Antiquities of the Jews - Book IV
CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OF THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS
FROM THE REJECTION OF THAT GENERATION TO THE DEATH OF MOSES
CHAPTER 1
FIGHT OF THE HEBREWS WITH THE CANAANITES WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF MOSES;
AND THEIR DEFEAT
1. NOW this life of the Hebrews in the wilderness was so disagreeable
and troublesome to them, and they were so
uneasy at it, that although God had forbidden them to meddle with
the Canaanites, yet could they not be persuaded
to be obedient to the words of Moses, and to be quiet; but supposing
they should be able to beat their enemies,
without his approbation, they accused him, and suspected that he
made it his business to keep in a distressed
condition, that they might always stand in need of his assistance.
Accordingly they resolved to fight with the
Canaanites, and said that God gave them his assistance, not out
of regard to Moses's intercessions, but because he
took care of their entire nation, on account of their forefathers,
whose affairs he took under his own conduct; as
also, that it was on account of their own virtue that he had formerly
procured them their liberty, and would be
assisting to them, now they were willing to take pains for it. They
also said that they were possessed of abilities
sufficient for the conquest of their enemies, although Moses should
have a mind to alienate God from them; that,
however, it was for their advantage to be their own masters, and
not so far to rejoice in their deliverance from the
indignities they endured under the Egyptians, as to bear the tyranny
of Moses over them, and to suffer themselves
to be deluded, and live according to his pleasure, as though God
did only foretell what concerns us out of his
kindness to him, as if they were not all the posterity of Abraham;
that God made him alone the author of all the
knowledge we have, and we must still learn it from him; that it
would be a piece of prudence to oppose his arrogant
pretenses, and to put their confidence in God, and to resolve to
take possession of that land which he had promised
them, and not to give ear to him, who on this account, and under
the pretense of Divine authority, forbade them so
to do. Considering, therefore, the distressed state they were in
at present, and that in those desert places they were
still to expect things would be worse with them, they resolved to
fight with the Canaanites, as submitting only to
God, their supreme Commander, and not waiting for any assistance
from their legislator.
2. When, therefore, they had come to this resolution, as being best
for them, they went against their enemies; but
those enemies were not dismayed either at the attack itself, or
at the great multitude that made it, and received
them with great courage. Many of the Hebrews were slain; and the
remainder of the army, upon the disorder of
their troops, were pursued, and fled, after a shameful manner, to
their camp. Whereupon this unexpected
misfortune made them quite despond; and they hoped for nothing that
was good; as gathering from it, that this
affliction came from the wrath of God, because they rashly went
out to war without his approbation.
3. But when Moses saw how deeply they were affected with this defeat,
and being afraid lest the enemies should
grow insolent upon this victory, and should be desirous of gaining
still greater glory, and should attack them, he
resolved that it was proper to withdraw the army into the wilderness
to a further distance from the Canaanites: so
the multitude gave themselves up again to his conduct, for they
were sensible that, without his care for them, their
affairs could not be in a good condition; and he caused the host
to remove, and he went further into the wilderness,
as intending there to let them rest, and not to permit them to fight
the Canaanites before God should afford them a
more favorable opportunity.
CHAPTER 2
THE SEDITION OF CORAH AND OF THE MULTITUDE AGAINST MOSES, AND AGAINST
HIS BROTHER, CONCERNING THE PRIESTHOOD
1. THAT which is usually the case of great armies, and especially
upon ill success, to be hard to be pleased, and
governed with difficulty, did now befall the Jews; for they being
in number six hundred thousand, and by reason of
their great multitude not readily subject to their governors, even
in prosperity, they at this time were more than
usually angry, both against one another and against their leader,
because of the distress they were in, and the
calamities they then endured. Such a sedition overtook them, as
we have not the like example either among the
Greeks or the Barbarians, by which they were in danger of being
all destroyed, but were notwithstanding saved by
Moses, who would not remember that he had been almost stoned to
death by them. Nor did God neglect to prevent
their ruin; but, notwithstanding the indignities they had offered
their legislator and the laws, and disobedience to the
commandments which he had sent them by Moses, he delivered them
from those terrible calamities which, without
his providential care, had been brought upon them by this sedition.
So I will first explain the cause whence this
sedition arose, and then will give an account of the sedition itself;
as also of what settlements made for their
government after it was over.
2. Corah, a Hebrew of principal account, both by his family and by
his wealth, one that was also able to speak well,
and one that could easily persuade the people by his speeches, saw
that Moses was in an exceeding great dignity,
and was at it, and envied him on that account, (he of the same tribe
with Moses, and of kin to him,) was particularly
grieved, because he thought he better deserved that honorable post
on account of great riches, and not inferior to
him in his birth. So he raised a clamor against him among the Levites,
who were of the same tribe, and among his
kindred, saying, "That it was a very sad thing that they should
overlook Moses, while hunted after and paved the
way to glory for himself, and by ill arts should obtain it, under
the pretense of God's command, while, contrary to
laws, he had given the priesthood to Aaron, the common suffrage
of the multitude, but by his own vote, as
bestowing dignities in a way on whom he pleased." He added, "That
this concealed way of imposing on them was
harder to be borne than if it had been done by an open force upon
them, because he did now not only their power
without their consent, but even they were unapprised of his contrivances
against them; for whosoever is conscious
to himself that he deserves any dignity, aims to get it by persuasion,
and not by an arrogant method of violence;
those that believe it impossible to obtain honors justly, make a
show of goodness, and do not introduce force, but by
cunning tricks grow wickedly powerful. That it was proper for the
multitude to punish such men, even while they
think themselves concealed in their designs, and not suffer them
to gain strength till they have them for their open
enemies. For what account," added he, "is Moses able to give, why
he has bestowed the priesthood on Aaron and
his sons? for if God had determined to bestow that honor on one
of the tribe of Levi, I am more worthy of it than he
is; I myself being equal to Moses by my family, and superior to
him both in riches and in age: but if God had
determined to bestow it on the eldest be, that of Reuben might have
it most justly; and then Dathan, and Abiram,
and [On, the son of] Peleth, would have it; for these are the oldest
men of that tribe, and potent on account of their
great wealth also."
3. Now Corah, when he said this, had a mind to appear to take care
of the public welfare, but in reality he was
endeavoring to procure to have that dignity transferred by the multitude
to himself. Thus did he, out of a malignant
design, but with discourse to those of his own tribe; when these
words did gradually spread to more people, and
when the hearers still added to what tended to the scandals that
were cast upon the whole army was full of them.
Now of those that conspired with Corah, there were two hundred and
fifty, and those of the principal men also, who
were eager to have the priesthood taken away from Moses's brother,
and to bring him into disgrace: nay, the
multitude themselves were provoked to be seditious, and attempted
to stone Moses, wad gathered themselves
together after an indecent manner, with confusion and disorder.
And now all were, in a tumultuous manner, raising a
before the tabernacle of God, to prosecute the tyrant, and to relieve
the multitude from their slavery under him
who, under color of the Divine laid violent injunctions upon them;
for had it been God who chose one that was to the
office of a priest, he would have raised person to that dignity,
and would not produced such a one as was inferior to
many others nor have given him that office; and that in he had judged
it fit to bestow it on Aaron, he would have
permitted it to the multitude to bestow it, and not have left it
to be bestowed by his own brother.
4. Now although Moses had a great while ago foreseen this calumny
of Corah, and had seen the people were
irritated, yet was he not affrighted at it; but being of good courage,
because given them right advice about their
affairs, and knowing that his brother had been made partaker of
the priesthood at the command of God, and not by
his own favor to him, he came to the assembly; and as for the multitude,
he said not a word to them, but spake as
loud to Corah as he could; and being very skillful in making speeches,
and having this natural talent, among others,
that he could greatly move the multitude with his discourses, he
said, "O Corah, both thou and all these with thee
(pointing to the two hundred and fifty men) seem to be worthy of
this honor; nor do I pretend but that this whole
company may be worthy of the like dignity, although they may not
be so rich or so great as you are: nor have I
taken and given this office to my brother because he excelled others
in riches, for thou exceedest us both in the
greatness of thy wealth; (1) nor indeed because he was of an eminent
family, for God, by giving us the same
common ancestor, has made our families equal: nay, nor was it out
of brotherly affection, which another might yet
have justly done; for certainly, unless I had bestowed this honor
out of regard to God, and to his laws, I had not
passed by myself, and given it to another, as being nearer of kin
to myself than to my brother, and having a closer
intimacy with myself than I have with him; for surely it would not
be a wise thing for me to expose myself to the
dangers of offending, and to bestow the happy employment on this
account upon another. But I am above such base
practices: nor would God have overlooked this matter, and seen himself
thus despised; nor would he have suffered
you to be ignorant of what you were to do, in order to please him;
but he hath himself chosen one that is to perform
that sacred office to him, and thereby freed us from that care.
So that it was not a thing that I pretend to give, but
only according to the determination of God; I therefore propose
it still to be contended for by such as please to put
in for it, only desiring that he who has been already preferred,
and has already obtained it, may be allowed now also
to offer himself for a candidate. He prefers your peace, and your
living without sedition, to this honorable
employment, although in truth it was with your approbation that
he obtained it; for though God were the donor, yet
do we not offend when we think fit to accept it with your good-will;
yet would it have been an instance of impiety not
to have taken that honorable employment when he offered it; nay,
it had been exceedingly unreasonable, when God
had thought fit any one should have it for all time to come, and
had made it secure and firm to him, to have refused
it. However, he himself will judge again who it shall be whom he
would have to offer sacrifices to him, and to have
the direction of matters of religion; for it is absurd that Corah,
who is ambitious of this honor, should deprive God of
the power of giving it to whom he pleases. Put an end, therefore,
to your sedition and disturbance on this account;
and tomorrow morning do every one of you that desire the priesthood
bring a censer from home, and come hither
with incense and fire: and do thou, O Corah, leave the judgment
to God, and await to see on which side he will give
his determination upon this occasion, but do not thou make thyself
greater than God. Do thou also come, that this
contest about this honorable employment may receive determination.
And I suppose we may admit Aaron without
offense, to offer himself to this scrutiny, since he is of the same
lineage with thyself, and has done nothing in his
priesthood that can be liable to exception. Come ye therefore together,
and offer your incense in public before all
the people; and when you offer it, he whose sacrifice God shall
accept shall be ordained to the priesthood, and shall
be clear of the present calumny on Aaron, as if I had granted him
that favor because he was my brother."
CHAPTER 3
HOW THOSE THAT STIRRED UP THIS SEDITION WERE DESTROYED, ACCORDING
TO THE WILL OF GOD; AND HOW AARON, MOSES'S BROTHER BOTH HE AND HIS POSTERITY,
RETAINED THE PRIESTHOOD
1. WHEN Moses had said this, the multitude left off the turbulent
behavior they had indulged, and the suspicion
they had of Moses, and commended what he had said; for those proposals
were good, and were so esteemed of the
people. At that time therefore they dissolved the assembly. But
on the next day they came to the congregation, in
order to be present at the sacrifice, and at the determination that
was to be made between the candidates for the
priesthood. Now this congregation proved a turbulent one, and the
multitude were in great suspense in expectation
of what was to be done; for some of them would have been pleased
if Moses had been convicted of evil practices,
but the wiser sort desired that they might be delivered from the
present disorder and disturbance; for they were
afraid, that if this sedition went on, the good order of their settlement
would rather be destroyed; but the whole
body of the people do naturally delight in clamors against their
governors, and, by changing their opinions upon the
harangues of every speaker, disturb the public tranquillity. And
now Moses sent messengers for Abiram and
Dathan, and ordered them to come to the assembly, and wait there
for the holy offices that were to be performed.
But they answered the messenger, that they would not obey his summons;
nay, would not overlook Moses's
behavior, who was growing too great for them by evil practices.
Now when Moses heard of this their answer, he
desired the heads of the people to follow him, and he went to the
faction of Dathan, not thinking it any frightful
thing at all to go to these insolent people; so they made no opposition,
but went along with him. But Dathan, and his
associates, when they understood that Moses and the principal of
the people were coming to them, came out, with
their wives and children, and stood before their tents, and looked
to see what Moses would do. They had also their
servants about them to defend themselves, in case Moses should use
force against them.
2. But he came near, and lifted up his hands to heaven, and cried
out with a loud voice, in order to be heard by the
whole multitude, and said, "O Lord of the creatures that are in
the heaven, in the earth, and in the sea; for thou art
the most authentic witness to what I have done, that it has all
been done by thy appointment, and that it was thou
that affordedst us assistance when we attempted any thing, and showedst
mercy on the Hebrews in all their
distresses; do thou come now, and hear all that I say, for no action
or thought escapes thy knowledge; so that thou
wilt not disdain to speak what is true, for my vindication, without
any regard to the ungrateful imputations of these
men. As for what was done before I was born, thou knowest best,
as not learning them by report, but seeing them,
and being present with them when they were done; but for what has
been done of late, and which these men,
although they know them well enough, unjustly pretend to suspect,
be thou my witness. When I lived a private quiet
life, I left those good things which, by my own diligence, and by
thy counsel, I enjoyed with Raguel my father-in-law;
and I gave myself up to this people, and underwent many miseries
on their account. I also bore great labors at first,
in order to obtain liberty for them, and now in order to their preservation;
and have always showed myself ready to
assist them in every distress of theirs. Now, therefore, since I
am suspected by those very men whose being is
owing to my labors, come thou, as it is reasonable to hope thou
wilt; thou, I say, who showedst me that fire at mount
Sinai, and madest me to hear its voice, and to see the several wonders
which that place afforded thou who
commandedst me to go to Egypt, and declare thy will to this people;
thou who disturbest the happy estate of the
Egyptians, and gavest us the opportunity of flying away from our
under them, and madest the dominion of Pharaoh
inferior to my dominion; thou who didst make the sea dry land for
us, when we knew not whither to go, and didst
overwhelm the Egyptians with those destructive waves which had been
divided for us; thou who didst bestow upon
us the security of weapons when we were naked; thou who didst make
the fountains that were corrupted to flow, so
as to be fit for drinking, and didst furnish us with water that
came out of the rocks, when we were in want of it; thou
who didst preserve our lives with [quails, which was] food from
the sea, when the fruits of the ground failed us; thou
didst send us such food from heaven as had never been seen before;
thou who didst suggest to us the knowledge of
thy laws, and appoint to us a of government, - come thou, I say,
O Lord of the whole world, and that as such a Judge
and a Witness to me as cannot be bribed, and show how I never admitted
of any gift against justice from any of the
Hebrews; and have never condemned a man that ought to have been
acquitted, on account of one that was rich; and
have never attempted to hurt this commonwealth. I am now and am
suspected of a thing the remotest from my
intentions, as if I had given the preisthood to Aaron, not at thy
command, but out own favor to him; do thou at this
time demonstrate that all things are administered by thy providence
and that nothing happens by chance, but is
governed by thy will, and thereby attains its end: as also demonstrate
that thou takest care that have done good to
the Hebrews; demonstrate this, I say, by the punishment of Abiram
and Dathan, who condemn thee as an insensible
Being, and one overcome by my contrivances. This thou do by inflicting
such an open punishment on these men who
so madly fly in the face of thy glory, as will take them out of
the world, not in an manner, but so that it may appear
they do die after the manner of other men: let that ground which
they tread upon open about them and consume
them, with their families and goods. This will be a demonstration
of thy power to all and this method of their
sufferings will be an instruction of wisdom for those that entertain
profane sentiments of thee. By this means I shall
be a good servant, in the precepts thou hast given by me. But if
the calumnies they have raised against me be true,
mayst thou preserve these men from every evil accident, and bring
all that destruction on me which I have
imprecated upon them. And when thou hast inflicted punishment on
those that have endeavored to deal unjustly
with this people, bestow upon them concord and peace. Save this
multitude that follow thy commandments, and
preserve them free from harm, and let them not partake of the punishment
of those that have sinned; for thou
knowest thyself it is not just, that for the wickedness of those
men the whole body of the Israelites should suffer
punishment."
3. When Moses had said this, with tears in his eyes, the ground was
moved on a sudden; and the agitation that set
it in motion was like that which the wind produces in waves of the
sea. The people were all aftrighted; and the
ground that was about their tents sunk down at the great noise,
with a terrible sound, and carried whatsoever was
dear to the seditious into itself, who so entirely perished, that
there was not the least appearance that any man had
ever been seen there, the earth that had opened itself about them,
closing again, and becoming entire as it was
before, insomuch that such as saw it afterward did not perceive
that any such accident had happened to it. Thus did
these men perish, and become a demonstration of the power of God.
And truly, any one would lament them, not
only on account of this calamity that befell them, which yet deserves
our commiseration, but also because their
kindred were pleased with their sufferings; for they forgot the
relation they bare to them, and at the sight of this
sad accident approved of the judgment given against them; and because
they looked upon the people about Dathan
as pestilent men, they thought they perished as such, and did not
grieve for them.
4. And now Moses called for those that contended about the priesthood,
that trial might be made who should be
priest, and that he whose sacrifice God was best pleased with might
be ordained to that function. There attended
two hundred and fifty men, who indeed were honored by the people,
not only on account of the power of their
ancestors, but also on account of their own, in which they excelled
the others: Aaron also and Corah came forth,
and they all offered incense, in those censers of theirs which they
brought with them, before the tabernacle.
Hereupon so great a fire shone out as no one ever saw in any that
is made by the hand of man, neither in those
eruptions out of the earth that are caused by subterraneous burn-rags,
nor in such fires as arise of their own accord
in the woods, when the agitation is caused by the trees rubbing
one against another: but this fire was very bright,
and had a terrible flame, such as is kindled at the command of God;
by whose irruption on them, all the company,
and Corah himself, were destroyed, (2) and this so entirely, that
their very bodies left no remains behind them.
Aaron alone was preserved, and not at all hurt by the fire, because
it was God that sent the fire to burn those only
who ought to be burned. Hereupon Moses, after these men were destroyed,
was desirous that the memory of this
judgment might be delivered down to posterity, and that future ages
might be acquainted with it; and so he
commanded Eleazar, the son of Aaron, to put their censers near the
brazen altar, that they might be a memorial to
posterity of what these men suffered, for supposing that the power
of God might be eluded. And thus Aaron was
now no longer esteemed to have the priesthood by the favor of Moses,
but by the public judgment of God; and thus
he and his children peaceably enjoyed that honor afterward.
CHAPTER 4
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HEBREWS DURING THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS
1. HOWEVER, this sedition was so far from ceasing upon this destruction,
that it grew much stronger, and became
more intolerable. And the occasion of its growing worse was of that
nature, as made it likely the calamity would
never cease, but last for a long time; for the men, believing already
that nothing is done without the providence of
God, would have it that these things came thus to pass not without
God's favor to Moses; they therefore laid the
blame upon him that God was so angry, and that this happened not
so much because of the wickedness of those that
were punished, as because Moses procured the punishment; and that
these men had been destroyed without any
sin of theirs, only because they were zealous about the Divine worship;
as also, that he who had been the cause of
this diminution of the people, by destroying so many men, and those
the most excellent of them all, besides his
escaping any punishment himself, had now given the priesthood to
his brother so firmly, that nobody could any
longer dispute it with him; for no one else, to be sure, could now
put in for it, since he must have seen those that
first did so to have miserably perished. Nay, besides this, the
kindred of those that were destroyed made great
entreaties to the multitude to abate the arrogance of Moses, because
it would be safest for them so to do.
2. Now Moses, upon his hearing for a good while that the people were
tumultuous, was afraid that they would
attempt some other innovation, and that some great and sad calamity
would be the consequence. He called the
multitude to a congregation, and patiently heard what apology they
had to make for themselves, without opposing
them, and this lest he should imbitter the multitude: he only desired
the heads of the tribes to bring their rods, (3)
with the names of their tribes inscribed upon them, and that he
should receive the priesthood in whose rod God
should give a sign. This was agreed to. So the rest brought their
rods, as did Aaron also, who had written the tribe
of Levi on his rod. These rods Moses laid up in the tabernacle of
God. On the next day he brought out the rods,
which were known from one another by those who brought them, they
having distinctly noted them, as had the
multitude also; and as to the rest, in the same form Moses had received
them, in that they saw them still; but they
also saw buds and branches grown out of Aaron's rod, with ripe fruits
upon them; they were almonds, the rod having
been cut out of that tree. The people were so amazed at this strange
sight, that though Moses and Aaron were
before under some degree of hatred, they now laid that hatred aside,
and began to admire the judgment of God
concerning them; so that hereafter they applauded what God had decreed,
and permitted Aaron to enjoy the
priesthood peaceably. And thus God ordained him priest three several
times, and he retained that honor without
further disturbance. And hereby this sedition of the Hebrews, which
had been a great one, and had lasted a great
while, was at last composed.
3. And now Moses, because the tribe of Levi was made free from war
and warlike expeditions, and was set apart
for the Divine worship, lest they should want and seek after the
necessaries of life, and so neglect the temple,
commanded the Hebrews, according to the will of God, that when they
should gain the possession of the land of
Canaan, they should assign forty-eight good and fair cities to the
Levites; and permit them to enjoy their suburbs,
as far as the limit of two thousand cubits would extend from the
walls of the city. And besides this, he appointed that
the people should pay the tithe of their annual fruits of the earth,
both to the Levites and to the priests. And this is
what that tribe receives of the multitude; but I think it necessary
to set down what is paid by all, peculiarly to the
priests.
4. Accordingly he commanded the Levites to yield up to the priests
thirteen of their forty-eight cities, and to set
apart for them the tenth part of the tithes which they every year
receive of the people; as also, that it was but just
to offer to God the first-fruits of the entire product of the ground;
and that they should offer the first-born of those
four-footed beasts that are appointed for sacrifices, if it be a
male, to the priests, to be slain, that they and their
entire families may eat them in the holy city; but that the owners
of those first-born which are not appointed for
sacrifices in the laws of our country, should bring a shekel and
a half in their stead: but for the first-born of a man,
five shekels: that they should also have the first-fruits out of
the shearing of the sheep; and that when any baked
bread corn, and made loaves of it, they should give somewhat of
what they had baked to them. Moreover, when any
have made a sacred vow, I mean those that are called Nazarites,
that suffer their hair to grow long, and use no wine,
when they consecrate their hair, (4) and offer it for a sacrifice,
they are to allot that hair for the priests [to be
thrown into the fire]. Such also as dedicate themselves to God,
as a corban, which denotes what the Greeks call a
gift, when they are desirous of being freed from that ministration,
are to lay down money for the priests; thirty
shekels if it be a woman, and fifty if it be a man; but if any be
too poor to pay the appointed sum, it shall be lawful
for the priests to determine that sum as they think fit. And if
any slay beasts at home for a private festival, but not
for a religious one, they are obliged to bring the maw and the cheek,
[or breast,] and the right shoulder of the
sacrifice, to the priests. With these Moses contrived that the priests
should be plentifully maintained, besides what
they had out of those offerings for sins which the people gave them,
as I have set it down in the foregoing book. He
also ordered, that out of every thing allotted for the priests,
their servants, [their sons,] their daughters, and their
wives, should partake, as well as themselves, excepting what came
to them out of the sacrifices that were offered
for sins; for of those none but the males of the family of the priests
might eat, and this in the temple also, and that
the same day they were offered.
5. When Moses had made these constitutions, after the sedition was
over, he removed, together with the whole
army, and came to the borders of Idumea. He then sent ambassadors
to the king of the Idumeans, and desired him
to give him a passage through his country; and agreed to send him
what hostages he should desire, to secure him
from an injury. He desired him also, that he would allow his army
liberty to buy provisions; and, if he insisted upon
it, he would pay down a price for the very water they should drink.
But the king was not pleased with this
embassage from Moses: nor did he allow a passage for the army, but
brought his people armed to meet Moses,
and to hinder them, in case they should endeavor to force their
passage. Upon which Moses consulted God by the
oracle, who would not have him begin the war first; and so he withdrew
his forces, and traveled round about through
the wilderness.
6. Then it was that Miriam, the sister of Moses, came to her end,
having completed her fortieth year (5) since she
left Egypt, on the first (6) day of the lunar month Xanthicus. They
then made a public funeral for her, at a great
expense. She was buried upon a certain mountain, which they call
Sin: and when they had mourned for her thirty
days, Moses purified the people after this manner: He brought a
heifer that had never been used to the plough or
to husbandry, that was complete in all its parts, and entirely of
a red color, at a little distance from the camp, into a
place perfectly clean. This heifer was slain by the high priest,
and her blood sprinkled with his finger seven times
before the tabernacle of God; after this, the entire heifer was
burnt in that state, together with its skin and entrails;
and they threw cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet wool, into the
midst of the fire; then a clean man gathered all
her ashes together, and laid them in a place perfectly clean. When
therefore any persons were defiled by a dead
body, they put a little of these ashes into spring water, with hyssop,
and, dipping part of these ashes in it, they
sprinkled them with it, both on the third day, and on the seventh,
and after that they were clean. This he enjoined
them to do also when the tribes should come into their own land.
7. Now when this purification, which their leader made upon the mourning
for his sister, as it has been now
described, was over, he caused the army to remove and to march through
the wilderness and through Arabia; and
when he came to a place which the Arabians esteem their metropolis,
which was formerly called Arce, but has now
the name of Petra, at this place, which was encompassed with high
mountains, Aaron went up one of them in the
sight of the whole army, Moses having before told him that he was
to die, for this place was over against them. He
put off his pontifical garments, and delivered them to Eleazar his
son, to whom the high priesthood belonged,
because he was the elder brother; and died while the multitude looked
upon him. He died in the same year wherein
he lost his sister, having lived in all a hundred twenty and three
years. He died on the first day of that lunar month
which is called by the Athenians Hecatombaeon, by the Macedonians
Lous, but by the Hebrews Abba.
CHAPTER 5
HOW MOSES CONQUERED SIHON AND OG KINGS OF THE AMORITES, AND DESTROYED
THEIR WHOLE ARMY AND THEN DIVIDED THEIR LAND BY LOT TO TWO TRIBES AND A
HALF OF THE HEBREWS.
1. THE people mourned for Aaron thirty days, and when this mourning
was over, Moses removed the army from
that place, and came to the river Arnon, which, issuing out of the
mountains of Arabia, and running through all that
wilderness, falls into the lake Asphaltitis, and becomes the limit
between the land of the Moabites and the land of
the Amorites. This land is fruitful, and sufficient to maintain
a great number of men, with the good things it
produces. Moses therefore sent messengers to Sihon, the king of
this country, desiring that he would grant his
army a passage, upon what security he should please to require;
he promised that he should be no way injured,
neither as to that country which Sihon governed, nor as to its inhabitants;
and that he would buy his provisions at
such a price as should be to their advantage, even though he should
desire to sell them their very water. But Sihon
refused his offer, and put his army into battle array, and was preparing
every thing in order to hinder their passing
over Arnon.
2. When Moses saw that the Amorite king was disposed to enter upon
hostilities with them, he thought he ought not
to bear that insult; and, determining to wean the Hebrews from their
indolent temper, and prevent the disorders
which arose thence, which had been the occasion of their former
sedition, (nor indeed were they now thoroughly
easy in their minds,) he inquired of God, whether he would give
him leave to fight? which when he had done, and
God also promised him the victory, he was himself very courageous,
and ready to proceed to fighting. Accordingly
he encouraged the soldiers; and he desired of them that they would
take the pleasure of fighting, now God gave
them leave so to do. They then, upon the receipt of this permission,
which they so much longed for, put on their
whole armor, and set about the work without delay. But the Amorite
king was not now like to himself when the
Hebrews were ready to attack him; but both he himself was affrighted
at the Hebrews, and his army, which before
had showed themselves to be of good courage, were then found to
be timorous: so they could not sustain the first
onset, nor bear up against the Hebrews, but fled away, as thinking
this would afford them a more likely way for
their escape than fighting, for they depended upon their cities,
which were strong, from which yet they reaped no
advantage when they were forced to fly to them; for as soon as the
Hebrews saw them giving ground, they
immediately pursued them close; and when they had broken their ranks,
they greatly terrified them, and some of
them broke off from the rest, and ran away to the cities. Now the
Hebrews pursued them briskly, and obstinately
persevered in the labors they had already undergone; and being very
skillful in slinging, and very dexterous in
throwing of darts, or any thing else of that kind, and also having
nothing but light armor, which made them quick in
the pursuit, they overtook their enemies; and for those that were
most remote, and could not be overtaken, they
reached them by their slings and their bows, so that many were slain;
and those that escaped the slaughter were
sorely wounded, and these were more distressed with thirst than
with any of those that fought against them, for it
was the summer season; .and when the greatest number of them were
brought down to the river out of a desire to
drink, as also when others fled away by troops, the Hebrews came
round them, and shot at them; so that, what with
darts and what with arrows, they made a slaughter of them all. Sihon
their king was also slain. So the Hebrews
spoiled the dead bodies, and took their prey. The land also which
they took was full of abundance of fruits, and the
army went all over it without fear, and fed their cattle upon it;
and they took the enemies prisoners, for they could
no way put a stop to them, since all the fighting men were destroyed.
Such was the destruction which overtook the
Amorites, who were neither sagacious in counsel, nor courageous
in action. Hereupon the Hebrews took possession
of their land, which is a country situate between three rivers,
and naturally resembled an island: the river Arnon
being its southern ; the river Jabbok determining its northern side,
which running into Jordan loses its own name,
and takes the other; while Jordan itself runs along by it, on its
western coast.
3. When matters were come to this state, Og, the king of Gilead and
Gaulanitis, fell upon the Israelites. He brought
an army with him, and in haste to the assistance of his friend Sihon:
but though he found him already slain, yet did
he resolve still to come and fight the Hebrews, supposing he should
be too hard for them, and being desirous to try
their valor; but failing of his hope, he was both himself slain
in the battle, and all his army was destroyed. So Moses
passed over the river Jabbok, and overran the kingdom of Og. He
overthrew their cities, and slew all their
inhabitants, who yet exceeded in riches all the men in that part
of the continent, on account of the goodness of the
soil, and the great quantity of their wealth. Now Og had very few
equals, either in the largeness of his body, or
handsomeness of his appearance. He was also a man of great activity
in the use of his hands, so that his actions
were not unequal to the vast largeness and handsome appearance of
his body. And men could easily guess at his
strength and magnitude when they took his bed at Rabbath, the royal
city of the Ammonites; its structure was of
iron, its breadth four cubits, and its length a cubit more than
double thereto. However, his fall did not only improve
the circumstances of the Hebrews for the present, but by his death
he was the occasion of further good success to
them; for they presently took those sixty cities, which were encompassed
with excellent walls, and had been subject
to him, and all got both in general and in particular a great prey.
CHAPTER 6
CONCERNING BALAAM THE PROPHET AND WHAT KIND OF MAN HE WAS
1. NOW Moses, when he had brought his army to Jordan; pitched his
camp in the great plain over against Jericho.
This city is a very happy situation, and very fit for producing
palm-trees and balsam. And now the Israelites began
to be very proud of themselves, and were very eager for fighting.
Moses then, after he had offered for a few days
sacrifices of thanksgiving to God, and feasted the people, sent
a party of armed men to lay waste the country of the
Midianites, and to take their cities. Now the occasion which he
took for making war upon them was this that follows
:--
2. When Balak, the king of the Moabites, who had from his ancestors
a friendship and league with the Midianites,
saw how great the Israelites were grown, he was much affrighted
on account of his own and his kingdom's danger;
for he was not acquainted with this, that the Hebrews would not
meddle with any other country, but were to be
contented with the possession of the land of Canaan, God having
forbidden them to go any farther (7) So he, with
more haste than wisdom, resolved to make an attempt upon them by
words; but he did not judge it prudent to fight
against them, after they had such prosperous successes, and even
became out of ill successes more happy than
before, but he thought to hinder them, if he could, from growing
greater, and so he resolved to send ambassadors to
the Midianites about them. Now these Midianites knowing there was
one Balaam, who lived by Euphrates, and was
the greatest of the prophets at that time, and one that was in friendship
with them, sent some of their honorable
princes along with the ambassadors of Balak, to entreat the prophet
to come to them, that he might imprecate
curses to the destruction of the Israelites. So Balsam received
the ambassadors, and treated them very kindly; and
when he had supped, he inquired what was God's will, and what this
matter was for which the Midianites entreated
him to come to them. But when God opposed his going, he came to
the ambassadors, and told them that he was
himself very willing and desirous to comply with their request,
but informed them that God was opposite to his
intentions, even that God who had raised him to great reputation
on account of the truth of his predictions; for that
this army, which they entreated him to come and curse, was in the
favor of God; on which account he advised them
to go home again, and not to persist in their enmity against the
Israelites; and when he had given them that answer,
he dismissed the ambassadors.
3. Now the Midianites, at the earnest request and fervent entreaties
of Balak, sent other ambassadors to Balaam,
who, desiring to gratify the men, inquired again of God; but he
was displeased at [second] trial (8) and bid him by no
means to contradict the ambassadors. Now Balsam did not imagine
that God gave this injunction in order to
deceive him, so he went along with the ambassadors; but when the
divine angel met him in the way, when he was in
a narrow passage, and hedged in with a wall on both sides, the ass
on which Balaam rode understood that it was a
divine spirit that met him, and thrust Balaam to one of the walls,
without regard to the stripes which Balaam, when
he was hurt by the wall, gave her; but when the ass, upon the angel's
continuing to distress her, and upon the
stripes which were given her, fell down, by the will of God, she
made use of the voice of a man, and complained of
Balaam as acting unjustly to her; that whereas he had no fault find
with her in her former service to him, he now
inflicted stripes upon her, as not understanding that she was hindered
from serving him in what he was now going
about, by the providence of God. And when he was disturbed by reason
of the voice of the ass, which was that of a
man, the angel plainly appeared to him, and blamed him for the stripes
he had given his ass; and informed him that
the brute creature was not in fault, but that he was himself come
to obstruct his journey, as being contrary to the
will of God. Upon which Balaam was afraid, and was preparing to
return back again: yet did God excite him to go on
his intended journey, but added this injunction, that he should
declare nothing but what he himself should suggest to
his mind.
4. When God had given him this charge, he came to Balak; and when
the king had entertained him in a magnificent
manner, he desired him to go to one of the mountains to take a view
of the state of the camp of the Hebrews. Balak
himself also came to the mountain, and brought the prophet along
with him, with a royal attendance. This mountain
lay over their heads, and was distant sixty furlongs from the camp.
Now when he saw them, he desired the king to
build him seven altars, and to bring him as many bulls and rams;
to which desire the king did presently conform. He
then slew the sacrifices, and offered them as burnt-offerings, that
he might observe some signal of the flight of the
Hebrews. Then said he, "Happy is this people, on whom God bestows
the possession of innumerable good things,
and grants them his own providence to be their assistant and their
guide; so that there is not any nation among
mankind but you will be esteemed superior to them in virtue, and
in the earnest prosecution of the best rules of life,
and of such as are pure from wickedness, and will leave those rules
to your excellent children; and this out of the
regard that God bears to you, and the provision of such things for
you as may render you happier than any other
people under the sun. You shall retain that land to which he hath
sent you, and it shall ever be under the command
of your children; and both all the earth, as well as the seas, shall
be filled with your glory: and you shall be
sufficiently numerous to supply the world in general, and every
region of it in particular, with inhabitants out of your
stock. However, O blessed army! wonder that you are become so many
from one father: and truly, the land of
Canaan can now hold you, as being yet comparatively few; but know
ye that the whole world is proposed to be your
place of habitation for ever. The multitude of your posterity also
shall live as well in the islands as on the continent,
and that more in number than are the stars of heaven. And when you
are become so many, God will not relinquish
the care of you, but will afford you an abundance of all good things
in times of peace, with victory and dominion in
times of war. May the children of your enemies have an inclination
to fight against you; and may they be so hardy
as to come to arms, and to assault you in battle, for they will
not return with victory, nor will their return be
agreeable to their children and wives. To so great a degree of valor
will you be raised by the providence of God,
who is able to diminish the affluence of some, and to supply the
wants of others."
5. Thus did Balaam speak by inspiration, as not being in his own
power, but moved to say what he did by the Divine
Spirit. But then Balak was displeased, and said he had broken the
contract he had made, whereby he was to come,
as he and his confederates had invited him, by the promise of great
presents: for whereas he came to curse their
enemies, he had made an encomium upon them, and had declared that
they were the happiest of men. To which
Balaam replied, "O Balak, if thou rightly considerest this whole
matter, canst thou suppose that it is in our power to
be silent, or to say any thing, when the Spirit of God seizes upon
us? - for he puts such words as he pleases in our
mouths, and such discourses as we are not ourselves conscious of.
I well remember by what entreaties both you and
the Midianites so joyfully brought me hither, and on that account
I took this journey. It was my prayer, that I might
not put any affront upon you, as to what you desired of me; but
God is more powerful than the purposes I had made
to serve you; for those that take upon them to foretell the affairs
of mankind, as from their own abilities, are
entirely unable to do it, or to forbear to utter what God suggests
to them, or to offer violence to his will; for when he
prevents us and enters into us, nothing that we say is our own.
I then did not intend to praise this army, nor to go
over the several good things which God intended to do to their race;
but since he was so favorable to them, and so
ready to bestow upon them a happy life and eternal glory, he suggested
the declaration of those things to me: but
now, because it is my desire to oblige thee thyself, as well as
the Midianites, whose entreaties it is not decent for
me to reject, go to, let us again rear other altars, and offer the
like sacrifices that we did before, that I may see
whether I can persuade God to permit me to bind these men with curses."
Which, when Balak had agreed to, God
would not, even upon second sacrifices, consent to his cursing the
Israelites. (9) Then fell Balaam upon his face,
and foretold what calamities would befall the several kings of the
nations, and the most eminent cities, some of
which of old were not so much as inhabited; which events have come
to pass among the several people concerned,
both in the foregoing ages, and in this, till my own memory, both
by sea and by land. From which completion of all
these predictions that he made, one may easily guess that the rest
will have their completion in time to come.
6. But Balak being very angry that the Israelites were not cursed,
sent away Balaam without thinking him worthy of
any honor. Whereupon, when he was just upon his journey, in order
to pass the Euphrates, he sent for Balak, and
for the princes of the Midianites, and spake thus to them: - "O
Balak, and you Midianites that are here present,
(for I am obliged even without the will of God to gratify you,)
it is true no entire destruction can seize upon the
nation of the Hebrews, neither by war, nor by plague, nor by scarcity
of the fruits of the earth, nor can any other
unexpected accident be their entire ruin; for the providence of
God is concerned to preserve them from such a
misfortune; nor will it permit any such calamity to come upon them
whereby they may all perish; but some small
misfortunes, and those for a short time, whereby they may appear
to be brought low, may still befall them; but after
that they will flourish again, to the terror of those that brought
those mischiefs upon them. So that if you have a
mind to gain a victory over them for a short space of time, you
will obtain it by following my directions: - Do you
therefore set out the handsomest of such of your daughters as are
most eminent for beauty, (10) and proper to
force and conquer the modesty of those that behold them, and these
decked and trimmed to the highest degree
able. Then do you send them to be near camp, and give them in charge,
that the young men of the Hebrews desire
their allow it them; and when they see they are enamored of them,
let them take leaves; and if they entreat them to
stay, let give their consent till they have persuaded leave off
their obedience to their own laws, the worship of that
God who established them to worship the gods of the Midianites and
for by this means God will be angry at them
(11). Accordingly, when Balaam had suggested counsel to them, he
went his way.
7. So when the Midianites had sent their daughters,as Balaam had
exhorted them, the Hebrew men were allured by
their beauty, and came with them, and besought them not to grudge
them the enjoyment of their beauty, nor to deny
them their conversation. These daughters of Midianites received
their words gladly, and consented to it, and staid
with them; but when they brought them to be enamored of them, and
their inclinations to them were grown to
ripeness, they began to think of departing from them: then it was
that these men became greatly disconsolate at the
women's departure, and they were urgent with them not to leave them,
but begged they would continue there, and
become their wives; and they promised them they should be owned
as mistresses all they had. This they said with
an oath, and called God for the arbitrator of what they promised;
and this with tears in their eyes, and all such
marks of concern, as might shew how miserable they thought themselves
without them, and so might move their
compassion for them. So the women, as soon as they perceived they
had made their slaves, and had caught them
with their conservation began to speak thus to them: -
8. "O you illustrious young men! we have of our own at home, and
great plenty of good things there, together with
the natural, affectionate parents and friends; nor is it out of
our want of any such things that we came to discourse
with you; nor did we admit of your invitation with design to prostitute
the beauty of our bodies for gain; but taking
you for brave and worthy men, we agreed to your request, that we
might treat you with such honors as hospitality
required: and now seeing you say that you have a great affection
for us, and are troubled when you think we are
departing, we are not averse to your entreaties; and if we may receive
such assurance of your good-will as we think
can be alone sufficient, we will be glad to lead our lives with
you as your wives; but we are afraid that you will in
time be weary of our company, and will then abuse us, and send us
back to our parents, after an ignominious
manner." And they desired that they would excuse them in their guarding
against that danger. But the young men
professed they would give them any assurance they should desire;
nor did they at all contradict what they
requested, so great was the passion they had for them. "If then,"
said they, "this be your resolution, since you
make use of such customs and conduct of life as are entirely different
from all other men, (12) insomuch that your
kinds of food are peculiar to yourselves, and your kinds of drink
not common to others, it will be absolutely
necessary, if you would have us for your wives, that you do withal
worship our gods. Nor can there be any other
demonstration of the kindness which you say you already have, and
promise to have hereafter to us, than this, that
you worship the same gods that we do. For has any one reason to
complain, that now you are come into this
country, you should worship the proper gods of the same country?
especially while our gods are common to all men,
and yours such as belong to nobody else but yourselves." So they
said they must either come into such methods of
divine worship as all others came into, or else they must look out
for another world, wherein they may live by
themselves, according to their own laws.
9. Now the young men were induced by the fondness they had for these
women to think they spake very well; so
they gave themselves up to what they persuaded them, and transgressed
their own laws, and supposing there were
many gods, and resolving that they would sacrifice to them according
to the laws of that country which ordained
them, they both were delighted with their strange food, and went
on to do every thing that the women would have
them do, though in contradiction to their own laws; so far indeed
that this transgression was already gone through
the whole army of the young men, and they fell into a sedition that
was much worse than the former, and into
danger of the entire abolition of their own institutions; for when
once the youth had tasted of these strange customs,
they went with insatiable inclinations into them; and even where
some of the principal men were illustrious on
account of the virtues of their fathers, they also were corrupted
together with the rest.
10. Even Zimri, the head of the tribe of Simeon accompanied with
Cozbi, a Midianitish women, who was the
daughter of Sur, a man of authority in that country; and being desired
by his wife to disregard the laws of Moses,
and to follow those she was used to, he complied with her, and this
both by sacrificing after a manner different from
his own, and by taking a stranger to wife. When things were thus,
Moses was afraid that matters should grow
worse, and called the people to a congregation, but then accused
nobody by name, as unwilling to drive those into
despair who, by lying concealed, might come to repentance; but he
said that they did not do what was either worthy
of themselves, or of their fathers, by preferring pleasure to God,
and to the living according to his will; that it was
fit they should change their courses while their affairs were still
in a good state, and think that to be true fortitude
which offers not violence to their laws, but that which resists
their lusts. And besides that, he said it was not a
reasonable thing, when they had lived soberly in the wilderness,
to act madly now when they were in prosperity; and
that they ought not to lose, now they have abundance, what they
had gained when they had little: - and so did he
endeavor, by saying this, to correct the young inert, and to bring
them to repentance for what they had done.
11. But Zimri arose up after him, and said, "Yes, indeed, Moses,
thou art at liberty to make use of such laws as
thou art so fond of, and hast, by accustoming thyself to them, made
them firm; otherwise, if things had not been
thus, thou hadst often been punished before now, and hadst known
that the Hebrews are not easily put upon; but
thou shalt not have me one of thy followers in thy tyrannical commands,
for thou dost nothing else hitherto, but,
under pretense of laws, and of God, wickedly impose on us slavery,
and gain dominion to thyself, while thou
deprivest us of the sweetness of life, which consists in acting
according to our own wills, and is the right of
free-men, and of those that have no lord over them. Nay, indeed,
this man is harder upon the Hebrews then were
the Egyptians themselves, as pretending to punish, according to
his laws, every one's acting what is most agreeable
to himself; but thou thyself better deservest to suffer punishment,
who presumest to abolish what every one
acknowledges to be what is good for him, and aimest to make thy
single opinion to have more force than that of all
the rest; and what I now do, and think to be right, I shall not
hereafter deny to be according to my own sentiments. I
have married, as thou sayest rightly, a strange woman, and thou
hearest what I do from myself as from one that is
free, for truly I did not intend to conceal myself. I also own that
I sacrificed to those gods to whom you do not think
it fit to sacrifice; and I think it right to come at truth by inquiring
of many people, and not like one that lives under
tyranny, to suffer the whole hope of my life to depend upon one
man; nor shall any one find cause to rejoice who
declares himself to have more authority over my actions than myself."
12. Now when Zimri had said these things, about what he and some
others had wickedly done, the people held their
peace, both out of fear of what might come upon them, and because
they saw that their legislator was not willing to
bring his insolence before the public any further, or openly to
contend with him; for he avoided that, lest many
should imitate the impudence of his language, and thereby disturb
the multitude. Upon this the assembly was
dissolved. However, the mischievous attempt had proceeded further,
if Zimri had not been first slain, which came to
pass on the following occasion: - Phineas, a man in other respects
better than the rest of the young men, and also
one that surpassed his contemporaries in the dignity of his father,
(for he was the son of Eleazar the high priest, and
the grandson of [Aaron] Moses's brother,) who was greatly troubled
at what was done by Zimri, he resolved in
earnest to inflict punishment on him, before his unworthy behavior
should grow stronger by impunity, and in order
to prevent this transgression from proceeding further, which would
happen if the ringleaders were not punished. He
was of so great magnanimity, both in strength of mind and body,
that when he undertook any very dangerous
attempt, he did not leave it off till he overcame it, and got an
entire victory. So he came into Zimri's tent, and slew
him with his javelin, and with it he slew Cozbi also, Upon which
all those young men that had a regard to virtue, and
aimed to do a glorious action, imitated Phineas's boldness, and
slew those that were found to be guilty of the same
crime with Zimri. Accordingly many of those that had transgressed
perished by the magnanimous valor of these
young men; and the rest all perished by a plague, which distemper
God himself inflicted upon them; so that all those
their kindred, who, instead of hindering them from such wicked actions,
as they ought to have done, had persuaded
them to go on, were esteemed by God as partners in their wickedness,
and died. Accordingly there perished out of
the army no fewer than fourteen (13) [twenty-four] thousand at this
time.
13. This was the cause why Moses was provoked to send an army to
destroy the Midianites, concerning which
expedition we shall speak presently, when we have first related
what we have omitted; for it is but just not to pass
over our legislator's due encomium, on account of his conduct here,
because, although this Balaam, who was sent
for by the Midianites to curse the Hebrews, and when he was hindered
from doing it by Divine Providence, did still
suggest that advice to them, by making use of which our enemies
had well nigh corrupted the whole multitude of the
Hebrews with their wiles, till some of them were deeply infected
with their opinions; yet did he do him great honor,
by setting down his prophecies in writing. And while it was in his
power to claim this glory to himself, and make men
believe they were his own predictions, there being no one that could
be a witness against him, and accuse him for so
doing, he still gave his attestation to him, and did him the honor
to make mention of him on this account. But let
every one think of these matters as he pleases.
CHAPTER 7
HOW THE HEBREWS FOUGHT WITH THE MIDIANITES, AND OVERCAME THEM
1. Now Moses sent an army against the land of Midian, for the causes
forementioned, in all twelve thousand,
taking an equal number out of every tribe, and appointed Phineas
for their commander; of which Phineas we made mention a little before,
as he that had guarded the laws of the Hebrews, and had inflicted punishment
on Zimri when he had transgressed them. Now the Midianites perceived beforehand
how the Hebrews were coming, and would suddenly be upon them: so they assembled
their army together, and fortified the entrances into their country, and
there awaited the enemy's coming. When they were come, and they had joined
battle with them, an immense multitude of the Midianites fell; nor could
they be numbered, they were so very many: and among them fell all their
kings, five in number, viz. Evi, Zur, Reba, Hur, and Rekem, who was of
the same name with a city, the chief and capital of all Arabia, which is
still now so called by the whole Arabian nation, Arecem, from the name
of the king that built it; but is by the Greeks called Petra. Now when
the enemies were discomfited, the Hebrews spoiled their country, and took
a great prey, and destroyed the men that were its inhabitants, together
with the women; only they let the virgins alone, as Moses had commanded
Phineas to do, who indeed came back, bringing with him an army that had
received no harm, and a great deal of prey; fifty-two thousand beeves,
seventy-five thousand six hundred sheep, sixty thousand asses, with an
immense quantity of gold and silver furniture, which the Midianites made
use of in their houses; for they were so wealthy, that they were very luxurious.
There were also led captive about thirty-two thousand virgins. (14) So
Moses parted the prey into parts, and gave one fiftieth part to Eleazar
and the two priests, and another fiftieth part to the Levites; and distributed
the rest of the prey among the people. After which they lived happily,
as having obtained an abundance of good things by their valor, and there
being no misfortune that attended them, or hindered their enjoyment of
that happiness.
2. But Moses was now grown old, and appointed Joshua for his successor,
both to receive directions from God as a
prophet, and for a commander of the army, if they should at any
time stand in need of such a one; and this was done
by the command of God, that to him the care of the public should
be committed. Now Joshua had been instructed in
all those kinds of learning which concerned the laws and God himself,
and Moses had been his instructor.
3. At this time it was that the two tribes of Gad and Reuben, and
the half tribe of Manasseh, abounded in a
multitude of cattle, as well as in all other kinds of prosperity;
whence they had a meeting, and in a body came and
besought Moses to give them, as their peculiar portion, that land
of the Amorites which they had taken by right of
war, because it was fruitful, and good for feeding of cattle; but
Moses, supposing that they were afraid of fighting
with the Canaanites, and invented this provision for their cattle
as a handsome excuse for avoiding that war, he
called them arrant cowards, and said they had only contrived a decent
excuse for that cowardice; and that they had
a mind to live in luxury and ease, while all the rest were laboring
with great pains to obtain the land they were
desirous to have; and that they were not willing to march along,
and undergo the remaining hard service, whereby
they were, under the Divine promise, to pass over Jordan, and overcome
those our enemies which God had shown
them, and so obtain their land. But these tribes, when they saw
that Moses was angry with them, and when they
could not deny but he had a just cause to be displeased at their
petition, made an apology for themselves; and said,
that it was not on account of their fear of dangers, nor on account
of their laziness, that they made this request to
him, but that they might leave the prey they had gotten in places
of safety, and thereby might be more expedite,
and ready to undergo difficulties, and to fight battles. They added
this also, that when they had built cities, wherein
they might preserve their children, and wives, and possessions,
if he would bestow them upon them, they would go
along with the rest of the army. Hereupon Moses was pleased with
what they said; so he called for Eleazar the high
priest, and Joshua, and the chief of the tribes, and permitted these
tribes to possess the land of the Amorites; but
upon this condition, that they should join with their kinsmen in
the war until all things were settled. Upon which
condition they took possession of the country, and built them strong
cities, and put into them their children and their
wives, and whatsoever else they had that might be an impediment
to the labors of their future marches.
4. Moses also now built those ten cities which were to be of the
number of the forty-eight [for the Levites;]; three of
which he allotted to those that slew any person involuntarily, and
fled to them; and he assigned the same time for
their banishment with that of the life of that high priest under
whom the slaughter and flight happened; after which
death of the high priest he permitted the slayer to return home.
During the time of his exile, the relations of him
that was slain may, by this law, kill the manslayer, if they caught
him without the bounds of the city to which he fled,
though this permission was not granted to any other person. Now
the cities which were set apart for this flight were
these: Bezer, at the borders of Arabia; Ramoth, of the land of Gilead;
and Golan, in the land of Bashan. There
were to be also, by Moses's command, three other cities allotted
for the habitation of these fugitives out of the
cities of the Levites, but not till after they should be in possession
of the land of Canaan.
5. At this time the chief men of the tribe of Manasseh came to Moses,
and informed him that there was an eminent
man of their tribe dead, whose name was Zelophehad, who left no
male children, but left daughters; and asked him
whether these daughters might inherit his land or not. He made this
answer, That if they shall marry into their own
tribe, they shall carry their estate along with them; but if they
dispose of themselves in marriage to men of another
tribe, they shall leave their inheritance in their father's tribe.
And then it was that Moses ordained, that every one's
inheritance should continue in his own tribe.
CHAPTER 8
THE POLITY SETTLED BY MOSES; AND HOW HE DISAPPEARED FROM AMONG MANKIND
1. WHEN forty years were completed, within thirty days, Moses gathered
the congregation together near Jordan,
where the city Abila now stands, a place full of palm-trees; and
all the people being come together, he spake thus to
them: -
2. "O you Israelites and fellow soldiers, who have been partners
with me in this long and uneasy journey; since it is
now the will of God, and the course of old age, at a hundred and
twenty, requires it that I should depart out of this
life; and since God has forbidden me to be a patron or an assistant
to you in what remains to be done beyond
Jordan; I thought it reasonable not to leave off my endeavors even
now for your happiness, but to do my utmost to
procure for you the eternal enjoyment of good things, and a memorial
for myself, when you shall be in the fruition of
great plenty and prosperity. Come, therefore, let me suggest to
you by what means you may he happy, and may
leave an eternal prosperous possession thereof to your children
after you, and then let me thus go out of the world;
and I cannot but deserve to be believed by you, both on account
of the great things I have already done for you,
and because, when souls are about to leave the body, they speak
with the sincerest freedom. O children of Israel!
there is but one source of happiness for all mankind, the favor
of God (15) for he alone is able to give good things
to those that deserve them, and to deprive those of them that sin
against him; towards whom, if you behave
yourselves according to his will, and according to what I, who well
understand his mind, do exhort you to, you will
both be esteemed blessed, and will be admired by all men; and will
never come into misfortunes, nor cease to be
happy: you will then preserve the possession of the good things
you already have, and will quickly obtain those that
you are at present in want of, - only do you be obedient to those
whom God would have you to follow. Nor do you
prefer any other constitution of government before the laws now
given you; neither do you disregard that way of
Divine worship which you now have, nor change it for any other form:
and if you do this, you will be the most
courageous of all men, in undergoing the fatigues of war, and will
not be easily conquered by any of your enemies;
for while God is present with you to assist you, it is to be expected
that you will be able to despise the opposition of
all mankind; and great rewards of virtue are proposed for you, if
you preserve that virtue through your whole lives.
Virtue itself is indeed the principal and the first reward, and
after that it bestows abundance of others; so that your
exercise of virtue towards other men will make your own lives happy,
and render you more glorious than foreigners
can be, and procure you an undisputed reputation with posterity.
These blessings you will be able to obtain, in case
you hearken to and observe those laws which, by Divine revelation,
I have ordained for you; that is, in case you
withal meditate upon the wisdom that is in them. I am going from
you myself, rejoicing in the good things you enjoy;
and I recommend you to the wise conduct of your law, to the becoming
order of your polity, and to the virtues of
your commanders, who will take care of what is for your advantage.
And that God, who has been till now your
Leader, and by whose goodwill I have myself been useful to you,
will not put a period now to his providence over
you, but as long as you desire to have him your Protector in your
pursuits after virtue, so long will you enjoy his
care over you. Your high priest also Eleazar, as well as Joshua,
with the senate, and chief of your tribes, will go
before you, and suggest the best advices to you; by following which
advices you will continue to be happy: to whom
do you give ear without reluctance, as sensible that all such as
know well how to be governed, will also know how to
govern, if they be promoted to that authority themselves. And do
not you esteem liberty to consist in opposing such
directions as your governors think fit to give you for your practice,
- as at present indeed you place your liberty in
nothing else but abusing your benefactors; which error if you can
avoid for the time to come, your affairs will be in a
better condition than they have hitherto been. Nor do you ever indulge
such a degree of passion in these matters,
as you have oftentimes done when you have been very angry at me;
for you know that I have been oftener in
danger of death from you than from our enemies. What I now put you
in mind of, is not done in order to reproach
you; for I do not think it proper, now I am going out of the world,
to bring this to your remembrance, in order to
leave you offended at me, since, at the time when I underwent those
hardships from you, I was not angry at you;
but I do it in order to make you wiser hereafter, and to teach you
that this will be for your security; I mean, that you
never be injurious to those that preside over you, even when you
are become rich, as you will he to a great degree
when you have passed over Jordan, and are in possession of the land
of Canaan. Since, when you shall have once
proceeded so far by your wealth, as to a contempt and disregard
of virtue, you will also forfeit the favor of God; and
when you have made him your enemy, you will be beaten in war, and
will have the land which you possess taken
away again from you by your enemies, and this with great reproaches
upon your conduct. You will be scattered over
the whole world, and will, as slaves, entirely fill both sea and
land; and when once you have had the experience of
what I now say, you will repent, and remember the laws you have
broken, when it is too late. Whence I would
advise you, if you intend to preserve these laws, to leave none
of your enemies alive when you have conquered
them, but to look upon it as for your advantage to destroy them
all, lest, if you permit them to live, you taste of
their manners, and thereby corrupt your own proper institutions.
I also do further exhort you, to overthrow their
altars, and their groves, and whatsoever temples they have among
them, and to burn all such, their nation, and their
very memory with fire; for by this means alone the safety of your
own happy constitution can be firmly secured to
you. And in order to prevent your ignorance of virtue, and the degeneracy
of your nature into vice, I have also
ordained you laws, by Divine suggestion, and a form of government,
which are so good, that if you regularly
observe them, you will be esteemed of all men the most happy."
3. When he had spoken thus, he gave them the laws and the constitution
of government written in a book. Upon
which the people fell into tears, and appeared already touched with
the sense that they should have a great want of
their conductor, because they remembered what a number of dangers
he had passed through, and what care he had
taken of their preservation: they desponded about what would come
upon them after he was dead, and thought they
should never have another governor like him; and feared that God
would then take less care of them when Moses
was gone, who used to intercede for them. They also repented of
what they had said to him in the wilderness when
they were angry, and were in grief on those accounts, insomuch that
the whole body of the people fell into tears with
such bitterness, that it was past the power of words to comfort
them in their affliction. However, Moses gave them
some consolation; and by calling them off the thought how worthy
he was of their weeping for him, he exhorted
them to keep to that form of government he had given them; and then
the congregation was dissolved at that time.
4. Accordingly, I shall now first describe this form of government
which was agreeable to the dignity and virtue of
Moses; and shall thereby inform those that read these Antiquities,
what our original settlements were, and shall
then proceed to the remaining histories. Now those settlements are
all still in writing, as he left them; and we shall
add nothing by way of ornament, nor any thing besides what Moses
left us; only we shall so far innovate, as to
digest the several kinds of laws into a regular system; for they
were by him left in writing as they were accidentally
scattered in their delivery, and as he upon inquiry had learned
them of God. On which account I have thought it
necessary to premise this observation beforehand, lest any of my
own countrymen should blame me, as having
been guilty of an offense herein. Now part of our constitution will
include the laws that belong to our political state.
As for those laws which Moses left concerning our common conversation
and intercourse one with another, I have
reserved that for a discourse concerning our manner of life, and
the occasions of those laws; which I propose to
myself, with God's assistance, to write, after I have finished the
work I am now upon.
5. When you have possessed yourselves of the land of Canaan, and
have leisure to enjoy the good things of it, and
when you have afterward determined to build cities, if you will
do what is pleasing to God, you will have a secure
state of happiness. Let there be then one city of the land of Canaan,
and this situate in the most agreeable place for
its goodness, and very eminent in itself, and let it be that which
God shall choose for himself by prophetic
revelation. Let there also be one temple therein, and one altar,
not reared of hewn stones, but of such as you gather
together at random; which stones, when they are whited over with
mortar, will have a handsome appearance, and be
beautiful to the sight. Let the ascent to it be not by steps (16)
but by an acclivity of raised earth. And let there be
neither an altar nor a temple in any other city; for God is but
one, and the nation of the Hebrews is but one.
6. He that blasphemeth God, let him be stoned; and let him hang upon
a tree all that day, and then let him be buried
in an ignominious and obscure manner.
7. Let those that live as remote as the bounds of the land which
the Hebrews shall possess, come to that city where
the temple shall be, and this three times in a year, that they may
give thanks to God for his former benefits, and
may entreat him for those they shall want hereafter; and let them,
by this means, maintain a friendly
correspondence with one another by such meetings and feastings together,
for it is a good thing for those that are
of the same stock, and under the same institution of laws, not to
be unacquainted with each other; which
acquaintance will be maintained by thus conversing together, and
by seeing and talking with one another, and so
renewing the memorials of this union; for if they do not thus converse
together continually, they will appear like
mere strangers to one another.
8. Let there be taken out of your fruits a tenth, besides that which
you have allotted to give to the priests and
Levites. This you may indeed sell in the country, but it is to be
used in those feasts and sacrifices that are to be
celebrated in the holy city; for it is fit that you should enjoy
those fruits of the earth which God gives you to
possess, so as may be to the honor of the donor.
9. You are not to offer sacrifices out of the hire of a woman who
is a harlot (17) for the Deity is not pleased with any
thing that arises from such abuses of nature; of which sort none
can be worse than this prostitution of the body. In
like manner no one may take the price of the covering of a bitch,
either of one that is used in hunting, or in keeping
of sheep, and thence sacrifice to God.
10. Let no one blaspheme those gods which other cities esteem such;
(18) nor may any one steal what belongs to
strange temples, nor take away the gifts that are dedicated to any
god.
11. Let not any one of you wear a garment made of woolen and linen,
for that is appointed to be for the priests
alone.
12. When the multitude are assembled together unto the holy city
for sacrificing every seventh year, at the feast of
tabernacles, let the high priest stand upon a high desk, whence
he may be heard, and let him read the laws to all the
people; and let neither the women nor the children be hindered from
hearing, no, nor the servants neither; for it is a
good thing that those laws should be engraven in their souls, and
preserved in their memories, that so it may not be
possible to blot them out; for by this means they will not be guilty
of sin, when they cannot plead ignorance of what
the laws have enjoined them. The laws also will have a greater authority
among them, as foretelling what they will
suffer if they break them; and imprinting in their souls by this
hearing what they command them to do, that so there
may always be within their minds that intention of the laws which
they have despised and broken, and have thereby
been the causes of their own mischief. Let the children also learn
the laws, as the first thing they are taught, which
will be the best thing they can be taught, and will be the cause
of their future felicity.
13. Let every one commemorate before God the benefits which he bestowed
upon them at their deliverance out of
the land of Egypt, and this twice every day, both when the day begins
and when the hour of sleep comes on,
gratitude being in its own nature a just thing, and serving not
only by way of return for past, but also by way of
invitation of future favors. They are also to inscribe the principal
blessings they have received from God upon their
doors, and show the same remembrance of them upon their arms; as
also they are to bear on their forehead and
their arm those wonders which declare the power of God, and his
good-will towards them, that God's readiness to
bless them may appear every where conspicuous about them. (19)
14. Let there be seven men to judge in every city, (20) and these
such as have been before most zealous in the
exercise of virtue and righteousness. Let every judge have two officers
allotted him out of the tribe of Levi. Let
those that are chosen to judge in the several cities be had in great
honor; and let none be permitted to revile any
others when these are present, nor to carry themselves in an insolent
manner to them; it being natural that
reverence towards those in high offices among men should procure
men's fear and reverence towards God. Let
those that judge be permitted to determine according as they think
to be right, unless any one can show that they
have taken bribes, to the perversion of justice, or can allege any
other accusation against them, whereby it may
appear that they have passed an unjust sentence; for it is not fit
that causes should be openly determined out of
regard to gain, or to the dignity of the suitors, but that the judges
should esteem what is right before all other
things, otherwise God will by that means be despised, and esteemed
inferior to those, the dread of whose power has
occasioned the unjust sentence; for justice is the power of God.
He therefore that gratifies those in great dignity,
supposes them more potent than God himself. But if these judges
be unable to give a just sentence about the
causes that come before them, (which case is not unfrequent in human
affairs,) let them send the cause
undetermined to the holy city, and there let the high priest, the
prophet, and the sanhedrim, determine as it shall
seem good to them.
15. But let not a single witness be credited, but three, or two at
the least, and those such whose testimony is
confirmed by their good lives. But let not the testimony of women
be admitted, on account of the levity and
boldness of their sex (21) Nor let servants be admitted to give
testimony, on account of the ignobility of their soul;
since it is probable that they may not speak truth, either out of
hope of gain, or fear of punishment. But if any one
be believed to have borne false witness, let him, when he is convicted,
suffer all the very same punishments which
he against whom he bore witness was to have suffered.
16. If a murder be committed in any place, and he that did it be
not found, nor is there any suspicion upon one as if
he had hated the man, and so had killed him, let there be a very
diligent inquiry made after the man, and rewards
proposed to any one who will discover him; but if still no information
can be procured, let the magistrates and
senate of those cities that lie near the place in which the murder
was committed, assemble together, and measure
the distance from the place where the dead body lies; then let the
magistrates of the nearest city thereto purchase
a heifer, and bring it to a valley, and to a place therein where
there is no land ploughed or trees planted, and let
them cut the sinews of the heifer; then the priests and Levites,
and the senate of that city, shall take water and
wash their hands over the head of the heifer; and they shall openly
declare that their hands are innocent of this
murder, and that they have neither done it themselves, nor been
assisting to any that did it. They shall also beseech
God to be merciful to them, that no such horrid act may any more
be done in that land.
17. Aristocracy, and the way of living under it, is the best constitution:
and may you never have any inclination to
any other form of government; and may you always love that form,
and have the laws for your governors, and
govern all your actions according to them; for you need no supreme
governor but God. But if you shall desire a
king, let him be one of your own nation; let him be always careful
of justice and other virtues perpetually; let him
submit to the laws, and esteem God's commands to be his highest
wisdom; but let him do nothing without the high
priest and the votes of the senators: let him not have a great number
of wives, nor pursue after abundance of
riches, nor a multitude of horses, whereby he may grow too proud
to submit to the laws. And if he affect any such
things, let him be restrained, lest he become so potent that his
state be inconsistent with your welfare.
18. Let it not be esteemed lawful to remove boundaries, neither our
own, nor of those with whom we are at peace.
Have a care you do not take those landmarks away which are, as it
were, a divine and unshaken limitation of rights
made by God himself, to last for ever; since this going beyond limits,
and gaining ground upon others, is the
occasion of wars and seditions; for those that remove boundaries
are not far off an attempt to subvert the laws.
19. He that plants a piece of land, the trees of which produce fruits
before the fourth year, is not to bring thence any
first-fruits to God, nor is he to make use of that fruit himself,
for it is not produced in its proper season; for when
nature has a force put upon her at an unseasonable time, the fruit
is not proper for God, nor for the master's use;
but let the owner gather all that is grown on the fourth car, for
then it is in its proper season. And let him that has
gathered it carry it to the holy city, and spend that, together
with the tithe of his other fruits, in feasting with his
friends, with the orphans, and the widows. But on the fifth year
the fruit is his own, and he may use it as he pleases.
20. You are not to sow with seed a piece of land which is planted
with vines, for it is enough that it supply
nourishment to that plant, and be not harassed by ploughing also.
You are to plough your land with oxen, and not to
oblige other animals to come under the same yoke with them; but
to till your land with those beasts that are of the
same kind with each other. The seeds are also to be pure, and without
mixture, and not to be compounded of two or
three sorts, since nature does not rejoice in the union of things
that are not in their own nature alike; nor are you to
permit beasts of different kinds to gender together, for there is
reason to fear that this unnatural abuse may extend
from beasts of different kinds to men, though it takes its first
rise from evil practices about such smaller things.
Nor is any thing to be allowed, by imitation whereof any degree
of subversion may creep into the constitution. Nor
do the laws neglect small matters, but provide that even those may
be managed after an unblamable manner.
21. Let not those that reap, and gather in the corn that is reaped,
gather in the gleanings also; but let them rather
leave some handfuls for those that are in want of the necessaries
of life, that it may be a support and a supply to
them, in order to their subsistence. In like manner when they gather
their grapes, let them leave some smaller
bunches for the poor, and let them pass over some of the fruits
of the olive-trees, when they gather them, and leave
them to be partaken of by those that have none of their own; for
the advantage arising from the exact collection of
all, will not be so considerable to the owners as will arise from
the gratitude of the poor. And God will provide that
the land shall more willingly produce what shall be for the nourishment
of its fruits, in case you do not merely take
care of your own advantage, but have regard to the support of others
also. Nor are you to muzzle the mouths of the
oxen when they tread the ears of corn in the thrashing-floor; for
it is not just to restrain our fellow-laboring animals,
and those that work in order to its production, of this fruit of
their labors. Nor are you to prohibit those that pass by
at the time when your fruits are ripe to touch them, but to give
them leave to fill themselves full of what you have;
and this whether they be of your own country or strangers, - as
being glad of the opportunity of giving them some
part of your fruits when they are ripe; but let it not be esteemed
lawful for them to carry any away. Nor let those
that gather the grapes, and carry them to the wine-presses, restrain
those whom they meet from eating of them; for
it is unjust, out of envy, to hinder those that desire it, to partake
of the good things that come into the world
according to God's will, and this while the season is at the height,
and is hastening away as it pleases God. Nay, if
some, out of bashfulness, are unwilling to touch these fruits, let
them be encouraged to take of them (I mean, those
that are Israelites) as if they were themselves the owners and lords,
on account of the kindred there is between
them. Nay, let them desire men that come from other countries, to
partake of these tokens of friendship which God
has given in their proper season; for that is not to be deemed as
idly spent, which any one out of kindness
communicates to another, since God bestows plenty of good things
on men, not only for themselves to reap the
advantage, but also to give to others in a way of generosity; and
he is desirous, by this means, to make known to
others his peculiar kindness to the people of Israel, and how freely
he communicates happiness to them, while they
abundantly communicate out of their great superfluities to even
these foreigners also. But for him that acts
contrary to this law, let him be beaten with forty stripes save
one (22) by the public executioner; let him undergo
this punishment, which is a most ignominious one for a free-man,
and this because he was such a slave to gain as to
lay a blot upon his dignity; for it is proper for you who have had
the experience of the afflictions in Egypt, and of
those in the wilderness, to make provision for those that are in
the like circumstances; and while you have now
obtained plenty yourselves, through the mercy and providence of
God, to distribute of the same plenty, by the like
sympathy, to such as stand in need of it.
22. Besides those two tithes, which I have already said you are to
pay every year, the one for the Levites, the other
for the festivals, you are to bring every third year a third tithe
to be distributed to those that want; (23) to women
also that are widows, and to children that are orphans. But as to
the ripe fruits, let them carry that which is ripe first
of all into the temple; and when they have blessed God for that
land which bare them, and which he had given them
for a possession, when they have also offered those sacrifices which
the law has commanded them to bring, let them
give the first-fruits to the priests. But when any one hath done
this, and hath brought the tithe of all that he hath,
together with those first-fruits that are for the Levites, and for
the festivals, and when he is about to go home, let
him stand before the holy house, and return thanks to God, that
he hath delivered them from the injurious
treatment they had in Egypt, and hath given them a good land, and
a large, and lets them enjoy the fruits thereof;
and when he hath openly testified that he hath fully paid the tithes
[and other dues] according to the laws of Moses,
let him entreat God that he will be ever merciful and gracious to
him, and continue so to be to all the Hebrews, both
by preserving the good things which he hath already given them,
and by adding what it is still in his power to bestow
upon them.
23. Let the Hebrews marry, at the age fit for it, virgins that are
free, and born of good parents. And he that does
not marry a virgin, let him not corrupt another man's wife, and
marry her, nor grieve her former husband. Nor let
free men marry slaves, although their affections should strongly
bias any of them so to do; for it is decent, and for
the dignity of the persons themselves, to govern those their affections.
And further, no one ought to marry a harlot,
whose matrimonial oblations, arising from the prostitution of her
body, God will not receive; for by these means the
dispositions of the children will be liberal and virtuous; I mean,
when they are not born of base parents, and of the
lustful conjunction of such as marry women that are not free. If
any one has been espoused to a woman as to a
virgin, and does not afterward find her so to be, let him bring
his action, and accuse her, and let him make use of
such indications (24) to prove his accusation as he is furnished
withal; and let the father or the brother of the
damsel, or some one that is after them nearest of kin to her, defend
her If the damsel obtain a sentence in her
favor, that she had not been guilty, let her live with her husband
that accused her; and let him not have any further
power at all to put her away, unless she give him very great occasions
of suspicion, and such as can be no way
contradicted. But for him that brings an accusation and calumny
against his wife in an impudent and rash manner,
let him be punished by receiving forty stripes save one, and let
him pay fifty shekels to her father: but if the damsel
be convicted, as having been corrupted, and is one of the common
people, let her be stoned, because she did not
preserve her virginity till she were lawfully married; but if she
were the daughter of a priest, let her be burnt alive.
If any one has two wives, and if he greatly respect and be kind
to one of them, either out of his affection to her, or
for her beauty, or for some other reason, while the other is of
less esteem with him; and if the son of her that is
beloved be the younger by birth than another born of the other wife,
but endeavors to obtain the right of
primogeniture from his father's kindness to his mother, and would
thereby obtain a double portion of his father's
substance, for that double portion is what I have allotted him in
the laws, - let not this be permitted; for it is unjust
that he who is the elder by birth should be deprived of what is
due to him, on the father's disposition of his estate,
because his mother was not equally regarded by him. He that hath
corrupted a damsel espoused to another man, in
case he had her consent, let both him and her be put to death, for
they are both equally guilty; the man, because he
persuaded the woman willingly to submit to a most impure action,
and to prefer it to lawful wedlock; the woman,
because she was persuaded to yield herself to be corrupted, either
for pleasure or for gain. However, if a man light
on a woman when she is alone, and forces her, where nobody was present
to come to her assistance, let him only be
put to death. Let him that hath corrupted a virgin not yet espoused
marry her; but if the father of the damsel be not
willing that she should be his wife, let him pay fifty shekels as
the price of her prostitution. He that desires to be
divorced from his wife for any cause (25) whatsoever, (and many
such causes happen among men,) let him in writing
give assurance that he will never use her as his wife any more;
for by this means she may be at liberty to marry
another husband, although before this bill of divorce be given,
she is not to be permitted so to do: but if she be
misused by him also, or if, when he is dead, her first husband would
marry her again, it shall not be lawful for her to
return to him. If a woman's husband die, and leave her without children,
let his brother marry her, and let him call
the son that is born to him by his brother's name, and educate him
as the heir of his inheritance, for this procedure
will be for the benefit of the public, because thereby families
will not fail, and the estate will continue among the
kindred; and this will be for the solace of wives under their affliction,
that they are to be married to the next
relation of their former husbands. But if the brother will not marry
her, let the woman come before the senate, and
protest openly that this brother will not admit her for his wife,
but will injure the memory of his deceased brother,
while she is willing to continue in the family, and to hear him
children. And when the senate have inquired of him for
what reason it is that he is averse to this marriage, whether he
gives a bad or a good reason, the matter must come
to this issue, That the woman shall loose the sandals of the brother,
and shall spit in his face, and say, He deserves
this reproachful treatment from her, as having injured the memory
of the deceased. And then let him go away out of
the senate, and bear this reproach upon him all his life long; and
let her marry to whom she pleases, of such as seek
her in marriage. But now, if any man take captive, either a virgin,
or one that hath been married, (26) and has a
mind to marry her, let him not be allowed to bring her to bed to
him, or to live with her as his wife, before she hath
her head shaven, and hath put on her mourning habit, and lamented
her relations and friends that were slain in the
battle, that by this means she may give vent to her sorrow for them,
and after that may betake herself to feasting
and matrimony; for it is good for him that takes a woman, in order
to have children by her, to be complaisant to her
inclinations, and not merely to pursue his own pleasure, while he
hath no regard to what is agreeable to her. But
when thirty days are past, as the time of mourning, for so many
are sufficient to prudent persons for lamenting the
dearest friends, then let them proceed to the marriage; but in case
when he hath satisfied his lust, he be too proud
to retain her for his wife, let him not have it in his power to
make her a slave, but let her go away whither she
pleases, and have that privilege of a free woman.
24. As to those young men that despise their parents, and do not
pay them honor, but offer them affronts, either
because they are ashamed of them or think themselves wiser than
they, - in the first place, let their parents
admonish them in words, (for they are by nature of authority sufficient
for becoming their judges,) and let them say
thus to them: - That they cohabited together, not for the sake of
pleasure, nor for the augmentation of their riches,
by joining both their stocks together, but that they might have
children to take care of them in their old age, and
might by them have what they then should want. And say further to
him, "That when thou wast born, we took thee
up with gladness, and gave God the greatest thanks for thee, and
brought time up with great care, and spared for
nothing that appeared useful for thy preservation, and for thy instruction
in what was most excellent. And now,
since it is reasonable to forgive the sins of those that are young,
let it suffice thee to have given so many
indications Of thy contempt of us; reform thyself, and act more
wisely for the time to come; considering that God is
displeased with those that are insolent towards their parents, because
he is himself the Father of the whole race of
mankind, and seems to bear part of that dishonor which falls upon
those that have the same name, when they do not
meet with dire returns from their children. And on such the law
inflicts inexorable punishment; of which punishment
mayst thou never have the experience." Now if the insolence of young
men be thus cured, let them escape the
reproach which their former errors deserved; for by this means the
lawgiver will appear to be good, and parents
happy, while they never behold either a son or a daughter brought
to punishment. But if it happen that these words
and instructions, conveyed by them in order to reclaim the man,
appear to be useless, then the offender renders the
laws implacable enemies to the insolence he has offered his parents;
let him therefore be brought forth (27) by
these very parents out of the city, with a multitude following him,
and there let him be stoned; and when he has
continued there for one whole day, that all the people may see him,
let him be buried in the night. And thus it is that
we bury all whom the laws condemn to die, upon any account whatsoever.
Let our enemies that fall in battle be also
buried; nor let any one dead body lie above the ground, or suffer
a punishment beyond what justice requires.
25. Let no one lend to any one of the Hebrews upon usury, neither
usury of what is eaten or what is drunken, for it
is not just to make advantage of the misfortunes of one of thy own
countrymen; but when thou hast been assistant
to his necessities, think it thy gain if thou obtainest their gratitude
to thee; and withal that reward which will come to
thee from God, for thy humanity towards him.
26. Those who have borrowed either silver or any sort of fruits,
whether dry or wet, (I mean this, when the Jewish
affairs shall, by the blessing of God, be to their own mind,) let
the borrowers bring them again, and restore them
with pleasure to those who lent them, laying them up, as it were,
in their own treasuries, and justly expecting to
receive them thence, if they shall want them again. But if they
be without shame, and do not restore it, let not the
lender go to the borrower's house, and take a pledge himself, before
judgment be given concerning it; but let him
require the pledge, and let the debtor bring it of himself, without
the least opposition to him that comes upon him
under the protection of the law. And if he that gave the pledge
be rich, let the creditor retain it till what he lent be
paid him again; but if he be poor, let him that takes it return
it before the going down of the sun, especially if the
pledge be a garment, that the debtor may have it for a covering
in his sleep, God himself naturally showing mercy
to the poor. It is also not lawful to take a millstone, nor any
utensil thereto belonging, for a pledge, that the debtor,
may not be deprived of instruments to get their food withal, and
lest they be undone by their necessity.
27. Let death be the punishment for stealing a man; but he that hath
purloined gold or silver, let him pay double. If
any one kill a man that is stealing something out of his house,
let him be esteemed guiltless, although the man were
only breaking in at the wall. Let him that hath stolen cattle pay
fourfold what is lost, excepting the case of an ox, for
which let the thief pay fivefold. Let him that is so poor that he
cannot pay what mulet is laid upon him, be his
servant to whom he was adjudged to pay it.
28. If any one be sold to one of his own nation, let him serve him
six years, and on the seventh let him go free. But
if he have a son by a woman servant in his purchaser's house, and
if, on account of his good-will to his master, and
his natural affection to his wife and children, he will be his servant
still, let him be set free only at the coming of the
year of jubilee, which is the fiftieth year, and let him then take
away with him his children and wife, and let them be
free also.
29. If any one find gold or silver on the road, let him inquire after
him that lost it, and make proclamation of the
place where he found it, and then restore it to him again, as not
thinking it right to make his own profit by the loss
of another. And the same rule is to be observed in cattle found
to have wandered away into a lonely place. If the
owner be not presently discovered, let him that is the finder keep
it with himself, and appeal to God that he has not
purloined what belongs to another.
30. It is not lawful to pass by any beast that is in distress, when
in a storm it is fallen down in the mire, but to
endeavor to preserve it, as having a sympathy with it in its pain.
31. It is also a duty to show the roads to those who do not know
them, and not to esteem it a matter for sport, when
we hinder others' advantages, by setting them in a wrong way.
32. In like manner, let no one revile a person blind or dumb.
33. If men strive together, and there be no instrument of iron, let
him that is smitten be avenged immediately, by
inflicting the same punishment on him that smote him: but if when
he is carried home he lie sick many days, and
then die, let him that smote him not escape punishment; but if he
that is smitten escape death, and yet be at great
expense for his cure, the smiter shall pay for all that has been
expended during the time of his sickness, and for all
that he has paid the physician. He that kicks a woman with child,
so that the woman miscarry, (28) let him pay a fine
in money, as the judges shall determine, as having diminished the
multitude by the destruction of what was in her
womb; and let money also be given the woman's husband by him that
kicked her; but if she die of the stroke, let
him also be put to death, the law judging it equitable that life
should go for life.
34. Let no one of the Israelites keep any poison (29) that may cause
death, or any other harm; but if he be caught
with it, let him be put to death, and suffer the very same mischief
that he would have brought upon them for whom
the poison was prepared.
35. He that maimeth any one, let him undergo the like himself, and
be deprived of the same member of which he
hath deprived the other, unless he that is maimed will accept of
money instead of it (30) for the law makes the
sufferer the judge of the value of what he hath suffered, and permits
him to estimate it, unless he will be more
severe.
36. Let him that is the owner of an ox which pusheth with his horn,
kill him: but if he pushes and gores any one in
the thrashing-floor, let him be put to death by stoning, and let
him not be thought fit for food: but if his owner be
convicted as having known what his nature was, and hath not kept
him up, let him also be put to death, as being the
occasion of the ox's having killed a man. But if the ox have killed
a man-servant, or a maid-servant, let him be
stoned; and let the owner of the ox pay thirty shekels (31) to the
master of him that was slain; but if it be an ox that
is thus smitten and killed, let both the oxen, that which smote
the other and that which was killed, be sold, and let
the owners of them divide their price between them.
37. Let those that dig a well or a pit be careful to lay planks over
them, and so keep them shut up, not in order to
hinder any persons from drawing water, but that there may be no
danger of falling into them. But if any one's beast
fall into such a well or pit thus digged, and not shut up, and perish,
let the owner pay its price to the owner of the
beast. Let there be a battlement round the tops of your houses instead
of a wall, that may prevent any persons from
rolling down and perishing.
38. Let him that has received any thing in trust for another, take
care to keep it as a sacred and divine thing; and
let no one invent any contrivance whereby to deprive him that hath
intrusted it with him of the same, and this
whether he be a man or a woman; no, not although he or she were
to gain an immense sum of gold, and this where
he cannot be convicted of it by any body; for it is fit that a man's
own conscience, which knows what he hath, should
in all cases oblige him to do well. Let this conscience be his witness,
and make him always act so as may procure
him commendation from others; but let him chiefly have regard to
God, from whom no wicked man can lie
concealed: but if he in whom the trust was reposed, without any
deceit of his own, lose what he was intrusted withal,
let him come before the seven judges, and swear by God that nothing
hath been lost willingly, or with a wicked
intention, and that he hath not made use of any part thereof, and
so let him depart without blame; but if he hath
made use of the least part of what was committed to him, and it
be lost, let him be condemned to repay all that he
had received. After the same manner as in these trusts it is to
be, if any one defraud those that undergo bodily
labor for him. And let it be always remembered, that we are not
to defraud a poor man of his wages, as being
sensible that God has allotted these wages to him instead of land
and other possessions; nay, this payment is not at
all to be delayed, but to be made that very day, since God is not
willing to deprive the laborer of the immediate use
of what he hath labored for.
39. You are not to punish children for the faults of their parents,
but on account of their own virtue rather to
vouchsafe them commiseration, because they were born of wicked parents,
than hatred, because they were born of
bad ones. Nor indeed ought we to impute the sin of children to their
fathers, while young persons indulge
themselves in many practices different from what they have been
instructed in, and this by their proud refusal of
such instruction.
40. Let those that have made themselves eunuchs be had in detestation;
and do you avoid any conversation with
them who have deprived themselves of their manhood, and of that
fruit of generation which God has given to men
for the increase of their kind: let such be driven away, as if they
had killed their children, since they beforehand
have lost what should procure them; for evident it is, that while
their soul is become effeminate, they have withal
transfused that effeminacy to their body also. In like manner do
you treat all that is of a monstrous nature when it
is looked on; nor is it lawful to geld men or any other animals.
(32)
41. Let this be the constitution of your political laws in time of
peace, and God will be so merciful as to preserve this
excellent settlement free from disturbance: and may that time never
come which may innovate any thing, and
change it for the contrary. But since it must needs happen that
mankind fall into troubles and dangers, either
undesignedly or intentionally, come let us make a few constitutions
concerning them, that so being apprised
beforehand what ought to be done, you may have salutary counsels
ready when you want them, and may not then
be obliged to go to seek what is to be done, and so be unprovided,
and fall into dangerous circumstances. May you
be a laborious people, and exercise your souls in virtuous actions,
and thereby possess and inherit the land without
wars; while neither any foreigners make war upon it, and so afflict
you, nor any internal sedition seize upon it,
whereby you may do things that are contrary to your fathers, and
so lose the laws which they have established. And
may you continue in the observation of those laws which God hath
approved of, and hath delivered to you. Let all
sort of warlike operations, whether they befall you now in your
own time, or hereafter in the times of your posterity,
be done out of your own borders: but when you are about to go to
war, send embassages and heralds to those who
are your voluntary enemies, for it is a right thing to make use
of words to them before you come to your weapons of
war; and assure them thereby, that although you have a numerous
army, with horses and weapons, and, above
these, a God merciful to you, and ready to assist you, you do however
desire them not to compel you to fight
against them, nor to take from them what they have, which will indeed
be our gain, but what they will have no
reason to wish we should take to ourselves. And if they hearken
to you, it will be proper for you to keep peace with
them; but if they trust in their own strength, as superior to yours,
and will not do you justice, lead your army against
them, making use of God as your supreme Commander, but ordaining
for a lieutenant under him one that is of the
greatest courage among you; for these different commanders, besides
their being an obstacle to actions that are to
be done on the sudden, are a disadvantage to those that make use
of them. Lead an army pure, and of chosen men,
composed of all such as have extraordinary strength of body and
hardiness of soul; but do you send away the
timorous part, lest they run away in the time of action, and so
afford an advantage to your enemies. Do you also
give leave to those that have lately built them houses, and have
not yet lived in them a year's time; and to those
that have planted them vineyards, and have not yet been partakers
of their fruits, - to continue in their own
country; as well as those also who have betrothed, or lately married
them wives, lest they have such an affection
for these things that they he too sparing of their lives, and, by
reserving themselves for these enjoyments, they
become voluntary cowards, on account of their wives.
42. When you have pitched your camp, take care that you do nothing
that is cruel. And when you are engaged in a
siege; and want timber for the making of warlike engines, do not
you render the land naked by cutting down trees
that bear fruit, but spare them, as considering that they were made
for the benefit of men; and that if they could
speak, they would have a just plea against you, because, though
they are not occasions of the war, they are unjustly
treated, and suffer in it, and would, if they were able, remove
themselves into another land. When you have beaten
your enemies in battle, slay those that have fought against you;
but preserve the others alive, that they may pay
you tribute, excepting the nation of the Canaanites; for as to that
people, you must entirely destroy them.
43, Take care, especially in your battles, that no woman use the
habit of a man, nor man the garment of a woman.
44. This was the form of political government which was left us by
Moses. Moreover, he had already delivered laws
in writing (33) in the fortieth year [after they came out of Egypt],
concerning which we will discourse in another
book. But now on the following days (for he called them to assemble
continually) he delivered blessings to them,
and curses upon those that should not live according to the laws,
but should transgress the duties that were
determined for them to observe. After this, he read to them a poetic
song, which was composed in hexameter verse,
and left it to them in the holy book: it contained a prediction
of what was to come to pass afterward; agreeably
whereto all things have happened all along, and do still happen
to us; and wherein he has not at all deviated from
the truth. Accordingly, he delivered these books to the priest,
(34) with the ark; into which he also put the ten
commandments, written on two tables. He delivered to them the tabernacle
also, and exhorted the people, that
when they had conquered the land, and were settled in it, they should
not forget the injuries of the Amalekites, but
make war against them, and inflict punishment upon them for what
mischief they did them when they were in the
wilderness; and that when they had got possession of the land of
the Canaanites, and when they had destroyed the
whole multitude of its inhabitants, as they ought to do, they should
erect an altar that should face the rising sun, not
far from the city of Shechem, between the two mountains, that of
Gerizzim, situate on the right hand, and that called
Ebal, on the left; and that the army should be so divided, that
six tribes should stand upon each of the two
mountains, and with them the Levites and the priests. And that first,
those that were upon Mount Gerizzim should
pray for the best blessings upon those who were diligent about the
worship of God, and the observation of his laws,
and who did not reject what Moses had said to them; while the other
wished them all manner of happiness also; and
when these last put up the like prayers, the former praised them.
After this, curses were denounced upon those that
should transgress those laws, they ,answering one another alternately,
by way of confirmation of what had been
said. Moses also wrote their blessings and their curses, that they
might learn them so thoroughly, that they might
never be forgotten by length of time. And when he was ready to die,
he wrote these blessings and curses upon the
altar, on each side of it; where he says also the people stood,
and then sacrificed and offered burnt-offerings,
though after that day they never offered upon it any other sacrifice,
for it was not lawful so to do. These are the
constitutions of Moses; and the Hebrew nation still live according
to them.
45. On the next day, Moses called the people together, with the women
and children, to a congregation, so as the
very slaves were present also, that they might engage themselves
to the observation of these laws by oath; and
that, duly considering the meaning of God in them, they might not,
either for favor of their kindred, or out of fear of
any one, or indeed for any motive whatsoever, think any thing ought
to be preferred to these laws, and so might
transgress them. That in case any one of their own blood, or any
city, should attempt to confound or dissolve their
constitution of government, they should take vengeance upon them,
both all in general, and each person in
particular; and when they had conquered them, should overturn their
city to the very foundations, and, if possible,
should not leave the least footsteps of such madness: but that if
they were not able to take such vengeance, they
should still demonstrate that what was done was contrary to their
wills. So the multitude bound themselves by oath
so to do.
46. Moses taught them also by what means their sacrifices might be
the most acceptable to God; and how they
should go forth to war, making use of the stones (in the high priest's
breastplate) for their direction, (35) as I have
before signified. Joshua also prophesied while Moses was present.
And when Moses had recapitulated whatsoever
he had done for the preservation of the people, both in their wars
and in peace, and had composed them a body of
laws, and procured them an excellent form of government, he foretold,
as God had declared to him "That if they
transgressed that institution for the worship of God, they should
experience the following miseries: - Their land
should be full of weapons of war from their enemies, and their cities
should be overthrown, and their temple should
be burnt that they should be sold for slaves, to such men as would
have no pity on them in their afflictions; that they
would then repent, when that repentance would no way profit them
under their sufferings. "Yet," said he, "will that
God who founded your nation, restore your cities to your citizens,
with their temple also; and you shall lose these
advantages not once only, but often."
47. NOW when Moses had encouraged Joshua to lead out the army against
the Canaanites, by telling him that God
would assist him in all his undertakings, and had blessed the whole
multitude, he said, "Since I am going to my
forefathers, and God has determined that this should be the day
of my departure to them, I return him thanks while
I am still alive and present with you, for that providence he hath
exercised over you, which hath not only delivered
us from the miseries we lay under, but hath bestowed a state of
prosperity upon us; as also, that he hath assisted
me in the pains I took, and in all the contrivances I had in my
care about you, in order to better your condition, and
hath on all occasions showed himself favorable to us; or rather
he it was who first conducted our affairs, and
brought them to a happy conclusion, by making use of me as a vicarious
general under him, and as a minister in
those matters wherein he was willing to do you good: on which account
I think it proper to bless that Divine Power
which will take care of you for the time to come, and this in order
to repay that debt which I owe him, and to leave
behind me a memorial that we are obliged to worship and honor him,
and to keep those laws which are the most
excellent gift of all those he hath already bestowed upon us, or
which, if he continue favorable to us, he will bestow
upon us hereafter. Certainly a human legislator is a terrible enemy
when his laws are affronted, and are made to no
purpose. And may you never experience that displeasure of God which
will be the consequence of the neglect of
these his laws, which he, who is your Creator, hath given you."
48. When Moses had spoken thus at the end of his life, and had foretold
what would befall to every one of their
tribes (36) afterward, with the addition of a blessing to them,
the multitude fell into tears, insomuch that even the
women, by beating their breasts, made manifest the deep concern
they had when he was about to die. The children
also lamented still more, as not able to contain their grief; and
thereby declared, that even at their age they were
sensible of his virtue and mighty deeds; and truly there seemed
to be a strife betwixt the young and the old who
should most grieve for him. The old grieved because they knew what
a careful protector they were to be deprived
of, and so lamented their future state; but the young grieved, not
only for that, but also because it so happened that
they were to be left by him before they had well tasted of his virtue.
Now one may make a guess at the excess of
this sorrow and lamentation of the multitude, from what happened
to the legislator himself; for although he was
always persuaded that he ought not to be cast down at the approach
of death, since the undergoing it was agreeable
to the will of God and the law of nature, yet what the people did
so overbore him, that he wept himself. Now as he
went thence to the place where he was to vanish out of their sight,
they all followed after him weeping; but Moses
beckoned with his hand to those that were remote from him, and bade
them stay behind in quiet, while he exhorted
those that were near to him that they would not render his departure
so lamentable. Whereupon they thought they
ought to grant him that favor, to let him depart according as he
himself desired; so they restrained themselves,
though weeping still towards one another. All those who accompanied
him were the senate, and Eleazar the high
priest, and Joshua their commander. Now as soon as they were come
to the mountain called Abarim, (which is a
very high mountain, situate over against Jericho, and one that affords,
to such as are upon it, a prospect of the
greatest part of the excellent land of Canaan,) he dismissed the
senate; and as he was going to embrace Eleazar
and Joshua, and was still discoursing with them, a cloud stood over
him on the sudden, and he disappeared in a
certain valley, although he wrote in the holy books that he died,
which was done out of fear, lest they should
venture to say that, because of his extraordinary virtue, he went
to God.
49. Now Moses lived in all one hundred and twenty years; a third
part of which time, abating one month, he was the
people's ruler; and he died on the last month of the year, which
is called by the Macedonians Dystrus, but by us
Adar, on the first day of the month. He was one that exceeded all
men that ever were in understanding, and made
the best use of what that understanding suggested to him. He had
a very graceful way of speaking and addressing
himself to the multitude; and as to his other qualifications, he
had such a full command of his passions, as if he
hardly had any such in his soul, and only knew them by their names,
as rather perceiving them in other men than in
himself. He was also such a general of an army as is seldom seen,
as well as such a prophet as was never known,
and this to such a degree, that whatsoever he pronounced, you would
think you heard the voice of God himself. So
the people mourned for him thirty days: nor did ever any grief so
deeply affect the Hebrews as did this upon the
death of Moses: nor were those that had experienced his conduct
the only persons that desired him, but those also
that perused the laws he left behind him had a strong desire after
him, and by them gathered the extraordinary
virtue he was master of. And this shall suffice for the declaration
of the manner of the death of Moses.
ENDNOTES
(1) Reland here takes notice, that although our Bibles say little
or nothing of these riches of Corah, yet that both
the Jews and Mahommedans, as well as Josephus, are full of it.
(2) It appears here, and from the Samaritan Pentateuch, and, in effect,
from the psalmist, as also from the
Apostolical Constitutions, from Clement's First Epistle to the Corinthians,
from Ignatius's Epistle to the
Magnesians, and from Eusebius, that Corah was not swallowed up with
the Reubenites, but burned with the Levites
of his own tribe. See Essay on the Old Testament, p. 64, 65.
(3) Concerning these twelve rods of the twelve tribes of Israel,
see St. Clement's account, much larger than that in
our Bibles, 1 Epist. sect. 45; as is Josephus's present account
in measure larger also.
(4) Grotius, on Numbers 6:18, takes notice that the Greeks also,
aswell as the Jews, sometimes consecrated the
hair of their heads to the gods.
(5) Josephus here uses this phrase, "when the fortieth year was completed,"
for when it was begun; as does St.
Luke when the day of Pentecost was completed," Acts 2:1.
(6) Whether Miriam died, as Josephus's. Greek copies imply, on the
first day of the month, may be doubted,
because the Latin copies say it was on the tenth, and so say the
Jewish calendars also, as Dr. Bernard assures us.
It is said her sepulcher is still extant near Petra, the old capital
city of Arabia Petraea, at this day; as also that of
Aaron, not far off.
(7) What Josephus here remarks is well worth our remark in this place
also; viz. that the Israelites were never to
meddle with the Moabites, or Ammonites, or any other people, but
those belonging to the land of Canaan, and the
countries of Sihon and Og beyond Jordan, as far as the desert and
Euphrates, and that therefore no other people
had reason to fear the conquests of the Israelites; but that those
countries given them by God were their proper
and peculiar portion among the nations, and that all who endeavored
to dispossess them might ever be justly
destroyed by them.
(8) Note that Josephus never supposes Balaam to be an idolater, nor
to seek idolatrous enchantments, or to
prophesy falsely, but to be no other than an ill-disposed prophet
of the true God; and intimates that God's answer
the second time, permitting him to go, was ironical, and on design
that he deceived (which sort of deception, by way
of punishment for former crimes, Josephus never scruples to admit,
as ever esteeming such wicked men justly and
providentially deceived). But perhaps we had better keep here close
to the text which says Numbers 23:20, 21, that
God only permitted Balaam to go along with the ambassadors, in case
they came and called him, or positively
insisted on his going along with them, on any terms; whereas Balaam
seems out of impatience to have risen up in
the morning, and saddled his ass, and rather to have called them,
than staid for their calling him, so zealous does he
seem to have been for his reward of divination, his wages of unrighteousness,
Numbers 23:7, 17, 18, 37; 2 Peter
2:15; Jude 5, 11; which reward or wages the truly religious prophets
of God never required nor accepted, as our
Josephus justly takes notice in the cases of Samuel, Antiq. B. V.
ch. 4. sect. 1, and Daniel, Antiq. B. X. ch. 11. sect.
3. See also Genesis 14:22, 23; 2 Kings 5:15, 16, 26, 27; and Acts
8;17-24.
(9) Whether Josephus had in his copy but two attempts of Balaam in
all to curse Israel; or whether by this his twice
offering sacrifice, he meant twice besides that first time already
mentioned, which yet is not very probable; cannot
now be certainly determined. In the mean time, all other copies
have three such attempts of Balaam to curse them
in the present history.
(10) Such a large and distinct account of this perversion of the
Israelites by the Midianite women, of which our
other copies give us but short intimations, Numbers 31:16 2 Peter
2:15; Jude 11; Revelation 2:14, is preserved, as
Reland informs us, in the Samaritan Chronicle, in Philo, and in
other writings of the Jews, as well as here by
Josephus.
(11) This grand maxim, That God's people of Israel could never be
hurt nor destroyed, but by drawing them to sin
against God, appears to be true, by the entire history of that people,
both in the Bible and in Josephus; and is often
taken notice of in them both. See in particular a most remarkable
Ammonite testimony to this purpose, Judith
5:5-21.
(12) What Josephus here puts into the mouths of these Midianite women,
who came to entice the Israelites to
lewdness and idolatry, viz. that their worship of the God of Israel,
in opposition to their idol gods, implied their
living according to the holy laws which the true God had given them
by Moses, in opposition to those impure laws
which were observed under their false gods, well deserves our consideration;
and gives us a substantial reason for
the great concern that was ever shown under the law of Moses to
preserve the Israelites from idolatry, and in the
worship of the true God; it being of no less consequence than, Whether
God's people should be governed by the
holy laws of the true God, or by the impure laws derived from demons,
under the pagan idolatry.
(13) The mistake in all Josephus's copies, Greek and Latin which
have here fourteen thousand instead of
twenty-four thousand, is so flagrant, that our very learned editors,
Bernard and Hudson, have put the latter number
directly into the text. I choose rather to put it in brackets.
(14) The slaughter of all the Midianite women that had prostituted
themselves to the lewd Israelites, and the
preservation of those that had not been guilty therein; the last
of which were no fewer than thirty-two thousand,
both here and Numbers 31:15-17, 35, 40, 46, and both by the particular
command of God; are highly remarkable,
and show that, even in nations otherwise for their wickedness doomed
to destruction, the innocent were sometimes
particularly and providentially taken care of, and delivered from
that destruction; which directly implies, that it was
the wickedness of the nations of Canaan, and nothing else, that
occasioned their excision. See Genesis 15;16; 1
Samuel 15:18, 33; Apost. Constit. B. VIII. ch. 12. p. 402. In the
first of which places, the reason of the delay of the
punishment of the Amorites is given, because "their iniquity was
not yet full." In the secured, Saul is ordered to go
and "destroy the sinners, the Amalekites;" plainly implying that
they were therefore to be destroyed, because they
were sinners, and not otherwise. In the third, the reason is given
why king Agag was not to be spared, viz. because
of his former cruelty: "As thy sword hath made the (Hebrew) women
childless, so shall thy mother be made
childless among women by the Hebrews." In the last place, the apostles,
or their amanuensis Clement, gave this
reason for the necessity of the coming of Christ, that "men had
formerly perverted both the positive law, and that
of nature; and had cast out of their mind the memory of the Flood,
the burning of Sodom, the plagues of the
Egyptians, and the slaughter of the inhabitants of Palestine," as
signs of the most amazing impenitence and
insensibility, under the punishments of horrid wickedness.
(15) Josephus here, in this one sentence, sums up his notion of Moses's
very long and very serious exhortations in
the book of Deuteronomy; and his words are so true, and of such
importance, that they deserve to be had in
constant remembrance.
(16) This law, both here and Exodus 20:25, 26, of not going up to
God's altar by ladder-steps, but on an acclivity,
seems not to have belonged to the altar of the tabernacle, which
was in all but three cubits high, Exodus 27:4; nor to
that of Ezekiel, which was expressly to be gone up to by steps,
ch. 43:17; but rather to occasional altars of any
considerable altitude and largeness; as also probably to Solomon's
altar, to which it is here applied by Josephus, as
well as to that in Zorobabel's and Herod's temple, which were, I
think, all ten cubits high. See 2 Chronicles 4:1, and
Antiq. B. VIII. ch. 3. sect. 7. The reason why these temples, and
these only, were to have this ascent on an
acclivity, and not by steps, is obvious, that before the invention
of stairs, such as we now use, decency could not be
otherwise provided for in the loose garments which the priests wore,
as the law required. See Lamy of the
Tabernacle and Temple, p. 444.
(17) The hire of public or secret harlots was given to Venus in Syria,
as Lucian informs us, p. 878; and against some
such vile practice of the old idolaters this law seems to have been
made.
(18) The Apostolical Constitutions, B. II. ch. 26. sect. 31, expound
this law of Moses, Exodus 22. 28, "Thou shalt
not revile or blaspheme the gods," or magistrates, which is a much
more probable exposition than this of Josephus,
of heathen gillis, as here, and against Apion, B. II. ch. 3. sect.
31. What book of the law was thus publicly read, see
the note on Antiq. B. X. ch. 5. sect. 5, and 1 Esd. 9:8-55.
(19)Whether these phylacteries, and other Jewish memorials of the
law here mentioned by Josephus, and by
Muses, (besides the fringes on the borders of their garments, Numbers
15:37,) were literally meant by God, I much
question. That they have been long observed by the Pharisees and
Rabbinical Jews is certain; however, the
Karaites, who receive not the unwritten traditions of the elders,
but keep close to the written law, with Jerome and
Grotius, think they were not literally to be understood; as Bernard
and Reland here take notice. Nor indeed do I
remember that, either in the ancienter books of the Old Testament,
or in the books we call Apocrypha, there are
any signs of such literal observations appearing among the Jews,
though their real or mystical signification, i.e. the
constant remembrance and observation of the laws of God by Moses,
be frequently inculcated in all the sacred
writings.
(20) Here, as well as elsewhere, sect. 38, of his Life, sect. 14,
and of the War, B. II. ch. 20. sect. 5, are but seven
judges appointed for small cities, instead of twenty-three in the
modern Rabidns; which modern Rabbis are always
but of very little authority in comparison of our Josephus.
(21) I have never observed elsewhere, that in the Jewish government
women were not admitted as legal witnesses
in courts of justice. None of our copies of the Pentateuch say a
word of it. It is very probable, however, that this was
the exposition of the scribes and Pharisees, and the practice of
the Jews in the days of Josephus.
(22) This penalty of "forty stripes save one," here mentioned, and
sect. 23, was five times inflicted on St. Paul
himself by the Jews, 2 Corinthians 11:24
(23) Josephus's plain and express interpretation of this law of Moses,
Deuteronomy 14:28, 29; 26:12, etc., that the
Jews were bound every third year to pay three tithes, that to the
Levites, that for sacrifices at Jerusalem, and this
for the indigent, the widow, and the orphans, is fully confirmed
by the practice of good old Tobit, even when he was
a captive in Assyria, against the opinions of the Rabbins, Tobit
1:6-8.
(24) These tokens of virginity, as the Hebrew and Septuagint style
them, Deuteronomy 22:15, 17, 20, seem to me
very different from what our later interpreters suppose. They appear
rather to have been such close linen garments
as were never put off virgins, after, a certain age, till they were
married, but before witnesses, and which, while
they were entire, were certain evidences of such virginity. See
these, Antiq. B. VII. ch. 8. sect. 1; 2 Samuel 13:18;
Isaiah 6:1 Josephus here determines nothing what were these particular
tokens of virginity or of corruption:
perhaps he thought he could not easily describe them to the heathens,
without saying what they might have thought
a breach of modesty; which seeming breach of modesty laws cannot
always wholly avoid.
(25) These words of Josephus are very like those of the Pharisees
to our Savior upon this very subject, Matthew
19:3, "Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?"
(26) Here it is supposed that this captive's husband, if she were
before a married woman, was dead before, or
rather was slain in this very battle, otherwise it would have been
adultery in him that married her.
(27) See Herod the Great insisting on the execution of this law,
with relation to two of his own sons, before the
judges at Berytus, Antiq. B. XVI. ch. 11. sect. 2.
(28) Philo and others appear to have understood this law, Exodus
21:22, 23, better than Josephus, who seems to
allow, that though the infant in the mother's womb, even after the
mother were quick, and so the infant had a
rational soul, were killed by the stroke upon the mother, yet if
the mother escaped, the offender should only be
fined, and not put to death; while the law seems rather to mean,
that if the infant in that case be killed, though the
mother escape, the offender must be put to death, and not only when
the mother is killed, as Josehus understood it.
It seems this was the exposition of the Pharisees in the days of
Josephus.
(29) What we render a witch, according to our modern notions of witchcraft,
Exodus 22:15, Philo and Josephus
understood of a poisoner, or one who attempted by secret and unlawful
drugs or philtra, to take away the senses or
the lives of men.
(30) This permission of redeeming this penalty with money is not
in our copies, Exodus 21:24, 25; Leviticus 24:20;
Deuteronomy 19:21.
(31) We may here note, that thirty shekels, the price our Savior
was sold for by Judas to the Jews, Matthew 26:15,
and 27;3, was the old value of a bought servant or slave among that
people.
(32) This law against castration, even of brutes, is said to be so
rigorous elsewhere, as to inflict death on him that
does it. which seems only a Pharisaical interpretation in the days
of Josephus of that law, Leviticus 21:20, and
22:24: only we may hence observe, that the Jews could then have
no oxen which are gelded, but only bulls and
cows, in Judea.
(33) These laws seem to be those above-mentioned, sect, 4, of this
chapter.
(34) What laws were now delivered to the priests, see the note on
Antiq. B. III. ch. 1. sect. 7,
(35) Of the exact place where this altar was to be built, whether
nearer Mount Gerizzim or Mount Ebal, according
to Josephus, see Essay on the Old Testament, p. 168--171.
Dr. Bernard well observes here, how unfortunate this neglect of consulting
the Urim was to Joshua himself, in the
case of the Gibeonites, who put a trick upon him, and ensnared him,
together with the rest of the Jewish rulers, with
a solemn oath to preserve them, contrary to his commission to extirpate
all the Canaanites, root and branch; which
oath he and the other rulers never durst break. See Scripture Politics,
p. 55, 56; and this snare they were brought
into because they "did not ask counsel at the mouth of the Lord,"
Joshua 9:14.
(36) Since Josephus assures us here, as is most naturally to be supposed,
and as the Septuagint gives the text,
Deuteronomy 33:6, that Moses blessed every one of the tribes of
Israel, it is evident that Simeon was not omitted
in his copy, as it unhappily now is, both in our Hebrew and Samaritan
copies.
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