of tradition.) Nor, again, will every available illustrative passage be found in such notes as I have written on the subject matter in Rabbinic literature especially it should be possible to find many more parallels. Notes of [[p. 66]] a linguistic kind, too, are out of place where a translation only is in question. Neither has every Biblical allusion been marked: as a rule, the reader who knows his Bible will easily recognize the phrases which the author weaves together often deftly enough. Besides these omissions, larger problems remain unsolved. There are not a few unhealed places in the text, and there are some whole episodes of which the bearing is very obscure.
On the other hand, I may claim that account has here been taken for the first time of a fairly representative selection of the authorities for the text, and that the relation of the book to some, at least, of its fellows has been elucidated; and I hope that the translation, in which I have followed as closely as possible the language of the Authorised Version (though I have kept the Latin forms of the proper names), may be found readable.
I have, further, provided a means of referring to passages in the text by a division into chapters and verses, or sections, which I think must prove useful. Something of the kind was much needed, for it has hitherto only been possible to cite by the pages of one or other of the sixteenth-century editions. My division is of course applicable to any future edition.
The present volume is, then, a step in the direction of a critical edition, but only a step. Like the first editor, Sichardus, I recognize its defects (or some of them) and should welcome the opportunity, if it ever came, of producing an improved form of the original text. As it is the kindness of the Society under whose auspices the book appears allows me to include in it a selection of the most important readings and some particulars of the Latinity of the original. For this indulgence my readers, as well as myself, will assuredly be grateful.
CHAPTER
I. Genealogy from Adam to Noah, with the
names of the sons and daughters of the early patriarchs.
II. Genealogy from Cain to Lamech; the names of Cain's cities, short
accounts of Jubal and Tubal, and the song of Lamech.
III. The Flood and the covenant with Noah, mainly in the words of
Genesis, but with the addition of two important speeches of God.
IV. The descendants of Shem, Ham and Japhet, and the territories
occupied by them. The genealogy continued to Abraham. In this occur
accounts of the first appearing of the rainbow, the prophecy of Milcah,
and the beginning of divination.
V. The review and census of the descendants of Noah.
VI. The Tower of Babel begun. Abraham's rescue from the fire.
VII. Destruction of the Tower, and dispersion of the builders.
VIII. The genealogy from Abraham to the going down into Egypt. The
names of Job's children.
IX. The oppression in Egypt. Amram refuses to separate from his wife.
Miriam's vision. The birth of Moses.
X. The plagues, the crossing of the Red Sea. Israel in the desert.[[p. 68]]
XI. The giving of the Law. The Decalogue.
XII. The Golden Calf.
XIII. The Tabernacle, and the institution of certain Feasts.
XIV. The numbering of the people.
XV. The spies.
XVI. Korah.
XVII. Aaron's Rod.
XVIII. Balaam.
XIX. The farewell and death of Moses.
XX. Joshua succeeds him. The spies sent to Jericho. Withdrawal of the
manna, pillar of cloud, and fountain.
XXI. Joshua warned of his end: his prayer: he writes the Law upon
stones and builds an altar.
XXII. The altar built by the tribes beyond Jordan. The sanctuary at
Shiloh.
XXIII. Joshua's last speech, with the story of Abraham's vision and of
the giving of the Law.
XXIV. His farewell and death.
XXV. Kenaz (Cenez) elected ruler by lot. Detection by the lot of
sinners among the tribes. Their confessions: account of the Amorite
idols.
XXVI. God directs the disposal of the accursed objects: the sinners are
burned.
The commands of God are carried out: account of the twelve precious
stones.
XXVII. Kenaz's victory, single-handed, over the Amorites.[[p. 69]]
XXVIII. His last days: the speech of Phinehas: vision and death of
Kenaz.
XXIX. Zebul succeeds: an inheritance given to the daughters of Kenaz: a
sacred treasury founded: death of Zebul.
XXX. Israel oppressed by Sisera. Deborah's speech.
XXXI. The stars fight against Sisera: his death.
XXXII. Deborah's hymn, with the description of the sacrifice of Isaac
and the giving of the Law.
XXXIII. Last words and death of Deborah.
XXXIV. Aod, the wizard of Midian, seduces Israel by his sorceries.
XXXV. The call of Gideon.
XXXVI. He defeats Midian: his sin and death.
XXXVII. Abimelech succeeds. [Gap in the text.] Parable of the
trees. Death of Abimelech. [Gap in the text.]
XXXVIII. Jair apostatizes and is destroyed by fire.
XXXIX. Israel oppressed by Ammon. Jephthah is persuaded to help. His
negotiations with Getal, King of Ammon: his vow: God's anger.
XL. Seila, Jephthah's daughter: her readiness to die: her lamentation
and death. Death of Jephthah.
XLI. The Judges Abdon (Addo) and Elon.
XLII. Manoah and his wife Eluma. Samson promised.
XLIII. Birth, exploits and death of Samson.
XLIV. Micah and his mother Dedila. The idols described. God's anger.[[p. 70]]
XLV. The Levite Bethac at Nob. The Benjamite outrage.
XLVI. Israel attacks Benjamin and is thrice defeated. Prayer of
Phinehas.
XLVII. Parable of the Lion, spoken by God in answer to Phinehas.
Benjamin is defeated: names of the surviving chiefs. Death of Micah.
XLVIII. Departure of Phinehas from among men. Wives are found for the
Benjamites. Conclusion of the period of the Judges.
XLIX. Israel is at a loss for a ruler. Lots are cast in vain. Advice
of Nethez. The lot falls on Elkanah, who refuses to be ruler. God
promises Samuel.
L. Peninnah's reproaches to Hannah: Hannah's prayer.
LI. Birth of Samuel: hymn of Hannah.
LII. Sin of Hophni and Phinehas. Eli rebukes them, their refusal to
repent.
LIII. Call of Samuel: Eli's submission to God's will.
LIV. The ark captured by the Philistines: Saul brings the news. Death
of Eli and of his daughter-in-law.
LV. Grief of Samuel. The ark and Dagon: the Philistines plagued: they
take counsel as to the return of the ark: it is sent back.
LVI. The people ask for a king, prematurely. Saul comes to Samuel.
LVII. Samuel presents him to the people and he is made king.[[p. 71]]
LVIII. He is sent against Amalek, and spares Agag. Agag is slain, after
begetting a son who is to be Saul's slayer.
LIX. Samuel anoints David: David's psalm: the lion and the bear.
LX. Saul oppressed by an evil spirit: David's song.
LXI. David's first victory, over Midian. Goliath defies Israel: David
slays him (story of Orpah and Ruth).
LXII. Saul's envy of David. David's parting with Jonathan: their
farewell speeches and covenant.
LXIII. The priests of Nob slain: God's sentence against Doeg. Death of
Samuel.
LXIV. Saul expels the sorcerers to make a name for himself: God's
anger. The Philistines invade: Saul goes to Sedecla, the witch of
Endor. Appearance and speech of Samuel.
LXV. Defeat of Saul: he summons the Amalekite (Edab, son of Agag) to
kill him. The text ends abruptly in the midst of a message from Saul to
David.
There is more than one plausible way of dividing the book into
episodes. The simplest is this --
1. Adam to the descent into Egypt, cc.
I.-VIII.
2. Moses, IX.-XIX.
3. Joshua, XX.-XXIV.
4. The judges, XXV.-XLVIII.
. Samuel, Saul and David, XLIV-LXV.
A more elaborate
subdivision would be-
Adam to Lamech, I.-II.
Noah and his descendants, III.-V.
Abraham to the death of Joseph, VI.-VIII.
The life of Moses, IX.-XIX.
Joshua, XX.-XXIV.
A third and more artificial method of division (which is followed to some extent by the MS. R) is into portions corresponding to the Biblical books, viz.--
The space allotted to the period of the Judges emerges as the striking feature. It is rather greater than that given to the Pentateuch and Joshua, and more than double the share of 1 Samuel. And of it almost a third part is devoted to the doings of a person practically unknown to the Bible, namely, Kenaz.
A passage in Origen On Romans (IV. 12, p. 646) deserves to be quoted as being very much in the manner of Philo. "We have found," he says, "in a certain apocryphal book (in quodam secretiore libello) mention of an angel of grace who takes his name from grace, being called Ananchel, i.e. the grace of God: and the writing in question says that this angel was sent by God to Esther to give her favour in the sight of the king." just so in Philo appropriate angels are sent to Kenaz and to David and intervene to save the victims of Jair. I think it worth suggesting that the story of Esther found a place in Philo, and that this was the secretior libellus to which Origen refers.
Phrases and sentences in italics mark quotations from the Old Testament: single words in italics, and short phrases to which no Biblical reference is attached in the margin, are supplements of the translator.
The following signs are also employed:
[ ] Words wrongly inserted into the text.
( ) Alternative readings of importance.
< > (As p. 151) Words that have fallen out, restored by
<< >> As p. 100)} conjecture.
† † (As p. 89) Corrupt passages.
etext notes: Biblical verse/chapter references in the following section are given in the conventional format NN:NN instead of NNNN as in the text. All columnar references are shown as right-aligned pull-quotes, regardless of their orientation in the original. The wide angle brackets (above) are transcribed as double angle brackets..
I. 1The beginning of the world. Adam begat three sons and one daughter, Cain, Noaba, Abel and Seth. 2. And Adam lived after he begat
| Gen. 5:4 |
3. And these are the names of the males: Eliseel, Suris, Elamiel, Brabal, Naat, Zarama, Zasam, Maathal, and Anath.
4. And these are his daughters: Phua, Iectas, Arebica, Sifa, Tecia, Saba, Asin.
| Gen. 5:7 |
6. And these are the names of his sons: Elidia, Phonna, and Matha: and of his daughters, Malida and Thila.
| Gen. 5:9, 5:10 |
8. And these are the names of his sons: Phoë and Thaal; and of the daughter, Catennath.
| Gen. 5:12, 5:13 |
10. And these are the names of the males: Athach, Socer, Lopha: and the names of the daughters, Ana and Leua.
| Gen. 5:15, 5:16 |
12. And these are the names of the males: Leta, Matha, Cethar, Melie, Suriel, Lodo, Othim. And these are the names of the daughters: Ada and Noa, Iebal, Mada, Sella.
| Gen. 5:18, 5:19 |
| Gen. 5:22, 5:23 |
16. But Enoch pleased God at that time and was
| Gen. 5:24 |
17. Now the names of his sons are: Anaz, Zeum, Achaun, Pheledi, Elith; and of the daughters, Theiz, Lefith, Leath.
18. And Mathusalam lived 187 years and begot
| Gen. 5:25, 5:26 |
19. And these are the names of the males: Inab and Rapho; and of the daughters, Aluma and Amuga.
20. And Lamech lived 182 years and begot a son,
| Gen. 5:28, 5:29 |
21. And Lamech lived after he begot Noe 585
| Gen. 5:30 |
22. And Noe lived 300 years and begot 3 sons,
| 5:32, 6:20 |
75:1 I. 1. Initium mundi appears to be the best reading. It is perhaps in the nature of a title: the proper LXX name for Genesis is γένεσισ κόσμου.
1., etc. It will be observed that almost all the names of sons and all those of daughters are imaginary. They do not agree with other legendary names, e.g. those of Jubilees. For the rest, the first three chapters are to a very large extent simply copied from Genesis iv-xi.
The spelling of the names is very uncertain in many cases. Where "ph" occurs, it is very often substituted by Sichardus for "f" in the MSS.; but of course the "f" must represent a φ, seeing that the text has come to us through Greek. I have therefore allowed "ph" to stand.
The chronology, according to Dr. Colin, was originally that of the Hebrew text, but has been to some extent modified by reference to the LXX. The Hebrew numbers (from Adam to the Flood) add up to 1656, those of the LXX to 2262, those of Philo to 2256; but Philo says (III. 6) that the Flood was in the 1652nd year of the world, which only requires the change of secundus to sextus to make it agree exactly with the Hebrew.
| Cf. Gen. 4:14 |
| Gen. 4:17 |
| Gen. 4:17 |
and the name of the fifth Iesca; the name of the sixth Celeth, and the name of the seventh Iebbath.
4. And Cain lived after he begat Enoch 715 years and begat 3 sons and 2 daughters. And these are the names of his sons: Olad, Lizaph, Fosal; and of his daughters, Citha and Maac. And all the days of Cain were 730 years, and he died.
5. 1 Then took Enoch a wife of the daughters of Seth, which bare him Ciram and Cuuth and Madab. But Ciram begat Matusael, and Matusael begat Lamech.
| Gen. 4:19 |
| Gen. 4:21 |
| Gen. 4:22 |
10. 3 Now Lamech said unto his two wives Ada
and Sella: Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, give heed to my precept: for I have corrupted men for myself, and have taken away sucklings from the breasts, that I might show my sons how to work evil, and the inhabiters of the earth. And now shall vengeance be taken seven times of Cain, but of Lamech seventy times seven.
77:1 II. 3. The names of Cain's cities, except the first, do not occur elsewhere.
78:1 5. Jerahmeel says that Enoch, son of Cain, took Niba, daughter of Shem, to wife. His source is unknown to me.
78:2 8. See the Appendix on Readings.
78:3 10. Jubilees does not speak of this Lamech. The turn [[p. 79]] here given to his "song" suggests that his offence was against morality; this view is found elsewhere.
| Gen. 6:1 |
| Gen. 6:5 |
4. But Noe found grace and mercy before the
| Gen. 6:13 |
| Gen. 6:18 |
| Gen. 7:2-4 |
| Gen. 6:21 |
| Gen. 7:5, 7:7 |
| Gen. 7:10 |
| Gen. 7:11 |
6. And it was then the 1652nd (1656th) year from the time when God had made the heaven and the earth in the day when the earth was corrupted with the inhabiters thereof by reason of the iniquity of their works.
7. And when the flood continued 140 days upon the earth, Noe only and they that were with him in the ark remained alive: and when God remembered Noe, he made the water to diminish.
| Gen. 8:16 |
| Gen. 8:21 |
| Gen. 8:22 |
which was committed unto him, that I may render unto every man according to his works and according to the fruit of their imaginations, even until I judge between the soul and the flesh. And the world shall rest, and death shall be quenched, and Hell shall shut his mouth. And the earth shall not be without birth, neither barren for them that dwell therein: and none shall be polluted that hath been justified in me 1. And there shall be another earth and another heaven, even an everlasting habitation.
| Gen. 9:8 |
| Gen. 9:2 |
| Gen. 9:12 |
79:1 III. 2. fin. See the variants, which are difficult to explain. If the reading et in manibus eorum scelera non extinguebantur is right, the clause would be better placed after opera malignitatum in the next verse. "And God saw that in all the inhabiters of the earth works of wickedness were fulfilled, and in their hands," etc. I have preferred the other reading, the whole sentence will then refer to the new race who are to arise after the Flood, and especially to Moses (see IX. 8 fin.): the last preceding words ("their years shall be 120") do certainly apply to them and to him. The antediluvians are to perish utterly. See on XVI. 3.
81:1 9. the guise of man's heart hath left off (figura cordis hominis desiit: Cohn suggests desipit) "ὁ Ἑβραῖοσ" (ap. Euseb. Emis. in Catena: see Field's Hexapla in loc.) has τὸ πλάσμα τῆσ καρδίασ ἀνθρώπου.
81:2 10. This is the first really characteristic passage.
82:1 that hath been justified in me. The word occurs in XLIX. 45 "Is Armathem iustificata more than all the cities of Israel?" and in LI. 2.
| Gen. 9:18 |
| Gen. 10:2 |
And the sons of Gomer: Thelez, Lud, Deberlet.
And the sons of Magog: Cesse, Thipha, Pharuta, Ammiel, Phimei, Goloza, Samanach.
And the sons of Duden: Sallus, Phelucta Phallita.
And the sons of Tubal: Phanatonova, Eteva.
And the sons of Tyras: Maac, Tabel, Ballana, Samplameac, Elaz.
And the sons of Mellech: Amboradat, Urach, Bosara.
And the sons of <<As>>cenez: Jubal, Zaraddana, Anac.
And the sons of Heri: Phuddet, Doad, Dephadzeat, Enoc.
And the sons of Togorma: Abiud, Saphath, Asapli, Zepthir.
And the sons of Elisa: Etzaac, Zenez, Mastisa, Rira.
And the sons of Zepti: Macziel, Temna, Aela, Phinon.
And the sons of Tessis: Meccul, Loon, Zelataban.
And the sons of Duodennin: Itheb, Beath, Phenech.
3. And these are they that were scattered abroad, and dwelt in the earth with the Persians and Medes, and in the islands that are in the sea. And Phenech, the son of Dudeni, went up and commanded that ships of the sea should be made: and then was the third part of the earth divided.
4. Domereth and his sons took Ladech; and Magog and his sons took Degal; Madam and his sons took Besto; Iuban (sc. Javan) and his sons took Ceel; Tubal and his sons took Pheed; Misech and his sons took Nepthi; <<T>>iras and his sons took <<Rôô>>; Duodennut and his sons took
[paragraph continues] Goda; Riphath and his sons took Bosarra; Torgoma and his sons took Fud; Elisa and his sons took Thabola; Thesis (sc. Tarshish) and his sons took Marecham; Cethim and his sons took Thaan; Dudennin and his sons took Caruba.
5. And then began they to till the earth and to sow upon it: and when the earth was athirst, the dwellers therein cried unto the Lord and he heard them and gave rain abundantly, and it was so, when the rain descended upon the earth, that the bow appeared in the cloud, and the dwellers upon earth saw the memorial of the covenant and fell upon their faces and sacrificed, offering burnt offerings unto the Lord.
| Gen. 10:6 |
And the sons of Chus: Saba, and . . . Tudan.
And the sons of Phuni: [Effuntenus], Zeleutelup, Geluc, Lephuc.
And the sons of Chanaan were Sydona, Endain, Racin, Simmin, Uruin, Nenugin, Amathin, Nephiti, Telaz, Elat, Cusin.
| Gen. 10:8 |
| Gen. 10:13, 10:14 |
8. And then did they also begin to build cities: and these are the cities which they built: Sydon, and the parts that lie about it, that is Resun, Beosa, Maza, Gerara, Ascalon, Dabir, Camo, Tellun, Lacis, Sodom and Gomorra, Adama and Seboim.
| Gen. 10:22 |
the one was Phalech, for in his days the earth was divided, and the name of his brother was Jectan.
10. And Jectan begat Helmadam and Salastra and Mazaam, Rea, Dura, Uzia, Deglabal, Mimoel, Sabthphin, Evilac, Iubab.
| Cf. Gen. 11:18 |
11. But Ragau took him to wife Melcha the daughter of Ruth, and she begat him Seruch. And when the day of her delivery came she said: Of this child shall be born in the fourth generation one who shall set his dwelling on high, and shall be called perfect, and undefiled, and he shall be the father of nations, and his covenant shall not be broken, and his seed shall be multiplied for ever.
| Gen. 11:21 |
13. And Seruch lived 29 years and begat Nachor. And Seruch lived after he begat Nachor 67 years and begat 4 sons and 3 daughters. And these are the names of the males: Zela, Zoba, Dica and Phodde. And these are his daughters: Tephila, Oda, Selipha.
14. And Nachor lived 34 years and begat Thara. And Nachor lived after he begat Thara 200 years and begat 8 sons and 5 daughters. And these
are the names of the males: Recap, Dediap, Berechap, Iosac, Sithal, Nisab, Nadab, Camoel. And these are his daughters: Esca, Thipha, Bruna, Ceneta.
15. And Thara lived 70 years and begat Abram, Nachor, and Aram. And Aram begat Loth.
16. 1 Then began they that dwelt on the earth to look upon the stars, and began to prognosticate by them and to make divination, and to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire. But Seruch and his sons walked not according to them.
17. And these are the generations of Noe upon the earth according to their languages and their tribes, out of whom the nations were divided upon the earth after the flood.
82:2 IV. The variants in the forms and divisions of the names are many. In the Appendix on Readings I have pointed out the Biblical equivalents. It is obvious that some names and words have dropped out of Philo. In the translation I have introduced very few corrections.
86:1 IV. 16. As is noted in the Introduction, this verse contradicts Jubilees on the subject of Serug, and implicitly rejects the story that Terah, Abraham's father, was an idolater.
V. 2 Then came the sons of Cham, and made Nembroth a prince over themselves: but the sons of Japheth made Phenech their chief: and the sons of Sem gathered together and set over them Jectan to be their prince.
2. And when these three had met together they took counsel that they would look upon and take account of the people of their followers. And this was done while Noe was yet alive, even that all men should be gathered together: and they lived at one with each other, and the earth was at peace.
3. Now in the 340th year of the going forth of
[paragraph continues] Noe out of the ark, after that God dried up the flood, did the princes take account of their people.
4. And first Phenech the son of Japheth looked upon them.
The sons of Gomer all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were in number 5,800.
But of the sons of Magog all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their leading the number was 6,200.
And of the sons of Madai all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were in number 5,700.
And the sons of Tubal. all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were in number 9,400.
And the sons of Mesca all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were in number 5,600.
The sons of Thiras all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were in number 12,300.
And the sons of Ripha<<th>> passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were in number l4,500.
And the sons of Thogorma passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincy were in number 14,400.
But the sons of Elisa passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincy were in number 14,900.
And the sons of Thersis all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincy were in number 12,100.
The sons of Cethin all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincy were in number 17,300.
And the sons of Doin passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were in number 17,700.
And the number of the camp of the sons of Japheth, all of them men of might and all girt with their armour, which were set in the sight of their captains was 140,202 besides women and children.
The account of Japheth in full was in number 142,000.
5. And Nembroth passed by, he and the son(s) of Cham all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were found in number 24,800.
The sons of Phua all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were in number 27,700.
And the sons of Canaan all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were found in number 32,800.
The sons of Soba all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were found in number 4,300.
The sons of Lebilla all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were found in number 22,300.
And the sons of Sata all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were found in number 25,300.
And the sons of Remma all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were found in number 30,600.
And the sons of Sabaca all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were found in number 46,400.
And the number of the camp of the sons of Cham, all of them mighty men, and furnished with
armour, which were set in the sight of their captaincies was in number 244,900 besides women and children.
6. And Jectan the son of Sem looked upon the sons of Elam, and they were all of them passing by according to the number of the sceptres of their captaincies in number 47,000.
And the sons of Assur all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were found in number 73,000.
And the sons of Aram all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were found in number 87,300.
The sons of Lud all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were found in number 30,600.
[The number of the sons of Cham was 73,000.]
But the sons of Arfaxat all of them passing by according to the sceptres of their captaincies were in number 114,600.
And the whole number of them was 347,600. 7. The number of the camp of the sons of Sem, all of them setting forth in valour and in the commandment of war in the sight of their captaincies was † ix † besides women and children.
8. 1 And these are the generations of Noe set forth separately, whereof the whole number together was 914,000. And all these were counted while Noe was yet alive, and in the presence of Noe 350 years after the flood. And all the days of Noe were 950 years, and he died.
86:2 V. The numbers in this chapter are hopelessly incorrect. The separate items in the text add up to 704,000; the totals in the text to 734,500, omitting the evidently corrupt figure 9000 assigned to Shem and his descendants. The matter is of no importance.
89:1 8. It is part of this verse which is quoted (and that not accurately) by Petrus Comestor. See Introduction, p. 10.
VI. 2 Then all they that had been divided and
| 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:
[paragraph continues] 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.
| Dan. 3:22 |
| Dan. 3:27 |
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.
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 p. 90 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.
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.
| 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.
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 p. 96 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.
| Gen. 12:5 |
| Gen. 16:1 |
| Gen. 25:12 |
| Gen. 13:12, 13:13 |
| Gen. 13:14, 17:3 |
| Gen. 17:16 |
| Gen. 21:2, 21:3 |
| Gen. 25:20 sqq. |
| Gen. 26:3, 36 |
| Gen. 36:11 |
| 1 Chron. 1:36 |
| Gen. 36:12 |
| 1 Chron. 1:37 |
Manem bare Tenetde, Thenatela.
6. [[Gen
35.22]] And Jacob took to him for wives the daughters 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. [[Gen 34]] 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 [[p. 98]] Meru, Litaz, Zeli. And such as had been the names of the former, so were they also of the latter.
| Gen. 37 |
| Gen. 41 |
| Gen. 41,42, etc. |
| Gen. 46:8 sqq. |
| Gen. 46:9, 46:10 |
| Gen. 46:11, 46:12 |
| Gen. 46:13, 46:14 |
| Gen. 46:15 |
| Gen. 46:23, 46:24 |
| Gen. 46:25 |
| Gen. 46:16, 46:17 |
| Gen. 46:20, 46:21 |
And they went down into Egypt and abode there 210 years.
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.
| Ex. 1:6, 1:7 |
| Ex. 1:8 |
| Ex. 1:9 |
| Ex. 1:22 |
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.
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 alway 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 alway. 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.
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.
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 sqq. |
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.
| Ps. 78:52 |
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.
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 p. 106 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.
| Ex. 19:1 |
thee," therefore will I take vengeance upon them, because they have not known my law.
3. And Moses did as God commanded him, and
| Ex. 19:14 |
| Ex. 19:16 |
6. And at that time the Lord spake unto his people
| Ex. 20:1 |
| Ex. 20:4 |
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. 20:7 |
| Ex. 20:8 |
| Ps. 107:32 |
| Gen. 2:3 |
| Ex. 20:12 |
10. Thou shalt not commit adultery, for thine
| Ex. 20:1 |
11. Thou shall not kill: because thine enemies
| Ex. 20:13 |
12. Thou shalt not bear false witness against
| Ex. 20:16 |
13. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's house, nor
| Ex. 20:17 |
14. And when the Lord ceased speaking, the
| Ex. 20:18 |
| Ex. 20:21 |
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.
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.
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
| Ex. 34:29, etc. |
| Gen. 42:8 |
| Ex. 32 |
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
| Gen. 11:6 |
| Ex. 32:2 |
4. 1 And the Lord said to Moses: Make haste
| Ex. 32:7 |
| Isa. 40:1, etc. |
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
| Ex. 32:20 |
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.
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. p. 112 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.
XIII. And Moses hasted and did all that God Ex. 34 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. 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. 3, And
| Lev. 14 |
| Lev. 23 |
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 alway 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.
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 cœurs, 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 p. 115 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 p. 115 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, p. 116 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.
XIV. At that time God said unto him: Begin to
| Num. 1:2 |
| 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.
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?
| Num. 13 |
[paragraph continues] 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,
| Gen. 15:13, 15:14 |
[paragraph continues] 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.
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.
| Num. 16 |
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.
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.
| Num. 17 |
fore 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.
XVIII. At that time Moses slew Seon and
| Num. 21 |
| Num. 22 |
| 22:6 |
| 22:17 |
| 22:8, 22:9 |
| Gen. 22:17 |
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
| 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
| Num. 22:13 sqq. |
| Num. 22:19 |
now 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. 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
| Num. 23, 24 |
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
| Num. 24:11 |
13. Then Balaam said unto him: 2 Come and let
| Num. 31:16 |
for otherwise thou canst not subdue them. 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.
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 p. 127 sinned before their Creator." peccabunt domino suo . . . aliter expugnare eos non poteris.
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
| Dt. 31:27, etc. |
| Asc. Mos. 11:9 sqq. |
| Dt. 4:26, etc. |
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
| Dt. 32:52, 34:4 |
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
| 1 K. 8:45, etc. |
| Dt. 34:1 |
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 4½ have passed by, and 2½ remain. 3
[[p. 132]]
| Dt. 34:6 |
[[This "Prayer of Moses" had a separate existence in some MSS from at least as early as the 11th century: e.g. Phillipps 391 fol 87 col 1 "Oratio Moyse in die obitus eius" (on the same page with "Visio Zenaz patris Gothoniel" in col 2; the next folium [88] contains "Threnus Seilae Iepthitidis in monte Stelaceo" in col 1 and "Citharismus regis Dauid contra demonium Saulis" in col 2). See M.R.James, "Four Apocryphal Fragments in Latin" (#1 The Prayer of Moses -- Latin text with a retroversion into Greek), pp. 164-185 & 188 in Apocrypha Anecdota: a Collection of Thirteen Apocryphal Books and Fragments (Cambridge University Press 1893)]]
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: 4½ stands for 45, and 2½ 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 4½ = 4500, and 2½ 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 2½. 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 p. 132 times would be 2500 years or fifty jubilees, and we should p. 132 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 2½ 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.
XX. And at that time God made his covenant with Jesus the son of Naue which remained of the men that spied out the land: for the lot had fallen upon them that they should not see the land because they spake evil of it, and for this cause that generation died. 2. Then said God unto Jesus the son of Naue: Wherefore mournest thou, and wherefore hopest thou in vain, thinking that Moses shall yet live? Now therefore thou waitest to no purpose, for Moses is dead. Take the garments of his wisdom and put them on thee, and gird thy loins with the girdle of his knowledge, and thou shalt be changed and become another man. Did I not speak for thee unto Moses my servant, saying: "He shall lead my people after thee, and into his hand will I deliver the kings of the Amorites"? 3. And Jesus took the garments of wisdom and put them on, and girded his loins with the girdle of understanding. And it came to pass when he put it on, that his mind was kindled and his spirit stirred up, and he said to the people: Lo, the former generation died in the wilderness because they spake against their God. And, behold now, know, all ye captains, this day that if ye go forth in the ways of your God, your paths shall be made straight. 4. But if ye obey not his voice, and are like your fathers, your works shall be spoiled, and ye yourselves broken, and your name shall perish out of the land, and then where shall be the words which God spake unto your fathers? For even if the heathen say: It may be God hath failed, because he hath not delivered his people, yet whereas they perceive that he hath chosen to himself other peoples, working for them great wonders, they shall understand that the Most Mighty accepteth not persons. But because ye sinned through vanity, therefore he took his
power from you and subdued you. And now arise and set Your heart to walk in the ways of your Lord and he shall direct you.
5. 1 And the people said unto him: Lo, this day see we that which Eldad and Modat prophesied in the days of Moses, saying: After that Moses resteth, the captainship of Moses shall be given unto Jesus the son of Naue. And Moses was not envious, but rejoiced when he heard them; and thenceforth all the people believed that thou shouldest lead them, and divide the land unto them in peace: and now also if there be conflict, be strong and do valiantly, for thou only shalt be
| Jos. 2 |
| Jos. 14:6 sqq. |
| Jos. 5:12 |
for the sake of three persons, that is, the well of the water of Mara for Maria's sake, and the pillar of cloud for Aaron's sake, and the manna for the sake of Moses. And when these three came to an end, those three gifts were taken away from them. 1
9. Now the people and Jesus fought against the Amorites, and when the battle waxed strong against their enemies throughout all the days of Jesus, 30 and 9 kings which dwelt in the land were cut off. And Jesus gave the land by lot to the people, to every tribe according to the lots, according as he had received commandment. 10. Then
| Jos. 14:6 sqq. |
134:1 XX. 5. The Targum, and a Midrash quoted by Cohn, p. 320, say that Eldad and Medad, according to some, prophesied that Moses should die and Joshua should lead Israel into the Promised Land.
135:1 8. In the same way Cohn cites Midrashim (Seder Olam Rabbah, etc.) which agree exactly with Philo as to the withdrawal of the three heavenly gifts. The Babylonian Talmud (Taanith 1, Rodkinson, p. 22) has the same story.
XXI. And when Jesus was become old and
| Jos. 23 |
stars, and ordered the rain. Thou knowest the mind of all generations before they be born. And now, Lord, give unto thy people an heart of wisdom and a mind of prudence, and it shall be when thou givest these ordinances unto thine heritage, they shall not sin before thee and thou shall not be wroth with them. 3. Are not these the words which I spake before thee, Lord, when Achar stole of the curse, and the people were delivered up before thee, and I prayed in thy sight and said: Were it not better for us, O Lord, if we had died in the Red Sea, wherein thou drownedst our enemies? or if we had died in the wilderness, like our fathers, than to be delivered into the hand of the Amorites that we should be blotted out for ever? 4. Yet if thy word be about us, no evil shall befall us: for even though our end be removed unto death, thou livest which art before the world and after the world; and whereas a man cannot devise 1 how to put one generation before another, he saith "God hath destroyed his people whom he chose": and behold, we shall be in Hell: yet thou wilt make thy word alive. And now let the fulness of thy mercies have patience with thy people, and choose for thine heritage a man which shall rule over thy people, he and his generation. 5. Was it not for this that our father Jacob spake, saying: A prince shall not
| Gen. 49:10 |
and the house of Israel shall be like unto a brooding dove which setteth her young in the nest and will not forsake them nor forget her place. So, also, these shall turn from their deeds and fight against the salvation that shall be born unto them.
7. And Jesus went down from Galgala and
| Jos. 8:30 |
your heart to continue therein (or in him) all the days, and if ye depart not from his name, the covenant of the Lord shall endure with you. And he grant that it be not corrupted, but that the dwelling-place of God be builded among you, as he spake when he sent you into his inheritance with mirth and gladness.
136:1 XXI. 4. And whereas a man cannot devise, etc. There is an antithesis between the short sight of man and the eternal knowledge of God: but either the text is unsound or I fail to understand it, for it seems to me inconsequent as it stands.
| Jos. 22 |
| Jos. 22:21 sqq. |
[paragraph continues] Lord our God lest they say to us: Behold now, our brethren which be beyond Jordan have an altar, to make offerings upon it, but we in this place that have no altar, let us depart from the Lord our God, because our God hath set us afar off from his ways, that we should not serve him. 4. And then verily spake we among ourselves: Let us make us an altar, that they may have a zeal to seek the Lord. And verily there be some of us that stand by and know that we are your brothers and stand guiltless before your face. Do ye therefore that which is pleasing in the sight of the Lord. 5. And Jesus said: Is not the Lord our king mightier than woo sacrifices? And wherefore taught ye not your sons the words of the Lord which ye heard of us? For if your sons had been occupied in the meditation of the law of the Lord, their mind would not have been led aside after a sanctuary made with hands. Or know ye not that when the people were forsaken for a moment in the wilderness when Moses went up to receive the tables, their mind was led astray, and they made themselves idols? And except the mercy of the God of your fathers had kept us, all the synagogues should have become a byword, and all the sins of the people should have been blazed abroad because of your foolishness. 6. Therefore now go and dig down the sanctuaries that ye have builded you, and teach your sons the law, and they shall be meditating therein day and night, that the Lord may be with them for a witness and a judge unto them all the days of their life. And God shall be witness and judge between me and you, and between my heart and your heart, that if ye have done this thing in subtlety it shall be avenged upon you, because you would destroy your brothers: but if ye have
done it ignorantly as ye say, God will be merciful unto you for your sons' sake. And all the people answered: Amen, Amen.
7. And Jesus and all the people of Israel offered for them 1,000 rams for a sin-offering (lit. the word of excusing), and prayed for them and sent them away in peace: and they went and destroyed the sanctuary, and fasted and wept,
| Acts 1:24 |
8. And after that Jesus went up unto Galgala, and reared up the tabernacle of the Lord, and the ark of the covenant and all the vessels thereof, and set it up in Silo, and put there the Demonstration and the Truth (i.e. the Urim and Thummim). And at that time Eleazar the priest which served the altar did teach by the Demonstration all them of the people that came to inquire of the Lord, for thereby it was shown unto them, but in the new sanctuary that was in Galgala, Jesus appointed even unto this day the burnt offerings that were offered by the children of Israel every year. 9. For until the house of the Lord was builded in Jerusalem, and so long as the offerings were made in the new sanctuary, the people were not forbidden to offer therein, because the Truth and the Demonstration revealed all things in Silo. And until the ark was set by Solomon in the sanctuary of the Lord they went on sacrificing there unto that day. But Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest of the Lord ministered in Silo.
XXIII. And Jesus the son of Naue ordered
| Jos. 24 |
| Num. 22:19 |
| Isa. 51:1, 51:2 |
thy seed
| Gen. 15 |
| Gen. 15:9 |
| Gen. 15:12 |
| 15:17 |
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
| Ps. 18:9 |
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.
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.
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
| Dt. 4:26, etc. |
| Jos. 24:15 |
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. 5. And when he ceased speaking unto them, he drew up his feet into the bed and slept
| Gen. 49:33 |
| 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
| Jos. 24:30 |
XXV. And the Philistines sought to fight with[[p. 146]] the men of Israel: 1 and they inquired of the Lord and said: Shall we go up and fight against the[[p. 147]] 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[[p. 148]] 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 [[Joshua]] 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
| Dt. 29:18 |
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 [[p. 147]] 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.
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 [[p. 153]] 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 [[p. 154]] 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[[p. 155]] 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.
| Cf. Zech. 3.9 |
| See Ex. 28:17 sqq. |
| Isa. 64:4, etc. |
| Isa. 60:19, 60:20 |
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 p. 156 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 p. 158 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.
XXVII. And after this he armed of the people 300,000 men and went up to fight against the Amorites, 2 and slew on the first day 800,000 men, and on the second day he slew about 500,000. 2. And when the third day came, certain men of the people spake evil against Cenez, saying: Lo now, Cenez alone lieth in his house with his wife and his concubines, and sendeth us to battle, that we may be destroyed before our enemies. 3. And when the servants of Cenez heard, they brought him word. And he commanded a captain of fifty, and he brought of them thirty-seven men 3 [[p. 159]] who spake against him and shut them up in ward. 4. And their names are these: Le and Uz, Betul, Ephal, Dealma, Anaph, Desac, Besac, Gethel, Anael, Anazim, Noac, Cehec, Boac, Obal, Iabal, Enath, Beath, Zelut, Ephor, Ezeth, Desaph, Abidan, Esar, Moab, Duzal, Azath, Phelac, Igat, Zophal, Eliesor, Ecar, Zebath, Sebath, Nesach and Zere. And when the captain of fifty had shut them up as Cenez commanded, Cenez said: When the Lord hath wrought salvation for his people by my hand, then will I punish these men. 5. And so saying, Cenez commanded the captain of fifty, saying: Go and choose of my servants 300 men, and as many horses, and let no man of the people know of the hour when I shall go forth to battle; but only in what hour I shall tell thee, prepare the men that they be ready this night. 6. And Cenez sent messengers, spies, to see where was the multitude of the camp of the Amorites. And the messengers went and spied, and saw that the multitude of the camp of the Amorites was moving among the rocks devising to come and fight against Israel. And the messengers returned and told him according to this word. And Cenez arose by night, he and 300 horsemen with him, and took a trumpet in his hand and began to go down with the 300 men. And it came to pass, when he was near to the camp of the Amorites, that he said to his servants: Abide here and I will go down alone and view the camp of the Amorites. And it shall be, if I blow with the trumpet ye shall come down, but if not, wait for me here.
7. And Cenez went down alone, and before
he went down he prayed, and
said:
O Lord God of our fathers, thou hast shewn unto thy servant the
marvellous things which thou hast prepared to do [[p. 160]] by thy covenant in the
last days:
and now, send unto thy servant one
of thy wonders, and I will overcome thine adversaries, that they and
all the nations and thy people may know that the Lord delivereth not by
the multitude of an host, neither by the strength of horsemen, when
they shall perceive the sign of deliverance which thou shalt work for
me this day (or horsemen, and that thou, Lord, wilt perform a
sign of salvation with me this day).
Behold, I will draw my sword out
of the scabbard and it shall glitter in the camp of the Amorites: and
it shall be, if the Amorites perceive that it is I, Cenez, then
I shall know that thou hast delivered them into mine hand. But
if they perceive not that it is I, and think that it is another, then I
shall know that thou hast not hearkened unto me, but hast
delivered me unto
mine enemies. But and if I be indeed delivered unto death, I shall know
that because of mine iniquities the Lord hath not heard me, and hath
delivered me unto mine enemies; but he will not destroy, his
inheritance by my death.
8. And he set forth after he had prayed, and heard the multitude of the Amorites saying: Let us arise and fight against Israel: for we know that our holy Nymphs are there among them and will deliver them into our hands. 9. And Cenez arose, for the spirit of the Lord clothed him as a garment, and he drew his sword, and when the light of it shone upon the Amorites like sharp lightning, they saw it, and said: Is not this the sword of Cenez which hath made our wounded many? Now is the word justified which we spake, saying that our holy Nymphs have delivered them into our hands. Lo, now, this day shall there be feasting for the Amorites, when our enemy is [[p. 161]] delivered unto us. Now, therefore, arise and let everyone gird on his sword and begin the battle.
10. And it came to pass when Cenez heard their words, he was clothed with the spirit of might and changed into another man, and went down into the camp of the Amorites and began to smite them. And the Lord sent before his face the angel Ingethel (or Gethel), who is set over the hidden things, and worketh unseen, (and another) angel of might helping with him: and Ingethel smote the Amorites with blindness, so that every man that saw his neighbour counted them his adversaries, and they slew one another. And the angel Zeruel, who is set over strength, bare up the arms of Cenez lest they should perceive him; and Cenez smote of the Amorites forty and five thousand men, and they themselves smote one another, and fell forty and five thousand men. 11. And when Cenez had smitten a great multitude, he would have loosened his hand from his sword, for the handle of the sword clave, 1 that it could not be loosed, and his right hand had taken into it the strength of the sword.
Then they that were left of the Amorites fled into the mountains; but Cenez sought how he might loose his hand: and he looked with his eyes and saw a man of the Amorites fleeing, and he caught him and said to him: I know that the Amorites are cunning: now therefore shew me how I may loose my hand from this sword, and I will let thee go. And the Amorite said: Go and take a man of the Hebrews and kill him, and while his blood is yet warm hold thine hand beneath and receive his blood, so shall thine hand be loosed. And Cenez said: As the Lord [[p. 162]] liveth, if thou hadst said, Take a man of the Amorites, I would have taken one of them and saved thee alive: but forasmuch as thou saidest "of the Hebrews" that thou mightest show thine hatred, thy mouth shall be against thyself, and according as thou hast said, so will I do unto thee. And when he had thus said Cenez slew him, and while his blood was yet warm, he held his hand beneath and received it therein, and it was loosed.
12. And Cenez departed and put off his garments, and cast himself into the river and washed, and came up again and changed his garments, and returned to his young men. Now the Lord cast upon them a heavy sleep in the night, and they slept and knew not any thing of all that Cenez had done. And Cenez came and awaked them out of sleep; and they looked [upon him] with their eyes and saw, and behold, the field was full of dead bodies: and they were astonished in their mind, and looked every man on his neighbour. And Cenez said unto them: Why marvel ye? Are the ways of the Lord as the way of men? For with men a multitude prevaileth, but with God that which he appointeth. And therefore if God hath willed to work deliverance for this people by my hands, wherefore marvel ye? Arise and gird on every man your swords, and we will go home to our brethren.
13. And when all Israel heard the deliverance that was wrought by the hands of Cenez, all the people came out with one accord to meet him, and said: Blessed be the Lord which hath made thee ruler over his people, and hath shown that those things are sure which he spake unto thee: that which we heard by speech we see now with our eyes, for the work of the word of God is manifest.
14. And Cenez said unto them: Ask now your [[p. 163]] brethren, and let them tell you how greatly they laboured with me in the battle. And the men that were with him said: As the Lord liveth, we fought not, neither knew we anything, save only when we awaked, we saw the field full of dead bodies. And the people answered: Now know we that when the Lord appointeth to work deliverance for his people, he hath no need of a multitude, but only of sanctification.
15. And Cenez said to the captain of fifty which had shut up those men in prison: Bring forth those men that we may hear their words. And when he had brought them forth, Cenez said to them: Tell me, what saw ye in me that ye murmured among the people? And they said: Why askest thou us? Why askest thou us? Now therefore command that we be burned with fire, for we die not for this sin that we have now spoken, but for that former one wherein those men were taken which were burned in their sins; for then we did consent unto their sin, saying: Peradventure the people will not perceive us; and then we did escape the people. But now have we been (rightly) made a public example 1 by our sins in that we fell into slandering of thee. And Cenez said: If ye yourselves therefore witness against yourselves, how shall I have compassion upon you? And Cenez commanded them to be burned with fire, and cast their ashes into the place where they had burned the multitude of the sinners, even into the brook Phison.
16. And Cenez ruled over his people fifty and seven years, and there was fear upon all his enemies all his days.
158:2 XXVII. 1. The Amorites. In XXV. 1, the enemy were the Philistines, Allophyli. But the Amorites, of whose idols so much has been said in the interim, seem to have absorbed Philo's attention.
158:3 3. I can only make thirty-six names from the manuscripts unless Eliesor is divided into two.
161:1 11. Kenaz's hand cleaves to his sword like that of Eleazar, the mighty man in 2 Sam. 23:10.
163:1 15. made a public example: transducti. In the old Latin Bible versions transduco renders παραδειγματίζω, ἐλέγχω.
XXVIII. And when the days of Cenez drew [[p. 164]] nigh that he should die, he sent and called all men (or all the elders), and the two prophets Jabis and Phinees, and Phinees the son of Eleazar the priest, 1 and said to them: Behold now, the Lord hath showed me all his marvellous works which he hath prepared to do for his people in the last days.
2. And now will I make my covenant with you this day, that ye forsake not the Lord your God after my departing. For ye have seen all the marvels which came upon them that sinned, and all that they declared, confessing their sins of their own accord, and how the Lord our God made an end of them for that they transgressed his covenant. Wherefore now spare ye them of your house and your sons, and abide in the ways of the Lord your God, that the Lord destroy not his inheritance.
3. And Phinees, the son of Eleazar the priest, said: If Cenez the ruler bid me, and the prophets and the people and the elders, I will speak a word which I heard of my father when he was a-dying, and will not keep silence concerning the commandment which he commanded me when his soul was being received. And Cenez the ruler and the prophets said: Let Phinees say on. Shall any other speak before the priest which keepeth the commandments of the Lord our God, and that, seeing that truth proceedeth out of his mouth, and out of his heart a shining light?
4. Then said Phinees: My father, when he was a-dying, commanded me saying: Thus shalt thou [[p. 165]] say unto the children of Israel when they, are gathered together unto the assembly: The Lord appeared unto me the third day before this in a dream in the night, and said unto me: Behold, thou hast seen, and thy father before thee, how greatly I have laboured for my people; and it shall be after thy death that this people shall arise and corrupt their ways, departing from my commandments, and I shall be exceeding wroth with them. Yet will I remember the time which was before the ages, even in the time when there was not a man, and therein was no iniquity, when I said that the world should be, and they that should come should praise me therein, and I will plant a great vineyard, and out of it will I choose a plant, and order it and call it by my name, and it shall be mine for ever. But when I have done all that I have spoken, nevertheless my planting, which is called after me, will not know me, the planter thereof, but will corrupt his fruit, and will not yield me his fruit. These are the things which my father commanded me to speak unto this people.
5. And Cenez lifted up his voice, and the elders, and all the people with one accord, and wept with a great lamentation until the evening and said: Shall the shepherd destroy his flock to no purpose, except it continue in sin against him? And shall it not be he that shall spare according to the abundance of his mercy, seeing he hath spent great labour upon us?
| Ezek. 8:1 |
| Cf. Num. 23:10 |
[[This
"Vision of Kenaz" had a separate existence in some
MSS from at least as early as the 11th century: e.g.
Phillipps 391 fol
87 col 2 "Visio Zenez
patris Gothoniel" (on the same
page with in col 1 "Oratio Moyse in
die obitus
eius"; the next folium
[88] contains "Threnus Seilae Iepthitidis in monte Stelaceo" in
col 1 and "Citharismus regis Dauid contra demonium Saulis" in col 2). See M.R.James,
"Four Apocryphal Fragments in Latin" (#2 The Vision of Kenaz -- Latin
text with
a retroversion into Greek), pp. 164-185 & 188 in Apocrypha Anecdota: a Collection of
Thirteen Apocryphal Books and Fragments
(Cambridge University Press 1893)]]
164:1 XXVIII. 1. The "two prophets Jabis and Phinees, and Phinees the son of Eleazar" are suspicious. I should not wonder if originally there had been but one prophet, Jabis, and Phinees the son of Eleazar. The plural prophetae, which occurs again in 3, might be a consequential change.
165:1 6 seq. There are several resemblances in this section to the diction of Ezekiel. The Spirit comes upon Kenaz as he sits among the elders: so in Ezek. 8:1 (20:1, 20:2). fundamentum may be compared with στερέωμα (Ezek. 122); subdiuum with p. 166 αἴθριον, (9:3, 10:4); imagines hominum with όμοίωμα ἀνθρώπου (1:9); similitudo with ὁμοίωσισ (1:10); ecce uox dicens with ἰδοὺ φωνὴ ὑπεράνωθεν τοῦ στερεώματοσ (1:25).
166:1 9. they are those that shall dwell therein, and the name of p. 167 that man is *. A puts an asterisk after "dwell therein" as well as at the end of the sentence. VR read: these are they which shall have the name of that man: qui habebunt nomen eius hominis. J says "and the light which is between them and illumines the path of man is Jerusalem, and there the men will dwell."
I do not think that any mystical name filled the blank, or that there was any mention of a definite place, such as Jerusalem: the lines on which the vision is drawn are too broad to admit of this. "Adam" is the most likely supplement, if we consider the words which come next: "and it shall be when he hath sinned against me, and the time is fulfilled."
XXIX And after these things the people appointed Zebul ruler over them, and at that time he gathered the people together and said unto them: Behold now, we know all the labour wherewith
| Cf. Num. 36 |
should be called covetous and greedy of gain. And the people said: Do all that is right in thine eyes. 2. Now Cenez had three daughters whose names are these: Ethema the firstborn, the second Pheila, the third Zelpha. And Zebul gave to the firstborn all that was round about the land of the Phœnicians, and to the second he gave the olive yard of Accaron, and to the third all the tilled land that was about Azotus. And he gave them husbands, namely to the firstborn Elisephan, to the second Odiel, and to the third Doel. 1
| Cf. 2 Chr. 24:8 |
save only those things which belong unto the law. And Zebul slept with his fathers, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
168:1 XXIX 2. The giving of an inheritance to the daughters of Kenaz is modelled on Num. 36: the sacred treasury, perhaps, was suggested by 2 Kings 12; 2 Chron. 24.
XXX Then had the children of Israel no man whom they might appoint as judge over them: and their heart fell away, and they forgot the promise, and transgressed the ways which Moses and Jesus the servants of the Lord had commanded them, and were led away after the daughters of the Amorites, and served their gods. 2. And the Lord was wroth with them, and sent his angel and said:
| Jud. 2:1 |
3. And after these things the Lord stirred up against them Jabin king of Asor, and he began to fight against them, and he had as captain of his might Sisara, who had 8000 chariots of iron. And he came unto the mount Effrem and fought against the people, and Israel feared him greatly, and the people could not stand all the days of Sisara.
4. And when Israel was brought very low, all the children of Israel gathered together with one accord unto the mount of Juda and said: We did call ourselves blessed more than all people, and now, lo, we are brought so low, more than all nations, that we cannot dwell in our land, and our enemies bear rule over us. And now who hath done all this
unto us? Is it not our iniquities, because we have forsaken the Lord God of our fathers, and have walked in those things which could not profit us? Now therefore come let us fast seven days, both men and women, and from the least (sic) even to the sucking child. Who knoweth whether God will be reconciled unto his inheritance, that he destroy not the planting of his vineyard?
5. And after the people had fasted 7 days, sitting in sackcloth, the Lord sent unto them on the 7th day Debbora, who said unto them: Can the sheep 1 that is appointed to the slaughter answer before him that slayeth it, when both he that slayeth < . . . > and he that is slain keepeth silence, when he is sometimes provoked against it? Now ye were born to be a flock before our Lord. And he led you into the height of the clouds, and subdued angels beneath your feet, and appointed unto you a law, and gave you commandments by prophets, and chastised you by rulers, and shewed you wonders not a few, and for your sake commanded the luminaries and they stood still in the places where they were bidden, and when your enemies came upon you he rained hailstones upon them and destroyed them, and Moses and Jesus and Cenez and Zebul gave you commandments. And ye have not obeyed them. 6. For while they lived, ye shewed yourselves as it were obedient unto your God, but when they died, your heart died also. And ye became like unto iron that is thrust into the fire, which when it is melted by the flame becometh as water, but when it is come out of the fire returneth unto its hardness. So ye also, while they that admonish you burn you, do show
the effect, and when they are dead ye forget all things. 7. And now, behold, the Lord will have compassion upon you this day, not for your sakes, but for his covenant's sake which he made with your fathers and for his oath's sake which he sware, that he would not forsake you for ever. But know ye that after my decease ye will begin to sin in your latter days. Wherefore the Lord will perform marvellous things among you, and will deliver your enemies into your hands. For your fathers are dead, but God, which made a covenant with them, is life.
170:1 XXX. 5. Can the sheep, etc. Something is wrong with this sentence. I suggest that words are wanting after occidit. See the App. on Readings.
XXXI. And Debbora sent and called Barach and said to him: Arise and gird up thy loins as a man, and go down and fight against Sisara, For I see the constellations greatly moved in their ranks and preparing to fight for you. 1 I see also
| Jud. 5:20 |
2. And when Debbora and the people and Barach went down to meet their enemies, immediately the Lord disturbed the goings of his stars, and spake unto them saying: Hasten and go ye, for our (or your) enemies fall upon you: confound their arms and break the strength of their
hearts, for I am come that my people may prevail. For though it be that my people have sinned, yet will I have mercy on them. And when this was said, the stars went forth as it was commanded them and burned up their enemies. And the number of them that were gathered (or burned) and slain in one hour was go times 97,000 men. But Sisara they destroyed not, for so it was commanded them.
| Jud. 4:17 |
give him to drink, and when he hath drunk he shall become weak, and after that I will kill him. And this shall be the sign that thou shalt give me, O Lord, that, whereas Sisara sleepeth, when I go in, if he wake and ask me forthwith, saying: Give me water to drink, then I shall know that my prayer hath been heard.
6. So Jahel returned and entered in, and Sisara awaked and said to her: Give me to drink, for I burn mightily and my soul is inflamed. And Jahel took wine and mingled it with the milk
| Jud. 4:19 |
7. But Jahel took a stake in her left hand and drew near unto him saying: If the Lord give me this sign I shall know that Sisara shall fall into my hands. Behold I will cast him upon the ground from off the bed whereon he sleepeth, and it shall be, if he perceive it not, that I shall know that he is delivered up. And Jahel took Sisara and pushed
| Judith 13:9 |
| Judith 13:7 |
| Jud. 4:21 |
8. Now the mother of Sisara was called Themech,
| Jud. 5:28 |
go forth together to meet my son, and ye shall see the daughters of the Hebrews whom my son will bring hither to be his concubines.
| Jud. 4:22 |
171:1 XXXI. 1, etc. The stars fighting. Cf. Pirke R. Eliezer 52: Joshua, when fighting, saw the magicians of Egypt compelling the constellations to come against Israel.
| Jud. 5:1 |
sake that which I gave thee. And Abraham did not gainsay him and set forth immediately. And as he went forth he said to his son: Lo, now, my son, I offer thee for a burnt offering and deliver thee into his hands who gave thee unto me. 3. And the son said to his father: Hear me, father. If a lamb of the flock is accepted for an offering to the Lord for an odour of sweetness, and if for the iniquities of men sheep are appointed to the slaughter, but man is set to inherit the world, how then sayest thou now unto me: Come and inherit a life secure, and a time that cannot be measured? What and if I had not been born in the world to be offered a sacrifice unto him that made me? And it shall be my blessedness beyond all men, for there shall be no other such thing; and in me shall the generations be instructed, and by me the peoples shall understand that the Lord hath accounted the soul of a man worthy to be a sacrifice unto him. 4. And when his father had offered him upon the altar and had bound his feet to slay him, the Most Mighty hasted and sent forth his voice from on high saying: Kill not thy son,
| Gen. 22:11 |
5. And to Isaac he gave two sons, which also were from a womb shut up, for at that time their mother was in the third year of her marriage. And it shall not be so with any other woman, neither shall any wife boast herself so, that cometh near to her husband in the third year. And there were born to him two sons, even Jacob and Esau. And
[paragraph continues] God loved Jacob, but Esau he hated because of his deeds.
6. And it came to pass in the old age of their father, that Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him into Mesopotamia, and there he begat 12 sons, and they went down into Egypt and dwelled there.
7. And when their enemies dealt evilly with them, the people cried unto the Lord, and their prayer was heard, and he brought them out thence, and led them unto the mount Sina, and brought forth unto them the foundation of understanding which he had prepared from the birth of the world; and then the foundation was moved, the hosts sped forth the lightnings upon their courses, and the winds sounded out of their storehouses, and the earth was stirred from her foundation, and the mountains and the rocks trembled in their fastenings, and the clouds lifted up their waves against the flame of the fire that it should not consume the world. 8. Then did the depth awake from his springs, and all the waves of the sea came together. Then did Paradise give forth the breath of her fruits, and the cedars of Libanus were moved from their roots. And the beasts of the field were terrified in the dwellings of the forests, and all his works gathered together to behold the Lord when he ordained a covenant with the children of Israel. And all things that the Most Mighty said, these hath he observed, having for witness Moses his beloved.
9. And when he was dying God appointed unto him the firmament, 1 and shewed him these witnesses whom now we have, saying: Let the heaven whereinto
thou hast entered and the earth wherein thou hast walked until now be a witness between me and thee and my people. For the sun and the moon and the stars shall be ministers unto us (or you).
10. And when Jesus arose to rule over the people, it came to pass in the day wherein he fought against the enemies, that the evening drew near, while yet the battle was strong, and Jesus said to the sun and the moon: O ye ministers that were appointed between the Most Mighty and his sons, lo now, the battle goeth on still, and do ye forsake your office? Stand still therefore to-day and give light unto his sons, and put darkness upon our enemies. And they did so.
11. And now in these days Sisara arose to make us his bondmen, and we cried unto the Lord our God, and he commanded the stars and said: Depart out of your ranks, and burn mine enemies, that they may know my might. And the stars came down and overthrew their camp and kept us safe without any labour.
12. Therefore will we not cease to sing praises, neither shall our mouths keep silence from telling of his marvellous works: for he hath remembered his promises both new and old, and hath shown us his deliverance,: and therefore doth Jahel boast herself among women, because she alone hath brought this good way to success, in that with her own
| Judith 13:2 |
13. O earth, go thou, go, ye heavens and lightnings, go, ye angels and hosts, [go ye] and tell the fathers in the treasure-houses of their souls, and say: The Most Mighty hath not forgotten the least of all the promises which he made with us, saying: Many wonders will I perform for your sons. And now from this day forth it shall be
known that whatsoever God hath said unto men that he will perform, he will perform it, even though man die. 14. Sing praises, sing praises, O Debbora (or, if man delay to sing praises to God, yet sing thou, O Debbora), and let the grace of an holy spirit awake in thee, and begin to praise the works of the Lord: for there shall not again arise such a day, wherein the stars shall bear tidings and overcome the enemies of Israel, as it was commanded them. From this time forth if Israel fall into a strait, let him call upon these his witnesses together with their ministers, and they shall go upon an embassy to the most High, and he will remember this day, and will send a deliverance to his covenant. 15. And thou, Debbora, begin to speak of that thou sawest in the field: how that the people walked and went forth safely, and the stars fought on their part (or, how that, like peoples walking, so went forth the stars and fought). Rejoice, O land, over them that dwell in thee, for in thee is the knowledge of the Lord which buildeth his stronghold in thee. For it was of right that God took out of thee the rib of him that was first formed, knowing that out of his rib Israel should be born. And thy forming shall be for a testimony of what the Lord hath done for his people.
16. Tarry, O ye hours of the day, and hasten not onward, that we may declare that which our understanding can bring forth, for night will come upon us. And it shall be like the night when God smote the firstborn of the Egyptians for the sake of his firstborn. 17. And then shall I cease from my hymn because the time will be hastened (or prepared) for his righteous ones. For I will sing unto him as in the renewing of the creation, and the people shall remember this deliverance, and it
shall be for a testimony unto them. Let the sea also bear witness, with the deeps thereof, for not only did God dry it up before the face of our fathers, but he did also overthrow the camp from its setting and overcame our enemies.
18. And when Debbora made an end of her words she went up with the people together unto Silo, and they offered sacrifices and burnt offerings and sounded upon the broad trumpets. 1 And when they sounded and had offered the sacrifices, Debbora said: This shall be for a testimony of the trumpets between the stars and the Lord of them.
174:1 XXXII. 1, 2. The angels were jealous of Abraham. In Jubilees it is the adversary Mastema who suggests the sacrifice of Isaac: in Pirke R. Eliezer the ministering angels intercede for Isaac. I have not found the statement of our text elsewhere.
176:1 9. appointed unto him the firmament: Disposuit ei firmamentum. Perhaps the meaning is "displayed the firmament arranged in its order."
179:1 18. on the broad trumpets: de latis psalphingis. Can this be meant to render ἐν σάλπιγξιν ἐλαταῖσ (Ps. 97:7)?
XXXIII. And Debbora went down thence, and judged Israel 40 years. And it came to pass when the day of her death drew near, that she sent and gathered all the people and said unto them: Hearken now, my people. Behold, I admonish you as a woman of God, and give you light as one of the race of women; obey me now as your mother, and give ear to my words, as men that shall yourselves die. 2. Behold, I depart to die by the way of all flesh, whereby ye also shall go: only direct your heart unto the Lord your God in the time of your life, for after your death ye will not be able to repent of those things wherein ye live. 3. For death is now sealed up, and accomplished, and the measure and the time and the years have restored that which was committed to them. For even if ye seek to do evil in hell after your death, ye will not be able, because the desire of sin shall cease, and the evil creation 2 shall lose its power, and hell,
which receiveth that that is committed to it, will not restore it unless it be demanded by him that committed it. Now, therefore, my sons, obey ye my voice while ye have the time of life and the light of the law, and direct your ways. 4. And when Debbora spake these words, all the people lifted up their voice together and wept, saying: Behold now, mother, thou diest and forsakest thy sons; and to whom dost thou commit them? Pray thou, therefore, for us, and after thy departure thy soul shall be mindful of us for ever. 5. And Debbora answered and said to the people: While a man yet liveth he can pray for himself and for his sons; but after his end he will not be able to
| Esd. 7:102-4 |
6. And Debbora died and slept with her fathers and was buried in the city of her fathers, and the people mourned for her 70 days. And as they bewailed her, thus they spake a lamentation, saying: Behold, a mother is perished out of Israel, and an holy one that bare rule in the house of Jacob, which made fast the fence about her generation, and her generation shall seek after her. And after her death the land had rest seven years.
179:2 XXXIII. 3. the evil creation: Plasmatio iniqua. The equivalent of the yetzer hara’, the evil tendency, of Rabbinic theology.
XXXIV. And at that time there came up a certain Aod 1 of the priests of Madian, and he was a wizard, and he spake unto Israel, saying: Wherefore give ye ear to your law? Come and I
will shew you such a thing as your law is not. And the people said: What canst thou shew us that our law hath not? And he said to the people: Have ye ever seen the sun by night? And they said: Nay. And he said: Whensoever ye will, I will shew it unto you, that ye may know that our gods have power, and will not deceive them that serve them. And they said: Shew us. 2. And he departed and wrought with his magic, commanding the angels that were set over sorceries, because for a long time he did sacrifice unto them. 3. <<For this was formerly in the power of the angels and was>> performed by the angels before they were judged, and they would have destroyed the unmeasurable world; and because they transgressed, it came to pass that the angels had no longer the power. 1 For when they were judged, then the power was not committed unto the rest: and by these signs (or powers) do they work who minister unto men in sorceries, until the unmeasurable age shall come. 4. And at that time Aod by art magic shewed unto the people the sun by night. And the people were astonished and said: Behold, what great things can the gods of the Madianites do, and we knew it not! 5. And God, willing to try Israel whether they were yet in iniquity, suffered the angels, and their work had good success, and the people of Israel were deceived and began to serve the gods of the Madianites. And God said: I will deliver them into the hands of the Madianites, inasmuch as by them are they
deceived. And he delivered them into their hands, and the Madianites began to bring Israel into bondage.
180:1 XXXIV. Aod reminds us of the traditional Antichrist, one of whose great feats will be to make the sun appear at night: Ascension of Isaiah (4:5): "and at his word the sun will shine at night."
181:1 3. The sentences about the angels who preside over sorceries are somewhat obscure. They depend upon the story, told at such length in Enoch, of the fallen angels who made known secret arts to mankind. The powers possessed by these were not conferred upon those who replaced them.
| Jud. 6:11 |
| Jud. 6:15 |
| Gen. 18:30 |
| Jud. 6:21 |
XXXVI. And Gedeon took 300 men and departed and came unto the uttermost part of the camp of Madian, and he heard every man speaking to his neighbour and saying: Ye shall sec a confusion above reckoning, of the sword of Gedeon,
| Jud. 7:11 |
| Jud. 7:20 |
3. And after these things Gedeon came and gathered the people of Israel together and said unto them: Behold, the Lord sent me to fight
| Jud. 8:24 |
appointed, 1 that I should not rebuke Gedeon in his lifetime, even because when he destroyed the sanctuary of Baal, then all men said: Let Baal avenge himself. Now, therefore, if I chastise him for that he hath done evil against me, ye will say: It was not God that chastised him, but Baal, because he sinned aforetime against him. Therefore now shall Gedeon die in a good old age, that they may not have whereof to speak. But after that Gedeon is dead I will punish him once, because he hath transgressed against me. And Gedeon died in a good old age and was buried in his own city.
185:1 XXXVI. 4. One way is verily appointed: Una uia posita est, ut. I understand this to mean: "This at least is clear," but others may be able to suggest a better interpretation.
| Jud. 9:5 |
[A leaf gone [[missing from the archetype]].]
| Jud. 9:7 sqq. |
vine said: I was planted to give unto men the sweetness of wine, and I am preserved by rendering unto them my fruit. But like as I cannot reign over you, so shall the blood of Abimelech be required at your hand. And after that the trees came unto the apple and said: Come, reign over us. And he said: It was commanded me to yield unto men a fruit of sweet savour. Therefore I cannot reign over you, and Abimelech shall die by stones. 3. Then came the trees unto the bramble and said: Come, reign over us. And the bramble said: When the thorn was born, truth did shine forth in the semblance of a thorn. And when our first father was condemned to death, the earth was condemned to bring forth thorns and thistles. And when the truth enlightened Moses, it was by a thorn bush that it enlightened him. Now therefore it shall be that by me the truth shall be heard of you. Now if ye have spoken in sincerity unto the bramble that it should in truth reign over you, sit ye under the shadow of it: but if with dissembling, then let fire go forth and devour and consume the trees of the field. For the apple-tree was made for the chastisers, and the fig-tree was made for the people, and the vine[yard] was made for them that were before us.
4. And now shall the bramble be unto you even as Abimelech, which slew his brethren with wrong, and desireth to rule over you. If Abimelech be worthy of them (or Let Abimelech be a fire unto them) whom he desireth to rule, let him be as the bramble which was made to rebuke the foolish among the people. And there went forth fire out of the bramble and devoured the trees that are in the field.
5. After that Abimelech ruled over the people for one year and six months, and he died hard by
| Jud. 9:10 sqq. |
[A gap of uncertain length in the text.]
185:2 XXXVII. 2 seq. This adaptation of the parable of Jotham is singularly inept as it stands: possibly the lost beginning of it may have made it more plausible: possibly it may contain plays upon Hebrew words which I do not detect. Two sentences in it are particularly obscure: (1) Nascente spina, ueritas in specie praelucebat. Can there be here an allusion to Ps. 84 (85):12, ἀλήθεια ἐκ τῆσ γῆσ ἀνέτειλε? (2) quia malus facta est in castigatores, et ficus facta est in populum, et uinea jacta est in praecessores. Ought we to render facta est by "stands for" or "represents"?
| Jud. 10:3 |
187:1 XXXVIII. it is not clear why Jair is selected for the part of an apostate and idolatrous judge. The story of the Three Children (Dan. 3), and perhaps also those of the Maccabaean martyrs, have been in the writer's mind.
XXXIX. And after these things came the children
| Jud. 10:17, 10:18 |
| Jud. 11:1 |
| Jud. 11:3 |
| Jud. 11:5 |
| Esther 4:14 |
all things? For ye did cast me out of my land and out of my father's house; and now are ye come unto me when ye are in a strait? And they said unto him: If the God of our fathers remembered not our sins, but delivered us when we had sinned against him and he had given us over before the face of our enemies, and we were oppressed by them, why wilt thou that art a mortal man remember the iniquities which happened unto us, in the time of our affliction? Therefore be it not so before thee, lord. 5. And Jepthan said: God indeed is able to be unmindful of our sins, seeing he hath time and place to repose himself of his long-suffering, for he is God; but I am mortal, made of the earth: whereunto I shall return, and where shall I cast away mine anger, and the wrong wherewith ye have injured me? And the people said unto him: Let the dove instruct thee, whereunto Israel was likened, for though her young be taken away from her, yet departeth she not out of her place, but spurneth away her wrong and forgetteth it as it were in the bottom of the deep.
6. And Jepthan arose and went with them and gathered all the people, and said unto them: Ye know how that when our princes were alive, they admonished us to follow our law. And Ammon and his sons turned away the people from their way wherein they walked, to serve other gods which should destroy them. Now therefore set your hearts in the law of the Lord your God, and let us entreat him with one accord. And so will we fight against our adversaries, and trust and hope in the Lord that he will not deliver us up for ever. For although our sins do overabound, nevertheless his mercy filleth all the earth.
7. And the whole people prayed with one accord, both men and women, boys and sucklings. And
when they prayed they said: Look, O Lord, upon the people whom thou hast chosen, and spoil not the vine which thy right hand hath planted; that this people may be before thee for an inheritance, whom thou hast possessed from the beginning, and whom thou hast preferred alway, and for whose sake thou hast made the habitable places, and brought them into the land which thou swarest unto them; deliver us not up before them that hate thee, O Lord. 8. And God repented him of his anger and strengthened the spirit of Jepthan.
| Jud. 11:14 |
you the inheritance that ye possess. But because ye have been led astray after stones, fire shall follow after you unto vengeance.
10. And because the king of the children of Ammon would not hear the voice of Jepthan, Jepthan arose and armed all the people to go forth and fight in the borders saying: When the children
| Jud. 11:31 |
11. And the Lord was very wroth and said: Behold, Jepthan hath vowed that he will offer unto me that which meeteth with him first. Now therefore if a dog meet with Jepthan first, shall a dog be offered unto me? And now let the vow of Jepthan be upon his firstborn, even upon the fruit of his body, and his prayer upon his only begotten daughter. But I will verily deliver my people at this time, not for his sake, but for the prayer which Israel hath prayed.
| 11:34 |
| Jud. 11:37 |
| Jud. 11:36 |
5. And when the daughter of Jepthan came unto the mount Stelac, she began to lament. And this is her lamentation wherewith she mourned and bewailed herself before she departed, and she said: Hearken, O mountains, to my lamentation, and look, O hills, upon the tears of mine eyes, and be witness, O rocks, in the bewailing of my soul. Behold how I am accused, but my soul shall not be taken away in vain. Let my words go forth into the heavens, and let my tears be written before the face of the firmament, that the father overcome not (or fight not against) his daughter whom he hath vowed to offer up, that her ruler may hear that his only begotten daughter is promised for a sacrifice. 6. Yet I have not been satisfied with my bed of marriage, neither filled with the garlands of my wedding. For I have not been arrayed with brightness, sitting in my maidenhood; I have not used my precious ointment, neither hath my soul enjoyed the oil of anointing which was prepared for me. O my mother, to no purpose hast thou borne thine only begotten, and begotten her upon the earth, for hell is become my marriage chamber. Let all the mingling of oil which thou hast prepared for me be poured out, and the white robe which my mother wove for me, let the moth eat it, and the crown of flowers which my nurse plaited for me aforetime, let it wither, and the coverlet which she wove of violet and purple for my virginity, let the [[p. 194]] worm spoil it; and when the virgins, my fellows, tell of me, let them bewail me with groaning for many days. 7. Bow down your branches, O ye trees, and lament my youth. Come, ye beasts of the forest, and trample upon my virginity. For my years are cut off, and the days of my life are waxen old in darkness.
| Jud. 11:39 |
| Jud. 11:40 |
| Jud. 12:7 |
[["The Lamentation of Seila" had a separate existence in some MSS from at least as early as the 11th century: e.g. Phillipps 391 fol 88 col 1 "Threnus Seilae Iepthitidis in monte Stelaceo," (on the same page with which is "Citharismus regis Dauid contra demonium Saulis" in col 2; the preceding folium [87] contains "Oratio Moyse in die obitus eius" in col 1, and "Visio Zenez patris Gothoniel" in col 2). See M.R.James, "Four Apocryphal Fragments in Latin" (#3 The Lamentation of Seila -- with the Latin text), pp. 164-185 & 188 in Apocrypha Anecdota: a Collection of Thirteen Apocryphal Books and Fragments (Cambridge University Press 1893)]]
191:1 XL. 1. Seila. The name, according to Dr. Cohn, may mean "she who was demanded."
192:1 4 end. The addition in R, "and when she departeth, she shall fall into the bosom of her mothers," may be genuine. "Her mothers," an unusual phrase, would correspond to the ordinary one "her (your, their) fathers."
| 12:12 |
2. And at that time the people chose Elon and
| Jud. 12:11 |
3. But the children of Israel forgat the Lord their God and served the gods of the dwellers in the land. Therefore were they delivered unto the Philistines and served them forty years.
XLII. Now there was a man of the tribe of
| Jud. 13:9 |
the Lord hearkened to her voice and sent her his angel in the morning, and said unto her: Thou art the barren one that bringeth not forth, and thou art the womb which is forbidden, to bear fruit. But now hath the Lord heard thy voice and looked
| Jud. 13:4, 13:7 |
| Jud. 13:2 |
it, Lord, that thy word be accomplished upon thy servant. And he said: It shall be so. 8. And
| Jud. 13:15 |
| Jud. 13:19 |
| 13:20 |
| 13:22 |
| 13:24 |
| 15:6 |
| 16:1 |
| Jud. 15 |
| Jud. 16:4 |
shall blind him. Yet in the hour of his death will I remember him, and will avenge him yet once upon the Philistines.
| Jud. 16:6 |
| Jud. 16:16 |
| Jud. 16:19 |
| Jud. 16:23 |
| Jud. 16:26 |
| Jud. 16:29 |
| Jud. 16:13 |
195:1 XLII. 1. Let the law make plain our trial: Experimentum nostrum manifestat (-et P. -abit R) lex.
XLIV. And in those days there was no
| Jud. 17:6 |
| Jud. 17:2 |
inquired of him by the dove; and if for sons, by the image of the boys: but he that would ask for riches took counsel by the likeness of the eagle, and he that asked for strength by the image of the lion: again, if they asked for men and maidens they inquired by the images of calves, but if for length of days, they inquired by the image of the dragon. And his iniquity was of many shapes, and his impiety was full of guile. 6. Therefore then, when the children of Israel departed from the Lord, the Lord said: Behold I will root out the earth and destroy all the race of men, because when I appointed great things upon mount Sina, I showed myself unto the children of Israel in the tempest and I said that they should not make idols, and they consented that they should not carve the likeness of gods. And I appointed to them they should not take my name in vain, and they chose this, even not to take my name in vain. And I commanded them to keep the sabbath day, and they consented unto me to sanctify themselves. And I said to them that they should honour their father and mother: and they promised that they would so do. And I appointed unto them not to steal, and they consented. And I bade them do no murder, and they received it, that they should not. And I commanded them not to commit adultery, and they refused not. And I appointed unto them to bear no false witness, and not to covet every man his neighbour's wife or his house or anything that is his: and they accepted it. 7. And now, whereas I spake unto them that they should not make idols, they have made the works of all those gods that are born of corruption by the name of a graven image. And also of them through whom all things have been corrupted. For mortal men made them, and the fire served
in the melting of them: the act of men brought them forth, and hands have wrought them, and understanding contrived them. And whereas they have received them, they have taken my name in vain, and have given my name to graven images, and upon the sabbath day which they accepted, to keep it, they have wrought abominations therefrom. Because I said unto them that they should love their father and mother, they have dishonoured me their maker. And for that I said to them they should not steal, they have dealt thievishly in their understanding with graven images. And whereas I said they should not kill, they do kill them when they deceive. And when I had commanded them not to commit adultery, they have played the adulterer with their jealousy. And where they did choose not to bear false witness, they have received false witness from them whom they cast out, and have lusted after strange women. 8. Therefore, behold, I abhor the race of men, and to the end I may root out my creation, they that die shall be multiplied above the number of them that are born. For the house of Jacob is defiled with iniquities and the impieties of Israel are multiplied and I cannot [some words lost] wholly destroy the tribe of Benjamin, because that they first were led away after Michas. And the people of Israel also shall not be unpunished, but it shall be to them an offence for ever to the memory of all generations. 9. But Michas will I deliver unto the fire. And his mother shall pine away in his sight, living upon the earth, and worms shall issue forth out of her body. And when they shall speak one to the other, she shall say as it were a mother rebuking her son: Behold what a sin hast thou committed. And he shall answer as it were a son obedient to his mother and dealing craftily: And
thou hast wrought yet greater iniquity. And the likeness of the dove which he made shall be to put out his eyes, and the likeness of the eagle shall be to shed fire from the wings of it, and the images of the boys he made shall be to scrape his sides, and for the image of the lion which he made, it shall be unto him as mighty ones tormenting him. 10. And thus will I do not only unto Michas but to all them also that sin against me. And now let the race. of men know that they shall not provoke me by their own inventions. Neither unto them only that make idols shall this chastisement come, but it shall be to every man, that with what sin he hath sinned therewith shall he be judged. Therefore if they shall speak lies before me, I will command the heaven and it shall defraud them of rain. And if any will covet the goods of his, neighbour, I will command death and it shall deny them the fruit of their body. And if they swear by my name falsely I will not bear their prayer. And when the soul parteth from the body, then they shall say: Let us not mourn for the things which we have suffered, but because whatsoever we have devised, that shall we also receive. 1
200:1 XLIV. 4, 5. Images of boys, calves, lion, eagle, dragon, dove. This recalls the furniture of a sanctuary of Mithras, in which two torch-bearing youths, Mithras slaying a bull, a lion, a serpent, and a bird (not, I think, an eagle) commonly appeared.
The words ask for are my rendering of interrogare pro: perhaps inquire concerning would be better.
203:1 10. The doctrine that the punishment shall be suited to the offence is perhaps first enunciated in a crude form in Jubilees 4:32. It is a recurrent thought in the Wisdom of Solomon, and runs through many of the Apocalypses that describe hell. It grows out of the lex talionis.
Philo's treatment of the story of Micah is a notewortny example of his freedom in dealing with the Biblical narrative. Evidently Micah is here represented as remaining in possession of his idols until his death; there is no hint that he was deprived of them by the Danites.
XLV. And it came to pass at that time that
| Jud. 19:1 |
[paragraph continues] And when he would enter in there, they that dwelt there suffered him not. And he said to his lad: Go on, lead the mule, and we will go to the city of Noba, peradventure they will suffer us to enter in
| Jud. 19:15 |
| Jud. 19:22 |
| Jud. 19:25 |
4. And when it was day Beel went out and
| Jud. 19:27 |
| Jud. 19:29 |
| Jud. 20:5 |
| Jud. 20:1 |
6. And the Lord said unto the Adversary: 1 Seest thou how this foolish people is disturbed? In the hour when they should have died, even when Michas dealt craftily to deceive the people with these, that is, with the dove and the eagle and with the image of men and calves and of a lion and of a dragon, then were they not moved. And therefore because they were not provoked to anger, let their counsel now be vain and their heart moved, that they who allow evil may be consumed as well as the sinners.
204:1 XLV. 1, 2. As noted above, the Benjamites' crime is transferred from Gibeah to Nob.
The name Bethac occurs again in LII. 1. Hophni and Phinehas lived near the house of Bethac.
205:1 6. The adversary, Anticiminus. This sudden introduction of a personage nowhere else named in the book is very curious. That Satan (probably called Mastema in the original, as in Jubilees) is meant, I do not doubt.
XLVI. And when it was day the people of Israel were greatly moved and said: Let us go up and search out the sin that is done, that the iniquity may be taken away from us. And they spake thus, and said: Let us inquire first of the Lord and learn whether he will deliver our brethren into
our hands. And if not, let us forbear. And Phinees said unto them: Let us offer the Demonstration and the Truth. And the Lord answered them and said: Go up, for I will deliver them into your hands. But he deceived them, that he might accomplish his word.
| Jud. 20:13 |
| Jud. 20:21 |
| Jud. 20:24 |
| Jud. 20:26, 20:28 |
heads both they and Phinees the son of Eleazar the priest, which prayed and said: What is this deceit wherewith thou hast deceived us, O Lord? If it be righteous before thy face which the children of Benjamin have done, wherefore didst thou not tell us, that we might consider it? But if it was not pleasing in thy sight, wherefore didst thou suffer us to fall before them?
XLVII. And Phinees added and said: O God of our fathers, hear my voice, and tell thy servant this day if it is well done in thy sight, or if peradventure the people have sinned and thou wouldest destroy their evil, that thou mightest correct among us also them that have sinned against thee. For I remember in my youth when Jambri sinned in the days of Moses thy servant, and I verily entered in, and was zealous in my soul, and lifted up both of them upon my sword, and the remnant would have risen against me to put me to death, and thou sentest thine angel and didst smite of them 24,000 men and deliver me out of their hands. 2. And now thou hast sent the eleven tribes and brought them hither saying: Go and smite them. And when they went they were delivered up. And now they say that the declarations of thy truth are lying before thee. And now, O Lord God of our fathers, hide it not from thy servant, but tell us wherefore thou hast done this iniquity against us. 3. And when the Lord saw that Phinees prayed earnestly before him, he said to him: By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, that had I not sworn, I would not have remembered thee in that thou hast spoken, neither would I have answered you this day. And now say unto the people: Stand up and hear the word of the Lord, 4. Thus saith the Lord: There was a certain mighty lion in the midst of the forest, and
unto him all the beasts committed the forest that he should guard it by his power, lest perchance other beasts should come and lay it waste. And while the lion guarded it there came beasts of the field from another forest and devoured all the young of the beasts and laid waste the fruit of their body, and the lion saw it and held his peace. Now the beasts were at peace, because they had entrusted the forest unto the lion, and perceived not that their young were destroyed. 5. And after a time there arose a very small beast of those that had committed the forest unto the lion, and devoured the least of the whelps of another very evil beast. And lo, the lion cried out and stirred up all the beasts of the forest, and they fought among themselves, and every one fought against his neighbour. 6. And when many beasts were destroyed, another whelp out of another forest like unto it, saw it, and said: Hast thou not destroyed as many beasts? What iniquity is this, that in the beginning when many beasts and their young were destroyed unjustly by other evil beasts, and when all the beasts should have been moved to avenge themselves, seeing the fruit of their body was despoiled to no purpose, then thou didst keep silence and spakest not, but now one whelp of an evil beast hath perished, and thou hast stirred up the whole forest that all the beasts should devour one another without cause, and the forest be diminished. Now therefore thou oughtest first to be destroyed, and so the remnant be established. And when the young of the beasts heard that, they slew the lion first, and put over them the whelp in his stead, and so the rest of the beasts were subject together.
7. Michas arose and made you rich by that which he committed, both he and his mother. And there were evil things and wicked, which none devised
before them, but in his subtlety he made graven images, which had not been made unto that day, and no man was provoked, but ye were all led astray, and did see the fruit of your body spoiled, and held your peace even as that evil lion. 8. And now when ye saw how that this man's concubine which suffered evil, 1 died, ye were moved all of you and came unto me saying: Wilt thou deliver the children of Benjamin into our hands? Therefore did I deceive you and said: I will deliver them unto you. And now I have destroyed them which then held their peace, and so will I take vengeance on all that have done wickedly against me. But you, go ye up now, for I will deliver them unto you.
9. And all the people arose with one accord and
| Jud. 20:21 |
| Jud. 20:32, 20:36 |
| Jud. 20:33 |
| Jud. 20:49 |
11. Now these are they that were left of the
race of Benjamin, the princes of the tribe, of ten families whose names are these: of the 1st family: Ezbaile, Zieb, Balac, Reindebac, Belloch; and of the 2nd family: Nethac, Zenip, Phenoch, Demech, Geresaraz; and of the 3rd family: Jerimuth, Veloth, Amibel, Genuth, Nephuth, Phienna; and of the 4th city: Gemuph, Eliel, Gemoth, Soleph, Raphaph, and Doffo; and of the 5th family: Anuel, Code, Fretan, Remmon, Peccan, Nabath; and of the 6th family: Rephaz, Sephet, Araphaz, Metach, Adhoc, Balinoc; and of the 7th family: Benin, Mephiz, Araph, Ruimel, Belon, Iaal, Abac; and (of) the (8th, 9th and) 10th family: Enophlasa, Melec, Meturia, Meac; and the rest of the princes of the tribe which were left, in number threescore. 1
12. And at that time did the Lord requite unto Michas and unto his mother all the things that he had spoken. And Michas was melted with fire and his mother was pining away, even as the Lord had spoken concerning them.
209:1 XLVII. 8. which suffered evil: iniqua gerens: perhaps allowed the evil, as above, XLV. 6.
210:1 11. The names of the Benjamite chiefs are drawn, in part at least, from the list of the descendants of Benjamin in 1 Chron. 8, but they are so disfigured as to defy complete identification. The divisions and the orthography are alike incapable of being settled by the evidence before me.
XLVIII. 2 At that time also Phinees laid himself down to die, and the Lord said unto him: Behold thou hast overpassed the 120 years that were ordained unto all men. And now arise and go hence and dwell in the mount Danaben and abide there many years, and I will command mine
eagle and he shall feed thee there, and thou shalt
| 1 Kings 17:4 |
| 1 Kings 17:1 |
3. And at that time, when he went up, then it
| Jud. 20:6, etc. |
4. And whereas in the meanwhile the children
| Jud. 21:25 |
5. These are the commandments and the judgments and the testimonies and the manifestations that were in the days of the judges of Israel, before a king reigned over them.
210:2 XLVIII. Phinehas identified with Elijah. See the passage quoted from Origen in the Introd., p. 11. In Pirke R. Eliezer the belief is stated twice: c. 29, when Elijah says: "I have been very zealous" (1 Kings 19:10), God says: Thou art always zealous. Thou wast zealous in Shittim. . . . because it is said: Phinehas . . . turned my wrath away, etc. Here also art thou zealous. c. 47. R. Eliezer said--p. 211 He called the name of Phinehas by the name of Elijah . . . He gave him the life of this world and the life of the world to come. In the Quaest. Hebr. in libros Regum it is said of the man of God who came to Eli (1 Sam. 2): Hunc uirum Dei Iudaei Phinees dicunt: quem et Eliam autumant.
Ye shall taste what is death: gustabitis quod est mortis.
XLIX And at that time the children of Israel
began to inquire of the Lord, and said: Let us; all cast lots, that we may see who there is that can rule over us like Cenez, for peradventure we shall find a man that can deliver us from our afflictions, for it is not expedient that the people should be without a prince. 2. And they cast the lot and found no man; and the people were greatly grieved and said: The people is not worthy to be heard by the Lord, for he hath not answered us. Now therefore let us cast lots even by tribes, if perchance God will be appeased by a multitude, for we know that he will be reconciled unto them that are worthy of him. And they cast lots by tribes, and upon no tribe did the lot come forth. And Israel said: Let us choose one of ourselves, for we are in a strait, for we perceive that God abhorreth his people, and that his soul is displeased at us. 3. And one answered and said unto the people, whose name was Nethez: It is not he that hateth us, but we ourselves have made ourselves to be hated, that God should forsake us. And therefore, even though we die, let us not forsake him, but let us flee unto him for refuge; for we have walked in our evil ways and have not known him that made us, and therefore will our device be vain. For I know that God will not cast us off for ever, neither will he hate his people unto all generations: therefore now be ye strong and let us pray yet again and cast lots by cities, for although our sins be enlarged, yet will his long-suffering not fail. 4. And they cast lots by cities, and the lot came upon Armathem. And the people said: Is Armathem accounted righteous beyond all the cities of Israel, that he hath chosen her thus before all the cities? And every man said to his neighbour: In that same city which hath come forth by lot let us cast the lot by men, and let us see whom
the Lord hath chosen out of her. 5. And they cast the lot by men, and it took no man save Elchana, for upon him the lot leapt out, 1 and the people took him And said: Come and be ruler over us. And Elchana said unto the people: I cannot be a prince over this people, neither can I judge who can be a prince over you. But if my sins have found me out, that the lot should leap upon me, I will slay myself, that ye defile me not; for it is just that I should die for my own sins only and not have to bear the weight of the people.
6. And when the people saw that it was not the will of Elchana to take the leadership over them, they prayed again unto the Lord saying: O Lord God of Israel, wherefore hast thou forsaken thy people in the victory of the enemy 2 and neglected thine heritage in the time of trouble? Behold even he that was taken by the lot hath not accomplished thy commandment; but only this hath come about, 3 that the lot leapt out 1 upon him, and we believed that we had a prince. And lo, he also contendeth against the lot. Whom shall we yet require, or unto whom shall we flee, and where is the place of our rest? For if the ordinances are true which thou madest with our fathers, saying: I will enlarge your
seed, and they shall know of this, then it were better that thou saidst to us, I will cut off your seed, than that thou shouldest have no regard to our root. 7. And God said unto them: If indeed I recompensed you according to your evil deeds, I ought not to give ear unto your people; but what shall I do, because my name cometh to be called upon you? And now know ye that Elchana upon whom the lot hath fallen cannot rule over you, but it is rather his son that shall be born of him; he shall be prince over you and shall prophesy; and from henceforth there shall not be wanting unto you a prince for many years. 8. And the people said: Behold, Lord, Elchana hath ten sons, and which of them shall be a prince or shall prophesy? And God said: Not any of the sons of Phenenna can be a prince over the people, but he that is born of the barren woman whom I have given him to wife, he shall be a prophet before me, and I will love him even as I loved Isaac, and his name shall be before me for ever. And the people said: Behold now, it may be that God hath remembered us, to deliver us from the hand of them that hate us. And in that day they offered peace offerings and feasted in their orders.
213:1 XLIX. 5, etc. the lot leapt out: superuolauit. The word, which occurs several times in these verses, indicates, I suppose, that the lot which fell upon Elkanah came out of the receptacle for lots in some unusual way. At least it does not occur in the other passages which mention the casting of lots.
213:2 6. in the victory of the enemy: (quare) in uictoria inimicorum (dereliquisli). It is natural to think that in uictoria is the Hebraism for "utterly," εἰσ νῖκοσ, and that inimicorum should be omitted as a gloss: but the phrase is balanced in the next clause by et in tempore angustiae neglexisti.
213:3 but only this hath come about, etc.: sed solum hoc est, quod superuolauit super illum sors.
| 1 Sam. 1:2 |
| 1 Sam. 1:6 |
| Isa. 56:3 |
| Ps. 128:3 |
drew on, and her husband went up to do sacrifice, that Phenenna reviled Anna saying: A woman is not indeed beloved even if her husband love her or her beauty. Let not Anna therefore boast herself of her beauty, but he that boasteth let him boast when he seeth his seed before his face; and when it is not so among women, even the fruit of their womb, then shall love become of no account. For what profit was it unto Rachel that Jacob loved her? except there had been given her the fruit of her womb, surely his love would have been to no purpose? And when Anna heard that, her soul was melted within her and her eyes ran down with tears. 3. And her husband saw
| 1 Sam. 1:8 |
| 1 Sam. 1:9 |
many sons that is enriched, neither she that lacketh them is poor, but whoso aboundeth in the will of God, she is enriched. For they that know for what I have prayed, if they perceive that I am not heard in my prayer, will blaspheme. And I shall not only have a witness in mine own soul, for my tears also are handmaidens of my prayers. 6. And as
| 1 Sam. 1:13 |
| 1 Sam. 1:17 |
215:1 L. 3. thy behaviour: mores lui.
| 1 Sam 1:20 |
| 1 Sam. 1:23 |
| 1 Sam. 1:26 |
desired, and this is the request which I sought. And Heli said unto her: Not thou only didst seek it, but the people also prayed for this. It is not thy request alone, but it was promised aforetime unto the tribes; and by this child is thy womb justified, that thou shouldest set up prophecy before the people, and appoint the milk of thy breasts for a fountain unto the twelve tribes.
3. And when Anna heard that, she prayed and
| 1 Sam. 2:1 |
| 1 Sam. 2:3 |
they be delivered. And so shall all judgement endure until he be revealed which holdeth it. 6. Speak thou, speak thou, O Anna, and keep not silence: sing praises, O daughter of Bathuel, be cause of thy wonders which God hath wrought with thee. Who is Anna, that a prophet should come out of her? or who is the daughter of Bathuel, that she should bring forth a light foil the peoples? Arise thou also, Elchana, and gird up thy loins. Sing praises for the signs of the Lord: For of thy son did Asaph prophesy in the wilderness
| Ps. 99:6 |
7. And they departed thence and set forth with mirth, rejoicing and exulting in heart for all the glory that God had wrought with them. But the people went down with one accord unto Silo with timbrels and dances, with lutes and harps, and came unto Heli the priest and offered Samuel unto him, whom they set before the face of the Lord and anointed him and said: Let the prophet live among the people, and let him be long a light unto this nation.
218:1 LI. 6. The quotation of Ps. 99:6 is a curious phenomenon, comparable to the mention of Jeremiah in LVI. 6.
| Sam. 2:11, 2:12 |
sacrifice, Ophni and Phinees came and provoked the people to anger, seizing the oblations before the holy things were offered unto the Lord. 2. And this thing pleased not the Lord, neither the people, nor their father. And their father spake thus unto them: What is this report
| 1 Sam. 2:23 |
| 1 Sam. 2:25 |
| 1 Sam. 2:26 |
given unto them that they should repent when they were rebuked of their father, because they had always been rebellious, and had wrought very unjustly in despoiling Israel. But the Lord was angry with Heli.
219:1 LII. 4. When we grow old we will repent. Cf. Amon in Apostolic Constitutions, (See Introd., p. 61.)
| I Sam. 3:1, 3:7 |
| 1 Sam. 3:4, 3:5 |
said: Of thine, therefore ran I unto thee. 4. And Heli said: In thee do I behold the sign that men shall have from this day forward for ever, .that if one call unto another twice in the night or at noonday, they shall know that it is an evil spirit. But if he call a third time, they shall know that it is an angel. And Samuel went away and slept.
5. And he heard the second time a voice from
| 1 Sam. 3:8 |
6. And he said unto him: With thy right ear attend and with thy left refrain. For Phinees the priest commanded us, saying: The right ear heareth the Lord by night, and the left ear an angel. Therefore, if thou hear with thy right ear, say thus: Speak what thou wilt, for I hear thee,
| 1 Sam. 3:9 |
7. And the Lord added and spake yet a third
| 1 Sam. 3:10 |
8. And God said unto him: Verily I enlightened the house of Israel in Egypt and chose unto me at that time Moses my servant for a prophet, and by him I wrought wonders for my people, and
avenged them of mine enemies as I would, and I took my people into the wilderness, and enlightened them as they beheld. 9. And when one tribe rose up against another tribe, saying: Wherefore are the priests alone holy? I would not destroy them, but I said unto them: Give ye every one his rod, and it shall be that he whose rod flourisheth I have chosen him for the priesthood. And when they had all given their rods as I commanded, then did I command the earth of the tabernacle that the rod of Aaron should flourish, that his line might be manifested for many days. And now they which did flourish have abhorred my holy things. 10. Therefore, lo, the days shall come that I will cut off (lit. stop) the flower that came forth at that time, and I will go forth against them because they do transgress the word which I spake unto my
| Deut. 22:26 |
| 1 Sam. 3:15 |
| 1 Sam. 3:17 |
me. Thus spake I unto thy mother, and thus hath the Lord directed thy way. And even if thou chasten thy nursing-father, as the Lord liveth, hide thou not from me the things that thou hast heard. 13. Then Samuel was, afraid, and
| 1 Sam. 3:18 |
| Isa. 29:16, etc. |
LIV. And in those days the Philistines assembled
| 1 Sam. 4:1-3 |
| 1 Sam. 4:5, 4:6 |
3. And when the ark was come into the battle,
| 1 Sam. 4:10 |
and Saul the son of Cis held the ark. And Golia took it with his left hand and slew Ophni and Phinees. 4. But Saul, because he was light on his feet, fled from before him; and he rent his clothes, Sam.
| 1 Sam. 4:12 |
| 1 Sam. 4:16 |
| 1 Sam. 4:17 |
| 1 Sam. 4:18 |
| 4:19 |
| 4:20 |
| 4:21 |
223:1 LIV. 3. That Goliath was the slayer of Eli's sons, and that Saul brought the tidings to Eli, is also said in the Targum on Samuel and in the Midrash Samuel (Cohn).
LV. But Samuel knew nothing of all these things, because three days before the battle God sent him away, saying unto him: Go and look upon the place of Arimatha, there shall be thy dwelling. And when Samuel heard what had
befallen Israel, he came and prayed unto the Lord) saying: Behold, now, in vain is understanding denied unto me that I might see the destruction of my people. And now I fear lest my days grow old in evil and my years be ended in sorrow, for whereas the ark of the Lord is not with me, why should I yet live? 2. And the Lord said unto him: Be not grieved, Samuel, that the ark is taken away. I will bring it again, and them that have taken it will I overthrow, and will avenge my people of their enemies. And Samuel said: Lo, even if thou avenge them in time, according to thy longsuffering, yet what shall we do which die now? And God said to him: Before thou diest thou shalt see the end which I will bring upon mine enemies, whereby the Philistines shall perish and shall be slain by scorpions and by all manner of noisome creeping things. 1
3. And when the Philistines had set the ark of
| 1 Sam. 5:2-4 |
| 1 Sam. 5:6 |
is enlarged among us,
| 1 Sam. 5:11 |
| 1 Sam. 6:7-12 |
Judæa, and the way on the left hand to Samaria. And direct ye the kine that bear the ark in the middle way. And if they set forth by the right-hand way straight unto Judæa, we shall know that of a truth the God of the Jews hath laid us waste; but if they go by those other ways, we shall know that an evil (lit. mighty) time 1 hath befallen us, for now have we denied our gods. 8. And the Philistines took milch kine and yoked them to a new cart and set the ark thereon, and set them at the head of the three ways, and their young they shut up at home. And the kine, albeit they lowed and yearned for their young, went forward nevertheless by the right-hand way that leadeth to Judæa. And then they knew that for the ark's sake they were laid waste. 9. And all the Philistines assembled and brought the ark again unto Silo with timbrels and pipes and dances. And because of the noisome creeping things that laid them waste, they made seats of gold and sanctified the ark. 10. And in that plaguing of the Philistines, the number was of them that died being with child 75,000, and of the sucking children 65,000, and of them that gave suck 55,000, and of men 25,000. And the land had rest seven years.
225:1 LV. The plagues that afflicted the Philistines are only obscurely indicated. They appear to have consisted of noxious reptiles which particularly attacked the children and the mothers. In 9 it is said that sedilia aurea (ἕδρασ LXX) were offered pro reptilibus pessimis quae exterminauerunt eos, whereas in the Bible these objects represented the bubones characteristic of the plague--the "emerods" of A. V.
226:1 5. The phrase et (aut R) conueniens (+ temporarie R) dominatio is unusual. temporarie, which seems likely to be genuine, would represent πρόσκαιροσ. I adopt the aut of R, and take conueniens to be a mistranslation of some word meaning fortuitous (from συμβαίνω or συντυγχάνω or the like): in 1 Sam. 6:7 LXX the word used is σύμπτωμα ("it was a chance that happened to us").
226:2 7. The passage about the three roads in 7 is confused in the MSS. I have made a smooth conflate text which probably conveys the original writer's meaning.
227:1 7. an evil (lit. mighty) time: ualidum tempus.
LVI. And at that time the children of Israel required a king in their Just. And they gathered
| 1 Sam. 8:4, 8:5 |
| Deut. 17:15 |
grieved in his heart, and said: Behold now I see that there is no more (or not yet) for us a time of a perpetual kingdom, neither of building the house of the Lord our God, inasmuch as these desire a king before the time. And now, if the Lord refuse it altogether (or But even if the Lord so will), it seemeth unto me that a king cannot be established. 3. And the Lord said unto him in the night: Be not grieved, for I will send them a
| 1 Sam. 9:15 |
| 1 Sam. 9:1-4 |
| 1 Sam. 9:9 |
| 1 Sam. 9:16 |
| 1 Sam. 9:21 |
| Jer. 1:6 |
229:1 LVI. 6. Who will grant, etc.: quis dabit uerbum tuum per se uenire usque ad finem ut longaeuus sis?
LVII. And Samuel sent and gathered all the
| 1 Sam. 12:1-4 |
And all the people and the king wept with a great lamentation, and said: Let Samuel the prophet live. And when the king was appointed they offered sacrifices unto the Lord.
5. And after that Saul fought with the Philistines one year, and the battle prospered greatly. 1
229:2 LVII. 2. A wrong turn is here given to the story of Korah, and one inconsistent with that in XVI.
230:1 5. and the battle prospered greatly: pugna expedientissima.
| 1 Sam. 15:3 |
| Ex. 17:14 |
| Ex. 15:1 |
| Ex. 15:13 |
he that was saved alive by thee shall die now, and those hidden treasures whereof he spake he shall not show thee, and he that is born of him shall be an offence unto thee. And Samuel came unto Agag with a sword and slew him, and returned
| 1 Sam. 15:3 |
| Sam. 16:4-7 |
| Ps. 61:2 |
| 1 Sam. 17:34 |
| 1 Sam. 16:14 |
2. There were darkness and silence before
the world was,
and the
silence spake, and the darkness became visible.
And then was thy name
created, even at the drawing together of that which was stretched out,
whereof the upper was called heaven and the lower was called earth.
And
it was commanded to the upper that it should rain according to its
season,
and to the lower that it should bring forth food for man that should
be
made.
And after that was the tribe of your spirits made.
3. Now
therefore, be not injurious, whereas thou art a second creation,
but if
not, then remember Hell (lit. be mindful of Tartarus) wherein
thou walkedst.
Or is it not enough for thee to hear [[p. 233]]
that by that which resoundeth before thee I sing unto many?
Or forgettest thou that out of a rebounding echo in the abyss (or
chaos) thy creation was born? 1
But that new womb shall rebuke thee, whereof I am born,
of whom shall
be born after a time of my loins he that shall subdue you.
| 1 Sam. 16:2 |
[[This "hymn" had a separate existence in some MSS from at least as early as the 11th century: e.g. Phillipps 391 fol 88 col 2 "Citharismus regis Dauid contra demonium Saulis" (on the same page with "Threnus Seilae Iepthitidis in monte Stelaceo," which is in col 1; the preceding folium [87] contains "Oratio Moyse in die obitus eius" in col 1, and "Visio Zenez patris Gothoniel" in col 2). See M.R.James, "Four Apocryphal Fragments in Latin" (#4 The Song of David -- Latin text with a retroversion into Greek), pp. 164-185 & 188 in Apocrypha Anecdota: a Collection of Thirteen Apocryphal Books and Fragments (Cambridge University Press 1893); P. M. Bogaert, "Les Antiquite/s Bibliques du Pseudo-Philon a\ la lumie\re des de/couvertes de Qumran. Observations sur l'hymnologie et particulie\remant sur le chapitre 60," pp. 313-331 in Qumran: Sa pie/te/ sa the/ologie et son milieu, ed M. Delcor (BETL 46; Gembloux 1978)]]
233:1 LX. 3. evil spirits born of an echo in chaos: de resultatione in chaomate. In the Testament of Solomon a female demon, Onoskelis, says that she was born ἀπὸ ἀκαίρου τῆσ καλουμένησ ἤχου οὐρανοῦ † μολύβδου † φωνὴν ἀφέντοσ ἐν ὕλῃ. Again, in a text on the Creation in the Leyden magical papyrus, of which Dieterich gives an edition in Abraxas, p. 17 seq., are several such phrases as this: God laughed seven times, and when he laughed seven gods were born . . . He laughed the second time . . . and the earth heard the echo (ἤχουσ) . . . and a god appeared: p. 19, καὶ ἐγεννήθη ἐκ τοῦ ἤχουσ μέγασ θεόσ κ.τ.λ.
That evil spirits (Mazzikin) were created on the second day (as our text states) is the view expressed in some texts of Pirke R. Eliezer 3, and in Jerahmeel I. 3: c. 18 of Pirke R. E. and later books say they were created on the eve of the first Sabbath day.
LXI. And after these things the Philistines came to fight against Israel. And David was returned to the wilderness to feed his sheep, and the Madianites came and would have taken his sheep, and he came down unto them and fought against them and slew of them 15,000 men. This is the first battle that David fought, being in the wilderness.
2. And there came a man out of the camp of the Philistines by name Golia, and he looked upon Saul and upon Israel and said: Art not thou Saul which fleddest before me when I took the ark from you and slew your priests? And now that thou reignest, wilt thou come down unto me like a man and a king and fight against us? If not, I will come unto thee, and will cause thee to be taken
captive, and thy people to serve our gods. And
| 1 Sam. 17:11 |
| 1 Sam. 17:23 |
| 1 Sam. 17:31 |
| 1 Sam. 17:40 |
And Orpha chose for herself the gods of the Philistines and went after them, but Ruth chose
| Ruth 1:14 |
| 1 Sam. 17:49 |
234:1 LXI. 5. The Midrash Samuel, quoted by Cohn, says: The five stones which David chose, he took in the name of God, in the name of Aaron the priest, and in the names of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
234:2 6. Orpah is identified in the Midrashim of Ruth and of Samuel (Cohn) with Harapha (2 Sam. 21:18 margin) who was thought to be the mother of giants there mentioned. So, too, in the Quaest. Hebr. in Paral. She also figures as the mother of Ishbi-benob in a tale in the Talmud (Sanhedrin, 95) quoted by Eisenmenger, Entdecktes Judenthum, i. 413. See Introd., p. 60.)
LXII. And after these things Saul envied David and sought to kill him. But David and Jonathan, Saul's son, made a covenant together. And when David saw that Saul sought to kill him, he fled unto Armathem; and Saul went out after him.
2. And the spirit abode in Saul, and he prophesied,
| 1 Sam. 19:23 |
the kingdom of David appear. And the spirit departed from Saul, and he knew not what he had prophesied.
| 1 Sam. 20 |
like a sparrow that fleeth before the face of the hawk, so have I fled before his face. 7. Unto whom have I spoken this, or unto whom have I told the things that I have suffered save unto thee and Melchol thy sister? For as for both of us, let us go together in truth. 8. And it were better, my brother, that I should be slain in battle than that I should fall into the hands of thy father: for in the battle mine eyes were looking on every side that I might defend him from his enemies. O my brother Jonathan, hear my words, and if there be iniquity in me, reprove me.
9. And Jonathan answered and said: Come unto me, my brother David, and I will tell thee thy righteousness. My soul pineth away sore at thy sadness because now we are parted one from another. And this have our sins compelled, that we should be parted from one another. But let us remember one another day and night while we live. And even if death part us, yet I know that our souls will know one another. For thine is the kingdom in this world, and of thee shall be the beginning of the kingdom, and it cometh in its time. 10. And now, like a child that is weaned from its mother, even so shall be our separation. Let the heaven be witness and let the earth be witness of those things which we have spoken together. And let us weep each with the other and Jay up our tears in one vessel and commit the vessel to the earth, and it shall be a testimony unto us. ii. And they bewailed each one the
| 1 Sam. 20 |
of my father, but of the covenant which is made betwixt me and thee. Neither think upon the hatred wherewith my father hateth thee in vain but upon my love wherewith I have loved thee. Neither think upon that wherein my father was unthankful unto thee, but remember the table whereat we have eaten together. Neither keep in mind the envy wherewith my father envied thee evilly, but the faith which I and thou keep. Neither care thou for the lie wherewith Saul hath lied, but for the oaths that we have sworn one to
| 1 Sam. 20:42 |
LXIII. At that time the priests that dwelt in Noba were polluting the holy things of the Lord and making the firstfruits a reproach unto the people. And God was wroth and said: Behold, I will wipe out the priests that dwell in Noba, because they walk in the ways of the sons of Heli.
| 1 Sam. 22:9 |
| 1 Sam. 22:16 |
nothing. Therefore, lo, the days shall come quickly that I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies and they shall fall down wounded, they
| 1 Sam. 31 |
5. Now all that Saul did, and the rest of his words, and how he pursued after David, are they not written in the book of the kings of Israel? 6. And after these things Samuel died, and all Israel gathered together and mourned him, and buried him.
LXIV. Then Saul took thought, saying: I will surely take away the sorcerers out of the land of Israel. So shall men remember me after my departure. And Saul scattered all the sorcerers
| 1 Sam. 28:3 |
2. At that time the Philistines said every man to his neighbour: Behold, Samuel the prophet is dead and there is none that prayeth for Israel. David, also, which fought for them, is become Saul's adversary and is not with them. Now, therefore, let us arise and fight mightily against them, and avenge the blood of our fathers. And the Philistines assembled themselves and came up to battle. 3. And when Saul saw that Samuel was dead and David was not with him, his hands were loosened. And he inquired of the Lord, and
| 1 Sam. 28:6 |
prophets, and none appeared unto him. And
| 1 Sam. 28:7 |
| 1 Sam. 28:8-11 |
| 1 Sam. 28:12 |
| 1. Sam. 28:13 |
concerning the gods. For, behold, his form is not the form of a man. For he is arrayed in a white robe and hath a mantle upon it, and two angels leading him. 1 And Saul remembered the mantle
| 1 Sam. 19:27 |
7. And Samuel said unto him: Why hast thou
| 1 Sam. 28:16 |
| 1 Sam. 28:1 |
| 1 Sam. 28:20 |
240:1 LXIV. 3. The witch of Endor, here called Sedecla, daughter of Debin or of Adod (doubtless Aod of XXXIV.), is in Pirke R. Eliezer 33 "the wife of Zephaniah, the mother of Abner." Kimchi in loc., it seems, calls her Zephaniah. The Quaest. Hebr. agree that she was Abner's mother. Perhaps "the wife of" in Pirke should go out.
241:1 6. Two angels leading him. Compare the Gospel of Peter, where two angels lead Christ out of the sepulchre.
241:2 7. The word which I render precept is traditio. I cannot cite a parallel to this curious use of it.
241:3 8. if my destruction may be an atonement (exoratio) for mine iniquities. In Pirke R. Eliezer 33, Samuel says to Saul: If thou wilt hearken to my advice, to fall by the sword, then shall thy death be an atonement for thee.
LXV. And the Philistines fought against Israel.
| 1 Sam. 31:1 |
before the Philistines: and when Saul saw that the
| 1 Sam. 31:3 |
| 1 Sam. 3:14 |
| 2 Sam. 1:7 |
242:1
LXV. According to the Quaest. Hebr. in loc., the armour
bearer of Saul was Doeg, and the man who killed Saul the son of Doeg.