{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_1493/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_1493","id":"gutenberg_1493","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1493","summary":null,"tags":["Aggada -- Translations into English","Bible. Old Testament -- Legends","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Jewish legends","Judaism","Midrash -- Translations into English","Mythology"],"text":"The Legends of the Jews\n\nby Louis Ginzberg\n\n\nTRANSLATED PROM THE GERMAN MANUSCRIPT BY\nHENRIETTA SZOLD\n\n\nVOLUME I\nBIBLE TIMES AND CHARACTERS\nFROM THE CREATION TO JACOB\n\n\n\n\nTo\nMY BROTHER ASHER\n\n\n\n\nContents\n\n PREFACE\n\n I. THE CREATION OF THE WORLD\n The First Things Created\n The Alphabet\n The First Day\n The Second Day\n The Third Day\n The Fourth Day\n The Fifth Day\n The Sixth Day\n All Things Praise the Lord.\n\n II. ADAM\n Man and the World\n The Angels and the Creation of Man\n The Creation of Adam\n The Soul of Man\n The Ideal Man\n The Fall of Satan\n Woman\n Adam and Eve in Paradise\n The Fall of Man\n The Punishment\n Sabbath in Heaven\n Adam's Repentance\n The Book of Raziel\n The Sickness of Adam\n Eve's Story of the Fall\n The Death of Adam\n The Death of Eve.\n\n III. THE TEN GENERATIONS\n The Birth of Cain\n Fratricide\n The Punishment of Cain\n The Inhabitants of the Seven Earths\n The Descendants of Cain\n The Descendants of Adam and Lilith\n Seth and His Descendants\n Enosh\n The Fall of the Angels\n Enoch, Ruler and Teacher\n The Ascension of Enoch\n The Translation of Enoch\n Methuselah.\n\n IV. NOAH\n The Birth of Noah\n The Punishment of the Fallen Angels\n The Generation of the Deluge\n The Holy Book\n The Inmates of the Ark\n The Flood\n Noah Leaves the Ark\n The Curse of Drunkenness\n Noah's Descendants Spread Abroad\n The Depravity of Mankind\n Nimrod\n The Tower of Babel.\n\n V. ABRAHAM\n The Wicked Generations\n The Birth of Abraham\n The Babe Proclaims God\n Abraham's First Appearance in Public\n The Preacher of the True Faith\n In the Fiery Furnace\n Abraham Emigrates to Haran\n The Star in the East\n The True Believer\n The Iconoclast\n Abraham in Canaan\n His Sojourn in Egypt\n The First Pharaoh\n The War of the Kings\n The Covenant of the Pieces\n The Birth of Ishmael\n The Visit of the Angels\n The Cities of Sin\n Abraham Pleads for the Sinners\n The Destruction of the Sinful Cities\n Among the Philistines\n The Birth of Isaac\n Ishmael Cast Off\n The Two Wives of Ishmael\n The Covenant with Abimelech\n Satan Accuses Abraham\n The Journey to Moriah\n The Akedah\n The Death and Burial of Sarah\n Eliezer's Mission\n The Wooing of Rebekah\n The Last Years of Abraham\n A Herald of Death\n Abraham Views Earth and Heaven\n The Patron of Hebron.\n\n VI. JACOB\n The Birth of Esau and Jacob\n The Favorite of Abraham\n The Sale of the Birthright\n Isaac with the Philistines\n Isaac Blesses Jacob\n Esau's True Character Revealed\n Jacob Leaves His Father's House\n Jacob Pursued by Eliphaz and Esau\n The Day of Miracles\n Jacob with Laban\n The Marriage of Jacob\n The Birth of Jacob's Children\n Jacob Flees before Laban\n The Covenant with Laban\n Jacob and Esau Prepare to Meet\n Jacob Wrestles with the Angel\n The Meeting between Esau and Jacob\n The Outrage at Shechem\n A War Frustrated\n The War with the Ninevites\n The War with the Amorites\n Isaac Blesses Levi and Judah\n Joy and Sorrow in the House of Jacob\n Esau's Campaign against Jacob\n The Descendants of Esau.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nWas sich nie und nirgends hat begeben, das allein veraltet nie.\n\nThe term Rabbinic was applied to the Jewish Literature of post-Biblical\ntimes by those who conceived the Judaism of the later epoch to be\nsomething different from the Judaism of the Bible, something actually\nopposed to it. Such observers held that the Jewish nation ceased to\nexist with the moment when its political independence was destroyed.\nFor them the Judaism of the later epoch has been a Judaism of the\nSynagogue, the spokesmen of which have been the scholars, the Rabbis.\nAnd what this phase of Judaism brought forth has been considered by\nthem to be the product of the schools rather than the product of\npractical, pulsating life. Poetic phantasmagoria, frequently the\nvaporings of morbid visionaries, is the material out of which these\nscholars construct the theologic system of the Rabbis, and fairy tales,\nthe spontaneous creations of the people, which take the form of sacred\nlegend in Jewish literature, are denominated the Scriptural exegesis of\nthe Rabbis, and condemned incontinently as nugae rabbinorum.\n\nAs the name of a man clings to him, so men cling to names. For the\nprimitive savage the name is part of the essence of a person or thing,\nand even in the more advanced stages of culture, judgments are not\nalways formed in agreement with facts as they are, but rather according\nto the names by which they are called. The current estimate of Rabbinic\nLiterature is a case in point. With the label Rabbinic later ages\ninherited from former ages a certain distorted view of the literature\nso designated. To this day, and even among scholars that approach its\ninvestigation with unprejudiced minds, the opinion prevails that it is\npurely a learned product. And yet the truth is that the most prominent\nfeature of Rabbinic Literature is its popular character.\n\nThe school and the home are not mutually opposed to each other in the\nconception of the Jews. They study in their homes, and they live in\ntheir schools. Likewise there is no distinct class of scholars among\nthem, a class that withdraws itself from participation in the affairs\nof practical life. Even in the domain of the Halakah, the Rabbis were\nnot so much occupied with theoretic principles of law as with the\nconcrete phenomena of daily existence. These they sought to grasp and\nshape. And what is true of the Halakah is true with greater emphasis of\nthe Haggadah, which is popular in the double sense of appealing to the\npeople and being produced in the main by the people. To speak of the\nHaggadah of the Tannaim and Amoraim is as far from fact as to speak of\nthe legends of Shakespeare and Scott. The ancient authors and their\nmodern brethren of the guild alike elaborate legendary material which\nthey found at hand.\n\nIt has been held by some that the Haggadah contains no popular legends,\nthat it is wholly a factitious, academic product. A cursory glance at\nthe pseudepigraphic literature of the Jews, which is older than the\nHaggadah literature by several centuries, shows how untenable this view\nis. That the one literature should have drawn from the other is\nprecluded by historical facts. At a very early time the Synagogue\ndisavowed the pseudepigraphic literature, which was the favorite\nreading matter of the sectaries and the Christians. Nevertheless the\ninner relation between them is of the closest kind. The only essential\ndifference is that the Midrashic form prevails in the Haggadah, and the\nparenetic or apocalyptic form in the pseudepigrapha. The common element\nmust therefore depart from the Midrash on the one hand and from\nparenesis on the other.\n\nFolklore, fairy tales, legends, and all forms of story telling akin to\nthese are comprehended, in the terminology of the post-Biblical\nliterature of the Jews, under the inclusive description Haggadah, a\nname that can be explained by a circumlocution, but cannot be\ntranslated. Whatever it is applied to is thereby characterized first as\nbeing derived from the Holy Scriptures, and then as being of the nature\nof a story. And, in point of fact, this dualism sums up the\ndistinguishing features of Jewish Legend. More than eighteen centuries\nago the Jewish historian Josephus observed that \"though we be deprived\nof our wealth, of our cities, or of the other advantages we have, our\nlaw continues immortal.\" The word he meant to use was not law, but\nTorah, only he could not find an equivalent for it in Greek. A singer\nof the Synagogue a thousand years after Josephus, who expressed his\nsentiments in Hebrew, uttered the same thought: \"The Holy City and all\nher daughter cities are violated, they lie in ruins, despoiled of their\nornaments, their splendor darkened from sight. Naught is left to us\nsave one eternal treasure alone\u2014the Holy Torah.\" The sadder the life of\nthe Jewish people, the more it felt the need of taking refuge in its\npast. The Scripture, or, to use the Jewish term, the Torah, was the\nonly remnant of its former national independence, and the Torah was the\nmagic means of making a sordid actuality recede before a glorious\nmemory. To the Scripture was assigned the task of supplying nourishment\nto the mind as well as the soul, to the intellect as well as the\nimagination, and the result is the Halakah and the Haggadah.\n\nThe fancy of the people did not die out in the post-Biblical time, but\nthe bent of its activity was determined by the past.\n\nMen craved entertainment in later times as well as in the earlier, only\ninstead of resorting for its subject-matter to what happened under\ntheir eyes, they drew from the fountain-head of the past. The events in\nthe ancient history of Israel, which was not only studied, but lived\nover again daily, stimulated the desire to criticize it. The religious\nreflections upon nature laid down in the myths of the people, the fairy\ntales, which have the sole object of pleasing, and the legends, which\nare the people's verdict upon history\u2014all these were welded into one\nproduct. The fancy of the Jewish people was engaged by the past\nreflected in the Bible, and all its creations wear a Biblical hue for\nthis reason. This explains the peculiar form of the Haggadah.\n\nBut what is spontaneously brought forth by the people is often\npreserved only in the form impressed upon it by the feeling and the\nthought of the poet, or by the speculations of the learned. Also Jewish\nlegends have rarely been transmitted in their original shape. They have\nbeen perpetuated in the form of Midrash, that is, Scriptural exegesis.\nThe teachers of the Haggadah, called Rabbanan d'Aggadta in the Talmud,\nwere no folklorists, from whom a faithful reproduction of legendary\nmaterial may be expected. Primarily they were homilists, who used\nlegends for didactic purposes, and their main object was to establish a\nclose connection between the Scripture and the creations of the popular\nfancy, to give the latter a firm basis and secure a long term of life\nfor them.\n\nOne of the most important tasks of the modern investigation of the\nHaggadah is to make a clean separation between the original elements\nand the later learned additions. Hardly a beginning has been made in\nthis direction. But as long as the task of distinguishing them has not\nbeen accomplished, it is impossible to write out the Biblical legends\nof the Jews without including the supplemental work of scholars in the\nproducts of the popular fancy.\n\nIn the present work, \"The Legends of the Jews,\" I have made the first\nattempt to gather from the original sources all Jewish legends, in so\nfar as they refer to Biblical personages and events, and reproduce them\nwith the greatest attainable completeness and accuracy. I use the\nexpression Jewish, rather than Rabbinic, because the sources from which\nI have levied contributions are not limited to the Rabbinic literature.\nAs I expect to take occasion elsewhere to enter into a description of\nthe sources in detail, the following data must suffice for the present.\n\nThe works of the Talmudic Midrashic literature are of the first\nimportance. Covering the period from the second to the fourteenth\ncentury, they contain the major part of the Jewish legendary material.\nAkin to this in content if not always in form is that derived from the\nTargumim, of which the oldest versions were produced not earlier than\nthe fourth century, and the most recent not later than the tenth. The\nMidrashic literature has been preserved only in fragmentary form. Many\nHaggadot not found in our existing collections are quoted by the\nauthors of the Middle Ages. Accordingly, a not inconsiderable number of\nthe legends here printed are taken from medieval Bible commentators and\nhomilists. I was fortunate in being able to avail myself also of\nfragments of Midrashim of which only manuscript copies are extant.\n\nThe works of the older Kabbalah are likewise treasuries of quotations\nfrom lost Midrashim, and it was among the Kabbalists, and later among\nthe Hasidim, that new legends arose. The literatures produced in these\ntwo circles are therefore of great importance for the present purpose.\n\nFurthermore, Jewish legends can be culled not from the writings of the\nSynagogue alone; they appear also in those of the Church. Certain\nJewish works repudiated by the Synagogue were accepted and mothered by\nthe Church. This is the literature usually denominated\napocryphal-pseudepigraphic. From the point of view of legends, the\napocryphal books are of subordinate importance, while the\npseudepigrapha are of fundamental value. Even quantitatively the latter\nare an imposing mass. Besides the Greek writings of the Hellenist Jews,\nthey contain Latin, Syrian, Ethiopic, Aramean, Arabic, Persian, and Old\nSlavic products translated directly or indirectly from Jewish works of\nPalestinian or Hellenistic origin. The use of these pseudepigrapha\nrequires great caution. Nearly all of them are embellished with\nChristian interpolations, and in some cases the inserted portions have\nchoked the original form so completely that it is impossible to\ndetermine at first sight whether a Jewish or a Christian legend is\nunder examination. I believe, however, that the pseudepigraphic\nmaterial made use of by me is Jewish beyond the cavil of a doubt, and\ntherefore it could not have been left out of account in a work like the\npresent.\n\nHowever, in the appreciation of Jewish Legends, it is the Rabbinic\nwriters that should form the point of departure, and not the\npseudepigrapha. The former represent the main stream of Jewish thought\nand feeling, the latter only an undercurrent. If the Synagogue cast out\nthe pseudepigrapha, and the Church adopted them with a great show of\nfavor, these respective attitudes were not determined arbitrarily or by\nchance. The pseudepigrapha originated in circles that harbored the\ngerms from which Christianity developed later on. The Church could thus\nappropriate them as her own with just reason.\n\nIn the use of some of the apocryphal and pseudepigraphic writings, I\nfound it expedient to quote the English translations of them made by\nothers, in so far as they could be brought into accord with the general\nstyle of the book, for which purpose I permitted myself the liberty of\nslight verbal changes. In particulars, I was guided, naturally, by my\nown conception of the subject, which the Notes justify in detail.\n\nBesides the pseudepigrapha there are other Jewish sources in Christian\ngarb. In the rich literature of the Church Fathers many a Jewish legend\nlies embalmed which one would seek in vain in Jewish books. It was\ntherefore my special concern to use the writings of the Fathers to the\nutmost.\n\nThe luxuriant abundance of the material to be presented made it\nimpossible to give a verbal rendition of each legend. This would have\nrequired more than three times the space at my disposal. I can\ntherefore claim completeness for my work only as to content. In form it\nhad to suffer curtailment. When several conflicting versions of the\nsame legend existed, I gave only one in the text, reserving the other\none, or the several others, for the Notes, or, when practicable, they\nwere fused into one typical legend, the component parts of which are\nanalyzed in the Notes. In other instances I resorted to the expedient\nof citing one version in one place and the others in other appropriate\nplaces, in furtherance of my aim, to give a smooth presentation of the\nmatter, with as few interruptions to the course of the narrative as\npossible. For this reason I avoided such transitional phrases as \"Some\nsay,\" \"It has been maintained,\" etc. That my method sometimes separates\nthings that belong together cannot be considered a grave disadvantage,\nas the Index at the end of the work will present a logical\nrearrangement of the material for the benefit of the interested\nstudent. I also did not hesitate to treat of the same personage in\ndifferent chapters, as, for instance, many of the legends bearing upon\nJacob, those connected with the latter years of the Patriarch, do not\nappear in the chapter bearing his name, but will be found in the\nsections devoted to Joseph, for the reason that once the son steps upon\nthe scene, he becomes the central figure, to which the life and deeds\nof the father are subordinated. Again, in consideration of lack of\nspace the Biblical narratives underlying the legends had to be\nomitted\u2014surely not a serious omission in a subject with which\nwidespread acquaintance may be presupposed as a matter of course.\n\nAs a third consequence of the amplitude of the material, it was thought\nadvisable to divide it into several volumes. The references, the\nexplanations of the sources used, and the interpretations given, and,\nespecially, numerous emendations of the text of the Midrashim and the\npseudepigrapha, which determined my conception of the passages so\nemended, will be found in the last volume, the fourth, which will\ncontain also an Introduction to the History of Jewish Legends, a number\nof Excursuses, and the Index.\n\nAs the first three volumes are in the hands of the printer almost in\ntheir entirety, I venture to express the hope that the whole work will\nappear within measurable time, the parts following each other at short\nintervals.\n\nLOUIS GINZBERG.\n\n\nNEW YORK, March 24, 1909\n\n\n\n\nI\nTHE CREATION OF THE WORLD\n\nTHE FIRST THINGS CREATED\n\nIn the beginning, two thousand years before the heaven and the earth,\nseven things were created: the Torah written with black fire on white\nfire, and lying in the lap of God; the Divine Throne, erected in the\nheaven which later was over the heads of the Hayyot; Paradise on the\nright side of God, Hell on the left side; the Celestial Sanctuary\ndirectly in front of God, having a jewel on its altar graven with the\nName of the Messiah, and a Voice that cries aloud, \"Return, ye children\nof men.\"[1]\n\nWhen God resolved upon the creation of the world, He took counsel with\nthe Torah.[2] Her advice was this: \"O Lord, a king without an army and\nwithout courtiers and attendants hardly deserves the name of king, for\nnone is nigh to express the homage due to him.\" The answer pleased God\nexceedingly. Thus did He teach all earthly kings, by His Divine\nexample, to undertake naught without first consulting advisers.[3]\n\nThe advice of the Torah was given with some reservations. She was\nskeptical about the value of an earthly world, on account of the\nsinfulness of men, who would be sure to disregard her precepts. But God\ndispelled her doubts. He told her, that repentance had been created\nlong before, and sinners would have the opportunity of mending their\nways. Besides, the Temple service would be invested with atoning power,\nand Paradise and hell were intended to do duty as reward and\npunishment. Finally, the Messiah was appointed to bring salvation,\nwhich would put an end to all sinfulness.[4]\n\nNor is this world inhabited by man the first of things earthly created\nby God. He made several worlds before ours, but He destroyed them all,\nbecause He was pleased with none until He created ours.[5] But even\nthis last world would have had no permanence, if God had executed His\noriginal plan of ruling it according to the principle of strict\njustice. It was only when He saw that justice by itself would undermine\nthe world that He associated mercy with justice, and made them to rule\njointly.[6] Thus, from the beginning of all things prevailed Divine\ngoodness, without which nothing could have continued to exist. If not\nfor it, the myriads of evil spirits had soon put an end to the\ngenerations of men. But the goodness of God has ordained, that in every\nNisan, at the time of the spring equinox, the seraphim shall approach\nthe world of spirits, and intimidate them so that they fear to do harm\nto men. Again, if God in His goodness had not given protection to the\nweak, the tame animals would have been extirpated long ago by the wild\nanimals. In Tammuz, at the time of the summer solstice, when the\nstrength of behemot is at its height, he roars so loud that all the\nanimals hear it, and for a whole year they are affrighted and timid,\nand their acts become less ferocious than their nature is. Again, in\nTishri, at the time of the autumnal equinox, the great bird ziz[7]\nflaps his wings and utters his cry, so that the birds of prey, the\neagles and the vultures, blench, and they fear to swoop down upon the\nothers and annihilate them in their greed. And, again, were it not for\nthe goodness of God, the vast number of big fish had quickly put an end\nto the little ones. But at the time of the winter solstice, in the\nmonth of Tebet, the sea grows restless, for then leviathan spouts up\nwater, and the big fish become uneasy. They restrain their appetite,\nand the little ones escape their rapacity.\n\nFinally, the goodness of God manifests itself in the preservation of\nHis people Israel. It could not have survived the enmity of the\nGentiles, if God had not appointed protectors for it, the archangels\nMichael and Gabriel.[8] Whenever Israel disobeys God, and is accused of\nmisdemeanors by the angels of the other nations, he is defended by his\ndesignated guardians, with such good result that the other angels\nconceive fear of them. Once the angels of the other nations are\nterrified, the nations themselves venture not to carry out their wicked\ndesigns against Israel.\n\nThat the goodness of God may rule on earth as in heaven, the Angels of\nDestruction are assigned a place at the far end of the heavens, from\nwhich they may never stir, while the Angels of Mercy encircle the\nThrone of God, at His behest.[9]\n\nTHE ALPHABET\n\nWhen God was about to create the world by His word, the twenty-two\nletters of the alphabet[10] descended from the terrible and august\ncrown of God whereon they were engraved with a pen of flaming fire.\nThey stood round about God, and one after the other spake and\nentreated, \"Create the world through me!\" The first to step forward was\nthe letter Taw. It said: \"O Lord of the world! May it be Thy will to\ncreate Thy world through me, seeing that it is through me that Thou\nwilt give the Torah to Israel by the hand of Moses, as it is written,\n'Moses commanded us the Torah.'\" The Holy One, blessed be He, made\nreply, and said, \"No!\" Taw asked, \"Why not?\" and God answered: \"Because\nin days to come I shall place thee as a sign of death upon the\nforeheads of men.\" As soon as Taw heard these words issue from the\nmouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, it retired from His presence\ndisappointed.\n\nThe Shin then stepped forward, and pleaded: \"O Lord of the world,\ncreate Thy world through me: seeing that Thine own name Shaddai begins\nwith me.\" Unfortunately, it is also the first letter of Shaw, lie, and\nof Sheker, falsehood, and that incapacitated it. Resh had no better\nluck. It was pointed out that it was the initial letter of Ra', wicked,\nand Rasha' evil, and after that the distinction it enjoys of being the\nfirst letter in the Name of God, Rahum, the Merciful, counted for\nnaught. The Kof was rejected, because Kelalah, curse, outweighs the\nadvantage of being the first in Kadosh, the Holy One. In vain did Zadde\ncall attention to Zaddik, the Righteous One; there was Zarot, the\nmisfortunes of Israel, to testify against it. Pe had Podeh, redeemer,\nto its credit, but Pesha: transgression, reflected dishonor upon it.\n'Ain was declared unfit, because, though it begins 'Anawah, humility,\nit performs the same service for 'Erwah, immorality. Samek said: \"O\nLord, may it be Thy will to begin the creation with me, for Thou art\ncalled Samek, after me, the Upholder of all that fall.\" But God said:\n\"Thou art needed in the place in which thou art;[11] thou must continue\nto uphold all that fall.\" Nun introduces Ner, \"the lamp of the Lord,\"\nwhich is \"the spirit of men,\" but it also introduces Ner, \"the lamp of\nthe wicked,\" which will be put out by God. Mem starts Melek, king, one\nof the titles of God. As it is the first letter of Mehumah, confusion,\nas well, it had no chance of accomplishing its desire. The claim of\nLamed bore its refutation within itself. It advanced the argument that\nit was the first letter of Luhot, the celestial tables for the Ten\nCommandments; it forgot that the tables were shivered in pieces by\nMoses. Kaf was sure of victory Kisseh, the throne of God, Kabod, His\nhonor, and Keter, His crown, all begin with it. God had to remind it\nthat He would smite together His hands, Kaf, in despair over the\nmisfortunes of Israel. Yod at first sight seemed the appropriate letter\nfor the beginning of creation, on account of its association with Yah,\nGod, if only Yezer ha-Ra' the evil inclination, had not happened to\nbegin with it, too. Tet is identified with Tob, the good. However, the\ntruly good is not in this world; it belongs to the world to come. Het\nis the first letter of Hanun, the Gracious One; but this advantage is\noffset by its place in the word for sin, Hattat. Zain suggests Zakor,\nremembrance, but it is itself the word for weapon, the doer of\nmischief. Waw and He compose the Ineffable Name of God; they are\ntherefore too exalted to be pressed into the service of the mundane\nworld. If Dalet had stood only for Dabar, the Divine Word, it would\nhave been used, but it stands also for Din, justice, and under the rule\nof law without love the world would have fallen to ruin. Finally, in\nspite of reminding one of Gadol, great, Gimel would not do, because\nGemul, retribution, starts with it.\n\nAfter the claims of all these letters had been disposed of, Bet stepped\nbefore the Holy One, blessed be He, and pleaded before Him: \"O Lord of\nthe world! May it be Thy will to create Thy world through me, seeing\nthat all the dwellers in the world give praise daily unto Thee through\nme, as it is said, 'Blessed be the Lord forever. Amen, and Amen.'\" The\nHoly One, blessed be He, at once granted the petition of Bet. He said,\n\"Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord.\" And He created His\nworld through Bet, as it is said, \"Bereshit God created the heaven and\nthe earth.\" The only letter that had refrained from urging its claims\nwas the modest Alef, and God rewarded it later for its humility by\ngiving it the first place in the Decalogue.[12]\n\nTHE FIRST DAY\n\nOn the first day of creation God produced ten things:[13] the heavens\nand the earth, Tohu and Bohu, light and darkness, wind and water, the\nduration of the day[14] and the duration of the night.[15]\n\nThough the heavens and the earth consist of entirely different\nelements,[16] they were yet created as a unit, \"like the pot and its\ncover.\"[17] The heavens were fashioned from the light of God's garment,\nand the earth from the snow under the Divine Throne.[18] Tohu is a\ngreen band which encompasses the whole world, and dispenses darkness,\nand Bohu consists of stones in the abyss, the producers of the waters.\nThe light created at the very beginning is not the same as the light\nemitted by the sun, the moon, and the stars, which appeared only on the\nfourth day. The light of the first day was of a sort that would have\nenabled man to see the world at a glance from one end to the other.\nAnticipating the wickedness of the sinful generations of the deluge and\nthe Tower of Babel, who were unworthy to enjoy the blessing of such\nlight, God concealed it, but in the world to come it will appear to the\npious in all its pristine glory.[19]\n\nSeveral heavens were created,[20] seven in fact,[21] each to serve a\npurpose of its own. The first, the one visible to man, has no function\nexcept that of covering up the light during the night time; therefore\nit disappears every morning. The planets are fastened to the second of\nthe heavens; in the third the manna is made for the pious in the\nhereafter; the fourth contains the celestial Jerusalem together with\nthe Temple, in which Michael ministers as high priest, and offers the\nsouls of the pious as sacrifices. In the fifth heaven, the angel hosts\nreside, and sing the praise of God, though only during the night, for\nby day it is the task of Israel on earth to give glory to God on high.\nThe sixth heaven is an uncanny spot; there originate most of the trials\nand visitations ordained for the earth and its inhabitants. Snow lies\nheaped up there and hail; there are lofts full of noxious dew,\nmagazines stocked with storms, and cellars holding reserves of smoke.\nDoors of fire separate these celestial chambers, which are under the\nsupervision of the archangel Metatron. Their pernicious contents\ndefiled the heavens until David's time. The pious king prayed God to\npurge His exalted dwelling of whatever was pregnant with evil; it was\nnot becoming that such things should exist near the Merciful One. Only\nthen they were removed to the earth.\n\nThe seventh heaven, on the other hand, contains naught but what is good\nand beautiful: right, justice, and mercy, the storehouses of life,\npeace, and blessing, the souls of the pious, the souls and spirits of\nunborn generations, the dew with which God will revive the dead on the\nresurrection day, and, above all, the Divine Throne, surrounded by the\nseraphim, the ofanim, the holy Hayyot, and the ministering angels.[22]\n\nCorresponding to the seven heavens, God created seven earths, each\nseparated from the next by five layers. Over the lowest earth, the\nseventh, called Erez, lie in succession the abyss, the Tohu, the Bohu,\na sea, and waters.[23] Then the sixth[24] earth is reached, the Adamah,\nthe scene of the magnificence of God. In the same way the Adamah is\nseparated from the fifth earth, the Arka, which contains Gehenna, and\nSha'are Mawet, and Sha'are Zalmawet, and Beer Shahat, and Tit ha-Yawen,\nand Abaddon, and Sheol,[25] and there the souls of the wicked are\nguarded by the Angels of Destruction. In the same way Arka is followed\nby Harabah, the dry, the place of brooks and streams in spite of its\nname, as the next, called Yabbashah, the mainland, contains the rivers\nand the springs. Tebel, the second earth, is the first mainland\ninhabited by living creatures, three hundred and sixty-five\nspecies,[26] all essentially different from those of our own earth.\nSome have human heads set on the body of a lion, or a serpent, or an\nox; others have human bodies topped by the head of one of these\nanimals. Besides, Tebel is inhabited by human beings with two heads and\nfour hands and feet, in fact with all their organs doubled excepting\nonly the trunk.[27] It happens sometimes that the parts of these double\npersons quarrel with each other, especially while eating and drinking,\nwhen each claims the best and largest portions for himself. This\nspecies of mankind is distinguished for great piety, another difference\nbetween it and the inhabitants of our earth.\n\nOur own earth is called Heled, and, like the others, it is separated\nfrom the Tebel by an abyss, the Tohu, the Bohu, a sea, and waters.\n\nThus one earth rises above the other, from the first to the seventh,\nand over the seventh earth the heavens are vaulted, from the first to\nthe seventh, the last of them attached to the arm of God. The seven\nheavens form a unity, the seven kinds of earth form a unity, and the\nheavens and the earth together also form a unity.[28]\n\nWhen God made our present heavens and our present earth, \"the new\nheavens and the new earth\"[29] were also brought forth, yea, and the\nhundred and ninety-six thousand worlds which God created unto His Own\nglory.[30]\n\nIt takes five hundred years to walk from the earth to the heavens, and\nfrom one end of a heaven to the other, and also from one heaven to the\nnext,[31] and it takes the same length of time to travel from the east\nto the west, or from the south to the north.[32] Of all this vast world\nonly one-third is inhabited, the other two-thirds being equally divided\nbetween water and waste desert land.\n\nBeyond the inhabited parts to the east is Paradise[33] with its seven\ndivisions, each assigned to the pious of a certain degree. The ocean is\nsituated to the west, and it is dotted with islands upon islands,\ninhabited by many different peoples. Beyond it, in turn, are the\nboundless steppes full of serpents and scorpions, and destitute of\nevery sort of vegetation, whether herbs or trees. To the north are the\nsupplies of hell-fire, of snow, hail, smoke, ice, darkness, and\nwindstorms, and in that vicinity sojourn all sorts of devils, demons,\nand malign spirits. Their dwelling-place is a great stretch of land, it\nwould take five hundred years to traverse it. Beyond lies hell. To the\nsouth is the chamber containing reserves of fire, the cave of smoke,\nand the forge of blasts and hurricanes.[34] Thus it comes that the wind\nblowing from the south brings heat and sultriness to the earth. Were it\nnot for the angel Ben Nez, the Winged, who keeps the south wind back\nwith his pinions, the world would be consumed.[35] Besides, the fury of\nits blast is tempered by the north wind, which always appears as\nmoderator, whatever other wind may be blowing.[36]\n\nIn the east, the west, and the south, heaven and earth touch each\nother, but the north God left unfinished, that any man who announced\nhimself as a god might be set the task of supplying the deficiency, and\nstand convicted as a pretender.[37]\n\nThe construction of the earth was begun at the centre, with the\nfoundation stone of the Temple, the Eben Shetiyah,[38] for the Holy\nLand is at the central point of the surface of the earth, Jerusalem is\nat the central point of Palestine, and the Temple is situated at the\ncentre of the Holy City. In the sanctuary itself the Hekal is the\ncentre, and the holy Ark occupies the centre of the Hekal, built on the\nfoundation stone, which thus is at the centre of the earth.[39] Thence\nissued the first ray of light, piercing to the Holy Land, and from\nthere illuminating the whole earth.[40] The creation of the world,\nhowever, could not take place until God had banished the ruler of the\ndark.[41] \"Retire,\" God said to him, \"for I desire to create the world\nby means of light.\" Only after the light had been fashioned, darkness\narose, the light ruling in the sky, the darkness on the earth.[42] The\npower of God displayed itself not only in the creation of the world of\nthings, but equally in the limitations which He imposed upon each. The\nheavens and the earth stretched themselves out in length and breadth as\nthough they aspired to infinitude, and it required the word of God to\ncall a halt to their encroachments.[43]\n\nTHE SECOND DAY\n\nOn the second day God brought forth four creations, the firmament,\nhell, fire, and the angels.[44] The firmament is not the same as the\nheavens of the first day. It is the crystal stretched forth over the\nheads of the Hayyot, from which the heavens derive their light, as the\nearth derives its light from the sun. This firmament saves the earth\nfrom being engulfed by the waters of the heavens; it forms the\npartition between the waters above and the waters below.[45] It was\nmade to crystallize into the solid it is by the heavenly fire, which\nbroke its bounds, and condensed the surface of the firmament. Thus fire\nmade a division between the celestial and the terrestrial at the time\nof creation, as it did at the revelation on Mount Sinai.[46] The\nfirmament is not more than three fingers thick,[47] nevertheless it\ndivides two such heavy bodies as the waters below, which are the\nfoundations for the nether world, and the waters above, which are the\nfoundations for the seven heavens, the Divine Throne, and the abode of\nthe angels.[48]\n\nThe separation of the waters into upper and lower waters was the only\nact of the sort done by God in connection with the work of\ncreation.[49] All other acts were unifying. It therefore caused some\ndifficulties. When God commanded, \"Let the waters be gathered together,\nunto one place, and let the dry land appear,\" certain parts refused to\nobey. They embraced each other all the more closely. In His wrath at\nthe waters, God determined to let the whole of creation resolve itself\ninto chaos again. He summoned the Angel of the Face, and ordered him to\ndestroy the world. The angel opened his eyes wide, and scorching fires\nand thick clouds rolled forth from them, while he cried out, \"He who\ndivides the Red Sea in sunder!\"\u2014and the rebellious waters stood. The\nall, however, was still in danger of destruction. Then began the singer\nof God's praises: \"O Lord of the world, in days to come Thy creatures\nwill sing praises without end to Thee, they will bless Thee\nboundlessly, and they will glorify Thee without measure. Thou wilt set\nAbraham apart from all mankind as Thine own; one of his sons Thou wilt\ncall 'My first-born'; and his descendants will take the yoke of Thy\nkingdom upon themselves. In holiness and purity Thou wilt bestow Thy\nTorah upon them, with the words, 'I am the Lord your God,' whereunto\nthey will make answer, 'All that God hath spoken we will do.' And now I\nbeseech Thee, have pity upon Thy world, destroy it not, for if Thou\ndestroyest it, who will fulfil Thy will?\" God was pacified; He withdrew\nthe command ordaining the destruction of the world, but the waters He\nput under the mountains, to remain there forever.[50] The objection of\nthe lower waters to division and Separation[51] was not their only\nreason for rebelling. The waters had been the first to give praise to\nGod, and when their separation into upper and lower was decreed, the\nwaters above rejoiced, saying, \"Blessed are we who are privileged to\nabide near our Creator and near His Holy Throne.\" Jubilating thus, they\nflew upward, and uttered song and praise to the Creator of the world.\nSadness fell upon the waters below. They lamented: \"Woe unto us, we\nhave not been found worthy to dwell in the presence of God, and praise\nHim together with our companions.\" Therefore they attempted to rise\nupward, until God repulsed them, and pressed them under the earth.[52]\nYet they were not left unrewarded for their loyalty. Whenever the\nwaters above desire to give praise to God, they must first seek\npermission from the waters below.[53]\n\nThe second day of creation was an untoward day in more than the one\nrespect that it introduced a breach where before there had been nothing\nbut unity; for it was the day that saw also the creation of hell.\nTherefore God could not say of this day as of the others, that He \"saw\nthat it was good.\" A division may be necessary, but it cannot be called\ngood, and hell surely does not deserve the attribute of good.[54]\nHell[55] has seven divisions,[36] one beneath the other. They are\ncalled Sheol, Abaddon, Beer Shahat, Tit ha-Yawen, Sha'are Mawet,\nSha'are Zalmawet: and Gehenna. It requires three hundred years to\ntraverse the height, or the width, or the depth of each division, and\nit would take six thousand three hundred[37] years to go over a tract\nof land equal in extent to the seven divisions.[38]\n\nEach of the seven divisions in turn has seven subdivisions, and in each\ncompartment there are seven rivers of fire and seven of hail. The width\nof each is one thousand ells, its depth one thousand, and its length\nthree hundred, and they flow one from the other, and are supervised by\nninety thousand Angels of Destruction. There are, besides, in every\ncompartment seven thousand caves, in every cave there are seven\nthousand crevices, and in every crevice seven thousand scorpions. Every\nscorpion has three hundred rings, and in every ring seven thousand\npouches of venom, from which flow seven rivers of deadly poison. If a\nman handles it, he immediately bursts, every limb is torn from his\nbody, his bowels are cleft asunder, and he falls upon his face.[56]\nThere are also five different kinds of fire in hell. One devours and\nabsorbs, another devours and does not absorb, while the third absorbs\nand does not devour, and there is still another fire, which neither\ndevours nor absorbs, and furthermore a fire which devours fire. There\nare coals big as mountains, and coals big as hills, and coals as large\nas the Dead Sea, and coals like huge stones, and there are rivers of\npitch and sulphur flowing and seething like live coals.[60]\n\nThe third creation of the second day was the angel hosts, both the\nministering angels and the angels of praise. The reason they had not\nbeen called into being on the first day was, lest men believe that the\nangels assisted God in the creation of the heavens and the earth.[61]\nThe angels that are fashioned from fire have forms of fire,[62] but\nonly so long as they remain in heaven. When they descend to earth, to\ndo the bidding of God here below, either they are changed into wind, or\nthey assume the guise of men.[63] There are ten ranks or degrees among\nthe angels.[64]\n\nThe most exalted in rank are those surrounding the Divine Throne on all\nsides, to the right, to the left, in front, and behind, under the\nleadership of the archangels Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael.[65]\n\nAll the celestial beings praise God with the words, \"Holy, holy, holy,\nis the Lord of hosts,\" but men take precedence of the angels herein.\nThey may not begin their song of praise until the earthly beings have\nbrought their homage to God.[66] Especially Israel is preferred to the\nangels. When they encircle the Divine Throne in the form of fiery\nmountains and flaming hills, and attempt to raise their voices in\nadoration of the Creator, God silences them with the words, \"Keep quiet\nuntil I have heard the songs, praises, prayers, and sweet melodies of\nIsrael.\" Accordingly, the ministering angels and all the other\ncelestial hosts wait until the last tones of Israel's doxologies rising\naloft from earth have died away, and then they proclaim in a loud\nvoice, \"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts.\" When the hour for the\nglorification of God by the angels draws nigh, the august Divine\nherald, the angel Sham'iel, steps to the windows[67] of the lowest\nheaven to hearken to the songs, prayers, and praises that ascend from\nthe synagogues and the houses of learning, and when they are finished,\nhe announces the end to the angels in all the heavens. The ministering\nangels, those who come in contact with the sublunary world,[68] now\nrepair to their chambers to take their purification bath. They dive\ninto a stream of fire and flame seven times, and three hundred and\nsixty-five times they examine themselves carefully, to make sure that\nno taint clings to their bodies.[69] Only then they feel privileged to\nmount the fiery ladder and join the angels of the seventh heaven, and\nsurround the throne of God with Hashmal and all the holy Hayyot.\nAdorned with millions of fiery crowns, arrayed in fiery garments, all\nthe angels in unison, in the same words, and with the same melody,\nintone songs of praise to God.[70]\n\nTHE THIRD DAY\n\nUp to this time the earth was a plain, and wholly covered with water.\nScarcely had the words of God, \"Let the waters be gathered together,\"\nmade themselves heard, when mountains appeared all over and hills,[71]\nand the water collected in the deep-lying basins. But the water was\nrecalcitrant, it resisted the order to occupy the lowly spots, and\nthreatened to overflow the earth, until God forced it back into the\nsea, and encircled the sea with sand. Now, whenever the water is\ntempted to transgress its bounds, it beholds the sand, and recoils.[72]\n\nThe waters did but imitate their chief Rahab, the Angel of the Sea, who\nrebelled at the creation of the world. God had commanded Rahab to take\nin the water. But he refused, saying, \"I have enough.\" The punishment\nfor his disobedience was death. His body rests in the depths of the\nsea, the water dispelling the foul odor that emanates from it.[73]\n\nThe main creation of the third day was the realm of plants, the\nterrestrial plants as well as the plants of Paradise. First of all the\ncedars of Lebanon and the other great trees were made. In their pride\nat having been put first, they shot up high in the air. They considered\nthemselves the favored among plants. Then God spake, \"I hate arrogance\nand pride, for I alone am exalted, and none beside,\" and He created the\niron on the same day, the substance with which trees are felled down.\nThe trees began to weep, and when God asked the reason of their tears,\nthey said: \"We cry because Thou hast created the iron to uproot us\ntherewith. All the while we had thought ourselves the highest of the\nearth, and now the iron, our destroyer, has been called into\nexistence.\" God replied: \"You yourselves will furnish the axe with a\nhandle. Without your assistance the iron will not be able to do aught\nagainst you.\"[74]\n\nThe command to bear seed after their kind was given to the trees alone.\nBut the various sorts of grass reasoned, that if God had not desired\ndivisions according to classes, He would not have instructed the trees\nto bear fruit after their kind with the seed thereof in it, especially\nas trees are inclined of their own accord to divide themselves into\nspecies. The grasses therefore reproduced themselves also after their\nkinds. This prompted the exclamation of the Prince of the World, \"Let\nthe glory of the Lord endure forever; let the Lord rejoice in His\nworks.\"[75]\n\nThe most important work done on the third day was the creation of\nParadise. Two gates of carbuncle form the entrance to Paradise,[76] and\nsixty myriads of ministering angels keep watch over them. Each of these\nangels shines with the lustre of the heavens. When the just man appears\nbefore the gates, the clothes in which he was buried are taken off him,\nand the angels array him in seven garments of clouds of glory, and\nplace upon his head two crowns, one of precious stones and pearls, the\nother of gold of Parvaim,[77] and they put eight myrtles in his hand,\nand they utter praises before him and say to him, \"Go thy way, and eat\nthy bread with joy.\" And they lead him to a place full of rivers,\nsurrounded by eight hundred kinds of roses and myrtles. Each one has a\ncanopy according to his merits,[78] and under it flow four rivers, one\nof milk, the other of balsam, the third of wine, and the fourth of\nhoney. Every canopy is overgrown by a vine of gold, and thirty pearls\nhang from it, each of them shining like Venus. Under each canopy there\nis a table of precious stones and pearls, and sixty angels stand at the\nhead of every just man, saying unto him: \"Go and eat with joy of the\nhoney, for thou hast busied thyself with the Torah, and she is sweeter\nthan honey, and drink of the wine preserved in the grape since the six\ndays of creation,[79] for thou hast busied thyself with the Torah, and\nshe is compared to wine.\" The least fair of the just is beautiful as\nJoseph and Rabbi Johanan, and as the grains of a silver pomegranate\nupon which fall the rays of the sun.[80] There is no light, \"for the\nlight of the righteous is the shining light.\" And they undergo four\ntransformations every day, passing through four states. In the first\nthe righteous is changed into a child. He enters the division for\nchildren, and tastes the joys of childhood. Then he is changed into a\nyouth, and enters the division for the youths, with whom he enjoys the\ndelights of youth. Next he becomes an adult, in the prime of life, and\nhe enters the division of men, and enjoys the pleasures of manhood.\nFinally, he is changed into an old man. He enters the division for the\nold, and enjoys the pleasures of age.\n\nThere are eighty myriads of trees in every corner of Paradise, the\nmeanest among them choicer than all the spice trees. In every corner\nthere are sixty myriads of angels singing with sweet voices, and the\ntree of life stands in the middle and shades the whole of Paradise.[81]\nIt has fifteen thousand tastes, each different from the other, and the\nperfumes thereof vary likewise. Over it hang seven clouds of glory, and\nwinds blow upon it from all four sides,[82] so that its odor is wafted\nfrom one end of the world to the other. Underneath sit the scholars and\nexplain the Torah. Over each of them two canopies are spread, one of\nstars, the other of sun and moon, and a curtain of clouds of glory\nseparates the one canopy from the other.[83] Beyond Paradise begins\nEden, containing three hundred and ten worlds[84] and seven\ncompartments for seven different classes of the pious. In the first are\n\"the martyr victims of the government,\" like Rabbi Akiba and his\ncolleagues;[85] in the second those who were drowned;[86] in the\nthird[87] Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai and his disciples; in the fourth\nthose who were carried off in the cloud of glory;[88] in the fifth the\npenitents, who occupy a place which even a perfectly pious man cannot\nobtain; in the sixth are the youths[89] who have not tasted of sin in\ntheir lives; in the seventh are those poor who studied Bible and\nMishnah, and led a life of self-respecting decency. And God sits in the\nmidst of them and expounds the Torah to them.[90]\n\nAs for the seven divisions of Paradise, each of them is twelve myriads\nof miles in width and twelve myriads of miles in length. In the first\ndivision dwell the proselytes who embraced Judaism of their own free\nwill, not from compulsion. The walls are of glass and the wainscoting\nof cedar. The prophet Obadiah,[91] himself a proselyte, is the overseer\nof this first division. The second division is built of silver, and the\nwainscoting thereof is of cedar. Here dwell those who have repented,\nand Manasseh, the penitent son of Hezekiah, presides over them. The\nthird division is built of silver and gold. Here dwell Abraham, Isaac,\nand Jacob, and all the Israelites who came out of Egypt, and the whole\ngeneration that lived in the desert.[92] Also David is there, together\nwith all his sons[93] except Absalom, one of them, Chileab, still\nalive. And all the kings of Judah are there, with the exception of\nManasseh, the son of Hezekiah, who presides in the second division,\nover the penitents. Moses and Aaron preside over the third division.\nHere are precious vessels of silver and gold and jewels and canopies\nand beds and thrones and lamps, of gold, of precious stones, and of\npearls, the best of everything there is in heaven.[94] The fourth\ndivision is built of beautiful rubies,[95] and its wainscoting is of\nolive wood. Here dwell the perfect and the steadfast in faith, and\ntheir wainscoting is of olive wood, because their lives were bitter as\nolives to them. The fifth division is built of silver and gold and\nrefined gold,[96] and the finest of gold and glass and bdellium, and\nthrough the midst of it flows the river Gihon. The wainscoting is of\nsilver and gold, and a perfume breathes through it more exquisite than\nthe perfume of Lebanon. The coverings of the silver and gold beds are\nmade of purple and blue, woven by Eve, and of scarlet and the hair of\ngoats, woven by angels. Here dwells the Messiah on a palanquin made of\nthe wood of Lebanon, \"the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom of\ngold, the seat of it purple.\" With him is Elijah. He takes the head of\nMessiah, and places it in his bosom, and says to him, \"Be quiet, for\nthe end draweth nigh.\" On every Monday and Thursday and on Sabbaths and\nholidays, the Patriarchs come to him, and the twelve sons of Jacob, and\nMoses, Aaron, David, Solomon, and all the kings of Israel and of Judah,\nand they weep with him and comfort him, and say unto him, \"Be quiet and\nput trust in thy Creator, for the end draweth nigh.\" Also Korah and his\ncompany, and Dathan, Abiram, and Absalom come to him on every\nWednesday, and ask him: \"How long before the end comes full of wonders?\nWhen wilt thou bring us life again, and from the abysses of the earth\nlift us?\" The Messiah answers them, \"Go to your fathers and ask them\";\nand when they hear this, they are ashamed, and do not ask their\nfathers.\n\nIn the sixth division dwell those who died in performing a pious act,\nand in the seventh division those who died from illness inflicted as an\nexpiation for the sins of Israel.[97]\n\nTHE FOURTH DAY\n\nThe fourth day of creation produced the sun, the moon, and the stars.\nThese heavenly spheres were not actually fashioned on this day; they\nwere created on the first day, and merely were assigned their places in\nthe heavens on the fourth.[98] At first the sun and the moon enjoyed\nequal powers and prerogatives.[99] The moon spoke to God, and said: \"O\nLord, why didst Thou create the world with the letter Bet?\" God\nreplied: \"That it might be made known unto My creatures that there are\ntwo worlds.\" The moon: \"O Lord: which of the two worlds is the larger,\nthis world or the world to come?\" God: \"The world to come is the\nlarger.\" The moon: \"O Lord, Thou didst create two worlds, a greater and\na lesser world; Thou didst create the heaven and the earth, the heaven\nexceeding the earth; Thou didst create fire and water, the water\nstronger than the fire, because it can quench the fire; and now Thou\nhast created the sun and the moon, and it is becoming that one of them\nshould be greater than the other.\" Then spake God to the moon: \"I know\nwell, thou wouldst have me make Thee greater than the sun. As a\npunishment I decree that thou mayest keep but one-sixtieth of thy\nlight.\" The moon made supplication: \"Shall I be punished so severely\nfor having spoken a single word?\" God relented: \"In the future world I\nwill restore thy light, so that thy light may again be as the light of\nthe sun.\" The moon was not yet satisfied. \"O Lord,\" she said, \"and the\nlight of the sun, how great will it be in that day?\" Then the wrath of\nGod was once more enkindled: \"What, thou still plottest against the\nsun? As thou livest, in the world to come his light shall be sevenfold\nthe light he now sheds.\"[100] The Sun runs his course like a\nbridegroom. He sits upon a throne with a garland on his head.[101]\nNinety-six angels accompany him on his daily journey, in relays of\neight every hour, two to the left of him, and two to the right, two\nbefore Him, and two behind. Strong as he is, he could complete his\ncourse from south to north in a single instant, but three hundred and\nsixty-five angels restrain him by means of as many grappling-irons.\nEvery day one looses his hold, and the sun must thus spend three\nhundred and sixty-five days on his course. The progress of the sun in\nhis circuit is an uninterrupted song of praise to God. And this song\nalone makes his motion possible. Therefore, when Joshua wanted to bid\nthe sun stand still, he had to command him to be silent. His song of\npraise hushed, the sun stood still.[102]\n\nThe sun is double-faced; one face, of fire, is directed toward the\nearth, and one of hail, toward heaven, to cool off the prodigious heat\nthat streams from the other face, else the earth would catch afire. In\nwinter the sun turns his fiery face upward, and thus the cold is\nproduced.[103] When the sun descends in the west in the evening, he\ndips down into the ocean and takes a bath, his fire is extinguished,\nand therefore he dispenses neither light nor warmth during the night.\nBut as soon as he reaches the east in the morning, he laves himself in\na stream of flame, which imparts warmth and light to him, and these he\nsheds over the earth. In the same way the moon and the stars take a\nbath in a stream of hail before they enter upon their service for the\nnight.[104]\n\nWhen the sun and the moon are ready to start upon their round of\nduties, they appear before God, and beseech him to relieve them of\ntheir task, so that they may be spared the sight of sinning mankind.\nOnly upon compulsion they proceed with their daily course. Coming from\nthe presence of God, they are blinded by the radiance in the heavens,\nand they cannot find their way. God, therefore, shoots off arrows, by\nthe glittering light of which they are guided. It is on account of the\nsinfulness of man, which the sun is forced to contemplate on his\nrounds, that he grows weaker as the time of his going down approaches,\nfor sins have a defiling and enfeebling effect, and he drops from the\nhorizon as a sphere of blood, for blood is the sign of corruption.[105]\nAs the sun sets forth on his course in the morning, his wings touch the\nleaves on the trees of Paradise, and their vibration is communicated to\nthe angels and the holy Hayyot, to the other plants, and also to the\ntrees and plants on earth, and to all the beings on earth and in\nheaven. It is the signal for them all to cast their eyes upward. As\nsoon as they see the Ineffable Name, which is engraved in the sun, they\nraise their voices in songs of praise to God. At the same moment a\nheavenly voice is heard to say, \"Woe to the sons of men that consider\nnot the honor of God like unto these creatures whose voices now rise\naloft in adoration.\"[106] These words, naturally, are not heard by men;\nas little as they perceive the grating of the sun against the wheel to\nwhich all the celestial bodies are attached, although the noise it\nmakes is extraordinarily loud.[107] This friction of the sun and the\nwheel produces the motes dancing about in the sunbeams. They are the\ncarriers of healing to the sick,[108] the only health-giving creations\nof the fourth day, on the whole an unfortunate day, especially for\nchildren, afflicting them with disease.[109] When God punished the\nenvious moon by diminishing her light and splendor, so that she ceased\nto be the equal of the sun as she had been originally,[110] she\nfell,[111] and tiny threads were loosed from her body. These are the\nstars.[112]\n\nTHE FIFTH DAY\n\nOn the fifth day of creation God took fire[118] and water, and out of\nthese two elements He made the fishes of the sea.[114] The animals in\nthe water are much more numerous than those on land. For every species\non land, excepting only the weasel, there is a corresponding species in\nthe water, and, besides, there are many found only in the water.[115]\n\nThe ruler over the sea-animals is leviathan.[116] With all the other\nfishes he was made on the fifth day.[117] Originally he was created\nmale and female like all the other animals. But when it appeared that a\npair of these monsters might annihilate the whole earth with their\nunited strength, God killed the female.[119] So enormous is leviathan\nthat to quench his thirst he needs all the water that flows from the\nJordan into the sea.[119] His food consists of the fish which go\nbetween his jaws of their own accord.[120] When he is hungry, a hot\nbreath blows from his nostrils, and it makes the waters of the great\nsea seething hot. Formidable though behemot, the other monster, is, he\nfeels insecure until he is certain that leviathan has satisfied his\nthirst.[121] The only thing that can keep him in check is the\nstickleback, a little fish which was created for the purpose, and of\nwhich he stands in great awe.[122] But leviathan is more than merely\nlarge and strong; he is wonderfully made besides. His fins radiate\nbrilliant light, the very sun is obscured by it,[123] and also his eyes\nshed such splendor that frequently the sea is illuminated suddenly by\nit.[121] No wonder that this marvellous beast is the plaything of God,\nin whom He takes His pastime.[124]\n\nThere is but one thing that makes leviathan repulsive, his foul smell:\nwhich is so strong that if it penetrated thither, it would render\nParadise itself an impossible abode.[125]\n\nThe real purpose of leviathan is to be served up as a dainty to the\npious in the world to come. The female was put into brine as soon as\nshe was killed, to be preserved against the time when her flesh will be\nneeded.[126] The male is destined to offer a delectable sight to all\nbeholders before he is consumed. When his last hour arrives, God will\nsummon the angels to enter into combat with the monster. But no sooner\nwill leviathan cast his glance at them than they will flee in fear and\ndismay from the field of battle. They will return to the charge with\nswords, but in vain, for his scales can turn back steel like straw.\nThey will be equally unsuccessful when they attempt to kill him by\nthrowing darts and slinging stones; such missiles will rebound without\nleaving the least impression on his body. Disheartened, the angels will\ngive up the combat, and God will command leviathan and behemot to enter\ninto a duel with each other. The issue will be that both will drop\ndead, behemot slaughtered by a blow of leviathan's fins, and leviathan\nkilled by a lash of behemot's tail. From the skin of leviathan God will\nconstruct tents to shelter companies of the pious while they enjoy the\ndishes made of his flesh. The amount assigned to each of the pious will\nbe in proportion to his deserts, and none will envy or begrudge the\nother his better share. What is left of leviathan's skin will be\nstretched out over Jerusalem as a canopy, and the light streaming from\nit will illumine the whole world, and what is left of his flesh after\nthe pious have appeased their appetite, will be distributed among the\nrest of men, to carry on traffic therewith.[127]\n\nOn the same day with the fishes, the birds were created, for these two\nkinds of animals are closely related to each other. Fish are fashioned\nout of water, and birds out of marshy ground saturated with water.[128]\n\nAs leviathan is the king of fishes, so the ziz is appointed to rule\nover the birds.[129] His name comes from the variety of tastes his\nflesh has; it tastes like this, zeh, and like that, zeh.[130] The ziz\nis as monstrous of size as leviathan himself. His ankles rest on the\nearth, and his head reaches to the very sky.[121]\n\nIt once happened that travellers on a vessel noticed a bird. As he\nstood in the water, it merely covered his feet, and his head knocked\nagainst the sky. The onlookers thought the water could not have any\ndepth at that point, and they prepared to take a bath there. A heavenly\nvoice warned them: \"Alight not here! Once a carpenter's axe slipped\nfrom his hand at this spot, and it took it seven years to touch\nbottom.\" The bird the travellers saw was none other than the ziz.[132]\nHis wings are so huge that unfurled they darken the sun.[133] They\nprotect the earth against the storms of the south; without their aid\nthe earth would not be able to resist the winds blowing thence.[134]\nOnce an egg of the ziz fell to the ground and broke. The fluid from it\nflooded sixty cities, and the shock crushed three hundred cedars.\nFortunately such accidents do not occur frequently. As a rule the bird\nlets her eggs slide gently into her nest. This one mishap was due to\nthe fact that the egg was rotten, and the bird cast it away carelessly.\nThe ziz has another name, Renanin,[135] because he is the celestial\nsinger.[136] On account of his relation to the heavenly regions he is\nalso called Sekwi, the seer, and, besides, he is called \"son of the\nnest,\"[137] because his fledgling birds break away from the shell\nwithout being hatched by the mother bird; they spring directly from the\nnest, as it were.[138] Like leviathan, so ziz is a delicacy to be\nserved to the pious at the end of time, to compensate them for the\nprivations which abstaining from the unclean fowls imposed upon\nthem.[139]\n\nTHE SIXTH DAY\n\nAs the fish were formed out of water, and the birds out of boggy earth\nwell mixed with water, so the mammals were formed out of solid\nearth,[140] and as leviathan is the most notable representative of the\nfish kind, and ziz of the bird kind, so behemot is the most notable\nrepresentative of the mammal kind. Behemot matches leviathan in\nstrength, and he had to be prevented, like leviathan, from multiplying\nand increasing, else the world could not have continued to exist; after\nGod had created him male and female, He at once deprived him of the\ndesire to propagate his kind.[141] He is so monstrous that he requires\nthe produce of a thousand mountains for his daily food. All the water\nthat flows through the bed of the Jordan in a year suffices him exactly\nfor one gulp. It therefore was necessary to give him one stream\nentirely for his own use, a stream flowing forth from Paradise, called\nYubal.[142] Behemot, too, is destined to be served to the pious as an\nappetizing dainty, but before they enjoy his flesh, they will be\npermitted to view the mortal combat between leviathan and behemot, as a\nreward for having denied themselves the pleasures of the circus and its\ngladiatorial contests.[143]\n\nLeviathan, ziz, and behemot are not the only monsters; there are many\nothers, and marvellous ones, like the reem, a giant animal, of which\nonly one couple, male and female, is in existence. Had there been more,\nthe world could hardly have maintained itself against them. The act of\ncopulation occurs but once in seventy years between them, for God has\nso ordered it that the male and female reem are at opposite ends of the\nearth, the one in the east, the other in the west. The act of\ncopulation results in the death of the male. He is bitten by the female\nand dies of the bite. The female becomes pregnant and remains in this\nstate for no less than twelve years. At the end of this long period she\ngives birth to twins, a male and a female. The year preceding her\ndelivery she is not able to move. She would die of hunger, were it not\nthat her own spittle flowing copiously from her mouth waters and\nfructifies the earth near her, and causes it to bring forth enough for\nher maintenance. For a whole year the animal can but roll from side to\nside, until finally her belly bursts, and the twins issue forth. Their\nappearance is thus the signal for the death of the mother reem. She\nmakes room for the new generation, which in turn is destined to suffer\nthe same fate as the generation that went before. Immediately after\nbirth, the one goes eastward and the other westward, to meet only after\nthe lapse of seventy years, propagate themselves, and perish.[144] A\ntraveller who once saw a reem one day old described its height to be\nfour parasangs, and the length of its head one parasang and a\nhalf.[145] Its horns measure one hundred ells, and their height is a\ngreat deal more.[146]\n\nOne of the most remarkable creatures is the \"man of the mountain,\" Adne\nSadeh, or, briefly, Adam.[147] His form is exactly that of a human\nbeing, but he is fastened to the ground by means of a navel-string,\nupon which his life depends. The cord once snapped, he dies. This\nanimal keeps himself alive with what is produced by the soil around\nabout him as far as his tether permits him to crawl. No creature may\nventure to approach within the radius of his cord, for he seizes and\ndemolishes whatever comes in his reach. To kill him, one may not go\nnear to him, the navel-string must be severed from a distance by means\nof a dart, and then he dies amid groans and moans.[143] Once upon a\ntime a traveller happened in the region where this animal is found. He\noverheard his host consult his wife as to what to do to honor their\nguest, and resolve to serve \"our man,\" as he said. Thinking he had\nfallen among cannibals, the stranger ran as fast as his feet could\ncarry him from his entertainer, who sought vainly to restrain him.\nAfterward, he found out that there had been no intention of regaling\nhim with human flesh, but only with the flesh of the strange animal\ncalled \"man.\"[146] As the \"man of the mountain\" is fixed to the ground\nby his navel-string, so the barnacle-goose is grown to a tree by its\nbill. It is hard to say whether it is an animal and must be slaughtered\nto be fit for food, or whether it is a plant and no ritual ceremony is\nnecessary before eating it.[150]\n\nAmong the birds the phoenix is the most wonderful. When Eve gave all\nthe animals some of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, the phoenix was\nthe only bird that refused to eat thereof, and he was rewarded with\neternal life. When he has lived a thousand years, his body shrinks, and\nthe feathers drop from it, until he is as small as an egg. This is the\nnucleus of the new bird.[151]\n\nThe phoenix is also called \"the guardian of the terrestrial sphere.\" He\nruns with the sun on his circuit, and he spreads out his wings and\ncatches up the fiery rays of the sun.[152] If he were not there to\nintercept them, neither man nor any other animate being would keep\nalive. On his right wing the following words are inscribed in huge\nletters,[153] about four thousand stadia high: \"Neither the earth\nproduces me, nor the heavens, but only the wings of fire.\" His food\nconsists of the manna of heaven and the dew of the earth. His excrement\nis a worm, whose excrement in turn is the cinnamon used by kings and\nprinces.[152] Enoch, who saw the phoenix birds when he was translated,\ndescribes them as flying creatures, wonderful and strange in\nappearance, with the feet and tails of lions, and the heads of\ncrocodiles; their appearance is of a purple color like the rainbow;\ntheir size nine hundred measures. Their wings are like those of angels,\neach having twelve, and they attend the chariot of the sun and go with\nhim, bringing heat and dew as they are ordered by God. In the morning\nwhen the sun starts on his daily course, the phoenixes and the\nchalkidri[154] sing, and every bird flaps its wings, rejoicing the\nGiver of light, and they sing a song at the command of the Lord.[155]\nAmong reptiles the salamander and the shamir are the most marvellous.\nThe salamander originates from a fire of myrtle wood[156] which has\nbeen kept burning for seven years steadily by means of magic arts. Not\nbigger than a mouse, it yet is invested with peculiar properties. One\nwho smears himself with its blood is invulnerable,[157] and the web\nwoven by it is a talisman against fire.[158] The people who lived at\nthe deluge boasted that, were a fire flood to come, they would protect\nthemselves with the blood of the salamander.[159]\n\nKing Hezekiah owes his life to the salamander. His wicked father, King\nAhaz, had delivered him to the fires of Moloch, and he would have been\nburnt, had his mother not painted him with the blood of the salamander,\nso that the fire could do him no harm.[160]\n\nThe shamir was made at twilight on the sixth day of creation together\nwith other extraordinary things.[161] It is about as large as a barley\ncorn, and it possesses the remarkable property of cutting the hardest\nof diamonds. For this reason it was used for the stones in the\nbreastplate worn by the high priest. First the names of the twelve\ntribes were traced with ink on the stones to be set into the\nbreastplate, then the shamir was passed over the lines, and thus they\nwere graven. The wonderful circumstance was that the friction wore no\nparticles from the stones. The shamir was also used for hewing into\nshape the stones from which the Temple was built, because the law\nprohibited iron tools to be used for the work in the Temple.[162] The\nshamir may not be put in an iron vessel for safe-keeping, nor in any\nmetal vessel, it would burst such a receptacle asunder. It is kept\nwrapped up in a woollen cloth, and this in turn is placed in a lead\nbasket filled with barley bran.[163] The shamir was guarded in Paradise\nuntil Solomon needed it. He sent the eagle thither to fetch the\nworm.[164] With the destruction of the Temple the shamir vanished.[165]\nA similar fate overtook the tahash, which had been created only that\nits skin might be used for the Tabernacle. Once the Tabernacle was\ncompleted, the tahash disappeared. It had a horn on its forehead, was\ngaily colored like the turkey-cock, and belonged to the class of clean\nanimals.[166] Among the fishes there are also wonderful creatures, the\nsea-goats and the dolphins, not to mention leviathan. A sea-faring man\nonce saw a sea-goat on whose horns the words were inscribed: \"I am a\nlittle sea-animal, yet I traversed three hundred parasangs to offer\nmyself as food to the leviathan.\"[167] The dolphins are half man and\nhalf fish; they even have sexual intercourse with human beings;\ntherefore they are called also \"sons of the sea,\" for in a sense they\nrepresent the human kind in the waters.[163]\n\nThough every species in the animal world was created during the last\ntwo days of the six of creation,[169] yet many characteristics of\ncertain animals appeared later. Cats and mice, foes now, were friends\noriginally. Their later enmity had a distinct cause. On one occasion\nthe mouse appeared before God and spoke: \"I and the cat are partners,\nbut now we have nothing to eat.\" The Lord answered: \"Thou art\nintriguing against thy companion, only that thou mayest devour her. As\na punishment, she shall devour thee.\" Thereupon the mouse: \"O Lord of\nthe world, wherein have I done wrong?\" God replied: \"O thou unclean\nreptile, thou shouldst have been warned by the example of the moon, who\nlost a part of her light, because she spake ill of the sun, and what\nshe lost was given to her opponent.[170] The evil intentions thou didst\nharbor against thy companion shall be punished in the same way. Instead\nof thy devouring her, she shall devour thee.\" The mouse: \"O Lord of the\nworld! Shall my whole kind be destroyed?\" God: \"I will take care that a\nremnant of thee is spared.\" In her rage the mouse bit the cat, and the\ncat in turn threw herself upon the mouse, and hacked into her with her\nteeth until she lay dead. Since that moment the mouse stands in such\nawe of the cat that she does not even attempt to defend herself against\nher enemy's attacks, and always keeps herself in hiding.[171] Similarly\ndogs and cats maintained a friendly relation to each other, and only\nlater on became enemies. A dog and a cat were partners, and they shared\nwith each other whatever they had. It once happened that neither could\nfind anything to eat for three days. Thereupon the dog proposed that\nthey dissolve their partnership. The cat should go to Adam, in whose\nhouse there would surely be enough for her to eat, while the dog should\nseek his fortune elsewhere. Before they separated, they took an oath\nnever to go to the same master. The cat took up her abode with Adam,\nand she found sufficient mice in his house to satisfy her appetite.\nSeeing how useful she was in driving away and extirpating mice, Adam\ntreated her most kindly. The dog, on the other hand, saw bad times. The\nfirst night after their separation he spent in the cave of the wolf,\nwho had granted him a night's lodging. At night the dog caught the\nsound of steps, and he reported it to his host, who bade him repulse\nthe intruders. They were wild animals. Little lacked and the dog would\nhave lost his life. Dismayed, the dog fled from the house of the wolf,\nand took refuge with the monkey. But he would not grant him even a\nsingle night's lodging; and the fugitive was forced to appeal to the\nhospitality of the sheep. Again the dog heard steps in the middle of\nthe night. Obeying the bidding of his host, he arose to chase away the\nmarauders, who turned out to be wolves. The barking of the dog apprised\nthe wolves of the presence of sheep, so that the dog innocently caused\nthe sheep's death. Now he had lost his last friend. Night after night\nhe begged for shelter, without ever finding a home. Finally, he decided\nto repair to the house of Adam, who also granted him refuge for one\nnight. When wild animals approached the house under cover of darkness,\nthe dog began to bark, Adam awoke, and with his bow and arrow he drove\nthem away. Recognizing the dog's usefulness, he bade him remain with\nhim always. But as soon as the cat espied the dog in Adam's house, she\nbegan to quarrel with him, and reproach him with having broken his oath\nto her. Adam did his best to pacify the cat. He told her he had himself\ninvited the dog to make his home there, and he assured her she would in\nno wise be the loser by the dog's presence; he wanted both to stay with\nhim. But it was impossible to appease the cat. The dog promised her not\nto touch anything intended for her. She insisted that she could not\nlive in one and the same house with a thief like the dog. Bickerings\nbetween the dog and the cat became the order of the day. Finally the\ndog could stand it no longer, and he left Adam's house, and betook\nhimself to Seth's. By Seth he was welcomed kindly, and from Seth's\nhouse, he continued to make efforts at reconciliation with the cat. In\nvain. Yes, the enmity between the first dog and the first cat was\ntransmitted to all their descendants until this very day.[172]\n\nEven the physical peculiarities of certain animals were not original\nfeatures with them, but owed their existence to something that occurred\nsubsequent to the days of creation. The mouse at first had quite a\ndifferent mouth from its present mouth. In Noah's ark, in which all\nanimals, to ensure the preservation of every kind, lived together\npeaceably, the pair of mice were once sitting next to the cat. Suddenly\nthe latter remembered that her father was in the habit of devouring\nmice, and thinking there was no harm in following his example, she\njumped at the mouse, who vainly looked for a hole into which to slip\nout of sight. Then a miracle happened; a hole appeared where none had\nbeen before, and the mouse sought refuge in it. The cat pursued the\nmouse, and though she could not follow her into the hole, she could\ninsert her paw and try to pull the mouse out of her covert. Quickly the\nmouse opened her mouth in the hope that the paw would go into it, and\nthe cat would be prevented from fastening her claws in her flesh. But\nas the cavity of the mouth was not big enough, the cat succeeded in\nclawing the cheeks of the mouse. Not that this helped her much, it\nmerely widened the mouth of the mouse, and her prey after all escaped\nthe cat.[173] After her happy escape, the mouse betook herself to Noah\nand said to him, \"O pious man, be good enough to sew up my cheek where\nmy enemy, the cat, has torn a rent in it.\" Noah bade her fetch a hair\nout of the tail of the swine, and with this he repaired the damage.\nThence the little seam-like line next to the mouth of every mouse to\nthis very day.[174]\n\nThe raven is another animal that changed its appearance during its\nsojourn in the ark. When Noah desired to send him forth to find out\nabout the state of the waters, he hid under the wings of the eagle.\nNoah found him, however, and said to him, \"Go and see whether the\nwaters have diminished.\" The raven pleaded: \"Hast thou none other among\nall the birds to send on this errand?\" Noah: \"My power extends no\nfurther than over thee and the dove.\"[175] But the raven was not\nsatisfied. He said to Noah with great insolence: \"Thou sendest me forth\nonly that I may meet my death, and thou wishest my death that my wife\nmay be at thy service.\"[176] Thereupon Noah cursed the raven thus: \"May\nthy mouth, which has spoken evil against me, be accursed, and thy\nintercourse with thy wife be only through it.\"[177] All the animals in\nthe ark said Amen. And this is the reason why a mass of spittle runs\nfrom the mouth of the male raven into the mouth of the female during\nthe act of copulation, and only thus the female is impregnated.[178]\nAltogether the raven is an unattractive animal. He is unkind toward his\nown young so long as their bodies are not covered with black\nfeathers,[179] though as a rule ravens love one another.[180] God\ntherefore takes the young ravens under His special protection. From\ntheir own excrement maggots come forth,[181] which serve as their food\nduring the three days that elapse after their birth, until their white\nfeathers turn black and their parents recognize them as their offspring\nand care for them.[182]\n\nThe raven has himself to blame also for the awkward hop in his gait. He\nobserved the graceful step of the dove, and envious of her tried to\nenmulate it. The outcome was that he almost broke his bones without in\nthe least succeeding in making himself resemble the dove, not to\nmention that he brought the scorn of the other animals down upon\nhimself. His failure excited their ridicule. Then he decided to return\nto his own original gait, but in the interval he had unlearnt it, and\nhe could walk neither the one way nor the other properly. His step had\nbecome a hop betwixt and between. Thus we see how true it is, that he\nwho is dissatisfied with his small portion loses the little he has in\nstriving for more and better things.[163]\n\nThe steer is also one of the animals that have suffered a change in the\ncourse of time. Originally his face was entirely overgrown with hair,\nbut now there is none on his nose, and that is because Joshua kissed\nhim on his nose during the siege of Jericho. Joshua was an exceedingly\nheavy man. Horses, donkeys, and mules, none could bear him, they all\nbroke down under his weight. What they could not do, the steer\naccomplished. On his back Joshua rode to the siege of Jericho, and in\ngratitude he bestowed a kiss upon his nose.[134]\n\nThe serpent, too, is other than it was at first. Before the fall of man\nit was the cleverest of all animals created, and in form it resembled\nman closely. It stood upright, and was of extraordinary size.[185]\nAfterward, it lost the mental advantages it had possessed as compared\nwith other animals, and it degenerated physically, too; it was deprived\nof its feet, so that it could not pursue other animals and kill them.\nThe mole and the frog had to be made harmless in similar ways; the\nformer has no eyes, else it were irresistible, and the frog has no\nteeth, else no animal in the water were sure of its life.[186]\n\nWhile the cunning of the serpent wrought its own undoing, the cunning\nof the fox stood him in good stead in many an embarrassing situation.\nAfter Adam had committed the sin of disobedience, God delivered the\nwhole of the animal world into the power of the Angel of Death, and He\nordered him to cast one pair of each kind into the water. He and\nleviathan together thus have dominion over all that has life. When the\nAngel of Death was in the act of executing the Divine command upon the\nfox, he began to weep bitterly. The Angel of Death asked him the reason\nof his tears, and the fox replied that he was mourning the sad fate of\nhis friend. At the same time he pointed to the figure of a fox in the\nsea, which was nothing but his own reflection. The Angel of Death,\npersuaded that a representative of the fox family had been cast into\nthe water, let him go free. The fox told his trick to the cat, and she\nin turn played it on the Angel of Death.[187] So it happened that\nneither cats nor foxes are represented in the water, while all other\nanimals are.[188]\n\nWhen leviathan passed the animals in review, and missing the fox was\ninformed of the sly way in which he had eluded his authority, he\ndispatched great and powerful fish on the errand of enticing the truant\ninto the water. The fox walking along the shore espied the large number\nof fish, and he exclaimed, \"How happy he who may always satisfy his\nhunger with the flesh of such as these.\" The fish told him, if he would\nbut follow them, his appetite could easily be appeased. At the same\ntime they informed him that a great honor awaited him. Leviathan, they\nsaid, was at death's door, and he had commissioned them to install the\nfox as his successor. They were ready to carry him on their backs, so\nthat he had no need to fear the water, and thus they would convey him\nto the throne, which stood upon a huge rock. The fox yielded to these\npersuasions, and descended into the water. Presently an uncomfortable\nfeeling took possession of him. He began to suspect that the tables\nwere turned; he was being made game of instead of making game of others\nas usual. He urged the fish to tell him the truth, and they admitted\nthat they had been sent out to secure his person for leviathan, who\nwanted his heart,[189] that he might become as knowing as the fox,\nwhose wisdom he had heard many extol. The fox said reproachfully: \"Why\ndid you not tell me the truth at once? Then I could have brought my\nheart along with me for King Leviathan, who would have showered honors\nupon me. As it is, you will surely suffer punishment for bringing me\nwithout my heart. The foxes, you see,\" he continued, \"do not carry\ntheir hearts around with them. They keep them in a safe place, and when\nthey have need of them, they fetch them thence.\" The fish quickly swam\nto shore, and landed the fox, so that he might go for his heart. No\nsooner did he feel dry land under his feet than he began to jump and\nshout, and when they urged him to go in search of his heart, and follow\nthem, he said: \"O ye fools, could I have followed you into the water,\nif I had not had my heart with me? Or exists there a creature able to\ngo abroad without his heart?\" The fish replied: \"Come, come, thou art\nfooling us.\" Whereupon the fox: \"O ye fools, if I could play a trick on\nthe Angel of Death, how much easier was it to make game of you?\" So\nthey had to return, their errand undone, and leviathan could not but\nconfirm the taunting judgment of the fox: \"In very truth, the fox is\nwise of heart, and ye are fools.\"[190]\n\nALL THINGS PRAISE THE LORD\n\n\"Whatever God created has value.\" Even the animals and the insects that\nseem useless and noxious at first sight have a vocation to fulfil. The\nsnail trailing a moist streak after it as it crawls, and so using up\nits vitality, serves as a remedy for boils. The sting of a hornet is\nhealed by the house-fly crushed and applied to the wound. The gnat,\nfeeble creature, taking in food but never secreting it, is a specific\nagainst the poison of a viper, and this venomous reptile itself cures\neruptions, while the lizard is the antidote to the scorpion.[191] Not\nonly do all creatures serve man, and contribute to his comfort, but\nalso God \"teacheth us through the beasts of the earth, and maketh us\nwise through the fowls of heaven.\" He endowed many animals with\nadmirable moral qualities as a pattern for man. If the Torah had not\nbeen revealed to us, we might have learnt regard for the decencies of\nlife from the cat, who covers her excrement with earth; regard for the\nproperty of others from the ants, who never encroach upon one another's\nstores; and regard for decorous conduct from the cock, who, when he\ndesires to unite with the hen, promises to buy her a cloak long enough\nto reach to the ground, and when the hen reminds him of his promise, he\nshakes his comb and says, \"May I be deprived of my comb, if I do not\nbuy it when I have the means.\" The grasshopper also has a lesson to\nteach to man. All the summer through it sings, until its belly bursts,\nand death claims it. Though it knows the fate that awaits it, yet it\nsings on. So man should do his duty toward God, no matter what the\nconsequences. The stork should be taken as a model in two respects. He\nguards the purity of his family life zealously, and toward his fellows\nhe is compassionate and merciful. Even the frog can be the teacher of\nman. By the side of the water there lives a species of animals which\nsubsist off aquatic creatures alone. When the frog notices that one of\nthem is hungry, he goes to it of his own accord, and offers himself as\nfood, thus fulfilling the injunction, \"If thine enemy be hungry, give\nhim bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink.\"[192]\n\nThe whole of creation was called into existence by God unto His\nglory,[193] and each creature has its own hymn of praise wherewith to\nextol the Creator. Heaven and earth, Paradise and hell, desert and\nfield, rivers and seas\u2014all have their own way of paying homage to God.\nThe hymn of the earth is, \"From the uttermost part of the earth have we\nheard songs, glory to the Righteous.\" The sea exclaims, \"Above the\nvoices of many waters, the mighty breakers of the sea, the Lord on high\nis mighty.\"\n\nAlso the celestial bodies and the elements proclaim the praise of their\nCreator\u2014the sun, moon, and stars, the clouds and the winds, lightning\nand dew. The sun says, \"The sun and moon stood still in their\nhabitation, at the light of Thine arrows as they went, at the shining\nof Thy glittering spear\"; and the stars sing, \"Thou art the Lord, even\nThou alone; Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all\ntheir host, the earth and all things that are thereon, the seas and all\nthat is in them, and Thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven\nworshippeth Thee.\"\n\nEvery plant, furthermore, has a song of praise. The fruitful tree\nsings, \"Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joy, before the\nLord, for He cometh; for He cometh to judge the earth\"; and the ears of\ngrain on the field sing, \"The pastures are covered with flocks; the\nvalleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also\nsing.\"\n\nGreat among singers of praise are the birds, and greatest among them is\nthe cock. When God at midnight goes to the pious in Paradise, all the\ntrees therein break out into adoration, and their songs awaken the\ncock, who begins in turn to praise God. Seven times he crows, each time\nreciting a verse. The first verse is: \"Lift up your heads, O ye gates;\nand be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall\ncome in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord\nmighty in battle.\" The second verse: \"Lift up your heads, O ye gates;\nyea, lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall\ncome in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King\nof glory.\" The third: \"Arise, ye righteous, and occupy yourselves with\nthe Torah, that your reward may be abundant in the world hereafter.\"\nThe fourth: \"I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord!\" The fifth: \"How\nlong wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy\nsleep?\" The sixth: \"Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open\nthine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.\" And the seventh\nverse sung by the cock runs: \"It is time to work for the Lord, for they\nhave made void Thy law.\"\n\nThe song of the vulture is: \"I will hiss for them, and gather them; for\nI have redeemed them, and they shall increase as they have\nincreased\"\u2014the same verse with which the bird will in time to come\nannounce the advent of the Messiah, the only difference being, that\nwhen he heralds the Messiah he will sit upon the ground and sing his\nverse, while at all other times he is seated elsewhere when he sings\nit.\n\nNor do the other animals praise God less than the birds. Even the\nbeasts of prey give forth adoration. The lion says: \"The Lord shall go\nforth as a mighty man; He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war; He\nshall cry, yea, He shall shout aloud; He shall do mightily against his\nenemies.\" And the fox exhorts unto justice with the words: \"Woe unto\nhim that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by\ninjustice; that useth his neighbor's service without wages, and giveth\nhim not his hire.\"\n\nYea, the dumb fishes know how to proclaim the praise of their Lord.\n\"The voice of the Lord is upon the waters,\" they say, \"the God of glory\nthundereth, even the Lord upon many waters\"; while the frog exclaims,\n\"Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever.\"\n\nContemptible though they are, even the reptiles give praise unto their\nCreator. The mouse extols God with the words: \"Howbeit Thou art just in\nall that is come upon me; for Thou hast dealt truly, but I have done\nwickedly.\" And the cat sings: \"Let everything that hath breath praise\nthe Lord. Praise ye the Lord.\"[194]\n\n\n\n\nII\nADAM\n\nMAN AND THE WORLD\n\nWith ten Sayings God created the world, although a single Saying would\nhave sufficed. God desired to make known how severe is the punishment\nto be meted out to the wicked, who destroy a world created with as many\nas ten Sayings, and how goodly the reward destined for the righteous,\nwho preserve a world created with as many as ten Sayings.[1]\n\nThe world was made for man, though he was the last-comer among its\ncreatures. This was design. He was to find all things ready for him.\nGod was the host who prepared dainty dishes, set the table, and then\nled His guest to his seat. At the same time man's late appearance on\nearth is to convey an admonition to humility. Let him beware of being\nproud, lest he invite the retort that the gnat is older than he.[2]\n\nThe superiority of man to the other creatures is apparent in the very\nmanner of his creation, altogether different from theirs. He is the\nonly one who was created by the hand of God.[3] The rest sprang from\nthe word of God. The body of man is a microcosm, the whole world in\nminiature, and the world in turn is a reflex of man. The hair upon his\nhead corresponds to the woods of the earth, his tears to a river, his\nmouth to the ocean.[4] Also, the world resembles the ball of his eye:\nthe ocean that encircles the earth is like unto the white of the eye,\nthe dry land is the iris, Jerusalem the pupil, and the Temple the image\nmirrored in the pupil of the eye.[5] But man is more than a mere image\nof this world. He unites both heavenly and earthly qualities within\nhimself. In four he resembles the angels, in four the beasts. His power\nof speech, his discriminating intellect, his upright walk, the glance\nof his eye\u2014they all make an angel of him. But, on the other hand, he\neats and drinks, secretes the waste matter in his body, propagates his\nkind, and dies, like the beast of the field. Therefore God said before\nthe creation of man: \"The celestials are not propagated, but they are\nimmortal; the beings on earth are propagated, but they die. I will\ncreate man to be the union of the two, so that when he sins, when he\nbehaves like a beast, death shall overtake him; but if he refrains from\nsin, he shall live forever.\"[6] God now bade all beings in heaven and\non earth contribute to the creation of man, and He Himself took part in\nit. Thus they all will love man, and if he should sin, they will be\ninterested in his preservation.[7]\n\nThe whole world naturally was created for the pious, the God-fearing\nman, whom Israel produces with the helpful guidance of the law of God\nrevealed to him.[8] It was, therefore, Israel who was taken into\nspecial consideration at the time man was made. All other creatures\nwere instructed to change their nature, if Israel should ever need\ntheir help in the course of his history. The sea was ordered to divide\nbefore Moses, and the heavens to give ear to the words of the leader;\nthe sun and the moon were bidden to stand still before Joshua, the\nravens to feed Elijah, the fire to spare the three youths in the\nfurnace, the lion to do no harm to Daniel, the fish to spew forth\nJonah, and the heavens to open before Ezekiel.[9]\n\nIn His modesty, God took counsel with the angels, before the creation\nof the world, regarding His intention of making man. He said: \"For the\nsake of Israel, I will create the world. As I shall make a division\nbetween light and darkness, so I will in time to come do for Israel in\nEgypt\u2014thick darkness shall be over the land, and the children of Israel\nshall have light in their dwellings; as I shall make a separation\nbetween the waters under the firmament and the waters above the\nfirmament, so I will do for Israel\u2014I will divide the waters for him\nwhen he crosses the Red Sea; as on the third day I shall create plants,\nso I will do for Israel\u2014I will bring forth manna for him in the\nwilderness; as I shall create luminaries to divide day from night, so I\nwill do for Israel\u2014I will go before him by day in a pillar of cloud and\nby night in a pillar of fire; as I shall create the fowl of the air and\nthe fishes of the sea, so I will do for Israel\u2014I will bring quails for\nhim from the sea; and as I shall breathe the breath of life into the\nnostrils of man, so I will do for Israel\u2014I will give the Torah unto\nhim, the tree of life.\" The angels marvelled that so much love should\nbe lavished upon this people of Israel, and God told them: \"On the\nfirst day of creation, I shall make the heavens and stretch them out;\nso will Israel raise up the Tabernacle as the dwelling-place of My\nglory. On the second day, I shall put a division between the\nterrestrial waters and the heavenly waters; so will he hang up a veil\nin the Tabernacle to divide the Holy Place and the Most Holy. On the\nthird day, I shall make the earth put forth grass and herb; so will he,\nin obedience to My commands, eat herbs on the first night of the\nPassover, and prepare showbread for Me. On the fourth day, I shall make\nthe luminaries; so will he make a golden candlestick for Me. On the\nfifth day, I shall create the birds; so will he fashion the cherubim\nwith outstretched wings. On the sixth day, I shall create man; so will\nIsrael set aside a man of the sons of Aaron as high priest for My\nservice.\"[10]\n\nAccordingly, the whole of creation was conditional. God said to the\nthings He made on the first six days: \"If Israel accepts the Torah, you\nwill continue and endure; otherwise, I shall turn everything back into\nchaos again.\" The whole world was thus kept in suspense and dread until\nthe day of the revelation on Sinai, when Israel received and accepted\nthe Torah, and so fulfilled the condition made by God at the time when\nHe created the universe.[11]\n\nTHE ANGELS AND THE CREATION OF MAN\n\nGod in His wisdom hiving resolved to create man, He asked counsel of\nall around Him before He proceeded to execute His purpose\u2014an example to\nman, be he never so great and distinguished, not to scorn the advice of\nthe humble and lowly. First God called upon heaven and earth, then upon\nall other things He had created, and last upon the angels.\n\nThe angels were not all of one opinion. The Angel of Love favored the\ncreation of man, because he would be affectionate and loving; but the\nAngel of Truth opposed it, because he would be full of lies. And while\nthe Angel of Justice favored it, because he would practice justice, the\nAngel of Peace opposed it, because he would be quarrelsome.\n\nTo invalidate his protest, God cast the Angel of Truth down from heaven\nto earth, and when the others cried out against such contemptuous\ntreatment of their companion, He said, \"Truth will spring back out of\nthe earth.\"\n\nThe objections of the angels would have been much stronger, had they\nknown the whole truth about man. God had told them only about the\npious, and had concealed from them that there would be reprobates among\nmankind, too. And yet, though they knew but half the truth, the angels\nwere nevertheless prompted to cry out: \"What is man, that Thou art\nmindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him?\" God\nreplied: \"The fowl of the air and the fish of the sea, what were they\ncreated for? Of what avail a larder full of appetizing dainties, and no\nguest to enjoy them?\" And the angels could not but exclaim: \"O Lord,\nour Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth! Do as is pleasing\nin Thy sight.\"[12]\n\nFor not a few of the angels their opposition bore fatal consequences.\nWhen God summoned the band under the archangel Michael, and asked their\nopinion on the creation of man, they answered scornfully: \"What is man,\nthat Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visitest\nhim?\" God thereupon stretched forth His little finger, and all were\nconsumed by fire except their chief Michael. And the same fate befell\nthe band under the leadership of the archangel Gabriel; he alone of all\nwas saved from destruction.\n\nThe third band consulted was commanded by the archangel Labbiel. Taught\nby the horrible fate of his predecessors, he warned his troop: \"You\nhave seen what misfortune overtook the angels who said 'What is man,\nthat Thou art mindful of him?' Let us have a care not to do likewise,\nlest we suffer the same dire punishment. For God will not refrain from\ndoing in the end what He has planned. Therefore it is advisable for us\nto yield to His wishes.\" Thus warned, the angels spoke: \"Lord of the\nworld, it is well that Thou hast thought of creating man. Do Thou\ncreate him according to Thy will. And as for us, we will be his\nattendants and his ministers, and reveal unto him all our secrets.\"\nThereupon God changed Labbiel's name to Raphael, the Rescuer, because\nhis host of angels had been rescued by his sage advice. He was\nappointed the Angel of Healing, who has in his safe-keeping all the\ncelestial remedies, the types of the medical remedies used on\nearth.[12]\n\nTHE CREATION OF ADAM\n\nWhen at last the assent of the angels to the creation of man was given,\nGod said to Gabriel: \"Go and fetch Me dust from the four corners of the\nearth, and I will create man therewith.\" Gabriel went forth to do the\nbidding of the Lord, but the earth drove him away, and refused to let\nhim gather up dust from it. Gabriel remonstrated: \"Why, O Earth, dost\nthou not hearken unto the voice of the Lord, who founded thee upon the\nwaters without props or pillars?\" The earth replied, and said: \"I am\ndestined to become a curse, and to be cursed through man, and if God\nHimself does not take the dust from me, no one else shall ever do it.\"\nWhen God heard this, He stretched out His hand, took of the dust of the\nground, and created the first man therewith.[14] Of set purpose the\ndust was taken from all four corners of the earth, so that if a man\nfrom the east should happen to die in the west, or a man from the west\nin the east, the earth should not dare refuse to receive the dead, and\ntell him to go whence he was taken. Wherever a man chances to die, and\nwheresoever he is buried, there will he return to the earth from which\nhe sprang. Also, the dust was of various colors\u2014red, black, white, and\ngreen\u2014red for the blood, black for the bowels, white for the bones and\nveins, and green for the pale skin.\n\nAt this early moment the Torah interfered. She addressed herself to\nGod: \"O Lord of the world! The world is Thine, Thou canst do with it as\nseemeth good in Thine eyes. But the man Thou art now creating will be\nfew of days and full of trouble and sin. If it be not Thy purpose to\nhave forbearance and patience with him, it were better not to call him\ninto being.\" God replied, \"Is it for naught I am called long-suffering\nand merciful?\"[15]\n\nThe grace and lovingkindness of God revealed themselves particularly in\nHis taking one spoonful of dust from the spot where in time to come the\naltar would stand, saying, \"I shall take man from the place of\natonement, that he may endure.\"[19]\n\nTHE SOUL OF MAN\n\nThe care which God exercised in fashioning every detail of the body of\nman is as naught in comparison with His solicitude for the human soul.\nThe soul of man was created on the first day, for it is the spirit of\nGod moving upon the face of the waters. Thus, instead of being the\nlast, man is really the first work of creation.[17]\n\nThis spirit, or, to call it by its usual name, the soul of man,\npossesses five different powers. By means of one of them she escapes\nfrom the body every night, rises up to heaven, and fetches new life\nthence for man.[18]\n\nWith the soul of Adam the souls of all the generations of men were\ncreated. They are stored up in a promptuary, in the seventh of the\nheavens, whence they are drawn as they are needed for human body after\nhuman body.[19]\n\nThe soul and body of man are united in this way: When a woman has\nconceived, the Angel of the Night, Lailah, carries the sperm before\nGod, and God decrees what manner of human being shall become of\nit\u2014whether it shall be male or female, strong or weak, rich or poor,\nbeautiful or ugly, long or short, fat or thin, and what all its other\nqualities shall be. Piety and wickedness alone are left to the\ndetermination of man himself. Then God makes a sign to the angel\nappointed over the souls, saying, \"Bring Me the soul so-and-so, which\nis hidden in Paradise, whose name is so-and-so, and whose form is\nso-and-so.\" The angel brings the designated soul, and she bows down\nwhen she appears in the presence of God, and prostrates herself before\nHim. At that moment, God issues the command, \"Enter this sperm.\" The\nsoul opens her mouth, and pleads: \"O Lord of the world! I am well\npleased with the world in which I have been living since the day on\nwhich Thou didst call me into being. Why dost Thou now desire to have\nme enter this impure sperm, I who am holy and pure, and a part of Thy\nglory?\" God consoles her: \"The world which I shall cause thee to enter\nis better than the world in which thou hast lived hitherto, and when I\ncreated thee, it was only for this purpose.\" The soul is then forced to\nenter the sperm against her will, and the angel carries her back to the\nwomb of the mother. Two angels are detailed to watch that she shall not\nleave it, nor drop out of it, and a light is set above her, whereby the\nsoul can see from one end of the world to the other. In the morning an\nangel carries her to Paradise, and shows her the righteous, who sit\nthere in their glory, with crowns upon their heads. The angel then says\nto the soul, \"Dost thou know who these are?\" She replies in the\nnegative, and the angel goes on: \"These whom thou beholdest here were\nformed, like unto thee, in the womb of their mother. When they came\ninto the world, they observed God's Torah and His commandments.\nTherefore they became the partakers of this bliss which thou seest them\nenjoy. Know, also thou wilt one day depart from the world below, and if\nthou wilt observe God's Torah, then wilt thou be found worthy of\nsitting with these pious ones. But if not, thou wilt be doomed to the\nother place.\"\n\nIn the evening, the angel takes the soul to hell, and there points out\nthe sinners whom the Angels of Destruction are smiting with fiery\nscourges, the sinners all the while crying out Woe! Woe! but no mercy\nis shown unto them. The angel then questions the soul as before, \"Dost\nthou know who these are?\" and as before the reply is negative. The\nangel continues: \"These who are consumed with fire were created like\nunto thee. When they were put into the world, they did not observe\nGod's Torah and His commandments. Therefore have they come to this\ndisgrace which thou seest them suffer. Know, thy destiny is also to\ndepart from the world. Be just, therefore, and not wicked, that thou\nmayest gain the future world.\"\n\nBetween morning and evening the angel carries the soul around, and\nshows her where she will live and where she will die, and the place\nwhere she will buried, and he takes her through the whole world, and\npoints out the just and the sinners and all things. In the evening, he\nreplaces her in the womb of the mother, and there she remains for nine\nmonths.\n\nWhen the time arrives for her to emerge from the womb into the open\nworld, the same angel addresses the soul, \"The time has come for thee\nto go abroad into the open world.\" The soul demurs, \"Why dost thou want\nto make me go forth into the open world?\" The angel replies: \"Know that\nas thou wert formed against thy will, so now thou wilt be born against\nthy will, and against thy will thou shalt die, and against thy will\nthou shalt give account of thyself before the King of kings, the Holy\nOne, blessed be He.\" But the soul is reluctant to leave her place. Then\nthe angel fillips the babe on the nose, extinguishes the light at his\nhead, and brings him forth into the world against his will. Immediately\nthe child forgets all his soul has seen and learnt, and he comes into\nthe world crying, for he loses a place of shelter and security and\nrest.\n\nWhen the time arrives for man to quit this world, the same angel\nappears and asks him, \"Dost thou recognize me?\" And man replies, \"Yes;\nbut why dost thou come to me to-day, and thou didst come on no other\nday?\" The angel says, \"To take thee away from the world, for the time\nof thy departure has arrived.\" Then man falls to weeping, and his voice\npenetrates to all ends of the world, yet no creature hears his voice,\nexcept the cock alone. Man remonstrates with the angel, \"From two\nworlds thou didst take me, and into this world thou didst bring me.\"\nBut the angel reminds him: \"Did I not tell thee that thou wert formed\nagainst thy will, and thou wouldst be born against thy will, and\nagainst thy will thou wouldst die? And against thy will thou wilt have\nto give account and reckoning of thyself before the Holy One, blessed\nbe He.\"[20]\n\nTHE IDEAL MAN\n\nLike all creatures formed on the six days of creation, Adam came from\nthe hands of the Creator fully and completely developed. He was not\nlike a child, but like a man of twenty years of age.[21] The dimensions\nof his body were gigantic, reaching from heaven to earth, or, what\namounts to the same, from east to west.[22] Among later generations of\nmen, there were but few who in a measure resembled Adam in his\nextraordinary size and physical perfections. Samson possessed his\nstrength, Saul his neck, Absalom his hair, Asahel his fleetness of\nfoot, Uzziah his forehead, Josiah his nostrils, Zedekiah his eyes, and\nZerubbabel his voice. History shows that these physical excellencies\nwere no blessings to many of their possessors; they invited the ruin of\nalmost all. Samson's extraordinary strength caused his death; Saul\nkilled himself by cutting his neck with his own sword; while speeding\nswiftly, Asahel was pierced by Abner's spear; Absalom was caught up by\nhis hair in an oak, and thus suspended met his death; Uzziah was\nsmitten with leprosy upon his forehead; the darts that killed Josiah\nentered through his nostrils, and Zedekiah's eyes were blinded.[23]\n\nThe generality of men inherited as little of the beauty as of the\nportentous size of their first father. The fairest women compared with\nSarah are as apes compared with a human being. Sarah's relation to Eve\nis the same, and, again, Eve was but as an ape compared with Adam. His\nperson was so handsome that the very sole of his foot obscured the\nsplendor of the sun.[24]\n\nHis spiritual qualities kept pace with his personal charm, for God had\nfashioned his soul with particular care. She is the image of God, and\nas God fills the world, so the soul fills the human body; as God sees\nall things, and is seen by none, so the soul sees, but cannot be seen;\nas God guides the world, so the soul guides the body; as God in His\nholiness is pure, so is the soul; and as God dwells in secret, so doth\nthe soul.[25]\n\nWhen God was about to put a soul into Adam's clod-like body, He said:\n\"At which point shall I breathe the soul into him? Into the mouth? Nay,\nfor he will use it to speak ill of his fellow-man. Into the eyes? With\nthem he will wink lustfully. Into the ears? They will hearken to\nslander and blasphemy. I will breathe her into his nostrils; as they\ndiscern the unclean and reject it, and take in the fragrant, so the\npious will shun sin, and will cleave to the words of the Torah\"[26]\n\nThe perfections of Adam's soul showed themselves as soon as he received\nher, indeed, while he was still without life. In the hour that\nintervened between breathing a soul into the first man and his becoming\nalive, God revealed the whole history of mankind to him. He showed him\neach generation and its leaders; each generation and its prophets; each\ngeneration and its teachers; each generation and its scholars; each\ngeneration and its statesmen; each generation and its judges; each\ngeneration and its pious members; each generation and its average,\ncommonplace members; and each generation and its impious members. The\ntale of their years, the number of their days, the reckoning of their\nhours, and the measure of their steps, all were made known unto\nhim.[27]\n\nOf his own free will Adam relinquished seventy of his allotted years.\nHis appointed span was to be a thousand years, one of the Lord's days.\nBut he saw that only a single minute of life was apportioned to the\ngreat soul of David, and he made a gift of seventy years to her,\nreducing his own years to nine hundred and thirty.'\n\nThe wisdom of Adam displayed itself to greatest advantage when he gave\nnames to the animals. Then it appeared that God, in combating the\narguments of the angels that opposed the creation of man, had spoken\nwell, when He insisted that man would possess more wisdom than they\nthemselves. When Adam was barely an hour old, God assembled the whole\nworld of animals before him and the angels. The latter were called upon\nto name the different kinds, but they were not equal to the task. Adam,\nhowever, spoke without hesitation: \"O Lord of the world! The proper\nname for this animal is ox, for this one horse, for this one lion, for\nthis one camel.\" And so he called all in turn by name, suiting the name\nto the peculiarity of the animal. Then God asked him what his name was\nto be, and he said Adam, because he had been created out of Adamah,\ndust of the earth. Again, God asked him His own name, and he said:\n\"Adonai, Lord, because Thou art Lord over all creatures\"\u2014the very name\nGod had given unto Himself, the name by which the angels call Him, the\nname that will remain immutable evermore.[29] But without the gift of\nthe holy spirit, Adam could not have found names for all; he was in\nvery truth a prophet, and his wisdom a prophetic quality.[30]\n\nThe names of the animals were not the only inheritance handed down by\nAdam to the generations after him, for mankind owes all crafts to him,\nespecially the art of writing, and he was the inventor of all the\nseventy languages.[31] And still another task he accomplished for his\ndescendants. God showed Adam the whole earth, and Adam designated what\nplaces were to be settled later by men, and what places were to remain\nwaste.[32]\n\nTHE FALL OF SATAN\n\nThe extraordinary qualities with which Adam was blessed, physical and\nspiritual as well, aroused the envy of the angels. They attempted to\nconsume him with fire, and he would have perished, had not the\nprotecting hand of God rested upon him, and established peace between\nhim and the heavenly host.[33] In particular, Satan was jealous of the\nfirst man, and his evil thoughts finally led to his fall. After Adam\nhad been endowed with a soul, God invited all the angels to come and\npay him reverence and homage. Satan, the greatest of the angels in\nheaven, with twelve wings, instead of six like all the others, refused\nto pay heed to the behest of God, saying, \"Thou didst create us angels\nfrom the splendor of the Shekinah, and now Thou dost command us to cast\nourselves down before the creature which Thou didst fashion out of the\ndust of the ground!\" God answered, \"Yet this dust of the ground has\nmore wisdom and understanding than thou.\" Satan demanded a trial of wit\nwith Adam, and God assented thereto, saying: \"I have created beasts,\nbirds, and reptiles, I shall have them all come before thee and before\nAdam. If thou art able to give them names, I shall command Adam to show\nhonor unto thee, and thou shalt rest next to the Shekinah of My glory.\nBut if not, and Adam calls them by the names I have assigned to them,\nthen thou wilt be subject to Adam, and he shall have a place in My\ngarden, and cultivate it.\" Thus spake God, and He betook Himself to\nParadise, Satan following Him. When Adam beheld God, he said to his\nwife, \"O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the\nLord our Maker.\" Now Satan attempted to assign names to the animals. He\nfailed with the first two that presented themselves, the ox and the\ncow. God led two others before him, the camel and the donkey, with the\nsame result. Then God turned to Adam, and questioned him regarding the\nnames of the same animals, framing His questions in such wise that the\nfirst letter of the first word was the same as the first letter of the\nname of the animal standing before him. Thus Adam divined the proper\nname, and Satan was forced to acknowledge the superiority of the first\nman. Nevertheless he broke out in wild outcries that reached the\nheavens, and he refused to do homage unto Adam as he had been\nbidden.[34] The host of angels led by him did likewise, in spite of the\nurgent representations of Michael, who was the first to prostrate\nhimself before Adam in order to show a good example to the other\nangels. Michael addressed Satan: \"Give adoration to the image of God!\nBut if thou doest it not, then the Lord God will break out in wrath\nagainst thee.\" Satan replied: \"If He breaks out in wrath against me, I\nwill exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will be like the Most\nHigh!\" At once God flung Satan and his host out of heaven, down to the\nearth, and from that moment dates the enmity between Satan and man.'\n\nWOMAN\n\nWhen Adam opened his eyes the first time, and beheld the world about\nhim, he broke into praise of God, \"How great are Thy works, O Lord!\"\nBut his admiration for the world surrounding him did not exceed the\nadmiration all creatures conceived for Adam. They took him to be their\ncreator, and they all came to offer him adoration. But he spoke: \"Why\ndo you come to worship me? Nay, you and I together will acknowledge the\nmajesty and the might of Him who hath created us all. 'The Lord\nreigneth,'\" he continued, \"'He is apparelled with majesty.'\"[36]\n\nAnd not alone the creatures on earth, even the angels thought Adam the\nlord of all, and they were about to salute him with \"Holy, holy, holy,\nis the Lord of hosts,\" when God caused sleep to fall upon him, and then\nthe angels knew that he was but a human being.[37]\n\nThe purpose of the sleep that enfolded Adam was to give him a wife, so\nthat the human race might develop, and all creatures recognize the\ndifference between God and man. When the earth heard what God had\nresolved to do, it began to tremble and quake. \"I have not the\nstrength,\" it said, \"to provide food for the herd of Adam's\ndescendants.\" But God pacified it with the words, \"I and thou together,\nwe will find food for the herd.\" Accordingly, time was divided between\nGod and the earth; God took the night, and the earth took the day.\nRefreshing sleep nourishes and strengthens man, it affords him life and\nrest, while the earth brings forth produce with the help of God, who\nwaters it. Yet man must work the earth to earn his food.[38]\n\nThe Divine resolution to bestow a companion on Adam met the wishes of\nman, who had been overcome by a feeling of isolation when the animals\ncame to him in pairs to be named.[39] To banish his loneliness, Lilith\nwas first given to Adam as wife. Like him she had been created out of\nthe dust of the ground. But she remained with him only a short time,\nbecause she insisted upon enjoying full equality with her husband. She\nderived her rights from their identical origin. With the help of the\nIneffable Name, which she pronounced, Lilith flew away from Adam, and\nvanished in the air. Adam complained before God that the wife He had\ngiven him had deserted him, and God sent forth three angels to capture\nher. They found her in the Red Sea, and they sought to make her go back\nwith the threat that, unless she went, she would lose a hundred of her\ndemon children daily by death. But Lilith preferred this punishment to\nliving with Adam. She takes her revenge by injuring babes\u2014baby boys\nduring the first night of their life, while baby girls are exposed to\nher wicked designs until they are twenty days old. The only way to ward\noff the evil is to attach an amulet bearing the names of her three\nangel captors to the children, for such had been the agreement between\nthem.[40]\n\nThe woman destined to become the true companion of man was taken from\nAdam's body, for \"only when like is joined unto like the union is\nindissoluble.\"[41] The creation of woman from man was possible because\nAdam originally had two faces, which were separated at the birth of\nEve.[42]\n\nWhen God was on the point of making Eve, He said: \"I will not make her\nfrom the head of man, lest she carry her head high in arrogant pride;\nnot from the eye, lest she be wanton-eyed; not from the ear, lest she\nbe an eavesdropper; not from the neck, lest she be insolent; not from\nthe mouth, lest she be a tattler; not from the heart, lest she be\ninclined to envy; not from the hand, lest she be a meddler; not from\nthe foot, lest she be a gadabout. I will form her from a chaste portion\nof the body,\" and to every limb and organ as He formed it, God said,\n\"Be chaste! Be chaste!\" Nevertheless, in spite of the great caution\nused, woman has all the faults God tried to obviate. The daughters of\nZion were haughty and walked with stretched forth necks and wanton\neyes; Sarah was an eavesdropper in her own tent, when the angel spoke\nwith Abraham; Miriam was a talebearer, accusing Moses; Rachel was\nenvious of her sister Leah; Eve put out her hand to take the forbidden\nfruit, and Dinah was a gadabout.[43]\n\nThe physical formation of woman is far more complicated than that of\nman, as it must be for the function of child-bearing, and likewise the\nintelligence of woman matures more quickly than the intelligence of\nman.[44] Many of the physical and psychical differences between the two\nsexes must be attributed to the fact that man was formed from the\nground and woman from bone. Women need perfumes, while men do not; dust\nof the ground remains the same no matter how long it is kept; flesh,\nhowever, requires salt to keep it in good condition. The voice of women\nis shrill, not so the voice of men; when soft viands are cooked, no\nsound is heard, but let a bone be put in a pot, and at once it\ncrackles. A man is easily placated, not so a woman; a few drops of\nwater suffice to soften a clod of earth; a bone stays hard, and if it\nwere to soak in water for days. The man must ask the woman to be his\nwife, and not the woman the man to be her husband, because it is man\nwho has sustained the loss of his rib, and he sallies forth to make\ngood his loss again. The very differences between the sexes in garb and\nsocial forms go back to the origin of man and woman for their reasons.\nWoman covers her hair in token of Eve's having brought sin into the\nworld; she tries to hide her shame; and women precede men in a funeral\ncortege, because it was woman who brought death into the world. And the\nreligious commands addressed to women alone are connected with the\nhistory of Eve. Adam was the heave offering of the world, and Eve\ndefiled it. As expiation, all women are commanded to separate a heave\noffering from the dough. And because woman extinguished the light of\nman's soul, she is bidden to kindle the Sabbath light.[45]\n\nAdam was first made to fall into a deep sleep before the rib for Eve\nwas taken from his side. For, had he watched her creation, she would\nnot have awakened love in him. To this day it is true that men do not\nappreciate the charms of women whom they have known and observed from\nchildhood up. Indeed, God had created a wife for Adam before Eve, but\nhe would not have her, because she had been made in his presence.\nKnowing well all the details of her formation, he was repelled by\nher.[46] But when he roused himself from his profound sleep, and saw\nEve before him in all her surprising beauty and grace, he exclaimed,\n\"This is she who caused my heart to throb many a night!\" Yet he\ndiscerned at once what the nature of woman was. She would, he knew,\nseek to carry her point with man either by entreaties and tears, or\nflattery and caresses. He said, therefore, \"This is my never-silent\nbell!\"[47]\n\nThe wedding of the first couple was celebrated with pomp never repeated\nin the whole course of history since. God Himself, before presenting\nher to Adam, attired and adorned Eve as a bride. Yea, He appealed to\nthe angels, saying: \"Come, let us perform services of friendship for\nAdam and his helpmate, for the world rests upon friendly services, and\nthey are more pleasing in My sight than the sacrifices Israel will\noffer upon the altar.\" The angels accordingly surrounded the marriage\ncanopy, and God pronounced the blessings upon the bridal couple, as the\nHazan does under the Huppah. The angels then danced and played upon\nmusical instruments before Adam and Eve in their ten bridal chambers of\ngold, pearls, and precious stones, which God had prepared for them.\n\nAdam called his wife Ishah, and himself he called Ish, abandoning the\nname Adam, which he had borne before the creation of Eve, for the\nreason that God added His own name Yah to the names of the man and the\nwoman\u2014Yod to Ish and He to Ishah\u2014to indicate that as long as they\nwalked in the ways of God and observed His commandments, His name would\nshield them against all harm. But if they went astray, His name would\nbe withdrawn, and instead of Ish there would remain Esh, fire, a fire\nissuing from each and consuming the other.[48]\n\nADAM AND EVE IN PARADISE\n\nThe Garden of Eden was the abode of the first man and woman, and the\nsouls of all men must pass through it after death, before they reach\ntheir final destination. For the souls of the departed must go through\nseven portals before they arrive in the heaven 'Arabot. There the souls\nof the pious are transformed into angels, and there they remain\nforever, praising God and feasting their sight upon the glory of the\nShekinah. The first portal is the Cave of Machpelah, in the vicinity of\nParadise, which is under the care and supervision of Adam. If the soul\nthat presents herself at the portal is worthy, he calls out, \"Make\nroom! Thou art welcome!\" The soul then proceeds until she arrives at\nthe gate of Paradise guarded by the cherubim and the flaming sword. If\nshe is not found worthy, she is consumed by the sword; otherwise she\nreceives a pass-bill, which admits her to the terrestrial Paradise.\nTherein is a pillar of smoke and light extending from Paradise to the\ngate of heaven, and it depends upon the character of the soul whether\nshe can climb upward on it and reach heaven. The third portal, Zebul,\nis at the entrance of heaven. If the soul is worthy, the guard opens\nthe portal and admits her 'to the heavenly Temple. Michael presents her\nto God, and conducts her to the seventh portal, 'Arabot, within which\nthe souls of the pious, changed to angels, praise the Lord, and feed on\nthe glory of the Shekinah.[49]\n\nIn Paradise stand the tree of life and the tree of knowledge, the\nlatter forming a hedge about the former. Only he who has cleared a path\nfor himself through the tree of knowledge can come close to the tree of\nlife, which is so huge that it would take a man five hundred years to\ntraverse a distance equal to the diameter of the trunk, and no less\nvast is the space shaded by its crown of branches. From beneath it\nflows forth the water that irrigates the whole earth,[50] parting\nthence into four streams, the Ganges, the Nile, the Tigris, and the\nEuphrates.[51] But it was only during the days of creation that the\nrealm of plants looked to the waters of the earth for nourishment.\nLater on God made the plants dependent upon the rain, the upper waters.\nThe clouds rise from earth to heaven, where water is poured into them\nas from a conduit.[52] The plants began to feel the effect of the water\nonly after Adam was created. Although they had been brought forth on\nthe third day, God did not permit them to sprout and appear above the\nsurface of the earth, until Adam prayed to Him to give food unto them,\nfor God longs for the prayers of the pious.[53]\n\nParadise being such as it was, it was, naturally, not necessary for\nAdam to work the land. True, the Lord God put the man into the Garden\nof Eden to dress it and to keep it, but that only means he is to study\nthe Torah there and fulfil the commandments of God.[54] There were\nespecially six commandments which every human being is expected to\nheed: man should not worship idols; nor blaspheme God; nor commit\nmurder, nor incest, nor theft and robbery; and all generations have the\nduty of instituting measures of law and order.[55] One more such\ncommand there was, but it was a temporary injunction. Adam was to eat\nonly the green things of the field. But the prohibition against the use\nof animals for food was revoked in Noah's time, after the deluge.\nNevertheless, Adam was not cut off from the enjoyment of meat dishes.\nThough he was not permitted to slaughter animals for the appeasing of\nhis appetite, the angels brought him meat and wine, serving him like\nattendants.[56] And as the angels ministered to his wants, so also the\nanimals. They were wholly under his dominion, and their food they took\nout of his hand and out of Eve's.[57] In all respects, the animal world\nhad a different relation to Adam from their relation to his\ndescendants. Not only did they know the language of man,[58] but they\nrespected the image of God, and they feared the first human couple, all\nof which changed into the opposite after the fall of man.[59]\n\nTHE FALL OF MAN\n\nAmong the animals the serpent was notable. Of all of them he had the\nmost excellent qualities, in some of which he resembled man. Like man\nhe stood upright upon two feet, and in height he was equal to the\ncamel. Had it not been for the fall of man, which brought misfortune to\nthem, too, one pair of serpents would have sufficed to perform all the\nwork man has to do, and, besides, they would have supplied him with\nsilver, gold, gems, and pearls. As a matter of fact, it was the very\nability of the serpent that led to the ruin of man and his own ruin.\nHis superior mental gifts caused him to become an infidel. It likewise\nexplains his envy of man, especially of his conjugal relations. Envy\nmade him meditate ways and means of bringing about the death of\nAdam.[60] He was too well acquainted with the character of the man to\nattempt to exercise tricks of persuasion upon him, and he approached\nthe woman, knowing that women are beguiled easily. The conversation\nwith Eve was cunningly planned, she could not but be caught in a trap.\nThe serpent began, \"Is it true that God hath said, Ye shall not eat of\nevery tree in the garden?\" \"We may,\" rejoined Eve, \"eat of the fruit of\nall the trees in the garden, except that which is in the midst of the\ngarden, and that we may not even touch, lest we be stricken with\ndeath.\" She spoke thus, because in his zeal to guard her against the\ntransgressing of the Divine command, Adam had forbidden Eve to touch\nthe tree, though God had mentioned only the eating of the fruit. It\nremains a truth, what the proverb says, \"Better a wall ten hands high\nthat stands, than a wall a hundred ells high that cannot stand.\" It was\nAdam's exaggeration that afforded the serpent the possibility of\npersuading Eve to taste of the forbidden fruit. The serpent pushed Eve\nagainst the tree, and said: \"Thou seest that touching the tree has not\ncaused thy death. As little will it hurt thee to eat the fruit of the\ntree. Naught but malevolence has prompted the prohibition, for as soon\nas ye eat thereof, ye shall be as God. As He creates and destroys\nworlds, so will ye have the power to create and destroy. As He doth\nslay and revive, so will ye have the power to slay and revive.[61] He\nHimself ate first of the fruit of the tree, and then He created the\nworld. Therefore doth He forbid you to eat thereof, lest you create\nother worlds. Everyone knows that 'artisans of the same guild hate one\nanother.' Furthermore, have ye not observed that every creature hath\ndominion over the creature fashioned before itself? The heavens were\nmade on the first day, and they are kept in place by the firmament made\non the second day. The firmament, in turn, is ruled by the plants, the\ncreation of the third day, for they take up all the water of the\nfirmament. The sun and the other celestial bodies, which were created\non the fourth day, have power over the world of plants. They can ripen\ntheir fruits and flourish only through their influence. The creation of\nthe fifth day, the animal world, rules over the celestial spheres.\nWitness the ziz, which can darken the sun with its pinions. But ye are\nmasters of the whole of creation, because ye were the last to be\ncreated. Hasten now and eat of the fruit of the tree in the midst of\nthe garden, and become independent of God, lest He bring forth still\nother creatures to bear rule over you.\"[62]\n\nTo give due weight to these words, the serpent began to shake the tree\nviolently and bring down its fruit. He ate thereof, saying: \"As I do\nnot die of eating the fruit, so wilt thou not die.\" Now Eve could not\nbut say to herself, \"All that my master\"\u2014so she called Adam\u2014\"commanded\nme is but lies,\" and she determined to follow the advice of the\nserpent.[63] Yet she could not bring herself to disobey the command of\nGod utterly. She made a compromise with her conscience. First she ate\nonly the outside skin of the fruit, and then, seeing that death did not\nfell her, she ate the fruit itself.[64] Scarce had she finished, when\nshe saw the Angel of Death before her. Expecting her end to come\nimmediately, she resolved to make Adam eat of the forbidden fruit, too,\nlest he espouse another wife after her death.[65] It required tears and\nlamentations on her part to prevail upon Adam to take the baleful step.\nNot yet satisfied, she gave of the fruit to all other living beings,\nthat they, too, might be subject to death.[66] All ate, and they all\nare mortal, with the exception of the bird malham, who refused the\nfruit, with the words: \"Is it not enough that ye have sinned against\nGod, and have brought death to others? Must ye still come to me and\nseek to persuade me into disobeying God's command, that I may eat and\ndie thereof? I will not do your bidding.\" A heavenly voice was heard\nthen to say to Adam and Eve: \"To you was the command given. Ye did not\nheed it; ye did transgress it, and ye did seek to persuade the bird\nmalham. He was steadfast, and he feared Me, although I gave him no\ncommand. Therefore he shall never taste of death, neither he nor his\ndescendants\u2014they all shall live forever in Paradise.\"[67]\n\nAdam spoke to Eve: \"Didst thou give me of the tree of which I forbade\nthee to eat? Thou didst give me thereof, for my eyes are opened, and\nthe teeth in my mouth are set on edge.\" Eve made answer, \"As my teeth\nwere set on edge, so may the teeth of all living beings be set on\nedge.\"[68] The first result was that Adam and Eve became naked. Before,\ntheir bodies had been overlaid with a horny skin, and enveloped with\nthe cloud of glory. No sooner had they violated the command given them\nthan the cloud of glory and the horny skin dropped from them, and they\nstood there in their nakedness, and ashamed.[69] Adam tried to gather\nleaves from the trees to cover part of their bodies, but he heard one\ntree after the other say: \"There is the thief that deceived his\nCreator. Nay, the foot of pride shall not come against me, nor the hand\nof the wicked touch me. Hence, and take no leaves from me!\" Only the\nfig-tree granted him permission to take of its leaves. That was because\nthe fig was the forbidden fruit itself. Adam had the same experience as\nthat prince who seduced one of the maid-ser vants in the palace. When\nthe king, his father, chased him out, he vainly sought a refuge with\nthe other maid-servants, but only she who had caused his disgrace would\ngrant him assistance.[70]\n\nTHE PUNISHMENT\n\nAs long as Adam stood naked, casting about for means of escape from his\nembarrassment, God did not appear unto him, for one should not \"strive\nto see a man in the hour of his disgrace.\" He waited until Adam and Eve\nhad covered themselves with fig leaves.[71] But even before God spoke\nto him, Adam knew what was impending. He heard the angels announce,\n\"God betaketh Himself unto those that dwell in Paradise.\" He heard\nmore, too. He heard what the angels were saying to one another about\nhis fall, and what they were saying to God. In astonishment the angels\nexclaimed: \"What! He still walks about in Paradise? He is not yet\ndead?\" Whereupon God: \"I said to him, 'In the day that thou eatest\nthereof, thou shalt surely die!' Now, ye know not what manner of day I\nmeant\u2014one of My days of a thousand years, or one of your days. I will\ngive him one of My days. He shall have nine hundred and thirty years to\nlive, and seventy to leave to his descendants.\"[72]\n\nWhen Adam and Eve heard God approaching, they hid among the trees\u2014which\nwould not have been possible before the fall. Before he committed his\ntrespass, Adam's height was from the heavens to the earth, but\nafterward it was reduced to one hundred ells.[73] Another consequence\nof his sin was the fear Adam felt when he heard the voice of God:\nbefore his fall it had not disquieted him in the least.[74] Hence it\nwas that when Adam said, \"I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was\nafraid,\" God replied, \"Aforetime thou wert not afraid, and now thou art\nafraid?\"[75]\n\nGod refrained from reproaches at first. Standing at the gate of\nParadise, He but asked, \"Where art thou, Adam?\" Thus did God desire to\nteach man a rule of polite behavior, never to enter the house of\nanother without announcing himself.[76] It cannot be denied, the words\n\"Where art thou?\" were pregnant with meaning. They were intended to\nbring home to Adam the vast difference between his latter and his\nformer state\u2014between his supernatural size then and his shrunken size\nnow; between the lordship of God over him then and the lordship of the\nserpent over him now.[77] At the same time, God wanted to give Adam the\nopportunity of repenting of his sin, and he would have received Divine\nforgiveness for it. But so far from repenting of it, Adam slandered\nGod, and uttered blasphemies against Him.[78] When God asked him, \"Hast\nthou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee thou shouldst not eat?\"\nhe did not confess his sin, but excused himself with the words: \"O Lord\nof the world! As long as I was alone, I did not fall into sin, but as\nsoon as this woman came to me, she tempted me.\" God replied: \"I gave\nher unto thee as a help, and thou art ungrateful when thou accusest\nher, saying, 'She gave me of the tree.' Thou shouldst not have obeyed\nher, for thou art the head, and not she.\"[79] God, who knows all\nthings, had foreseen exactly this, and He had not created Eve until\nAdam had asked Him for a helpmate, so that he might not have apparently\ngood reason for reproaching God with having created woman.[80]\n\nAs Adam tried to shift the blame for his misdeed from himself, so also\nEve. She, like her husband, did not confess her transgression and pray\nfor pardon, which would have been granted to her.[81] Gracious as God\nis, He did not pronounce the doom upon Adam and Eve until they showed\nthemselves stiff-necked. Not so with the serpent. God inflicted the\ncurse upon the serpent without hearing his defense; for the serpent is\na villain, and the wicked are good debaters. If God had questioned him,\nthe serpent would have answered: \"Thou didst give them a command, and I\ndid contradict it. Why did they obey me, and not Thee?\"[82] Therefore\nGod did not enter into an argument with the serpent, but straightway\ndecreed the following ten punishments: The mouth of the serpent was\nclosed, and his power of speech taken away; his hands and feet were\nhacked off; the earth was given him as food; he must suffer great pain\nin sloughing his skin; enmity is to exist between him and man; if he\neats the choicest viands, or drinks the sweetest beverages, they all\nchange into dust in his mouth; the pregnancy of the female serpent\nlasts seven years; men shall seek to kill him as soon as they catch\nsight of him; even in the future world, where all beings will be\nblessed, he will not escape the punishment decreed for him; he will\nvanish from out of the Holy Land if Israel walks in the ways of\nGod.[83]\n\nFurthermore, God spake to the serpent: \"I created thee to be king over\nall animals, cattle and the beasts of the field alike; but thou wast\nnot satisfied. Therefore thou shalt be cursed above all cattle and\nabove every beast of the field. I created thee of upright posture; but\nthou wast not satisfied. Therefore thou shalt go upon thy belly. I\ncreated thee to eat the same food as man; but thou wast not satisfied.\nTherefore thou shalt eat dust all the days of thy life. Thou didst seek\nto cause the death of Adam in order to espouse his wife. Therefore I\nwill put enmity between thee and the woman.\" How true it is\u2014he who\nlusts after what is not his due, not only does he not attain his\ndesire, but he also loses what he has!\n\nAs angels had been present when the doom was pronounced upon the\nserpent\u2014for God had convoked a Sanhedrin of seventy-one angels when He\nsat in judgment upon him\u2014so the execution of the decree against him was\nentrusted to angels. They descended from heaven, and chopped off his\nhands and feet. His suffering was so great that his agonized cries\ncould be heard from one end of the world to the other.[84]\n\nThe verdict against Eve also consisted of ten curses, the effect of\nwhich is noticeable to this day in the physical, spiritual, and social\nstate of woman.[85] It was not God Himself who announced her fate to\nEve. The only woman with whom God ever spoke was Sarah. In the case of\nEve, He made use of the services of an interpreter.[86]\n\nFinally, also the punishment of Adam was tenfold: he lost his celestial\nclothing\u2014God stripped it off him; in sorrow he was to earn his daily\nbread; the food he ate was to be turned from good into bad; his\nchildren were to wander from land to land; his body was to exude sweat;\nhe was to have an evil inclination; in death his body was to be a prey\nof the worms; animals were to have power over him, in that they could\nslay him; his days were to be few and full of trouble; in the end he\nwas to render account of all his doings on earth.\n\nThese three sinners were not the only ones to have punishment dealt out\nto them. The earth fared no better, for it had been guilty of various\nmisdemeanors. In the first place, it had not entirely heeded the\ncommand of God given on the third day, to bring forth \"tree of fruit.\"\nWhat God had desired was a tree the wood of which was to be as pleasant\nto the taste as the fruit thereof. The earth, however, produced a tree\nbearing fruit, the tree itself not being edible.[88] Again, the earth\ndid not do its whole duty in connection with the sin of Adam. God had\nappointed the sun and the earth witnesses to testify against Adam in\ncase he committed a trespass. The sun, accordingly, had grown dark the\ninstant Adam became guilty of disobedience, but the earth, not knowing\nhow to take notice of Adam's fall, disregarded it altogether.[89] The\nearth also had to suffer a tenfold punishment: independent before, she\nwas hereafter to wait to be watered by the rain from above; sometimes\nthe fruits of the earth fail; the grain she brings forth is stricken\nwith blasting and mildew; she must produce all sorts of noxious vermin;\nthenceforth she was to be divided into valleys and mountains; she must\ngrow barren trees, bearing no fruit; thorns and thistles sprout from\nher; much is sown in the earth, but little is harvested; in time to\ncome the earth will have to disclose her blood, and shall no more cover\nher slain; and, finally, she shall, one day, \"wax old like a\ngarment.\"[90]\n\nWhen Adam heard the words, \"Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth,\"\nconcerning the ground, a sweat broke out on his face, and he said:\n\"What! Shall I and my cattle eat from the same manger?\" The Lord had\nmercy upon him, and spoke, \"In view of the sweat of thy face, thou\nshalt eat bread.\"[91]\n\nThe earth is not the only thing created that was made to suffer through\nthe sin of Adam. The same fate overtook the moon. When the serpent\nseduced Adam and Eve, and exposed their nakedness, they wept bitterly,\nand with them wept the heavens, and the sun and the stars, and all\ncreated beings and things up to the throne of God. The very angels and\nthe celestial beings were grieved by the trans gression of Adam. The\nmoon alone laughed, wherefore God grew wroth, and obscured her light.\nInstead of shining steadily like the sun, all the length of the day,\nshe grows old quickly, and must be born and reborn, again and\nagain.[92] The callous conduct of the moon offended God, not only by\nway of contrast with the compassion of all other creatures, but because\nHe Himself was full of pity for Adam and his wife. He made clothes for\nthem out of the skin stripped from the serpent.[93] He would have done\neven more. He would have permitted them to remain in Paradise, if only\nthey had been penitent. But they refused to repent, and they had to\nleave, lest their godlike understanding urge them to ravage the tree of\nlife, and they learn to live forever. As it was, when God dismissed\nthem from Paradise, He did not allow the Divine quality of justice to\nprevail entirely. He associated mercy with it. As they left, He said:\n\"O what a pity that Adam was not able to observe the command laid upon\nhim for even a brief span of time!\"\n\nTo guard the entrance to Paradise, God appointed the cherubim, called\nalso the ever-turning sword of flames, because angels can turn\nthemselves from one shape into another at need.[94] Instead of the tree\nof life, God gave Adam the Torah, which likewise is a tree of life to\nthem that lay hold upon her, and he was permitted to take up his abode\nin the vicinity of Paradise in the east.[95]\n\nSentence pronounced upon Adam and Eve and the serpent, the Lord\ncommanded the angels to turn the man and the woman out of Paradise.\nThey began to weep and supplicate bitterly, and the angels took pity\nupon them and left the Divine command unfulfilled, until they could\npetition God to mitigate His severe verdict. But the Lord was\ninexorable, saying, \"Was it I that committed a trespass, or did I\npronounce a false judgment?\" Also Adam's prayer, to be given of the\nfruit of the tree of life, was turned aside, with the promise, however,\nthat if he would lead a pious life, he would be given of the fruit on\nthe day of resurrection, and he would then live forever.\n\nSeeing that God had resolved unalterably, Adam began to weep again and\nimplore the angels to grant him at least permission to take\nsweet-scented spices with him out of Paradise, that outside, too, he\nmight be able to bring offerings unto God, and his prayers be accepted\nbefore the Lord. Thereupon the angels came before God, and spake: \"King\nunto everlasting, command Thou us to give Adam sweet-scented spices of\nParadise,\" and God heard their prayer. Thus Adam gathered saffron,\nnard, calamus, and cinnamon, and all sorts of seeds besides for his\nsustenance. Laden with these, Adam and Eve left Paradise, and came upon\nearth.[96] They had enjoyed the splendors of Paradise but a brief span\nof time\u2014but a few hours. It was in the first hour of the sixth day of\ncreation that God conceived the idea of creating man; in the second\nhour, He took counsel with the angels; in the third, He gathered the\ndust for the body of man; in the fourth, He formed Adam; in the fifth,\nHe clothed him with skin; in the sixth, the soulless shape was\ncomplete, so that it could stand upright; in the seventh, a soul was\nbreathed into it; in the eighth, man was led into Paradise; in the\nninth, the Divine command prohibiting the fruit of the tree in the\nmidst of the garden was issued to him; in the tenth, he transgressed\nthe command; in the eleventh, he was judged; and in the twelfth hour of\nthe day, he was cast out of Paradise, in atonement for his sin.\n\nThis eventful day was the first of the month of Tishri. Therefore God\nspoke to Adam: \"Thou shalt be the prototype of thy children. As thou\nhast been judged by Me on this day and absolved, so thy children Israel\nshall be judged by Me on this New Year's Day, and they shall be\nabsolved.\"[97]\n\nEach day of creation brought forth three things: the first, heaven,\nearth, and light; the second, the firmament, Gehenna, and the angels;\nthe third, trees, herbs, and Paradise; the fourth, sun, moon, and\nstars; and the fifth, fishes, birds, and leviathan. As God intended to\nrest on the seventh day, the Sabbath, the sixth day had to do double\nduty. It brought forth six creations: Adam, Eve, cattle, reptiles, the\nbeasts of the field, and demons. The demons were made shortly before\nthe Sabbath came in, and they are, therefore, incorporeal spirits\u2014the\nLord had no time to create bodies for them.[98]\n\nIn the twilight, between the sixth day and the Sabbath, ten creations\nwere, brought forth: the rainbow, invisible until Noah's time; the\nmanna; watersprings, whence Israel drew water for his thirst in the\ndesert; the writing upon the two tables of stone given at Sinai; the\npen with which the writing was written; the two tables themselves; the\nmouth of Balaam's she-ass; the grave of Moses; the cave in which Moses\nand Elijah dwelt; and the rod of Aaron, with its blossoms and its ripe\nalmonds.[99]\n\nSABBATH IN HEAVEN\n\nBefore the world was created, there was none to praise God and know\nHim. Therefore He created the angels and the holy Hayyot, the heavens\nand their host, and Adam as well. They all were to praise and glorify\ntheir Creator. During the week of creation, however, there was no\nsuitable time to proclaim the splendor and praise of the Lord. Only on\nthe Sabbath, when all creation rested, the beings on earth and in\nheaven, all together, broke into song and adoration when God ascended\nHis throne and sate upon it.[100] It was the Throne of Joy upon which\nHe sate, and He had all the angels pass before Him\u2014the angel of the\nwater, the angel of the rivers, the angel of the mountains, the angel\nof the hills, the angel of the abysses, the angel of the deserts, the\nangel of the sun, the angel of the moon, the angel of the Pleiades, the\nangel of Orion, the angel of the herbs, the angel of Paradise, the\nangel of Gehenna, the angel of the trees, the angel of the reptiles,\nthe angel of the wild beasts, the angel of the domestic animals, the\nangel of the fishes, the angel of the locusts, the angel of the birds,\nthe chief angel of the angels, the angel of each heaven, the chief\nangel of each division of the heavenly hosts, the chief angel of the\nholy Hayyot, the chief angel of the cherubim, the chief angel of the\nofanim, and all the other splendid, terrible, and mighty angel chiefs.\nThey all appeared before God with great joy, laved in a stream of joy,\nand they rejoiced and danced and sang, and extolled the Lord with many\npraises and many instruments. The ministering angels began, \"Let the\nglory of the Lord endure forever!\" And the rest of the angels took up\nthe song with the words, \"Let the Lord rejoice in His works!\" 'Arabot,\nthe seventh heaven, was filled with joy and glory, splendor and\nstrength, power and might and pride and magnificence and grandeur,\npraise and jubilation, song and gladness, steadfastness and\nrighteousness, honor and adoration.\n\nThen God bade the Angel of the Sabbath seat himself upon a throne of\nglory, and He brought before him the chiefs of the angels of all the\nheavens and all the abysses, and bade them dance and rejoice, saying,\n\"Sabbath it is unto the Lord!\" and the exalted princes of the heavens\nresponded, \"Unto the Lord it is Sabbath!\" Even Adam was permitted to\nascend to the highest heaven, to take part in the rejoicing over the\nSabbath.\n\nBy bestowing Sabbath joy upon all beings, not excepting Adam, thus did\nthe Lord dedicate His creation. Seeing the majesty of the Sabbath, its\nhonor and greatness, and the joy it conferred upon all, being the fount\nof all joy, Adam intoned a song of praise for the Sabbath day. Then God\nsaid to him, \"Thou singest a song of praise to the Sabbath day, and\nsingest none to Me, the God of the Sabbath?\" Thereupon the Sabbath rose\nfrom his seat, and prostrated himself before God, saying, \"It is a good\nthing to give thanks unto the Lord,\" and the whole of creation added,\n\"And to sing praises unto Thy Name, O Most High!\"[101]\n\nThis was the first Sabbath, and this its celebration in heaven by God\nand the angels. The angels were informed at the same time that in days\nto come Israel would hallow the day in similar manner. God told them:\n\"I will set aside for Myself a people from among all the peoples. This\npeople will observe the Sabbath, and I will sanctify it to be My\npeople, and I will be God unto it. From all that I have seen, I have\nchosen the seed of Israel wholly, and I have inscribed him as My\nfirst-born son, and I sanctified him unto Myself unto all eternity, him\nand the Sabbath, that he keep the Sabbath and hallow it from all\nwork.\"[102]\n\nFor Adam the Sabbath had a peculiar significance. When he was made to\ndepart out of Paradise in the twilight of the Sabbath eve, the angels\ncalled after him, \"Adam did not abide in his glory overnight!\" Then the\nSabbath appeared before God as Adam's defender, and he spoke: \"O Lord\nof the world! During the six working days no creature was slain. If\nThou wilt begin now by slaying Adam, what will become of the sanctity\nand the blessing of the Sabbath?\" In this way Adam was rescued from the\nfires of hell, the meet punishment for his sins, and in gratitude he\ncomposed a psalm in honor of the Sabbath, which David later embodied in\nhis Psalter.[103]\n\nStill another opportunity was given to Adam to learn and appreciate the\nvalue of the Sabbath. The celestial light, whereby Adam could survey\nthe world from end to end, should properly have been made to disappear\nimmediately after his sin. But out of consideration for the Sabbath,\nGod had let this light continue to shine, and the angels, at sundown on\nthe sixth day, intoned a song of praise and thanksgiving to God, for\nthe radiant light shining through the night. Only with the going out of\nthe Sabbath day the celestial light ceased, to the consternation of\nAdam, who feared that the serpent would attack him in the dark. But God\nillumined his understanding, and he learned to rub two stones against\neach other and produce light for his needs.[104]\n\nThe celestial light was but one of the seven precious gifts enjoyed by\nAdam before the fall and to be granted to man again only in the\nMessianic time. The others are the resplendence of his countenance;\nlife eternal; his tall stature; the fruits of the soil; the fruits of\nthe tree; and the luminaries of the sky, the sun and the moon, for in\nthe world to come the light of the moon shall be as the light of the\nsun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold.[105]\n\nADAM'S REPENTANCE\n\nCast out of Paradise, Adam and Eve built a hut for themselves, and for\nseven days they sat in it in great distress, mourning and lamenting. At\nthe end of the seven days, tormented by hunger, they came forth and\nsought food. For seven other days, Adam journeyed up and down in the\nland, looking for such dainties as he had enjoyed in Paradise. In vain;\nhe found nothing. Then Eve spoke to her husband: \"My lord, if it please\nthee, slay me. Mayhap God will then take thee back into Paradise, for\nthe Lord God became wroth with thee only on account of me.\" But Adam\nrejected her plan with abhorrence, and both went forth again on the\nsearch for food. Nine days passed, and still they found naught\nresembling what they had had in Paradise. They saw only food fit for\ncattle and beasts. Then Adam proposed: \"Let us do penance, mayhap the\nLord God will forgive us and have pity on us, and give us something to\nsustain our life.\" Knowing that Eve was not vigorous enough to undergo\nthe mortification of the flesh which he purposed to inflict upon\nhimself, he prescribed a penance for her different from his own. He\nsaid to her: \"Arise, and go to the Tigris, take a stone and stand upon\nit in the deepest part of the river, where the water will reach as high\nas thy neck. And let no speech issue forth from thy mouth, for we are\nunworthy to supplicate God, our lips are unclean by reason of the\nforbidden fruit of the tree. Remain in the water for thirty-seven\ndays.\"\n\nFor himself Adam ordained forty days of fasting, while he stood in the\nriver Jordan in the same way as Eve was to take up her stand in the\nwaters of the Tigris. After he had adjusted the stone in the middle of\nthe Jordan, and mounted it, with the waters surging up to his neck, he\nsaid: \"I adjure thee, O thou water of the Jordan! Afflict thyself with\nme, and gather unto me all swimming creatures that live in thee. Let\nthem surround me and sorrow with me, and let them not beat their own\nbreasts with grief, but let them beat me. Not they have sinned, only I\nalone!\" Very soon they all came, the dwellers in the Jordan, and they\nencompassed him, and from that moment the water of the Jordan stood\nstill and ceased from flowing.\n\nThe penance which Adam and Eve laid upon themselves awakened misgivings\nin Satan. He feared God might forgive their sin, and therefore essayed\nto hinder Eve in her purpose. After a lapse of eighteen days he\nappeared unto her in the guise of an angel. As though in distress on\naccount of her, he began to cry, saying: \"Step up out of the river, and\nweep no longer. The Lord God hath heard your mourning, and your\npenitence hath been accepted by Him. All the angels supplicated the\nLord in your behalf, and He hath sent me to fetch you out of the water\nand give you the sustenance that you enjoyed in Paradise, and for which\nyou have been mourning.\" Enfeebled as she was by her penances and\nmortifications, Eve yielded to the solicitations of Satan, and he led\nher to where her husband was. Adam recognized him at once, and amid\ntears he cried out: \"O Eve, Eve, where now is thy penitence? How\ncouldst thou let our adversary seduce thee again\u2014him who robbed us of\nour sojourn in Paradise and all spiritual joy?\" Thereupon Eve, too,\nbegan to weep and cry out: \"Woe unto thee, O Satan! Why strivest thou\nagainst us without any reason? What have we done unto thee that thou\nshouldst pursue us so craftily?\" With a deep-fetched sigh, Satan told\nthem how that Adam, of whom he had been jealous, had been the real\nreason of his fall. Having lost his glory through him, he had intrigued\nto have him driven from Paradise.\n\nWhen Adam heard the confession of Satan, he prayed to God: \"O Lord my\nGod! In Thy hands is my life. Remove from me this adversary, who seeks\nto deliver my soul to destruction, and grant me the glory he has\nforfeited.\" Satan disappeared forthwith, but Adam continued his\npenance, standing in the waters of the Jordan for forty days.[106]\n\nWhile Adam stood in the river, he noticed that the days were growing\nshorter, and he feared the world might be darkened on account of his\nsin, and go under soon. To avert the doom, he spent eight days in\nprayer and fasting. But after the winter solstice, when he saw that the\ndays grew longer again, he spent eight days in rejoicing, and in the\nfollowing year he celebrated both periods, the one before and the one\nafter the solstice. This is why the heathen celebrate the calends and\nthe saturnalia in honor of their gods, though Adam had consecrated\nthose days to the honor of God.[107]\n\nThe first time Adam witnessed the sinking of the sun be was also seized\nwith anxious fears. It happened at the conclusion of the Sabbath, and\nAdam said, \"Woe is me! For my sake, because I sinned, the world is\ndarkened, and it will again become void and without form. Thus will be\nexecuted the punishment of death which God has pronounced against me!\"\nAll the night he spent in tears, and Eve, too, wept as she sat opposite\nto him. When day began to dawn, he understood that what he had deplored\nwas but the course of nature, and he brought an offering unto God, a\nunicorn whose horn was created before his hoofs,[108] and he sacrificed\nit on the spot on which later the altar was to stand in Jerusalem.[109]\n\nTHE BOOK OF RAZIEL\n\nAfter Adam's expulsion from Paradise, he prayed to God in these words:\n\"O God, Lord of the world! Thou didst create the whole world unto the\nhonor and glory of the Mighty One, and Thou didst as was pleasing unto\nThee. Thy kingdom is unto all eternity, and Thy reign unto all\ngenerations. Naught is hidden from Thee, and naught is concealed from\nThine eyes. Thou didst create me as Thy handiwork, and didst make me\nthe ruler over Thy creatures, that I might be the chief of Thy works.\nBut the cunning, accursed serpent seduced me with the tree of desire\nand lusts, yea, he seduced the wife of my bosom. But Thou didst not\nmake known unto me what shall befall my children and the generations\nafter me. I know well that no human being can be righteous in Thine\neyes, and what is my strength that I should step before Thee with an\nimpudent face? I have no mouth wherewith to speak and no eye wherewith\nto see, for I did sin and commit a trespass, and, by reason of my sins,\nI was driven forth from Paradise. I must plough the earth whence I was\ntaken, and the other inhabitants of the earth, the beasts, no longer,\nas once, stand in awe and fear of me. From the time I ate of the tree\nof knowledge of good and evil, wisdom departed from me, and I am a fool\nthat knoweth naught, an ignorant man that understandeth not. Now, O\nmerciful and gracious God, I pray to Thee to turn again Thy compassion\nto the head of Thy works, to the spirit which Thou didst instil into\nhim, and the soul Thou didst breathe into him. Meet me with Thy grace,\nfor Thou art gracious, slow to anger, and full of love. O that my\nprayer would reach unto the throne of Thy glory, and my supplication\nunto the throne of Thy mercy, and Thou wouldst incline to me with\nlovingkindness. May the words of my mouth be acceptable, that Thou turn\nnot away from my petition. Thou wert from everlasting, and Thou wilt be\nunto everlasting; Thou wert king, and Thou wilt ever be king. Now, have\nThou mercy upon the work of Thy hands. Grant me knowledge and\nunderstanding, that I may know what shall befall me, and my posterity,\nand all the generations that come after me, and what shall befall me on\nevery day and in every month, and mayest Thou not withhold from me the\nhelp of Thy servants and of Thy angels.\"\n\nOn the third day after he had offered up this prayer, while he was\nsitting on the banks of the river that flows forth out of Paradise,\nthere appeared to him, in the heat of the day, the angel Raziel,\nbearing a book in his hand. The angel addressed Adam thus: \"O Adam, why\nart thou so fainthearted? Why art thou distressed and anxious? Thy\nwords were heard at the moment when thou didst utter thy supplication\nand entreaties, and I have received the charge to teach thee pure words\nand deep understanding, to make thee wise through the contents of the\nsacred book in my hand, to know what will happen to thee until the day\nof thy death. And all thy descendants and all the later generations, if\nthey will but read this book in purity, with a devout heart and an\nhumble mind, and obey its precepts, will become like unto thee. They,\ntoo, will foreknow what things shall happen, and in what month and on\nwhat day or in what night. All will be manifest to them\u2014they will know\nand understand whether a calamity will come, a famine or wild beasts,\nfloods or drought; whether there will be abundance of grain or dearth;\nwhether the wicked will rule the world; whether locusts will devastate\nthe land; whether the fruits will drop from the trees unripe; whether\nboils will afflict men; whether wars will prevail, or diseases or\nplagues among men and cattle; whether good is resolved upon in heaven,\nor evil; whether blood will flow, and the death-rattle of the slain be\nheard in the city. And now, Adam, come and give heed unto what I shall\ntell thee regarding the manner of this book and its holiness.\"\n\nRaziel, the angel, then read from the book, and when Adam heard the\nwords of the holy volume as they issued from the mouth of the angel, he\nfell down affrighted. But the angel encouraged him. \"Arise, Adam,\" he\nsaid, \"be of good courage, be not afraid, take the book from me and\nkeep it, for thou wilt draw knowledge from it thyself and become wise,\nand thou wilt also teach its contents to all those who shall be found\nworthy of knowing what it contains.\"\n\nIn the moment when Adam took the book, a flame of fire shot up from\nnear the river, and the angel rose heavenward with it. Then Adam knew\nthat he who had spoken to him was an angel of God, and it was from the\nHoly King Himself that the book had come, and he used it in holiness\nand purity. It is the book out of which all things worth knowing can be\nlearnt, and all mysteries, and it teaches also how to call upon the\nangels and make them appear before men, and answer all their questions.\nBut not all alike can use the book, only he who is wise and\nGod-fearing, and resorts to it in holiness. Such an one is secure\nagainst all wicked counsels, his life is serene, and when death takes\nhim from this world, he finds repose in a place where there are neither\ndemons nor evil spirits, and out of the hands of the wicked he is\nquickly rescued.[110]\n\nTHE SICKNESS OF ADAM\n\nWhen Adam had lived to be nine hundred and thirty years old, a sickness\nseized him, and he felt that his days were drawing to an end. He\nsummoned all his descendants, and assembled them before the door of the\nhouse of worship in which he had always offered his prayers to God, to\ngive them his last blessing. His family were astonished to find him\nstretched out on the bed of sickness, for they did not know what pain\nand suffering were.[111] They thought he was overcome with longing\nafter the fruits of Paradise, and for lack of them was depressed. Seth\nannounced his willingness to go to the gates of Paradise and beg God to\nlet one of His angels give him of its fruits. But Adam explained to\nthem what sickness and pain are, and that God had inflicted them upon\nhim as a punishment for his sin.[112] Adam suffered violently; tears\nand groans were wrung from him. Eve sobbed, and said, \"Adam, my lord,\ngive me the half of thy sickness, I will gladly bear it. Is it not on\naccount of me that this hath come upon thee? On account of me thou\nundergoest pain and anguish.\"\n\nAdam bade Eve go with Seth to the gates of Paradise and entreat God to\nhave mercy upon him, and send His angel to catch up some of the oil of\nlife flowing from the tree of His mercy and give it to his messengers.\nThe ointment would bring him rest, and banish the pain consuming him.\nOn his way to Paradise, Seth was attacked by a wild beast. Eve called\nout to the assailant, \"How durst thou lay hand on the image of God?\"\nThe ready answer came: \"It is thine own fault. Hadst thou not opened\nthy mouth to eat of the forbidden fruit, my mouth would not be opened\nnow to destroy a human being.\" But Seth remonstrated: \"Hold thy tongue!\nDesist from the image of God until the day of judgment.\" And the beast\ngave way, saying, \"See, I refrain myself from the image of God,\" and it\nslunk away to its covert.[113]\n\nArrived at the gates of Paradise, Eve and Seth began to cry bitterly,\nand they besought God with many lamentations to give them oil from the\ntree of His mercy. For hours they prayed thus. At last the archangel\nMichael appeared, and informed them that he came as the messenger of\nGod to tell them that their petition could not be granted. Adam would\ndie in a few days, and as he was subject to death, so would be all his\ndescendants. Only at the time of the resurrection, and then only to the\npious, the oil of life would be dispensed, together with all the bliss\nand all the delights of Paradise.[114] Returned to Adam, they reported\nwhat had happened, and he said to Eve: \"What misfortune didst thou\nbring upon us when thou didst arouse great wrath! See, death is the\nportion of all our race! Call hither our children and our children's\nchildren, and tell them the manner of our sinning.\" And while Adam lay\nprostrate upon the bed of pain, Eve told them the story of their\nfall.[115]\n\nEVE'S STORY OF THE FALL\n\nAfter I was created, God divided Paradise and all the animals therein\nbetween Adam and me. The east and the north were assigned to Adam,\ntogether with the male animals. I was mistress of the west and the\nsouth and all the female animals. Satan, smarting under the disgrace of\nhaving been dismissed from the heavenly host, resolved to bring about\nour ruin and avenge himself upon the cause of his discomfiture. He won\nthe serpent over to his side, and pointed out to him that before the\ncreation of Adam the animals could enjoy all that grew in Paradise, and\nnow they were restricted to the weeds. To drive Adam from Paradise\nwould therefore be for the good of all. The serpent demurred, for he\nstood in awe of the wrath of God. But Satan calmed his fears, and said,\n\"Do thou but become my vessel,[117] and I shall speak a word through\nthy mouth wherewith thou wilt succeed in seducing man.\"\n\nThe serpent thereupon suspended himself from the wall surrounding\nParadise, to carry on his conversation with me from without. And this\nhappened at the very moment when my two guardian angels had betaken\nthemselves to heaven to supplicate the Lord. I was quite alone\ntherefore, and when Satan assumed the appearance of an angel, bent over\nthe wall of Paradise, and intoned seraphic songs of praise, I was\ndeceived, and thought him an angel. A conversation was held between us,\nSatan speaking through the mouth of the serpent:\n\n\"Art thou Eve?\"\n\n\"Yes, it is I.\"\n\n\"What art thou doing in Paradise?\"\n\n\"The Lord has put us here to cultivate it and eat of its fruits.\"\n\n\"That is good. Yet you eat not of all the trees.\"\n\n\"That we do, excepting a single one, the tree that stands in the midst\nof Paradise. Concerning it alone, God has forbidden us to eat of it,\nelse, the Lord said, ye will die.\"\n\nThe serpent made every effort to persuade me that I had naught to\nfear\u2014that God knew that in the day that Adam and I ate of the fruit of\nthe tree, we should be as He Himself. It was jealousy that had made Him\nsay,[118] \"Ye shall not eat of it.\" In spite of all his urging, I\nremained steadfast and refused to touch the tree. Then the serpent\nengaged to pluck the fruit for me. Thereupon I opened the gate of\nParadise, and he slipped in. Scarcely was he within, when he said to\nme, \"I repent of my words, I would rather not give thee of the fruit of\nthe forbidden tree.\" It was but a cunning device to tempt me more. He\nconsented to give me of the fruit only after I swore to make my husband\neat of it, too. This is the oath he made me take: \"By the throne of\nGod, by the cherubim, and by the tree of life, I shall give my husband\nof this fruit, that he may eat, too.\" Thereupon the serpent ascended\nthe tree and injected his poison, the poison of the evil inclination,\ninto the fruit,[119] and bent the branch on which it grew to the\nground. I took hold of it, but I knew at once that I was stripped of\nthe righteousness in which I had been clothed.[120] I began to weep,\nbecause of it and because of the oath the serpent had forced from me.\n\nThe serpent disappeared from the tree, while I sought leaves wherewith\nto cover my nakedness, but all the trees within my reach had cast off\ntheir leaves at the moment when I ate of the forbidden fruit.[121]\nThere was only one that retained its leaves, the fig-tree, the very\ntree the fruit of which had been forbidden to me.[122] I summoned Adam,\nand by means of blasphemous words I prevailed upon him to eat of the\nfruit. As soon as it had passed his lips, he knew his true condition,\nand he exclaimed against me: \"Thou wicked woman, what bast thou brought\ndown upon me? Thou hast removed me from the glory of God.\"\n\nAt the same time Adam and I heard the archangel Michael[123] blow his\ntrumpet, and all the angels cried out: \"Thus saith the Lord, Come ye\nwith Me to Paradise and hearken unto the sentence which I will\npronounce upon Adam.\"[124]\n\nWe hid ourselves because we feared the judgment of God. Sitting in his\nchariot drawn by cherubim, the Lord, accompanied by angels uttering His\npraise, appeared in Paradise. At His coming the bare trees again put\nforth leaves.[125] His throne was erected by the tree of life, and God\naddressed Adam: \"Adam, where dost thou keep thyself in hiding? Thinkest\nthou I cannot find thee? Can a house conceal itself from its\narchitect?\"[126]\n\nAdam tried to put the blame on me, who had promised to hold him\nharmless before God. And I in turn accused the serpent. But God dealt\nout justice to all three of us. To Adam He said: \"Because thou didst\nnot obey My commands, but didst hearken unto the voice of thy wife,\ncursed is the ground in spite of thy work. When thou dost cultivate it,\nit will not yield thee its strength. Thorns and thistles shall it bring\nforth to thee, and in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. Thou\nwilt suffer many a hardship, thou wilt grow weary, and yet find no\nrest. Bitterly oppressed, thou shalt never taste of any sweetness. Thou\nshalt be scourged by heat, and yet pinched by cold. Thou shalt toil\ngreatly, and yet not gain wealth. Thou shalt grow fat, and yet cease to\nlive. And the animals over which thou art the master will rise up\nagainst thee, because thou didst not keep my command.\"[127]\n\nUpon me God pronounced this sentence: \"Thou shalt suffer anguish in\nchildbirth and grievous torture. In sorrow shalt thou bring forth\nchildren, and in the hour of travail, when thou art near to lose thy\nlife, thou wilt confess and cry, 'Lord, Lord, save me this time, and I\nwill never again indulge in carnal pleasure,' and yet thy desire shall\never and ever be unto thy husband.\"[128]\n\nAt the same time all sorts of diseases were decreed upon us. God said\nto Adam: \"Because thou didst turn aside from My covenant, I will\ninflict seventy plagues upon thy flesh. The pain of the first plague\nshall lay hold on thy eyes; the pain of the second plague upon thy\nhearing, and one after the other all the plagues shall come upon\nthee.\"[129] The serpent God addressed thus: \"Because thou becamest the\nvessel of the Evil One,[130] deceiving the innocent, cursed art thou\nabove all cattle and above every beast of the field. Thou shalt be\nrobbed of the food thou wast wont to eat, and dust shalt thou eat all\nthe days of thy life. Upon thy breast and thy belly shalt thou go, and\nof thy hands and thy feet thou shalt be deprived. Thou shalt not remain\nin possession of thy ears, nor of thy wings, nor of any of thy limbs\nwherewith thou didst seduce the woman and her husband, bringing them to\nsuch a pass that they must be driven forth from Paradise. And I will\nput enmity between thee and the seed of man. It shall bruise thy head,\nand, thou shalt bruise his heel until the day of judgment.\"[131]\n\nTHE DEATH OF ADAM\n\nOn the last day of Adam's life, Eve said to him, \"Why should I go on\nliving, when thou art no more? How long shall I have to linger on after\nthy death? Tell me this!\" Adam assured her she would not tarry long.\nThey would die together, and be buried together in the same place. He\ncommanded her not to touch his corpse until an angel from God had made\nprovision regarding it, and she was to begin at once to pray to God\nuntil his soul escaped from his body.\n\nWhile Eve was on her knees in prayer, an angel came,[132] and bade her\nrise. \"Eve, arise from thy penance,\" he commanded. \"Behold, thy husband\nhath left his mortal coil. Arise, and see his spirit go up to his\nCreator, to appear before Him.\" And, lo, she beheld a chariot of light,\ndrawn by four shining eagles, and preceded by angels. In this chariot\nlay the soul of Adam, which the angels were taking to heaven. Arrived\nthere, they burnt incense until the clouds of smoke enveloped the\nheavens. Then they prayed to God to have mercy upon His image and the\nwork of His holy hands. In her awe and fright, Eve summoned Seth, and\nshe bade him look upon the vision and explain the celestial sights\nbeyond her understanding. She asked, \"Who may the two Ethiopians be,\nwho are adding their prayers to thy father's?\" Seth told her, they were\nthe sun and the moon, turned so black because they could not shine in\nthe face of the Father of light.[133] Scarcely had he spoken, when an\nangel blew a trumpet, and all the angels cried out with awful voices,\n\"Blessed be the glory of the Lord by His creatures, for He has shown\nmercy unto Adam, the work of His hands!\" A seraph then seized Adam, and\ncarried him off to the river Acheron, washed him three times, and\nbrought him before the presence of God, who sat upon His throne, and,\nstretching out His hand, lifted Adam up and gave him over to the\narchangel Michael, with the words, \"Raise him to the Paradise of the\nthird heaven, and there thou shalt leave him until the great and\nfearful day ordained by Me.\" Michael executed the Divine behest, and\nall the angels sang a song of praise, extolling God for the pardon He\nhad accorded Adam.\n\nMichael now entreated God to let him attend to the preparation of\nAdam's body for the grave. Permission being given, Michael repaired to\nearth, accompanied by all the angels. When they entered the terrestrial\nParadise, all the trees blossomed forth, and the perfume wafted thence\nlulled all men into slumber except Seth alone. Then God said to Adam,\nas his body lay on the ground: \"If thou hadst kept My commandment, they\nwould not rejoice who brought thee hither. But I tell thee, I will turn\nthe joy of Satan and his consorts into sorrow, and thy sorrow shall be\nturned into joy. I will restore thee to thy dominion, and thou shalt\nsit upon the throne of thy seducer, while he shall be damned, with\nthose who hearken unto him.\"[134]\n\nThereupon, at the bidding of God, the three great archangels[135]\ncovered the body of Adam with linen, and poured sweet-smelling oil upon\nit. With it they interred also the body of Abel, which had lain\nunburied since Cain had slain him, for all the murderer's efforts to\nhide it had been in vain. The corpse again and again sprang forth from\nthe earth, and a voice issued thence, proclaiming, \"No creature shall\nrest in the earth until the first one of all has returned the dust to\nme of which it was formed.\"[136] The angels carried the two bodies to\nParadise, Adam's and Abel's\u2014the latter had all this time been lying on\na stone on which angels had placed it\u2014and they buried them both on the\nspot whence God had taken the dust wherewith to make Adam.[137]\n\nGod called unto the body of Adam, \"Adam! Adam!\" and it answered, \"Lord,\nhere am I!\" Then God said: \"I told thee once, Dust thou art, and unto\ndust shalt thou return. Now I promise thee resurrection. I will awaken\nthee on the day of judgment, when all the generations of men that\nspring from thy loins, shall arise from the grave.\" God then sealed up\nthe grave, that none might do him harm during the six days to elapse\nuntil his rib should be restored to him through the death of Eve.[138]\n\nTHE DEATH OF EVE\n\nThe interval between Adam's death and her own Eve spent in weeping. She\nwas distressed in particular that she knew not what had become of\nAdam's body, for none except Seth had been awake while the angel\ninterred it. When the hour of her death drew nigh, Eve supplicated to\nbe buried in the selfsame spot in which the remains of her husband\nrested. She prayed to God: \"Lord of all powers! Remove not Thy\nmaid-servant from the body of Adam, from which Thou didst take me, from\nwhose limbs Thou didst form me. Permit me, who am an unworthy and\nsinning woman, to enter into his habitation. As we were together in\nParadise, neither separated from the other; as together we were tempted\nto transgress Thy law, neither separated from the other, so, O Lord,\nseparate us not now.\" To the end of her prayer she added the petition,\nraising her eyes heavenward, \"Lord of the world! Receive my spirit!\"\nand she gave up her soul to God.\n\nThe archangel Michael came and taught Seth how to prepare Eve for\nburial, and three angels descended and interred her body in the grave\nwith Adam and Abel. Then Michael spoke to Seth, \"Thus shalt thou bury\nall men that die until the resurrection day.\" And again, having given\nhim this command, he spoke: \"Longer than six days ye shall not\nmourn.[139] The repose of the seventh day is the token of the\nresurrection in the latter day, for on the seventh day the Lord rested\nfrom all the work which He had created and made.\"[140]\n\nThough death was brought into the world through Adam, yet he cannot be\nheld responsible for the death of men. Once on a time he said to God:\n\"I am not concerned about the death of the wicked, but I should not\nlike the pious to reproach me and lay the blame for their death upon\nme. I pray Thee, make no mention of my guilt.\" And God promised to\nfulfil his wish. Therefore, when a man is about to die, God appears to\nhim, and bids him set down in writing all he has done during his life,\nfor, He tells him, \"Thou art dying by reason of thy evil deeds.\" The\nrecord finished, God orders him to seal it with his seal. This is the\nwriting God will bring out on the judgment day, and to each will be\nmade known his deeds.[141] As soon as life is extinct in a man, he is\npresented to Adam, whom he accuses of having caused his death. But Adam\nrepudiates the charge: \"I committed but one trespass. Is there any\namong you, and be he the most pious, who has not been guilty of more\nthan one?\"[142]\n\n\n\n\nIII\nTHE TEN GENERATIONS\n\nTHE BIRTH OF CAIN\n\nThere were ten generations from Adam to Noah, to show how\nlong-suffering is the Lord, for all the generations provoked Him unto\nwrath, until He brought the deluge upon them.[1] By reason of their\nimpiousness God changed His plan of calling one thousand generations\ninto being between the creation of the world and the revelation of the\nlaw at Mount Sinai; nine hundred and seventy-four He suppressed before\nthe flood.[2]\n\nWickedness came into the world with the first being born of woman,\nCain, the oldest son of Adam. When God bestowed Paradise upon the first\npair of mankind, He warned them particularly against carnal intercourse\nwith each other. But after the fall of Eve, Satan, in the guise of the\nserpent, approached her, and the fruit of their union was Cain, the\nancestor of all the impious generations that were rebellious toward\nGod, and rose up against Him. Cain's descent from Satan, who is the\nangel Samael, was revealed in his seraphic appearance. At his birth,\nthe exclamation was wrung from Eve, \"I have gotten a man through an\nangel of the Lord.\"[3]\n\nAdam was not in the company of Eve during the time of her pregnancy\nwith Cain. After she had succumbed a second time to the temptations of\nSatan, and permitted herself to be interrupted in her penance,[4] she\nleft her husband and journeyed westward, because she feared her\npresence might continue to bring him misery. Adam remained in the east.\nWhen the days of Eve to be delivered were fulfilled, and she began to\nfeel the pangs of travailing, she prayed to God for help. But He\nhearkened not unto her supplications. \"Who will carry the report to my\nlord Adam?\" she asked herself. \"Ye luminaries in the sky, I beg you,\ntell it to my master Adam when ye return to the east!\" In that self\nsame hour, Adam cried out: \"The lamentation of Eve has pierced to my\near! Mayhap the serpent has again assaulted her,\" and he hastened to\nhis wife. Finding her in grievous pain, he besought God in her behalf,\nand twelve angels appeared, together with two heavenly powers.[5] All\nthese took up their post to right of her and to left of her, while\nMichael, also standing on her right side, passed his hand over her,\nfrom her face downward to her breast, and said to her, \"Be thou\nblessed, Eve, for the sake of Adam. Because of his solicitations and\nhis prayers I was sent to grant thee our assistance. Make ready to give\nbirth to thy child!\" Immediately her son was born, a radiant figure.[6]\nA little while and the babe stood upon his feet, ran off, and returned\nholding in his hands a stalk of straw, which he gave to his mother. For\nthis reason he was named Cain, the Hebrew word for stalk of straw.\n\nNow Adam took Eve and the boy to his home in the east. God sent him\nvarious kinds of seeds by the hand of the angel Michael, and he was\ntaught how to cultivate the ground and make it yield produce and\nfruits, to sustain himself and his family and his posterity.[7]\n\nAfter a while, Eve bore her second son, whom she named Hebel, because,\nshe said, he was born but to die.\n\nFRATRICIDE\n\nThe slaying of Abel by Cain did not come as a wholly unexpected event\nto his parents. In a dream Eve had seen the blood of Abel flow into the\nmouth of Cain, who drank it with avidity, though his brother entreated\nhim not to take all. When she told her dream to Adam, he said,\nlamenting, \"O that this may not portend the death of Abel at the hand\nof Cain!\" He separated the two lads, assigning to each an abode of his\nown, and to each he taught a different occupation. Cain became a tiller\nof the ground, and Abel a keeper of sheep. It was all in vain. In spite\nof these precautions, Cain slew his brother.[9]\n\nHis hostility toward Abel had more than one reason. It began when God\nhad respect unto the offering of Abel, and accepted it by sending\nheavenly fire down to consume it, while the offering of Cain was\nrejected.[10] They brought their sacrifices on the fourteenth day of\nNisan, at the instance of their father, who had spoken thus to his\nsons: \"This is the day on which, in times to come, Israel will offer\nsacrifices. Therefore, do ye, too, bring sacrifices to your Creator on\nthis day, that He may take pleasure in you.\" The place of offering\nwhich they chose was the spot whereon the altar of the Temple at\nJerusalem stood later.[11] Abel selected the best of his flocks for his\nsacrifice, but Cain ate his meal first, and after he had satisfied his\nappetite, he offered unto God what was left over, a few grains of flax\nseed. As though his offense had not been great enough in offering unto\nGod fruit of the ground which had been cursed by God![12] What wonder\nthat his sacrifice was not received with favor! Besides, a chastisement\nwas inflicted upon him. His face turned black as smoke.[13]\nNevertheless, his disposition underwent no change, even when God spoke\nto him thus: \"If thou wilt amend thy ways, thy guilt will be forgiven\nthee; if not, thou wilt be delivered into the power of the evil\ninclination. It coucheth at the door of thy heart, yet it depends upon\nthee whether thou shalt be master over it, or it shall be master over\nthee.\"[14]\n\nCain thought he had been wronged, and a dispute followed between him\nand Abel. \"I believed,\" he said, \"that the world was created through\ngoodness,[15] but I see that good deeds bear no fruit. God rules the\nworld with arbitrary power, else why had He respect unto thy offering,\nand not unto mine also?\" Abel opposed him; he maintained that God\nrewards good deeds, without having respect unto persons. If his\nsacrifice had been accepted graciously by God, and Cain's not, it was\nbecause his deeds were good, and his brother's wicked.[16]\n\nBut this was not the only cause of Cain's hatred toward Abel. Partly\nlove for a woman brought about the crime. To ensure the propagation of\nthe human race, a girl, destined to be his wife, was born together with\neach of the sons of Adam. Abel's twin sister was of exquisite beauty,\nand Cain desired her.[17] Therefore he was constantly brooding over\nways and means of ridding himself of his brother.\n\nThe opportunity presented itself ere long. One day a sheep belonging to\nAbel tramped over a field that had been planted by Cain. In a rage, the\nlatter called out, \"What right hast thou to live upon my land and let\nthy sheep pasture yonder?\" Abel retorted: \"What right hast thou to use\nthe products of my sheep, to make garments for thyself from their wool?\nIf thou wilt take off the wool of my sheep wherein thou art arrayed,\nand wilt pay me for the flesh of the flocks which thou hast eaten, then\nI will quit thy land as thou desirest, and fly into the air, if I can\ndo it.\" Cain thereupon said, \"And if I were to kill thee, who is there\nto demand thy blood of me?\" Abel replied: \"God, who brought us into the\nworld, will avenge me. He will require my blood at thine hand, if thou\nshouldst slay me. God is the Judge, who will visit their wicked deeds\nupon the wicked, and their evil deeds upon the evil. Shouldst thou slay\nme, God will know thy secret, and He will deal out punishment unto\nthee.\"\n\nThese words but added to the anger of Cain, and he threw himself upon\nhis brother.[18] Abel was stronger than he, and he would have got the\nworst of it, but at the last moment he begged for mercy, and the gentle\nAbel released his hold upon him. Scarcely did he feel himself free,\nwhen he turned against Abel once more, and slew him. So true is the\nsaying, \"Do the evil no good, lest evil fall upon thee.\"[19]\n\nTHE PUNISHMENT OF CAIN\n\nThe manner of Abel's death was the most cruel conceivable. Not knowing\nwhat injury was fatal, Cain pelted all parts of his body with stones,\nuntil one struck him on the neck and inflicted death.\n\nAfter committing the murder, Cain resolved to flee, saying, \"My parents\nwill demand account of me concerning Abel, for there is no other human\nbeing on earth.\" This thought had but passed through his mind when God\nappeared unto him, and addressed him in these words: \"Before thy\nparents thou canst flee, but canst thou go out from My presence, too?\n'Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him?' Alas\nfor Abel that he showed thee mercy, and refrained from killing thee,\nwhen he had thee in his power! Alas that he granted thee the\nopportunity of slaying him!\"\n\nQuestioned by God, \"Where is Abel thy brother?\" Cain answered: \"Am I my\nbrother's keeper? Thou art He who holdest watch over all creatures, and\nyet Thou demandest account of me! True, I slew him, but Thou didst\ncreate the evil inclination in me. Thou guardest all things; why, then,\ndidst Thou permit me to slay him? Thou didst Thyself slay him, for\nhadst Thou looked with a favorable countenance toward my offering as\ntoward his, I had had no reason for envying him, and I had not slain\nhim.\" But God said, \"The voice of thy brother's blood issuing from his\nmany wounds crieth out against thee,[20] and likewise the blood of all\nthe pious who might have sprung from the loins of Abel.\"\n\nAlso the soul of Abel denounced the murderer, for she could find rest\nnowhere. She could neither soar heavenward, nor abide in the grave with\nher body, for no human soul had done either before.[21] But Cain still\nrefused to confess his guilt. He insisted that he had never seen a man\nkilled, and how was he to suppose that the stones which he threw at\nAbel would take his life? Then, on account of Cain, God cursed the\nground, that it might not yield fruit unto him.[22] With a single\npunishment both Cain and the earth were chastised, the earth because it\nretained the corpse of Abel, and did not cast it above ground.[23]\n\nIn the obduracy of his heart, Cain spake: \"O Lord of the world! Are\nthere informers who denounce men before Thee? My parents are the only\nliving human beings, and they know naught of my deed. Thou abidest in\nthe heavens, and how shouldst Thou know what things happen on earth?\"\nGod said in reply: \"Thou fool! I carry the whole world. I have made it,\nand I will bear it\"\u2014a reply that gave Cain the opportunity of feigning\nrepentance. \"Thou bearest the whole world,\" he said, \"and my sin Thou\ncanst not bear?[24] Verily, mine iniquity is too great to be borne!\nYet, yesterday Thou didst banish my father from Thy presence, to-day\nThou dost banish me. In sooth, it will be said, it is Thy way to\nbanish.\"[25]\n\nAlthough this was but dissimulation, and not true repentance, yet God\ngranted Cain pardon, and removed the half of his chastisement from him.\nOriginally, the decree had condemned him to be a fugitive and a\nwanderer on the earth. Now he was no longer to roam about forever, but\na fugitive he was to remain. And so much was hard enough to have to\nsuffer, for the earth quaked under Cain, and all the animals, the wild\nand the tame, among them the accursed serpent, gathered together and\nessayed to devour him in order to avenge the innocent blood of Abel.\nFinally Cain could bear it no longer, and, breaking out in tears, he\ncried: \"Whither shall I go from Thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee\nfrom Thy presence?\"[26] To protect him from the onslaught of the\nbeasts, God inscribed one letter of His Holy Name upon his forehead,\nand furthermore He addressed the animals: \"Cain's punishment shall not\nbe like unto the punishment of future murderers. He has shed blood, but\nthere was none to give him instruction. Henceforth, however, he who\nslays another shall himself be slain.\" Then God gave him the dog as a\nprotection against the wild beasts, and to mark him as a sinner, He\nafflicted him with leprosy.\n\nCain's repentance, insincere though it was, bore a good result. When\nAdam met him, and inquired what doom had been decreed against him, Cain\ntold how his repentance had propitiated God, and Adam exclaimed, \"So\npotent is repentance, and I knew it not!\" Thereupon he composed a hymn\nof praise to God, beginning with the words, \"It is a good thing to\nconfess thy sins unto the Lord!\"[29]\n\nThe crime committed by Cain had baneful consequences, not for himself\nalone, but for the whole of nature also. Before, the fruits which the\nearth bore unto him when he tilled the ground had tasted like the\nfruits of Paradise. Now his labor produced naught but thorns and\nthistles.[29] The ground changed and deteriorated at the very moment of\nAbel's violent end. The trees and the plants in the part of the earth\nwhereon the victim lived refused to yield their fruits, on account of\ntheir grief over him, and only at the birth of Seth those that grew in\nthe portion belonging to Abel began to flourish and bear again. But\nnever did they resume their former powers. While, before, the vine had\nborne nine hundred and twenty-six different varieties of fruit, it now\nbrought forth but one kind. And so it was with all other species. They\nwill regain their pristine powers only in the world to come.[30]\n\nNature was modified also by the burial of the corpse of Abel. For a\nlong time it lay there exposed, above ground, because Adam and Eve knew\nnot what to do with it. They sat beside it and wept, while the faithful\ndog of Abel kept guard that birds and beasts did it no harm. On a\nsudden, the mourning parents observed how a raven scratched the earth\naway in one spot, and then hid a dead bird of his own kind in the\nground. Adam, following the example of the raven, buried the body of\nAbel, and the raven was rewarded by God. His young are born with white\nfeathers, wherefore the old birds desert them, not recognizing them as\ntheir offspring. They take them for serpents. God feeds them until\ntheir plumage turns black, and the parent birds return to them. As an\nadditional reward, God grants their petition when the ravens pray for\nrain.[31]\n\nTHE INHABITANTS OF THE SEVEN EARTHS\n\nWhen Adam was cast out of Paradise, he first reached the lowest of the\nseven earths, the Erez, which is dark, without a ray of light, and\nutterly void. Adam was terrified, particularly by the flames of the\never-turning sword, which is on this earth. After he had done penance,\nGod led him to the second earth, the Adamah, where there is light\nreflected from its own sky and from its phantom-like stars and\nconstellations. Here dwell the phantom-like beings that issued from the\nunion of Adam with the spirits. They are always sad; the emotion of joy\nis not known to them. They leave their own earth and repair to the one\ninhabited by men, where they are changed into evil spirits. Then they\nreturn to their abode for good, repent of their wicked deeds, and till\nthe ground, which, however, bears neither wheat nor any other of the\nseven species.[34] In this Adamah, Cain, Abel, and Seth were born.\nAfter the murder of Abel, Cain was sent back to the Erez, where he was\nfrightened into repentance by its darkness and by the flames of the\never-turning sword. Accepting his penitence, God permitted him to\nascend to the third earth, the Arka, which receives some light from the\nsun. The Arka was surrendered to the Cainites forever, as their\nperpetual domain. They till the ground, and plant trees, but they have\nneither wheat nor any other of the seven species.\n\nSome of the Cainites are giants, some of them are dwarfs. They have two\nheads, wherefore they can never arrive at a decision; they are always\nat loggerheads with themselves.[34] It may happen that they are pious\nnow, only to be inclined to do evil the next moment.\n\nIn the Ge, the fourth earth, live the generation of the Tower of Babel\nand their descendants. God banished them thither because the fourth\nearth is not far from Gehenna, and therefore close to the flaming\nfire.[35] The inhabitants of the Ge are skilful in all arts, and\naccomplished in all departments of science and knowledge, and their\nabode overflows with wealth. When an inhabitant of our earth visits\nthem, they give him the most precious thing in their possession, but\nthen they lead him to the Neshiah, the fifth earth, where he becomes\noblivious of his origin and his home. The Neshiah is inhabited by\ndwarfs without noses; they breathe through two holes instead. They have\nno memory; once a thing has happened, they forget it completely, whence\ntheir earth is called Neshiah, \"forgetting.\" The fourth and fifth\nearths are like the Arka; they have trees, but neither wheat nor any\nother of the seven species.\n\nThe sixth earth, the Ziah, is inhabited by handsome men, who are the\nowners of abundant wealth, and live in palatial residences, but they\nlack water, as the name of their territory, Ziah, \"drought,\" indicates.\nHence vegetation is sparse with them, and their tree culture meets with\nindifferent success. They hasten to any waterspring that is discovered,\nand sometimes they succeed in slipping through it up to our earth,\nwhere they satisfy their sharp appetite for the food eaten by the\ninhabitants of our earth. For the rest, they are men of steadfast\nfaith, more than any other class of mankind.[36]\n\nAdam remained in the Adamah until after the birth of Seth. Then,\npassing the third earth, the Arka, the abiding place of the Cainites,\nand the next three earths as well, the Ge, the Neshiah, and the Ziah,\nGod transported him to the Tebel, the seventh earth, the earth\ninhabited by men.\n\nTHE DESCENDANTS OF CAIN\n\nCain knew only too well that his blood-guiltiness would be visited upon\nhim in the seventh generation. Thus had God decreed against him.[37] He\nendeavored, therefore, to immortalize his name by means of\nmonuments,[38] and he became a builder of cities. The first of them he\ncalled Enoch, after his son, because it was at the birth of Enoch that\nhe began to enjoy a measure of rest and peace.[39] Besides, he founded\nsix other cities.[40] This building of cities was a godless deed, for\nhe surrounded them with a wall, forcing his family to remain within.\nAll his other doings were equally impious. The punishment God had\nordained for him did not effect any improvement. He sinned in order to\nsecure his own pleasure, though his neighbors suffered injury thereby.\nHe augmented his household substance by rapine and violence; he excited\nhis acquaintances to procure pleasures and spoils by robbery, and he\nbecame a great leader of men into wicked courses. He also introduced a\nchange in the ways of simplicity wherein men had lived before, and he\nwas the author of measures and weights. And whereas men lived\ninnocently and generously while they knew nothing of such arts, he\nchanged the world into cunning craftiness.[41]\n\nLike unto Cain were all his descendants, impious and godless, wherefore\nGod resolved to destroy them.[42]\n\nThe end of Cain overtook him in the seventh generation of men, and it\nwas inflicted upon him by the hand of his great-grandson Lamech. This\nLamech was blind, and when he went a-hunting, he was led by his young\nson, who would apprise his father when game came in sight, and Lamech\nwould then shoot at it with his bow and arrow. Once upon a time he and\nhis son went on the chase, and the lad discerned something horned in\nthe distance. He naturally took it to be a beast of one kind or\nanother, and he told the blind Lamech to let his arrow fly. The aim was\ngood, and the quarry dropped to the ground. When they came close to the\nvictim, the lad exclaimed: \"Father, thou hast killed something that\nresembles a human being in all respects, except it carries a horn on\nits forehead!\" Lamech knew at once what had happened\u2014he had killed his\nancestor Cain, who had been marked by God with a horn.[43] In despair\nhe smote his hands together, inadvertently killing his son as he\nclasped them. Misfortune still followed upon misfortune. The earth\nopened her mouth and swallowed up the four generations sprung from\nCain\u2014Enoch, Irad, Mehujael, and Methushael. Lamech, sightless as he\nwas, could not go home; he had to remain by the side of Cain's corpse\nand his son's. Toward evening, his wives, seeking him, found him there.\nWhen they heard what he had done, they wanted to separate from him, all\nthe more as they knew that whoever was descended from Cain was doomed\nto annihilation. But Lamech argued, \"If Cain, who committed murder of\nmalice aforethought, was punished only in the seventh generation, then\nI, who had no intention of killing a human being, may hope that\nretribution will be averted for seventy and seven generations.\" With\nhis wives, Lamech repaired to Adam, who heard both parties, and decided\nthe case in favor of Lamech.[44]\n\nThe corruptness of the times, and especially the depravity of Cain's\nstock, appears in the fact that Lamech, as well as all the men in the\ngeneration of the deluge, married two wives, one with the purpose of\nrearing children, the other in order to pursue carnal indulgences, for\nwhich reason the latter was rendered sterile by artificial means. As\nthe men of the time were intent upon pleasure rather than desirous of\ndoing their duty to the human race, they gave all their love and\nattention to the barren women, while their other wives spent their days\nlike widows, joyless and in gloom.\n\nThe two wives of Lamech, Adah and Zillah, bore him each two children,\nAdah two sons, Jabal and Jubal, and Zillah a son, Tubal-cain, and a\ndaughter, Naamah. Jabal was the first among men to erect temples to\nidols, and Jubal invented the music sung and played therein. Tubal-cain\nwas rightly named, for he completed the work of his ancestor Cain. Cain\ncommitted murder, and Tubal-cain, the first who knew how to sharpen\niron and copper, furnished the instruments used in wars and combats.\nNaamah, \"the lovely,\" earned her name from the sweet sounds which she\ndrew from her cymbals when she called the worshippers to pay homage to\nidols.[45]\n\nTHE DESCENDANTS OF ADAM AND LILITH\n\nWhen the wives of Lamech heard the decision of Adam, that they were to\ncontinue to live with their husband, they turned upon him, saying, \"O\nphysician, heal thine own lameness!\" They were alluding to the fact\nthat he himself had been living apart from his wife since the death of\nAbel, for he had said, \"Why should I beget children, if it is but to\nexpose them to death?\"[46]\n\nThough he avoided intercourse with Eve, he was visited in his sleep by\nfemale spirits, and from his union with them sprang shades and demons\nof various kinds,[47] and they were endowed with peculiar gifts.\n\nOnce upon a time there lived in Palestine a very rich and pious man,\nwho had a son named Rabbi Hanina. He knew the whole of the Torah by\nheart. When he was at the point of death, he sent for his son, Rabbi\nHanina, and bade him, as his last request, to study the Torah day and\nnight, fulfil the commands of the law, and be a faithful friend to the\npoor. He also told him that he and his wife, the mother of Rabbi\nHanina, would die on the selfsame day, and the seven days of mourning\nfor the two would end on the eve of the Passover. He enjoined him not\nto grieve excessively, but to go to market on that day, and buy the\nfirst article offered to him, no matter how costly it might be. If it\nhappened to be an edible, he was to prepare it and serve it with much\nceremony. His expense and trouble would receive their recompense. All\nhappened as foretold: the man and his wife died upon the same day, and\nthe end of the week of mourning coincided with the eve of the Passover.\nThe son in turn carried out his father's behest: he repaired to market,\nand there he met an old man who offered a silver dish for sale.\nAlthough the price asked was exorbitant, yet he bought it, as his\nfather had bidden. The dish was set upon the Seder table, and when\nRabbi Hanina opened it, he found a second dish within, and inside of\nthis a live frog, jumping and hopping around gleefully. He gave the\nfrog food and drink, and by the end of the festival he was grown so big\nthat Rabbi Hanina made a cabinet for him, in which he ate and lived. In\nthe course of time, the cabinet became too small, and the Rabbi built a\nchamber, put the frog within, and gave him abundant food and drink. All\nthis he did that he might not violate his father's last wish. But the\nfrog waxed and grew; he consumed all his host owned, until, finally,\nRabbi Hanina was stripped bare of all his possessions. Then the frog\nopened his mouth and began to speak. \"My dear Rabbi Hanina,\" he said,\n\"do not worry! Seeing thou didst raise me and care for me, thou mayest\nask of me whatever thy heart desireth, and it shall be granted thee.\"\nRabbi Hanina made reply, \"I desire naught but that thou shouldst teach\nme the whole of the Torah.\" The frog assented, and he did, indeed,\nteach him the whole of the Torah, and the seventy languages of men\nbesides.[48] His method was to write a few words upon a scrap of paper,\nwhich he had his pupil swallow. Thus he acquired not alone the Torah\nand the seventy tongues, but also the language of beasts and birds.\nThereupon the frog spoke to the wife of Rabbi Hanina: \"Thou didst tend\nme well, and I have given thee no recompense. But thy reward will be\npaid thee before I depart from you, only you must both accompany me to\nthe woods. There you shall see what I shall do for you.\" Accordingly,\nthey went to the woods with him. Arrived there, the frog began to cry\naloud, and at the sound all sorts of beasts and birds assembled. These\nhe commanded to produce precious stones, as many as they could carry.\nAlso they were to bring herbs and roots for the wife of Rabbi Hanina,\nand he taught her how to use them as remedies for all varieties of\ndisease. All this they were bidden to take home with them. When they\nwere about to return, the frog addressed them thus: \"May the Holy One,\nblessed be He, have mercy upon you, and requite you for all the trouble\nyou took on my account, without so much as inquiring who I am. Now I\nshall make my origin known to you. I am the son of Adam, a son whom he\nbegot during the hundred and thirty years of his separation from Eve.\nGod has endowed me with the power of assuming any form or guise I\ndesire.\" Rabbi Hanina and his wife departed for their home, and they\nbecame very rich, and enjoyed the respect and confidence of the\nking.[49]\n\nSETH AND HIS DESCENDANTS\n\nThe exhortations of the wives of Lamech took effect upon Adam. After a\nseparation of one hundred and thirty years, he returned to Eve, and the\nlove he now bore her was stronger by far than in the former time. She\nwas in his thoughts even when she was not present to him bodily. The\nfruit of their reunion was Seth, who was destined to be the ancestor of\nthe Messiah.[50]\n\nSeth was so formed from birth that the rite of circumcision could be\ndispensed with. He was thus one of the thirteen men born perfect in a\nway.[51] Adam begot him in his likeness and image, different from Cain,\nwho had not been in his likeness and image. Thus Seth became, in a\ngenuine sense, the father of the human race, especially the father of\nthe pious, while the depraved and godless are descended from Cain.[52]\n\nEven during the lifetime of Adam the descendants of Cain became\nexceedingly wicked, dying successively, one after another, each more\nwicked than the former. They were intolerable in war, and vehement in\nrobberies, and if any one were slow to murder people, yet was he bold\nin his profligate behavior in acting unjustly and doing injury for\ngain.\n\nNow as to Seth. When he was brought up, and came to those years in\nwhich he could discern what was good, he became a virtuous man, and as\nhe was himself of excellent character, so he left children behind him\nwho imitated his virtues. All these proved to be of good disposition.\nThey also inhabited one and the same country without dissensions, and\nin a happy condition, without any misfortune's falling upon them, until\nthey died. They also were the inventors of that peculiar sort of wisdom\nwhich is concerned with the heavenly bodies and their order. And that\ntheir inventions might not be lost before they were sufficiently known,\nthey made two pillars, upon Adam's prediction that the world was to be\ndestroyed at one time by the force of fire and at another time by the\nviolence and quantity of water. The one was of brick, the other of\nstone, and they inscribed their discoveries on both, that in case the\npillar of brick should be destroyed by the flood, the pillar of stone\nmight remain, and exhibit these discoveries to mankind, and also inform\nthem that there was another pillar, of brick, erected by them.[53]\n\nENOSH\n\nEnosh was asked who his father was, and he named Seth. The questioners,\nthe people of his time, continued: \"Who was the father of Seth?\" Enosh:\n\"Adam.\"\u2014\"And who was the father of Adam?\"\u2014\"He had neither father nor\nmother, God formed him from the dust of the earth.\"\u2014\"But man has not\nthe appearance of dust!\"\u2014\"After death man returns to dust, as God said,\n'And man shall turn again unto dust;' but on the day of his creation,\nman was made in the image of God.\"\u2014\"How was the woman created?\"\u2014\"Male\nand female He created them.\"\u2014\"But how?\"\u2014\"God took water and earth, and\nmoulded them together in the form of man.\"\u2014\"But how?\" pursued the\nquestioners.\n\nEnosh took six clods of earth, mixed them, and moulded them, and formed\nan image of dust and clay. \"But,\" said the people, \"this image does not\nwalk, nor does it possess any breath of life.\" He then essayed to show\nthem how God breathed the breath of life into the nostrils of Adam, but\nwhen he began to blow his breath into the image he had formed, Satan\nentered it, and the figure walked, and the people of his time who had\nbeen inquiring these matters of Enosh went astray after it, saying,\n\"What is the difference between bowing down before this image and\npaying homage to a man?\"[54]\n\nThe generation of Enosh were thus the first idol worshippers, and the\npunishment for their folly was not delayed long. God caused the sea to\ntransgress its bounds, and a portion of the earth was flooded. This was\nthe time also when the mountains became rocks, and the dead bodies of\nmen began to decay. And still another consequence of the sin of\nidolatry was that the countenances of the men of the following\ngenerations were no longer in the likeness and image of God, as the\ncountenances of Adam, Seth, and Enosh had been. They resembled centaurs\nand apes, and the demons lost their fear of men.[55]\n\nBut there was a still more serious consequence from the idolatrous\npractices introduced in the time of Enosh. When God drove Adam forth\nfrom Paradise, the Shekinah remained behind, enthroned above a cherub\nunder the tree of life. The angels descended from heaven and repaired\nthither in hosts, to receive their instructions, and Adam and his\ndescendants sat by the gate to bask in the splendor of the Shekinah,\nsixty-five thousand times more radiant than the splendor of the sun.\nThis brightness of the Shekinah makes all upon whom it falls exempt\nfrom disease, and neither insects nor demons can come nigh unto them to\ndo them harm.\n\nThus it was until the time of Enosh, when men began to gather gold,\nsilver, gems, and pearls from all parts of the earth, and made idols\nthereof a thousand parasangs high. What was worse, by means of the\nmagic arts taught them by the angels Uzza and Azzael, they set\nthemselves as masters over the heavenly spheres, and forced the sun,\nthe moon, and the stars to be subservient to themselves instead of the\nLord. This impelled the angels to ask God: \"'What is man, that Thou art\nmindful of him?' Why didst Thou abandon the highest of the heavens, the\nseat of Thy glory and Thy exalted Throne in 'Arabot, and descend to\nmen, who pay worship to idols, putting Thee upon a level with them?\"\nThe Shekinah was induced to leave the earth and ascend to heaven, amid\nthe blare and flourish of the trumpets of the myriads of angel\nhosts.[56]\n\nTHE FALL OF THE ANGELS\n\nThe depravity of mankind, which began to show itself in the time of\nEnosh, had increased monstrously in the time of his grandson Jared, by\nreason of the fallen angels. When the angels saw the beautiful,\nattractive daughters of men, they lusted after them, and spoke: \"We\nwill choose wives for ourselves only from among the daughters of men,\nand beget children with them.\" Their chief Shemhazai said, \"I fear me,\nye will not put this plan of yours into execution, and I alone shall\nhave to suffer the consequences of a great sin.\" Then they answered\nhim, and said: \"We will all swear an oath, and we will bind ourselves,\nseparately and together, not to abandon the plan, but to carry it\nthrough to the end.\"\n\nTwo hundred angels descended to the summit of Mount Hermon, which owes\nits name to this very occurrence, because they bound themselves there\nto fulfil their purpose, on the penalty of Herem, anathema. Under the\nleadership of twenty captains they defiled themselves with the\ndaughters of men, unto whom they taught charms, conjuring formulas, how\nto cut roots, and the efficacy of plants. The issue from these mixed\nmarriages was a race of giants, three thousand ells tall, who consumed\nthe possessions of men. When all had vanished, and they could obtain\nnothing more from them, the giants turned against men and devoured many\nof them, and the remnant of men began to trespass against the birds,\nbeasts, reptiles, and fishes, eating their flesh and drinking their\nblood.\n\nThen the earth complained about the impious evil-doers. But the fallen\nangels continued to corrupt mankind. Azazel taught men how to make\nslaughtering knives, arms, shields, and coats of mail. He showed them\nmetals and how to work them, and armlets and all sorts of trinkets, and\nthe use of rouge for the eyes, and how to beautify the eyelids, and how\nto ornament themselves with the rarest and most precious jewels and all\nsorts of paints. The chief of the fallen angels, Shemhazai, instructed\nthem in exorcisms and how to cut roots; Armaros taught them how to\nraise spells; Barakel, divination from the stars; Kawkabel, astrology;\nEzekeel, augury from the clouds; Arakiel, the signs of the earth;\nSamsaweel, the signs of the sun; and Seriel, the signs of the moon.[57]\n\nWhile all these abominations defiled the earth, the pious Enoch lived\nin a secret place. None among men knew his abode, or what had become of\nhim, for he was sojourning with the angel watchers and holy ones. Once\nhe heard the call addressed to him: \"Enoch, thou scribe of justice, go\nunto the watchers of the heavens, who have left the high heavens, the\neternal place of holiness, defiling themselves with women, doing as men\ndo, taking wives unto themselves, and casting themselves into the arms\nof destruction upon earth. Go and proclaim unto them that they shall\nfind neither peace nor pardon. For every time they take joy in their\noffspring, they shall see the violent death of their sons, and sigh\nover the ruin of their children. They will pray and supplicate\nevermore, but never shall they attain to mercy or peace.\"\n\nEnoch repaired to Azazel and the other fallen angels, to announce the\ndoom uttered against them. They all were filled with fear. Trembling\nseized upon them, and they implored Enoch to set up a petition for them\nand read it to the Lord of heaven, for they could not speak with God as\naforetime, nor even raise their eyes heavenward, for shame on account\nof their sins. Enoch granted their request, and in a vision he was\nvouchsafed the answer which he was to carry back to the angels. It\nappeared to Enoch that he was wafted into heaven upon clouds, and was\nset down before the throne of God. God spake: \"Go forth and say to the\nwatchers of heaven who have sent thee hither to intercede for them:\nVerily, it is you who ought to plead in behalf of men, not men in\nbehalf of you I Why did ye forsake the high, holy, and eternal heavens,\nto pollute yourselves with the daughters of men, taking wives unto\nyourselves, doing like the races of the earth, and begetting giant\nsons? Giants begotten by flesh and spirits will be called evil spirits\non earth, and on the earth will be their dwelling-place. Evil spirits\nproceed from their bodies, because they are created from above, and\nfrom the holy watchers is their beginning and primal origin; they will\nbe evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits they will be named. And the\nspirits of heaven have their dwelling in heaven, but the spirits of the\nearth, which were born upon the earth, have their dwelling on the\nearth. And the spirits of the giants will devour, oppress, destroy,\nattack, do battle, and cause destruction on the earth, and work\naffliction. They will take no kind of food, nor will they thirst, and\nthey will be invisible. And these spirits will rise up against the\nchildren of men and against the women, because they have proceeded from\nthem. Since the days of murder and destruction and the death of the\ngiants, when the spirits went forth from the soul of their flesh, in\norder to destroy without incurring judgment\u2014thus will they destroy\nuntil the day when the great consummation of the great world be\nconsummated. And now as to the watchers who have sent thee to intercede\nfor them, who had been aforetime in heaven, say to them: You have been\nin heaven, and though the hidden things had not yet been revealed to\nyou, you know worthless mysteries, and in the hardness of your hearts\nyou have recounted these to the women, and through these mysteries\nwomen and men work much evil on earth. Say to them therefore: You have\nno peace!\"[58]\n\nENOCH, RULER AND TEACHER\n\nAfter Enoch had lived a long time secluded from men, he once heard the\nvoice of an angel calling to him: \"Enoch, Enoch, make thyself ready and\nleave the house and the secret place wherein thou hast kept thyself\nhidden, and assume dominion over men, to teach them the ways in which\nthey shall walk, and the deeds which they shall do, in order that they\nmay walk in the ways of God.\"\n\nEnoch left his retreat and betook himself to the haunts of men. He\ngathered them about him, and instructed them in the conduct pleasing to\nGod. He sent messengers all over to announce, \"Ye who desire to know\nthe ways of God and righteous conduct, come ye to Enoch!\" Thereupon a\nvast concourse of people thronged about him, to hear the wisdom he\nwould teach and learn from his mouth what is good and right. Even kings\nand princes, no less than one hundred and thirty in number, assembled\nabout him, and submitted themselves to his dominion, to be taught and\nguided by him, as he taught and guided all the others. Peace reigned\nthus over the whole world all the two hundred and forty-three years\nduring which the influence of Enoch prevailed.\n\nAt the expiration of this period, in the year in which Adam died, and\nwas buried with great honors by Seth, Enosh, Enoch, and Methuselah,\nEnoch resolved to retire again from intercourse with men, and devote\nhimself wholly to the service of God. But he withdrew gradually. First\nhe would spend three days in prayer and praise of God, and on the\nfourth day he would return to his disciples and grant them instruction.\nMany years passed thus, then he appeared among them but once a week,\nlater, once a month, and, finally, once a year. The kings, princes, and\nall others who were desirous of seeing Enoch and hearkening to his\nwords did not venture to come close to him during the times of his\nretirement. Such awful majesty sat upon his countenance, they feared\nfor their very life if they but looked at him. They therefore resolved\nthat all men should prefer their requests before Enoch on the day he\nshowed himself unto them.\n\nThe impression made by the teachings of Enoch upon all who heard them\nwas powerful. They prostrated themselves before him, and cried \"Long\nlive the king! Long live the king!\" On a certain day, while Enoch was\ngiving audience to his followers, an angel appeared and made known unto\nhim that God had resolved to install him as king over the angels in\nheaven, as until then he had reigned over men. He called together all\nthe inhabitants of the earth, and addressed them thus: \"I have been\nsummoned to ascend into heaven, and I know not on what day I shall go\nthither. Therefore I will teach you wisdom and righteousness before I\ngo hence.\" A few days yet Enoch spent among men, and all the time left\nto him he gave instruction in wisdom, knowledge, God-fearing conduct,\nand piety, and established law and order, for the regulation of the\naffairs of men. Then those gathered near him saw a gigantic steed\ndescend from the skies, and they told Enoch of it, who said, \"The steed\nis for me, for the time has come and the day when I leave you, never to\nbe seen again.\" So it was. The steed approached Enoch, and he mounted\nupon its back, all the time instructing the people, exhorting them,\nenjoining them to serve God and walk in His ways. Eight hundred\nthousand of the people followed a day's journey after him. But on the\nsecond day Enoch urged his retinue to turn back: \"Go ye home, lest\ndeath overtake you, if you follow me farther.\" Most of them heeded his\nwords and went back, but a number remained with him for six days,\nthough he admonished them daily to return and not bring death down upon\nthemselves. On the sixth day of the journey, he said to those still\naccompanying him, \"Go ye home, for on the morrow I shall ascend to\nheaven, and whoever will then be near me, he will die.\" Nevertheless,\nsome of his companions remained with him, saying: \"Whithersoever thou\ngoest, we will go. By the living God, death alone shall part us.\"\n\nOn the seventh day Enoch was carried into the heavens in a fiery\nchariot drawn by fiery chargers. The day thereafter, the kings who had\nturned back in good time sent messengers to inquire into the fate of\nthe men who had refused to separate themselves from Enoch, for they had\nnoted the number of them. They found snow and great hailstones upon the\nspot whence Enoch had risen, and, when they searched beneath, they\ndiscovered the bodies of all who had remained behind with Enoch. He\nalone was not among them; he was on high in heaven.[59]\n\nTHE ASCENSION OF ENOCH\n\nThis was not the first time Enoch had been in heaven. Once before,\nwhile he sojourned among men, he had been permitted to see all there is\non earth and in the heavens. On a time when he was sleeping, a great\ngrief came upon his heart, and he wept in his dream, not knowing what\nthe grief meant, nor what would happen to him. And there appeared to\nhim two men, very tall. Their faces shone like the sun, and their eyes\nwere like burning lamps, and fire came forth from their lips; their\nwings were brighter than gold, their hands whiter than snow. They stood\nat the head of Enoch's bed, and called him by his name. He awoke from\nhis sleep, and hastened and made obeisance to them, and was terrified.\nAnd these men said to him: \"Be of good cheer, Enoch, be not afraid; the\neverlasting God hath sent us to thee, and lo! to-day thou shalt ascend\nwith us into heaven. And tell thy sons and thy servants, and let none\nseek thee, till the Lord bring thee back to them.\"\n\nEnoch did as he was told, and after he had spoken to his sons, and\ninstructed them not to turn aside from God, and to keep His judgment,\nthese two men summoned him, and took him on their wings, and placed him\non the clouds, which moved higher and higher, till they set him down in\nthe first heaven. Here they showed him the two hundred angels who rule\nthe stars, and their heavenly service. Here he saw also the treasuries\nof snow and ice, of clouds and dew.\n\nFrom there they took him to the second heaven, where he saw the fallen\nangels imprisoned, they who obeyed not the commandments of God, and\ntook counsel of their own will. The fallen angels said to Enoch, \"O man\nof God! Pray for us to the Lord,\" and he answered: \"Who am I, a mortal\nman, that I should pray for angels? Who knows whither I go, or what\nawaits me?\"\n\nThey took him from thence to the third heaven, where they showed him\nParadise, with all the trees of beautiful colors, and their fruits,\nripe and luscious, and all kinds of food which they produced, springing\nup with delightful fragrance. In the midst of Paradise he saw the tree\nof life, in that place in which God rests when He comes into Paradise.\nThis tree cannot be described for its excellence and sweet fragrance,\nand it is beautiful, more than any created thing, and on all its sides\nit is like gold and crimson in appearance, and transparent as fire, and\nit covers everything. From its root in the garden there go forth four\nstreams, which pour out honey, milk, oil, and wine, and they go down to\nthe Paradise of Eden, that lies on the confines between the earthly\nregion of corruptibility and the heavenly region of incorruptibility,\nand thence they go along the earth. He also saw the three hundred\nangels who keep the garden, and with never-ceasing voices and blessed\nsinging they serve the Lord every day. The angels leading Enoch\nexplained to him that this place is prepared for the righteous, while\nthe terrible place prepared for the sinners is in the northern regions\nof the third heaven. He saw there all sorts of tortures, and\nimpenetrable gloom, and there is no light there, but a gloomy fire is\nalways burning. And all that place has fire on all sides, and on all\nsides cold and ice, thus it burns and freezes. And the angels, terrible\nand without pity, carry savage weapons, and their torture is\nunmerciful.\n\nThe angels took him then to the fourth heaven, and showed him all the\ncomings in and goings forth, and all the rays of the light of the sun\nand the moon. He saw the fifteen myriads of angels who go out with the\nsun, and attend him during the day, and the thousand angels who attend\nhim by night. Each angel has six wings, and they go before the chariot\nof the sun, while one hundred angels keep the sun warm, and light it\nup. He saw also the wonderful and strange creatures named phoenixes and\nchalkidri, who attend the chariot of the sun, and go with him, bringing\nheat and dew. They showed him also the six gates in the east of the\nfourth heaven, by which the sun goes forth, and the six gates in the\nwest where he sets, and also the gates by which the moon goes out, and\nthose by which she enters. In the middle of the fourth heaven he saw an\narmed host, serving the Lord with cymbals and organs and unceasing\nvoices.\n\nIn the fifth heaven he saw many hosts of the angels called Grigori.\nTheir appearance was like men, and their size was greater than the size\nof the giants, their countenances were withered, and their lips silent.\nOn his question who they were, the angels leading him answered, \"These\nare the Grigori, who with their prince Salamiel rejected the holy\nLord.\" Enoch then said to the Grigori, \"Why wait ye, brethren, and\nserve ye not before the face of the Lord, and why perform ye not your\nduties before the face of the Lord, and anger not your Lord to the\nend?\" The Grigori listened to the rebuke, and when the trumpets\nresounded together with a loud call, they also began to sing with one\nvoice, and their voices went forth before the Lord with sadness and\ntenderness.\n\nIn the seventh heaven he saw the seven bands of archangels who arrange\nand study the revolutions of the stars and the changes of the moon and\nthe revolution of the sun, and superintend the good or evil conditions\nof the world. And they arrange teachings and instructions and sweet\nspeaking and singing and all kinds of glorious praise. They hold in\nsubjection all living things, both in heaven and on earth. In the midst\nof them are seven phoenixes, and seven cherubim, and seven six-winged\ncreatures, singing with one voice.\n\nWhen Enoch reached the seventh heaven, and saw all the fiery hosts of\ngreat archangels and incorporeal powers and lordships and\nprincipalities and powers, he was afraid and trembled with a great\nterror. Those leading him took hold of him, and brought him into the\nmidst of them, and said to him, \"Be of good cheer, Enoch, be not\nafraid,\" and they showed him the Lord from afar, sitting on His lofty\nthrone, while all the heavenly hosts, divided in ten classes, having\napproached, stood on the ten steps according to their rank, and made\nobeisance to the Lord. And so they proceeded to their places in joy and\nmirth and boundless light, singing songs with low and gentle voices,\nand gloriously serving Him. They leave not nor depart day or night,\nstanding before the face of the Lord, working His will, cherubim and\nseraphim, standing around His throne. And the six-winged creatures\novershadow all His throne, singing with a soft voice before the face of\nthe Lord, \"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; heaven and earth are\nfull of His glory.\" When he had seen all these, the angels leading him\nsaid to him, \"Enoch, up to this time we were ordered to accompany\nthee.\" They departed, and he saw them no more. Enoch remained at the\nextremity of the seventh heaven, in great terror, saying to himself,\n\"Woe is me! What has come upon me!\" But then Gabriel came and said unto\nhim, \"Enoch, be not afraid, stand up and come with me, and stand up\nbefore the face of the Lord forever.\" And Enoch answered: \"O my lord,\nmy spirit has departed from me with fear and trembling. Call the men to\nme who have brought me to the place! Upon them I have relied, and with\nthem I would go before the face of the Lord.\" And Gabriel hurried him\naway like a leaf carried off by the wind, and set him before the face\nof the Lord. Enoch fell down and worshipped the Lord, who said to him:\n\"Enoch, be not afraid! Rise up and stand before My face forever.\" And\nMichael lifted him up, and at the command of the Lord took his earthly\nrobe from him, and anointed him with the holy oil, and clothed him, and\nwhen he gazed upon himself, he looked like one of God's glorious ones,\nand fear and trembling departed from him. God called then one of His\narchangels who was more wise than all the others, and wrote down all\nthe doings of the Lord, and He said to him, \"Bring forth the books from\nMy store-place, and give a reed to Enoch, and interpret the books to\nhim.\" The angel did as he was commanded, and he instructed Enoch thirty\ndays and thirty nights, and his lips never ceased speaking, while Enoch\nwas writing down all the things about heaven and earth, angels and men,\nand all that is suitable to be instructed in. He also wrote down all\nabout the souls of men, those of them which are not born, and the\nplaces prepared for them forever. He copied all accurately, and he\nwrote three hundred and sixty-six books. After he had received all the\ninstructions from the archangel, God revealed unto him great secrets,\nwhich even the angels do not know. He told him how, out of the lowest\ndarkness, the visible and the invisible were created, how He formed\nheaven, light, water, and earth, and also the fall of Satan and the\ncreation and sin of Adam He narrated to him, and further revealed to\nhim that the duration of the world will be seven thousand years, and\nthe eighth millennium will be a time when there is no computation, no\nend, neither years, nor months, nor weeks, nor days, nor hours.\n\nThe Lord finished this revelation to Enoch with the words: \"And now I\ngive thee Samuil and Raguil, who brought thee to Me. Go with them upon\nthe earth, and tell thy sons what things I have said to thee, and what\nthou hast seen from the lowest heaven up to My throne. Give them the\nworks written out by thee, and they shall read them, and shall\ndistribute the books to their children's children and from generation\nto generation and from nation to nation. And I will give thee My\nmessenger Michael for thy writings and for the writings of thy fathers,\nAdam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, and Jared thy father. And I shall\nnot require them till the last age, for I have instructed My two\nangels, Ariuk and Mariuk, whom I have put upon the earth as their\nguardians, and I have ordered them in time to guard them, that the\naccount of what I shall do in thy family may not be lost in the deluge\nto come. For on account of the wickedness and iniquity of men, I will\nbring a deluge upon the earth, and I will destroy all, but I will leave\na righteous man of thy race with all his house, who shall act according\nto My will. From their seed will be raised up a numerous generation,\nand on the extinction of that family, I will show them the books of thy\nwritings and of thy father, and the guardians of them on earth will\nshow them to the men who are true and please Me. And they shall tell to\nanother generation, and they, having read them, shall be glorified at\nlast more than before.\"\n\nEnoch was then sent to earth to remain there for thirty days to\ninstruct his sons, but before he left heaven, God sent an angel to him\nwhose appearance was like snow, and his hands were like ice. Enoch\nlooked at him, and his face was chilled, that men might be able to\nendure the sight of him. The angels who took him to heaven put him upon\nhis bed, in the place where his son Methuselah was expecting him by day\nand by night. Enoch assembled his sons and all his household, and\ninstructed them faithfully about all things he had seen, heard, and\nwritten down, and he gave his books to his sons, to keep them and read\nthem, admonishing them not to conceal the books, but tell them to all\ndesiring to know. When the thirty days had been completed, the Lord\nsent darkness upon the earth, and there was gloom, and it hid the men\nstanding with Enoch. And the angels hasted and took Enoch, and carried\nhim to the highest heaven, where the Lord received him and set him\nbefore His face, and the darkness departed from the earth, and there\nwas light. And the people saw, and did not understand how Enoch was\ntaken, and they glorified God.\n\nEnoch was born on the sixth day of the month of Siwan, and he was taken\nto heaven in the same month, Siwan, on the same day and in the same\nhour when he was born. And Methuselah hasted and all his brethren, the\nsons of Enoch, and built an altar in the place called Achuzan, whence\nEnoch was taken up to heaven. The elders and all the people came to the\nfestivity and brought their gifts to the sons of Enoch, and made a\ngreat festivity, rejoicing and being merry for three days, praising\nGod, who had given such a sign by means of Enoch, who had found favor\nwith them.[60]\n\nTHE TRANSLATION OF ENOCH\n\nThe sinfulness of men was the reason why Enoch was translated to\nheaven. Thus Enoch himself told Rabbi Ishmael. When the generation of\nthe deluge transgressed, and spoke to God, saying, \"Depart from us, for\nwe do not desire to know Thy ways,\" Enoch was carried to heaven, to\nserve there as a witness that God was not a cruel God in spite of the\ndestruction decreed upon all living beings on earth.\n\nWhen Enoch, under the guidance of the angel 'Anpiel, was carried from\nearth to heaven, the holy beings, the ofanim, the seraphim, the\ncherubim, all those who move the throne of God, and the ministering\nspirits whose substance is of consuming fire, they all, at a distance\nof six hundred and fifty million and three hundred parasangs, noticed\nthe presence of a human being, and they exclaimed: \"Whence the odor of\none born of woman? How comes he into the highest heaven of the\nfire-coruscating angels?\" But God replied: \"O My servants and hosts,\nye, My cherubim, ofanim, and seraphim, let this not be an offense unto\nyou, for all the children of men denied Me and My mighty dominion, and\nthey paid homage to the idols, so that I transferred the Shekinah from\nearth to heaven. But this man Enoch is the elect of men. He has more\nfaith, justice, and righteousness than all the rest, and he is the only\nreward I have derived from the terrestrial world.\"\n\nBefore Enoch could be admitted to service near the Divine throne, the\ngates of wisdom were opened unto him, and the gates of understanding,\nand of discernment, of life, peace, and the Shekinah, of strength and\npower, of might, loveliness, and grace, of humility and fear of sin.\nEquipped by God with extraordinary wisdom, sagacity, judgment,\nknowledge, learning, compassionateness, love, kindness, grace,\nhumility, strength, power, might, splendor, beauty, shapeliness, and\nall other excellent qualities, beyond the endowment of any of the\ncelestial beings, Enoch received, besides, many thousand blessings from\nGod, and his height and his breadth became equal to the height and the\nbreadth of the world, and thirty-six wings were attached to his body,\nto the right and to the left, each as large as the world, and three\nhundred and sixty-five thousand eyes were bestowed upon him, each\nbrilliant as the sun. A magnificent throne was erected for him beside\nthe gates of the seventh celestial palace, and a herald proclaimed\nthroughout the heavens concerning him, who was henceforth to be called\nMetatron in the celestial regions: \"I have appointed My servant\nMetatron as prince and chief over all the princes in My realm, with the\nexception only of the eight august and exalted princes that bear My\nname. Whatever angel has a request to prefer to Me, shall appear before\nMetatron, and what he will command at My bidding, ye must observe and\ndo, for the prince of wisdom and the prince of understanding are at his\nservice, and they will reveal unto him the sciences of the celestials\nand the terrestrials, the knowledge of the present order of the world\nand the knowledge of the future order of the world. Furthermore, I have\nmade him the guardian of the treasures of the palaces in the heaven\n'Arabot, and of the treasures of life that are in the highest heaven.\"\n\nOut of the love He bore Enoch, God arrayed him in a magnificent\ngarment, to which every kind of luminary in existence was attached, and\na crown gleaming with forty-nine jewels, the splendor of which pierced\nto all parts of the seven heavens and to the four corners of the earth.\nIn the presence of the heavenly family, He set this crown upon the head\nof Enoch, and called him \"the little Lord.\" It bears also the letters\nby means of which heaven and earth were created, and seas and rivers,\nmountains and valleys, planets and constellations, lightning and\nthunder, snow and hail, storm and whirlwind\u2014these and also all things\nneeded in the world, and the mysteries of creation. Even the princes of\nthe heavens, when they see Metatron, tremble before him, and prostrate\nthemselves; his magnificence and majesty, the splendor and beauty\nradiating from him overwhelm them, even the wicked Samael, the greatest\nof them, even Gabriel the angel of the fire, Bardiel the angel of the\nhail, Ruhiel the angel of the wind, Barkiel the angel of the lightning,\nZa'miel the angel of the hurricane, Zakkiel the angel of the storm,\nSui'el the angel of the earthquake, Za'fiel the angel of the showers,\nRa'miel the angel of the thunder, Ra'shiel the angel of the whirlwind,\nShalgiel the angel of the snow, Matriel the angel of the rain,\nShamshiel the angel of the day, Leliel the angel of the night, Galgliel\nthe angel of the solar system, Ofaniel the angel of the wheel of the\nmoon, Kokabiel the angel of the stars, and Rahtiel the angel of the\nconstellations.\n\nWhen Enoch was transformed into Metatron, his body was turned into\ncelestial fire\u2014his flesh became flame, his veins fire, his bones\nglimmering coals, the light of his eyes heavenly brightness, his\neyeballs torches of fire, his hair a flaring blaze, all his limbs and\norgans burning sparks, and his frame a consuming fire. To right of him\nsparkled flames of fire, to left of him burnt torches of fire, and on\nall sides he was engirdled by storm and whirlwind, hurricane and\nthundering.[61]\n\nMETHUSELAH\n\nAfter the translation of Enoch, Methuselah was proclaimed ruler of the\nearth by all the kings. He walked in the footsteps of his father,\nteaching truth, knowledge, and fear of God to the children of men all\nhis life, and deviating from the path of rectitude neither to the right\nnor the left.[62] He delivered the world from thousands of demons, the\nposterity of Adam which he had begotten with Lilith, that she-devil of\nshe-devils. These demons and evil spirits, as often as they encountered\na man, had sought to injure and even slay him, until Methuselah\nappeared, and supplicated the mercy of God. He spent three days in\nfasting, and then God gave him permission to write the Ineffable Name\nupon his sword, wherewith he slew ninety-four myriads of the demons in\na minute, until Agrimus, the first-born of them, came to him and\nentreated him to desist, at the same time handing the names of the\ndemons and imps over to him. And so Methuselah placed their kings in\niron fetters, while the remainder fled away and hid themselves in the\ninnermost chambers and recesses of the ocean. And it is on account of\nthe wonderful sword by means of which the demons were killed that he\nwas called Methuselah.[63]\n\nHe was so pious a man that he composed two hundred and thirty parables\nin praise of God for every word he uttered. When he died, the people\nheard a great commotion in the heavens, and they saw nine hundred rows\nof mourners corresponding to the nine hundred orders of the Mishnah\nwhich he had studied, and tears flowed from the eyes of the holy beings\ndown upon the spot where he died. Seeing the grief of the celestials,\nthe people on earth also mourned over the demise of Methuselah, and God\nrewarded them therefor. He added seven days to the time of grace which\nHe had ordained before bringing destruction upon the earth by a flood\nof waters.[64]\n\n\n\n\nIV\nNOAH\n\nTHE BIRTH OF NOAH\n\nMethuselah took a wife for his son Lamech, and she bore him a man\nchild. The body of the babe was white as snow and red as a blooming\nrose, and the hair of his head and his long locks were white as wool,\nand his eyes like the rays of the sun. When he opened his eyes, he\nlighted up the whole house, like the sun, and the whole house was very\nfull of light.[1] And when he was taken from the hand of the midwife,\nhe opened his mouth and praised the Lord of righteousness.[2] His\nfather Lamech was afraid of him, and fled, and came to his own father\nMethuselah. And he said to him: \"I have begotten a strange son; he is\nnot like a human being, but resembles the children of the angels of\nheaven, and his nature is different, and he is not like us, and his\neyes are as the rays of the sun, and his countenance is glorious.[3]\nAnd it seems to me that he is not sprung from me, but from the angels,\nand I fear that in his days a wonder may be wrought on the earth. And\nnow, my father, I am here to petition thee and implore thee, that thou\nmayest go to Enoch, our father, and learn from him the truth, for his\ndwelling place is among the angels.\"\n\nAnd when Methuselah heard the words of his son, he went to Enoch, to\nthe ends of the earth, and he cried aloud, and Enoch heard his voice,\nand appeared before him, and asked him the reason of his coming.\nMethuselah told him the cause of his anxiety, and requested him to make\nthe truth known to him. Enoch answered, and said: \"The Lord will do a\nnew thing in the earth. There will come a great destruction on the\nearth, and a deluge for one year. This son who is born unto thee will\nbe left on the earth, and his three children will be saved with him,\nwhen all mankind that are on the earth shall die. And there will be a\ngreat punishment on the earth, and the earth will be cleansed from all\nimpurity. And now make known to thy son Lamech that he who was born is\nin truth his son, and call his name Noah, for he will be left to you,\nand he and his children will be saved from the destruction which will\ncome upon the earth.\" When Methuselah had heard the words of his\nfather, who showed him all the secret things, he returned home, and he\ncalled the child Noah, for he would cause the earth to rejoice in\ncompensation for all destruction.[4]\n\nBy the name Noah he was called only by his grandfather Methuselah; his\nfather and all others called him Menahem. His generation was addicted\nto sorcery, and Methuselah apprehended that his grandson might be\nbewitched if his true name were known, wherefore he kept it a secret.\nMenahem, Comforter, suited him as well as Noah; it indicated that he\nwould be a consoler, if but the evil-doers of his time would repent of\ntheir misdeeds.[5] At his very birth it was felt that he would bring\nconsolation and deliverance. When the Lord said to Adam, \"Cursed is the\nground for thy sake,\" he asked, \"For how long a time?\" and the answer\nmade by God was, \"Until a man child shall be born whose conformation is\nsuch that the rite of circumcision need not be practiced upon him.\"\nThis was fulfilled in Noah, he was circumcised from his mother's womb.\n\nNoah had scarcely come into the world when a marked change was\nnoticeable. Since the curse brought upon the earth by the sin of Adam,\nit happened that wheat being sown, yet oats would sprout and grow. This\nceased with the appearance of Noah: the earth bore the products planted\nin it. And it was Noah who, when he was grown to manhood, invented the\nplough, the scythe, the hoe, and other implements for cultivating the\nground. Before him men had worked the land with their bare hands.[6]\n\nThere was another token to indicate that the child born unto Lamech was\nappointed for an extraordinary destiny. When God created Adam, He gave\nhim dominion over all things: the cow obeyed the ploughman, and the\nfurrow was willing to be drawn. But after the fall of Adam all things\nrebelled against him: the cow refused obedience to the ploughman, and\nalso the furrow was refractory. Noah was born, and all returned to its\nstate preceding the fall of man.\n\nBefore the birth of Noah, the sea was in the habit of transgressing its\nbounds twice daily, morning and evening, and flooding the land up to\nthe graves. After his birth it kept within its confines. And the famine\nthat afflicted the world in the time of Lamech, the second of the ten\ngreat famines appointed to come upon it, ceased its ravages with the\nbirth of Noah.[7]\n\nTHE PUNISHMENT OF THE FALLEN ANGELS\n\nGrown to manhood, Noah followed in the ways of his grandfather\nMethuselah, while all other men of the time rose up against this pious\nking. So far from observing his precepts, they pursued the evil\ninclination of their hearts, and perpetrated all sorts of abominable\ndeeds.[8] Chiefly the fallen angels and their giant posterity caused\nthe depravity of mankind. The blood spilled by the giants cried unto\nheaven from the ground, and the four archangels accused the fallen\nangels and their sons before God, whereupon He gave the following\norders to them: Uriel was sent to Noah to announce to him that the\nearth would be destroyed by a flood, and to teach him how to save his\nown life. Raphael was told to put the fallen angel Azazel into chains,\ncast him into a pit of sharp and pointed stones in the desert Dudael,\nand cover him with darkness, and so was he to remain until the great\nday of judgment, when he would be thrown into the fiery pit of hell,\nand the earth would be healed of the corruption he had contrived upon\nit. Gabriel was charged to proceed against the bastards and the\nreprobates, the sons of the angels begotten with the daughters of men,\nand plunge them into deadly conflicts with one another. Shemhazai's ilk\nwere handed over to Michael, who first caused them to witness the death\nof their children in their bloody combat with each other, and then he\nbound them and pinned them under the hills of the earth, where they\nwill remain for seventy generations, until the day of judgment, to be\ncarried thence to the fiery pit of hell.[9]\n\nThe fall of Azazel and Shemhazai came about in this way. When the\ngeneration of the deluge began to practice idolatry, God was deeply\ngrieved. The two angels Shemhazai and Azazel arose, and said: \"O Lord\nof the world! It has happened, that which we foretold at the creation\nof the world and of man, saying, 'What is man, that Thou art mindful of\nhim?'\" And God said, \"And what will become of the world now without\nman?\" Whereupon the angels: \"We will occupy ourselves with it.\" Then\nsaid God: \"I am well aware of it, and I know that if you inhabit the\nearth, the evil inclination will overpower you, and you will be more\niniquitous than ever men.\" The angels pleaded, \"Grant us but permission\nto dwell among men, and Thou shalt see how we will sanctify Thy Name.\"\nGod yielded to their wish, saying, \"Descend and sojourn among men!\"\n\nWhen the angels came to earth, and beheld the daughters of men in all\ntheir grace and beauty, they could not restrain their passion.\nShemhazai saw a maiden named Istehar, and he lost his heart to her. She\npromised to surrender herself to him, if first he taught her the\nIneffable Name, by means of which he raised himself to heaven. He\nassented to her condition. But once she knew it, she pronounced the\nName, and herself ascended to heaven, without fulfilling her promise to\nthe angel. God said, \"Because she kept herself aloof from sin, we will\nplace her among the seven stars, that men may never forget her,\" and\nshe was put in the constellation of the Pleiades.\n\nShemhazai and Azazel, however, were not deterred from entering into\nalliances with the daughters of men, and to the first two sons were\nborn. Azazel began to devise the finery and the ornaments by means of\nwhich women allure men. Thereupon God sent Metatron to tell Shemhazai\nthat He had resolved to destroy the world and bring on a deluge. The\nfallen angel began to weep and grieve over the fate of the world and\nthe fate of his two sons. If the world went under, what would they have\nto eat, they who needed daily a thousand camels, a thousand horses, and\na thousand steers?\n\nThese two sons of Shemhazai, Hiwwa and Hiyya by name, dreamed dreams.\nThe one saw a great stone which covered the earth, and the earth was\nmarked all over with lines upon lines of writing. An angel came, and\nwith a knife obliterated all the lines, leaving but four letters upon\nthe stone. The other son saw a large pleasure grove planted with all\nsorts of trees. But angels approached bearing axes, and they felled the\ntrees, sparing a single one with three of its branches.\n\nWhen Hiwwa and Hiyya awoke, they repaired to their father, who\ninterpreted the dreams for them, saying, \"God will bring a deluge, and\nnone will escape with his life, excepting only Noah and his sons.\" When\nthey heard this, the two began to cry and scream, but their father\nconsoled them: \"Soft, soft! Do not grieve. As often as men cut or haul\nstones, or launch vessels, they shall invoke your names, Hiwwa! Hiyya!\"\nThis prophecy soothed them.\n\nShemhazai then did penance. He suspended himself between heaven and\nearth, and in this position of a penitent sinner he hangs to this day.\nBut Azazel persisted obdurately in his sin of leading mankind astray by\nmeans of sensual allurements. For this reason two he-goats were\nsacrificed in the Temple on the Day of Atonement, the one for God, that\nHe pardon the sins of Israel, the other for Azazel, that he bear the\nsins of Israel.[10]\n\nUnlike Istehar, the pious maiden, Naamah, the lovely sister of\nTubal-cain, led the angels astray with her beauty, and from her union\nwith Shamdon sprang the devil Asmodeus.[11] She was as shameless as all\nthe other descendants of Cain, and as prone to bestial indulgences.\nCainite women and Cainite men alike were in the habit of walking abroad\nnaked, and they gave themselves up to every conceivable manner of lewd\npractices. Of such were the women whose beauty and sensual charms\ntempted the angels from the path of virtue. The angels, on the other\nhand, no sooner had they rebelled against God and descended to earth\nthan they lost their transcendental qualities, and were invested with\nsublunary bodies, so that a union with the daughters of men became\npossible. The offspring of these alliances between the angels and the\nCainite women were the giants,[12] known for their strength and their\nsinfulness; as their very name, the Emim, indicates, they inspired\nfear. They have many other names. Sometimes they go by the name\nRephaim, because one glance at them made one's heart grow weak; or by\nthe name Gibborim, simply giants, because their size was so enormous\nthat their thigh measured eighteen ells; or by the name Zamzummim,\nbecause they were great masters in war; or by the name Anakim, because\nthey touched the sun with their neck; or by the name Ivvim, because,\nlike the snake, they could judge of the qualities of the soil; or\nfinally, by the name Nephilim, because, bringing the world to its fall,\nthey themselves fell.[13]\n\nTHE GENERATION OF THE DELUGE\n\nWhile the descendants of Cain resembled their father in his sinfulness\nand depravity, the descendants of Seth led a pious, well-regulated\nlife, and the difference between the conduct of the two stocks was\nreflected in their habitations. The family of Seth was settled upon the\nmountains in the vicinity of Paradise, while the family of Cain resided\nin the field of Damascus, the spot whereon Abel was slain by Cain.\n\nUnfortunately, at the time of Methuselah, following the death of Adam,\nthe family of Seth became corrupted after the manner of the Cainites.\nThe two strains united with each other to execute all kinds of\niniquitous deeds. The result of the marriages between them were the\nNephilim, whose sins brought the deluge upon the world. In their\narrogance they claimed the same pedigree as the posterity of Seth, and\nthey compared themselves with princes and men of noble descent.[14]\n\nThe wantonness of this generation was in a measure due to the ideal\nconditions under which mankind lived before the flood. They knew\nneither toil nor care, and as a consequence of their extraordinary\nprosperity they grew insolent. In their arrogance they rose up against\nGod. A single sowing bore a harvest sufficient for the needs of forty\nyears, and by means of magic arts they could compel the very sun and\nmoon to stand ready to do their service.[15] The raising of children\ngave them no trouble. They were born after a few days' pregnancy, and\nimmediately after birth they could walk and talk; they themselves aided\nthe mother in severing the navel string. Not even demons could do them\nharm. Once a new-born babe, running to fetch a light whereby his mother\nmight cut the navel string, met the chief of the demons, and a combat\nensued between the two. Suddenly the crowing of a cock was heard, and\nthe demon made off, crying out to the child, \"Go and report unto thy\nmother, if it had not been for the crowing of the cock, I had killed\nthee!\" Whereupon the child retorted, \"Go and report unto thy mother, if\nit had not been for my uncut navel string, I had killed thee!\"[16]\n\nIt was their care-free life that gave them space and leisure for their\ninfamies. For a time God, in His long-suffering kindness, passed by the\niniquities of men, but His forbearance ceased when once they began to\nlead unchaste lives, for \"God is patient with all sins save only an\nimmoral life.\"[17]\n\nThe other sin that hastened the end of the iniquitous generation was\ntheir rapacity. So cunningly were their depredations planned that the\nlaw could not touch them. If a countryman brought a basket of\nvegetables to market, they would edge up to it, one after the other,\nand abstract a bit, each in itself of petty value, but in a little\nwhile the dealer would have none left to sell.[18]\n\nEven after God had resolved upon the destruction of the sinners, He\nstill permitted His mercy to prevail, in that He sent Noah unto them,\nwho exhorted them for one hundred and twenty years to amend their ways,\nalways holding the flood over them as a threat. As for them, they but\nderided him. When they saw him occupying himself with the building of\nthe ark, they asked, \"Wherefore this ark?\"\n\nNoah: \"God will bring a flood upon you.\"\n\nThe sinners: \"What sort of flood? If He sends a fire flood, against\nthat we know how to protect ourselves. If it is a flood of waters,\nthen, if the waters bubble up from the earth, we will cover them with\niron rods, and if they descend from above, we know a remedy against\nthat, too.\"\n\nNoah: \"The waters will ooze out from under your feet, and you will not\nbe able to ward them off.\"\n\nPartly they persisted in their obduracy of heart because Noah had made\nknown to them that the flood would not descend so long as the pious\nMethuselah sojourned among them. The period of one hundred and twenty\nyears which God had appointed as the term of their probation having\nexpired, Methuselah died, but out of regard for the memory of this\npious man God gave them another week's respite, the week of mourning\nfor him. During this time of grace, the laws of nature were suspended,\nthe sun rose in the west and set in the east. To the sinners God gave\nthe dainties that await man in the future world, for the purpose of\nshowing them what they were forfeiting.[19] But all this proved\nunavailing, and, Methuselah and the other pious men of the generation\nhaving departed this life, God brought the deluge upon the earth.[20]\n\nTHE HOLY BOOK\n\nGreat wisdom was needed for building the ark, which was to have space\nfor all beings on earth, even the spirits. Only the fishes did not have\nto be provided for.[21] Noah acquired the necessary wisdom from the\nbook given to Adam by the angel Raziel, in which all celestial and all\nearthly knowledge is recorded.\n\nWhile the first human pair were still in Paradise, it once happened\nthat Samael, accompanied by a lad, approached Eve and requested her to\nkeep a watchful eye upon his little son until he should return. Eve\ngave him the promise. When Adam came back from a walk in Paradise, he\nfound a howling, screaming child with Eve, who, in reply to his\nquestion, told him it was Samael's. Adam was annoyed, and his annoyance\ngrew as the boy cried and screamed more and more violently. In his\nvexation he dealt the little one a blow that killed him. But the corpse\ndid not cease to wail and weep, nor did it cease when Adam cut it up\ninto bits. To rid himself of the plague, Adam cooked the remains, and\nhe and Eve ate them. Scarcely had they finished, when Samael appeared\nand demanded his son. The two malefactors tried to deny everything;\nthey pretended they had no knowledge of his son. But Samael said to\nthem: \"What! You dare tell lies, and God in times to come will give\nIsrael the Torah in which it is said, 'Keep thee far from a false\nword'?\"\n\nWhile they were speaking thus, suddenly the voice of the slain lad was\nheard proceeding from the heart of Adam and Eve, and it addressed these\nwords to Samael: \"Go hence! I have penetrated to the heart of Adam and\nthe heart of Eve, and never again shall I quit their hearts, nor the\nhearts of their children, or their children's children, unto the end of\nall generations.\"\n\nSamael departed, but Adam was sore grieved, and he put on sackcloth and\nashes, and he fasted many, many days, until God appeared unto him, and\nsaid: \"My son, have no fear of Samael. I will give thee a remedy that\nwill help thee against him, for it was at My instance that he went to\nthee.\" Adam asked, \"And what is this remedy?\" God: \"The Torah.\" Adam:\n\"And where is the Torah?\" God then gave him the book of the angel\nRaziel, which he studied day and night. After some time had passed, the\nangels visited Adam, and, envious of the wisdom he had drawn from the\nbook, they sought to destroy him cunningly by calling him a god and\nprostrating themselves before him, in spite of his remonstrance, \"Do\nnot prostrate yourselves before me, but magnify the Lord with me, and\nlet us exalt His Name together.\" However, the envy of the angels was so\ngreat that they stole the book God had given Adam from him, and threw\nit in the sea. Adam searched for it everywhere in vain, and the loss\ndistressed him sorely. Again he fasted many days, until God appeared\nunto him, and said: \"Fear not! I will give the book back to thee,\" and\nHe called Rahab, the Angel of the Sea, and ordered him to recover the\nbook from the sea and restore it to Adam. And so he did.[22]\n\nUpon the death of Adam, the holy book disappeared, but later the cave\nin which it was hidden was revealed to Enoch in a dream. It was from\nthis book that Enoch drew his knowledge of nature, of the earth and of\nthe heavens, and he became so wise through it that his wisdom exceeded\nthe wisdom of Adam. Once he had committed it to memory, Enoch hid the\nbook again.\n\nNow, when God resolved upon bringing the flood on the earth, He sent\nthe archangel Raphael to Noah, as the bearer of the following message:\n\"I give thee herewith the holy book, that all the secrets and mysteries\nwritten therein may be made manifest unto thee, and that thou mayest\nknow how to fulfil its injunction in holiness, purity, modesty, and\nhumbleness. Thou wilt learn from it how to build an ark of the wood of\nthe gopher tree, wherein thou, and thy sons, and thy wife shall find\nprotection.\"\n\nNoah took the book, and when he studied it, the holy spirit came upon\nhim, and he knew all things needful for the building of the ark and the\ngathering together of the animals. The book, which was made of\nsapphires, he took with him into the ark, having first enclosed it in a\ngolden casket. All the time he spent in the ark it served him as a\ntime-piece, to distinguish night from day. Before his death, he\nentrusted it to Shem, and he in turn to Abraham. From Abraham it\ndescended through Jacob, Levi, Moses, and Joshua to Solomon, who learnt\nall his wisdom from it, and his skill in the healing art, and also his\nmastery over the demons.[23]\n\nTHE INMATES OF THE ARK\n\nThe ark was completed according to the instructions laid down in the\nBook of Raziel. Noah's next task was gathering in the animals. No less\nthan thirty-two species of birds and three hundred and sixty-five of\nreptiles he had to take along with him. But God ordered the animals to\nrepair to the ark, and they trooped thither, and Noah did not have to\ndo so much as stretch out a finger.[24] Indeed, more appeared than were\nrequired to come, and God instructed him to sit at the door of the ark\nand note which of the animals lay down as they reached the entrance and\nwhich stood. The former belonged in the ark, but not the latter. Taking\nup his post as he had been commanded, Noah observed a lioness with her\ntwo cubs. All three beasts crouched. But the two young ones began to\nstruggle with the mother, and she arose and stood up next to them. Then\nNoah led the two cubs into the ark. The wild beasts, and the cattle,\nand the birds which were not accepted remained standing about the ark\nall of seven days, for the assembling of the animals happened one week\nbefore the flood began to descend. On the day whereon they came to the\nark, the sun was darkened, and the foundations of the earth trembled,\nand lightning flashed, and the thunder boomed, as never before. And yet\nthe sinners remained impenitent. In naught did they change their wicked\ndoings during those last seven days.\n\nWhen finally the flood broke loose, seven hundred thousand of the\nchildren of men gathered around the ark, and implored Noah to grant\nthem protection. With a loud voice he replied, and said: \"Are ye not\nthose who were rebellious toward God, saying, 'There is no God'?\nTherefore He has brought ruin upon you, to annihilate you and destroy\nyou from the face of the earth. Have I not been prophesying this unto\nyou these hundred and twenty years, and you would not give heed unto\nthe voice of God? Yet now you desire to be kept alive!\" Then the\nsinners cried out: \"So be it! We all are ready now to turn back to God,\nif only thou wilt open the door of thy ark to receive us, that we may\nlive and not die.\" Noah made answer, and said: \"That ye do now, when\nyour need presses hard upon you. Why did you not turn to God during all\nthe hundred and twenty years which the Lord appointed unto you as the\nterm of repentance? Now do ye come, and ye speak thus, because distress\nbesets your lives. Therefore God will not hearken unto you and give you\near; naught will you accomplish!\"\n\nThe crowd of sinners tried to take the entrance to the ark by storm,\nbut the wild beasts keeping watch around the ark set upon them, and\nmany were slain, while the rest escaped, only to meet death in the\nwaters of the flood.[25] The water alone could not have made an end of\nthem, for they were giants in stature and strength. When Noah\nthreatened them with the scourge of God, they would make reply: \"If the\nwaters of the flood come from above, they will never reach up to our\nnecks; and if they come from below, the soles of our feet are large\nenough to dam up the springs.\" But God bade each drop pass through\nGehenna before it fell to earth, and the hot rain scalded the skin of\nthe sinners. The punishment that overtook them was befitting their\ncrime. As their sensual desires had made them hot, and inflamed them to\nimmoral excesses, so they were chastised by means of heated water.[26]\n\nNot even in the hour of the death struggle could the sinners suppress\ntheir vile instincts. When the water began to stream up out of the\nsprings, they threw their little children into them, to choke the\nflood.[27]\n\nIt was by the grace of God, not on account of his merits, that Noah\nfound shelter in the ark before the overwhelming force of the\nwaters.[28] Although he was better than his contemporaries, he was yet\nnot worthy of having wonders done for his sake. He had so little faith\nthat he did not enter the ark until the waters had risen to his knees.\nWith him his pious wife Naamah, the daughter of Enosh, escaped the\nperil, and his three sons, and the wives of his three sons.\n\nNoah had not married until he was four hundred and ninety-eight years\nold. Then the Lord had bidden him to take a wife unto himself. He had\nnot desired to bring children into the world, seeing that they would\nall have to perish in the flood, and he had only three sons, born unto\nhim shortly before the deluge came.[30] God had given him so small a\nnumber of offspring that he might be spared the necessity of building\nthe ark on an overlarge scale in case they turned out to be pious. And\nif not, if they, too, were depraved like the rest of their generation,\nsorrow over their destruction would but be increased in proportion to\ntheir number.[31]\n\nAs Noah and his family were the only ones not to have a share in the\ncorruptness of the age, so the animals received into the ark were such\nas had led a natural life. For the animals of the time were as immoral\nas the men: the dog united with the wolf, the cock with the pea-fowl,\nand many others paid no heed to sexual purity. Those that were saved\nwere such as had kept themselves untainted.[32]\n\nBefore the flood the number of unclean animals had been greater than\nthe number of the clean. Afterward the ratio was reversed, because\nwhile seven pairs of clean animals were preserved in the ark, but two\npairs of the unclean were preserved.[33]\n\nOne animal, the reem, Noah could not take into the ark. On account of\nits huge size it could not find room therein. Noah therefore tied it to\nthe ark, and it ran on behind.[34] Also, he could not make space for\nthe giant Og, the king of Bashan. He sat on top of the ark securely,\nand in this way escaped the flood of waters. Noah doled out his food to\nhim daily, through a hole, because Og had promised that he and his\ndescendants would serve him as slaves in perpetuity.[35]\n\nTwo creatures of a most peculiar kind also found refuge in the ark.\nAmong the beings that came to Noah there was Falsehood asking for\nshelter. He was denied admission, because he had no companion, and Noah\nwas taking in the animals only by pairs. Falsehood went off to seek a\npartner, and he met Misfortune, whom he associated with himself on the\ncondition that she might appropriate what Falsehood earned. The pair\nwere then accepted in the ark. When they left it, Falsehood noticed\nthat whatever he gathered together disappeared at once, and he betook\nhimself to his companion to seek an explanation, which she gave him in\nthe following words, \"Did we not agree to the condition that I might\ntake what you earn?\" and Falsehood had to depart empty-handed.\n\nTHE FLOOD\n\nThe assembling of the animals in the ark was but the smaller part of\nthe task imposed upon Noah. His chief difficulty was to provide food\nfor a year and accommodations for them. Long afterward Shem, the son of\nNoah, related to Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, the tale of their\nexperiences with the animals in the ark. This is what he said: \"We had\nsore troubles in the ark. The day animals had to be fed by day, and the\nnight animals by night. My father knew not what food to give to the\nlittle zikta. Once he cut a pomegranate in half, and a worm dropped out\nof the fruit, and was devoured by the zikta. Thenceforth my father\nwould knead bran, and let it stand until it bred worms, which were fed\nto the animal. The lion suffered with a fever all the time, and\ntherefore he did not annoy the others, because he did not relish dry\nfood. The animal urshana my father found sleeping in a corner of the\nvessel, and he asked him whether he needed nothing to eat. He answered,\nand said: 'I saw thou wast very busy, and I did not wish to add to thy\ncares.' Whereupon my father said, 'May it be the will of the Lord to\nkeep thee alive forever,' and the blessing was realized.\"[37]\n\nThe difficulties were increased when the flood began to toss the ark\nfrom side to side. All inside of it were shaken up like lentils in a\npot. The lions began to roar, the oxen lowed, the wolves howled, and\nall the animals gave vent to their agony, each through the sounds it\nhad the power to utter.\n\nAlso Noah and his sons, thinking that death was nigh, broke into tears.\nNoah prayed to God: \"O Lord, help us, for we are not able to bear the\nevil that encompasses us. The billows surge about us, the streams of\ndestruction make us afraid, and death stares us in the face. O hear our\nprayer, deliver us, incline Thyself unto us, and be gracious unto us!\nRedeem us and save us!\"[38]\n\nThe flood was produced by a union of the male waters, which are above\nthe firmament, and the female waters issuing from the earth.[39] The\nupper waters rushed through the space left when God removed two stars\nout of the constellation Pleiades. Afterward, to put a stop to the\nflood, God had to transfer two stars from the constellation of the Bear\nto the constellation of the Pleiades. That is why the Bear runs after\nthe Pleiades. She wants her two children back, but they will be\nrestored to her only in the future world.[40]\n\nThere were other changes among the celestial spheres during the year of\nthe flood. All the time it lasted, the sun and the moon shed no light,\nwhence Noah was called by his name, \"the resting one,\" for in his life\nthe sun and the moon rested. The ark was illuminated by a precious\nstone, the light of which was more brilliant by night than by day, so\nenabling Noah to distinguish between day and night.[41]\n\nThe duration of the flood was a whole year. It began on the seventeenth\nday of Heshwan, and the rain continued for forty days, until the\ntwenty-seventh of Kislew. The punishment corresponded to the crime of\nthe sinful generation. They had led immoral lives, and begotten bastard\nchildren, whose embryonic state lasts forty days. From the twenty\nseventh of Kislew until the first of Siwan, a period of one hundred and\nfifty days, the water stood at one and the same height, fifteen ells\nabove the earth. During that time all the wicked were destroyed, each\none receiving the punishment due to him.[42] Cain was among those that\nperished, and thus the death of Abel was avenged.[43] So powerful were\nthe waters in working havoc that the corpse of Adam was not spared in\nits grave.[44]\n\nOn the first of Siwan the waters began to abate, a quarter of an ell a\nday, and at the end of sixty days, on the tenth day of Ab, the summits\nof the mountains showed themselves. But many days before, on the tenth\nof Tammuz, Noah had sent forth the raven, and a week later the dove, on\nthe first of her three sallies, repeated at intervals of a week. It\ntook from the first of Ab until the first of Tishri for the waters to\nsubside wholly from the face of the earth. Even then the soil was so\nmiry that the dwellers in the ark had to remain within until the\ntwenty-seventh day of Heshwan, completing a full sun year, consisting\nof twelve moons and eleven days.[45]\n\nNoah had experienced difficulty all along in ascertaining the state of\nthe waters. When he desired to dispatch the raven, the bird said: \"The\nLord, thy Master, hates me, and thou dost hate me, too. Thy Master\nhates me, for He bade thee take seven pairs of the clean animals into\nthe ark, and but two pairs of the unclean animals, to which I belong.\nThou hatest me, for thou dost not choose, as a messenger, a bird of one\nof the kinds of which there are seven pairs in the ark, but thou\nsendest me, and of my kind there is but one pair. Suppose, now, I\nshould perish by reason of heat or cold, would not the world be the\npoorer by a whole species of animals? Or can it be that thou hast cast\na lustful eye upon my mate, and desirest to rid thyself of me?\" Where\nunto Noah made answer, and said: \"Wretch! I must live apart from my own\nwife in the ark. How much less would such thoughts occur to my mind as\nthou imputest to me!\"[46]\n\nThe raven's errand had no success, for when he saw the body of a dead\nman, he set to work to devour it, and did not execute the orders given\nto him by Noah. Thereupon the dove was sent out. Toward evening she\nreturned with an olive leaf in her bill, plucked upon the Mount of\nOlives at Jerusalem, for the Holy Land had not been ravaged by the\ndeluge. As she plucked it, she said to God: \"O Lord of the world, let\nmy food be as bitter as the olive, but do Thou give it to me from Thy\nhand, rather than it should be sweet, and I be delivered into the power\nof men.\"[47]\n\nNOAH LEAVES THE ARK\n\nThough the earth assumed its old form at the end of the year of\npunishment, Noah did not abandon the ark until he received the command\nof God to leave it. He said to himself, \"As I entered the ark at the\nbidding of God, so I will leave it only at His bidding.\" Yet, when God\nbade Noah go out of the ark, he refused, because he feared that after\nhe had lived upon the dry land for some time, and begotten children,\nGod would bring another flood. He therefore would not leave the ark\nuntil God swore He would never visit the earth with a flood again.[48]\n\nWhen he stepped out from the ark into the open, he began to weep\nbitterly at sight of the enormous ravages wrought by the flood, and he\nsaid to God: \"O Lord of the world! Thou art called the Merciful, and\nThou shouldst have had mercy upon Thy creatures.\" God answered, and\nsaid: \"O thou foolish shepherd, now thou speakest to Me. Thou didst not\nso when I addressed kind words to thee, saying: 'I saw thee as a\nrighteous man and perfect in thy generation, and I will bring the flood\nupon the earth to destroy all flesh. Make an ark for thyself of gopher\nwood.' Thus spake I to thee, telling thee all these circumstances, that\nthou mightest entreat mercy for the earth. But thou, as soon as thou\ndidst hear that thou wouldst be rescued in the ark, thou didst not\nconcern thyself about the ruin that would strike the earth. Thou didst\nbut build an ark for thyself, in which thou wast saved. Now that the\nearth is wasted, thou openest thy mouth to supplicate and pray.\"\n\nNoah realized that he had been guilty of folly. To propitiate God and\nacknowledge his sin, he brought a sacrifice.[49] God accepted the\noffering with favor, whence he is called by his name Noah.[50] The\nsacrifice was not offered by Noah with his own hands; the priestly\nservices connected with it were performed by his son Shem. There was a\nreason for this. One day in the ark Noah forgot to give his ration to\nthe lion, and the hungry beast struck him so violent a blow with his\npaw that he was lame forever after, and, having a bodily defect, he was\nnot permitted to do the offices of a priest.[51]\n\nThe sacrifices consisted of an ox, a sheep, a goat, two turtle doves,\nand two young pigeons. Noah had chosen these kinds because he supposed\nthey were appointed for sacrifices, seeing that God had commanded him\nto take seven pairs of them into the ark with him. The altar was\nerected in the same place on which Adam and Cain and Abel had brought\ntheir sacrifices, and on which later the altar was to be in the\nsanctuary at Jerusalem.[52]\n\nAfter the sacrifice was completed, God blessed Noah and his sons. He\nmade them to be rulers of the world as Adam had been,[53] and He gave\nthem a command, saying, \"Be fruitful and multiply upon the earth,\" for\nduring their sojourn in the ark, the two sexes, of men and animals\nalike, had lived apart from each other, because while a public calamity\nrages continence is becoming even to those who are left unscathed. This\nlaw of conduct had been violated by none in the ark except by Ham, by\nthe dog, and by the raven. They all received a punishment. Ham's was\nthat his descendants were men of dark-hued skin.[54]\n\nAs a token that He would destroy the earth no more, God set His bow in\nthe cloud. Even if men should be steeped in sin again, the bow\nproclaims to them that their sins will cause no harm to the world.\nTimes came in the course of the ages when men were pious enough not to\nhave to live in dread of punishment. In such times the bow was not\nvisible.[55]\n\nGod accorded permission to Noah and his descendants to use the flesh of\nanimals for food, which had been forbidden from the time of Adam until\nthen. But they were to abstain from the use of blood. He ordained the\nseven Noachian laws, the observance of which is incumbent upon all men,\nnot upon Israel alone. God enjoined particularly the command against\nthe shedding of human blood. Whoso would shed man's blood, his blood\nwould be shed. Even if human judges let the guilty man go free, his\npunishment would overtake him. He would die an unnatural death, such as\nhe had inflicted upon his fellow-man. Yea, even beasts that slew men,\neven of them would the life of men be required.[56]\n\nTHE CURSE OF DRUNKENNESS\n\nNoah lost his epithet \"the pious\" when he began to occupy himself with\nthe growing of the vine. He became a \"man of the ground,\" and this\nfirst attempt to produce wine at the same time produced the first to\ndrink to excess, the first to utter curses upon his associates, and the\nfirst to introduce slavery. This is the way it all came about. Noah\nfound the vine which Adam had taken with him from Paradise, when he was\ndriven forth. He tasted the grapes upon it, and, finding them\npalatable, he resolved to plant the vine and tend it.[57] On the\nselfsame day on which he planted it, it bore fruit, he put it in the\nwine-press, drew off the juice, drank it, became drunken, and was\ndishonored\u2014all on one day. His assistant in the work of cultivating the\nvine was Satan, who had happened along at the very moment when he was\nengaged in planting the slip he had found. Satan asked him: \"What is it\nthou art planting here?\"\n\nNoah: \"A vineyard.\"\n\nSatan: \"And what may be the qualities of what it produces?\"\n\nNoah: \"The fruit it bears is sweet, be it dry or moist. It yields wine\nthat rejoiceth the heart of man.\"\n\nSatan: \"Let us go into partnership in this business of planting a\nvineyard.\"\n\nNoah: \"Agreed!\"\n\nSatan thereupon slaughtered a lamb, and then, in succession, a lion, a\npig, and a monkey. The blood of each as it was killed he made to flow\nunder the vine. Thus he conveyed to Noah what the qualities of wine\nare: before man drinks of it, he is innocent as a lamb; if he drinks of\nit moderately, he feels as strong as a lion; if he drinks more of it\nthan he can bear, he resembles the pig; and if he drinks to the point\nof intoxication, then he behaves like a monkey, he dances around,\nsings, talks obscenely, and knows not what he is doing.[58]\n\nThis deterred Noah no more than did the example of Adam, whose fall had\nalso been due to wine, for the forbidden fruit had been the grape, with\nwhich he had made himself drunk.[59]\n\nIn his drunken condition Noah betook himself to the tent of his wife.\nHis son Ham saw him there, and he told his brothers what he had\nnoticed, and said: \"The first man had but two sons, and one slew the\nother; this man Noah has three sons, yet he desires to beget a fourth\nbesides.\" Nor did Ham rest satisfied with these disrespectful words\nagainst his father. He added to this sin of irreverence the still\ngreater outrage of attempting to perform an operation upon his father\ndesigned to prevent procreation.\n\nWhen Noah awoke from his wine and became sober, he pronounced a curse\nupon Ham in the person of his youngest son Canaan. To Ham himself he\ncould do no harm, for God had conferred a blessing upon Noah and his\nthree sons as they departed from the ark. Therefore he put the curse\nupon the last-born son of the son that had prevented him from begetting\na younger son than the three he had. The descendants of Ham through\nCanaan therefore have red eyes, because Ham looked upon the nakedness\nof his father; they have misshapen lips, because Ham spoke with his\nlips to his brothers about the unseemly condition of his father; they\nhave twisted curly hair, because Ham turned and twisted his head round\nto see the nakedness of his father; and they go about naked, because\nHam did not cover the nakedness of his father. Thus he was requited,\nfor it is the way of God to mete out punishment measure for measure.\n\nCanaan had to suffer vicariously for his father's sin. Yet some of the\npunishment was inflicted upon him on his own account, for it had been\nCanaan who had drawn the attention of Ham to Noah's revolting\ncondition. Ham, it appears, was but the worthy father of such a\nson.[61] The last will and testament of Canaan addressed to his\nchildren read as follows: \"Speak not the truth; hold not yourselves\naloof from theft; lead a dissolute life; hate your master with an\nexceeding great hate; and love one another.\"[62]\n\nAs Ham was made to suffer requital for his irreverence, so Shem and\nJapheth received a reward for the filial, deferential way in which they\ntook a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders, and walking\nbackward, with averted faces, covered the nakedness of their father.\nNaked the descendants of Ham, the Egyptians and Ethiopians, were led\naway captive and into exile by the king of Assyria, while the\ndescendants of Shem, the Assyrians, even when the angel of the Lord\nburnt them in the camp, were not exposed, their garments remained upon\ntheir corpses unsinged. And in time to come, when Gog shall suffer his\ndefeat, God will provide both shrouds and a place of burial for him and\nall his multitude, the posterity of Japheth.\n\nThough Shem and Japheth both showed themselves to be dutiful and\ndeferential, yet it was Shem who deserved the larger meed of praise. He\nwas the first to set about covering his father. Japheth joined him\nafter the good deed had been begun. Therefore the descendants of Shem\nreceived as their special reward the tallit, the garment worn by them,\nwhile the Japhethites have only the toga.[63] A further distinction\naccorded to Shem was the mention of his name in connection with God's\nin the blessing of Noah. \"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem,\" he\nsaid, though as a rule the name of God is not joined to the name of a\nliving person, only to the name of one who has departed this life.[64]\n\nThe relation of Shem to Japheth was expressed in the blessing their\nfather pronounced upon them: God will grant a land of beauty to\nJapheth, and his sons will be proselytes dwelling in the academies of\nShem.[65] At the same time Noah conveyed by his words that the Shekinah\nwould dwell only in the first Temple, erected by Solomon, a son of\nShem, and not in the second Temple, the builder of which would be\nCyrus, a descendant of Japheth.[66]\n\nNOAH'S DESCENDANTS SPREAD ABROAD\n\nWhen it became known to Ham that his father had cursed him, he fled\nashamed, and with his family he settled in the city built by him, and\nnamed Neelatamauk for his wife. Jealous of his brother, Japheth\nfollowed his example. He likewise built a city which he named for his\nwife, Adataneses. Shem was the only one of the sons of Noah who did not\nabandon him. In the vicinity of his father's home, by the mountain, he\nbuilt his city, to which he also gave his wife's name, Zedeketelbab.\nThe three cities are all near Mount Lubar, the eminence upon which the\nark rested. The first lies to the south of it, the second to the west,\nand the third to the east.\n\nNoah endeavored to inculcate the ordinances and the commands known to\nhim upon his children and his children's children. In particular he\nadmonished them against the fornication, the uncleanness, and all the\niniquity which had brought the flood down upon the earth. He reproached\nthem with living apart from one another, and with their jealousies, for\nhe feared that, after his death, they might go so far as to shed human\nblood. Against this he warned them impressively, that they be not\nannihilated from the earth like those that went before. Another law\nwhich he enjoined upon them, to observe it, was the law ordaining that\nthe fruit of a tree shall not be used the first three years it bears,\nand even in the fourth year it shall be the portion of the priests\nalone, after a part thereof has been offered upon the altar of God. And\nhaving made an end of giving his teachings and injunctions, Noah said:\n\"For thus did Enoch, your ancestor, exhort his son Methuselah, and\nMethuselah his son Lamech, and Lamech delivered all unto me as his\nfather had bidden him, and now I do exhort you, my children, as Enoch\nexhorted his son. When he lived, in his generation, which was the\nseventh generation of man, he commanded it and testified it unto his\nchildren and his children's children, until the day of his death.\"[67]\n\nIn the year 1569 after the creation of the world, Noah divided the\nearth by lot among his three sons, in the presence of an angel. Each\none stretched forth his hand and took a slip from the bosom of Noah.\nShem's slip was inscribed with the middle of the earth, and this\nportion became the inheritance of his descendants unto all eternity.\nNoah rejoiced that the lot had assigned it to Shem. Thus was fulfilled\nhis blessing upon him, \"And God in the habitation of Shem,\" for three\nholy places fell within his precincts\u2014the Holy of Holies in the Temple,\nMount Sinai, the middle point of the desert, and Mount Zion, the middle\npoint of the navel of the earth.\n\nThe south fell to the lot of Ham, and the north became the inheritance\nof Japheth. The land of Ham is hot, Japheth's cold, but Shem's is\nneither hot nor cold, its temperature is hot and cold mixed.[68]\n\nThis division of the earth took place toward the end of the life of\nPeleg, the name given to him by his father Eber, who, being a prophet,\nknew that the division of the earth would take place in the time of his\nson.[69] The brother of Peleg was called Joktan, because the duration\nof the life of man was shortened in his time.[70]\n\nIn turn, the three sons of Noah, while they were still standing in the\npresence of their father, divided each his portion among his children,\nNoah threatening with his curse any who should stretch out his hand to\ntake a portion not assigned to him by lot. And they all cried, \"So be\nit! So be it!\"[71]\n\nThus were divided one hundred and four lands and ninety-nine islands\namong seventy-two nations, each with a language of its own, using\nsixteen different sets of characters for writing. To Japheth were\nallotted forty-four lands, thirty-three islands, twenty-two languages,\nand five kinds of writing; Ham received thirty-four lands, thirty-three\nislands, twenty-four languages, and five kinds of writing; and Shem\ntwenty-six lands, thirty-three islands, twenty-six languages, and six\nkinds of writing\u2014one set of written characters more to Shem than to\neither of his brothers, the extra set being the Hebrew.[72]\n\nThe land appointed as the inheritance of the twelve sons of Jacob was\nprovisionally granted to Canaan, Zidon, Heth, the Jebusites, the\nAmorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the\nArvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. It was the duty of these\nnations to take care of the land until the rightful owners should\ncome.[73]\n\nNo sooner had the children of Noah and their children's children taken\npossession of the habitations apportioned to them, than the unclean\nspirits began to seduce men and torment them with pain and all sorts of\nsuffering leading to spiritual and physical death. Upon the entreaties\nof Noah God sent down the angel Raphael, who banished nine-tenths of\nthe unclean spirits from the earth, leaving but one-tenth for Mastema,\nto punish sinners through them. Raphael, supported by the chief of the\nunclean spirits, at that time revealed to Noah all the remedies\nresiding in plants, that he might resort to them at need. Noah recorded\nthem in a book, which he transmitted to his son Shem.[74] This is the\nsource to which go back all the medical books whence the wise men of\nIndia, Aram, Macedonia, and Egypt draw their knowledge. The sages of\nIndia devoted themselves particularly to the study of curative trees\nand spices; the Arameans were well versed in the knowledge of the\nproperties of grains and seeds, and they translated the old medical\nbooks into their language. The wise men of Macedonia were the first to\napply medical knowledge practically, while the Egyptians sought to\neffect cures by means of magic arts and by means of astrology, and they\ntaught the Midrash of the Chaldees, composed by Kangar, the son of Ur,\nthe son of Kesed. Medical skill spread further and further until the\ntime of aesculapius. This Macedonian sage, accompanied by forty learned\nmagicians, journeyed from country to country, until they came to the\nland beyond India, in the direction of Paradise. They hoped there to\nfind some wood of the tree of life, and thus spread their fame abroad\nover the whole world. Their hope was frustrated. When they arrived at\nthe spot, they found healing trees and wood of the tree of life, but\nwhen they were in the act of stretching forth their hands to gather\nwhat they desired, lightning darted out of the ever-turning sword,\nsmote them to the ground, and they were all burnt. With them\ndisappeared all knowledge of medicine, and it did not revive until the\ntime of the first Artaxerxes, under the Macedonian sage Hippocrates,\nDioscorides of Baala, Galen of Caphtor, and the Hebrew Asaph.[75]\n\nTHE DEPRAVITY OF MANKIND\n\nWith the spread of mankind corruption increased. While Noah was still\nalive, the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth appointed princes over\neach of the three groups\u2014Nimrod for the descendants of Ham, Joktan for\nthe descendants of Shem, and Phenech for the descendants of Japheth.\nTen years before Noah's death, the number of those subject to the three\nprinces amounted to millions. When this great concourse of men came to\nBabylonia upon their journeyings, they said to one another: \"Behold,\nthe time is coming when, at the end of days, neighbor will be separated\nfrom neighbor, and brother from brother, and one will carry on war\nagainst the other. Go to, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose\ntop may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a great name upon the\nearth. And now let us make bricks, and each one write his name upon his\nbrick.\" All agreed to this proposal, with the exception of twelve pious\nmen, Abraham among them. They refused to join the others. They were\nseized by the people, and brought before the three princes, to whom\nthey gave the following reason for their refusal: \"We will not make\nbricks, nor remain with you, for we know but one God, and Him we serve;\neven if you burn us in the fire together with the bricks, we will not\nwalk in your ways.\" Nimrod and Phenech flew into such a passion over\nthe twelve men that they resolved to throw them into the fire. Joktan,\nhowever, besides being a God-fearing man, was of close kin to the men\non trial, and he essayed to save them. He proposed to his two\ncolleagues to grant them a seven days' respite. His plan was accepted,\nsuch deference being paid him as the primate among the three. The\ntwelve were incarcerated in the house of Joktan. In the night he\ncharged fifty of his attendants to mount the prisoners upon mules and\ntake them to the mountains. Thus they would escape the threatened\npunishment. Joktan provided them with food for a month. He was sure\nthat in the meantime either a change of sentiment would come about, and\nthe people desist from their purpose, or God would help the fugitives.\nEleven of the prisoners assented to the plan with gratitude. Abraham\nalone rejected it, saying: \"Behold, to-day we flee to the mountains to\nescape from the fire, but if wild beasts rush out from the mountains\nand devour us, or if food is lacking, so that we die by famine, we\nshall be found fleeing before the people of the land and dying in our\nsins. Now, as the Lord liveth, in whom I trust, I will not depart from\nthis place wherein they have imprisoned me, and if I am to die through\nmy sins, then will I die by the will of God, according to His desire.\"\n\nIn vain Joktan endeavored to persuade Abraham to flee. He persisted in\nhis refusal. He remained behind alone in the prison house, while the\nother eleven made their escape. At the expiration of the set term, when\nthe people returned and demanded the death of the twelve captives,\nJoktan could produce only Abraham. His excuse was that the rest had\nbroken loose during the night. The people were about to throw\nthemselves upon Abraham and cast him into the lime kiln. Suddenly an\nearthquake was felt, the fire darted from the furnace, and all who were\nstanding round about, eighty four thousand of the people, were\nconsumed, while Abraham remained untouched. Thereupon he repaired to\nhis eleven friends in the mountains, and told them of the miracle that\nhad befallen for his sake. They all returned with him, and, unmolested\nby the people, they gave praise and thanks to God.[76]\n\nNIMROD\n\nThe first among the leaders of the corrupt men was Nimrod.[77] His\nfather Cush had married his mother at an advanced age, and Nimrod, the\noffspring of this belated union, was particularly dear to him as the\nson of his old age. He gave him the clothes made of skins with which\nGod had furnished Adam and Eve at the time of their leaving Paradise.\nCush himself had gained possession of them through Ham. From Adam and\nEve they had descended to Enoch, and from him to Methuselah, and to\nNoah, and the last had taken them with him into the ark. When the\ninmates of the ark were about to leave their refuge, Ham stole the\ngarments and kept them concealed, finally passing them on to his\nfirst-born son Cush. Cush in turn hid them for many years. When his son\nNimrod reached his twentieth year, he gave them to him.[78] These\ngarments had a wonderful property. He who wore them was both invincible\nand irresistible. The beasts and birds of the woods fell down before\nNimrod as soon as they caught sight of him arrayed in them,[79] and he\nwas equally victorious in his combats with men.[80] The source of his\nunconquerable strength was not known to them. They attributed it to his\npersonal prowess, and therefore they appointed him king over\nthemselves.[81] This was done after a conflict between the descendants\nof Cush and the descendants of Japheth, from which Nimrod emerged\ntriumphant, having routed the enemy utterly with the assistance of a\nhandful of warriors. He chose Shinar as his capital. Thence he extended\nhis dominion farther and farther, until he rose by cunning and force to\nbe the sole ruler of the whole world, the first mortal to hold\nuniversal sway, as the ninth ruler to possess the same power will be\nthe Messiah.[82]\n\nHis impiousness kept pace with his growing power. Since the flood there\nhad been no such sinner as Nimrod. He fashioned idols of wood and\nstone, and paid worship to them. But not satisfied to lead a godless\nlife himself, he did all he could to tempt his subjects into evil ways,\nwherein he was aided and abetted by his son Mardon. This son of his\noutstripped his father in iniquity. It was their time and their life\nthat gave rise to the proverb, \"Out of the wicked cometh forth\nwickedness.\"[83]\n\nThe great success that attended all of Nimrod's undertakings produced a\nsinister effect. Men no longer trusted in God, but rather in their own\nprowess and ability,[84] an attitude to which Nimrod tried to convert\nthe whole world.[85] Therefore people said, \"Since the creation of the\nworld there has been none like Nimrod, a mighty hunter of men and\nbeasts, and a sinner before God.\"[86]\n\nAnd not all this sufficed unto Nimrod's evil desire. Not enough that he\nturned men away from God, he did all he could to make them pay Divine\nhonors unto himself. He set himself up as a god, and made a seat for\nhimself in imitation of the seat of God. It was a tower built out of a\nround rock, and on it he placed a throne of cedar wood, upon which\narose, one above the other, four thrones, of iron, copper, silver, and\ngold. Crowning all, upon the golden throne, lay a precious stone, round\nin shape and gigantic in size. This served him as a seat, and as he\nsate upon it, all nations came and paid him Divine homage.[87]\n\nTHE TOWER OF BABEL\n\nThe iniquity and godlessness of Nimrod reached their climax in the\nbuilding of the Tower of Babel. His counsellors had proposed the plan\nof erecting such a tower, Nimrod had agreed to it, and it was executed\nin Shinar by a mob of six hundred thousand men. The enterprise was\nneither more nor less than rebellion against God, and there were three\nsorts of rebels among the builders. The first party spoke, Let us\nascend into the heavens and wage warfare with Him; the second party\nspoke, Let us ascend into the heavens, set up our idols, and pay\nworship unto them there; and the third party spoke, Let us ascend into\nthe heavens, and ruin them with our bows and spears.\n\nMany, many years were passed in building the tower. It reached so great\na height that it took a year to mount to the top. A brick was,\ntherefore, more precious in the sight of the builders than a human\nbeing. If a man fell down, and met his death, none took notice of it,\nbut if a brick dropped, they wept, because it would take a year to\nreplace it. So intent were they upon accomplishing their purpose that\nthey would not permit a woman to interrupt herself in her work of\nbrick-making when the hour of travail came upon her. Moulding bricks\nshe gave birth to her child, and, tying it round her body in a sheet,\nshe went on moulding bricks.\n\nThey never slackened in their work, and from their dizzy height they\nconstantly shot arrows toward heaven, which, returning, were seen to be\ncovered with blood. They were thus fortified in their delusion, and\nthey cried, \"We have slain all who are in heaven.\" Thereupon God turned\nto the seventy angels who encompass His throne, and He spake: \"Go to,\nlet us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not\nunderstand one another's speech.\" Thus it happened. Thenceforth none\nknew what the other spoke. One would ask for the mortar, and the other\nhanded him a brick; in a rage, he would throw the brick at his partner\nand kill him. Many perished in this manner, and the rest were punished\naccording to the nature of their rebellious conduct. Those who had\nspoken, \"Let us ascend into the heavens, set up our idols, and pay\nworship unto them there,\" God transformed into apes and phantoms; those\nwho had proposed to assault the heavens with their arms, God set\nagainst each other so that they fell in the combat; and those who had\nresolved to carry on a combat with God in heaven were scattered\nbroadcast over the earth. As for the unfinished tower, a part sank into\nthe earth, and another part was consumed by fire; only one-third of it\nremained standing.[88] The place of the tower has never lost its\npeculiar quality. Whoever passes it forgets all he knows.[89]\n\nThe punishment inflicted upon the sinful generation of the tower is\ncomparatively lenient. On account of rapine the generation of the flood\nwere utterly destroyed, while the generation of the tower were\npreserved in spite of their blasphemies and all their other acts\noffensive to God. The reason is that God sets a high value upon peace\nand harmony. Therefore the generation of the deluge, who gave\nthemselves up to depredation, and bore hatred to one another, were\nextirpated, root and branch, while the generation of the Tower of Babel\ndwelling amicably together, and loving one another, were spared alive,\nat least a remnant of them.[90]\n\nBeside the chastisement of sin and sinners by the confounding of\nspeech, another notable circumstance was connected with the descent of\nGod upon earth\u2014one of only ten such descents to occur between the\ncreation of the world and the day of judgment. It was on this occasion\nthat God and the seventy angels that surround His throne cast lots\nconcerning the various nations. Each angel received a nation, and\nIsrael fell to the lot of God. To every nation a peculiar language was\nassigned, Hebrew being reserved for Israel\u2014the language made use of by\nGod at the creation of the world.[91]\n\n\n\n\nV\nABRAHAM\n\nTHE WICKED GENERATIONS\n\nTen generations there were from Noah to Abraham, to show how great is\nthe clemency of God, for all the generations provoked His wrath, until\nAbraham our father came and received the reward of all of them.[1] For\nthe sake of Abraham God had shown himself long-suffering and patient\nduring the lives of these ten generations. Yea, more, the world itself\nhad been created for the sake of his merits.[2] His advent had been\nmade manifest to his ancestor Reu, who uttered the following prophecy\nat the birth of his son Serug: \"From this child he shall be born in the\nfourth generation that shall set his dwelling over the highest, and he\nshall be called perfect and spotless, and shall be the father of\nnations, and his covenant shall not be dissolved, and his seed shall be\nmultiplied forever.\"[3]\n\nIt was, indeed, high time that the \"friend of God\"[4] should make his\nappearance upon earth. The descendants of Noah were sinking from\ndepravity to lower and lower depths of depravity. They were beginning\nto quarrel and slay, eat blood, build fortified cities and walls and\ntowers, and set one man over the whole nation as king, and wage wars,\npeople against people, and nations against nations, and cities against\ncities, and do all manner of evil, and acquire weapons, and teach\nwarfare unto their children. And they began also to take captives and\nsell them as slaves. And they made unto themselves molten images, which\nthey worshipped, each one the idol he had molten for himself, for the\nevil spirits under their leader Mastema led them astray into sin and\nuncleanness. For this reason Reu called his son Serug, because all\nmankind had turned aside unto sin and transgression. When he grew to\nmanhood, the name was seen to have been chosen fittingly, for he, too,\nworshipped idols, and when he himself had a son, Nahor by name, he\ntaught him the arts of the Chaldees, how to be a soothsayer and\npractice magic according to signs in the heavens. When, in time, a son\nwas born to Nahor, Mastema sent ravens and other birds to despoil the\nearth and rob men of the proceeds of their work. As soon as they had\ndropped the seed in the furrows, and before they could cover it over\nwith earth, the birds picked it up from the surface of the ground, and\nNahor called his son Terah, because the ravens and the other birds\nplagued men, devoured their seed, and reduced them to destitution.[6]\n\nTHE BIRTH OF ABRAHAM\n\nTerah married Emtelai, the daughter of Karnabo,[6] and the offspring of\ntheir union was Abraham. His birth had been read in the stars by\nNimrod,[7] for this impious king was a cunning astrologer, and it was\nmanifest to him that a man would be born in his day who would rise up\nagainst him and triumphantly give the lie to his religion. In his\nterror at the fate foretold him in the stars, he sent for his princes\nand governors, and asked them to advise him in the matter. They\nanswered, and said: \"Our unanimous advice is that thou shouldst build a\ngreat house, station a guard at the entrance thereof, and make known in\nthe whole of thy realm that all pregnant women shall repair thither\ntogether with their midwives, who are to remain with them when they are\ndelivered. When the days of a woman to be delivered are fulfilled, and\nthe child is born, it shall be the duty of the midwife to kill it, if\nit be a boy. But if the child be a girl, it shall be kept alive, and\nthe mother shall receive gifts and costly garments, and a herald shall\nproclaim, 'Thus is done unto the woman who bears a daughter!'\"\n\nThe king was pleased with this counsel, and he had a proclamation\npublished throughout his whole kingdom, summoning all the architects to\nbuild a great house for him, sixty ells high and eighty wide. After it\nwas completed, he issued a second proclamation, summoning all pregnant\nwomen thither, and there they were to remain until their confinement.\nOfficers were appointed to take the women to the house, and guards were\nstationed in it and about it, to prevent the women from escaping\nthence. He furthermore sent midwives to the house, and commanded them\nto slay the men children at their mothers' breasts. But if a woman bore\na girl, she was to be arrayed in byssus, silk, and embroidered\ngarments, and led forth from the house of detention amid great honors.\nNo less than seventy thousand children were slaughtered thus. Then the\nangels appeared before God, and spoke, \"Seest Thou not what he doth,\nyon sinner and blasphemer, Nimrod son of Canaarl, who slays so many\ninnocent babes that have done no harm?\" God answered, and said: \"Ye\nholy angels, I know it and I see it, for I neither slumber nor sleep. I\nbehold and I know the secret things and the things that are revealed,\nand ye shall witness what I will do unto this sinner and blasphemer,\nfor I will turn My hand against him to chastise him.\"[8]\n\nIt was about this time that Terah espoused the mother of Abraham, and\nshe was with child. When her body grew large at the end of three months\nof pregnancy,[9] and her countenance became pale, Terah said unto her,\n\"What ails thee, my wife, that thy countenance is so pale and thy body\nso swollen?\" She answered, and said, \"Every year I suffer with this\nmalady.\"[10] But Terah would not be put off thus. He insisted: \"Show me\nthy body. It seems to me thou art big with child. If that be so, it\nbehooves us not to violate the command of our god Nimrod.\"[11] When he\npassed his hand over her body, there happened a miracle. The child rose\nuntil it lay beneath her breasts, and Terah could feel nothing with his\nhands. He said to his wife, \"Thou didst speak truly,\" and naught became\nvisible until the day of her delivery.\n\nWhen her time approached, she left the city in great terror and\nwandered toward the desert, walking along the edge of a valley,[12]\nuntil she happened across a cave. She entered this refuge, and on the\nnext day she was seized with throes, and she gave birth to a son. The\nwhole cave was filled with the light of the child's countenance as with\nthe splendor of the sun, and the mother rejoiced exceedingly. The babe\nshe bore was our father Abraham.\n\nHis mother lamented, and said to her son: \"Alas that I bore thee at a\ntime when Nimrod is king. For thy sake seventy thousand men children\nwere slaughtered, and I am seized with terror on account of thee, that\nhe hear of thy existence, and slay thee. Better thou shouldst perish\nhere in this cave than my eye should behold thee dead at my breast.\"\nShe took the garment in which she was clothed, and wrapped it about the\nboy. Then she abandoned him in the cave, saying, \"May the Lord be with\nthee, may He not fail thee nor forsake thee.\"[13]\n\nTHE BABE PROCLAIMS GOD\n\nThus Abraham was deserted in the cave, without a nurse, and he began to\nwail. God sent Gabriel down to give him milk to drink, and the angel\nmade it to flow from the little finger of the baby's right hand, and he\nsucked at it until he was ten days old.[14] Then he arose and walked\nabout, and he left the cave, and went along the edge of the valley.[15]\nWhen the sun sank, and the stars came forth, he said, \"These are the\ngods!\" But the dawn came, and the stars could be seen no longer, and\nthen he said, \"I will not pay worship to these, for they are no gods.\"\nThereupon the sun came forth, and he spoke, \"This is my god, him will I\nextol.\" But again the sun set, and he said, \"He is no god,\" and\nbeholding the moon, he called her his god to whom he would pay Divine\nhomage. Then the moon was obscured, and he cried out: \"This, too, is no\ngod! There is One who sets them all in motion.\"[16]\n\nHe was still communing with himself when the angel Gabriel approached\nhim and met him with the greeting, \"Peace be with thee,\" and Abraham\nreturned, \"With thee be peace,\" and asked, \"Who art thou?\" And Gabriel\nanswered, and said, \"I am the angel Gabriel, the messenger of God,\" and\nhe led Abraham to a spring of water near by, and Abraham washed his\nface and his hands and feet, and he prayed to God, bowing down and\nprostrating himself.\n\nMeantime the mother of Abraham thought of him in sorrow and tears, and\nshe went forth from the city to seek him in the cave in which she had\nabandoned him. Not finding her son, she wept bitterly, and said, \"Woe\nunto me that I bore thee but to become a prey of wild beasts, the bears\nand the lions and the wolves!\" She went to the edge of the valley, and\nthere she found her son. But she did not recognize him, for he had\ngrown very large. She addressed the lad, \"Peace be with thee!\" and he\nreturned, \"With thee be peace!\" and he continued, \"Unto what purpose\ndidst thou come to the desert?\" She replied, \"I went forth from the\ncity to seek my son.\" Abraham questioned further, \"Who brought thy son\nhither?\" and the mother replied thereto: \"I had become pregnant from my\nhusband Terah, and when the days of my delivery were fulfilled, I was\nin anxiety about my son in my womb, lest our king come, the son of\nCanaan, and slay him as he had slain the seventy thousand other men\nchildren. Scarcely had I reached the cave in this valley when the\nthroes of travailing seized me, and I bore a son, whom I left behind in\nthe cave, and I went home again. Now am I come to seek him, but I find\nhim not.\"\n\nAbraham then spoke, \"As to this child thou tellest of, how old was it?\"\n\nThe mother: \"It was about twenty days old.\"\n\nAbraham: \"Is there a woman in the world who would forsake her new-born\nson in the desert, and come to seek him after twenty days?\"\n\nThe mother: \"Peradventure God will show Himself a merciful God!\"\n\nAbraham: \"I am the son whom thou hast come to seek in this valley!\"\n\nThe mother: \"My son, how thou art grown! But twenty days old, and thou\ncanst already walk, and talk with thy mouth!\"[17]\n\nAbraham: \"So it is, and thus, O my mother, it is made known unto thee\nthat there is in the world a great, terrible, living, and ever-existing\nGod, who doth see, but who cannot be seen. He is in the heavens above,\nand the whole earth is full of His glory.\"\n\nThe mother: \"My son, is there a God beside Nimrod?\"\n\nAbraham: \"Yes, mother, the God of the heavens and the God of the earth,\nHe is also the God of Nimrod son of Canaan. Go, therefore, and carry\nthis message unto Nimrod.\"\n\nThe mother of Abraham returned to the city and told her husband Terah\nhow she had found their son. Terah, who was a prince and a magnate in\nthe house of the king, betook himself to the royal palace, and cast\nhimself down before the king upon his face. It was the rule that one\nwho prostrated himself before the king was not permitted to lift up his\nhead until the king bade him lift it up. Nimrod gave permission to\nTerah to rise and state his request. Thereupon Terah related all that\nhad happened with his wife and his son. When Nimrod heard his tale,\nabject fear seized upon him, and he asked his counsellors and princes\nwhat to do with the lad. They answered, and said: \"Our king and our\ngod! Wherefore art thou in fear by reason of a little child? There are\nmyriads upon myriads of princes in thy realm,[18] rulers of thousands,\nrulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens, and\noverseers without number. Let the pettiest of the princes go and fetch\nthe boy and put him in prison.\" But the king interposed, \"Have ye ever\nseen a baby of twenty days walking with his feet, speaking with his\nmouth, and proclaiming with his tongue that there is a God in heaven,\nwho is One, and none beside Him, who sees and is not seen?\" All the\nassembled princes were horror struck at these words.[19]\n\nAt this time Satan in human form appeared, clad in black silk garb, and\nhe cast himself down before the king. Nimrod said, \"Raise thy head and\nstate thy request.\" Satan asked the king: \"Why art thou terrified, and\nwhy are ye all in fear on account of a little lad? I will counsel thee\nwhat thou shalt do: Open thy arsenal and give weapons unto all the\nprinces, chiefs, and governors, and unto all the warriors, and send\nthem to fetch him unto thy service and to be under thy dominion.\"\n\nThis advice given by Satan the king accepted and followed. He sent a\ngreat armed host to bring Abraham to him. When the boy saw the army\napproach him, he was sore afraid, and amid tears he implored God for\nhelp. In answer to his prayer, God sent the angel Gabriel to him, and\nhe said: \"Be not afraid and disquieted, for God is with thee. He will\nrescue thee out of the hands of all thine adversaries.\" God commanded\nGabriel to put thick, dark clouds between Abraham and his assailants.\nDismayed by the heavy clouds, they fled, returning to Nimrod, their\nking, and they said to him, \"Let us depart and leave this realm,\" and\nthe king gave money unto all his princes and his servants, and together\nwith the king they departed and journeyed to Babylon.[20]\n\nABRAHAM'S FIRST APPEARANCE IN PUBLIC\n\nNow Abraham, at the command of God, was ordered by the angel Gabriel to\nfollow Nimrod to Babylon. He objected that he was in no wise equipped\nto undertake a campaign against the king, but Gabriel calmed him with\nthe words: \"Thou needest no provision for the way, no horse to ride\nupon, no warriors to carry on war with Nimrod, no chariots, nor riders.\nDo thou but sit thyself upon my shoulder, and I shall bear thee to\nBabylon.\"\n\nAbraham did as he was bidden, and in the twinkling of an eye he found\nhimself before the gates of the city of Babylon.[21] At the behest of\nthe angel, he entered the city, and he called unto the dwellers therein\nwith a loud voice: \"The Eternal, He is the One Only God, and there is\nnone beside. He is the God of the heavens, and the God of the gods, and\nthe God of Nimrod. Acknowledge this as the truth, all ye men, women,\nand children. Acknowledge also that I am Abraham His servant, the\ntrusted steward of His house.\"\n\nAbraham met his parents in Babylon, and also he saw the angel Gabriel,\nwho bade him proclaim the true faith to his father and his mother.\nTherefore Abraham spake to them, and said: \"Ye serve a man of your own\nkind, and you pay worship to an image of Nimrod. Know ye not that it\nhas a mouth, but it speaks not; an eye, but it sees not; an ear, but it\nhears not; nor does it walk upon its feet, and there is no profit in\nit, either unto itself or unto others?\"\n\nWhen Terah heard these words, he persuaded Abraham to follow him into\nthe house, where his son told him all that had happened\u2014how in one day\nhe had completed a forty days' journey. Terah thereupon went to Nimrod\nand reported to him that his son Abraham had suddenly appeared in\nBabylon.[22] The king sent for Abraham, and he came before him with his\nfather. Abraham passed the magnates and the dignitaries until he\nreached the royal throne, upon which he seized hold, shaking it and\ncrying out with a loud voice: \"O Nimrod, thou contemptible wretch, that\ndeniest the essence of faith, that deniest the living and immutable\nGod, and Abraham His servant, the trusted steward of His house.\nAcknowledge Him, and repeat after me the words: The Eternal is God, the\nOnly One, and there is none beside; He is incorporeal, living,\never-existing; He slumbers not and sleeps not, who hath created the\nworld that men might believe in Him. And confess also concerning me,\nand say that I am the servant of God and the trusted steward of His\nhouse.\"[23]\n\nWhile Abraham proclaimed this with a loud voice, the idols fell upon\ntheir faces, and with them also King Nimrod.[24] For a space of two\nhours and a half the king lay lifeless, and when his soul returned upon\nhim, he spoke and said, \"Is it thy voice, O Abraham, or the voice of\nthy God?\" And Abraham answered, and said, \"This voice is the voice of\nthe least of all creatures called into existence by God.\" Thereupon\nNimrod said, \"Verily, the God of Abraham is a great and powerful God,\nthe King of all kings,\" and he commanded Terah to take his son and\nremove him, and return again unto his own city, and father and son did\nas the king had ordered.[25]\n\nTHE PREACHER OF THE TRUE FAITH\n\nWhen Abraham attained the age of twenty years, his father Terah fell\nill. He spoke as follows to his sons Haran and Abraham, \"I adjure you\nby your lives, my sons, sell these two idols for me, for I have not\nenough money to meet our expenses.\" Haran executed the wish of his\nfather, but if any one accosted Abraham, to buy an idol from him, and\nasked him the price, he would answer, \"Three manehs,\" and then question\nin turn, \"How old art thou?\" \"Thirty years,\" the reply would be. \"Thou\nart thirty years of age, and yet thou wouldst worship this idol which I\nmade but to-day?\" The man would depart and go his way, and another\nwould approach Abraham, and ask, \"How much is this idol?\" and \"Five\nmanehs\" would be the reply, and again Abraham would put the question,\n\"How old art thou?\"\u2014\"Fifty years.\"\u2014\"And dost thou who art fifty years\nof age bow down before this idol which was made but to-day?\" Thereupon\nthe man would depart and go his way. Abraham then took two idols, put a\nrope about their necks, and, with their faces turned downward, he\ndragged them along the ground, crying aloud all the time: \"Who will buy\nan idol wherein there is no profit, either unto itself or unto him that\nbuys it in order to worship it? It has a mouth, but it speaketh not;\neyes, but it seeth not; feet, but it walketh not; ears, but it heareth\nnot.\"\n\nThe people who heard Abraham were amazed exceedingly at his words. As\nhe went through the streets, he met an old woman who approached him\nwith the purpose of buying an idol, good and big, to be worshipped and\nloved. \"Old woman, old woman,\" said Abraham, \"I know no profit therein,\neither in the big ones or in the little ones, either unto themselves or\nunto others. And,\" he continued to speak to her, \"what has become of\nthe big image thou didst buy from my brother Haran, to worship it?\"\n\"Thieves,\" she replied, \"came in the night and stole it, while I was\nstill at the bath.\" \"If it be thus,\" Abraham went on questioning her,\n\"how canst thou pay homage to an idol that cannot save itself from\nthieves, let alone save others, like thyself, thou silly old woman, out\nof misfortune? How is it possible for thee to say that the image thou\nworshippest is a god? If it be a god, why did it not save itself out of\nthe hands of those thieves? Nay, in the idol there is no profit, either\nunto itself or unto him that adores it.\"[26]\n\nThe old woman rejoined, \"If what thou sayest be true, whom shall I\nserve?\" \"Serve the God of all gods,\" returned Abraham, \"the Lord of\nlords, who hath created heaven and earth, the sea and all therein\u2014the\nGod of Nimrod and the God of Terah, the God of the east, the west, the\nsouth, and the north. Who is Nimrod, the dog, who calleth himself a\ngod, that worship be offered unto him?\"\n\nAbraham succeeded in opening the eyes of the old woman, and she became\na zealous missionary for the true God. When she discovered the thieves\nwho had carried off her idol, and they restored it to her, she broke it\nin pieces with a stone, and as she wended her way through the streets,\nshe cried aloud, \"Who would save his soul from destruction, and be\nprosperous in all his doings, let him serve the God of Abraham.\" Thus\nshe converted many men and women to the true belief.\n\nRumors of the words and deeds of the old woman reached the king, and he\nsent for her. When she appeared before him, he rebuked her harshly,\nasking her how she dared serve any god but himself. The old woman\nreplied: \"Thou art a liar, thou deniest the essence of faith, the One\nOnly God, beside whom there is no other god. Thou livest upon His\nbounty, but thou payest worship to another, and thou dost repudiate\nHim, and His teachings, and Abraham His servant.\"\n\nThe old woman had to pay for her zeal for the faith with her life.\nNevertheless great fear and terror took possession of Nimrod, because\nthe people became more and more attached to the teachings of Abraham,\nand he knew not how to deal with the man who was undermining the old\nfaith. At the advice of his princes, he arranged a seven days'\nfestival, at which all the people were bidden to appear in their robes\nof state, their gold and silver apparel. By such display of wealth and\npower he expected to intimidate Abraham and bring him back to the faith\nof the king. Through his father Terah, Nimrod invited Abraham to come\nbefore him, that he might have the opportunity of seeing his greatness\nand wealth, and the glory of his dominion, and the multitude of his\nprinces and attendants. But Abraham refused to appear before the king.\nOn the other hand, he granted his father's request that in his absence\nhe sit by his idols and the king's, and take care of them.\n\nAlone with the idols, and while he repeated the words, \"The Eternal He\nis God, the Eternal He is God!\" he struck the king's idols from their\nthrones, and began to belabor them with an axe. With the biggest he\nstarted, and with the smallest he ended. He hacked off the feet of one,\nand the other he beheaded. This one had his eyes struck out, the other\nhad his hands crushed.[27] After all were mutilated, he went away,\nhaving first put the axe into the hand of the largest idol.\n\nThe feast ended, the king returned, and when he saw all his idols\nshivered in pieces, he inquired who had perpetrated the mischief.\nAbraham was named as the one who had been guilty of the outrage, and\nthe king summoned him and questioned him as to his motive for the deed.\nAbraham replied: \"I did not do it; it was the largest of the idols who\nshattered all the rest. Seest thou not that he still has the axe in his\nhand? And if thou wilt not believe my words, ask him and he will tell\nthee.\"\n\nIN THE FIERY FURNACE\n\nNow the king was exceedingly wroth at Abraham, and ordered him to be\ncast into prison, where he commanded the warden not to give him bread\nor water.[28] But God hearkened unto the prayer of Abraham, and sent\nGabriel to him in his dungeon. For a year the angel dwelt with him, and\nprovided him with all sorts of food, and a spring of fresh water welled\nup before him, and he drank of it. At the end of a year, the magnates\nof the realm presented themselves before the king, and advised him to\ncast Abraham into the fire, that the people might believe in Nimrod\nforever. Thereupon the king issued a decree that all the subjects of\nthe king in all his provinces, men and women, young and old, should\nbring wood within forty days, and he caused it to be thrown into a\ngreat furnace and set afire.[29] The flames shot up to the skies, and\nthe people were sore afraid of the fire. Now the warden of the prison\nwas ordered to bring Abraham forth and cast him in the flames. The\nwarden reminded the king that Abraham had not had food or drink a whole\nyear, and therefore must be dead, but Nimrod nevertheless desired him\nto step in front of the prison and call his name. If he made reply, he\nwas to be hauled out to the pyre. If he had perished, his remains were\nto receive burial, and his memory was to be wiped out henceforth.\n\nGreatly amazed the warden was when his cry, \"Abraham, art thou alive?\"\nwas answered with \"I am living.\" He questioned further, \"Who has been\nbringing thee food and drink all these many days?\" and Abraham replied:\n\"Food and drink have been bestowed upon me by Him who is over all\nthings, the God of all gods and the Lord of all lords, who alone doeth\nwonders, He who is the God of Nimrod and the God of Terah and the God\nof the whole world. He dispenseth food and drink unto all beings. He\nsees, but He cannot be seen, He is in the heavens above, and He is\npresent in all places, for He Himself superviseth all things and\nprovideth for all.\"\n\nThe miraculous rescue of Abraham from death by starvation and thirst\nconvinced the prison-keeper of the truth of God and His prophet\nAbraham, and he acknowledged his belief in both publicly. The king's\nthreat of death unless he recanted could not turn him away from his new\nand true faith. When the hangman raised his sword and set it at his\nthroat to kill him, he exclaimed, \"The Eternal He is God, the God of\nthe whole world as well as of the blasphemer Nimrod.\" But the sword\ncould not cut his flesh. The harder it was pressed against his throat,\nthe more it broke into pieces.[30]\n\nNimrod, however, was not to be turned aside from his purpose, to make\nAbraham suffer death by fire. One of the princes was dispatched to\nfetch him forth. But scarcely did the messenger set about the task of\nthrowing him into the fire, when the flame leapt forth from the furnace\nand consumed him. Many more attempts were made to cast Abraham into the\nfurnace, but always with the same success\u2014whoever seized him to pitch\nhim in was himself burnt, and a large number lost their lives. Satan\nappeared in human shape, and advised the king to place Abraham in a\ncatapult and sling him into the fire. Thus no one would be required to\ncome near the flame. Satan himself constructed the catapult. Having\nproved it fit three times by means of stones put in the machine, they\nbound Abraham, hand and foot, and were about to consign him to the\nflames. At that moment Satan, still disguised in human shape,\napproached Abraham, and said, \"If thou desirest to deliver thyself from\nthe fire of Nimrod, bow down before him and believe in him.\" But\nAbraham rejected the tempter with the words, \"May the Eternal rebuke\nthee, thou vile, contemptible, accursed blasphemer!\" and Satan departed\nfrom him.\n\nThen the mother of Abraham came to him and implored him to pay homage\nto Nimrod and escape the impending misfortune. But he said to her: \"O\nmother, water can extinguish Nimrod's fire, but the fire of God will\nnot die out for evermore. Water cannot quench it.\"[31] When his mother\nheard these words, she spake, \"May the God whom thou servest rescue\nthee from the fire of Nimrod!\"\n\nAbraham was finally placed in the catapult, and he raised his eyes\nheavenward, and spoke, \"O Lord my God, Thou seest what this sinner\npurposes to do unto me!\"[32] His confidence in God was unshakable. When\nthe angels received the Divine permission to save him, and Gabriel\napproached him, and asked, \"Abraham, shall I save thee from the fire?\"\nhe replied, \"God in whom I trust, the God of heaven and earth, will\nrescue me,\" and God, seeing the submissive spirit of Abraham, commanded\nthe fire, \"Cool off and bring tranquillity to my servant Abraham.\"[33]\n\nNo water was needed to extinguish the fire. The logs burst into buds,\nand all the different kinds of wood put forth fruit, each tree bearing\nits own kind. The furnace was transformed into a royal pleasance, and\nthe angels sat therein with Abraham. When the king saw the miracle, he\nsaid: \"Great witchcraft! Thou makest it known that fire hath no power\nover thee, and at the same time thou showest thyself unto the people\nsitting in a pleasure garden.\" But the princes of Nimrod interposed all\nwith one voice, \"Nay, our lord, this is not witchcraft, it is the power\nof the great God, the God of Abraham, beside whom there is no other\ngod, and we acknowledge that He is God, and Abraham is His servant.\"\nAll the princes and all the people believed in God at this hour, in the\nEternal, the God of Abraham, and they all cried out, \"The Lord He is\nGod in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is none\nelse.\"[34]\n\nAbraham was the superior, not only of the impious king Nimrod and his\nattendants, but also of the pious men of his time, Noah, Shem, Eber,\nand Asshur.[35] Noah gave himself no concern whatsoever in the matter\nof spreading the pure faith in God. He took an interest in planting his\nvineyard, and was immersed in material pleasures. Shem and Eber kept in\nhiding, and as for Asshur, he said, \"How can I live among such\nsinners?\" and departed out of the land.[36] The only one who remained\nunshaken was Abraham. \"I will not forsake God,\" he said, and therefore\nGod did not forsake him, who had hearkened neither unto his father nor\nunto his mother.\n\nThe miraculous deliverance of Abraham from the fiery furnace, together\nwith his later fortunes, was the fulfilment and explanation of what his\nfather Terah had read in the stars. He had seen the star of Haran\nconsumed by fire, and at the same time fill and rule the whole world.\nThe meaning was plain now. Haran was irresolute in his faith, he could\nnot decide whether to adhere to Abraham or the idolaters. When it\nbefell that those who would not serve idols were cast into the fiery\nfurnace, Haran reasoned in this manner: \"Abraham, being my elder, will\nbe called upon before me. If he comes forth out of the fiery trial\ntriumphant, I will declare my allegiance to him; otherwise I will take\nsides against him.\" After God Himself had rescued Abraham from death,\nand Haran's turn came to make his confession of faith, he announced his\nadherence to Abraham. But scarcely had he come near the furnace,[37]\nwhen he was seized by the flames and consumed, because he was lacking\nin firm faith in God. Terah had read the stars well, it now appeared:\nHaran was burnt, and his daughter Sarah[38] became the wife of Abraham,\nwhose descendants fill the earth.[39] In another way the death of Haran\nwas noteworthy. It was the first instance, since the creation of the\nworld, of a son's dying while his father was still alive.[40]\n\nThe king, the princes, and all the people, who had been witnesses of\nthe wonders done for Abraham, came to him, and prostrated themselves\nbefore him. But Abraham said: \"Do not bow down before me, but before\nGod, the Master of the universe, who hath created you. Serve Him and\nwalk in His ways, for He it was who delivered me from the flames, and\nHe it is who hath created the soul and the spirit of every human being,\nwho formeth man in the womb of his mother, and bringeth him into the\nworld. He saveth from all sickness those who put their trust in Him.\"\n\nThe king then dismissed Abraham, after loading him down with an\nabundance of precious gifts, among them two slaves who had been raised\nin the royal palace. 'Ogi was the name of the one, Eliezer the name of\nthe other. The princes followed the example of the king, and they gave\nhim silver, and gold, and gems. But all these gifts did not rejoice the\nheart of Abraham so much as the three hundred followers that joined him\nand became adherents of his religion.\n\nABRAHAM EMIGRATES TO HARAN\n\nFor a period of two years Abraham could devote himself undisturbed to\nhis chosen task of turning the hearts of men to God and His\nteachings.[41] In his pious undertaking he was aided by his wife Sarah,\nwhom he had married in the meantime. While he exhorted the men and\nsought to convert them, Sarah addressed herself to the women.[42] She\nwas a helpmeet worthy of Abraham. Indeed, in prophetical powers she\nranked higher than her husband.[43] She was sometimes called Iscah,\n\"the seer,\" on that account.[44]\n\nAt the expiration of two years it happened that Nimrod dreamed a dream.\nIn his dream he found himself with his army near the fiery furnace in\nthe valley into which Abraham had been cast. A man resembling Abraham\nstepped out of the furnace, and he ran after the king with drawn sword,\nthe king fleeing before him in terror. While running, the pursuer threw\nan egg at Nimrod's head, and a mighty stream issued therefrom, wherein\nthe king's whole host was drowned. The king alone survived, with three\nmen. When Nimrod examined his companions, he observed that they wore\nroyal attire, and in form and stature they resembled himself. The\nstream changed back into an egg again, and a little chick broke forth\nfrom it, and it flew up, settled upon the head of the king, and put out\none of his eyes.\n\nThe king was confounded in his sleep, and when he awoke, his heart beat\nlike a trip-hammer, and his fear was exceeding great. In the morning,\nwhen he arose, he sent and called for his wise men and his magicians,\nand told them his dream. One of his wise men, Anoko by name, stood up,\nand said: \"Know, O king, this dream points to the misfortune which\nAbraham and his descendants will bring upon thee. A time will come when\nhe and his followers will make war upon thy army, and they will\nannihilate it. Thou and the three kings, thy allies, will be the only\nones to escape death. But later thou wilt lose thy life at the hands of\none of the descendants of Abraham. Consider, O king, that thy wise men\nread this fate of thine in the stars, fifty-two years ago, at the birth\nof Abraham. As long as Abraham liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not\nbe stablished, nor thy kingdom.\" Nimrod took Anoko's words to heart,\nand dispatched some of his servants to seize Abraham and kill him. It\nhappened that Eliezer, the slave whom Abraham had received as a present\nfrom Nimrod, was at that time at the royal court. With great haste he\nsped to Abraham to induce him to flee before the king's bailiffs. His\nmaster accepted his advice, and took refuge in the house of Noah and\nShem, where he lay in hiding a whole month. The king's officers\nreported that despite zealous efforts Abraham was nowhere to be found.\nThenceforth the king did not concern himself about Abraham.\n\nWhen Terah visited his son in his hiding-place, Abraham proposed that\nthey leave the land and take up their abode in Canaan, in order to\nescape the pursuit of Nimrod. He said: \"Consider that it was not for\nthy sake that Nimrod overloaded thee with honors, but for his own\nprofit. Though he continue to confer the greatest of benefactions upon\nthee, what are they but earthly vanity? for riches and possessions\nprofit not in the day of wrath and fury. Hearken unto my voice, O my\nfather, let us depart for the land of Canaan, and serve the God that\nhath created thee, that it may be well with thee.\"\n\nNoah and Shem aided and abetted the efforts of Abraham to persuade\nTerah, whereupon Terah consented to leave his country, and he, and\nAbraham, and Lot, the son of Haran, departed for Haran with their\nhouseholds. They found the land pleasant, and also the inhabitants\nthereof, who readily yielded to the influence of Abraham's humane\nspirit and his piety. Many of them obeyed his precepts and became\nGod-fearing and good.[45]\n\nTerah's resolve to quit his native land for the sake of Abraham and\ntake up his abode in strange parts, and his impulse to do it before\neven the Divine call visited Abraham himself\u2014this the Lord accounted a\ngreat merit unto Terah, and he was permitted to see his son Abraham\nrule as king over the whole world. For when the miracle happened, and\nIsaac was born unto his aged parents, the whole world repaired to\nAbraham and Sarah, and demanded to know what they had done that so\ngreat a thing should be accomplished for them. Abraham told them all\nthat had happened between Nimrod and himself, how he had been ready to\nbe burnt for the glory of God, and how the Lord had rescued him from\nthe flames. In token of their admiration for Abraham and his teachings,\nthey appointed him to be their king, and in commemoration of Isaac's\nwondrous birth, the money coined by Abraham bore the figures of an aged\nhusband and wife on the obverse side, and of a young man and his wife\non the reverse side, for Abraham and Sarah both were rejuvenated at the\nbirth of Isaac, Abraham's white hair turned black, and the lines in\nSarah's face were smoothed out.\n\nFor many years Terah continued to live a witness of his son's glory,\nfor his death did not occur until Isaac was a youth of thirty-five.[46]\nAnd a still greater reward waited upon his good deed. God accepted his\nrepentance, and when he departed this life, he entered into Paradise,\nand not into hell, though he had passed the larger number of his days\nin sin. Indeed, it had been his fault that Abraham came near losing his\nlife at the hands of Nimrod.[47]\n\nTHE STAR IN THE EAST\n\nTerah had been a high official at the court of Nimrod, and he was held\nin great consideration by the king and his suite. A son was born unto\nhim whom he called Abram, because the king had raised him to an exalted\nplace. In the night of Abraham's birth, the astrologers and the wise\nmen of Nimrod came to the house of Terah, and ate and drank, and\nrejoiced with him that night. When they left the house, they lifted up\ntheir eyes toward heaven to look at the stars, and they saw, and,\nbehold, one great star came from the east and ran athwart the heavens\nand swallowed up the four stars at the four corners. They all were\nastonished at the sight, but they understood this matter, and knew its\nimport. They said to one another: \"This only betokens that the child\nthat hath been born unto Terah this night will grow up and be fruitful,\nand he will multiply and possess all the earth, he and his children\nforever, and he and his seed will slay great kings and inherit their\nlands.\"\n\nThey went home that night, and in the morning they rose up early, and\nassembled in their meeting-house. They spake, and said to one another:\n\"Lo, the sight that we saw last night is hidden from the king, it has\nnot been made known to him, and should this thing become known to him\nin the latter days, he will say to us, Why did you conceal this matter\nfrom me? and then we shall all suffer death. Now, let us go and tell\nthe king the sight which we saw, and the interpretation thereof, and we\nshall be clear from this thing.\" And they went to the king and told him\nthe sight they had seen, and their interpretation thereof, and they\nadded the advice that he pay the value of the child to Terah, and slay\nthe babe.\n\nAccordingly, the king sent for Terah, and when he came, he spake to\nhim: \"It hath been told unto me that a son was born to thee\nyesternight, and a wondrous sign was observed in the heavens at his\nbirth. Now give me the boy, that we may slay him before evil comes upon\nus from him, and I will give thee thy house full of silver and gold in\nexchange for him.\" Terah answered: \"This thing which thou promisest\nunto me is like the words which a man spoke to a mule, saying, 'I will\ngive thee a great heap of barley, a houseful thereof, on condition that\nI cut off thy head!' The mule replied, 'Of what use will all the barley\nbe to me, if thou cuttest off my head? Who will eat it when thou givest\nit to me?' Thus also do I say: What shall I do with silver and gold\nafter the death of my son? Who shall inherit me?\" But when Terah saw\nhow the king's anger burned within him at these words, he added,\n\"Whatever the king desireth to do unto his servant, that let him do,\neven my son is at the king's disposal, without value or exchange, he\nand his two older brethren.\"\n\nThe king spake, however, saying, \"I will purchase thy youngest son for\na price.\" And Terah made answer, \"Let my king give me three days' time\nto consider the matter and consult about it with my family.\" The king\nagreed to this condition, and on the third day he sent to Terah,\nsaying, \"Give me thy son for a price, as I spoke unto thee, and if thou\nwilt not do this, I will send and slay all thou hast in thy house,\nthere shall not be a dog left unto thee.\"\n\nThen Terah took a child which his handmaid had borne unto him that day,\nand he brought the babe to the king, and received value for him, and\nthe king took the child and dashed his head against the ground, for he\nthought it was Abraham. But Terah took his son Abraham, together with\nthe child's mother and his nurse, and concealed them in a cave, and\nthither he carried provisions to them once a month, and the Lord was\nwith Abraham in the cave, and he grew up, but the king and all his\nservants thought that Abraham was dead.\n\nAnd when Abraham was ten years old, he and his mother and his nurse\nwent out from the cave, for the king and his servants had forgotten the\naffair of Abraham.\n\nIn that time all the inhabitants of the earth, with the exception of\nNoah and his household, transgressed against the Lord, and they made\nunto themselves every man his god, gods of wood and stone, which could\nneither speak, nor hear, nor deliver from distress. The king and all\nhis servants, and Terah with his household, were the first to worship\nimages of wood and stone. Terah made twelve gods of large size, of wood\nand of stone, corresponding to the twelve months of the year, and he\npaid homage to them monthly in turn.[48]\n\nTHE TRUE BELIEVER\n\nOnce Abraham went into the temple of the idols in his father's house,\nto bring sacrifices to them, and he found one of them, Marumath by\nname, hewn out of stone, lying prostrate on his face before the iron\ngod of Nahor. The idol was too heavy for him to raise it alone, and he\ncalled his father to help him put Marumath back in his place. While\nthey were handling the image, its head dropped off, and Terah took a\nstone, and chiselled another Marumath, setting the head of the first\nupon the new body. Then Terah continued and made five more gods, and\nall these he delivered to Abraham, and bade him sell them in the\nstreets of the city.\n\nAbraham saddled his mule, and went to the inn where merchants from\nFandana in Syria put up on their way to Egypt. He hoped to dispose of\nhis wares there. When he reached the inn, one of the camels belonging\nto the merchants belched, and the sound frightened his mule so that it\nran off pell-mell and broke three of the idols. The merchants not only\nbought the two sound idols from him, they also gave him the price of\nthe broken ones, for Abraham had told them how distressed he was to\nappear before his father with less money than he had expected to\nreceive for his handiwork.\n\nThis incident made Abraham reflect upon the worthlessness of idols, and\nhe said to himself: \"What are these evil things done by my father? Is\nnot he the god of his gods, for do they not come into being by reason\nof his carving and chiselling and contriving? Were it not more seemly\nthat they should pay worship to him than he to them, seeing they are\nthe work of his hands?\" Meditating thus, he reached his father's house,\nand he entered and handed his father the money for the five images, and\nTerah rejoiced, and said, \"Blessed art thou unto my gods, because thou\ndidst bring me the price of the idols, and my labor was not in vain.\"\nBut Abraham made reply: \"Hear, my father Terah, blessed are thy gods\nthrough thee, for thou art their god, since thou didst fashion them,\nand their blessing is destruction and their help is vanity. They that\nhelp not themselves, how can they help thee or bless me?\"\n\nTerah grew very wrathful at Abraham, that he uttered such speech\nagainst his gods, and Abraham, thinking upon his father's anger, left\nhim and went from the house. But Terah called him back, and said,\n\"Gather together the chips of the oak wood from which I made images\nbefore thou didst return, and prepare my dinner for me.\" Abraham made\nready to do his father's bidding, and as he took up the chips he found\na little god among them, whose forehead bore the inscription \"God\nBarisat.\" He threw the chips upon the fire, and set Barisat up next to\nit, saying: \"Attention! Take care, Barisat, that the fire go not out\nuntil I come back. If it burns low, blow into it, and make it flame up\nagain.\" Speaking thus, he went out. When he came in again, he found\nBarisat lying prone upon his back, badly burnt. Smiling, he said to\nhimself, \"In truth, Barisat, thou canst keep the fire alive and prepare\nfood,\" and while he spoke, the idol was consumed to ashes. Then he took\nthe dishes to his father, and he ate and drank and was glad and blessed\nhis god Marumath. But Abraham said to his father, \"Bless not thy god\nMarumath, but rather thy god Barisat, for he it was who, out of his\ngreat love for thee, threw himself into the fire that thy meal might be\ncooked.\" \"Where is he now?\" exclaimed Terah, and Abraham answered, \"He\nhath become ashes in the fierceness of the fire.\" Terah said, \"Great is\nthe power of Barisat! I will make me another this day, and to-morrow he\nwill prepare my food for me.\"\n\nThese words of his father made Abraham laugh in his mind, but his soul\nwas grieved at his obduracy, and he proceeded to make clear his views\nupon the idols, saying: \"Father, no matter which of the two idols thou\nblessest, thy behavior is senseless, for the images that stand in the\nholy temple are more to be worshipped than thine. Zucheus, the god of\nmy brother Nahor, is more venerable than Marumath, because he is made\ncunningly of gold, and when he grows old, he will be worked over again.\nBut when thy Marumath becomes dim, or is shivered in pieces, he will\nnot be renewed, for he is of stone. And the god Joauv, who stands above\nthe other gods with Zucheus, is more venerable than Barisat, made of\nwood, because he is hammered out of silver, and ornamented by men, to\nshow his magnificence. But thy Barisat, before thou didst fashion him\ninto a god with thy axe, was rooted in the earth, standing there great\nand wonderful, with the glory of branches and blossoms. Now he is dry,\nand gone is his sap. From his height he has fallen to the earth, from\ngrandeur he came to pettiness, and the appearance of his face has paled\naway, and he himself was burnt in the fire, and he was consumed unto\nashes, and he is no more. And thou didst then say, 'I will make me\nanother this day, and to-morrow he will prepare my food for me.'\nFather,\" Abraham continued, and said, \"the fire is more to be\nworshipped than thy gods of gold and silver and wood and stone, because\nit consumes them. But also the fire I call not god, because it is\nsubject to the water, which quenches it. But also the water I call not\ngod, because it is sucked up by the earth, and I call the earth more\nvenerable, because it conquers the water. But also the earth I call not\ngod, because it is dried out by the sun, and I call the sun more\nvenerable than the earth, because he illumines the whole world with his\nrays. But also the sun I call not god, because his light is obscured\nwhen darkness cometh up. Nor do I call the moon and the stars gods,\nbecause their light, too, is extinguished when their time to shine is\npast. But hearken unto this, my father Terah, which I will declare unto\nthee, The God who hath created all things, He is the true God, He hath\nempurpled the heavens, and gilded the sun, and given radiance to the\nmoon and also the stars, and He drieth out the earth in the midst of\nmany waters, and also thee hath He put upon the earth, and me hath He\nsought out in the confusion of my thoughts.\"[49]\n\nTHE ICONOCLAST\n\nBut Terah could not be convinced, and in reply to Abraham's question,\nwho the God was that had created heaven and earth and the children of\nmen, he took him to the hall wherein stood twelve great idols and a\nlarge number of little idols, and pointing to them he said, \"Here are\nthey who have made all thou seest on earth, they who have created also\nme and thee and all men on the earth,\" and he bowed down before his\ngods, and left the hall with his son.\n\nAbraham went thence to his mother, and he spoke to her, saying:\n\"Behold, my father has shown those unto me who made heaven and earth\nand all the sons of men. Now, therefore, hasten and fetch a kid from\nthe flock, and make of it savory meat, that I may bring it to my\nfather's gods, perhaps I may thereby become acceptable to them.\" His\nmother did according to his request, but when Abraham brought the\noffering to the gods, he saw that they had no voice, no hearing, no\nmotion, and not one of them stretched forth his hand to eat. Abraham\nmocked them, and said, \"Surely, the savory meat that I prepared doth\nnot please you, or perhaps it is too little for you! Therefore I will\nprepare fresh savory meat to-morrow, better and more plentiful than\nthis, that I may see what cometh therefrom.\" But the gods remained mute\nand without motion before the second offering of excellent savory meat\nas before the first offering, and the spirit of God came over Abraham,\nand he cried out, and said: \"Woe unto my father and his wicked\ngeneration, whose hearts are all inclined to vanity, who serve these\nidols of wood and stone, which cannot eat, nor smell, nor hear, nor\nspeak, which have mouths without speech, eyes without sight, ears\nwithout hearing, hands without feeling, and legs without motion!\"\n\nAbraham then took a hatchet in his hand, and broke all his father's\ngods, and when he had done breaking them he placed the hatchet in the\nhand of the biggest god among them all, and he went out. Terah, having\nheard the crash of the hatchet on the stone, ran to the room of the\nidols, and he reached it at the moment when Abraham was leaving it, and\nwhen he saw what had happened, he hastened after Abraham, and he said\nto him, \"What is this mischief thou hast done to my gods?\" Abraham\nanswered: \"I set savory meat before them, and when I came nigh unto\nthem, that they might eat, they all stretched out their hands to take\nof the meat, before the big one had put forth his hand to eat. This\none, enraged against them on account of their behavior, took the\nhatchet and broke them all, and, behold, the hatchet is yet in his\nhands, as thou mayest see.\"\n\nThen Terah turned in wrath upon Abraham, and he said: \"Thou speakest\nlies unto me! Is there spirit, soul, or power in these gods to do all\nthou hast told me? Are they not wood and stone? and have I not myself\nmade them? It is thou that didst place the hatchet in the hand of the\nbig god, and thou sayest he smote them all.\" Abraham answered his\nfather, and said: \"How, then, canst thou serve these idols in whom\nthere is no power to do anything? Can these idols in which thou\ntrustest deliver thee? Can they hear thy prayers when thou callest upon\nthem?\" After having spoken these and similar words, admonishing his\nfather to mend his ways and refrain from worshipping idols, he leapt up\nbefore Terah, took the hatchet from the big idol, broke it therewith,\nand ran away.\n\nTerah hastened to Nimrod, bowed down before him, and besought him to\nhear his story, about his son who had been born to him fifty years\nback, and how he had done to his gods, and how he had spoken. \"Now,\ntherefore, my lord and king,\" he said, \"send for him that he may come\nbefore thee, and do thou judge him according to the law, that we may be\ndelivered from his evil.\" When Abraham was brought before the king, he\ntold him the same story as he had told Terah, about the big god who\nbroke the smaller ones, but the king replied, \"Idols do neither speak,\nnor eat, nor move.\" Then Abraham reproached him for worshipping gods\nthat can do nothing, and admonished him to serve the God of the\nuniverse. His last words were, \"If thy wicked heart will not hearken to\nmy words, to cause thee to forsake thy evil ways and serve the Eternal\nGod, then wilt thou die in shame in the latter days, thou, thy people,\nand all that are connected with thee, who hear thy words, and walk in\nthy evil ways.\"\n\nThe king ordered Abraham to be put into prison, and at the end of ten\ndays he caused all the princes and great men of the realm to appear\nbefore him, and to them he put the case of Abraham. Their verdict was\nthat he should be burnt, and, accordingly, the king had a fire prepared\nfor three days and three nights, in his furnace at Kasdim, and Abraham\nwas to be carried thither from prison to be burnt.\n\nAll the inhabitants of the land, about nine hundred thousand men, and\nthe women and the children besides, came to see what would be done with\nAbraham. And when he was brought forth, the astrologers recognized him,\nand they said to the king, \"Surely, this is the man whom we knew as a\nchild, at whose birth the great star swallowed the four stars. Behold,\nhis father did transgress thy command, and he made a mockery of thee,\nfor he did bring thee another child, and him didst thou kill.\"\n\nTerah was greatly terrified, for he was afraid of the king's wrath, and\nhe admitted that he had deceived the king, and when the king said,\n\"Tell me who advised thee to do this. Hide naught, and thou shalt not\ndie,\" he falsely accused Haran, who had been thirty-two years old at\nthe time of Abraham's birth, of having advised him to deceive the king.\nAt the command of the king, Abraham and Haran, stripped of all their\nclothes except their hosen, and their hands and feet bound with linen\ncords, were cast into the furnace. Haran, because his heart was not\nperfect with the Lord, perished in the fire, and also the men who cast\nthem into the furnace were burnt by the flames which leapt out over\nthem, and Abraham alone was saved by the Lord, and he was not burnt,\nthough the cords with which he was bound were consumed. For three days\nand three nights Abraham walked in the midst of the fire, and all the\nservants of the king came and told him, \"Behold, we have seen Abraham\nwalking about in the midst of the fire.\"[50]\n\nAt first the king would not believe them, but when some of his faithful\nprinces corroborated the words of his servants, he rose up and went to\nsee for himself. He then commanded his servants to take Abraham from\nthe fire, but they could not, because the flames leapt toward them from\nthe furnace, and when they tried again, at the king's command, to\napproach the furnace, the flames shot out and burnt their faces, so\nthat eight of their number died. The king then called unto Abraham, and\nsaid: \"O servant of the God who is in heaven, go forth from the midst\nof the fire, and come hither and stand before me,\" and Abraham came and\nstood before the king. And the king spoke to Abraham, and said, \"How\ncometh it that thou wast not burnt in the fire?\" And Abraham made\nanswer, \"The God of heaven and earth in whom I trust, and who hath all\nthings in His power, He did deliver me from the fire into which thou\ndidst cast me.\"[51]\n\nABRAHAM IN CANAAN\n\nWith ten temptations Abraham was tempted, and he withstood them all,\nshowing how great was the love of Abraham.[52] The first test to which\nhe was subjected was the departure from his native land. The hardships\nwere many and severe which he encountered, and he was loth to leave his\nhome, besides. He spoke to God, and said, \"Will not the people talk\nabout me, and say, 'He is endeavoring to bring the nations under the\nwings of the Shekinah, yet he leaves his old father in Haran, and he\ngoes away.'\" But God answered him, and said: \"Dismiss all care\nconcerning thy father and thy kinsmen from thy thoughts. Though they\nspeak words of kindness to thee, yet are they all of one mind, to ruin\nthee.\"[53]\n\nThen Abraham forsook his father in Haran, and journeyed to Canaan,\naccompanied by the blessing of God, who said unto him, \"I will make of\nthee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great.\"\nThese three blessings were to counteract the evil consequences which,\nhe feared, would follow emigration, for travelling from place to place\ninterferes with the growth of the family, it lessens one's substance,\nand it diminishes the consideration one enjoys.[54] The greatest of all\nblessings, however, was the word of God, \"And be thou a blessing.\" The\nmeaning of this was that whoever came in contact with Abraham was\nblessed. Even the mariners on the sea were indebted to him for\nprosperous voyages.[55] Besides, God held out the promise to him that\nin time to come his name would be mentioned in the Benedictions, God\nwould be praised as the Shield of Abraham, a distinction accorded to no\nother mortal except David.[56] But the words, \"And be thou a blessing,\"\nwill be fulfilled only in the future world, when the seed of Abraham\nshall be known among the nations and his offspring among the peoples as\n\"the seed which the Lord hath blessed.\"[57]\n\nWhen Abraham first was bidden to leave his home, he was not told to\nwhat land he was to journey\u2014all the greater would be his reward for\nexecuting the command of God.[58] And Abraham showed his trust in God,\nfor he said, \"I am ready to go whithersoever Thou sendest me.\" The Lord\nthen bade him go to a land wherein He would reveal Himself, and when he\nwent to Canaan later, God appeared to him, and he knew that it was the\npromised land.[59]\n\nOn entering Canaan, Abraham did not yet know that it was the land\nappointed as his inheritance. Nevertheless he rejoiced when he reached\nit. In Mesopotamia and in Aramnaharaim, the inhabitants of which he had\nseen eating, drinking, and acting wantonly, he had always wished, \"O\nthat my portion may not be in this land,\" but when he came to Canaan,\nhe observed that the people devoted themselves industriously to the\ncultivation of the land, and he said, \"O that my portion may be in this\nland!\" God then spoke to him, and said, \"Unto thy seed will I give this\nland.\"[60] Happy in these joyous tidings, Abraham erected an altar to\nthe Lord to give thanks unto Him for the promise, and then he journeyed\non, southward, in the direction of the spot whereon the Temple was once\nto stand. In Hebron he again erected an altar, thus taking possession\nof the land in a measure. And likewise he raised an altar in Ai,\nbecause he foresaw that a misfortune would befall his offspring there,\nat the conquest of the land under Joshua. The altar, he hoped, would\nobviate the evil results that might follow.\n\nEach altar raised by him was a centre for his activities as a\nmissionary. As soon as he came to a place in which he desired to\nsojourn, he would stretch a tent first for Sarah, and next for himself,\nand then he would proceed at once to make proselytes and bring them\nunder the wings of the Shekinah. Thus he accomplished his purpose of\ninducing all men to proclaim the Name of God.[61]\n\nFor the present Abraham was but a stranger in his promised land. After\nthe partition of the earth among the sons of Noah, when all had gone to\ntheir allotted portions, it happened that Canaan son of Ham saw that\nthe land extending from the Lebanon to the River of Egypt was fair to\nlook upon, and he refused to go to his own allotment, westward by the\nsea. He settled in the land upon Lebanon, eastward and westward from\nthe border of the Jordan and the border of the sea. And Ham, his\nfather, and his brothers Cush and Mizraim spoke to him, and said: \"Thou\nlivest in a land that is not thine, for it was not assigned unto us\nwhen the lots were drawn. Do not thus! But if thou persistest, ye, thou\nand thy children, will fall, accursed, in the land, in a rebellion. Thy\nsettling here was rebellion, and through rebellion thy children will be\nfelled down, and thy seed will be destroyed unto all eternity. Sojourn\nnot in the land of Shem, for unto Shem and unto the children of Shem\nwas it apportioned by lot. Accursed art thou, and accursed wilt thou be\nbefore all the children of Noah on account of the curse, for we took an\noath before the holy Judge and before our father Noah.\"\n\nBut Canaan hearkened not unto the words of his father and his brothers.\nHe dwelt in the land of the Lebanon from Hamath even unto the entrance\nof Egypt, he and his sons.[62] Though the Canaanites had taken unlawful\npossession of the land, yet Abraham respected their rights; he provided\nhis camels with muzzles, to prevent them from pasturing upon the\nproperty of others.[63]\n\nHIS SOJOURN IN EGYPT\n\nScarcely had Abraham established himself in Canaan, when a devastating\nfamine broke out\u2014one of the ten God appointed famines for the\nchastisement of men. The first of them came in the time of Adam, when\nGod cursed the ground for his sake; the second was this one in the time\nof Abraham; the third compelled Isaac to take up his abode among the\nPhilistines; the ravages of the fourth drove the sons of Jacob into\nEgypt to buy grain for food; the fifth came in the time of the Judges,\nwhen Elimelech and his family had to seek refuge in the land of Moab;\nthe sixth occurred during the reign of David, and it lasted three\nyears; the seventh happened in the day of Elijah, who had sworn that\nneither rain nor dew should fall upon the earth; the eighth was the one\nin the time of Elisha, when an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces\nof silver; the ninth is the famine that comes upon men piecemeal, from\ntime to time; and the tenth will scourge men before the advent of\nMessiah, and this last will be \"not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for\nwater, but of hearing the words of the Lord.\"[64]\n\nThe famine in the time of Abraham prevailed only in Canaan, and it had\nbeen inflicted upon the land in order to test his faith. He stood this\nsecond temptation as he had the first. He murmured not, and he showed\nno sign of impatience toward God, who had bidden him shortly before to\nabandon his native land for a land of starvation.[65] The famine\ncompelled him to leave Canaan for a time, and he repaired to Egypt, to\nbecome acquainted there with the wisdom of the priests and, if\nnecessary, give them instruction in the truth.[66]\n\nOn this journey from Canaan to Egypt, Abraham first observed the beauty\nof Sarah. Chaste as he was, he had never before looked at her, but now,\nwhen they were wading through a stream, he saw the reflection of her\nbeauty in the water like the brilliance of the sun.[67] Wherefore he\nspoke to her thus, \"The Egyptians are very sensual, and I will put thee\nin a casket that no harm befall me on account of thee.\" At the Egyptian\nboundary, the tax collectors asked him about the contents of the\ncasket, and Abraham told them he had barley in it. \"No,\" they said, \"it\ncontains wheat.\" \"Very well,\" replied Abraham, \"I am prepared to pay\nthe tax on wheat.\" The officers then hazarded the guess, \"It contains\npepper!\" Abraham agreed to pay the tax on pepper, and when they charged\nhim with concealing gold in the casket, he did not refuse to pay the\ntax on gold, and finally on precious stones. Seeing that he demurred to\nno charge, however high, the tax collectors, made thoroughly\nsuspicious, insisted upon his unfastening the casket and letting them\nexamine the contents. When it was forced open, the whole of Egypt was\nresplendent with the beauty of Sarah. In comparison with her, all other\nbeauties were like apes compared with men. She excelled Eve\nherself.[68] The servants of Pharaoh outbid one another in seeking to\nobtain possession of her, though they were of opinion that so radiant a\nbeauty ought not to remain the property of a private individual. They\nreported the matter to the king,[69] and Pharaoh sent a powerful armed\nforce to bring Sarah to the palace,[70] and so bewitched was he by her\ncharms that those who had brought him the news of her coming into Egypt\nwere loaded down with bountiful gifts.[71]\n\nAmid tears, Abraham offered up a prayer. He entreated God in these\nwords: \"Is this the reward for my confidence in Thee? For the sake of\nThy grace and Thy lovingkindness, let not my hope be put to shame.\"[72]\nSarah also implored God, saying: \"O God, Thou didst bid my lord Abraham\nleave his home, the land of his fathers, and journey to Canaan, and\nThou didst promise him to do good unto him if he fulfilled Thy\ncommands. And now we have done as Thou didst command us to do. We left\nour country and our kindred, and we journeyed to a strange land, unto a\npeople which we knew not heretofore. We came hither to save our people\nfrom starvation, and now hath this terrible misfortune befallen. O\nLord, help me and save me from the hand of this enemy, and for the sake\nof Thy grace show me good.\"\n\nAn angel appeared unto Sarah while she was in the presence of the king,\nto whom he was not visible, and he bade her take courage, saying, \"Fear\nnaught, Sarah, for God hath heard thy prayer.\" The king questioned\nSarah as to the man in the company of whom she had come to Egypt, and\nSarah called Abraham her brother. Pharaoh pledged himself to make\nAbraham great and powerful, to do for him whatever she wished. He sent\nmuch gold and silver to Abraham, and diamonds and pearls, sheep and\noxen, and men slaves and women slaves, and he assigned a residence to\nhim within the precincts of the royal palace.[73] In the love he bore\nSarah, he wrote out a marriage contract, deeding to her all he owned in\nthe way of gold and silver, and men slaves and women slaves, and the\nprovince of Goshen besides, the province occupied in later days by the\ndescendants of Sarah, because it was their property. Most remarkable of\nall, he gave her his own daughter Hagar as slave, for he preferred to\nsee his daughter the servant of Sarah to reigning as mistress in\nanother harem.[74]\n\nHis free-handed generosity availed naught. During the night, when he\nwas about to approach Sarah, an angel appeared armed with a stick, and\nif Pharaoh but touched Sarah's shoe to remove it from her foot, the\nangel planted a blow upon his hand, and when he grasped her dress, a\nsecond blow followed. At each blow he was about to deal, the angel\nasked Sarah whether he was to let it descend, and if she bade him give\nPharaoh a moment to recover himself, he waited and did as she desired.\nAnd another great miracle came to pass. Pharaoh, and his nobles, and\nhis servants, the very walls of his house and his bed were afflicted\nwith leprosy, and he could not indulge his carnal desires.[75] This\nnight in which Pharaoh and his court suffered their well deserved\npunishment was the night of the fifteenth of Nisan, the same night\nwherein God visited the Egyptians in a later time in order to redeem\nIsrael, the descendants of Sarah.[76]\n\nHorrified by the plague sent upon him, Pharaoh inquired how he could\nrid himself thereof. He applied to the priests, from whom he found out\nthe true cause of his affliction, which was corroborated by Sarah. He\nthen sent for Abraham and returned his wife to him, pure and untouched,\nand excused himself for what had happened, saying that he had had the\nintention of connecting himself in marriage with him, whom he had\nthought to be the brother of Sarah.[77] He bestowed rich gifts upon the\nhusband and the wife, and they departed for Canaan, after a three\nmonths' sojourn in Egypt.[78]\n\nArrived in Canaan they sought the same night-shelters at which they had\nrested before, in order to pay their accounts, and also to teach by\ntheir example that it is not proper to seek new quarters unless one is\nforced to it.[79]\n\nAbraham's sojourn in Egypt was of great service to the inhabitants of\nthe country, because he demonstrated to the wise men of the land how\nempty and vain their views were, and also he taught them astronomy and\nastrology, unknown in Egypt before his time.[80]\n\nTHE FIRST PHARAOH\n\nThe Egyptian ruler, whose meeting with Abraham had proved so untoward\nan event, was the first to bear the name Pharaoh. The succeeding kings\nwere named thus after him. The origin of the name is connected with the\nlife and adventures of Rakyon, Have-naught, a man wise, handsome, and\npoor, who lived in the land of Shinar. Finding himself unable to\nsupport himself in Shinar, he resolved to depart for Egypt, where he\nexpected to display his wisdom before the king, Ashwerosh, the son of\n'Anam. Perhaps he would find grace in the eyes of the king, who would\ngive Rakyon the opportunity of supporting himself and rising to be a\ngreat man. When he reached Egypt, he learnt that it was the custom of\nthe country for the king to remain in retirement in his palace, removed\nfrom the sight of the people. Only on one day of the year he showed\nhimself in public, and received all who had a petition to submit to\nhim. Richer by a disappointment, Rakyon knew not how he was to earn a\nlivelihood in the strange country. He was forced to spend the night in\na ruin, hungry as he was. The next day he decided to try to earn\nsomething by selling vegetables. By a lucky chance he fell in with some\ndealers in vegetables, but as he did not know the customs of the\ncountry, his new undertaking was not favored with good fortune.\nRuffians assaulted him, snatched his wares from him, and made a\nlaughing-stock of him. The second night, which he was compelled to\nspend in the ruin again, a sly plan ripened in his mind. He arose and\ngathered together a crew of thirty lusty fellows. He took them to the\ngraveyard, and bade them, in the name of the king, charge two hundred\npieces of silver for every body they buried. Otherwise interment was to\nbe prevented. In this way he succeeded in amassing great wealth within\neight months. Not only did he acquire silver, gold, and precious gems,\nbut also he attached a considerable force, armed and mounted, to his\nperson.\n\nOn the day on which the king appeared among the people, they began to\ncomplain of this tax upon the dead. They said: \"What is this thou art\ninflicting upon thy servants\u2014permitting none to be buried unless they\npay thee silver and gold! Has a thing like this come to pass in the\nworld since the days of Adam, that the dead should not be interred\nunless money be paid therefor! We know well that it is the privilege of\nthe king to take an annual tax from the living. But thou takest tribute\nfrom the dead, too, and thou exactest it day by day. O king, we cannot\nendure this any longer, for the whole of the city is ruined thereby.\"\n\nThe king, who had had no suspicion of Rakyon's doings, fell into a\ngreat rage when the people gave him information about them. He ordered\nhim and his armed force to appear before him. Rakyon did not come\nempty-handed. He was preceded by a thousand youths and maidens, mounted\nupon steeds and arrayed in state apparel. These were a present to the\nking. When he himself stepped before the king, he delivered gold,\nsilver, and diamonds to him in great abundance, and a magnificent\ncharger. These gifts and the display of splendor did not fail of taking\neffect upon the king, and when Rakyon, in well-considered words and\nwith a pliant tongue, described the undertaking, he won not only the\nking to his side, but also the whole court, and the king said to him,\n\"No longer shalt thou be called Rakyon, Have-naught, but Pharaoh,\nPaymaster, for thou didst collect taxes from the dead.\"\n\nSo profound was the impression made by Rakyon that the king, the\ngrandees, and the people, all together resolved to put the guidance of\nthe realm in the hands of Pharaoh. Under the suzerainty of Ashwerosh he\nadministered law and justice throughout the year; only on the one day\nwhen he showed himself to the people did the king himself give judgment\nand decide cases. Through the power thus conferred upon him and through\ncunning practices, Pharaoh succeeded in usurping royal authority, and\nhe collected taxes from all the inhabitants of Egypt. Nevertheless he\nwas beloved of the people, and it was decreed that every ruler of Egypt\nshould thenceforth bear the name Pharaoh.[81]\n\nTHE WAR OF THE KINGS\n\nOn his return from Egypt Abraham's relations to his own family were\ndisturbed by annoying circumstances. Strife developed between the\nherdmen of his cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle. Abraham\nfurnished his herds with muzzles, but Lot made no such provision, and\nwhen the shepherds that pastured Abraham's flocks took Lot's shepherds\nto task on account of the omission, the latter replied: \"It is known of\na surety that God said unto Abraham, 'To thy seed will I give the\nland.' But Abraham is a sterile mule. Never will he have children. On\nthe morrow he will die, and Lot will be his heir. Thus the flocks of\nLot are but consuming what belongs to them or their master.\" But God\nspoke: \"Verily, I said unto Abraham I would give the land unto his\nseed, but only after the seven nations shall have been destroyed from\nout of the land. To-day the Canaanites are therein, and the Perizzites.\nThey still have the right of habitation.\"\n\nNow, when the strife extended from the servants to the masters, and\nAbraham vainly called his nephew Lot to account for his unbecoming\nbehavior, Abraham decided he would have to part from his kinsman,\nthough he should have to compel Lot thereto by force. Lot thereupon\nseparated himself not from Abraham alone, but from the God of Abraham\nalso, and he betook himself to a district in which immorality and sin\nreigned supreme, wherefore punishment overtook him, for his own flesh\nseduced him later unto sin.\n\nGod was displeased with Abraham for not living in peace and harmony\nwith his own kindred, as he lived with all the world beside. On the\nother hand, God also took it in ill part that Abraham was accepting Lot\ntacitly as his heir, though He had promised him, in clear, unmistakable\nwords, \"To thy seed will I give the land.\" After Abraham had separated\nhimself from Lot, he received the assurance again that Canaan should\nonce belong to his seed, which God would multiply as the sand which is\nupon the sea-shore. As the sand fills the whole earth, so the offspring\nof Abraham would be scattered over the whole earth, from end to end;\nand as the earth is blessed only when it is moistened with water, so\nhis offspring would be blessed through the Torah, which is likened unto\nwater; and as the earth endures longer than metal, so his offspring\nwould endure forever, while the heathen would vanish; and as the earth\nis trodden upon, so his offspring would be trodden upon by the four\nkingdoms.[82]\n\nThe departure of Lot had a serious consequence, for the war waged by\nAbraham against the four kings is intimately connected with it. Lot\ndesired to settle in the well-watered circle of the Jordan, but the\nonly city of the plain that would receive him was Sodom, the king of\nwhich admitted the nephew of Abraham out of consideration for the\nlatter.[83] The five impious kings planned first to make war upon Sodom\non account of Lot and then advance upon Abraham.[84] For one of the\nfive, Amraphel, was none other than Nimrod, Abraham's enemy from of\nold. The immediate occasion for the war was this: Chedorlaomer, one of\nNimrod's generals, rebelled against him after the builders of the tower\nwere dispersed, and he set himself up as king of Elam. Then he\nsubjugated the Hamitic tribes living in the five cities of the plain of\nthe Jordan, and made them tributary. For twelve years they were\nfaithful to their sovereign ruler Chedorlaomer, but then they refused\nto pay the tribute, and they persisted in their insubordination for\nthirteen years. Making the most of Chedorlaomer's embarrassment, Nimrod\nled a host of seven thousand warriors against his former general. In\nthe battle fought between Elam and Shinar, Nimrod suffered a disastrous\ndefeat, he lost six hundred of his army, and among the slain was the\nking's son Mardon. Humiliated and abased, he returned to his country,\nand he was forced to acknowledge the suzerainty of Chedorlaomer, who\nnow proceeded to form an alliance with Arioch king of Ellasar, and\nTidal, the king of several nations, the purpose of which was to crush\nthe cities of the circle of the Jordan. The united forces of these\nkings, numbering eight hundred thousand, marched upon the five cities,\nsubduing whatever they encountered in their course,[85] and\nannihilating the descendants of the giants. Fortified places, unwalled\ncities, and flat, open country, all fell in their hands.[86] They\npushed on through the desert as far as the spring issuing from the rock\nat Kadesh, the spot appointed by God as the place of pronouncing\njudgment against Moses and Aaron on account of the waters of strife.\nThence they turned toward the central portion of Palestine, the country\nof dates, where they encountered the five godless kings, Bera, the\nvillain, king of Sodom; Birsha, the sinner, king of Gomorrah; Shinab,\nthe father-hater, king of Admah; Shemeber, the voluptuary, king of\nZeboiim; and the king of Bela, the city that devours its inhabitants.\nThe five were routed in the fruitful Vale of Siddim, the canals of\nwhich later formed the Dead Sea. They that remained of the rank and\nfile fled to the mountains, but the kings fell into the slime pits and\nstuck there. Only the king of Sodom was rescued, miraculously, for the\npurpose that he might convert those heathen to faith in God that had\nnot believed in the wonderful deliverance of Abraham from the fiery\nfurnace.[87]\n\nThe victors despoiled Sodom of all its goods and victuals, and took\nLot, boasting, \"We have taken the son of Abraham's brother captive,\" so\nbetraying the real object of their undertaking; their innermost desire\nwas to strike at Abraham.[88]\n\nIt was on the first evening of the Passover, and Abraham was eating of\nthe unleavened bread,[89] when the archangel Michael brought him the\nreport of Lot's captivity. This angel bears another name besides,\nPalit, the escaped, because when God threw Samael and his host from\ntheir holy place in heaven, the rebellious leader held on to Michael\nand tried to drag him along downward, and Michael escaped falling from\nheaven only through the help of God.[90]\n\nWhen the report of his nephew's evil state reached Abraham, he\nstraightway dismissed all thought of his dissensions with Lot from his\nmind, and only considered ways and means of deliverance.[91] He\nconvoked his disciples to whom he had taught the true faith, and who\nall called themselves by the name Abraham.[92] He gave them gold and\nsilver, saying at the same time: \"Know that we go to war for the\npurpose of saving human lives. Therefore, do ye not direct your eyes\nupon money, here lie gold and silver before you.\" Furthermore he\nadmonished them in these words: \"We are preparing to go to war. Let\nnone join us who hath committed a trespass, and fears that Divine\npunishment will descend upon him.\" Alarmed by his warning, not one\nwould obey his call to arms, they were fearful on account of their\nsins. Eliezer alone remained with him, wherefore God spake, and said:\n\"All forsook thee save only Eliezer. Verily, I shall invest him with\nthe strength of the three hundred and eighteen men whose aid thou didst\nseek in vain.\"[93]\n\nThe battle fought with the mighty hosts of the kings, from which\nAbraham emerged victorious, happened on the fifteenth of Nisan, the\nnight appointed for miraculous deeds.[94] The arrows and stones hurled\nat him effected naught,[95] but the dust of the ground, the chaff, and\nthe stubble which he threw at the enemy were transformed into\ndeath-dealing javelins and swords.[96] Abraham, as tall as seventy men\nset on end, and requiring as much food and drink as seventy men,\nmarched forward with giant strides, each of his steps measuring four\nmiles, until he overtook the kings, and annihilated their troops.\nFurther he could not go, for he had reached Dan, where Jeroboam would\nonce raise the golden calves, and on this ominous spot Abraham's\nstrength diminished.[97]\n\nHis victory was possible only because the celestial powers espoused his\nside. The planet Jupiter made the night bright for him, and an angel,\nLailah by name, fought for him.[98] In a true sense, it was a victory\nof God. All the nations acknowledged his more than human achievement,\nand they fashioned a throne for Abraham, and erected it on the field of\nbattle. When they attempted to seat him upon it, amid exclamations of\n\"Thou art our king! Thou art our prince! Thou art our god!\" Abraham\nwarded them off, and said, \"The universe has its King, and it has its\nGod!\" He declined all honors, and returned his property unto each man.\nOnly the little children he kept by himself. He reared them in the\nknowledge of God, and later they atoned for the disgrace of their\nparents.\n\nSomewhat arrogantly the king of Sodom set out to meet Abraham. He was\nproud that a great miracle, his rescue from the slime pit, had been\nperformed for him, too. He made Abraham the proposition that he keep\nthe despoiled goods for himself.[99] But Abraham refused them, and\nsaid: \"I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, God Most High, who hath\ncreated the world for the sake of the pious, that I will not take a\nthread nor a shoe-latchet nor aught that is thine. I have no right upon\nany goods taken as spoils,[100] save only that which the young men have\neaten, and the portion of the men who tarried by the stuff, though they\nwent not down to the battle itself.\" The example of Abraham in giving a\nshare in the spoils even unto the men not concerned directly in the\nbattle, was followed later by David, who heeded not the protest of the\nwicked men and the base fellows with him, that the watchers who staid\nby the stuff were not entitled to share alike with the warriors that\nhad gone down to the battle.[101]\n\nIn spite of his great success, Abraham nevertheless was concerned about\nthe issue of the war. He feared that the prohibition against shedding\nthe blood of man had been transgressed, and he also dreaded the\nresentment of Shem, whose descendants had perished in the encounter.\nBut God reassured him, and said: \"Be not afraid! Thou hast but\nextirpated the thorns, and as to Shem, he will bless thee rather than\ncurse thee.\" So it was. When Abraham returned from the war, Shem, or,\nas he is sometimes called, Melchizedek, the king of righteousness,\npriest of God Most High, and king of Jerusalem, came forth to meet him\nwith bread and wine.[102] And this high priest instructed Abraham in\nthe laws of the priesthood and in the Torah, and to prove his\nfriendship for him he blessed him, and called him the partner of God in\nthe possession of the world, seeing that through him the Name of God\nhad first been made known among men.[103] But Melchizedek arranged the\nwords of his blessing in an unseemly way. He named Abraham first and\nthen God. As a punishment, he was deposed by God from the priestly\ndignity, and instead it was passed over to Abraham, with whose\ndescendants it remained forever.[104]\n\nAs a reward for the sanctification of the Holy Name, which Abraham had\nbrought about when he refused to keep aught of the goods taken in\nbattle,[105] his descendants received two commands, the command of the\nthreads in the borders of their garments, and the command of the\nlatchets to be bound upon their hands and to be used as frontlets\nbetween their eyes. Thus they commemorate that their ancestor refused\nto take so much as a thread or a latchet. And because he would not\ntouch a shoe-latchet of the spoils, his descendants cast their shoe\nupon Edom.[106]\n\nTHE COVENANT OF THE PIECES\n\nShortly after the war, God revealed Himself unto Abraham, to soothe his\nconscience as to the spilling of innocent blood, for it was a scruple\nthat gave him much anguish of spirit. God assured him at the same time\nthat He would cause pious men to arise among his descendants, who, like\nhimself, would be a shield unto their generation.[107] As a further\ndistinction, God gave him leave to ask what he would have, rare grace\naccorded to none beside, except Jacob, Solomon, Ahaz, and the Messiah.\nAbraham spoke, and said: \"O Lord of the world, if in time to come my\ndescendants should provoke Thy wrath, it were better I remained\nchildless. Lot, for the sake of whom I journeyed as far as Damascus,\nwhere God was my protection, would be well pleased to be my heir.\nMoreover, I have read in the stars, 'Abraham, thou wilt beget no\nchildren.'\" Thereupon God raised Abraham above the vault of the skies,\nand He said, \"Thou art a prophet, not an astrologer!\"[108] Now Abraham\ndemanded no sign that he would be blessed with offspring. Without\nlosing another word, he believed in the Lord, and he was rewarded for\nhis simple faith by a share in this world and a share in the world to\ncome as well, and, besides, the redemption of Israel from the exile\nwill take place as a recompense for his firm trust.[109]\n\nBut though he believed the promise made him with a full and abiding\nfaith, he yet desired to know by what merit of theirs his descendants\nwould maintain themselves. Therefore God bade him bring Him a sacrifice\nof three heifers, three she-goats, three rams, a turtle dove, and a\nyoung pigeon, thus indicating to Abraham the various sacrifices that\nshould once be brought in the Temple, to atone for the sins of Israel\nand further his welfare.[110] \"But what will become of my descendants,\"\nasked Abraham, \"after the Temple is destroyed?\" God replied, and said,\n\"If they read the order of sacrifices as they will be set down in the\nScriptures, I will account it unto them as though they had offered the\nsacrifices, and I will forgive all their sins.\"[111] And God continued\nand revealed to Abraham the course of Israel's history and the history\nof the whole world: The heifer of three years indicates the dominion of\nBabylon, the she-goat of three years stands for the empire of the\nGreeks, the ram of three years for the Medo-Persian power, the rule of\nIshmael is represented by the ram, and Israel is the innocent dove.\n\nAbraham took him these animals and divided them in the midst. Had he\nnot done so, Israel would not have been able to resist the power of the\nfour kingdoms. But the birds he divided not, to indicate that Israel\nwill remain whole. And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses,\nand Abraham drove them away. Thus was announced the advent of the\nMessiah, who will cut the heathen in pieces, but Abraham bade Messiah\nwait until the time appointed unto him.[112] And as the Messianic time\nwas made known unto Abraham, so also the time of the resurrection of\nthe dead. When he laid the halves of the pieces over against each\nother, the animals became alive again, as the bird flew over them.[112]\n\nWhile he was preparing these sacrifices, a vision of great import was\ngranted to Abraham. The sun sank, and a deep sleep fell upon him, and\nhe beheld a smoking furnace, Gehenna, the furnace that God prepares for\nthe sinner; and he beheld a flaming torch, the revelation on Sinai,\nwhere all the people saw flaming torches; and he beheld the sacrifices\nto be brought by Israel; and an horror of great darkness fell upon him,\nthe dominion of the four kingdoms. And God spake to him: \"Abraham, as\nlong as thy children fulfil the two duties of studying the Torah and\nperforming the service in the Temple, the two visitations, Gehenna and\nalien rule, will be spared them. But if they neglect the two duties,\nthey will have to suffer the two chastisements; only thou mayest choose\nwhether they shall be punished by means of Gehenna or by means of the\ndominion of the stranger.\" All the day long Abraham wavered, until God\ncalled unto him: \"How long wilt thou halt between two opinions? Decide\nfor one of the two, and let it be for the dominion of the stranger!\"\nThen God made known to him the four hundred years' bondage of Israel in\nEgypt, reckoning from the birth of Isaac, for unto Abraham himself was\nthe promise given that he should go to his fathers in peace, and feel\nnaught of the arrogance of the stranger oppressor. At the same time, it\nwas made known to Abraham that his father Terah would have a share in\nthe world to come, for he had done penance for his sinful deeds.\nFurthermore it was revealed to him that his son Ishmael would turn into\nthe path of righteousness while yet his father was alive, and his\ngrandson Esau would not begin his impious way of life until he himself\nhad passed away. And as he received the promise of their deliverance\ntogether with the announcement of the slavery of his seed, in a land\nnot theirs, so it was made known to him that God would judge the four\nkingdoms and destroy them.[114]\n\nTHE BIRTH OF ISHMAEL\n\nThe covenant of the pieces, whereby the fortunes of his descendants\nwere revealed to Abraham, was made at a time when he was still\nchildless.[115] As long as Abraham and Sarah dwelt outside of the Holy\nLand, they looked upon their childlessness as a punishment for not\nabiding within it. But when a ten years' sojourn in Palestine found her\nbarren as before, Sarah perceived that the fault lay with her.[116]\nWithout a trace of jealousy she was ready to give her slave Hagar to\nAbraham as wife,[117] first making her a freed woman.[118] For Hagar\nwas Sarah's property, not her husband's. She had received her from\nPharaoh, the father of Hagar. Taught and bred by Sarah, she walked in\nthe same path of righteousness as her mistress,[119] and thus was a\nsuitable companion for Abraham, and, instructed by the holy spirit, he\nacceded to Sarah's proposal.\n\nNo sooner had Hagar's union with Abraham been consummated, and she felt\nthat she was with child, than she began to treat her former mistress\ncontemptuously, though Sarah was particularly tender toward her in the\nstate in which she was. When noble matrons came to see Sarah, she was\nin the habit of urging them to pay a visit to \"poor Hagar,\" too. The\ndames would comply with her suggestion, but Hagar would use the\nopportunity to disparage Sarah. \"My lady Sarah,\" she would say, \"is not\ninwardly what she appears to be outwardly. She makes the impression of\na righteous, pious woman, but she is not, for if she were, how could\nher childlessness be explained after so many years of marriage, while I\nbecame pregnant at once?\"\n\nSarah scorned to bicker with her slave, yet the rage she felt found\nvent in these words to Abraham:[120] \"It is thou who art doing me\nwrong. Thou hearest the words of Hagar, and thou sayest naught to\noppose them, and I hoped that thou wouldst take my part. For thy sake\ndid I leave my native land and the house of my father, and I followed\nthee into a strange land with trust in God. In Egypt I pretended to be\nthy sister, that no harm might befall thee. When I saw that I should\nbear no children, I took the Egyptian woman, my slave Hagar, and gave\nher unto thee for wife, contenting myself with the thought that I would\nrear the children she would bear. Now she treats me disdainfully in thy\npresence. O that God might look upon the injustice which hath been done\nunto me, to judge between thee and me, and have mercy upon us, restore\npeace to our home, and grant us offspring, that we have no need of\nchildren from Hagar, the Egyptian bondwoman of the generation of the\nheathen that cast thee in the fiery furnace!\"[121]\n\nAbraham, modest and unassuming as he was, was ready to do justice to\nSarah, and he conferred full power upon her to dispose of Hagar\naccording to her pleasure. He added but one caution, \"Having once made\nher a mistress, we cannot again reduce her to the state of a\nbondwoman.\" Unmindful of this warning, Sarah exacted the services of a\nslave from Hagar. Not alone this, she tormented her, and finally she\ncast an evil eye upon her, so that the unborn child dropped from her,\nand she ran away. On her flight she was met by several angels, and they\nbade her return, at the same time making known to her that she would\nbear a son who should be called Ishmael\u2014one of the six men who have\nbeen given a name by God before their birth, the others being Isaac,\nMoses, Solomon, Josiah, and the Messiah.[122]\n\nThirteen years after the birth of Ishmael the command was issued to\nAbraham that he put the sign of the covenant upon his body and upon the\nbodies of the male members of his household. Abraham was reluctant at\nfirst to do the bidding of God, for he feared that the circumcision of\nhis flesh would raise a barrier between himself and the rest of\nmankind. But God said unto him, \"Let it suffice thee that I am thy God\nand thy Lord, as it sufficeth the world that I am its God and its\nLord.\"[123]\n\nAbraham then consulted with his three true friends, Aner, Eshcol, and\nMamre, regarding the command of the circumcision. The first one spoke,\nand said, \"Thou art nigh unto a hundred years old, and thou considerest\ninflicting such pain upon thyself?\" The advice of the second was also\nagainst it. \"What,\" said Eshcol, \"thou choosest to mark thyself so that\nthy enemies may recognize thee without fail?\" Mamre, the third, was the\nonly one to advise obedience to the command of God. \"God succored thee\nfrom the fiery furnace,\" he said, \"He helped thee in the combat with\nthe kings, He provided for thee during the famine, and thou dost\nhesitate to execute His behest concerning the circumcision?\"[124]\nAccordingly, Abraham did as God had commanded, in bright daylight,\nbidding defiance to all, that none might say, \"Had we seen him attempt\nit, we should have prevented him.\"[125]\n\nThe circumcision was performed on the tenth day of Tishri, the Day of\nAtonement, and upon the spot on which the altar was later to be erected\nin the Temple, for the act of Abraham remains a never-ceasing atonement\nfor Israel.[126]\n\nTHE VISIT OF THE ANGELS\n\nOn the third day after his circumcision, when Abraham was suffering\ndire pain,[127] God spoke to the angels, saying, \"Go to, let us pay a\nvisit to the sick.\" The angels refused, and said: \"What is man, that\nThou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him?\nAnd Thou desirest to betake Thyself to a place of uncleanness, a place\nof blood and filth?\" But God replied unto them, \"Thus do ye speak. As\nye live, the savor of this blood is sweeter to me than myrrh and\nincense, and if you do not desire to visit Abraham, I will go\nalone.\"[128]\n\nThe day whereon God visited him was exceedingly hot, for He had bored a\nhole in hell, so that its heat might reach as far as the earth, and no\nwayfarer venture abroad on the highways, and Abraham be left\nundisturbed in his pain.[129] But the absence of strangers caused\nAbraham great vexation, and he sent his servant Eliezer forth to keep a\nlookout for travellers. When the servant returned from his fruitless\nsearch, Abraham himself, in spite of his illness and the scorching\nheat, prepared to go forth on the highway and see whether he would not\nsucceed where failure had attended Eliezer, whom he did not wholly\ntrust at any rate, bearing in mind the well-known saying, \"No truth\namong slaves.\"[130] At this moment God appeared to him, surrounded by\nthe angels. Quickly Abraham attempted to rise from his seat, but God\nchecked every demonstration of respect, and when Abraham protested that\nit was unbecoming to sit in the presence of the Lord, God said, \"As\nthou livest, thy descendants at the age of four and five will sit in\ndays to come in the schools and in the synagogues while I reside\ntherein.\"[131]\n\nMeantime Abraham beheld three men. They were the angels Michael,\nGabriel, and Raphael. They had assumed the form of human beings to\nfulfil his wish for guests toward whom to exercise hospitality. Each of\nthem had been charged by God with a special mission, besides, to be\nexecuted on earth. Raphael was to heal the wound of Abraham, Michael\nwas to bring Sarah the glad tidings that she would bear a son, and\nGabriel was to deal destruction to Sodom and Gomorrah. Arrived at the\ntent of Abraham, the three angels noticed that he was occupied in\nnursing himself, and they withdrew.[132] Abraham, however, hastened\nafter them through another door of the tent, which had wide open\nentrances on all sides.[133] He considered the duty of hospitality more\nimportant than the duty of receiving the Shekinah. Turning to God, he\nsaid, \"O Lord, may it please Thee not to leave Thy servant while he\nprovides for the entertainment of his guests.\"[134] Then he addressed\nhimself to the stranger walking in the middle between the other two,\nwhom by this token he considered the most distinguished,\u2014it was the\narchangel Michael\u2014and he bade him and his companions turn aside into\nhis tent. The manner of his guests, who treated one another politely,\nmade a good impression upon Abraham. He was assured that they were men\nof worth whom he was entertaining.[135] But as they appeared outwardly\nlike Arabs, and the people worshipped the dust of their feet, he bade\nthem first wash their feet, that they might not defile his tent.[136]\n\nHe did not depend upon his own judgment in reading the character of his\nguests. By his tent a tree was planted, which spread its branches out\nover all who believed in God, and afforded them shade. But if idolaters\nwent under the tree, the branches turned upward, and cast no shade upon\nthe ground. Whenever Abraham saw this sign, he would at once set about\nthe task of converting the worshippers of the false gods. And as the\ntree made a distinction between the pious and the impious, so also\nbetween the clean and the unclean. Its shade was denied them as long as\nthey refrained from taking the prescribed ritual bath in the spring\nthat flowed out from its roots, the waters of which rose at once for\nthose whose uncleanness was of a venial character and could be removed\nforthwith, while others had to wait seven days for the water to come\nup. Accordingly, Abraham bade the three men lean against the trunk of\nthe tree. Thus he would soon learn their worth or their\nunworthiness.[137]\n\nBeing of the truly pious, \"who promise little, but perform much,\"[133]\nAbraham said only: \"I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your\nheart, seeing that ye chanced to pass my tent at dinner time. Then,\nafter ye have given thanks to God, ye may pass on.\"[139] But when the\nmeal was served to the guests, it was a royal banquet, exceeding\nSolomon's at the time of his most splendid magnificence. Abraham\nhimself ran unto the herd, to fetch cattle for meat. He slaughtered\nthree calves, that he might be able to set a \"tongue with mustard\"\nbefore each of his guests.[140] In order to accustom Ishmael to\nGod-pleasing deeds, he had him dress the calves,[141] and he bade Sarah\nbake the bread. But as he knew that women are apt to treat guests\nniggardly, he was explicit in his request to her. He said, \"Make ready\nquickly three measures of meal, yea, fine meal.\" As it happened, the\nbread was not brought to the table, because it had accidentally become\nunclean, and our father Abraham was accustomed to eat his daily bread\nonly in a clean state.[142] Abraham himself served his guests, and it\nappeared to him that the three men ate. But this was an illusion. In\nreality the angels did not eat,[143] only Abraham, his three friends,\nAner, Eshcol, and Mamre, and his son Ishmael partook of the banquet,\nand the portions set before the angels were devoured by a heavenly\nfire.[144]\n\nAlthough the angels remained angels even in their human disguise,\nnevertheless the personality of Abraham was so exalted that in his\npresence the archangels felt insignificant.[145]\n\nAfter the meal the angels asked after Sarah, though they knew that she\nwas in retirement in her tent, but it was proper for them to pay their\nrespects to the lady of the house and send her the cup of wine over\nwhich the blessing had been said.[146] Michael, the greatest of the\nangels, thereupon announced the birth of Isaac. He drew a line upon the\nwall, saying, \"When the sun crosses this point, Sarah will be with\nchild, and when he crosses the next point, she will give birth to a\nchild.\" This communication, which was intended for Sarah and not for\nAbraham, to whom the promise had been revealed long before,[147] the\nangels made at the entrance to her tent, but Ishmael stood between the\nangel and Sarah, for it would not have been seemly to deliver the\nmessage in secret, with none other by. Yet, so radiant was the beauty\nof Sarah that a beam of it struck the angel, and made him look up. In\nthe act of turning toward her, he heard her laugh within herself:[148]\n\"Is it possible that these bowels can yet bring forth a child, these\nshrivelled breasts give suck? And though I should be able to bear, yet\nis not my lord Abraham old?\"[149]\n\nAnd the Lord said unto Abraham: \"Am I too old to do wonders? And\nwherefore doth Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child,\nwhich am old?\"[150] The reproach made by God was directed against\nAbraham as well as against Sarah, for he, too, had showed himself of\nlittle faith when he was told that a son would be born unto him. But\nGod mentioned only Sarah's incredulity, leaving Abraham to become\nconscious of his defect himself.[151]\n\nRegardful of the peace of their family life, God had not repeated\nSarah's words accurately to Abraham. Abraham might have taken amiss\nwhat his wife had said about his advanced years, and so precious is the\npeace between husband and wife that even the Holy One, blessed be He,\npreserved it at the expense of truth.[152]\n\nAfter Abraham had entertained his guests, he went with them to bring\nthem on their way, for, important as the duty of hospitality is, the\nduty of speeding the parting guest is even more important.[153] Their\nway lay in the direction of Sodom, whither two of the angels were\ngoing, the one to destroy it, and the second to save Lot, while the\nthird, his errand to Abraham fulfilled, returned to heaven.[154]\n\nTHE CITIES OF SIN\n\nThe inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah and the three other cities of the\nplain were sinful and godless. In their country there was an extensive\nvale, where they foregathered annually with their wives and their\nchildren and all belonging to them, to celebrate a feast lasting\nseveral days and consisting of the most revolting orgies. If a stranger\nmerchant passed through their territory, he was besieged by them all,\nbig and little alike, and robbed of whatever he possessed. Each one\nappropriated a bagatelle, until the traveller was stripped bare. If the\nvictim ventured to remonstrate with one or another, he would show him\nthat he had taken a mere trifle, not worth talking about. And the end\nwas that they hounded him from the city.\n\nOnce upon a time it happened that a man journeying from Elam arrived in\nSodom toward evening. No one could be found to grant him shelter for\nthe night. Finally a sly fox named Hedor invited him cordially to\nfollow him to his house. The Sodomite had been attracted by a rarely\nmagnificent carpet, strapped to the stranger's ass by means of a rope.\nHe meant to secure it for himself. The friendly persuasions of Hedor\ninduced the stranger to remain with him two days, though he had\nexpected to stay only overnight. When the time came for him to continue\non his journey, he asked his host for the carpet and the rope. Hedor\nsaid: \"Thou hast dreamed a dream, and this is the interpretation of thy\ndream: the rope signifies that thou wilt have a long life, as long as a\nrope; the varicolored carpet indicates that thou wilt own an orchard\nwherein thou wilt plant all sorts of fruit trees.\" The stranger\ninsisted that his carpet was a reality, not a dream fancy, and he\ncontinued to demand its return. Not only did Hedor deny having taken\nanything from his guest, he even insisted upon pay for having\ninterpreted his dream to him. His usual price for such services, he\nsaid, was four silver pieces, but in view of the fact that he was his\nguest, he would, as a favor to him, content himself with three pieces\nof silver.\n\nAfter much wrangling, they put their case before one of the judges of\nSodom, Sherek by name, and he said to the plaintiff, \"Hedor is known in\nthis city as a trustworthy interpreter of dreams, and what he tells\nthee is true.\" The stranger declared himself not satisfied with the\nverdict, and continued to urge his side of the case. Then Sherek drove\nboth the plaintiff and the defendant from the court room. Seeing this,\nthe inhabitants gathered together and chased the stranger from the\ncity, and lamenting the loss of his carpet, he had to pursue his way.\n\nAs Sodom had a judge worthy of itself, so also had the other\ncities\u2014Sharkar in Gomorrah, Zabnak in Admah, and Manon in Zeboiim.\nEliezer, the bondman of Abraham, made slight changes in the names of\nthese judges, in accordance with the nature of what they did: the first\nhe called Shakkara, Liar; the second Shakrura, Arch-deceiver; the third\nKazban, Falsifier; and the fourth, Mazle-Din, Perverter of Judgment. At\nthe suggestion of these judges, the cities set up beds on their\ncommons. When a stranger arrived, three men seized him by his head, and\nthree by his feet, and they forced him upon one of the beds. If he was\ntoo short to fit into it exactly, his six attendants pulled and\nwrenched his limbs until he filled it out; if he was too long for; it,\nthey tried to jam him in with all their combined strength, until the\nvictim was on the verge of death. Hit outcrles were met with the words,\n\"Thus will be done to any man that comes into our land.\"\n\nAfter a while travellers avoided these cities, but if some poor devil\nwas betrayed occasionally into entering them, they would give him gold\nand silver, but never any bread, so that he was bound to die of\nstarvation. Once he was dead, the residents of the city came and took\nback the marked gold and silver which they had given him, and they\nwould quarrel about the distribution of his clothes, for they would\nbury him naked.\n\nOnce Eliezer, the bondman of Abraham, went to Sodom, at the bidding of\nSarah, to inquire after the welfare of Lot. He happened to enter the\ncity at the moment when the people were robbing a stranger of his\ngarments. Eliezer espoused the cause of the poor wretch, and the\nSodomites turned against him; one threw a stone at his forehead and\ncaused considerable loss of blood. Instantly, the assailant, seeing the\nblood gush forth, demanded payment for having performed the operation\nof cupping. Eliezer refused to pay for the infliction of a wound upon\nhim, and he was haled before the judge Shakkara. The decision went\nagainst him, for the law of the land gave the assailant the right to\ndemand payment. Eliezer quickly picked up a stone and threw it at the\njudge's forehead. When he saw that the blood was flowing profusely, he\nsaid to the judge, \"Pay my debt to the man and give me the balance.\"\n\nThe cause of their cruelty was their exceeding great wealth. Their soil\nwas gold, and in their miserliness and their greed for more and more\ngold, they wanted to prevent strangers from enjoying aught of their\nriches. Accordingly, they flooded the highways with streams of water,\nso that the roads to their city were obliterated, and none could find\nthe way thither. They were as heartless toward beasts as toward men.\nThey begrudged the birds what they ate, and therefore extirpated\nthem.[155] They behaved impiously toward one another, too, not\nshrinking back from murder to gain possession of more gold. If they\nobserved that a man owned great riches, two of them would conspire\nagainst him. They would beguile him to the vicinity of ruins, and while\nthe one kept him on the spot by pleasant converse, the other would\nundermine the wall near which he stood, until it suddenly crashed down\nupon him and killed him. Then the two plotters would divide his wealth\nbetween them.\n\nAnother method of enriching themselves with the property of others was\nin vogue among them. They were adroit thieves. When they made up their\nminds to commit theft, they would first ask their victim to take care\nof a sum of money for them, which they smeared with strongly scented\noil before handing it over to him. The following night they would break\ninto his house, and rob him of his secret treasures, led to the place\nof concealment by the smell of the oil.\n\nTheir laws were calculated to do injury to the poor. The richer a man,\nthe more was he favored before the law. The owner of two oxen was\nobliged to render one day's shepherd service, but if he had but one ox,\nhe had to give two days' service. A poor orphan, who was thus forced to\ntend the flocks a longer time than those who were blessed with large\nherds, killed all the cattle entrusted to him in order to take revenge\nupon his oppressors, and he insisted, when the skins were assigned,\nthat the owner of two head of cattle should have but one skin, but the\nowner of one head should receive two skins, in correspondence to the\nmethod pursued in assigning the work. For the use of the ferry, a\ntraveller had to pay four zuz, but if he waded through the water, he\nhad to pay eight zuz.[156]\n\nThe cruelty of the Sodomites went still further. Lot had a daughter,\nPaltit, so named because she had been born to him shortly after he\nescaped captivity through the help of Abraham. Paltit lived in Sodom,\nwhere she had married. Once a beggar came to town, and the court issued\na proclamation that none should give him anything to eat, in order that\nhe might die of starvation. But Paltit had pity upon the unfortunate\nwretch, and every day when she went to the well to draw water, she\nsupplied him with a piece of bread, which she hid in her water pitcher.\nThe inhabitants of the two sinful cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, could not\nunderstand why the beggar did not perish, and they suspected that some\none was giving him food in secret. Three men concealed themselves near\nthe beggar, and caught Paltit in the act of giving him something to\neat. She had to pay for her humanity with death; she was burnt upon a\npyre.\n\nThe people of Admah were no better than those of Sodom. Once a stranger\ncame to Admah, intending to stay overnight and continue his journey the\nnext morning. The daughter of a rich man met the stranger, and gave him\nwater to drink and bread to eat at his request. When the people of\nAdmah heard of this infraction of the law of the land, they seized the\ngirl and arraigned her before the judge, who condemned her to death.\nThe people smeared her with honey from top to toe, and exposed her\nwhere bees would be attracted to her. The insects stung her to death,\nand the callous people paid no heed to her heartrending cries. Then it\nwas that God resolved upon the destruction of these sinners.[157]\n\nABRAHAM PLEADS FOR THE SINNERS\n\nWhen God saw that there was no righteous man among the inhabitants of\nthe sinful cities, and there would be none among their descendants, for\nthe sake of whose merits the rest might be treated with lenient\nconsideration, He resolved to annihilate them one and all.[158] But\nbefore judgment was executed, the Lord made known unto Abraham what He\nwould do to Sodom, Gomorrah, and the other cities of the plain, for\nthey formed a part of Canaan, the land promised unto Abraham, and\ntherefore did God say, \"I will not destroy them without the consent of\nAbraham.\"[159]\n\nLike a compassionate father, Abraham importuned the grace of God in\nbehalf of the sinners. He spoke to God, and said: \"Thou didst take an\noath that no more should all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood.\nIs it meet that Thou shouldst evade Thy oath and destroy cities by\nfire? Shall the Judge of all the earth not do right Himself? Verily, if\nThou desirest to maintain the world, Thou must give up the strict line\nof justice. If Thou insistest upon the right alone, there can be no\nworld.\" Whereupon God said to Abraham: \"Thou takest delight in\ndefending My creatures, and thou wouldst not call them guilty.\nTherefore I spoke with none but thee during the ten generations since\nNoah.\"[160] Abraham ventured to use still stronger words in order to\nsecure the safety of the godless. \"That be far from Thee,\" he said, \"to\nslay the righteous with the wicked, that the dwellers on the earth say\nnot, 'It is His trade to destroy the generations of men in a cruel\nmanner; for He destroyed the generation of Enosh, then the generation\nof the flood, and then He sent the confusion of tongues. He sticks ever\nto His trade.'\"\n\nGod made reply: \"I will let all the generations I have destroyed pass\nbefore thee, that thou mayest see they have not suffered the extreme\npunishment they deserved. But if thou thinkest that I did not act\njustly, then instruct thou Me in what I must do, and I will endeavor to\nact in accordance with thy words.\" And Abraham had to admit that God\nhad not diminished in aught the justice due to every creature in this\nworld or the other world.[161] Nevertheless he continued to speak, and\nhe said: \"Wilt Thou consume the cities, if there be ten righteous men\nin each?\" And God said, \"No, if I find fifty righteous therein, I will\nnot destroy the cities.\"[162]\n\nAbraham: \"I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, I who would have\nbeen turned long since into dust of the ground by Amraphel and into\nashes by Nimrod, had it not been for Thy grace.[163] Peradventure there\nshall lack five of the fifty righteous for Zoar, the smallest of the\nfive cities. Wilt Thou destroy all the city for lack of five?\"\n\nGod: \"I will not destroy it, if I find there forty and five.\"\n\nAbraham: \"Peradventure there be ten pious in each of the four cities,\nthen forgive Zoar in Thy grace, for its sins are not so great in number\nas the sins of the others.\"\n\nGod granted his petition, yet Abraham continued to plead, and he asked\nwhether God would not be satisfied if there were but thirty righteous,\nten in each of the three larger cities, and would pardon the two\nsmaller ones, even though there were no righteous therein, whose merits\nwould intercede for them. This, too, the Lord granted, and furthermore\nHe promised not to destroy the cities if but twenty righteous were\nfound therein; yes, God conceded that He would preserve the five cities\nfor the sake of ten righteous therein.[164] More than this Abraham did\nnot ask, for he knew that eight righteous ones, Noah and his wife, and\nhis three sons and their wives, had not sufficed to avert the doom of\nthe generation of the flood, and furthermore he hoped that Lot, his\nwife, and their four daughters, together with the husbands of their\ndaughters, would make up the number ten. What he did not know was that\neven the righteous in these sin-laden cities, though better than the\nrest, were far from good.[165]\n\nAbraham did not cease to pray for the deliverance of the sinners even\nafter the Shekinah had removed from him. But his supplications and his\nintercessions were in vain.[166] For fifty-two years God had warned the\ngodless; He had made mountains to quake and tremble. But they hearkened\nnot unto the voice of admonition. They persisted in their sins, and\ntheir well-merited punishment overtook them.[167] God forgives all\nsins, only not an immoral life. And as all these sinners led a life of\ndebauchery, they were burnt with fire.[168]\n\nTHE DESTRUCTION OF THE SINFUL CITIES\n\nThe angels left Abraham at noon time, and they reached Sodom at the\napproach of evening. As a rule, angels proclaim their errand with the\nswiftness of lightning, but these were angels of mercy, and they\nhesitated to execute their work of destruction, ever hoping that the\nevil would be turned aside from Sodom.[169] With nightfall, the fate of\nSodom was sealed irrevocably, and the angels arrived there.[170]\n\nBred in the house of Abraham, Lot had learnt from him the beautiful\ncustom of extending hospitality, and when he saw the angels before him\nin human form, thinking they were wayfarers, he bade them turn aside\nand tarry all night in his house. But as the entertainment of strangers\nwas forbidden in Sodom on penalty of death, he dared invite them only\nunder cover of the darkness of night,[171] and even then he had to use\nevery manner of precaution, bidding the angels to follow him by devious\nways.\n\nThe angels, who had accepted Abraham's hospitality without delay, first\nrefused to comply with Lot's request, for it is a rule of good breeding\nto show reluctance when an ordinary man invites one, but to accept the\ninvitation of a great man at once. Lot, however, was insistent, and\ncarried them into his house by main force.[172] At home he had to\novercome the opposition of his wife, for she said, \"If the inhabitants\nof Sodom hear of this, they will slay thee.\"\n\nLot divided his dwelling in two parts, one for himself and his guests,\nthe other for his wife, so that, if aught happened, his wife would be\nspared.[173] Nevertheless it was she who betrayed him. She went to a\nneighbor and borrowed some salt, and to the question, whether she could\nnot have supplied herself with salt during daylight hours, she replied,\n\"We had enough salt, until some guests came to us; for them we needed\nmore.\" In this way the presence of strangers was bruited abroad in the\ncity.[174]\n\nIn the beginning the angels were inclined to hearken to the petition of\nLot in behalf of the sinners, but when all the people of the city, big\nand little, crowded around the house of Lot with the purpose of\ncommitting a monstrous crime, the angels warded off his prayers,\nsaying, \"Hitherto thou couldst intercede for them, but now no longer.\"\nIt was not the first time that the inhabitants of Sodom wanted to\nperpetrate a crime of this sort. They had made a law some time before\nthat all strangers were to be treated in this horrible way. Lot, who\nwas appointed chief judge on the very day of the angels' coming, tried\nto induce the people to desist from their purpose, saying to them, \"My\nbrethren, the generation of the deluge was extirpated in consequence of\nsuch sins as you desire to commit, and you would revert to them?\" But\nthey replied: \"Back! And though Abraham himself came hither, we should\nhave no consideration for him. Is it possible that thou wouldst set\naside a law which thy predecessors administered?\"[175]\n\nEven Lot's moral sense was no better than it should have been. It is\nthe duty of a man to venture his life for the honor of his wife and his\ndaughters, but Lot was ready to sacrifice the honor of his daughters,\nwherefor he was punished severely later on.[176]\n\nThe angels told Lot who they were, and what the mission that had\nbrought them to Sodom, and they charged him to flee from the city with\nhis wife and his four daughters, two of them married, and two\nbetrothed.[177] Lot communicated their bidding to his sons-in-law, and\nthey mocked at him, and said: \"O thou fool! Violins, cymbals, and\nflutes resound in the city, and thou sayest Sodom will be destroyed!\"\nSuch scoffing but hastened the execution of the doom of Sodom.[178] The\nangel Michael laid hold upon the hand of Lot, and his wife and his\ndaughters, while with his little finger the angel Gabriel touched the\nrock whereon the sinful cities were built, and overturned them. At the\nsame time the rain that was streaming down upon the two cities was\nchanged into brimstone.[179]\n\nWhen the angels had brought forth Lot and his family and set them\nwithout the city, he bade them run for their lives, and not look\nbehind, lest they behold the Shekinah, which had descended to work the\ndestruction of the cities. The wife of Lot could not control herself.\nHer mother love made her look behind to see if her married daughters\nwere following. She beheld the Shekinah, and she became a pillar of\nsalt. This pillar exists unto this day. The cattle lick it all day\nlong, and in the evening it seems to have disappeared, but when morning\ncomes it stands there as large as before.[180]\n\nThe savior angel had urged Lot himself to take refuge with Abraham. But\nhe refused, and said: \"As long as I dwelt apart from Abraham, God\ncompared my deeds with the deeds of my fellow-citizens, and among them\nI appeared as a righteous man. If I should return to Abraham, God will\nsee that his good deeds outweigh mine by far.\"[181] The angel then\ngranted his plea that Zoar be left undestroyed. This city had been\nfounded a year later than the other four; it was only fifty-one years\nold, and therefore the measure of its sins was not so full as the\nmeasure of the sins of the neighboring cities.[182]\n\nThe destruction of the cities of the plain took place at dawn of the\nsixteenth day of Nisan, for the reason that there were moon and sun\nworshippers among the inhabitants. God said: \"If I destroy them by day,\nthe moon worshippers will say, Were the moon here, she would prove\nherself our savior; and if I destroy them by night, the sun worshippers\nwill say, Were the sun here, he would prove himself our savior. I will\ntherefore let their chastisement overtake them on the sixteenth day of\nNisan at an hour at which the moon and the sun are both in the\nskies.\"[183]\n\nThe sinful inhabitants of the cities of the plain not only lost their\nlife in this world, but also their share in the future world. As for\nthe cities themselves, however, they will be restored in the Messianic\ntime.[184]\n\nThe destruction of Sodom happened at the time at which Abraham was\nperforming his morning devotions, and for his sake it was established\nas the proper hour for the morning prayer unto all times.[185] When he\nturned his eyes toward Sodom and beheld the rising smoke, he prayed for\nthe deliverance of Lot, and God granted his petition\u2014the fourth time\nthat Lot became deeply indebted to Abraham. Abraham had taken him with\nhim to Palestine, he had made him rich in flocks, herds, and tents, he\nhad rescued him from captivity, and by his prayer he saved him from the\ndestruction of Sodom. The descendants of Lot, the Ammonites and the\nMoabites, instead of showing gratitude to the Israelites, the posterity\nof Abraham, committed four acts of hostility against them. They sought\nto compass the destruction of Israel by means of Balaam's curses, they\nwaged open war against him at the time of Jephthah, and also at the\ntime of Jehoshaphat, and finally they manifested their hatred against\nIsrael at the destruction of the Temple. Hence it is that God appointed\nfour prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zephaniah, to proclaim\npunishment unto the descendants of Lot, and four times their sin is\nrecorded in Holy Writ.[186]\n\nThough Lot owed his deliverance to the petition of Abraham, yet it was\nat the same time his reward for not having betrayed Abraham in Egypt,\nwhen he pretended to be the brother of Sarah.[187] But a greater reward\nstill awaits him. The Messiah will be a descendant of his, for the\nMoabitess Ruth is the great-grandmother of David, and the Ammonitess\nNaamah is the mother of Rehoboam, and the Messiah is of the line of\nthese two kings.[188]\n\nAMONG THE PHILISTINES\n\nThe destruction of Sodom induced Abraham to journey to Gerar.\nAccustomed to extend hospitality to travellers and wayfarers, he no\nlonger felt comfortable in a district in which all traffic had ceased\nby reason of the ruined cities. There was another reason for Abraham's\nleaving his place; the people spoke too much about the ugly incident\nwith Lot's daughters.[189]\n\nArrived in the land of the Philistines, he again, as aforetime in\nEgypt, came to an understanding with Sarah, that she was to call\nherself his sister. When the report of her beauty reached the king, he\nordered her to be brought before him, and he asked her who her\ncompanion was, and she told him that Abraham was her brother. Entranced\nby her beauty, Abimelech the king took Sarah to wife, and heaped marks\nof honor upon Abraham in accordance with the just claims of a brother\nof the queen. Toward evening, before retiring, while he was still\nseated upon his throne, Abimelech fell into a sleep, and he slept until\nthe morning, and in the dream he dreamed he saw an angel of the Lord\nraising his sword to deal him a death blow. Sore frightened, he asked\nthe cause, and the angel replied, and said: \"Thou wilt die on account\nof the woman thou didst take into thy house this day, for she is the\nwife of Abraham, the man whom thou didst cite before thee. Return his\nwife unto him! But if thou restore her not, thou shalt surely die, thou\nand all that are thine.\"\n\nIn that night the voice of a great crying was heard in the whole land\nof the Philistines, for they saw the figure of a man walking about,\nwith sword in hand, slaying all that came in his way. At the same time\nit happened that in men and beasts alike all the apertures of the body\nclosed up, and the land was seized with indescribable excitement. In\nthe morning, when the king awoke, in agony and terror, he called all\nhis servants and told his dream in their ears. One of their number\nsaid: \"O lord and king! Restore this woman unto the man, for he is her\nhusband. It is but his way in a strange land to pretend that she is his\nsister. Thus did he with the king of Egypt, too, and God sent heavy\nafflictions upon Pharaoh when he took the woman unto himself. Consider,\nalso, O lord and king, what hath befallen this night in the land; great\npain, wailing, and confusion there was, and we know that it came upon\nus only because of this woman.\"[190]\n\nThere were some among his servants who spake: \"Be not afraid of dreams!\nWhat dreams make known to man is but falsehood.\" Then God appeared unto\nAbimelech again and commanded him to let Sarah go free, otherwise he\nwould be a dead man.[191] Abimelech replied: \"Is this Thy way? Then, I\nween, the generation of the flood and the generation of the confusion\nof tongues were innocent, too! The man himself did say unto me, She is\nmy sister, and she, even she herself said, He is my brother, and all\nthe people of their household said the same words.\" And God said unto\nhim: \"Yea, I know that thou hast not yet committed a trespass, for I\nwithheld thee from sinning. Thou didst not know that Sarah was a man's\nwife.[192] But is it becoming to question a stranger, no sooner does he\nset foot upon thy territory, about the woman accompanying him, whether\nshe be his wife or his sister? Abraham, who is a prophet, knew\nbeforehand the danger to himself if he revealed the whole truth.[193]\nBut, being a prophet, he also knows that thou didst not touch his wife,\nand he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live.\"\n\nThe smoke was still rising from the ruins of Sodom, and Abimelech and\nhis people, seeing it, feared that a like fate might overtake\nthem.[194] The king called Abraham and reproached him for having caused\nsuch great misfortune through his false statements concerning Sarah.\nAbraham excused his conduct by his apprehension that, the fear of God\nnot being in the place, the inhabitants of the land slay him for his\nwife.[195] Abraham went on and told the history of his whole life, and\nhe said: \"When I dwelt in the house of my father, the nations of the\nworld sought to do me harm, but God proved Himself my Redeemer. When\nthe nations of the world tried to lead me astray to idolatry, God\nrevealed Himself to me, and He said, 'Get thee out of thy country, and\nfrom thy kindred, and from thy father's house.' And when the nations of\nthe world were about to go astray, God sent two prophets, my kinsmen\nShem and Eber, to admonish them.\"[196]\n\nAbimelech gave rich gifts to Abraham, wherein he acted otherwise than\nPharaoh in similar circumstances. The Egyptian king gave gifts to\nSarah, but Abimelech was God fearing, and desired that Abraham pray for\nhim.[197] To Sarah he gave a costly robe that covered her whole person,\nhiding her seductive charms from the view of beholders. At the same\ntime it was a reproach to Abraham, that he had not fitted Sarah out\nwith the splendor due to his wife.[198]\n\nThough Abimelech had done him great injury, Abraham not only granted\nhim the forgiveness he craved, but also he prayed for him to God. Thus\nhe is an exemplar unto all. \"Man should be pliant as a reed, not hard\nlike the cedar.\" He should be easily appeased, and slow to anger, and\nas soon as he who has sinned against him asks for pardon, he should\nforgive him with all his heart. Even if deep and serious injury has\nbeen done to him, he should not be vengeful, nor bear his brother a\ngrudge in his heart.[199]\n\nAbraham prayed thus for Abimelech: \"O Lord of the world! Thou hast\ncreated man that he may increase and propagate his kind. Grant that\nAbimelech and his house may multiply and increase!\"[200] God fulfilled\nAbraham's petition in behalf of Abimelech and his people, and it was\nthe first time it happened in the history of mankind that God fulfilled\nthe prayer of one human being for the benefit of another.[201]\nAbimelech and his subjects were healed of all their diseases, and so\nefficacious was the prayer offered by Abraham that the wife of\nAbimelech, barren hitherto, bore a child.[202]\n\nTHE BIRTH OF ISAAC\n\nWhen the prayer of Abraham for Abimelech was heard, and the king of the\nPhilistines recovered, the angels raised a loud cry, and spoke to God\nthus: \"O Lord of the world! All these years hath Sarah been barren, as\nthe wife of Abimelech was. Now Abraham prayed to Thee, and the wife of\nAbimelech hath been granted a child. It is just and fair that Sarah\nshould be remembered and granted a child.\" These words of the angels,\nspoken on the New Year's Day, when the fortunes of men are determined\nin heaven for the whole year, bore a result. Barely seven months later,\non the first day of the Passover, Isaac was born.\n\nThe birth of Isaac was a happy event, and not in the house of Abraham\nalone. The whole world rejoiced, for God remembered all barren women at\nthe same time with Sarah. They all bore children. And all the blind\nwere made to see, all the lame were made whole, the dumb were made to\nspeak, and the mad were restored to reason. And a still greater miracle\nhappened: on the day of Isaac's birth the sun shone with such splendor\nas had not been seen since the fall of man, and as he will shine again\nonly in the future world.[203]\n\nTo silence those who asked significantly, \"Can one a hundred years old\nbeget a son?\" God commanded the angel who has charge over the embryos,\nto give them form and shape, that he fashion Isaac precisely according\nto the model of Abraham, so that all seeing Isaac might exclaim,\n\"Abraham begot Isaac.\"[204]\n\nThat Abraham and Sarah were blessed with offspring only after they had\nattained so great an age, had an important reason. It was necessary\nthat Abraham should bear the sign of the covenant upon his body before\nhe begot the son who was appointed to be the father of Israel.[205] And\nas Isaac was the first child born to Abraham after he was marked with\nthe sign, he did not fail to celebrate his circumcision with much pomp\nand ceremony on the eighth day.[206] Shem, Eber, Abimelech king of the\nPhilistines, and his whole retinue, Phicol the captain of his host in\nit\u2014they all were present, and also Terah and his son Nahor, in a word,\nall the great ones round about.[207] On this occasion Abraham could at\nlast put a stop to the talk of the people, who said, \"Look at this old\ncouple! They picked up a foundling on the highway, and they pretend he\nis their own son, and to make their statement seem credible, they\narrange a feast in his honor.\" Abraham had invited not only men to the\ncelebration, but also the wives of the magnates with their infants, and\nGod permitted a miracle to be done. Sarah had enough milk in her\nbreasts to suckle all the babes there,[208] and they who drew from her\nbreasts had much to thank her for. Those whose mothers had harbored\nonly pious thoughts in their minds when they let them drink the milk\nthat flowed from the breasts of the pious Sarah, they became proselytes\nwhen they grew up; and those whose mothers let Sarah nurse them only in\norder to test her, they grew up to be powerful rulers, losing their\ndominion only at the revelation on Mount Sinai, because they would not\naccept the Torah. All proselytes and pious heathen are the descendants\nof these infants.[209]\n\nAmong the guests of Abraham were the thirty-one kings and thirty-one\nviceroys of Palestine who were vanquished by Joshua at the conquest of\nthe Holy Land. Even Og king of Bashan was present, and he had to suffer\nthe teasing of the other guests, who rallied him upon having called\nAbraham a sterile mule, who would never have offspring. Og, on his\npart, pointed at the little boy with contempt, and said, \"Were I to lay\nmy finger upon him, he would be crushed.\" Whereupon God said to him:\n\"Thou makest mock of the gift given to Abraham! As thou livest, thou\nshalt look upon millions and myriads of his descendants, and in the end\nthou shalt fall into their hands.\"[210]\n\nISHMAEL CAST OFF\n\nWhen Isaac grew up, quarrels broke out between him and Ishmael, on\naccount of the rights of the first-born. Ishmael insisted he should\nreceive a double portion of the inheritance after the death of Abraham,\nand Isaac should receive only one portion. Ishmael, who had been\naccustomed from his youth to use the bow and arrow, was in the habit of\naiming his missiles in the direction of Isaac, saying at the same time\nthat he was but jesting.[211] Sarah, however, insisted that Abraham\nmake over to Isaac all he owned, that no disputes might arise after his\ndeath,[212] \"for,\" she said, \"Ishmael is not worthy of being heir with\nmy son, nor with a man like Isaac, and certainly not with my son\nIsaac.\"[213] Furthermore, Sarah insisted that Abraham divorce himself\nfrom Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, and send away the woman and her son,\nso that there be naught in common between them and her own son, either\nin this world or in the future world.\n\nOf all the trials Abraham had to undergo, none was so hard to bear as\nthis, for it grieved him sorely to separate himself from his son. God\nappeared to him in the following night, and said to him: \"Abraham,\nknowest thou not that Sarah was appointed to be thy wife from her\nmother's womb? She is thy companion and the wife of thy youth, and I\nnamed not Hagar as thy wife, nor Sarah as thy bondwoman. What Sarah\nspoke unto thee was naught but truth, and let it not be grievous in thy\nsight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman.\" The next\nmorning Abraham rose up early, gave Hagar her bill of divorcement, and\nsent her away with her son, first binding a rope about her loins that\nall might see she was a bondwoman.[214]\n\nThe evil glance cast upon her stepson by Sarah made him sick and\nfeverish, so that Hagar had to carry him, grown-up as he was. In his\nfever he drank often of the water in the bottle given her by Abraham as\nshe left his house, and the water was quickly spent. That she might not\nlook upon the death of her child, Hagar cast Ishmael under the willow\nshrubs growing on the selfsame spot whereon the angels had once spoken\nwith her and made known to her that she would bear a son. In the\nbitterness of her heart, she spoke to God, and said, \"Yesterday Thou\ndidst say to me, I will greatly multiply thy seed, that it shall not be\nnumbered for multitude, and to-day my son dies of thirst.\" Ishmael\nhimself cried unto God, and his prayer and the merits of Abraham\nbrought them help in their need, though the angels appeared against\nIshmael before God. They said, \"Wilt Thou cause a well of water to\nspring up for him whose descendants will let Thy children of Israel\nperish with thirst?\" But God replied, and said, \"What is Ishmael at\nthis moment\u2014righteous or wicked?\" and when the angels called him\nrighteous, God continued, \"I treat man according to his deserts at each\nmoment.\"[215]\n\nAt that moment Ishmael was pious indeed, for he was praying to God in\nthe following words: \"O Lord of the world! If it be Thy will that I\nshall perish, then let me die in some other way, not by thirst, for the\ntortures of thirst are great beyond all others.\" Hagar, instead of\npraying to God, addressed her supplications to the idols of her youth.\nThe prayer of Ishmael was acceptable before God, and He bade Miriam's\nwell spring up, the well created in the twilight of the sixth day of\ncreation.[216] Even after this miracle Hagar's faith was no stronger\nthan before. She filled the bottle with water, because she feared it\nmight again be spent, and no other would be nigh. Thereupon she\njourneyed to Egypt with her son, for \"Throw the stick into the air as\nthou wilt, it will always land on its point.\" Hagar had come from\nEgypt, and to Egypt she returned, to choose a wife for her son.[217]\n\nTHE TWO WIVES OF ISHMAEL\n\nThe wife of Ishmael bore four sons and a daughter, and afterward\nIshmael, his mother, and his wife and children went and returned to the\nwilderness. They made themselves tents in the wilderness in which they\ndwelt, and they continued to encamp and journey, month by month and\nyear by year. And God gave Ishmael flocks, and herds, and tents, on\naccount of Abraham his father, and the man increased in cattle. And\nsome time after, Abraham said to Sarah, his wife, \"I will go and see my\nson Ishmael; I yearn to look upon him, for I have not seen him for a\nlong time.\" And Abraham rode upon one of his camels to the wilderness,\nto seek his son Ishmael, for he heard that he was dwelling in a tent in\nthe wilderness with all belonging to him. And Abraham went to the\nwilderness, and he reached the tent of Ishmael about noon, and he asked\nafter him. He found the wife of Ishmael sitting in the tent with her\nchildren, and her husband and his mother were not with them. And\nAbraham asked the wife of Ishmael, saying, \"Where has Ishmael gone?\"\nAnd she said, \"He has gone to the field to hunt game.\" And Abraham was\nstill mounted upon the camel, for he would not alight upon the ground,\nas he had sworn to his wife Sarah that he would not get off from the\ncamel. And Abraham said to Ishmael's wife, \"My daughter, give me a\nlittle water, that I may drink, for I am fatigued and tired from the\njourney.\" And Ishmael's wife answered, and said to Abraham, \"We have\nneither water nor bread,\" and she was sitting in the tent, and did not\ntake any notice of Abraham. She did not even ask him who he was. But\nall the while she was beating her children in the tent, and she was\ncursing them, and she also cursed her husband Ishmael, and spoke evil\nof him, and Abraham heard the words of Ishmael's wife to her children,\nand it was an evil thing in his eyes. And Abraham called to the woman\nto come out to him from the tent, and the woman came out, and stood\nface to face with Abraham, while Abraham was still mounted upon the\ncamel. And Abraham said to Ishmael's wife, \"When thy husband Ishmael\nreturns home, say these words to him: A very old man from the land of\nthe Philistines came hither to seek thee, and his appearance was thus\nand so, and thus was his figure. I did not ask him who he was, and\nseeing thou wast not here, he spoke unto me, and said, When Ishmael thy\nhusband returns, tell him, Thus did the man say, When thou comest home,\nput away this tent-pin which thou hast placed here, and place another\ntent-pin in its stead.\" And Abraham finished his instructions to the\nwoman, and he turned and went off on the camel homeward. And when\nIshmael returned to the tent, he heard the words of his wife, and he\nknew that it was his father, and that his wife had not honored him. And\nIshmael understood his father's words that he had spoken to his wife,\nand he hearkened to the voice of his father, and he divorced his wife,\nand she went away. And Ishmael afterward went to the land of Canaan,\nand he took another wife, and he brought her to his tent, to the place\nwhere he dwelt.\n\nAnd at the end of three years, Abraham said, \"I will go again and see\nIshmael my son, for I have not seen him for a long time.\" And he rode\nupon his camel, and went to the wilderness, and he reached the tent of\nIshmael about noon. And he asked after Ishmael, and his wife came out\nof the tent, and she said, \"He is not here, my lord, for he has gone to\nhunt in the fields and feed the camels,\" and the woman said to Abraham,\n\"Turn in, my lord, into the tent, and eat a morsel of bread, for thy\nsoul must be wearied on account of the journey.\" And Abraham said to\nher, \"I will not stop, for I am in haste to continue my journey, but\ngive me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty,\" and the woman\nhastened and ran into the tent, and she brought out water and bread to\nAbraham, which she placed before him, urging him to eat and drink, and\nhe ate and drank, and his heart was merry, and he blessed his son\nIshmael. And he finished his meal, and he blessed the Lord, and he said\nto Ishmael's wife: \"When Ishmael comes home, say these words to him: A\nvery old man from the land of the Philistines came hither, and asked\nafter thee, and thou wast not here, and I brought him out bread and\nwater, and he ate and drank, and his heart was merry. And he spoke\nthese words to me, When Ishmael thy husband comes home, say unto him,\nThe tent-pin which thou hast is very good, do not put it away from the\ntent.\" And Abraham finished commanding the woman, and he rode off to\nhis home, to the land of the Philistines, and when Ishmael came to his\ntent, his wife went forth to meet him with joy and a cheerful heart,\nand she told him the words of the old man. Ishmael knew that it was his\nfather, and that his wife had honored him, and he praised the Lord. And\nIshmael then took his wife and his children and his cattle and all\nbelonging to him, and he journeyed from there, and he went to his\nfather in the land of the Philistines. And Abraham related to Ishmael\nall that had happened between him and the first wife that Ishmael had\ntaken, according to what she had done. And Ishmael and his children\ndwelt with Abraham many days in that land, and Abraham dwelt in the\nland of the Philistines a long time.[218]\n\nTHE COVENANT WITH ABIMELECH\n\nAfter a sojourn of twenty-six years in the land of the Philistines,\nAbraham departed thence, and he settled in the neighborhood of Hebron.\nThere he was visited by Abimelech with twenty of his grandees,[219] who\nrequested him to make an alliance with the Philistines.\n\nAs long as Abraham was childless, the heathen did not believe in his\npiety, but when Isaac was born, they said to him, \"God is with thee.\"\nBut again they entertained doubt of his piety when he cast off Ishmael.\nThey said, \"Were he a righteous man, he would not drive his first-born\nforth from his house.\" But when they observed the impious deeds of\nIshmael, they said, \"God is with thee in all thou doest.\" That Abraham\nwas the favorite of God, they saw in this, too, that although Sodom was\ndestroyed and all traffic had come to a standstill in that region, yet\nAbraham's treasure chambers were filled. For these reasons, the\nPhilistines sought to form an alliance with him, to remain in force for\nthree generations to come, for it is to the third generation that the\nlove of a father extends.\n\nBefore Abraham concluded the covenant with Abimelech, king of the\nPhilistines, he reproved him on account of a well, for \"Correction\nleads to love,\" and \"There is no peace without correction.\" The herdmen\nof Abraham and those of Abimelech had left their dispute about the well\nto decision by ordeal: the well was to belong to the party for whose\nsheep the waters would rise so that they could drink of them. But the\nshepherds of Abimelech disregarded the agreement, and they wrested the\nwell for their own use.[220] As a witness and a perpetual sign that the\nwell belonged to him, Abraham set aside seven sheep, corresponding to\nthe seven Noachian laws binding upon all men alike.[221] But God said,\n\"Thou didst give him seven sheep. As thou livest, the Philistines shall\none day slay seven righteous men, Samson, Hophni, Phinehas, and Saul\nwith his three sons, and they will destroy seven holy places, and they\nwill keep the holy Ark in their country as booty of war for a period of\nseven months, and furthermore only the seventh generation of thy\ndescendants will be able to rejoice in the possession of the land\npromised to them.\"[222] After concluding the alliance with Abimelech,\nwho acknowledged Abraham's right upon the well, Abraham called the\nplace Beer-sheba, because there they swore both of them unto a covenant\nof friendship.\n\nIn Beer-sheba Abraham dwelt many years, and thence he endeavored to\nspread the law of God. He planted a large grove there, and he made four\ngates for it, facing the four sides of the earth, east, west, north,\nand south, and he planted a vineyard therein. If a traveller came that\nway, he entered by the gate that faced him, and he sat in the grove,\nand ate, and drank, until he was satisfied, and then he departed. For\nthe house of Abraham was always open for all passers-by, and they came\ndaily to eat and drink there. If one was hungry, and he came to\nAbraham, he would give him what he needed, so that he might eat and\ndrink and be satisfied; and if one was naked, and he came to Abraham,\nhe would clothe him with the garments of the poor man's choice, and\ngive him silver and gold, and make known to him the Lord, who had\ncreated him and set him on earth.[223] After the wayfarers had eaten,\nthey were in the habit of thanking Abraham for his kind entertainment\nof them, whereto he would reply: \"What, ye give thanks unto me! Rather\nreturn thanks to your host, He who alone provides food and drink for\nall creatures.\" Then the people would ask, \"Where is He?\" and Abraham\nwould answer them, and say: \"He is the Ruler of heaven and earth. He\nwoundeth and He healeth, He formeth the embryo in the womb of the\nmother and bringeth it forth into the world, He causeth the plants and\nthe trees to grow, He killeth and He maketh alive, He bringeth down to\nSheol and bringeth up.\" When the people heard such words, they would\nask, \"How shall we return thanks to God and manifest our gratitude unto\nHim?\" And Abraham would instruct them in these words: \"Say, Blessed be\nthe Lord who is blessed! Blessed be He that giveth bread and food unto\nall flesh!\" In this manner did Abraham teach those who had enjoyed his\nhospitality how to praise and thank God.[224] Abraham's house thus\nbecame not only a lodging-place for the hungry and thirsty, but also a\nplace of instruction where the knowledge of God and His law were\ntaught.[225]\n\nSATAN ACCUSES ABRAHAM\n\nIn spite of the lavish hospitality practiced in the house of Abraham,\nit happened once that a poor man, or rather an alleged poor man, was\nturned away empty-handed, and this was the immediate reason for the\nlast of Abraham's temptations, the sacrifice of his favorite son Isaac.\nIt was the day on which Abraham celebrated the birth of Isaac with a\ngreat banquet, to which all the magnates of the time were bidden with\ntheir wives. Satan, who always appears at a feast in which no poor\npeople participate, and keeps aloof from those to which poor guests are\ninvited, turned up at Abraham's banquet in the guise of a beggar asking\nalms at the door. He had noticed that Abraham had invited no poor man,\nand he knew that his house was the right place for him.\n\nAbraham was occupied with the entertainment of his distinguished\nguests, and Sarah was endeavoring to convince their wives, the matrons,\nthat Isaac was her child in very truth, and not a spurious child. No\none concerned himself about the beggar at the door, who thereupon\naccused Abraham before God.[226]\n\nNow, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves\nbefore the Lord, and Satan came also among them.[227] And the Lord said\nunto Satan, \"From whence comest thou?\" and Satan answered the Lord, and\nsaid, \"From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down\nin it.\" And the Lord said unto Satan, \"What hast thou to say concerning\nall the children of the earth?\" and Satan answered the Lord, and said:\n\"I have seen all the children of the earth serving Thee and remembering\nThee, when they require aught from Thee. And when Thou givest them what\nthey require from Thee, then they forsake Thee, and they remember Thee\nno more. Hast Thou seen Abraham, the son of Terah, who at first had no\nchildren, and he served Thee and erected altars to Thee wherever he\ncame, and he brought offerings upon them, and he proclaimed Thy name\ncontinually to all the children of the earth? And now his son Isaac is\nborn to him, he has forsaken Thee. He made a great feast for all the\ninhabitants of the land, and the Lord he has forgotten. For amidst all\nthat he has done, he brought Thee no offering, neither burnt offering\nnor peace offering, neither one lamb nor goat of all that he had killed\nin the day that his son was weaned. Even from the time of his son's\nbirth till now, being thirty-seven years, he built no altar before\nThee, nor brought up any offering to Thee, for he saw that Thou didst\ngive what he requested before Thee, and he therefore forsook Thee.\" And\nthe Lord said to Satan: \"Hast thou considered My servant Abraham? For\nthere is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man\nbefore Me for a burnt offering, and that feareth God and escheweth\nevil. As I live, were I to say unto him, Bring up Isaac thy son before\nMe, he would not withhold him from Me, much less if I told him to bring\nup a burnt offering before Me from his flocks or herds.\" And Satan\nanswered the Lord, and said, \"Speak now unto Abraham as Thou hast said,\nand Thou wilt see whether he will not transgress and cast aside Thy\nwords this day.\"[228]\n\nGod wished to try Isaac also. Ishmael once boasted to Isaac, saying, \"I\nwas thirteen years old when the Lord spoke to my father to circumcise\nus, and I did not transgress His word, which He commanded my father.\"\nAnd Isaac answered Ishmael, saying, \"What dost thou boast to me about\nthis, about a little bit of thy flesh which thou didst take from thy\nbody, concerning which the Lord commanded thee? As the Lord liveth, the\nGod of my father Abraham, if the Lord should say unto my father, Take\nnow thy son Isaac and bring him up as an offering before Me, I would\nnot refrain, but I would joyfully accede to it.\"\n\nTHE JOURNEY TO MORIAH\n\nAnd the Lord thought to try Abraham and Isaac in this matter.[229] And\nHe said to Abraham, \"Take now thy son.\"\n\nAbraham: \"I have two sons, and I do not know which of them Thou\ncommandest me to take.\"\n\nGod: \"Thine only son.\"\n\nAbraham: \"The one is the only son of his mother, and the other is the\nonly son of his mother.\"\n\nGod: \"Whom thou lovest.\"\n\nAbraham: \"I love this one and I love that one.\"\n\nGod: \"Even Isaac.\"[230]\n\nAbraham: \"And where shall I go?\"\n\nGod: \"To the land I will show thee, and offer Isaac there for a burnt\noffering.\"\n\nAbraham: \"Am I fit to perform the sacrifice, am I a priest? Ought not\nrather the high priest Shem to do it?\"\n\nGod: \"When thou wilt arrive at that place, I will consecrate thee and\nmake thee a priest.\"[231]\n\nAnd Abraham said within himself, \"How shall I separate my son Isaac\nfrom Sarah his mother?\" And he came into the tent, and he sate before\nSarah his wife, and he spake these words to her: \"My son Isaac is grown\nup, and he has not yet studied the service of God. Now, to-morrow I\nwill go and bring him to Shem and Eber his son, and there he will learn\nthe ways of the Lord, for they will teach him to know the Lord, and to\nknow how to pray unto the Lord that He may answer him, and to know the\nway of serving the Lord his God.\" And Sarah said, \"Thou hast spoken\nwell. Go, my lord, and do unto him as thou hast said, but remove him\nnot far from me, neither let him remain there too long, for my soul is\nbound within his soul.\" And Abraham said unto Sarah, \"My daughter, let\nus pray to the Lord our God that He may do good with us.\" And Sarah\ntook her son Isaac, and he abode with her all that night, and she\nkissed and embraced him, and she laid injunctions upon him till\nmorning, and she said to Abraham: \"O my lord, I pray thee, take heed of\nthy son, and place thine eyes over him, for I have no other son nor\ndaughter but him. O neglect him not. If he be hungry, give him bread,\nand if he be thirsty, give him water to drink; do not let him go on\nfoot, neither let him sit in the sun, neither let him go by himself on\nthe road, neither turn him from whatever he may desire, but do unto him\nas he may say to thee.\"\n\nAfter spending the whole night in weeping on account of Isaac, she got\nup in the morning and selected a very fine and beautiful garment from\nthose that Abimelech had given to her. And she dressed Isaac therewith,\nand she put a turban upon his head, and she fastened a precious stone\nin the top of the turban, and she gave them provisions for the road.\nAnd Sarah went out with them, and she accompanied them upon the road to\nsee them off, and they said to her, \"Return to the tent.\" And when\nSarah heard the words of her son Isaac, she wept bitterly, and Abraham\nwept with her, and their son wept with them, a great weeping, also\nthose of their servants who went with them wept greatly. And Sarah\ncaught hold of Isaac, and she held him in her arms, and she embraced\nhim, and continued to weep with him, and Sarah said, \"Who knoweth if I\nshall ever see thee again after this day?\"\n\nAbraham departed with Isaac amid great weeping, while Sarah and the\nservants returned to the tent.[232] He took two of his young men with\nhim, Ishmael and Eliezer, and while they were walking in the road, the\nyoung men spoke these words to each other. Said Ishmael to Eliezer:\n\"Now my father Abraham is going with Isaac to bring him up for a burnt\noffering to the Lord, and when he returneth, he will give unto me all\nthat he possesses, to inherit after him, for I am his first-born.\"\nEliezer answered: \"Surely, Abraham did cast thee off with thy mother,\nand swear that thou shouldst not inherit anything of all he possesses.\nAnd to whom will he give all that he has, all his precious things, but\nunto his servant, who has been faithful in his house, to me, who have\nserved him night and day, and have done all that he desired me?\" The\nholy spirit answered, \"Neither this one nor that one will inherit\nAbraham.\"[233]\n\nAnd while Abraham and Isaac were proceeding along the road, Satan came\nand appeared to Abraham in the figure of a very aged man, humble and of\ncontrite spirit, and said to him: \"Art thou silly or foolish, that thou\ngoest to do this thing to thine only son? God gave thee a son in thy\nlatter days, in thine old age, and wilt thou go and slaughter him, who\ndid not commit any violence, and wilt thou cause the soul of thine only\nson to perish from the earth? Dost thou not know and understand that\nthis thing cannot be from the Lord? For the Lord would not do unto man\nsuch evil, to command him, Go and slaughter thy son.\" Abraham, hearing\nthese words, knew that it was Satan, who endeavored to turn him astray\nfrom the way of the Lord, and he rebuked him that he went away. And\nSatan returned and came to Isaac, and he appeared unto him in the\nfigure of a young man, comely and well-favored, saying unto him: \"Dost\nthou not know that thy silly old father bringeth thee to the slaughter\nthis day for naught? Now, my son, do not listen to him, for he is a\nsilly old man, and let not thy precious soul and beautiful figure be\nlost from the earth.\" And Isaac told these words to his father, but\nAbraham said to him, \"Take heed of him, and do not listen to his words,\nfor he is Satan endeavoring to lead us astray from the commands of our\nGod.\" And Abraham rebuked Satan again, and Satan went from them, and,\nseeing he could not prevail over them, he transformed himself into a\nlarge brook of water in the road, and when Abraham, Isaac, and the two\nyoung men reached that place, they saw a brook large and powerful as\nthe mighty waters. And they entered the brook, trying to pass it, but\nthe further they went, the deeper the brook, so that the water reached\nup to their necks, and they were all terrified on account of the water.\nBut Abraham recognized the place, and he knew that there had been no\nwater there before, and he said to his son: \"I know this place, on\nwhich there was no brook nor water. Now, surely, it is Satan who doth\nall this to us, to draw us aside this day from the commands of God.\"\nAnd Abraham rebuked Satan, saying unto him: \"The Lord rebuke thee, O\nSatan. Begone from us, for we go by the command of God.\" And Satan was\nterri fied at the voice of Abraham, and he went away from them, and the\nplace became dry land again as it was at first. And Abraham went with\nIsaac toward the place that God had told him.[234]\n\nSatan then appeared unto Sarah in the figure of an old man, and said\nunto her, \"Where did thine husband go?\" She said, \"To his work.\" \"And\nwhere did thy son Isaac go?\" he inquired further, and she answered, \"He\nwent with his father to a place of study of the Torah.\" Satan said: \"O\nthou poor old woman, thy teeth will be set on edge on account of thy\nson, as thou knowest not that Abraham took his son with him on the road\nto sacrifice him.\" In this hour Sarah's loins trembled, and all her\nlimbs shook. She was no more of this world. Nevertheless she aroused\nherself, and said, \"All that God hath told Abraham, may he do it unto\nlife and unto peace.\"[235]\n\nOn the third day of his journey, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the\nplace at a distance, which God had told him. He noticed upon the\nmountain a pillar of fire reaching from the earth to heaven, and a\nheavy cloud in which the glory of God was seen. Abraham said to Isaac,\n\"My son, dost thou see on that mountain which we perceive at a distance\nthat which I see upon it?\" And Isaac answered, and said unto his\nfather, \"I see, and, lo, a pillar of fire and a cloud, and the glory of\nthe Lord is seen upon the cloud.\" Abraham knew then that Isaac was\naccepted before the Lord for an offering. He asked Ishmael and Eliezer,\n\"Do you also see that which we see upon the mountain?\" They answered,\n\"We see nothing more than like the other mountains,\" and Abraham knew\nthat they were not accepted before the Lord to go with them.[236]\nAbraham said to them, \"Abide ye here with the ass, you are like the\nass\u2014as little as it sees, so little do you see.[237] I and Isaac my son\ngo to yonder mount, and worship there before the Lord, and this eve we\nwill return to you.\"[238] An unconscious prophecy had come to Abraham,\nfor he prophesied that he and Isaac would both return from the\nmountain.[239] Eliezer and Ishmael remained in that place, as Abraham\nhad commanded, while he and Isaac went further.\n\nTHE 'AKEDAH\n\nAnd while they were walking along, Isaac spake unto his father,\n\"Behold, the fire and the wood, but where then is the lamb for a burnt\noffering before the Lord?\" And Abraham answered Isaac, saying, \"The\nLord hath chosen thee, my son, for a perfect burnt offering, instead of\nthe lamb.\" And Isaac said unto his father, \"I will do all that the Lord\nhath spoken to thee with joy and cheerfulness of heart.\" And Abraham\nagain said unto Isaac his son, \"Is there in thy heart any thought or\ncounsel concerning this which is not proper? Tell me, my son, I pray\nthee! O my son, conceal it not from me.\" And Isaac answered, \"As the\nLord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is nothing in my heart to\ncause me to deviate either to the right or the left from the word that\nHe hath spoken unto thee. Neither limb nor muscle hath moved or stirred\non account of this, nor is there in my heart any thought or evil\ncounsel concerning this. But I am joyful and cheerful of heart in this\nmatter, and I say, Blessed is the Lord who has this day chosen me to be\na burnt offering before Him.\"\n\nAbraham greatly rejoiced at the words of Isaac, and they went on and\ncame together to that place that the Lord had spoken of.[240] And\nAbraham approached to build the altar in that place, and Abraham did\nbuild, while Isaac handed him stones and mortar, until they finished\nerecting the altar. And Abraham took the wood and arranged it upon the\naltar, and he bound Isaac, to place him upon the wood which was upon\nthe altar, to slay him for a burnt offering before the Lord.[241] Isaac\nspake hereupon: \"Father, make haste, bare thine arm, and bind my hands\nand feet securely, for I am a young man, but thirty-seven years of age,\nand thou art an old man. When I behold the slaughtering knife in thy\nhand, I may perchance begin to tremble at the sight and push against\nthee, for the desire unto life is bold. Also I may do myself an injury\nand make myself unfit to be sacrificed. I adjure thee, therefore, my\nfather, make haste, execute the will of thy Creator, delay not. Turn up\nthy garment, gird thy loins, and after that thou hast slaughtered me,\nburn me unto fine ashes. Then gather the ashes, and bring them to\nSarah, my mother, and place them in a casket in her chamber. At all\nhours, whenever she enters her chamber, she will remember her son Isaac\nand weep for him.\"\n\nAnd again Isaac spoke: \"As soon as thou hast slaughtered me, and hast\nseparated thyself from me, and returnest to Sarah my mother, and she\nasketh thee, Where is my son Isaac? what wilt thou answer her, and what\nwill you two do in your old age?\" Abraham answered, and said, \"We know\nwe can survive thee by a few days only. He who was our Comfort before\nthou wast born, will comfort us now and henceforth.\"\n\nAfter he had laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac on the altar, upon\nthe wood, Abraham braced his arms, rolled up his garments, and leaned\nhis knees upon Isaac with all his strength. And God, sitting upon His\nthrone, high and exalted, saw how the hearts of the two were the same,\nand tears were rolling down from the eyes of Abraham upon Isaac, and\nfrom Isaac down upon the wood, so that it was submerged in tears. When\nAbraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son,\nGod spoke to the angels: \"Do you see how Abraham my friend proclaims\nthe unity of My Name in the world? Had I hearkened unto you at the time\nof the creation of the world, when ye spake, What is man, that Thou art\nmindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him? who would\nthere have been to make known the unity of My Name in this world?\" The\nangels then broke into loud weeping, and they exclaimed: \"The highways\nlie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth, he hath broken the covenant.\nWhere is the reward of Abraham, he who took the wayfarers into his\nhouse, gave them food and drink, and went with them to bring them on\nthe way? The covenant is broken, whereof Thou didst speak to him,\nsaying, 'For in Isaac shall thy seed be called,' and saying, 'My\ncovenant will I establish with Isaac,' for the slaughtering knife is\nset upon his throat.\"\n\nThe tears of the angels fell upon the knife, so that it could not cut\nIsaac's throat, but from terror his soul escaped from him. Then God\nspoke to the archangel Michael, and said: \"Why standest thou here? Let\nhim not be slaughtered.\" Without delay, Michael, anguish in his voice,\ncried out: \"Abraham! Abraham! Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither\ndo thou any thing unto him!\" Abraham made answer, and he said: \"God did\ncommand me to slaughter Isaac, and thou dost command me not to\nslaughter him! The words of the Teacher and the words of the\ndisciple\u2014unto whose words doth one hearken?\"[242] Then Abraham heard it\nsaid: \"By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, because thou hast done\nthis thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in\nblessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed\nas the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the\nsea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in\nthy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou\nhast obeyed My voice.\"\n\nAt once Abraham left off from Isaac, who returned to life, revived by\nthe heavenly voice admonishing Abraham not to slaughter his son.\nAbraham loosed his bonds, and Isaac stood upon his feet, and spoke the\nbenediction, \"Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who quickenest the dead.\"[243]\n\nThen spake Abraham to God, \"Shall I go hence without having offered up\na sacrifice?\" Whereunto God replied, and said, \"Lift up thine eyes, and\nbehold the sacrifice behind thee.\"[244] And Abraham lifted up his eyes,\nand, behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket, which God had\ncreated in the twilight of Sabbath eve in the week of creation, and\nprepared since then as a burnt offering instead of Isaac. And the ram\nhad been running toward Abraham, when Satan caught hold of him and\nentangled his horns in the thicket, that he might not advance to\nAbraham. And Abraham, seeing this, fetched him from the thicket, and\nbrought him upon the altar as an offering in the place of his son\nIsaac. And Abraham sprinkled the blood of the ram upon the altar, and\nhe exclaimed, and said, \"This is instead of my son, and may this be\nconsidered as the blood of my son before the Lord.\" And whatsoever\nAbraham did by the altar, he exclaimed, and said, \"This is instead of\nmy son, and may it be considered before the Lord in place of my son.\"\nAnd God accepted the sacrifice of the ram, and it was accounted as\nthough it had been Isaac.[245]\n\nAs the creation of this ram had been extraordinary, so also was the use\nto which all parts of his carcass were put. Not one thing went to\nwaste. The ashes of the parts burnt upon the altar formed the\nfoundation of the inner altar, whereon the expiatory sacrifice was\nbrought once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the day on which the\noffering of Isaac took place. Of the sinews of the ram, David made ten\nstrings for his harp upon which he played. The skin served Elijah for\nhis girdle, and of his two horns, the one was blown at the end of the\nrevelation on Mount Sinai, and the other will be used to proclaim the\nend of the Exile, when the \"great horn shall be blown, and they shall\ncome which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and they that\nwere outcasts in the land of Egypt, and they shall worship the Lord in\nthe holy mountain at Jerusalem.\"[246]\n\nWhen God commanded the father to desist from sacrificing Isaac, Abraham\nsaid: \"One man tempts another, because he knoweth not what is in the\nheart of his neighbor. But Thou surely didst know that I was ready to\nsacrifice my son!\"\n\nGod: \"It was manifest to Me, and I foreknew it, that thou wouldst\nwithhold not even thy soul from Me.\"\n\nAbraham: \"And why, then, didst Thou afflict me thus?\"\n\nGod: \"It was My wish that the world should become acquainted with thee,\nand should know that it is not without good reason that I have chosen\nthee from all the nations. Now it hath been witnessed unto men that\nthou fearest God.\"[247]\n\nHereupon God opened the heavens, and Abraham heard the words, \"By\nMyself I swear!\"\n\nAbraham: \"Thou swearest, and also I swear, I will not leave this altar\nuntil I have said what I have to say.\"\n\nGod: \"Speak whatsoever thou hast to speak!\"\n\nAbraham: \"Didst Thou not promise me Thou wouldst let one come forth out\nof mine own bowels, whose seed should fill the whole world?\"\n\nGod: \"Yes.\"\n\nAbraham: \"Whom didst Thou mean?\"\n\nGod: \"Isaac.\"\n\nAbraham: \"Didst Thou not promise me to make my seed as numerous as the\nsand of the sea-shore?\"\n\nGod: \"Yes.\"\n\nAbraham: \"Through which one of my children?\"\n\nGod: \"Through Isaac.\"\n\nAbraham: \"I might have reproached Thee, and said, O Lord of the world,\nyesterday Thou didst tell me, In Isaac shall Thy seed be called, and\nnow Thou sayest, Take thy son, thine only son, even Isaac, and offer\nhim for a burnt offering. But I refrained myself, and I said nothing.\nThus mayest Thou, when the children of Isaac commit trespasses and\nbecause of them fall upon evil times, be mindful of the offering of\ntheir father Isaac, and forgive their sins and deliver them from their\nsuffering.\"\n\nGod: \"Thou hast said what thou hadst to say, and I will now say what I\nhave to say. Thy children will sin before me in time to come, and I\nwill sit in judgment upon them on the New Year's Day. If they desire\nthat I should grant them pardon, they shall blow the ram's horn on that\nday, and I, mindful of the ram that was substituted for Isaac as a\nsacrifice, will forgive them for their sins.\"[248]\n\nFurthermore, the Lord revealed unto Abraham that the Temple, to be\nerected on the spot of Isaac's offering, would be destroyed,[249] and\nas the ram substituted for Isaac extricated himself from one tree but\nto be caught in another, so his children would pass from kingdom to\nkingdom\u2014delivered from Babylonia they would be subjugated by Media,\nrescued from Media they would be enslaved by Greece, escaped from\nGreece they would serve Rome\u2014yet in the end they would be redeemed in a\nfinal redemption, at the sound of the ram's horn, when \"the Lord God\nshall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the\nsouth.\"[250]\n\nThe place on which Abraham had erected the altar was the same whereon\nAdam had brought the first sacrifice, and Cain and Abel had offered\ntheir gifts to God\u2014the same whereon Noah raised an altar to God after\nhe left the ark;[251] and Abraham, who knew that it was the place\nappointed for the Temple, called it Yireh, for it would be the abiding\nplace of the fear and the service of God.[252] But as Shem had given it\nthe name Shalem, Place of Peace, and God would not give offence to\neither Abraham or Shem, He united the two names, and called the city by\nthe name Jerusalem.[253]\n\nAfter the sacrifice on Mount Moriah, Abraham returned to Beer-sheba,\nthe scene of so many of his joys.[254] Isaac was carried to Paradise by\nangels, and there he sojourned for three years. Thus Abraham returned\nhome alone, and when Sarah beheld him, she exclaimed, \"Satan spoke\ntruth when he said that Isaac was sacrificed,\" and so grieved was her\nsoul that it fled from her body.[255]\n\nTHE DEATH AND BURIAL OF SARAH\n\nWhile Abraham was engaged in the sacrifice, Satan went to Sarah, and\nappeared to her in the figure of an old man, very humble and meek, and\nsaid to her: \"Dost thou not know all that Abraham has done unto thine\nonly son this day? He took Isaac, and built an altar, slaughtered him,\nand brought him up as a sacrifice. Isaac cried and wept before his\nfather, but he looked not at him, neither did he have compassion upon\nhim.\" After saying these words to Sarah, Satan went away from her, and\nshe thought him to be an old man from amongst the sons of men who had\nbeen with her son. Sarah lifted up her voice, and cried bitterly,\nsaying: \"O my son, Isaac, my son, O that I had this day died instead of\nthee I It grieves me for thee! After that I have reared thee and have\nbrought thee up, my joy is turned into mourning over thee. In my\nlonging for a child, I cried and prayed, till I bore thee at ninety.\nNow hast thou served this day for the knife and the fire. But I console\nmyself, it being the word of God, and thou didst perform the command of\nthy God, for who can transgress the word of our God, in whose hands is\nthe soul of every living creature? Thou art just, O Lord our God, for\nall Thy works are good and righteous, for I also rejoice with the word\nwhich Thou didst command, and while mine eye weepeth bitterly, my heart\nrejoiceth.\" And Sarah laid her head upon the bosom of one of her\nhandmaids, and she became as still as a stone.\n\nShe rose up afterward and went about making inquiries concerning her\nson, till she came to Hebron, and no one could tell her what had\nhappened to her son. Her servants went to seek him in the house of Shem\nand Eber, and they could not find him, and they sought throughout the\nland, and he was not there. And, behold, Satan came to Sarah in the\nshape of an old man, and said unto her, \"I spoke falsely unto thee, for\nAbraham did not kill his son, and he is not dead,\" and when she heard\nthe word, her joy was so exceedingly violent that her soul went out\nthrough joy.\n\nWhen Abraham with Isaac returned to Beer-sheba, they sought for Sarah\nand could not find her, and when they made inquiries concerning her,\nthey were told that she had gone as far as Hebron to seek them. Abraham\nand Isaac went to her to Hebron, and when they found that she was dead,\nthey cried bitterly over her, and Isaac said: \"O my mother, my mother,\nhow hast thou left me, and whither hast thou gone? O whither hast thou\ngone, and how hast thou left me?\" And Abraham and all his servants wept\nand mourned over her a great and heavy mourning, even that Abraham did\nnot pray, but spent his time in mourning and weeping over Sarah.[257]\nAnd, indeed, he had great reason to mourn his loss, for even in her old\nage Sarah had retained the beauty of her youth and the innocence of her\nchildhood.[258]\n\nThe death of Sarah was a loss not only for Abraham and his family, but\nfor the whole country. So long as she was alive, all went well in the\nland. After her death confusion ensued. The weeping, lamenting, and\nwailing over her going hence was universal, and Abraham, instead of\nreceiving consolation, had to offer consolation to others. He spoke to\nthe mourning people, and said: \"My children, take not the going hence\nof Sarah too much to heart. There is one event unto all, to the pious\nand the impious alike. I pray you now, give me a burying-place with\nyou, not as a gift, but for money.\"[259]\n\nIn these last few words Abraham's unassuming modesty was expressed. God\nhad promised him the whole land, yet when he came to bury his dead, he\nhad to pay for the grave, and it did not enter his heart to cast\naspersions upon the ways of God. In all humility he spake to the people\nof Hebron, saying, \"I am a stranger and a sojourner with you.\"\nTherefore spake God to him, and said, \"Thou didst bear thyself\nmodestly. As thou livest, I will appoint thee lord and prince over\nthem.\"[260]\n\nTo the people themselves he appeared an angel, and they answered his\nwords, saying: \"Thou art a prince of God among us. In the choice of our\nsepulchres bury thy dead, among the rich if thou wilt, or among the\npoor if thou wilt.\"[261]\n\nAbraham first of all gave thanks to God for the friendly feeling shown\nto him by the children of Heth, and then he continued his negotiations\nfor the Cave of Machpelah.[262] He had long known the peculiar value of\nthis spot. Adam had chosen it as a burial-place for himself. He had\nfeared his body might be used for idolatrous purposes after his death;\nhe therefore designated the Cave of Machpelah as the place of his\nburial, and in the depths his corpse was laid, so that none might find\nit.[263] When he interred Eve there, he wanted to dig deeper, because\nhe scented the sweet fragrance of Paradise, near the entrance to which\nit lay, but a heavenly voice called to him, Enough! Adam himself was\nburied there by Seth, and until the time of Abraham the place was\nguarded by angels, who kept a fire burning near it perpetually, so that\nnone dared approach it and bury his dead therein.[264] Now, it happened\non the day when Abraham received the angels in his house, and he wanted\nto slaughter an ox for their entertainment, that the ox ran away, and\nin his pursuit of him Abraham entered the Cave of Machpelah. There he\nsaw Adam and Eve stretched out upon couches, candles burning at the\nhead of their resting-places, while a sweet scent pervaded the cave.\n\nTherefore Abraham wished to acquire the Cave of Machpelah from the\nchildren of Heth, the inhabitants of the city of Jebus. They said to\nhim. \"We know that in time to come God will give these lands unto thy\nseed, and now do thou swear a covenant with us that Israel shall not\nwrest the city of Jebus from its inhabitants without their consent.\"\nAbraham agreed to the condition, and he acquired the field from Ephron,\nin whose possession it lay.[265]\n\nThis happened the very day on which Ephron had been made the chief of\nthe children of Heth, and he had been raised to the position so that\nAbraham might not have to have dealings with a man of low rank. It was\nof advantage to Abraham, too, for Ephron at first refused to sell his\nfield, and only the threat of the children of Heth to depose him from\nhis office, unless he fulfilled the desire of Abraham, could induce him\nto change his disposition.[266]\n\nDissembling deceitfully, Ephron then offered to give Abraham the field\nwithout compensation, but when Abraham insisted upon paying for it,\nEphron said: \"My lord, hearken unto me. A piece of land worth four\nhundred shekels of silver, what is that betwixt me and thee?\" showing\nonly too well that the money was of the greatest consequence to him.\nAbraham understood his words, and when he came to pay for the field, he\nweighed out the sum agreed upon between them in the best of current\ncoin.[267] A deed, signed by four witnesses, was drawn up, and the\nfield of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, the field, and the cave which\nwas therein, were made sure unto Abraham and his descendants for all\ntimes.\n\nThe burial of Sarah then took place, amid great magnificence and the\nsympathy of all. Shem and his son Eber, Abimelech king of the\nPhilistines, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, as well as all the great of the\nland, followed her bier. A seven days' mourning was kept for her, and\nall the inhabitants of the land came to condole with Abraham and\nIsaac.[268]\n\nWhen Abraham entered the cave to place the body of Sarah within, Adam\nand Eve refused to remain there, \"because,\" they said, \"as it is, we\nare ashamed in the presence of God on account of the sin we committed,\nand now we shall be even more ashamed on account of your good deeds.\"\nAbraham soothed Adam. He promised to pray to God for him, that the need\nfor shame be removed from him. Adam resumed his place, and Abraham\nentombed Sarah, and at the same time he carried Eve, resisting, back to\nher place.[269]\n\nOne year after the death of Sarah, Abimelech king of the Philistines\ndied, too, at the age of one hundred and ninety-three years. His\nsuccessor upon the throne was his twelve-year old son Benmelek, who\ntook the name of his father after his accession. Abraham did not fail\nto pay a visit of condolence at the court of Abimelech.\n\nLot also died about this time, at the age of one hundred and forty-two.\nHis sons, Moab and Ammon, both married Canaanitish wives. Moab begot a\nson, and Ammon had six sons, and the descendants of both were numerous\nexceedingly.\n\nAbraham suffered a severe loss at the same time in the death of his\nbrother Nahor, whose days ended at Haran, when he had reached the age\nof one hundred and seventy two years.[270]\n\nELIEZER'S MISSION\n\nThe death of Sarah dealt Abraham a blow from which he did not recover.\nSo long as she was alive, he felt himself young and vigorous, but after\nshe had passed away, old age suddenly overtook him.[271] It was he\nhimself who made the plea that age be betrayed by suitable signs and\ntokens. Before the time of Abraham an old man was not distinguishable\nexternally from a young man, and as Isaac was the image of his father,\nit happened frequently that father and son were mistaken for each\nother, and a request meant for the one was preferred to the other.\nAbraham prayed therefore that old age might have marks to distinguish\nit from youth, and God granted his petition, and since the time of\nAbraham the appearance of men changes in old age. This is one of the\nseven great wonders that have occurred in the course of history.[272]\n\nThe blessing of God did not forsake Abraham in old age, either. That it\nmight not be said it had been granted to him only for the sake of\nSarah, God prospered him after her death, too. Hagar bore him a\ndaughter, and Ishmael repented of his evil ways and subordinated\nhimself to Isaac. And as Abraham enjoyed undisturbed happiness in his\nfamily, so also outside, in the world. The kings of the east and the\nwest eagerly besieged the door of his house in order to derive benefit\nfrom his wisdom. From his neck a precious stone was suspended, which\npossessed the power of healing the sick who looked upon it. On the\ndeath of Abraham, God attached it to the wheel of the sun. The greatest\nblessing enjoyed by him, and by none beside except his son Isaac and\nJacob the son of Isaac, was that the evil inclination had no power over\nhim, so that in this life he had a foretaste of the future world.[273]\n\nBut all these Divine blessings showered upon Abraham were not\nundeserved. He was clean of hand, and pure of heart, one that did not\nlift up his soul unto vanity.[274]\n\nHe fulfilled all the commands that were revealed later, even the\nRabbinical injunctions, as, for instance, the one relating to the\nlimits of a Sabbath day's journey, wherefor his reward was that God\ndisclosed to him the new teachings which He expounded daily in the\nheavenly academy.[275]\n\nBut one thing lacked to complete the happiness of Abraham, the marriage\nof Isaac. He therefore called his old servant Eliezer unto himself.\nEliezer resembled his master not only externally, in his appearance,\nbut also spiritually. Like Abraham he possessed full power over the\nevil inclination,[276] and like the master, the servant was an adept in\nthe law.[277] Abraham spake the following words to Eliezer: \"I am\nstricken in age, and I know not the day of my death. Therefore prepare\nthyself, and go unto my country, and to my kindred, and fetch hither a\nwife for my son.\"[278] Thus he spake by reason of the resolution he had\ntaken immediately after the sacrifice of Isaac on Moriah, for he had\nthere said within himself, that if the sacrifice had been executed,\nIsaac would have gone hence childless. He was even ready to choose a\nwife for his son from among the daughters of his three friends, Aner,\nEshcol, and Mamre, because he knew them to be pious, and he did not\nattach much importance to aristocratic stock. Then spake God to him,\nand said: \"Concern thyself not about a wife for Isaac.[279] One has\nalready been provided for him,\" and it was made known to Abraham that\nMilcah, the wife of his brother Nahor, childless until the birth of\nIsaac, had then been remembered by God and made fruitful. She bore\nBethuel, and he in turn, at the time of Isaac's sacrifice, begot the\ndaughter destined to be the wife of Isaac.[280]\n\nMindful of the proverb, \"Even if the wheat of thine own place be\ndarnel, use it for seed,\" Abraham determined to take a wife for Isaac\nfrom his own family. He argued that as any wife he chose would have to\nbecome a proselyte, it would be best to use his own stock, which had\nthe first claim upon him.[281]\n\nEliezer now said to his master: \"Peradventure no woman will be willing\nto follow me unto this land. May I then marry my own daughter to\nIsaac?\" \"No,\" replied Abraham, \"thou art of the accursed race, and my\nson is of the blessed race, and curse and blessing cannot be\nunited.[282] But beware thou that thou bring not my son again unto the\nland from whence I came, for if thou broughtest him thither again, it\nwere as though thou tookest him to hell. God who sets the heavens in\nmotion, He will set this matter right, too,[283] and He that took me\nfrom my father's house, and that spake unto me, and that swore unto me\nin Haran, and at the covenant of the pieces, that He would give this\nland unto my seed, He shall send His excellent angel before thee, and\nthou shalt take a wife for my son from thence.\" Eliezer then swore to\nhis master concerning the matter, and Abraham made him take the oath by\nthe sign of the covenant.[284]\n\nTHE WOOING OF REBEKAH\n\nAttended by ten men,[285] mounted upon ten camels laden with jewels and\ntrinkets, Eliezer betook himself to Haran under the convoy of two\nangels, the one appointed to keep guard over Eliezer, the other over\nRebekah.[286]\n\nThe journey to Haran took but a few hours, at evening of the same day\nhe reached there, because the earth hastened to meet him in a wonderful\nway.[287] He made a halt at the well of water, and he prayed to God to\npermit him to distinguish the wife appointed for Isaac among the\ndamsels that came to draw water, by this token, that she alone, and not\nthe others, would give him drink.[288] Strictly speaking, this wish of\nhis was unseemly, for suppose a bondwoman had given him water to\ndrink![289] But God granted his request. All the damsels said they\ncould not give him of their water, because they had to take it home.\nThen appeared Rebekah, coming to the well contrary to her wont, for she\nwas the daughter of a king, Bethuel her father being king of Haran.\nWhen Eliezer addressed his request for water to drink to this young\ninnocent child, not only was she ready to do his bidding, but she\nrebuked the other maidens on account of their discourtesy to a\nstranger.[290] Eliezer noticed, too, how the water rose up to her of\nits own accord from the bottom of the well, so that she needed not to\nexert herself to draw it. Having scrutinized her carefully, he felt\ncertain that she was the wife chosen for Isaac. He gave her a nose\nring, wherein was set a precious stone, half a shekel in weight,\nforeshadowing the half-shekel which her descendants would once bring to\nthe sanctuary year by year. He gave her also two bracelets for her\nhands, of ten shekels weight in gold, in token of the two tables of\nstone and the Ten Commandments upon them.[291]\n\nWhen Rebekah, bearing the jewels, came to her mother and to her brother\nLaban, this one hastened to Eliezer in order to slay him and take\npossession of his goods. Laban soon learnt that he would not be able to\ndo much harm to a giant like Eliezer. He met him at the moment when\nEliezer seized two camels and bore them across the stream.[292]\nBesides, on account of Eliezer's close resemblance to Abraham, Laban\nthought he saw Abraham before him, and he said: \"Come in, thou blessed\nof the Lord! It is not becoming that thou shouldst stand without, I\nhave cleansed my house of idols.\"[293]\n\nBut when Eliezer arrived at the house of Bethuel, they tried to kill\nhim with cunning. They set poisoned food before him. Luckily, he\nrefused to eat before he had discharged himself of his errand. While he\nwas telling his story, it was ordained by God that the dish intended\nfor him should come to stand in front of Bethuel, who ate of it and\ndied.[294]\n\nEliezer showed the document he had in which Abraham deeded all his\npossessions to Isaac, and he made it known to the kindred of Abraham,\nhow deeply attached to them his master was, in spite of the long years\nof separation.[295] Yet he let them know at the same time that Abraham\nwas not dependent wholly upon them. He might seek a wife for his son\namong the daughters of Ishmael or Lot. At first the kindred of Abraham\nconsented to let Rebekah go with Eliezer, but as Bethuel had died in\nthe meantime, they did not want to give Rebekah in marriage without\nconsulting her. Besides, they deemed it proper that she should remain\nat home at least during the week of mourning for her father.[296] But\nEliezer, seeing the angel wait for him, would brook no delay, and he\nsaid, \"The man who came with me and prospered my way, waits for me\nwithout,\" and as Rebekah professed herself ready to go at once with\nEliezer, her mother and brother granted her wish and dismissed her with\ntheir blessings.[297] But their blessings did not come from the bottom\nof their hearts. Indeed, as a rule, the blessing of the impious is a\ncurse, wherefore Rebekah remained barren for years.\n\nEliezer's return to Canaan was as wonderful as his going to Haran had\nbeen. A seventeen days' journey he accomplished in three hours. He left\nHaran at noon, and he arrived at Hebron[299] at three o'clock in the\nafternoon, the time for the Minhah Prayer, which had been introduced by\nIsaac. He was in the posture of praying when Rebekah first laid eyes\nupon him, wherefore she asked Eliezer what man this was. She saw he was\nnot an ordinary individual. She noticed the unusual beauty of Isaac,\nand also that an angel accompanied him. Thus her question was not\ndictated by mere curiosity.[300] At this moment she learnt through the\nholy spirit, that she was destined to be the mother of the godless\nEsau. Terror seized her at the knowledge, and, trembling, she fell from\nthe camel and inflicted an injury upon herself.[301]\n\nAfter Isaac had heard the wonderful adventures of Eliezer, he took\nRebekah to the tent of his mother Sarah, and she showed herself worthy\nto be her successor. The cloud appeared again that had been visible\nover the tent during the life of Sarah, and had vanished at her death;\nthe light shone again in the tent of Rebekah that Sarah had kindled at\nthe coming in of the Sabbath, and that had burnt miraculously\nthroughout the week; the blessing returned with Rebekah that had\nhovered over the dough kneaded by Sarah; and the gates of the tent were\nopened for the needy, wide and spacious, as they had been during the\nlifetime of Sarah.[302]\n\nFor three years Isaac had mourned for his mother, and he could find no\nconsolation in the academy of Shem and Eber, his abiding-place during\nthat period. But Rebekah comforted him after his mother's death,[303]\nfor she was the counterpart of Sarah in person and in spirit.[304]\n\nAs a reward for having executed to his full satisfaction the mission\nwith which he had charged him, Abraham set his bondman free.[305] The\ncurse resting upon Eliezer, as upon all the descendants of Canaan, was\ntransformed into a blessing, because he ministered unto Abraham\nloyally.[306] Greatest reward of all, God found him worthy of entering\nParadise alive, a distinction that fell to the lot of very few.[307]\n\nTHE LAST YEARS OF ABRAHAM\n\nRebekah first saw Isaac as he was coming from the way of\nBeer-lahai-roi, the dwelling-place of Hagar, whither he had gone after\nthe death of his mother, for the purpose of reuniting his father with\nHagar,[308] or, as she is also called, Keturah.[309]\n\nHagar bore him six sons, who, however, did scant honor to their father,\nfor they all were idolaters.[310] Abraham, therefore, during his own\nlifetime, sent them away from the presence of Isaac, that they might\nnot be singed by Isaac's flame, and gave them the instruction to\njourney eastward as far as possible.[311] There he built a city for\nthem, surrounded by an iron wall, so high that the sun could not shine\ninto the city. But Abraham provided them with huge gems and pearls,\ntheir lustre more brilliant than the light of the sun, which will be\nused in the Messianic time when \"the moon shall be confounded and the\nsun ashamed.\"[312] Also Abraham taught them the black art, wherewith\nthey held sway over demons and spirits. It is from this city in the\neast that Laban, Balaam, and Balaam's father Beor derived their\nsorceries.[313]\n\nEpher, one of the grandsons of Abraham and Keturah, invaded Lybia with\nan armed force, and took possession of the country. From this Epher the\nwhole land of Africa has its name.[314] Aram is also a country made\nhabitable by a kinsman of Abraham. In his old age Terah contracted a\nnew marriage with Pelilah, and from this union sprang a son Zoba, who\nwas the father in turn of three sons. The oldest of these, Aram, was\nexceedingly rich and powerful, and the old home in Haran sufficed not\nfor him and his kinsmen, the sons of Nahor, the brother of Abraham.\nAram and his brethren and all that belonged to him therefore departed\nfrom Haran, and they settled in a vale, and they built themselves a\ncity there which they called Aram-Zoba, to perpetuate the name of the\nfather and his first-born son. Another Aram, Aram-naharaim, on the\nEuphrates, was built by Aram son of Kemuel, a nephew of Abraham. Its\nreal name was Petor, after the son of Aram, but it is better known as\nAram-naharaim. The descendants of Kesed, another nephew of Abraham, a\nson of his brother Nahor, established themselves opposite to Shinar,\nwhere they founded the city of Kesed, the city whence the Chaldees are\ncalled Kasdim.[315]\n\nThough Abraham knew full well that Isaac deserved his paternal blessing\nbeyond all his sons, yet he withheld it from him, that no hostile\nfeelings be aroused among his descendants. He spake, and said: \"I am\nbut flesh and blood, here to-day, to-morrow in the grave. What I was\nable to do for my children I have done. Henceforth let come what God\ndesires to do in His world,\" and it happened that immediately after the\ndeath of Abraham God Himself appeared unto Isaac, and gave him His\nblessing.[316]\n\nA HERALD OF DEATH\n\nWhen the day of the death of Abraham drew near, the Lord said to\nMichael, \"Arise and go to Abraham and say to him, Thou shalt depart\nfrom life!\" so that he might set his house in order before he died. And\nMichael went and came to Abraham and found him sitting before his oxen\nfor ploughing. Abraham, seeing Michael, but not knowing who he was,\nsaluted him and said to him, \"Sit down a little while, and I will order\na beast to be brought, and we will go to my house, that thou mayest\nrest with me, for it is toward evening, and arise in the morning and go\nwhithersoever thou wilt.\" And Abraham called one of his servants, and\nsaid to him: \"Go and bring me a beast, that the stranger may sit upon\nit, for he is wearied with his journey.\" But Michael said, \"I abstain\nfrom ever sitting upon any fourfooted beast, let us walk therefore,\ntill we reach the house.\"\n\nOn their way to the house they passed a huge tree, and Abraham heard a\nvoice from its branches, singing, \"Holy art thou, because thou hast\nkept the purpose for which thou wast sent.\" Abraham hid the mystery in\nhis heart, thinking that the stranger did not hear it. Arrived at his\nhouse, he ordered the servants to prepare a meal, and while they were\nbusy with their work, he called his son Isaac, and said to him, \"Arise\nand put water in the vessel, that we may wash the feet of the\nstranger.\" And he brought it as he was commanded, and Abraham said, \"I\nperceive that in this basin I shall never again wash the feet of any\nman coming to us as a guest.\" Hearing this, Isaac began to weep, and\nAbraham, seeing his son weep, also wept, and Michael, seeing them weep,\nwept also, and the tears of Michael fell into the water, and became\nprecious stones.\n\nBefore sitting down to the table, Michael arose, went out for a moment,\nas if to ease nature, and ascended to heaven in the twinkling of an\neye, and stood before the Lord, and said to Him: \"Lord and Master, let\nThy power know that I am unable to remind that righteous man of his\ndeath, for I have not seen upon the earth a man like him,\ncompassionate, hospitable, righteous, truthful, devout, refraining from\nevery evil deed.\" Then the Lord said to Michael, \"Go down to My friend\nAbraham, and whatever he may say to thee, that do thou also, and\nwhatever he may eat, eat thou also with him, and I will cast the\nthought of the death of Abraham into the heart of Isaac, his son, in a\ndream, and Isaac will relate the dream, and thou shalt interpret it,\nand he himself will know his end.\" And Michael said, \"Lord, all the\nheavenly spirits are incorporeal, and neither eat nor drink, and this\nman has set before me a table with an abundance of all good things\nearthly and corruptible. Now, Lord, what shall I do?\" The Lord answered\nhim, \"Go down to him and take no thought for this, for when thou\nsittest down with him, I will send upon thee a devouring spirit, and it\nwill consume out of thy hands and through thy mouth all that is on the\ntable.\"\n\nThen Michael went into the house of Abraham, and they ate and drank and\nwere merry. And when the supper was ended, Abraham prayed after his\ncustom, and Michael prayed with him, and each lay down to sleep upon\nhis couch in one room, while Isaac went to his chamber, lest he be\ntroublesome to the guest. About the seventh hour of the night, Isaac\nawoke and came to the door of his father's chamber, crying out and\nsaying, \"Open, father, that I may touch thee before they take thee away\nfrom me.\" And Abraham wept together with his son, and when Michael saw\nthem weep, he wept likewise. And Sarah, hearing the weeping, called\nforth from her bedchamber, saying: \"My lord Abraham, why this weeping?\nHas the stranger told thee of thy brother's son Lot, that he is dead?\nor has aught befallen us?\" Michael answered, and said to her, \"Nay, my\nsister Sarah, it is not as thou sayest, but thy son Isaac, methinks,\nbeheld a dream, and came to us weeping, and we, seeing him, were moved\nin our hearts and wept.\" Sarah, hearing Michael speak, knew straightway\nthat it was an angel of the Lord, one of the three angels whom they had\nentertained in their house once before, and therefore she made a sign\nto Abraham to come out toward the door, to inform him of what she knew.\nAbraham said: \"Thou hast perceived well, for I, too, when I washed his\nfeet, knew in my heart that they were the feet that I had washed at the\noak of Mamre, and that went to save Lot.\" Abraham, returning to his\nchamber, made Isaac relate his dream, which Michael interpreted to\nthem, saying: \"Thy son Isaac has spoken truth, for thou shalt go and be\ntaken up into the heavens, but thy body shall remain on earth, until\nseven thousand ages are fulfilled, for then all flesh shall arise. Now,\ntherefore, Abraham, set thy house in order, for thou wast heard what is\ndecreed concerning thee.\" Abraham answered, \"Now I know thou art an\nangel of the Lord, and wast sent to take my soul, but I will not go\nwith thee, but do thou whatever thou art commanded.\" Michael returned\nto heaven and told God of Abraham's refusal to obey his summons, and he\nwas again commanded to go down and admonish Abraham not to rebel\nagainst God, who had bestowed many blessings upon him, and he reminded\nhim that no one who has come from Adam and Eve can escape death, and\nthat God in His great kindness toward him did not permit the sickle of\ndeath to meet him, but sent His chief captain, Michael, to him.\n\"Wherefore, then,\" he ended, \"hast thou said to the chief captain, I\nwill not go with thee?\" When Michael delivered these exhortations to\nAbraham, he saw that it was futile to oppose the will of God, and he\nconsented to die, but wished to have one desire of his fulfilled while\nstill alive. He said to Michael: \"I beseech thee, lord, if I must\ndepart from my body, I desire to be taken up in my body, that I may see\nthe creatures that the Lord has created in heaven and on earth.\"\nMichael went up into heaven, and spake before the Lord concerning\nAbraham, and the Lord answered Michael, \"Go and take up Abraham in the\nbody and show him all things, and whatever he shall say to thee, do to\nhim as to My friend.\"\n\nABRAHAM VIEWS EARTH AND HEAVEN\n\nThe archangel Michael went down, and took Abraham upon a chariot of the\ncherubim, and lifted him up into the air of heaven, and led him upon\nthe cloud, together with sixty angels, and Abraham ascended upon the\nchariot over all the earth, and saw all things that are below on the\nearth, both good and bad. Looking down upon the earth, he saw a man\ncommitting adultery with a wedded woman, and turning to Michael he\nsaid, \"Send fire from heaven to consume them.\" Straightway there came\ndown fire and consumed them, for God had commanded Michael to do\nwhatsoever Abraham should ask him to do. He looked again, and he saw\nthieves digging through a house, and Abraham said, \"Let wild beasts\ncome out of the desert, and tear them in pieces,\" and immediately wild\nbeasts came out of the desert and devoured them. Again he looked down,\nand he saw people preparing to commit murder, and he said, \"Let the\nearth open and swallow them,\" and, as he spoke, the earth swallowed\nthem alive. Then God spoke to Michael: \"Turn away Abraham to his own\nhouse and let him not go round the whole earth, because he has no\ncompassion on sinners, but I have compassion on sinners, that they may\nturn and live and repent of their sins, and be saved.\"\n\nSo Michael turned the chariot, and brought Abraham to the place of\njudgment of all souls. Here he saw two gates, the one broad and the\nother narrow, the narrow gate that of the just, which leads to life,\nthey that enter through it go into Paradise. The broad gate is that of\nsinners, which leads to destruction and eternal punishment. Then\nAbraham wept, saying, \"Woe is me, what shall I do? for I am a man big\nof body, and how shall I be able to enter by the narrow gate?\" Michael\nanswered, and said to Abraham, \"Fear not, nor grieve, for thou shalt\nenter by it unhindered, and all they who are like thee.\" Abraham,\nperceiving that a soul was adjudged to be set in the midst, asked\nMichael the reason for it, and Michael answered, \"Because the judge\nfound its sins and its righteousness equal, he neither committed it to\njudgment nor to be saved.\" Abraham said to Michael, \"Let us pray for\nthis soul, and see whether God will hear us,\" and when they rose up\nfrom their prayer, Michael informed Abraham that the soul was saved by\nthe prayer, and was taken by an angel and carried up to Paradise.\nAbraham said to Michael, \"Let us yet call upon the Lord and supplicate\nHis compassion and entreat His mercy for the souls of the sinners whom\nI formerly, in my anger, cursed and destroyed, whom the earth devoured,\nand the wild beasts tore in pieces, and the fire consumed, through my\nwords. Now I know that I have sinned before the Lord our God.\"\n\nAfter the joint prayer of the archangel and Abraham, there came a voice\nfrom heaven, saying, \"Abraham, Abraham, I have hearkened to thy voice\nand thy prayer, and I forgive thee thy sin, and those whom thou\nthinkest that I destroyed, I have called up and brought them into life\nby My exceeding kindness, because for a season I have requited them in\njudgment, and those whom I destroy living upon earth, I will not\nrequite in death.\"\n\nWhen Michael brought Abraham back to his house, they found Sarah dead.\nNot seeing what had become of Abraham, she was consumed with grief and\ngave up her soul. Though Michael had fulfilled Abraham's wish, and had\nshown him all the earth and the judgment and recompense, he still\nrefused to surrender his soul to Michael, and the archangel again\nascended to heaven, and said unto the Lord: \"Thus speaks Abraham, I\nwill not go with thee, and I refrain from laying my hands on him,\nbecause from the beginning he was Thy friend, and he has done all\nthings pleasing in Thy sight. There is no man like him on earth, not\neven Job, the wondrous man.\" But when the day of the death of Abraham\ndrew nigh, God commanded Michael to adorn Death with great beauty and\nsend him thus to Abraham, that he might see him with his eyes.\n\nWhile sitting under the oak of Mamre, Abraham perceived a flashing of\nlight and a smell of sweet odor, and turning around he saw Death coming\ntoward him in great glory and beauty. And Death said unto Abraham:\n\"Think not, Abraham, that this beauty is mine, or that I come thus to\nevery man. Nay, but if any one is righteous like thee, I thus take a\ncrown and come to him, but if he is a sinner, I come in great\ncorruption, and out of their sins I make a crown for my head, and I\nshake them with great fear, so that they are dismayed.\" Abraham said to\nhim, \"And art thou, indeed, he that is called Death?\" He answered, and\nsaid, \"I am the bitter name,\" but Abraham answered, \"I will not go with\nthee.\" And Abraham said to Death, \"Show us thy corruption.\" And Death\nrevealed his corruption, showing two heads, the one had the face of a\nserpent, the other head was like a sword. All the servants of Abraham,\nlooking at the fierce mien of Death, died, but Abraham prayed to the\nLord, and he raised them up. As the looks of Death were not able to\ncause Abraham's soul to depart from him, God removed the soul of\nAbraham as in a dream, and the archangel Michael took it up into\nheaven. After great praise and glory had been given to the Lord by the\nangels who brought Abraham's soul, and after Abraham bowed down to\nworship, then came the voice of God, saying thus: \"Take My friend\nAbraham into Paradise, where are the tabernacles of My righteous ones\nand the abodes of My saints Isaac and Jacob in his bosom, where there\nis no trouble, nor grief, nor sighing, but peace and rejoicing and life\nunending.\"[317]\n\nAbraham's activity did not cease with his death, and as he interceded\nin this world for the sinners, so will he intercede for them in the\nworld to come. On the day of judgment he will sit at the gate of hell,\nand he will not suffer those who kept the law of circumcision to enter\ntherein.[318]\n\nTHE PATRON OF HEBRON\n\nOnce upon a time some Jews lived in Hebron, few in number, but pious\nand good, and particularly hospitable. When strangers came to the Cave\nof Machpelah to pray there, the inhabitants of the place fairly\nquarrelled with each other for the privilege of entertaining the\nguests, and the one who carried off the victory rejoiced as though he\nhad found great spoil.\n\nOn the eve of the Day of Atonement, it appeared that, in spite of all\ntheir efforts, the dwellers at Hebron could not secure the tenth man\nneeded for public Divine service, and they feared they would have none\non the holy day. Toward evening, when the sun was about to sink, they\ndescried an old man with silver white beard, bearing a sack upon his\nshoulder, his raiment tattered, and his feet badly swollen from much\nwalking. They ran to meet him, took him to one of the houses, gave him\nfood and drink, and, after supplying him with new white garments, they\nall together went to the synagogue for worship. Asked what his name\nwas, the stranger replied, Abraham.\n\nAt the end of the fast, the residents of Hebron cast lots for the\nprivilege of entertaining the guest. Fortune favored the beadle, who,\nthe envy of the rest, bore his guest away to his house. On the way, he\nsuddenly disappeared, and the beadle could not find him anywhere. In\nvain all the Jews of the place went on a quest for him. Their sleepless\nnight, spent in searching, had no result. The stranger could not be\nfound. But no sooner had the beadle lain down, toward morning, weary\nand anxious, to snatch some sleep, than he saw the lost guest before\nhim, his face luminous as lightning, and his garments magnificent and\nstudded with gems radiant as the sun. Before the beadle, stunned by\nfright, could open his mouth, the stranger spake, and said: \"I am\nAbraham the Hebrew, your ancestor, who rests here in the Cave of\nMachpelah. When I saw how grieved you were at not having the number of\nmen prescribed for a public service, I came forth to you. Have no fear!\nRejoice and be merry of heart!\"[319]\n\nOn another occasion Abraham granted his assistance to the people of\nHebron. The lord of the city was a heartless man, who oppressed the\nJews sorely. One day he commanded them to pay a large sum of money into\nhis coffers, the whole sum in uniform coins, all stamped with the same\nyear. It was but a pretext to kill the Jews. He knew that his demand\nwas impossible of fulfilment.\n\nThe Jews proclaimed a fast and day of public prayer, on which to\nsupplicate God that He turn aside the sword suspended above them. The\nnight following, the beadle in a dream saw an awe-inspiring old man,\nwho addressed him in the following words: \"Up, quickly! Hasten to the\ngate of the court, where lies the money you need. I am your father\nAbraham. I have beheld the affliction wherewith the Gentiles oppress\nyou, but God has heard your groans.\" In great terror the beadle arose,\nbut he saw no one, yet he went to the spot designated by the vision,\nand he found the money and took it to the congregation, telling his\ndream at the same time. Amazed, they counted the gold, precisely the\namount required of them by the prince, no more and no less. They\nsurrendered the sum to him, and he who had considered compliance with\nhis demand impossible, recognized now that God is with the Jews, and\nthenceforth they found favor in his eyes.[320]\n\n\n\n\nVI\nJACOB\n\nTHE BIRTH OF ESAU AND JACOB\n\nIsaac was the counterpart of his father in body and soul. He resembled\nhim in every particular\u2014\"in beauty, wisdom, strength, wealth, and noble\ndeeds.\"[1] It was, therefore, as great an honor for Isaac to be called\nthe son of his father as for Abraham to be called the father of his\nson, and though Abraham was the progenitor of thirty nations, he is\nalways designated as the father of Isaac.[2]\n\nDespite his many excellent qualities, Isaac married late in life. God\npermitted him to meet the wife suitable to him only after he had\nsuccessfully disproved the mocking charges of Ishmael, who was in the\nhabit of taunting him with having been circumcised at the early age of\neight days, while Ishmael had submitted himself voluntarily to the\noperation when he was thirteen years old. For this reason God demanded\nIsaac as a sacrifice when he had attained to full manhood, at the age\nof thirty-seven, and Isaac was ready to give up his life. Ishmael's\njibes were thus robbed of their sting, and Isaac was permitted to\nmarry. But another delay occurred before his marriage could take place.\nDirectly after the sacrifice on Mount Moriah, his mother died, and he\nmourned her for three years.[3] Finally he married Rebekah, who was\nthen a maiden of fourteen.[4]\n\nRebekah was \"a rose between thorns.\" Her father was the Aramean\nBethuel, and her brother was Laban, but she did not walk in their\nways.[5] Her piety was equal to Isaac's.[6] Nevertheless their marriage\nwas not entirely happy, for they lived together no less than twenty\nyears without begetting children.[7] Rebekah besought her husband to\nentreat God for the gift of children, as his father Abraham had done.\nAt first Isaac would not do her bidding. God had promised Abraham a\nnumerous progeny, and he thought their childlessness was probably\nRebekah's fault, and it was her duty to supplicate God, and not his.\nBut Rebekah would not desist, and husband and wife repaired to Mount\nMoriah together to pray to God there. And Isaac said: \"O Lord God of\nheaven and earth, whose goodness and mercies fill the earth, Thou who\ndidst take my father from his father's house and from his birthplace,\nand didst bring him unto this land, and didst say unto him, To thee and\nthy seed will I give the land, and didst promise him and declare unto\nhim, I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand of\nthe sea, now may Thy words be verified which Thou didst speak unto my\nfather. For Thou art the Lord our God, our eyes are toward Thee, to\ngive us seed of men as Thou didst promise us, for Thou art the Lord our\nGod, and our eyes are upon Thee.\"[8] Isaac prayed furthermore that all\nchildren destined for him might be born unto him from this pious wife\nof his, and Rebekah made the same petition regarding her husband Isaac\nand the children destined for her.\n\nTheir united prayer was heard.[9] Yet it was chiefly for the sake of\nIsaac that God gave them children. It is true, Rebekah's piety equalled\nher husband's, but the prayer of a pious man who is the son of a pious\nman is far more efficacious than the prayer of one who, though pious\nhimself, is descended from a godless father.\n\nThe prayer wrought a great miracle, for Isaac's physique was such that\nhe could not have been expected to beget children, and equally it was\nnot in the course of nature that Rebekah should bear children.[10]\n\nWhen Rebekah had been pregnant seven months,[11] she began to wish that\nthe curse of childlessness had not been removed from her.[12] She\nsuffered torturous pain, because her twin sons began their lifelong\nquarrels in her womb. They strove to kill each other. If Rebekah walked\nin the vicinity of a temple erected to idols, Esau moved in her body,\nand if she passed a synagogue or a Bet ha-Midrash, Jacob essayed to\nbreak forth from her womb.[13] The quarrels of the children turned upon\nsuch differences as these. Esau would insist that there was no life\nexcept the earthly life of material pleasures, and Jacob would reply:\n\"My brother, there are two worlds before us, this world and the world\nto come. In this world, men eat and drink, and traffic and marry, and\nbring up sons and daughters, but all this does not take place in the\nworld to come. If it please thee, do thou take this world, and I will\ntake the other.\"[14] Esau had Samael as his ally, who desired to slay\nJacob in his mother's womb. But the archangel Michael hastened to\nJacob's aid. He tried to burn Samael, and the Lord saw it was necessary\nto constitute a heavenly court for the purpose of arbitrating the case\nof Michael and Samael.[15] Even the quarrel between the two brothers\nregarding the birthright had its beginning before they emerged from the\nwomb of their mother. Each desired to be the first to come into the\nworld. It was only when Esau threatened to carry his point at the\nexpense of his mother's life that Jacob gave way.[16]\n\nRebekah asked other women whether they, too, had suffered such pain\nduring their pregnancy, and when they told her they had not heard of a\ncase like hers, except the pregnancy of Nimrod's mother, she betook\nherself to Mount Moriah, whereon Shem and Eber had their Bet\nha-Midrash. She requested them as well as Abraham to inquire of God\nwhat the cause of her dire suffering was.[17] And Shem replied: \"My\ndaughter, I confide a secret to thee. See to it that none finds it out.\nTwo nations are in thy womb, and how should thy body contain them,\nseeing that the whole world will not be large enough for them to exist\nin it together peaceably? Two nations they are, each owning a world of\nits own, the one the Torah, the other sin. From the one will spring\nSolomon, the builder of the Temple, from the other Vespasian, the\ndestroyer thereof. These two are what are needed to raise the number of\nnations to seventy. They will never be in the same estate. Esau will\nvaunt lords, while Jacob will bring forth prophets, and if Esau has\nprinces, Jacob will have kings.[18] They, Israel and Rome, are the two\nnations destined to be hated by all the world.[19] One will exceed the\nother in strength. First Esau will subjugate the whole world, but in\nthe end Jacob will rule over all.[20] The older of the two will serve\nthe younger, provided this one is pure of heart, otherwise the younger\nwill be enslaved by the older.\"[21]\n\nThe circumstances connected with the birth of her twin sons were as\nremarkable as those during the period of Rebekah's pregnancy. Esau was\nthe first to see the light, and with him all impurity came from the\nwomb;[22] Jacob was born clean and sweet of body. Esau was brought\nforth with hair, beard, and teeth, both front and back,[23] and he was\nblood-red, a sign of his future sanguinary nature.[24] On account of\nhis ruddy appearance he remained uncircumcised. Isaac, his father,\nfeared that it was due to poor circulation of the blood, and he\nhesitated to perform the circumcision. He decided to wait until Esau\nshould attain his thirteenth year, the age at which Ishmael had\nreceived the sign of the covenant. But when Esau grew up, he refused to\ngive heed to his father's wish, and so he was left uncircumcised.[25]\nThe opposite of his brother in this as in all respects, Jacob was born\nwith the sign of the covenant upon his body, a rare distinction.[26]\nBut Esau also bore a mark upon him at birth, the figure of a serpent,\nthe symbol of all that is wicked and hated of God.[27]\n\nThe names conferred upon the brothers are pregnant with meaning. The\nolder was called Esau, because he was 'Asui, fully developed when he\nwas born, and the name of the younger was given to him by God, to point\nto some important events in the future of Israel by the numerical value\nof each letter. The first letter in Ya'akob, Yod, with the value of\nten, stands for the decalogue; the second, 'Ayin, equal to seventy, for\nthe seventy elders, the leaders of Israel; the third, Kof, a hundred,\nfor the Temple, a hundred ells in height; and the last, Bet, for the\ntwo tables of stone.[28]\n\nTHE FAVORITE OF ABRAHAM\n\nWhile Esau and Jacob were little, their characters could not be judged\nproperly. They were like the myrtle and the thorn-bush, which look\nalike in the early stages of their growth. After they have attained\nfull size, the myrtle is known by its fragrance, and the thorn-bush by\nits thorns.\n\nIn their childhood, both brothers went to school, but when they reached\ntheir thirteenth year, and were of age, their ways parted. Jacob\ncontinued his studies in the Bet ha Midrash of Shem and Eber, and Esau\nabandoned himself to idolatry and an immoral life.[29] Both were\nhunters of men, Esau tried to capture them in order to turn them away\nfrom God, and Jacob, to turn them toward God.[30] In spite of his\nimpious deeds, Esau possessed the art of winning his father's love. His\nhypocritical conduct made Isaac believe that his first-born son was\nextremely pious. \"Father,\" he would ask Isaac, \"what is the tithe on\nstraw and salt?\" The question made him appear God-fearing in the eyes\nof his father, because these two products are the very ones that are\nexempt from tithing.[31] Isaac failed to notice, too, that his older\nson gave him forbidden food to eat. What he took for the flesh of young\ngoats was dog's meat.[32]\n\nRebekah was more clear-sighted. She knew her sons as they really were,\nand therefore her love for Jacob was exceeding great. The oftener she\nheard his voice, the deeper grew her affection for him.[33] Abraham\nagreed with her. He also loved his grandson Jacob, for he knew that in\nhim his name and his seed would be called. And he said unto Rebekah,\n\"My daughter, watch over my son Jacob, for he shall be in my stead on\nthe earth and for a blessing in the midst of the children of men, and\nfor the glory of the whole seed of Shem.\" Having admonished Rebekah\nthus to keep guard over Jacob, who was destined to be the bearer of the\nblessing given to Abraham by God, he called for his grandson, and in\nthe presence of Rebekah he blessed him, and said: \"Jacob, my beloved\nson, whom my soul loveth, may God bless thee from above the firmament,\nand may He give thee all the blessing wherewith He blessed Adam, and\nEnoch, and Noah, and Shem, and all the things of which He told me, and\nall the things which He promised to give me may He cause to cleave to\nthee and to thy seed forever, according to the days of the heavens\nabove the earth. And the spirit of Mastema shall not rule over thee or\nover thy seed, to turn thee from the Lord, who is thy God from\nhenceforth and forever. And may the Lord God be a father to thee, and\nmayest thou be His first-born son, and may He be a father to thy people\nalways. Go in peace, my son.\"[34]\n\nAnd Abraham had good reason to be particularly fond of Jacob, for it\nwas due to the merits of his grandson that he had been rescued from the\nfiery furnace.[35]\n\nIsaac and Rebekah, knowing of Abraham's love for their young son, sent\ntheir father a meal by Jacob on the last Feast of Pentecost which\nAbraham was permitted to celebrate on earth, that he might eat and\nbless the Creator of all things before he died. Abraham knew that his\nend was approaching, and he thanked the Lord for all the good He had\ngranted him during the days of his life, and blessed Jacob and bade him\nwalk in the ways of the Lord, and especially he was not to marry a\ndaughter of the Canaanites. Then Abraham prepared for death. He placed\ntwo of Jacob's fingers upon his eyes, and thus holding them closed he\nfell into his eternal sleep, while Jacob lay beside him on the bed. The\nlad did not know of his grandfather's death, until he called him, on\nawakening next morning, \"Father, father,\" and received no answer.[36]\n\nTHE SALE OF THE BIRTHRIGHT\n\nThough Abraham reached a good old age, beyond the limit of years\nvouchsafed later generations, he yet died five years before his\nallotted time. The intention was to let him live to be one hundred and\neighty years old, the same age as Isaac's at his death, but on account\nof Esau God brought his life to an abrupt close. For some time Esau had\nbeen pursuing his evil inclinations in secret. Finally he dropped his\nmask, and on the day of Abraham's death he was guilty of five crimes:\nhe ravished a betrothed maiden, committed murder, doubted the\nresurrection of the dead, scorned the birthright, and denied God. Then\nthe Lord said: \"I promised Abraham that he should go to his fathers in\npeace. Can I now permit him to be a witness of his grandson's rebellion\nagainst God, his violation of the laws of chastity, and his shedding of\nblood? It is better for him to die now in peace.\"[37]\n\nThe men slain by Esau on this day were Nimrod and two of his adjutants.\nA long-standing feud had existed between Esau and Nimrod, because the\nmighty hunter before the Lord was jealous of Esau, who also devoted\nhimself assiduously to the chase. Once when he was hunting it happened\nthat Nimrod was separated from his people, only two men were with him.\nEsau, who lay in ambush, noticed his isolation, and waited until he\nshould pass his covert. Then he threw himself upon Nimrod suddenly, and\nfelled him and his two companions, who hastened to his succor. The\noutcries of the latter brought the attendants of Nimrod to the spot\nwhere he lay dead, but not before Esau had stripped him of his\ngarments, and fled to the city with them.[38]\n\nThese garments of Nimrod had an extraordinary effect upon cattle,\nbeasts, and birds. Of their own accord they would come and prostrate\nthemselves before him who was arrayed in them. Thus Nimrod and Esau\nafter him were able to rule over men and beasts.[39]\n\nAfter slaying Nimrod, Esau hastened cityward in great fear of his\nvictim's followers. Tired and exhausted he arrived at home to find\nJacob busy preparing a dish of lentils. Numerous male and female slaves\nwere in Isaac's household. Nevertheless Jacob was so simple and modest\nin his demeanor that, if he came home late from the Bet ha-Midrash, he\nwould disturb none to prepare his meal, but would do it himself.[40] On\nthis occasion he was cooking lentils for his father, to serve to him as\nhis mourner's meal after the death of Abraham. Adam and Eve had eaten\nlentils after the murder of Abel, and so had the parents of Haran, when\nhe perished in the fiery furnace. The reason they are used for the\nmourner's meal is that the round lentil symbolizes death: as the lentil\nrolls, so death, sorrow, and mourning constantly roll about among men,\nfrom one to the other.[41]\n\nEsau accosted Jacob thus, \"Why art thou preparing lentils?\"\n\nJacob: \"Because our grandfather passed away; they shall be a sign of my\ngrief and mourning, that he may love me in the days to come.\"\n\nEsau: \"Thou fool! Dost thou really think it possible that man should\ncome to life again after he has been dead and has mouldered in the\ngrave?\"[42] He continued to taunt Jacob. \"Why dost thou give thyself so\nmuch trouble?\" he said. \"Lift up thine eyes, and thou wilt see that all\nmen eat whatever comes to hand\u2014fish, creeping and crawling creatures,\nswine's flesh, and all sorts of things like these, and thou vexest\nthyself about a dish of lentils.\"\n\nJacob: \"If we act like other men, what shall we do on the day of the\nLord, the day on which the pious will receive their reward, when a\nherald will proclaim: Where is He that weigheth the deeds of men, where\nis He that counteth?\"\n\nEsau: \"Is there a future world? Or will the dead be called back to\nlife? If it were so, why hath not Adam returned? Hast thou heard that\nNoah, through whom the world was raised anew, hath reappeared? Yea,\nAbraham, the friend of God, more beloved of Him than any man, hath he\ncome to life again?\"\n\nJacob: \"If thou art of opinion that there is no future world, and that\nthe dead do not rise to new life, then why dost thou want thy\nbirthright? Sell it to me, now, while it is yet possible to do so. Once\nthe Torah is revealed, it cannot be done. Verily, there is a future\nworld, in which the righteous receive their reward. I tell thee this,\nlest thou say later I deceived thee.\"[43]\n\nJacob was little concerned about the double share of the inheritance\nthat went with the birthright. What he thought of was the priestly\nservice, which was the prerogative of the first-born in ancient times,\nand Jacob was loth to have his impious brother Esau play the priest, he\nwho despised all Divine service.[44]\n\nThe scorn manifested by Esau for the resurrection of the dead he felt\nalso for the promise of God to give the Holy Land to the seed of\nAbraham. He did not believe in it, and therefore he was willing to cede\nhis birthright and the blessing attached thereto in exchange for a mess\nof pottage.[45] In addition, Jacob paid him in coin,[46] and, besides,\nhe gave him what was more than money, the wonderful sword of\nMethuselah, which Isaac had inherited from Abraham and bestowed upon\nJacob.[47]\n\nEsau made game of Jacob. He invited his associates to feast at his\nbrother's table, saying, \"Know ye what I did to this Jacob? I ate his\nlentils, drank his wine, amused myself at his expense, and sold my\nbirthright to him.\" All that Jacob replied was, \"Eat and may it do thee\ngood!\" But the Lord said, \"Thou despisest the birthright, therefore I\nshall make thee despised in all generations.\" And by way of punishment\nfor denying God and the resurrection of the dead, the descendants of\nEsau were cut off from the world.[48]\n\nAs naught was holy to Esau, Jacob made him swear, concerning the\nbirthright, by the life of their father, for he knew Esau's love for\nIsaac, that it was strong.[49] Nor did he fail to have a document made\nout, duly signed by witnesses, setting forth that Esau had sold him the\nbirthright together with his claim upon a place in the Cave of\nMachpelah.[50]\n\nThough no blame can attach to Jacob for all this, yet he secured the\nbirthright from him by cunning, and therefore the descendants of Jacob\nhad to serve the descendants of Esau.[51]\n\nISAAC WITH THE PHILISTINES\n\nThe life of Isaac was a faithful reflex of the life of his father.\nAbraham had to leave his birthplace; so also Isaac. Abraham was exposed\nto the risk of losing his wife; so also Isaac. The Philistines were\nenvious of Abraham; so also of Isaac. Abraham long remained childless;\nso also Isaac. Abraham begot one pious son and one wicked son; so also\nIsaac. And, finally, as in the time of Abraham, so also in the time of\nIsaac, a famine came upon the land.[52]\n\nAt first Isaac intended to follow the example of his father and remove\nto Egypt, but God appeared unto him, and spake: \"Thou art a perfect\nsacrifice, without a blemish, and as a burnt offering is made unfit if\nit is taken outside of the sanctuary, so thou wouldst be profaned if\nthou shouldst happen outside of the Holy Land. Remain in the land, and\nendeavor to cultivate it. In this land dwells the Shekinah, and in days\nto come I will give unto thy children the realms possessed by mighty\nrulers, first a part thereof, and the whole in the Messianic time.\"[53]\n\nIsaac obeyed the command of God, and he settled in Gerar. When he\nnoticed that the inhabitants of the place began to have designs upon\nhis wife, he followed the example of Abraham, and pretended she was his\nsister.[54] The report of Rebekah's beauty reached the king himself,\nbut he was mindful of the great danger to which he had once exposed\nhimself on a similar occasion, and he left Isaac and his wife\nunmolested.[55] After they had been in Gerar for three months,\nAbimelech noticed that the manner of Isaac, who lived in the outer\ncourt of the royal palace, was that of a husband toward Rebekah.[56] He\ncalled him to account, saying, \"It might have happened to the king\nhimself to take the woman thou didst call thy sister.\"[57] Indeed,\nIsaac lay under the suspicion of having illicit intercourse with\nRebekah, for at first the people of the place would not believe that\nshe was his wife. When Isaac persisted in his statement,[58] Abimelech\nsent his grandees for them, ordered them to be arrayed in royal\nvestments, and had it proclaimed before them, as they rode through the\ncity: \"These two are man and wife. He that toucheth this man or his\nwife shall surely be put to death.\"\n\nThereafter the king invited Isaac to settle in his domains, and he\nassigned fields and vineyards to him for cultivation, the best the land\nafforded.[59] But Isaac was not self-interested. The tithe of all he\npossessed he gave to the poor of Gerar. Thus he was the first to\nintroduce the law of tithing for the poor, as his father Abraham had\nbeen the first to separate the priests' portion from his fortune.[60]\nIsaac was rewarded by abundant harvests; the land yielded a hundred\ntimes more than was expected, though the soil was barren and the year\nunfruitful. He grew so rich that people wished to have \"the dung from\nIsaac's she-mules rather than Abimelech's gold and silver.\"[61] But his\nwealth called forth the envy of the Philistines, for it is\ncharacteristic of the wicked that they begrudge their fellow-men the\ngood, and rejoice when they see evil descend upon them, and envy brings\nhatred in its wake, and so the Philistines first envied Isaac, and then\nhated him. In their enmity toward him, they stopped the wells which\nAbraham had had his servants dig. Thus they broke their covenant with\nAbraham and were faithless, and they have only themselves to blame if\nthey were exterminated later on by the Israelites.\n\nIsaac departed from Gerar, and began to dig again the wells of water\nwhich they had digged in the days of Abraham his father, and which the\nPhilistines had stopped. His reverence for his father was so great that\nhe even restored the names by which Abraham had called the wells. To\nreward him for his filial respect, the Lord left the name of Isaac\nunchanged, while his father and his son had to submit to new names.[62]\n\nAfter four attempts to secure water, Isaac was successful; he found the\nwell of water that followed the Patriarchs. Abraham had obtained it\nafter three diggings. Hence the name of the well, Beer-sheba, \"the well\nof seven diggings,\" the same well that will supply water to Jerusalem\nand its environs in the Messianic time.[63]\n\nIsaac's success with his wells but served to increase the envy of the\nPhilistines, for he had come upon water in a most unlikely spot and,\nbesides, in a year of drouth. But \"the Lord fulfils the desire of them\nthat fear Him.\" As Isaac executed the will of his Creator, so God\naccomplished his desire.[64] And Abimelech, the king of Gerar, speedily\ncame to see that God was on the side of Isaac, for, to chastise him for\nhaving instigated Isaac's removal from Gerar, his house was ravaged by\nrobbers in the night, and he himself was stricken with leprosy.[65] The\nwells of the Philistines ran dry as soon as Isaac left Gerar, and also\nthe trees failed to yield their fruit. None could be in doubt but that\nthese things were the castigation for their unkindness.\n\nNow Abimelech entreated his friends, especially the administrator of\nhis kingdom, to accompany him to Isaac and help him win back his\nfriendship.[66] Abimelech and the Philistines spake thus to Isaac: \"We\nhave convinced ourselves that the Shekinah is with thee, and therefore\nwe desire thee to renew the covenant which thy father made with us,\nthat thou wilt do us no hurt, as we also did not touch thee.\" Isaac\nconsented. It illustrates the character of the Philistines strikingly\nthat they took credit unto themselves for having done him no hurt. It\nshows that they would have been glad to inflict harm upon him, for \"the\nsoul of the wicked desireth evil.\"\n\nThe place in which the covenant was made between Isaac and the\nPhilistines was called Shib'ah, for two reasons, because an oath was\n\"sworn\" there, and as a memorial of the fact that even the heathen are\nbound to observe the \"seven\" Noachian laws.[67]\n\nFor all the wonders executed by God for Isaac, and all the good he\nenjoyed throughout his life, he is indebted to the merits of his\nfather. For his own merits he will be rewarded in future.[68] On the\ngreat day of judgment it will be Isaac who will redeem his descendants\nfrom Gehenna. On that day the Lord will speak to Abraham, \"Thy children\nhave sinned,\" and Abraham will make reply, \"Then let them be wiped out,\nthat Thy Name be sanctified.\" The Lord will turn to Jacob, thinking\nthat he who had suffered so much in bringing his sons to manhood's\nestate would display more love for his posterity. But Jacob will give\nthe same answer as Abraham. Then God will say: \"The old have no\nunderstanding, and the young no counsel. I will now go to Isaac.\nIsaac,\" God will address him, \"thy children have sinned,\" and Isaac\nwill reply: \"O Lord of the world, sayest Thou my children, and not\nTHINE? When they stood at Mount Sinai and declared themselves ready to\nexecute all Thy bidding before even they heard it, Thou didst call\nIsrael 'My first-born,' and now they are MY children, and not THINE!\nLet us consider. The years of a man are seventy. From these twenty are\nto be deducted, for Thou inflictest no punishment upon those under\ntwenty. Of the fifty years that are left, one-half are to be deducted\nfor the nights passed in sleep. There remain only twenty-five years,\nand these are to be diminished by twelve and a half, the time spent in\npraying, eating, and attending to other needs in life, during which men\ncommit no sins. That leaves only twelve years and a half. If Thou wilt\ntake these upon Thyself, well and good. If not, do Thou take one-half\nthereof, and I will take the other half.\" The descendants of Isaac will\nthen say, \"Verily, thou art our true father!\" But he will point to God,\nand admonish them, \"Nay, give not your praises to me, but to God\nalone,\" and Israel, with eyes directed heavenward, will say, \"Thou, O\nLord, art our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is Thy name.\"[69]\n\nIt was Isaac, or, as he is sometimes called, Elihu the son of Barachel,\nwho revealed the wonderful mysteries of nature in his arguments with\nJob.[70]\n\nAt the end of the years of famine, God appeared unto Isaac, and bade\nhim return to Canaan. Isaac did as he was commanded, and he settled in\nHebron. At this time he sent his younger son Jacob to the Bet\nha-Midrash of Shem and Eber, to study the law of the Lord. Jacob\nremained there thirty-two years. As for Esau, he refused to learn, and\nhe remained in the house of his father. The chase was his only\noccupation, and as he pursued beasts, so he pursued men, seeking to\ncapture them with cunning and deceit.\n\nOn one of his hunting expeditions, Esau came to Mount Seir, where he\nbecame acquainted with Judith, of the family of Ham, and he took her\nunto himself as his wife, and brought her to his father at Hebron.\n\nTen years later, when Shem his teacher died, Jacob returned home, at\nthe age of fifty. Another six years passed, and Rebekah received the\njoyful news that her sister-in-law 'Adinah, the wife of Laban, who,\nlike all the women of his house, had been childless until then, had\ngiven birth to twin daughters, Leah and Rachel.[71] Rebekah, weary of\nher life on account of the woman chosen by her older son, exhorted\nJacob not to marry one of the daughters of Canaan, but a maiden of the\nfamily of Abraham. He assured his mother that the words of Abraham,\nbidding him to marry no woman of the Canaanites, were graven upon his\nmemory, and for this reason he was still unmarried, though he had\nattained the age of sixty-two, and Esau had been urging him for\ntwenty-two years past to follow his example and wed a daughter of the\npeople of the land in which they lived. He had heard that his uncle\nLaban had daughters, and he was resolved to choose one of them as his\nwife. Deeply moved by the words of her son, Rebekah thanked him and\ngave praise unto God with the words: \"Blessed be the Lord God, and may\nHis Holy Name be blessed for ever and ever, who hath given me Jacob as\na pure son and a holy seed; for he is Thine, and Thine shall his seed\nbe continually and throughout all the generations for evermore. Bless\nhim, O Lord, and place in my mouth the blessing of righteousness, that\nI may bless him.\"\n\nAnd when the spirit of the Lord came over her, she laid her hands upon\nthe head of Jacob and gave him her maternal blessing. It ended with the\nwords, \"May the Lord of the world love thee, as the heart of thy\naffectionate mother rejoices in thee, and may He bless thee.\"[72]\n\nISAAC BLESSES JACOB\n\nEsau's marriage with the daughters of the Canaanites was an abomination\nnot only in the eyes of his mother, but also in the eyes of his father.\nHe suffered even more than Rebekah through the idolatrous practices of\nhis daughters in-law. It is the nature of man to oppose less resistance\nthan woman to disagreeable circumstances. A bone is not harmed by a\ncollision that would shiver an earthen pot in pieces. Man, who is\ncreated out of the dust of the ground, has not the endurance of woman\nformed out of bone. Isaac was made prematurely old by the conduct of\nhis daughters-in-law, and he lost the sight of his eyes. Rebekah had\nbeen accustomed in the home of her childhood to the incense burnt\nbefore idols, and she could therefore bear it under her own roof-tree.\nUnlike her, Isaac had never had any such experience while he abode with\nhis parents, and he was stung by the smoke arising from the sacrifices\noffered to their idols by his daughters-in-law in his own house.[73]\nIsaac's eyes had suffered earlier in life, too. When he lay bound upon\nthe altar, about to be sacrificed by his father, the angels wept, and\ntheir tears fell upon his eyes, and there they remained and weakened\nhis sight.\n\nAt the same time he had brought the scourge of blindness down upon\nhimself by his love for Esau. He justified the wicked for a bribe, the\nbribe of Esau's filial love, and loss of vision is the punishment that\nfollows the taking of bribes. \"A gift,\" it is said, \"blinds the eyes of\nthe wise.\"\n\nNevertheless his blindness proved a benefit for Isaac as well as Jacob.\nIn consequence of his physical ailments, Isaac had to keep at home, and\nso he was spared the pain of being pointed out by the people as the\nfather of the wicked Esau.[74] And, again, if his power of vision had\nbeen unimpaired, he would not have blessed Jacob. As it was, God\ntreated him as a physician treats a sick man who is forbidden to drink\nwine, for which, however, he has a strong desire. To placate him, the\nphysician orders that warm water be given him in the dark, and he be\ntold that it is wine.[75]\n\nWhen Isaac reached the age of one hundred and twenty three, and was\nthus approaching the years attained by his mother, he began to meditate\nupon his end. It is proper that a man should prepare for death when he\ncomes close to the age at which either of his parents passed out of\nlife. Isaac reflected that he did not know whether the age allotted to\nhim was his mother's or his father's, and he therefore resolved to\nbestow his blessing upon his older son, Esau, before death should\novertake him.[76] He summoned Esau, and he said, \"My son,\" and Esau\nreplied, \"Here am I,\" but the holy spirit interposed: \"Though he\ndisguises his voice and makes it sound sweet, put no confidence in him.\nThere are seven abominations in his heart. He will destroy seven holy\nplaces\u2014the Tabernacle, the sanctuaries at Gilgal, Shiloh, Nob, and\nGibeon, and the first and the second Temple.\"\n\nGently though Esau continued to speak to his father, he yet longed for\nhis end to come.[77] But Isaac was stricken with spiritual as well as\nphysical blindness. The holy spirit deserted him, and he could not\ndiscern the wickedness of his older son. He bade him sharpen his\nslaughtering knives and beware of bringing him the flesh of an animal\nthat had died of itself, or had been torn by a beast, and he was to\nguard also against putting an animal before Isaac that had been stolen\nfrom its rightful owner. \"Then,\" continued Isaac, \"will I bless him who\nis worthy of being blessed.\"[78]\n\nThis charge was laid upon Esau on the eve of the Passover, and Isaac\nsaid to him: \"To-night the whole world will sing the Hallel unto God.\nIt is the night when the storehouses of dew are unlocked. Therefore\nprepare dainties for me, that my soul may bless thee before I die.\" But\nthe holy spirit interposed, \"Eat not the bread of him that hath an evil\neye.\"[79] Isaac's longing for tidbits was due to his blindness. As the\nsightless cannot behold the food they eat, they do not enjoy it with\nfull relish, and their appetite must be tempted with particularly\npalatable morsels.\n\nEsau sallied forth to procure what his father desired, little recking\nthe whence or how, whether by robbery or theft.[80] To hinder the quick\nexecution of his father's order, God sent Satan on the chase with Esau.\nHe was to delay him as long as possible. Esau would catch a deer and\nleave him lying bound, while he pursued other game. Immediately Satan\nwould come and liberate the deer, and when Esau returned to the spot,\nhis victim was not to be found. This was repeated several times. Again\nand again the quarry was run down, and bound, and liberated, so that\nJacob was able meanwhile to carry out the plan of Rebekah whereby he\nwould be blessed instead of Esau.\n\nThough Rebekah had not heard the words that had passed between Isaac\nand Esau, they nevertheless were revealed to her through the holy\nspirit,[81] and she resolved to restrain her husband from taking a\nfalse step. She was not actuated by love for Jacob, but by the wish of\nkeeping Isaac from committing a detestable act.[82] Rebekah said to\nJacob: \"This night the storehouses of dew are unlocked; it is the night\nduring which the celestial beings chant the Hallel unto God, the night\nset apart for the deliverance of thy children from Egypt, on which\nthey, too, will sing the Hallel. Go now and prepare savory meat for thy\nfather, that he may bless thee before his death.[83] Do as I bid thee,\nobey me as thou art wont, for thou art my son whose children, every\none, will be good and God-fearing\u2014not one shall be graceless.\"\n\nIn spite of his great respect for his mother,[84] Jacob refused at\nfirst to heed her command. He feared he might commit a sin,[85]\nespecially as he might thus bring his father's curse down upon him. As\nit was, Isaac might still have a blessing for him, after giving Esau\nhis. But Rebekah allayed his anxieties, with the words: \"When Adam was\ncursed, the malediction fell upon his mother, the earth, and so shall\nI, thy mother, bear the imprecation, if thy father curses thee.\nMoreover, if the worst comes to the worst, I am prepared to step before\nthy father and tell him, 'Esau is a villain, and Jacob is a righteous\nman.'\"\n\nThus constrained by his mother, Jacob, in tears and with body bowed,\nwent off to execute the plan made by Rebekah.[86] As he was to provide\na Passover meal, she bade him get two kids, one for the Passover\nsacrifice and one for the festival sacrifice.[87] To soothe Jacob's\nconscience, she added that her marriage contract entitled her to two\nkids daily. \"And,\" she continued, \"these two kids will bring good unto\nthee, the blessing of thy father, and they will bring good unto thy\nchildren, for two kids will be the atoning sacrifice offered on the Day\nof Atonement.\"\n\nJacob's hesitation was not yet removed. His father, he feared, would\ntouch him and convince himself that he was not hairy, and therefore not\nhis son Esau. Accordingly, Rebekah tore the skins of the two kids into\nstrips and sewed them together, for Jacob was so tall a giant that\notherwise they would not have sufficed to cover his hands.[88] To make\nJacob's disguise complete, Rebekah felt justified in putting Esau's\nwonderful garments on him. They were the high priestly raiment in which\nGod had clothed Adam, \"the first-born of the world,\" for in the days\nbefore the erection of the Tabernacle all the first-born males\nofficiated as priests. From Adam these garments descended to Noah, who\ntransmitted them to Shem, and Shem bequeathed them to Abraham, and\nAbraham to his son Isaac, from whom they reached Esau as the older of\nhis two sons. It was the opinion of Rebekah that as Jacob had bought\nthe birthright from his brother, he had thereby come into possession of\nthe garments as well.[89] There was no need for her to go and fetch\nthem from the house of Esau. He knew his wives far too well to entrust\nso precious a treasure to them; they were in the safe-keeping of his\nmother. Besides, he used them most frequently in the house of his\nparents. As a rule, he did not lay much stress upon decent apparel. He\nwas willing to appear on the street clad in rags, but he considered it\nhis duty to wait upon his father arrayed in his best. \"My father,\" Esau\nwas in the habit of saying, \"is a king in my sight, and it would ill\nbecome me to serve before him in any thing but royal apparel.\" To the\ngreat respect he manifested toward his father, the descendants of Esau\nowe all their good fortune on earth. Thus doth God reward a good deed.\n\nRebekah led Jacob equipped and arrayed in this way to the door of\nIsaac's chamber. There she parted from him with the words,\n\"Henceforward may thy Creator assist thee.\"[90] Jacob entered,\naddressing Isaac with \"Father,\" and receiving the response, \"Here am I!\nWho art thou, my son?\" he replied equivocally, \"It is I, thy first-born\nson is Esau.\" He sought to avoid a falsehood, and yet not betray that\nhe was Jacob.[91] Isaac then said: \"Thou art greatly in haste to secure\nthy blessing. Thy father Abraham was seventy-five years old when he was\nblessed, and thou art but sixty-three.\" Jacob replied awkwardly,\n\"Because the Lord thy God sent me good speed.\" Isaac concluded at once\nthat this was not Esau, for he would not have mentioned the name of\nGod, and he made up his mind to feel the son before him and make sure\nwho he was. Terror seized upon Jacob at the words of Isaac, \"Come near,\nI pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son.\" A cold sweat covered his\nbody, and his heart melted like wax. Then God caused the archangels\nMichael and Gabriel to descend. The one seized his right hand, the\nother his left hand, while the Lord God Himself supported him, that his\ncourage might not fail him. Isaac felt him, and, finding his hands\nhairy, he said, \"The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the\nhands of Esau,\" words in which he conveyed the prophecy that so long as\nthe voice of Jacob is heard in the houses of prayer and of learning,\nthe hands of Esau will not be able to prevail against him. \"Yes,\" he\ncontinued, \"it is the voice of Jacob, the voice that imposes silence\nupon those on earth and in heaven,\" for even the angels may not raise\ntheir voices in praise of God until Israel has finished his prayers.\n\nIsaac's scruples about blessing the son before him were not yet\nremoved, for with his prophetical eye he foresaw that this one would\nhave descendants who would vex the Lord. At the same time, it was\nrevealed to him that even the sinners in Israel would turn penitents,\nand then he was ready to bless Jacob. He bade him come near and kiss\nhim, to indicate that it would be Jacob who would imprint the last kiss\nupon Isaac before he was consigned to the grave\u2014he and none other. When\nJacob stood close to him, he discerned the fragrance of Paradise\nclinging to him, and he exclaimed, \"See, the smell of my son is as the\nsmell of the field which the Lord hath blessed.\"[92]\n\nThe fragrance emanating from Jacob was not the only thing about him\nderived from Paradise. The archangel Michael had fetched thence the\nwine which Jacob gave his father to drink,[93] that an exalted mood\nmight descend upon him, for only when a man is joyously excited the\nShekinah rests upon him.[94] The holy spirit filled Isaac, and he gave\nJacob his tenfold blessing: \"God give thee of the dew of heaven,\" the\ncelestial dew wherewith God will awaken the pious to new life in days\nto come; \"and of the fatness of the earth,\" the goods of this world;\n\"and plenty of corn and wine,\" the Torah and the commandments which\nbestow the same joy upon man as abundant harvests;[95] \"peoples shall\nserve thee,\" the Japhethites and the Hamites; \"nations shall bow down\nto thee,\" the Shemite nations; \"thou wilt be lord over thy brethren,\"\nthe Ishmaelites and the descendants of Keturah; \"thy mother's sons will\nbow down to thee,\" Esau and his princes; \"cursed be every one that\ncurseth thee,\" like Balaam; \"and blessed be every one that blesseth\nthee,\" like Moses.[96]\n\nFor each blessing invoked upon Jacob by his father Isaac, a similar\nblessing was bestowed upon him by God Himself in the same words. As\nIsaac blessed him with dew, so also God: \"And the remnant of Jacob\nshall be in the midst of many peoples as dew from the Lord.\" Isaac\nblessed him with the fatness of the earth, so also God: \"And he shall\ngive the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and\nbread of the increase of the ground, and it shall be fat and\nplenteous.\" Isaac blessed him with plenty of corn and wine, so also\nGod: \"I will send you corn and wine.\" Isaac said, \"Peoples shall serve\nthee,\" so also God: \"Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their\nqueens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their\nfaces to the earth, and lick the dust of thy feet.\" Isaac said,\n\"Nations shall bow down to thee,\" so also God: \"And He will make thee\nhigh above all nations which He hath made, in praise, and in name, and\nin honor.\"\n\nTo this double blessing his mother Rebekah joined hers: \"For He shall\ngive His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They\nshall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy feet against a\nstone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the\nserpent shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love\nupon me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because\nhe hath known my name.\"\n\nThe holy spirit added in turn: \"He shall call upon me, and I will\nanswer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and\nhonor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my\nsalvation.\"[97]\n\nJacob left the presence of his father crowned like a bridegroom,\nadorned like a bride, and bathed in celestial dew, which filled his\nbones with marrow, and transformed him into a hero and a giant.[98]\n\nOf a miracle done for him at that very moment Jacob himself was not\naware. Had he tarried with his father an instant longer, Esau would\nhave met him there, and would surely have slain him. It happened that\nexactly as Jacob was on the point of leaving the tent of his father,\ncarrying in his hands the plates off which Isaac had eaten, he noticed\nEsau approaching, and he concealed himself behind the door.\nFortunately, it was a revolving door, so that though he could see Esau,\nhe could not be seen by him.\n\nESAU'S TRUE CHARACTER REVEALED\n\nEsau arrived after a delay of four hours.[99] In spite of all the\nefforts he had put forth, he had not succeeded in catching any game,\nand he was compelled to kill a dog and prepare its flesh for his\nfather's meal.[100] All this had made Esau ill-humored, and when he\nbade his father partake of the meal, the invitation sounded harsh. \"Let\nmy father arise,\" he said, \"and eat of his son's venison.\" Jacob had\nspoken differently; he had said, \"Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my\nvenison.\" The words of Esau terrified Isaac greatly. His fright\nexceeded that which he had felt when his father was about to offer him\nas a sacrifice, and he cried out, \"Who then is he that hath been the\nmediator between me and the Lord, to make the blessing reach\nJacob?\"\u2014words meant to imply that he suspected Rebekah of having\ninstigated Jacob's act.\n\nIsaac's alarm was caused by his seeing hell at the feet of Esau.\nScarcely had he entered the house when the walls thereof began to get\nhot on account of the nearness of hell, which he brought along with\nhim. Isaac could not but exclaim, \"Who will be burnt down yonder, I or\nmy son Jacob?\" and the Lord answered him, \"Neither thou nor Jacob, but\nthe hunter.\"\n\nIsaac told Esau that the meat set before him by Jacob had had\nmarvellous qualities. Any savor that one desired it possessed, it was\neven endowed with the taste of the food that God will grant the pious\nin the world to come. \"I know not,\" he said, \"what the meat was. But I\nhad only to wish for bread, and it tasted like bread, or fish, or\nlocusts, or flesh of animals, in short, it had the taste of any dainty\none could wish for.\" When Esau heard the word \"flesh,\" he began to\nweep, and he said: \"To me Jacob gave no more than a dish of lentils,\nand in payment for it he took my birthright. What must he have taken\nfrom thee for flesh of animals?\" Hitherto Isaac had been in great\nanguish on account of the thought that he had committed a wrong in\ngiving his blessing to his younger son instead of the first-born, to\nwhom it belonged by law and custom. But when he heard that Jacob had\nacquired the birthright from Esau, he said, \"I gave my blessing to the\nright one!\"\n\nIn his dismay, Isaac had had the intention of cursing Jacob for having\nwrested the blessing from him through cunning. God prevented him from\ncarrying out his plan. He reminded him that he would but curse himself,\nseeing that his blessing contained the words, \"Cursed be every one that\ncurseth thee.\" But Isaac was not willing to acknowledge his blessing\nvalid as applied to Jacob, until he was informed that his second son\nwas the possessor of the birthright. Only then did he say, \"Yea, he\nshall be blessed,\" whereat Esau cried with an exceeding great and\nbitter cry. By way of punishment for having been the cause of such\ndistress, a descendant of Jacob, Mordecai, was also made to cry with a\nloud and bitter cry, and his grief was brought forth by the Amalekite\nHaman, the descendant of Esau. At the words of Isaac, \"Thy brother came\nwith wisdom, and hath taken away thy blessing,\" Esau spat out in\nvexation, and said, \"He took away my birthright, and I kept silence,\nand now that he takes away my blessing, should I also keep\nsilence?[101] Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me\nthese two times.\"[102]\n\nIsaac continued to speak to Esau: \"Behold, I have made him thy lord, he\nis thy king, and do what thou wilt, thy blessings will still belong to\nhim; all his brethren have I given to him for slaves, and what slaves\npossess belongs to their owner. There is nothing for it, thou must be\ncontent that thou wilt receive thy bread baked from thy master.\" The\nLord took it ill of Isaac that he cheered him with such kind words. \"To\nMine enemy,\" He reproached him, \"thou sayest, 'What shall I do for\nthee, my son?'\" Isaac replied, \"O that he might find grace with Thee!\"\nGod: \"He is a recreant.\" Isaac: \"Doth he not act righteously when he\nhonors his parents?\" God: \"In the land of uprightness will he deal\nwrongfully, he will stretch his hand forth in days to come against the\nTemple.\" Isaac: \"Then let him enjoy much good in this world, that he\nmay not behold the abiding-place of the Lord in the world to\ncome.\"[103]\n\nWhen it became plain to Esau that he could not induce his father to\nannul the blessing bestowed upon Jacob, he tried to force a blessing\nfor himself by an underhand trick. He said: \"Hast thou but one\nblessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father, else it will\nbe said thou hast but one blessing to bestow. Suppose both Jacob and I\nhad been righteous men, had not then thy God had two blessings, one for\neach?\" The Lord Himself made reply: \"Silence! Jacob will bless the\ntwelve tribes, and each blessing will be different from every other.\"\nBut Isaac felt great pity for his older son, and he wanted to bless\nhim, but the Shekinah forsook him, and he could not carry out what he\npurposed. Thereupon Esau began to weep. He shed three tears\u2014one ran\nfrom his right eye, the second from his left eye, and the third\nremained hanging from his eyelash. God said, \"This villain cries for\nhis very life, and should I let him depart empty-handed?\" and then He\nbade Isaac bless his older son.[104]\n\nThe blessing of Isaac ran thus: \"Behold, of the fat of the earth shall\nbe thy dwelling,\" by which he meant Greater Greece, in Italy; \"and of\nthe dew of heaven from above,\" referring to Bet-Gubrin; \"and by thy\nsword shalt thou live, and thou shalt serve thy brother,\" but when he\ncasts off the yoke of the Lord, then shalt thou \"shake his yoke from\noff thy neck,\" and thou wilt be his master.[105]\n\nThe blessing which Isaac gave to his older son was bound to no\ncondition whatsoever. Whether he deserved them or not, Esau was to\nenjoy the goods of this world. Jacob's blessing, however, depended upon\nhis pious deeds; through them he would have a just claim upon earthly\nprosperity. Isaac thought: \"Jacob is a righteous man, he will not\nmurmur against God, though it should come to pass that suffering be\ninflicted upon him in spite of his upright life. But that reprobate\nEsau, if he should do a good deed, or pray to God and not be heard, he\nwould say, 'As I pray to the idols for naught, so it is in vain to pray\nto God.'\" For this reason did Isaac bestow an unconditional blessing\nupon Esau.[106]\n\nJACOB LEAVES HIS FATHER'S HOUSE\n\nEsau hated his brother Jacob on account of the blessing that his father\nhad given him, and Jacob was very much afraid of his brother Esau, and\nhe fled to the house of Eber, the son of Shem, and he concealed himself\nthere fourteen years on account of his brother Esau, and he continued\nthere to learn the ways of the Lord and His commandments. When Esau saw\nthat Jacob had fled and escaped from him, and Jacob had cunningly\nobtained the blessing, then Esau grieved exceedingly, and he was also\nvexed at his father and mother. He also rose up and took his wife, and\nwent away from his father and mother to the land of Seir. There he\nmarried his second wife, Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite,\nand he called her name Adah, saying that the blessing had in that time\npassed from him. After dwelling in Seir for six months, Esau returned\nto the land of Canaan, and placed his two wives in his father's house\nin Hebron. And the wives of Esau vexed and provoked Isaac and Rebekah\nwith their works, for they walked not in the ways of the Lord, but\nserved their fathers' gods of wood and stone, as their fathers had\ntaught them, and they were more wicked than their fathers. They\nsacrificed and burnt incense to the Baalim, and Isaac and Rebekah\nbecame weary of them. And at the end of fourteen years of Jacob's\nresiding in the house of Eber, Jacob desired to see his father and his\nmother, and he returned home. Esau had forgotten in those days what\nJacob had done to him, in having taken the blessing from him, but when\nEsau saw Jacob returning to his parents, he remembered what Jacob had\ndone to him, and he was greatly incensed against him, and he sought to\nslay him.[107]\n\nBut Esau would not kill Jacob while his father was yet alive, lest\nIsaac beget another son. He wanted to be sure of being the only\nheir.[108] However, his hatred against Jacob was so great that he\ndetermined to hasten the death of his father and then dispatch Jacob.\nSuch murderous plans Esau cherished in his heart, though he denied that\nhe was harboring them. But God spoke, \"Probably thou knowest not that I\nexamine the hearts of men, for I am the Lord that searcheth the heart.\"\nAnd not God alone knew the secret desires of Esau. Rebekah, like all\nthe Mothers, was a prophetess, and she delayed not to warn Jacob of the\ndanger that hung over him. \"Thy brother,\" she said to him, \"is as sure\nof accomplishing his wicked purpose as though thou wert dead. Now\ntherefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee thou to Laban my\nbrother, to Haran, and tarry with him for seven years, until thy\nbrother's fury turn away.\" In the goodness of her heart, Rebekah could\nnot but believe that the anger of Esau was only a fleeting passion, and\nwould disappear in the course of time. But she was mistaken, his hate\npersisted until the end of his life.[109]\n\nCourageous as he was, Jacob would not run away from danger. He said to\nhis mother, \"I am not afraid; if he wishes to kill me, I will kill\nhim,\" to which she replied, \"Let me not be bereaved of both my sons in\none day.\"[110] By words Rebekah again showed her prophetic gift. As she\nspoke, so it happened\u2014when their time came, Esau was slain while the\nburial of Jacob was taking place.[111]\n\nAnd Jacob said to Rebekah: \"Behold, thou knowest that my father has\nbecome old and does not see, and if I leave him and go away, he will be\nangry and will curse me. I will not go; if he sends me, only then will\nI go.\"[112]\n\nAccordingly, Rebekah went to Isaac, and amid tears she spoke to him\nthus: \"If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, what good shall\nmy life do me?\"[113] And Isaac called Jacob, and charged him, and said\nunto him: \"Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, for\nthus did our father Abraham command us according to the word of the\nLord, which He had commanded him, saying, 'Unto thy seed will I give\nthe land; if thy children keep My covenant that I have made with thee,\nthen will I also perform to thy children that which I have spoken unto\nthee, and I will not forsake them.' Now therefore, my son, hearken to\nmy voice, to all that I shall command thee, and refrain from taking a\nwife from amongst the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Haran, to the\nhouse of Bethuel, thy mother's father, and take thee a wife from thence\nof the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother. Take heed lest thou\nshouldst forget the Lord thy God and all His ways in the land to which\nthou goest, and shouldst join thyself to the people of the land, and\npursue vanity, and forsake the Lord thy God. But when thou comest to\nthe land, serve the Lord. Do not turn to the right or to the left from\nthe way which I commanded thee, and which thou didst learn. And may the\nAlmighty God grant thee favor before the people of the land, that thou\nmayest take a wife there according to thy choice, one who is good and\nupright in the way of the Lord. And may God give unto thee and thy seed\nthe blessing of thy father Abraham and make thee fruitful and multiply\nthee, and mayest thou become a multitude of people in the land whither\nthou goest, and may God cause thee to return to thy land, the land of\nthy father's dwelling, with children and with great riches, with joy\nand with pleasure.\"[114]\n\nAs the value of a document is attested by its concluding words, the\nsignature of the witnesses, so Isaac confirmed the blessing he had\nbestowed upon Jacob.[116] That none might say Jacob had secured it by\nintrigue and cunning, he blessed him again with three blessings, in\nthese words, \"In so far as I am endowed with the power of blessing, I\nbestow blessing upon thee. May God, with whom there is endless\nblessing, give thee His, and also the blessing wherewith Abraham\ndesired to bless me, desisting only in order not to provoke the\njealousy of Ishmael.\"[116]\n\nSeeing with his prophetic eye that the seed of Jacob would once be\ncompelled to go into exile, Isaac offered up one more petition, that\nGod would bring the exiles back again. He said, \"He shall deliver thee\nin six troubles, and in the seventh there shall no evil touch thee.\"\nAnd also Rebekah prayed to God in behalf of Jacob: \"O Lord of the\nworld, let not the purpose prosper which Esau harbors against Jacob.\nPut a bridle upon him, that he accomplish not all he wills to do.\"[117]\n\nWhen Esau observed that even his father's love had passed from him to\nJacob, he went away, to Ishmael, and he addressed him as follows: \"Lo,\nas thy father gave all his possessions to thy brother Isaac, and\ndismissed thee with empty hands, so my father purposeth to do to me.\nMake thyself ready then, go forth and slay thy brother, and I will slay\nmine, and then we two shall divide the whole world between us.\" And\nIshmael replied: \"Why dost thou want me to slay thy father? thou canst\ndo it thyself.\" Esau said: \"It hath happened aforetime that a man\nkilled his brother\u2014Cain murdered Abel. But that a son should kill his\nfather is unheard of.\"\n\nEsau did not really shrink back from parricide, only it chanced not to\nfit the plan he had hatched. \"If Ishmael slays my father,\" he said to\nhimself, \"I am the rightful redeemer, and I shall kill Ishmael to\navenge my father, and if, then, I murder Jacob, too, everything will\nbelong to me, as the heir of my father and my uncle.\"[118] This shows\nthat Esau's marriage with Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael and\ngrandchild of Abraham, was not concluded out of regard for his parents,\nwho were opposed to his two other wives, daughters of the Canaanites.\nAll he desired was to enter into amicable relations with Ishmael in\norder to execute his devilish plan.[119]\n\nBut Esau reckoned without his host. The night before his wedding with\nMahalath Ishmael died, and Nebaioth, the son of Ishmael, stepped into\nhis father's place, and gave away his sister.[120] How little it had\nbeen in Esau's mind to make his parents happy by taking a granddaughter\nof Abraham to wife, appears from the fact that he kept his two other\nwives, the Canaanitish women. The daughter of Ishmael followed the\nexample of her companions, and thus she but added to the grief caused\nthe parents of Esau by their daughters-in-law.[121] And the opportunity\nmight have been a most favorable one for Esau to turn aside from his\ngodless ways and amend his conduct, for the bridegroom is pardoned on\nhis wedding day for all his sins committed in years gone by.[122]\n\nScarcely had Jacob left his father's house, when Rebekah began to weep,\nfor she was sorely distressed about him. Isaac comforted her, saying:\n\"Weep not for Jacob! In peace doth he depart, and in peace will he\nreturn. The Lord, God Most High, will guard him against all evil and be\nwith him. He will not forsake him all the days of his life. Have no\nfear for him, for he walketh on the right path, he is a perfect man,\nand he hath faith in God\u2014he will not perish.\"[123]\n\nJACOB PURSUED BY ELIPHAZ AND ESAU\n\nWhen Jacob went away to go to Haran, Esau called his son Eliphaz, and\nsecretly spoke unto him, saying: \"Now hasten, take thy sword in thy\nhand and pursue Jacob, and pass before him in the road, and lurk for\nhim and slay him with thy sword in one of the mountains, and take all\nbelonging unto him, and come back.\" And Eliphaz was dexterous and\nexpert with the bow, as his father had taught him, and he was a noted\nhunter in the field and a valiant man. And Eliphaz did as his father\nhad commanded him. And Eliphaz was at that time thirteen years old, and\nhe arose and went and took ten of his mother's brothers with him, and\npursued Jacob. And he followed Jacob closely, and when he overtook him,\nhe lay in ambush for him on the borders of the land of Canaan, opposite\nto the city of Shechem. And Jacob saw Eliphaz and his men pursuing\nafter him, and Jacob stood in the place in which he was going in order\nto know what it was, for he did not understand their purpose. Eliphaz\ndrew his sword and went on advancing, he and his men, toward Jacob, and\nJacob said unto them, \"Wherefore have you come hither, and why do you\npursue with your swords?\" Eliphaz came near to Jacob, and answered as\nfollows, \"Thus did my father command me, and now therefore I will not\ndeviate from the orders which my father gave me.\" And when Jacob saw\nthat Esau had impressed his command urgently upon Eliphaz, he\napproached and supplicated Eliphaz and his men, saying, \"Behold, all\nthat I have, and that which my father and mother gave unto me, that\ntake unto thee and go from me, and do not slay me, and may this thing\nthat thou wilt do with me be accounted unto thee as righteousness.\" And\nthe Lord caused Jacob to find favor in the sight of Eliphaz and his\nmen, and they hearkened to the voice of Jacob, and they did not put him\nto death, but took all his belongings, together with the silver and\ngold that he had brought with him from Beer-sheba. They left him\nnothing. When Eliphaz and his men returned to Esau, and told him all\nthat had happened to them with Jacob, he was wroth with his son Eliphaz\nand with his men, because they had not put Jacob to death. And they\nanswered, and said unto Esau, \"Because Jacob supplicated us in this\nmatter, not to slay him, our pity was moved toward him, and we took all\nbelonging to him, and we came back.\" Esau then took all the silver and\ngold which Eliphaz had taken from Jacob, and he put them by in his\nhouse.[124]\n\nNevertheless Esau did not give up the hope of intercepting Jacob on his\nflight and slaying him. He pursued him, and with his men occupied the\nroad along which he had to journey to Haran. There a great miracle\nhappened to Jacob. When he observed what Esau's intention was, he\nturned off toward the Jordan river, and, with eyes directed to God, he\ncleft the waters with his wanderer's staff, and succeeded in crossing\nto the other side. But Esau was not to be deterred. He kept up the\npursuit, and reached the hot springs at Baarus before his brother, who\nhad to pass by there. Jacob, not knowing that Esau was on the watch for\nhim, decided to bathe in the spring, saying, \"I have neither bread nor\nother things needful, so I will at least warm my body in the waters of\nthe well.\" While he was in the bath, Esau occupied every exit, and\nJacob would surely have perished in the hot water, if the Lord had not\ncaused a miracle to come to pass. A new opening formed of itself, and\nthrough it Jacob escaped. Thus were fulfilled the words, \"When thou\npassest through the waters, I will be with thee; when thou walkest\nthrough the fire, thou shalt not be burnt,\" for Jacob was saved from\nthe waters of the Jordan and from the fire of the hot spring.\n\nAt the same time with Jacob, a rider, leaving his horse and his clothes\non the shore, had stepped into the river to cool off, but he was\noverwhelmed by the waves, and he met his death. Jacob put on the dead\nman's clothes, mounted his horse, and went off. It was a lucky chance,\nfor Eliphaz had stripped him of everything, even his clothes, and the\nmiracle of the river had happened only that he might not be forced to\nappear naked among men.[125]\n\nThough Jacob was robbed of all his possessions, his courage did not\nfail him. He said: \"Should I lose hope in my Creator? I set my eyes\nupon the merits of my fathers. For the sake of them the Lord will give\nme His aid.\" And God said: \"Jacob, thou puttest thy trust in the merits\nof thy fathers, therefore I will not suffer thy foot to be moved; He\nthat keepeth thee will not slumber. Yea, still more! While a keeper\nwatcheth only by day as a rule, and sleepeth by night, I will guard\nthee day and night, for, behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither\nslumber nor sleep. The Lord will keep thee from all evil, from Esau as\nwell as Laban; He will keep thy soul, that the Angel of Death do thee\nno hurt; He will keep thy going out and thy coming in, He will support\nthee now thou art leaving Canaan, and when thou returnest to\nCanaan.\"[126]\n\nJacob was reluctant to leave the Holy Land before he received direct\npermission from God. \"My parents,\" he reflected, \"bade me go forth and\nsojourn outside of the land, but who knows whether it be the will of\nGod that I do as they say, and beget children outside of the Holy\nLand?\"[127] Accordingly, he betook himself to Beer-sheba. There, where\nthe Lord had given permission to Isaac to depart from Canaan and go to\nPhilistia, he would learn the will of the Lord concerning himself.\n\nHe did not follow the example of his father and grandfather and take\nrefuge with Abimelech, because he feared the king might force also him\ninto a covenant, and make it impossible for his descendants of many\ngenerations to take possession of the Philistine land. Nor could he\nstay at home, because of his fear that Esau might wrest the birthright\nand the blessing from him, and to that he would not and could not\nagree.[128] He was as little disposed to take up the combat with Esau,\nfor he knew the truth of the maxim, \"He who courts danger will be\novercome by it; he who avoids danger will overcome it.\" Both Abraham\nand Isaac had lived according to this rule. His grandfather had fled\nfrom Nimrod, and his father had gone away from the Philistines.[129]\n\nTHE DAY OF MIRACLES\n\nJacob's journey to Haran was a succession of miracles. The first of the\nfive that befell for his sake in the course of it was that the sun sank\nwhile Jacob was passing Mount Moriah, though it was high noon at the\ntime. He was following the spring that appeared wherever the Patriarchs\nwent or settled. It accompanied Jacob from Beer-sheba to Mount Moriah,\na two days' journey. When he arrived at the holy hill, the Lord said to\nhim: \"Jacob, thou hast bread in thy wallet, and the spring of waters is\nnear by to quench thy thirst. Thus thou hast food and drink, and here\nthou canst lodge for the night.\" But Jacob replied: \"The sun has barely\npassed the fifth of its twelve day stages, why should I lie down to\nsleep at so unseemly an hour?\" But then Jacob perceived that the sun\nwas about to sink, and he prepared to make ready his bed.[130] It was\nthe Divine purpose not to let Jacob pass the site of the future Temple\nwithout stopping; he was to tarry there at least one night. Also, God\ndesired to appear unto Jacob, and He shows Himself unto His faithful\nones only at night.[131] At the same time Jacob was saved from the\npursuit of Esau, who had to desist on account of the premature\ndarkness.[132]\n\nJacob took twelve stones from the altar on which his father Isaac had\nlain bound as a sacrifice, and he said: \"It was the purpose of God to\nlet twelve tribes arise, but they have not been begotten by Abraham or\nIsaac. If, now, these twelve stones will unite into a single one, then\nshall I know for a certainty that I am destined to become the father of\nthe twelve tribes.\" At this time the second miracle came to pass, the\ntwelve stones joined themselves together and made one, which he put\nunder his head, and at once it became soft and downy like a pillow. It\nwas well that he had a comfortable couch. He was in great need of rest,\nfor it was the first night in fourteen years that he did not keep\nvigils. During all those years, passed in Eber's house of learning, he\nhad devoted the nights to study. And for twenty years to come he was\nnot to sleep, for while he was with his uncle Laban, he spent all the\nnight and every night reciting the Psalms.[133]\n\nOn the whole it was a night of marvels. He dreamed a dream in which the\ncourse of the world's history was unfolded to him. On a ladder set up\non the earth, with the top of it reaching to heaven, he beheld the two\nangels who had been sent to Sodom. For one hundred and thirty-eight\nyears they had been banished from the celestial regions, because they\nhad betrayed their secret mission to Lot. They had accompanied Jacob\nfrom his father's house thither, and now they were ascending\nheavenward. When they arrived there, he heard them call the other\nangels, and say, \"Come ye and see the countenance of the pious Jacob,\nwhose likeness appears on the Divine throne, ye who yearned long to see\nit,\" and then he beheld the angels descend from heaven to gaze upon\nhim.[134] He also saw the angels of the four kingdoms ascending the\nladder. The angel of Babylon mounted seventy rounds, the angel of\nMedia, fifty-two, that of Greece, one hundred and eighty, and that of\nEdom mounted very high, saying, \"I will ascend above the heights of the\nclouds, I will be like the Most High,\" and Jacob heard a voice\nremonstrating, \"Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the\nuttermost parts of the pit.\" God Himself reproved Edom, saying, \"Though\nthou mount on high as the eagle, and though thy nest be set among the\nstars, I will bring thee down from thence.\"[135]\n\nFurthermore, God showed unto Jacob the revelation at Mount Sinai, the\ntranslation of Elijah, the Temple in its glory and in its spoliation,\nNebuchadnezzar's attempt to burn the three holy children in the fiery\nfurnace, and Daniel's encounter with Bel.[136]\n\nIn this, the first prophetic dream dreamed by Jacob,[137] God made him\nthe promise that the land upon which he was lying would be given to\nhim, but the land he lay upon was the whole of Palestine, which God had\nfolded together and put under him. \"And,\" the promise continued, \"thy\nseed will be like unto the dust of the earth. As the earth survives all\nthings, so thy children will survive all the nations of the earth. But\nas the earth is trodden upon by all, so thy children, when they commit\ntrespasses, will be trodden upon by the nations of the earth.\"[138]\nAnd, furthermore, God promised that Jacob should spread out to the west\nand to the east, a greater promise than that given to his fathers\nAbraham and Isaac, to whom He had allotted a limited land. Jacob's was\nan unbounded possession.[139]\n\nFrom this wondrous dream Jacob awoke with a start of fright, on account\nof the vision he had had of the destruction of the Temple.[140] He\ncried out, \"How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the\nhouse of God, wherein is the gate of heaven through which prayer\nascends to Him.\" He took the stone made out of the twelve, and set it\nup for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it, which had flowed\ndown from heaven for him, and God sank this anointed stone unto the\nabyss, to serve as the centre of the earth, the same stone, the Eben\nShetiyah,[141] that forms the centre of the sanctuary, whereon the\nIneffable Name is graven, the knowledge of which makes a man master\nover nature, and over life and death.[142]\n\nJacob cast himself down before the Eben Shetiyah, and entreated God to\nfulfil the promise He had given him, and also he prayed that God grant\nhim honorable sustenance. For God had not mentioned bread to eat and\nraiment to put on, that Jacob might learn to have faith in the Lord.\nThen he vowed to give the tenth of all he owned unto God, if He would\nbut grant his petition. Thus Jacob was the first to take a vow upon\nhimself,[143] and the first, too, to separate the tithe from his\nincome.[144]\n\nGod had promised him almost all that is desirable, but he feared he\nmight forfeit the pledged blessings through his sinfulness,[145] and\nagain he prayed earnestly that God bring him back to his father's house\nunimpaired in body, possessions, and knowledge,[146] and guard him, in\nthe strange land whither he was going, against idolatry, an immoral\nlife, and bloodshed.[147]\n\nHis prayer at an end, Jacob set out on his way to Haran, and the third\nwonder happened. In the twinkling of an eye he arrived at his\ndestination. The earth jumped from Mount Moriah to Haran. A wonder like\nthis God has executed only four times in the whole course of\nhistory.[148]\n\nThe first thing to meet his eye in Haran was the well whence the\ninhabitants drew their supply of water. Although it was a great city,\nHaran suffered from dearth of water, and therefore the well could not\nbe used by the people free of charge. Jacob's sojourn in the city\nproduced a change. By reason of his meritorious deeds the water springs\nwere blessed, and the city had water enough for its needs.\n\nJacob saw a number of people by the well, and he questioned them, \"My\nbrethren, whence be ye?\" He thus made himself a model for all to\nfollow. A man should be companionable, and address others like brothers\nand friends, and not wait for them to greet him. Each one should strive\nto be the first to give the salutation of peace, that the angels of\npeace and compassion may come to meet him. When he was informed that\nthe by-standers hailed from Haran, he made inquiry about the character\nand vocation of his uncle Laban, and whether they were on terms of\nfriendly intercourse with him. They answered briefly: \"There is peace\nbetween us, but if thou art desirous of inquiring further, here comes\nRachel the daughter of Laban. From her thou canst learn all thou hast a\nmind to learn.\" They knew that women like to talk, wherefore they\nreferred him to Rachel.[149]\n\nJacob found it strange that so many should be standing idle by the\nwell, and he questioned further: \"Are you day laborers? then it is too\nearly for you to put by your work. But if you are pasturing your own\nsheep, why do you not water your flocks and let them feed?\"[150] They\ntold him they were waiting until all the shepherds brought their flocks\nthither, and together rolled the stone from the mouth of the well.\nWhile he was yet speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's\nsheep, for Laban had no sons, and a pest having broken out shortly\nbefore among his cattle, so few sheep were left that a maiden like\nRachel could easily tend them. Now, when Jacob saw the daughter of his\nmother's brother approaching, he rolled the great stone from the mouth\nof the well as easily as a cork is drawn from a bottle\u2014the fourth\nwonder of this extraordinary day. Jacob's strength was equal to the\nstrength of all the shepherds; with his two arms alone he accomplished\nwhat usually requires the united forces of a large assemblage of men.\nHe had been divinely endowed with this supernatural strength on leaving\nthe Holy Land. God had caused the dew of the resurrection to drop down\nupon him, and his physical strength was so great that even in a combat\nwith the angels he was victorious.[152]\n\nThe fifth and last wonder of the day was that the water rose from the\ndepths of the well to the very top, there was no need to draw it up,\nand there it remained all the twenty years that Jacob abode in\nHaran.[153]\n\nJACOB WITH LABAN\n\nRachel's coming to the well at the moment when Jacob reached the\nterritory belonging to Haran was an auspicious omen. To meet young\nmaidens on first entering a city is a sure sign that fortune is\nfavorable to one's undertakings. Experience proves this through\nEliezer, Jacob, Moses, and Saul. They all encountered maidens when they\napproached a place new to them, and they all met with success.[154]\n\nJacob treated Rachel at once as his cousin, which caused significant\nwhispering among the by-standers. They censured Jacob for his demeanor\ntoward her, for since God had sent the deluge upon the world, on\naccount of the immoral life led by men, great chastity had prevailed,\nespecially among the people of the east. The talk of the men reduced\nJacob to tears. Scarcely had he kissed Rachel when he began to weep,\nfor he repented of having done it.\n\nThere was reason enough for tears. Jacob could not but remember sadly\nthat Eliezer, his grandfather's slave, had brought ten camels laden\nwith presents with him to Haran, when he came to sue for a bride for\nIsaac, while he had not even a ring to give to Rachel. Moreover, he\nforesaw that his favorite wife Rachel would not lie beside him in the\ngrave, and this, too, made him weep.\n\nAs soon as Rachel heard that Jacob was her cousin, she ran home to tell\nher father about his coming. Her mother was no longer among the living,\nelse she would naturally have gone to her. In great haste Laban ran to\nreceive Jacob. He reflected, if Eliezer, the bondman, had come with ten\ncamels, what would not the favorite son of the family bring with him,\nand when he saw that Jacob was unattended, he concluded that he carried\ngreat sums of money in his girdle, and he threw his arms about his\nwaist to find out whether his supposition was true. Disappointed in\nthis, he yet did not give up hope that his nephew Jacob was a man of\nsubstance. Perhaps he concealed precious stones in his mouth, and he\nkissed him in order to find out whether he had guessed aright. But\nJacob said to him: \"Thou thinkest I have money. Nay, thou art mistaken,\nI have but words.\"[155] Then he went on to tell him how it had come\nabout that he stood before him empty-handed. He said that his father\nIsaac had sent him on his way provided with gold, silver, and money,\nbut he had encountered Eliphaz, who had threatened to slay him. To this\nassailant Jacob had spoken thus: \"Know that the descendants of Abraham\nhave an obligation to meet, they will have to serve four hundred years\nin a land that is not theirs. If thou slayest me, then you, the seed of\nEsau, will have to pay the debt. It were better, therefore, to take all\nI have, and spare my life, so that what is owing may be paid by me.\nHence,\" Jacob continued, \"I stand before thee bare of all the substance\ncarried off by Eliphaz.\"[156]\n\nThis tale of his nephew's poverty filled Laban with dismay. \"What,\" he\nexclaimed, \"shall I have to give food and drink for a month or,\nperhaps, even a year to this fellow, who has come to me empty-handed!\"\nHe betook himself to his teraphim, to ask them for counsel upon the\nmatter, and they admonished him, saying: \"Beware of sending him away\nfrom thy house. His star and his constellation are so lucky that good\nfortune will attend all his undertakings, and for his sake the blessing\nof the Lord will rest upon all thou doest, in thy house or in thy\nfield.\"\n\nLaban was satisfied with the advice of the teraphim, but he was\nembarrassed as to the way in which he was to attach Jacob to his house.\nHe did not venture to offer him service, lest Jacob's conditions be\nimpossible of fulfilment. Again he resorted to the teraphim, and asked\nthem with what reward to tempt his nephew, and they replied: \"A wife is\nhis wage; he will ask nothing else of thee but a wife. It is his nature\nto be attracted by women, and whenever he threatens to leave thee, do\nbut offer him another wife, and he will not depart.\"\n\nLaban went back to Jacob, and said, \"Tell me, what shall thy wages be?\"\nand he replied, \"Thinkest thou I came hither to make money? I came only\nto get me a wife,\"[158] for Jacob had no sooner beheld Rachel than he\nfell in love with her and made her a proposal of marriage. Rachel\nconsented, but added the warning: \"My father is cunning, and thou art\nnot his match.\" Jacob: \"I am his brother in cunning.\" Rachel: \"But is\ndeception becoming unto the pious?\" Jacob: \"Yes, 'with the righteous\nrighteousness is seemly, and with the deceiver deception.' But,\"\ncontinued Jacob, \"tell me wherein he may deal cunningly with me.\"\nRachel: \"I have an older sister, whom he desires to see married before\nme, and he will try to palm her off on thee instead of me.\" To be\nprepared for Laban's trickery, Jacob and Rachel agreed upon a sign by\nwhich he would recognize her in the nuptial night.[159]\n\nThus warned to be on his guard against Laban, Jacob worded his\nagreement with him regarding his marriage to Rachel with such precision\nthat no room was left for distortion or guile. Jacob said: \"I know that\nthe people of this place are knaves, therefore I desire to put the\nmatter very clearly to thee. I will serve thee seven years for Rachel,\nhence not Leah; for thy daughter, that thou bringest me not some other\nwoman likewise named Rachel; for the younger daughter, that thou\nexchangest not their names in the meantime.\"\n\nNothing of all this availed: \"It profits not if a villain is cast into\na sawmill\"\u2014neither force nor gentle words can circumvent a rascal.\nLaban deceived not only Jacob, but also the guests whom he invited to\nthe wedding.\n\nTHE MARRIAGE OF JACOB\n\nAfter Jacob had served Laban seven years, he said to his uncle: \"The\nLord destined me to be the father of twelve tribes. I am now\neighty-four years old, and if I do not take thought of the matter now,\nwhen can I?\"[160] Thereupon Laban consented to let him have his\ndaughter Rachel to wife, and he was married forty-four years after his\nbrother Esau. The Lord often defers the happiness of the pious, while\nHe permits the wicked to enjoy the fulfilment of their desires\nsoon.[161] Esau, however, had purposely chosen his fortieth year for\nhis marriage; he had wanted to indicate that he was walking in the\nfootsteps of his father Isaac, who had likewise married at forty years\nof age. Esau was like a swine that stretches out its feet when it lies\ndown, to show that it is cloven-footed like the clean animals, though\nit is none the less one of the unclean animals. Until his fortieth year\nEsau made a practice of violating the wives of other men, and then at\nhis marriage he acted as though he were following the example of his\npious father. Accordingly, the woman he married was of his own kind,\nJudith, a daughter of Heth, for God said: \"This one, who is designed\nfor stubble, to be burnt by fire, shall take unto wife one of a people\nalso destined for utter destruction.\" They, Esau and his wife,\nillustrated the saying, \"Not for naught does the raven consort with the\ncrow; they are birds of a feather.\"[162]\n\nFar different it was with Jacob. He married the two pious and lovely\nsisters, Leah and Rachel, for Leah, like her younger sister, was\nbeautiful of countenance, form, and stature. She had but one defect,\nher eyes were weak, and this malady she had brought down upon herself,\nthrough her own action. Laban, who had two daughters, and Rebekah, his\nsister, who had two sons, had agreed by letter, while their children\nwere still young, that the older son of the one was to marry the older\ndaughter of the other, and the younger son the younger daughter. When\nLeah grew to maidenhood, and inquired about her future husband, all her\ntidings spoke of his villainous character, and she wept over her fate\nuntil her eyelashes dropped from their lids. But Rachel grew more and\nmore beautiful day by day, for all who spoke of Jacob praised and\nextolled him, and \"good tidings make the bones fat.\"\n\nIn view of the agreement between Laban and Rebekah, Jacob refused to\nmarry the older daughter Leah. As it was, Esau was his mortal enemy, on\naccount of what had happened regarding the birthright and the paternal\nblessing. If, now, Jacob married the maiden appointed for him, Esau\nwould never forgive his younger brother. Therefore Jacob resolved to\ntake to wife Rachel, the younger daughter of his uncle.[163]\n\nLaban was of another mind. He purposed to marry of his older daughter\nfirst, for he knew that Jacob would consent to serve him a second\nperiod of seven years for love of Rachel. On the day of the wedding he\nassembled the inhabitants of Haran, and addressed them as follows: \"Ye\nknow well that we used to suffer from lack of water, and as soon as\nthis pious man Jacob came to dwell among us, we had water in\nabundance.\" \"What hast thou in mind to do?\" they asked Laban. He\nreplied: \"If ye have naught to say against it, I will deceive him and\ngive him Leah to wife. He loves Rachel with an exceeding great love,\nand for her sake he will tarry with us yet seven other years.\" \"Do as\nit pleaseth thee,\" his friends said. \"Well, then,\" said Laban, \"let\neach one of you give me a pledge that ye will not betray my purpose.\"\n\nWith the pledges they left with him, Laban bought wine, oil, and meat\nfor the wedding feast, and he set a meal before them which they had\nthemselves paid for. Because he deceived his fellow-citizens thus,\nLaban is called Arami, \"the deceiver.\" They feasted all day long, until\nlate at night, and when Jacob expressed his astonishment at the\nattention shown him, they said to him: \"Through thy piety thou didst a\ngreat service of lovingkindness unto us, our supply of water was\nincreased unto abundance, and we desire to show our gratitude\ntherefor.\" And, indeed, they tried to give him a hint of Laban's\npurpose. In the marriage ode which they sang they used the refrain\n\"Halia,\" in the hope that he would understand it as Ha Leah, \"This is\nLeah.\" But Jacob was unsuspicious and noticed nothing.\n\nWhen the bride was led into the nuptial chamber, the guests\nextinguished all the candles, much to Jacob's amazement. But their\nexplanation satisfied him. \"Thinkest thou,\" they said, \"we have as\nlittle sense of decency as thy countrymen?\" Jacob therefore did not\ndiscover the deception practiced upon him until morning. During the\nnight Leah responded whenever he called Rachel, for which he reproached\nher bitterly when daylight came. \"O thou deceiver, daughter of a\ndeceiver, why didst thou answer me when I called Rachel's name?\" \"Is\nthere a teacher without a pupil?\" asked Leah, in return. \"I but\nprofited by thy instruction. When thy father called thee Esau, didst\nthou not say, Here am I?\"[164]\n\nJacob was greatly enraged against Laban, and he said to him: \"Why didst\nthou deal treacherously with me? Take back thy daughter, and let me\ndepart, seeing thou didst act wickedly toward me.\"[165] Laban pacified\nhim, however, saying, \"It is not so done in our place, to give the\nyounger before the first-born,\" and Jacob agreed to serve yet seven\nother years for Rachel, and after the seven days of the feast of Leah's\nwedding were fulfilled, he married Rachel.[166]\n\nWith Leah and Rachel, Jacob received the handmaids Zilpah and Bilhah,\ntwo other daughters of Laban, whom his concubines had borne unto\nhim.[167]\n\nTHE BIRTH OF JACOB'S CHILDREN\n\nThe ways of God are not like unto the ways of men. A man clings close\nto his friend while he has riches, and forsakes him when he falls into\npoverty. But when God sees a mortal unsteady and faltering, He reaches\na hand out to him, and raises him up. Thus it happened with Leah. She\nwas hated by Jacob, and God visited her in mercy. Jacob's aversion to\nLeah began the very morning after their wedding, when his wife taunted\nhim with not being wholly free from cunning and craft himself. Then God\nsaid, \"Help can come to Leah only if she gives birth to a child; then\nthe love of her husband will return to her.\"[168] God remembered the\ntears she had shed when she prayed that her doom, chaining her to that\nrecreant Esau, be averted from her, and so wondrous are the uses of\nprayer that Leah, besides turning aside the impending decree, was\npermitted to marry Jacob before her sister and be the first to bear him\na child. There was another reason why the Lord was compassionately\ninclined toward Leah. She had gotten herself talked about. The sailors\non the sea, the travellers along the highways, the women at their\nlooms, they all gossiped about Leah, saying, \"She is not within what\nher seeming is without. She appears to be pious, but if she were, she\nwould not have deceived her sister.\"[169] To put an end to all this\ntattle, God granted her the distinction of bearing a son at the end of\nseven months after her marriage. He was one of a pair of twins, the\nother child being a daughter. So it was with eleven of the sons of\nJacob, all of them except Joseph were born twins with a girl, and the\ntwin sister and brother married later on.[170] Altogether it was an\nextraordinary childbirth, for Leah was barren, not formed by nature to\nbear children.\n\nShe called her first-born son Reuben, which means \"See the normal man,\"\nfor he was neither big nor little, neither dark nor fair, but exactly\nnormal.[171] In calling her oldest child Reuben, \"See the son,\" Leah\nindicated his future character. \"Behold the difference,\" the name\nimplied, \"between my first-born son and the first-born son of my father\nin-law. Esau sold his birthright to Jacob of his own free will, and yet\nhe hated him. As for my first-born son, although his birthright was\ntaken from him without his consent, and given to Joseph, it was\nnevertheless he who rescued Joseph from the hands of his\nbrethren.\"[172]\n\nLeah called her second son Shime'on, \"Yonder is sin,\" for one of his\ndescendants was that Zimri who was guilty of vile trespasses with the\ndaughters of Moab.[173]\n\nThe name of her third son, Levi, was given him by God Himself, not by\nhis mother. The Lord summoned him through the angel Gabriel, and\nbestowed the name upon him as one who is \"crowned\" with the twenty-four\ngifts that are the tribute due to the priests.[174]\n\nAt the birth of her fourth son, Leah returned thanks to God for a\nspecial reason. She knew that Jacob would beget twelve sons, and if\nthey were distributed equally among his four wives, each would bear\nthree. But now it appeared that she had one more than her due share,\nand she called him Jehudah, \"thanks unto God.\" She was thus the first\nsince the creation of the world to give thanks to God,[175] and her\nexample was followed by David and Daniel, the descendants of her son\nJudah.\n\nWhen Rachel saw that her sister had borne Jacob four sons, she envied\nLeah. Not that she begrudged her the good fortune she enjoyed, she only\nenvied her for her piety, saying to herself that it was to her\nrighteous conduct that she owed the blessing of many children.[176]\nThen she besought Jacob: \"Pray unto God for me, that He grant me\nchildren, else my life is no life. Verily, there are four that may be\nregarded as though they were dead, the blind, the leper, the childless,\nand he who was once rich and has lost his fortune.\" Jacob's anger was\nkindled against Rachel, and he said: \"It were better thou shouldst\naddress thy petition to God, and not to me, for am I in God's stead,\nwho hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?\"[177] God was\ndispleased with this answer that Jacob made to his sad wife. He rebuked\nhim with the words: \"Is it thus thou wouldst comfort a grief-stricken\nheart? As thou livest, the day will come when thy children will stand\nbefore the son of Rachel, and he will use the same words thou hast but\nnow used, saying, 'Am I in the place of the Lord?'\"\n\nRachel also made reply to Jacob, saying: \"Did not thy father, too,\nentreat God for thy mother with earnest words, beseeching Him to remove\nher barrenness?\" Jacob: \"It is true, but Isaac had no children, and I\nhave several.\" Rachel: \"Remember thy grandfather Abraham, thou canst\nnot deny that he had children when he supplicated God in behalf of\nSarah!\" Jacob: \"Wouldst thou do for me what Sarah did for my\ngrandfather?\" Rachel: \"Pray, what did she?\" Jacob: \"She herself brought\na rival into her house.\" Rachel: \"If that is all that is necessary, I\nam ready to follow the example of Sarah, and I pray that as she was\ngranted a child for having invited a rival, so may I be blessed,\ntoo.\"[178] Thereupon Rachel gave Jacob Bilhah, her freed handmaid, to\nwife, and she bore him a son, whom Rachel called Dan, saying, \"As the\nLord was gracious unto me and gave me a son according to my petition,\nso He will permit Samson, the descendant of Dan, to judge his people,\nthat it fall not into the hands of the Philistines.\"[179] Bilhah's\nsecond son Rachel named Naphtali, saying, \"Mine is the bond that binds\nJacob to this place, for it was for my sake that he came to Laban.\" At\nthe same time she wanted to convey by this name that the Torah, which\nis as sweet as Nofet, \"honeycomb,\" would be taught in the territory of\nNaphtali.[180] And the name had still a third meaning: \"As God hath\nheard my fervent prayer for a son, so He will hearken unto the fervent\nprayer of the Naphtalites when they are beset by their enemies.\"[181]\n\nLeah, seeing that she had left bearing, while Bilhah, her sister's\nhandmaid, bore Jacob two sons, concluded that it was Jacob's destiny to\nhave four wives, her sister and herself, and their half-sisters Bilhah\nand Zilpah. Therefore she also gave him her handmaid to wife.[182]\nZilpah was the youngest of the four women. It was the custom of that\ntime to give the older daughter the older handmaid, and the younger\ndaughter the younger handmaid, as their dowry, when they got married.\nNow, in order to make Jacob believe that his wife was the younger\ndaughter he had served for, Laban had given Leah the younger handmaid\nas her marriage portion. This Zilpah was so young that her body\nbetrayed no outward signs of pregnancy, and nothing was known of her\ncondition until her son was born. Leah called the boy Gad, which means\n\"fortune,\" or it may mean \"the cutter,\" for from Gad was descended the\nprophet Elijah, who brings good fortune to Israel, and he also cuts\ndown the heathen world.[183] Leah had other reasons, too, for choosing\nthis name of double meaning. The tribe of Gad had the good fortune of\nentering into possession of its allotment in the Holy Land before any\nof the others,[184] and, also, Gad the son of Jacob was born\ncircumcised.[185]\n\nTo Zilpah's second son Leah gave the name of Asher, \"praise,\" for, she\nsaid, \"Unto me all manner of praise is due, for I brought my handmaid\ninto the house of my husband as wife. Sarah did likewise, but only\nbecause she had no children, and so it was also with Rachel. But as for\nme, I had children, and nevertheless I subdued my passion, and without\njealousy I gave my handmaid to my husband for wife. Verily, all will\npraise and extol me.\"[186] Furthermore she spoke: \"As the women will\npraise me, so the sons of Asher will in time to come praise God for\ntheir fruitful possession in the Holy Land.\"[187]\n\nThe next son born unto Jacob was Issachar, \"a reward,\" and once more it\nwas Leah who was permitted to bring forth the child, as a reward from\nGod for her pious desire to have the twelve tribes come into the world.\nTo secure this result, she left no means untried.[188]\n\nIt happened once that her oldest son Reuben was tending his father's\nass during the harvest, and he bound him to a root of dudaim, and went\nhis way. On returning, he found the dudaim torn out of the ground, and\nthe ass lying dead beside it. The beast had uprooted it in trying to\nget loose, and the plant has a peculiar quality, whoever tears it up\nmust die.[189] As it was the time of the harvest, when it is permitted\nfor any one to take a plant from a field, and as dudaim is, besides, a\nplant which the owner of a field esteems lightly, Reuben carried it\nhome. Being a good son, he did not keep it for himself, but gave it to\nhis mother. Rachel desired the dudaim, and she asked the plant of Leah,\nwho parted with it to her sister, but on the condition that Jacob, when\nhe returned from work in the evening, should tarry with her for a\nwhile. It was altogether unbecoming conduct in Rachel to dispose thus\nof her husband. She gained the dudaim, but she lost two tribes. If she\nhad acted otherwise, she would have borne four sons instead of two. And\nshe suffered another punishment, her body was not permitted to rest in\nthe grave beside her husband's.\n\nJacob came home from the field after night had fallen, for he observed\nthe law obliging a day laborer to work until darkness sets in, and\nJacob's zeal in the affairs of Laban was as great in the last seven\nyears, after his marriage, as in the first seven, while he was serving\nfor the hand of Rachel.[190] When Leah heard the braying of Jacob's\nass, she ran to meet her husband,[191] and without giving him time to\nwash his feet, she insisted upon his turning aside into her tent.[192]\nAt first Jacob refused to go, but God compelled him to enter, for unto\nGod it was known that Leah acted from pure, disinterested motives.[193]\nHer dudaim secured two sons for her, Issachar, the father of the tribe\nthat devotes itself to the study of the Torah, whence his name meaning\n\"reward,\" and Zebulon, whose descendants carried on commerce, using\ntheir profits to enable their brethren of Issachar to keep at their\nstudies.[194] Leah called this last-born son of hers Zebulon,\n\"dwelling-place,\" for she said, \"Now will my husband dwell with me,\nseeing that I have borne him six sons, and, also, the sons of Zebulon\nwill have a goodly dwelling-place in the Holy Land.\"[195]\n\nLeah bore once more, and this last time it was a daughter, a man child\nturned into a woman by her prayer. When she conceived for the seventh\ntime, she spake as follows: \"God promised Jacob twelve sons. I bore him\nsix, and each of the two handmaids has borne him two. If, now, I were\nto bring forth another son, my sister Rachel would not be equal even\nunto the handmaids.\" Therefore she prayed to God to change the male\nembryo in her womb into a female, and God hearkened unto her\nprayer.[196]\n\nNow all the wives of Jacob, Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah, united\ntheir prayers with the prayer of Jacob, and together they besought God\nto remove the curse of barrenness from Rachel. On New Year's Day, the\nday whereon God sits in judgment upon the inhabitants of the earth, He\nremembered Rachel, and granted her a son.[197] And Rachel spake, \"God\nhath taken away my reproach,\" for all the people had said that she was\nnot a pious woman, else had she borne children, and now that God had\nhearkened to her, and opened her womb, such idle talk no longer had any\nreason.[198]\n\nBy bearing a son, she had escaped another disgrace. She had said to\nherself: \"Jacob hath a mind to return to the land of his birth, and my\nfather will not be able to hinder his daughters who have borne him\nchildren from following their husband thither with their children. But\nhe will not let me, the childless wife, go, too, and he will keep me\nhere and marry me to one of the uncircumcised.\"[199] She said\nfurthermore, \"As my son hath removed my reproach, so Joshua, his\ndescendant, will roll away a reproach from the Israelites, when he\ncircumcises them beyond Jordan.\"[200]\n\nRachel called her son Joseph, \"increase,\" saying, \"God will give me an\nadditional son.\" Prophetess as she was, she foresaw she would have a\nsecond son. But an increase added on by God is larger than the original\ncapital itself. Benjamin, the second son, whom Rachel regarded merely\nas a supplement, had ten sons, while Joseph begot only two. These\ntwelve together may be considered the twelve tribes borne by\nRachel.[201] Had Rachel not used the form of expression, \"The Lord add\nto me another son,\" she herself would have begotten twelve tribes with\nJacob.[202]\n\nJACOB FLEES BEFORE LABAN\n\nJacob had only been waiting for Joseph to be born to begin preparations\nfor his journey home. The holy spirit had revealed to him that the\nhouse of Joseph would work the destruction of the house of Esau, and,\ntherefore, Jacob exclaimed at the birth of Joseph, \"Now I need not fear\nEsau or his legions.\"[203]\n\nAbout this time, Rebekah sent her nurse Deborah, the daughter of Uz,\naccompanied by two of Isaac's servants, to Jacob, to urge him to return\nto his father's house, now that his fourteen years of service had come\nto an end. Then Jacob approached Laban, and spoke, \"Give me my wives\nand my children, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country,\nfor my mother has sent messengers unto me, bidding me to return to my\nfather's house.\"[204] Laban answered, saying, \"O that I might find\nfavor in thine eyes! By a sign it was made known unto me that God\nblesseth me for thy sake.\" What Laban had in mind was the treasure he\nhad found on the day Jacob came to him, and he considered that a token\nof his beneficent powers.[205] Indeed, God had wrought many a thing in\nthe house of Laban that testified to the blessings spread abroad by the\npious. Shortly before Jacob came, a pest had broken out among Laban's\ncattle, and with his arrival it ceased.[206] And Laban had had no son,\nbut during Jacob's sojourn in Haran sons were born unto him.[207]\n\nAll the hire he asked in return for his labor and for the blessings he\nhad brought Laban was the speckled and spotted among the goats of his\nherd, and the black among the sheep. Laban assented to his conditions,\nsaying, \"Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.\" The\narch-villain Laban, whose tongue wagged in all directions, and who made\nall sorts of promises that were never kept, judged others by himself,\nand therefore suspected Jacob of wanting to deceive him.[208] And yet,\nin the end, it was Laban himself who broke his word. No less than a\nhundred times he changed the agreement between them. Nevertheless his\nunrighteous conduct was of no avail. Though a three days' journey had\nbeen set betwixt Laban's flocks and Jacob's, the angels were wont to\nbring the sheep belonging to Laban down to Jacob's sheep, and Jacob's\ndroves grew constantly larger and better.[209] Laban had given only the\nfeeble and sick to Jacob, yet the young of the flock, raised under\nJacob's tendance, were so excellent in quality that people bought them\nat a heavy price.[210] And Jacob had no need to resort to the peeled\nrods. He had but to speak, and the flocks bare according to his\ndesire.[211] What Laban deserved was utter ruin, for having permitted\nthe pious Jacob to work for him without hire, and after his wages had\nbeen changed ten times, and ten times Laban had tried to overreach him,\nGod rewarded him in this way.[212] But his good luck with the flocks\nwas only what Jacob deserved. Every faithful laborer is rewarded by God\nin this world, quite regardless of what awaits him in the world to\ncome.[213] With empty hands Jacob had come to Laban, and he left him\nwith herds numbering six hundred thousand. Their increase had been\nmarvellous, an increase that will be equalled only in the Messianic\ntime.[214]\n\nThe wealth and good fortune of Jacob called forth the envy of Laban and\nhis sons, and they could not hide their vexation in their intercourse\nwith him. And the Lord said unto Jacob, \"Thy father-in-law's\ncountenance is not toward thee as beforetime, and yet thou tarriest\nwith him? Do thou rather return unto the land of thy fathers, and there\nI will let My Shekinah rest upon thee, for I cannot permit the Shekinah\nto reside outside of the Holy Land.\"[215] Immediately Jacob sent the\nfleet messenger Naphtali[216] to Rachel and Leah to summon them to a\nconsultation, and he chose as the place of meeting the open field,\nwhere none could overhear what was said.[217]\n\nHis two wives approved the plan of returning to his home, and Jacob\nresolved at once to go away with all his substance, without as much as\nacquainting Laban with his intention. Laban was gone to shear his\nsheep, and so Jacob could execute his plan without delay.\n\nThat her father might not learn about their flight from his teraphim,\nRachel stole them, and she took them and concealed them upon the camel\nupon which she sat, and she went on. And this is the manner they used\nto make the images: They took a man who was the first-born, slew him\nand took the hair off his head, then salted the head, and anointed it\nwith oil, then they wrote \"the Name\" upon a small tablet of copper or\ngold, and placed it under his tongue. The head with the tablet under\nthe tongue was then put in a house where lights were lighted before it,\nand at the time when they bowed down to it, it spoke to them on all\nmatters that they asked of it, and that was due to the power of the\nName which was written upon it.[218]\n\nTHE COVENANT WITH LABAN\n\nJacob departed and crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward\nGilead, for the holy spirit revealed to him that God would bring help\nthere to his children in the days of Jephthah. Meantime the shepherds\nof Haran observed that the well, which had been filled to overflowing\nsince the arrival of Jacob in their place, ran dry suddenly. For three\ndays they watched and waited, in the hope that the waters would return\nin the same abundance as before. Disappointed, they finally told Laban\nof the misfortune, and he divined at once that Jacob had departed\nthence, for he knew that the blessing had been conferred upon Haran\nonly for the sake of his son-in-law's merits.[219]\n\nOn the morrow Laban rose early, assembled all the people of the city,\nand pursued Jacob with the intention of killing him when he overtook\nhim. But the archangel Michael appeared unto him, and bade him take\nheed unto himself, that he do not the least unto Jacob, else would he\nsuffer death himself.[220] This message from heaven came to Laban\nduring the night, for when, in extraordinary cases, God finds it\nnecessary to reveal Himself unto the heathen, He does it only in the\ndark, clandestinely as it were, while He shows Himself to the prophets\nof the Jews openly, during daylight.\n\nLaban accomplished the journey in one day for which Jacob had taken\nseven,[221] and he overtook him at the mountain of Gilead. When he came\nupon Jacob, he found him in the act of praying and giving praise unto\nGod.[222] Immediately Laban fell to remonstrating with his son-in-law\nfor having stolen away unawares to him. He showed his true character\nwhen he said, \"It is in the power of my hand to do thee hurt, but the\nGod of thy father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take heed to\nthyself that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.\" That is the\nway of the wicked, they boast of the evil they can do. Laban wanted to\nlet Jacob know that only the dream warning him against doing aught that\nwas harmful to Jacob prevented him from carrying out the wicked design\nhe had formed against him.[223]\n\nLaban continued to take Jacob to task, and he concluded with the words,\n\"And now, though thou wouldst needs be gone, because thou sore longedst\nafter thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?\" When\nhe pronounced the last words, his grandchildren interrupted him,\nsaying, \"We are ashamed of thee, grandfather, that in thy old age thou\nshouldst use such words as 'my gods.'\" Laban searched all the tents for\nhis idols, going first to the tent of Jacob, which was Rachel's at the\nsame time, for Jacob always dwelt with his favorite wife. Finding\nnothing, he went thence to Leah's tent, and to the tents of the two\nhandmaids, and, noticing that Rachel was feeling about here and there,\nhis suspicions were aroused, and he entered her tent a second time. He\nwould now have found what he was looking for, if a miracle had not come\nto pass. The teraphim were transformed into drinking vessels, and Laban\nhad to desist from his fruitless search.\n\nNow Jacob, who did not know that Rachel had stolen her father's\nteraphim in order to turn him aside from his idolatrous ways, was wroth\nwith Laban, and began to chide with him. In the quarrel between them,\nJacob's noble character manifested itself. Notwithstanding his\nexcitement, he did not suffer a single unbecoming word to escape him.\nHe only reminded Laban of the loyalty and devotion with which he had\nserved him, doing for him what none other would or could have done. He\nsaid: \"I dealt wrongfully with the lion, for God had appointed of\nLaban's sheep for the lion's daily sustenance, and I deprived him\nthereof. Could another shepherd have done thus? Yes, the people abused\nme, calling me robber and sneak thief, for they thought that only by\nstealing by day and stealing by night could I replace the animals torn\nby wild beasts. And as to my honesty,\" he continued, \"is it likely\nthere is another son-in-law who, having lived with his father-in-law,\nhath not taken some little thing from the household of his\nfather-in-law, a knife, or other trifle? But thou hast felt about all\nmy stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? Not so much\nas a needle or a nail.\"\n\nIn his indignation, and conscious of his innocence, Jacob exclaimed,\n\"With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, he shall not live,\" words which\ncontained a curse\u2014the thief was cursed with premature death, and\ntherefore Rachel had to die in giving birth to Benjamin. Indeed, the\ncurse would have taken effect at once, had it not been the wish of God\nthat Rachel should bear Jacob his youngest son.[224]\n\nAfter the quarrel, the two men made a treaty, and with his gigantic\nstrength Jacob set up a huge rock as a memorial, and a heap of stones\nas a sign of their covenant. In this matter Jacob followed the example\nof his fathers, who likewise had covenanted with heathen nations,\nAbraham with the Jebusites, and Isaac with the Philistines. Therefore\nJacob did not hesitate to make a treaty with the Arameans.[225] Jacob\nsummoned his sons, calling them brethren, for they were his peers in\npiety and strength, and he bade them cast up heaps of stones. Thereupon\nhe swore unto his father-in-law that he would take no wives beside his\nfour daughters, either while they were alive or after their death, and\nLaban, on his part, swore that he would not pass over the heaps or over\nthe pillar unto Jacob with hostile intent,[226] and he took the oath by\nthe God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, while Jacob made mention of\nthe Fear of Isaac. He refrained from using the term \"the God of Isaac,\"\nbecause God never unites His name with that of a living person, for the\nreason that so long as a man has not ended his years, no trust may be\nput in him, lest he be seduced by the evil inclination. It is true,\nwhen He appeared unto Jacob at Beth-el, God called Himself \"the God of\nIsaac.\" There was a reason for the unusual phrase. Being blind, Isaac\nled a retired life, within his tent, and the evil inclination had no\npower over him any more. But though God had full confidence in Isaac,\nyet Jacob could not venture to couple the name of God with the name of\na living man, wherefore he took his oath by \"the Fear of Isaac.\"[227]\n\nEarly in the morning after the day of covenanting, Laban rose up, and\nkissed his grandchildren and his daughters, and blessed them. But these\nacts and words of his did not come from the heart; in his innermost\nthoughts he regretted that Jacob and his family and his substance had\nescaped him.[228] His true feelings he betrayed in the message which he\nsent to Esau at once upon his return to Haran, by the hand of his son\nBeor and ten companions of his son. The message read: \"Hast thou heard\nwhat Jacob thy brother has done unto me, who first came to me naked and\nbare, and I went to meet him, and took him to my house with honor, and\nbrought him up, and gave him my two daughters for wives, and also two\nof my maids? And God blessed him on my account, and he increased\nabundantly, and had sons and daughters and maid-servants, and also an\nuncommon stock of flocks and herds, camels and asses, also silver and\ngold in abundance. But when he saw that his wealth increased, he left\nme while I went to shear my sheep, and he rose up and fled in secrecy.\nAnd he put his wives and children upon camels, and he led away all his\ncattle and substance which he acquired in my land, and he resolved to\ngo to his father Isaac, to the land of Canaan. And he did not suffer me\nto kiss my sons and daughters, and he carried away my daughters as\ncaptives of the sword, and he also stole my gods, and he fled. And now\nI have left him in the mountain of the brook of Jabbok, he and all\nbelonging to him, not a jot of his substance is lacking. If it be thy\nwish to go to him, go, and there wilt thou find him, and thou canst do\nunto him as thy soul desireth.\"[229]\n\nJacob had no need to fear either Laban or Esau, for on his journey he\nwas accompanied by two angel hosts, one going with him from Haran to\nthe borders of the Holy Land, where he was received by the other host,\nthe angels of Palestine.[230] Each of these hosts consisted of no less\nthan six hundred thousand angels,[231] and when he beheld them, Jacob\nsaid: \"Ye belong neither to the host of Esau, who is preparing to go\nout to war against me, nor the host of Laban, who is about to pursue me\nagain. Ye are the hosts of the holy angels sent by the Lord.\" And he\ngave the name Mahanaim, Double-Host, to the spot on which the second\narmy relieved the first.[232]\n\nJACOB AND ESAU PREPARE TO MEET\n\nThe message of Laban awakened Esau's old hatred toward Jacob with\nincreased fury, and he assembled his household, consisting of sixty\nmen. With them and three hundred and forty inhabitants of Seir, he went\nforth to do battle with Jacob and kill him. He divided his warriors\ninto seven cohorts, giving to his son Eliphaz his own division of\nsixty, and putting the other six divisions under as many of the\nHorites.\n\nWhile Esau was hastening onward to meet Jacob, the messengers which\nLaban had sent to Esau came to Rebekah and told her that Esau and his\nfour hundred men were about to make war upon Jacob, with the purpose of\nslaying him and taking possession of all he had. Anxious lest Esau\nshould execute his plan while yet Jacob was on the journey, she hastily\ndispatched seventy-two of the retainers of Isaac's household, to give\nhim help. Jacob, tarrying on the banks of the brook Jabbok, rejoiced at\nthe sight of these men, and he greeted them with the words, \"This is\nGod's helping host,\" wherefore he called the place of their meeting\nMahanaim, Host.\n\nAfter the warriors sent by Rebekah had satisfied his questions\nregarding the welfare of his parents, they delivered his mother's\nmessage unto him, thus: \"I have heard, my son, that thy brother Esau\nhath gone forth against thee on the road, with men of the children of\nSeir the Horite, and therefore, my son, hearken to my voice, and take\ncounsel with thyself what thou wilt do, and when he cometh up to thee,\nsupplicate him, and do not speak roughly to him, and give him a present\nfrom what thou possessest, and from what God has favored thee with. And\nwhen he asketh thee concerning thy affairs, conceal nothing from him,\nperhaps he may turn from his anger against thee, and thou wilt thereby\nsave thy soul, thou and all belonging to thee, for it is thy duty to\nhonor him, since he is thy elder brother.\"\n\nAnd when Jacob heard the words of his mother which the messengers had\nspoken to him, he lifted up his voice and wept bitterly, and did as his\nmother commanded him.\n\nHe sent messengers to Esau to placate him, and they said unto him:\n\"Thus speaketh thy servant Jacob: My lord, think not that the blessing\nwhich my father bestowed upon me profited me. Twenty years I served\nLaban, and he deceived me, and changed my hire ten times, as thou well\nknowest. Yet did I labor sorely in his house, and God saw my\naffliction, my labor, and the work of my hands, and afterward He caused\nme to find grace and favor in the sight of Laban. And through God's\ngreat mercy and kindness, I acquired oxen and asses and cattle and\nmen-servants and maid servants. And now I am coming to my country and\nto my home, to my father and mother, who are in the land of Canaan. And\nI have sent to let my lord know all this in order to find favor in the\neyes of my lord, so that he may not imagine that I have become a man of\nsubstance, or that the blessing with which my father blessed me has\nbenefited me.\"[233]\n\nFurthermore spake the messengers: \"Why dost thou envy me in respect to\nthe blessing wherewith my father blessed me? Is it that the sun shineth\nin my land, and not in thine? Or doth the dew and the rain fall only\nupon my land, and not upon thine? If my father blessed me with the dew\nof heaven, he blessed thee with the fatness of the earth, and if he\nspoke to me, Peoples will serve thee, he hath said unto thee, By thy\nsword shalt thou live. How long, then, wilt thou continue to envy me?\nCome, now, let us set up a covenant between us, that we will share\nequally all the vexations that may occur.\"\n\nEsau would not agree to this proposal, his friends dissuaded him\ntherefrom, saying, \"Accept not these conditions, for God hath said to\nAbraham, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land\nthat is not theirs, and shall serve the people thereof, and the aliens\nshall afflict them four hundred years. Wait, therefore, until Jacob and\nhis family go down into Egypt to pay off this debt.\"\n\nJacob also sent word to Esau, saying: \"Though I dwelt with that heathen\nof the heathen, Laban, yet have I not forgotten my God, but I fulfil\nthe six hundred and thirteen commandments of the Torah.[234] If thy\nmind be set upon peace, thou wilt find me ready for peace. But if thy\ndesire be war, thou wilt find me ready for war. I have with me men of\nvalor and strength, they have but to utter a word, and God fulfils it.\nI tarried with Laban until Joseph should be born, he who is destined to\nsubdue thee.[235] And though my descendants be held in bondage in this\nworld, yet a day will come when they will rule over their rulers.\"[236]\n\nIn reply to all these gentle words, Esau spoke with arrogance: \"Surely\nI have heard, and truly it has been told unto me what Jacob has been to\nLaban, who brought him up in his house, and gave him his daughters for\nwives, and he begot sons and daughters, and abundantly increased in\nwealth and riches in Laban's house and with his help. And when he saw\nthat his wealth was abundant and his riches were great, he fled with\nall belonging to him from Laban's house, and he carried away Laban's\ndaughters from their father as captives of the sword, without telling\nhim of it. And not only to Laban hath Jacob done thus, but also unto me\nhath he done so, and he hath twice supplanted me, and shall I be\nsilent? Now, I have this day come with my camp to meet him, and I will\ndo unto him according to the desire of my heart.\"\n\nThe messengers dispatched by Jacob now returned to him, and reported\nthese words of Esau unto him.[237] They also told him that his brother\nwas advancing against him with an army consisting of four hundred\ncrowned heads, each leading a host of four hundred men.[238] \"It is\ntrue, thou art his brother, and thou treatest him as a brother should,\"\nthey said to Jacob, \"but he is an Esau, thou must be made aware of his\nvillainy.\"[239]\n\nJacob bore in mind the promise of God, that He would bring him back to\nhis father's house in peace, yet the report about his brother's purpose\nalarmed him greatly. A pious man may never depend upon promises of\nearthly good. God does not keep the promise if he is guilty of the\nsmallest conceivable trespass, and Jacob feared that he might have\nforfeited happiness by reason of a sin committed by him. Moreover, he\nwas anxious lest Esau be the one favored by God, inasmuch as he had\nthese twenty years been fulfilling two Divine commands that Jacob had\nhad to disregard. Esau had been living in the Holy Land, Jacob outside\nof it; the former had been in attendance upon his parents, the latter\ndwelling at a distance from them. And much as he feared defeat, Jacob\nalso feared the reverse, that he might be victorious over Esau, or\nmight even slay his brother, which would be as bad as to be slain by\nhim. And he was depressed by another apprehension, that his father had\ndied, for he reasoned that Esau would not take such warlike steps\nagainst his own brother, were his father still alive.[240]\n\nWhen his wives saw the anxiety that possessed Jacob, they began to\nquarrel with him, and reproach him for having taken them away from\ntheir father's house, though he knew that such danger threatened from\nEsau.[241] Then Jacob determined to apply the three means that might\nsave him from the fate impending: he would cry to God for help, appease\nEsau's wrath with presents, and hold himself in readiness for war if\nthe worst came to the worst.[242]\n\nHe prayed to God: \"O Thou God of my father Abraham, and God of my\nfather Isaac, God of all who walk in the ways of the pious and do like\nunto them! I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all\nthe truth, which Thou hast showed unto Thy servant. O Lord of the\nworld, as Thou didst not suffer Laban to execute his evil designs\nagainst me, so also bring to naught the purpose of Esau, who desireth\nto slay me. O Lord of the world, in Thy Torah which Thou wilt give us\non Mount Sinai it is written, And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall\nnot kill it and her young both in one day. If this wretch should come\nand murder my children and their mothers at the same time, who would\nthen desire to read Thy Torah which Thou wilt give us on Mount Sinai?\nAnd yet Thou didst speak, For the sake of thy merits and for the merits\nof thy fathers I will do good unto thee, and in the future world thy\nchildren shall be as numerous as the sand of the sea.\"\n\nAs Jacob prayed for his own deliverance, so also he prayed for the\nsalvation of his descendants, that they might not be annihilated by the\ndescendants of Esau.\n\nSuch was the prayer of Jacob when he saw Esau approaching from afar,\nand God heard his petition and looked upon his tears, and He gave him\nthe assurance that for his sake his descendants, too, would be redeemed\nfrom all distress.[243]\n\nThen the Lord sent three angels, and they went before Esau, and they\nappeared unto Esau and his people as hundreds and thousands of men\nriding upon horses. They were furnished with all sorts of weapons, and\ndivided into four columns. And one division went on, and they found\nEsau coming with four hundred men, and the division ran toward them,\nand terrified them. Esau fell off his horse in alarm, and all his men\nseparated from him in great fear, while the approaching column shouted\nafter them, \"Verily, we are the servants of Jacob, the servant of God,\nand who can stand against us?\" Esau then said unto them, \"O, then my\nlord and brother Jacob is your lord, whom I have not seen these twenty\nyears, and now that I have this day come to see him, do you treat me in\nthis manner?\" The angels answered, \"As the Lord liveth, were not Jacob\nthy brother, we had not left one remaining of thee and thy people, but\non account of Jacob we will do nothing to thee.\" This division passed\nfrom Esau, and when he had gone from there about a league, the second\ndivision came toward him, and they also did unto Esau and his men as\nthe first had done to them, and when they permitted him to go on, the\nthird came and did like the first, and when the third had passed also,\nand Esau still continued with his men on the road to Jacob, the fourth\ndivision came and did to them as the others had done. And Esau was\ngreatly afraid of his brother, because he thought that the four columns\nof the army which he had encountered were the servants of Jacob.\n\nAfter Jacob had made an end of praying, he divided all that journeyed\nwith him into two companies, and he set over them Damesek and Alinus,\nthe two sons of Eliezer, the bondman of Abraham, and their sons.[244]\nJacob's example teaches us not to conceal the whole of our fortune in\none hiding-place, else we run the danger of losing everything at one\nstroke.\n\nOf his cattle he sent a part to Esau as a present, first dividing it\ninto three droves in order to impress his brother more. When Esau\nreceived the first drove, he would think he had the whole gift that had\nbeen sent to him, and suddenly he would be astonished by the appearance\nof the second portion, and again by the third. Jacob knew his brother's\navarice only too well.[245]\n\nThe men who were the bearers of Jacob's present to Esau were charged\nwith the following message, \"This is an offering to my lord Esau from\nhis slave Jacob.\" But God took these words of Jacob in ill part,\nsaying, \"Thou profanest what is holy when thou callest Esau lord.\"\nJacob excused himself; he was but flattering the wicked in order to\nescape death at his hands.[246]\n\nJACOB WRESTLES WITH THE ANGEL\n\nThe servants of Jacob went before him with the present for Esau, and he\nfollowed with his wives and his children. As he was about to pass over\nthe ford of Jabbok, he observed a shepherd, who likewise had sheep and\ncamels. The stranger approached Jacob and proposed that they should\nford the stream together, and help each other move their cattle over,\nand Jacob assented, on the condition that his possessions should be put\nacross first. In the twinkling of an eye Jacob's sheep were transferred\nto the other side of the stream by the shepherd. Then the flocks of the\nshepherd were to be moved by Jacob, but no matter how many he took over\nto the opposite bank, always there remained some on the hither shore.\nThere was no end to the cattle, though Jacob labored all the night\nthrough. At last he lost patience, and he fell upon the shepherd and\ncaught him by the throat, crying out, \"O thou wizard, thou wizard, at\nnight no enchantment succeeds!\" The angel thought, \"Very well, let him\nknow once for all with whom he has had dealings,\" and with his finger\nhe touched the earth, whence fire burst forth. But Jacob said, \"What!\nthou thinkest thus to affright me, who am made wholly of fire?\"[247]\n\nThe shepherd was no less a personage than the archangel Michael, and in\nhis combat with Jacob he was assisted by the whole host of angels under\nhis command. He was on the point of inflicting a dangerous wound upon\nJacob, when God appeared, and all the angels, even Michael himself,\nfelt their strength ooze away. Seeing that he could not prevail against\nJacob, the archangel touched the hollow of his thigh, and injured him,\nand God rebuked him, saying, \"Dost thou act as is seemly, when thou\ncausest a blemish in My priest Jacob?\" Michael said in astonishment,\n\"Why, it is I who am Thy priest!\" But God said, \"Thou art My priest in\nheaven, and he is My priest on earth.\" Thereupon Michael summoned the\narchangel Raphael, saying, \"My comrade, I pray thee, help me out of my\ndistress, for thou art charged with the healing of all disease,\" and\nRaphael cured Jacob of the injury Michael had inflicted.\n\nThe Lord continued to reproach Michael, saying, \"Why didst thou do harm\nunto My first-born son?\" and the archangel answered, \"I did it only to\nglorify Thee,\" and then God appointed Michael as the guardian angel of\nJacob and his seed unto the end of all generations, with these words:\n\"Thou art a fire, and so is Jacob a fire; thou art the head of the\nangels, and he is the head of the nations; thou art supreme over all\nthe angels, and he is supreme over all the peoples. Therefore he who is\nsupreme over all the angels shall be appointed unto him who is supreme\nover all the peoples, that he may entreat mercy for him from the\nSupreme One over all.\"\n\nThen Michael said unto Jacob, \"How is it possible that thou who couldst\nprevail against me, the most distinguished of the angels, art afraid of\nEsau?\"\n\nWhen the day broke, Michael said to Jacob, \"Let me go, for the day\nbreaketh,\" but Jacob held him back, saying, \"Art thou a thief, or a\ngambler with dice, that thou fearest the daylight?\" At that moment\nappeared many different hosts of angels, and they called unto Michael:\n\"Ascend, O Michael, the time of song hath come, and if thou art not in\nheaven to lead the choir, none will sing.\" And Michael entreated Jacob\nwith supplications to let him go, for he feared the angels of 'Arabot\nwould consume him with fire, if he were not there to start the songs of\npraise at the proper time. Jacob said, \"I will not let thee go, except\nthou bless me,\" whereto Michael made reply: \"Who is greater, the\nservant or the son? I am the servant, and thou art the son. Why, then,\ncravest thou my blessing?\"[248] Jacob urged as an argument, \"The angels\nthat visited Abraham did not leave without blessing him,\" but Michael\nheld, \"They were sent by God for that very purpose, and I was not.\" Yet\nJacob insisted upon his demand, and Michael pleaded with him, saying,\n\"The angels that betrayed a heavenly secret were banished from their\nplace for one hundred and thirty eight years. Dost thou desire that I\nshould acquaint thee with what would cause my banishment likewise?\" In\nthe end the angel nevertheless had to yield; Jacob could not be moved,\nand Michael took counsel with himself thus: \"I will reveal a secret to\nhim, and if God demands to know why I revealed it, I will make answer,\nThy children stand upon their wishes with Thee, and Thou dost yield to\nthem. How, then, could I have left Jacob's wish unfulfilled?\"\n\nThen Michael spoke to Jacob, saying: \"A day will come when God will\nreveal Himself unto thee, and He will change thy name, and I shall be\npresent when He changeth it.[249] Thy name shall be called no more\nJacob, but Israel, for happy thou, of woman born, who didst enter the\nheavenly palace, and didst escape thence with thy life.\" And Michael\nblessed Jacob with the words, \"May it be the will of God that thy\ndescendants be as pious as thou art.\"[250]\n\nAt the same time the archangel reminded Jacob that he had promised to\ngive a tithe of his possessions unto God, and at once Jacob separated\nfive hundred and fifty head of cattle from his herds, which counted\nfifty-five hundred. Then Michael went on, \"But thou hast sons, and of\nthem thou hast not set apart the tenth.\" Jacob proceeded to pass his\nsons in review: Reuben, Joseph, Dan, and Gad being the first-born, each\nof his mother, were exempt, and there remained but eight sons, and when\nhe had named them, down to Benjamin, he had to go back and begin over\nagain with Simon, the ninth, and finish with Levi as the tenth.\n\nMichael took Levi with him into heaven, and presented him before God,\nsaying, \"O Lord of the world, this one is Thy lot, and the tenth\nbelonging unto Thee,\" and God stretched forth His hand and blessed Levi\nwith the blessing that his children should be the servants of God on\nearth as the angels were His servants on high. Michael spoke again,\n\"Doth not a king provide for the sustenance of his servants?\" whereupon\nGod appointed for the Levites all that was holy unto the Lord.[251]\n\nThen Jacob spoke to the angel: \"My father conferred the blessing upon\nme that was intended for Esau, and now I desire to know whether thou\nwilt acknowledge the blessing as mine, or wilt bring charges against me\non account of it.\" And the angel said: \"I acknowledge the blessing to\nbe thine by right. Thou didst not gain it by craft and cunning, and I\nand all the heavenly powers recognize it to be valid, for thou hast\nshown thyself master over the mighty powers of the heavens as over Esau\nand his legions.\"[252]\n\nAnd even then Jacob would not let the angel depart, he had to reveal\nhis name to him first, and the angel made known to him that it was\nIsrael, the same name that Jacob would once bear.[253]\n\nAt last the angel departed, after Jacob had blessed him, and Jacob\ncalled the place of wrestling Penuel, the same place to which before he\nhad given the name Mahanaim, for both words have but one meaning, the\nplace of encounter with angels.[254]\n\nTHE MEETING BETWEEN ESAU AND JACOB\n\nAt the break of day the angel left off from wrestling with Jacob. The\ndawn on that day was of particularly short duration. The sun rose two\nhours before his time, by way of compensation for having set early, on\nthe day on which Jacob passed Mount Moriah on his journey to Haran, to\ninduce him to turn aside and lodge for a night on the future Temple\nplace.[255] Indeed, the power of the sun on this same day was\naltogether remarkable. He shone with the brilliance and ardor with\nwhich he was invested during the six days of the creation, and as he\nwill shine at the end of days, to make whole the halt and the blind\namong the Jews and to consume the heathen. This same healing and\ndevastating property he had on that day, too, for Jacob was cured,\nwhile Esau and his princes were all but burnt up by his terrible\nheat.[256]\n\nJacob was in dire need of healing lotions for the injury he had\nsustained in the encounter with the angel. The combat between them had\nbeen grim, the dust whirled up by the scuffle rose to the very throne\nof God.[257] Though Jacob prevailed against his huge opponent, as big\nas one-third of the whole world, throwing him to the ground and keeping\nhim pinned down, yet the angel had injured him by clutching at the\nsinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh, so that it was\ndislocated, and Jacob halted upon his thigh.[258] The healing power of\nthe sun restored him, nevertheless his children took it upon themselves\nnot to eat the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh,\nfor they reproached themselves with having been the cause of his\nmishap, they should not have left him alone in that night.[259]\n\nNow, although Jacob had prepared for the worst, for open hostilities\neven, yet when he saw Esau and his men, he thought it discreet to make\nseparate divisions of the households of Leah, Rachel, and the\nhandmaids, and divide the children unto each of them. And he put the\nhandmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after,\nand Rachel and Joseph hindermost. It was the stratagem which the fox\nused with the lion. Once upon a time the king of beasts was wroth with\nhis subjects, and they looked hither and thither for a spokesman who\nmastered the art of appeasing their ruler. The fox offered himself for\nthe undertaking, saying, \"I know three hundred fables which will allay\nhis fury.\" His offer was accepted with joy. On the way to the lion, the\nfox suddenly stood still, and in reply to the questions put to him, he\nsaid, \"I have forgotten one hundred of the three hundred fables.\"\n\"Never mind,\" said those accompanying him, \"two hundred will serve the\npurpose.\" A little way further on the fox again stopped suddenly, and,\nquestioned again, he confessed that he had forgotten half of the two\nhundred remaining fables. The animals with him still consoled him that\nthe hundred he knew would suffice. But the fox halted a third time, and\nthen he admitted that his memory had failed him entirely, and he had\nforgotten all the fables he knew, and he advised that every animal\napproach the king on his own account and endeavor to appease his anger.\nAt first Jacob had had courage enough to enter the lists with Esau in\nbehalf of all with him. Now he came to the conclusion to let each one\ntry to do what he could for himself.\n\nHowever, Jacob was too fond a father to expose his family to the first\nbrunt of the danger. He himself passed over before all the rest,\nsaying, \"It is better that they attack me than my children.\"[260] After\nhim came the handmaids and their children. His reason for placing them\nthere was that, if Esau should be overcome by passion for the women,\nand try to violate them, he would thus meet the handmaids first, and in\nthe meantime Jacob would have the chance of preparing for more\ndetermined resistance in the defense of the honor of his wives.[261]\nJoseph and Rachel came last, and Joseph walked in front of his mother,\nthough Jacob had ordered the reverse. But the son knew both the beauty\nof his mother and the lustfulness of his uncle, and therefore he tried\nto hide Rachel from the sight of Esau.[262]\n\nIn the vehemence of his rage against Jacob, Esau vowed that he would\nnot slay him with bow and arrow, but would bite him dead with his\nmouth, and suck his blood. But he was doomed to bitter disappointment,\nfor Jacob's neck turned as hard as ivory, and in his helpless fury Esau\ncould but gnash his teeth.[263] The two brothers were like the ram and\nthe wolf. A wolf wanted to tear a ram in pieces, and the ram defended\nhimself with his horns, striking them deep into the flesh of the wolf.\nBoth began to howl, the wolf because he could not secure his prey, and\nthe ram from fear that the wolf renew his attacks. Esau bawled because\nhis teeth were hurt by the ivory-like flesh of Jacob's neck, and Jacob\nfeared that his brother would make a second attempt to bite him.[264]\n\nEsau addressed a question to his brother. \"Tell me,\" he said, \"what was\nthe army I met?\" for on his march against Jacob he had had a most\npeculiar experience with a great host of forty thousand warriors. It\nconsisted of various kinds of troops, armor-clad soldiers walking on\nfoot, mounted on horses, and seated in chariots, and they all threw\nthemselves upon Esau when they met. He demanded to know whence they\ncame, and the strange soldiers hardly interrupted their savage\nonslaught to reply that they belonged to Jacob. Only when Esau told\nthem that Jacob was his brother did they leave off, saying, \"Woe to us\nif our master hears that we did thee harm.\" This was the army and the\nencounter Esau inquired about as soon as he met his brother. But the\narmy was a host of angels, who had the appearance of warriors to Esau\nand his men.[265] Also the messengers sent by Jacob to Esau had been\nangels, for no mere human being could be induced to go forth and face\nthe recreant.[266]\n\nJacob now gave Esau the presents intended for him, a tenth of all his\ncattle,[267] and also pearls and precious stones,[268] and, besides, a\nfalcon for the chase.[269] But even the animals refused to give up\ntheir gentle master Jacob and become the property of the villain Esau.\nThey all ran away when Jacob wanted to hand them over to his brother,\nand the result was that the only ones that reached Esau were the feeble\nand the lame, all that could not make good their escape.[270]\n\nAt first Esau declined the presents offered to him. Naturally, that was\na mere pretense. While refusing the gifts with words, he held his hand\noutstretched ready to receive them.[271] Jacob took the hint, and\ninsisted that he accept them, saying: \"Nay, I pray thee, if now I have\nfound grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand, forasmuch\nas I have seen thy face, as I have seen the face of angels, and thou\nart pleased with me.\" The closing words were chosen with\nwell-calculated purpose. Jacob wanted Esau to derive the meaning that\nhe had intercourse with angels, and to be inspired with awe. Jacob was\nlike the man invited to a banquet by his mortal enemy who has been\nseeking an opportunity to slay him. When the guest divines the purpose\nfor which he has been brought thither, he says to the host: \"What a\nmagnificent and delicious meal this is! But once before in my life did\nI partake of one like it, and that was when I was bidden by the king to\nhis table\"\u2014enough to drive terror to the heart of the would-be slayer.\nHe takes good care not to harm a man on such intimate terms with the\nking as to be invited to his table![272]\n\nJacob had valid reason for recalling his encounter with the angel, for\nit was the angel of Esau who had measured his strength with Jacob's,\nand had been overcome.[273]\n\nAs Esau accepted the presents of Jacob willingly on this first\noccasion, so he continued to accept them for a whole year; daily Jacob\ngave him presents as on the day of their meeting, for, he said, \"'A\ngift doth blind the eyes of the wise,' and how much more doth it blind\nthe wicked! Therefore will I give him presents upon presents, perhaps\nhe will let me alone.\" Besides, he did not attach much value to the\npossessions he had acquired outside of the Holy Land. Such possessions\nare not a blessing, and he did not hesitate to part with them.\n\nBeside the presents which Jacob gave Esau, he also paid out a large sum\nof money to him for the Cave of Machpelah. Immediately upon his arrival\nin the Holy Land he sold all he had brought with him from Haran, and a\npile of gold was the proceeds of the sale. He spoke to Esau, saying:\n\"Like me thou hast a share in the Cave of Machpelah, wilt thou take\nthis pile of gold for thy portion therein?\" \"What care I for the Cave?\"\nreturned Esau. \"Gold is what I want,\" and for his share in Machpelah he\ntook the gold realized from the sale of the possessions Jacob had\naccumulated outside of the Holy Land. But God \"filled the vacuum\nwithout delay,\" and Jacob was as rich as before.[274]\n\nWealth was not an object of desire to Jacob. He would have been well\ncontent, in his own behalf and in behalf of his family, to resign all\nearthly treasures in favor of Esau and his family. He said to Esau: \"I\nforesee that in future days suffering will be inflicted by thy children\nupon mine. But I do not demur, thou mayest exercise thy dominion and\nwear thy crown until the time when the Messiah springs from my loins,\nand receives the rule from thee.\" These words spoken by Jacob will be\nrealized in days to come, when all the nations will rise up against the\nkingdom of Edom, and take away one city after another from him, one\nrealm after another, until they reach Bet-Gubrin, and then the Messiah\nwill appear and assume his kingship. The angel of Edom will flee for\nrefuge to Bozrah, but God will appear there, and slay him, for though\nBozrah is one of the cities of refuge, yet will the Lord exercise the\nright of the avenger therein. He will seize the angel by his hair, and\nElijah will slaughter him, letting the blood spatter the garments of\nGod.[275] All this Jacob had in mind when he said to Esau, \"Let my\nlord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant, until I come unto my\nlord unto Seir.\" Jacob himself never went to Seir. What he meant was\nthe Messianic time when Israel shall go to Seir, and take possession\nthereof.[276]\n\nJacob tarried in Succoth a whole year, and he opened a house of\nlearning there.[277] Then he journeyed on to Shechem, while Esau betook\nhimself to Seir, saying to himself, \"How long shall I be a burden to my\nbrother?\" for it was during Jacob's sojourn at Succoth that Esau\nreceived daily presents from Jacob.[278]\n\nAnd Jacob, after abiding these many years in a strange land, came to\nShechem in peace, unimpaired in mind and body. He had forgotten none of\nthe knowledge he had acquired before; the gifts he gave to Esau did not\nencroach upon his wealth; the injury inflicted by the angel that\nwrestled with him had been healed, and likewise his children were sound\nand healthy.[279]\n\nJacob entered Shechem on a Friday, late in the afternoon, and his first\nconcern was to lay out the boundaries of the city, that the laws of the\nSabbath might not be transgressed. As soon as he was settled in the\nplace, he sent presents to the notables. A man must be grateful to a\ncity from which he derives benefits. No less did the common people\nenjoy his bounty. For them he opened a market where he sold all wares\nat low prices.[280]\n\nAlso he lost no time in buying a parcel of ground, for it is the duty\nof every man of substance who comes to the Holy Land from outside to\nmake himself the possessor of land there.[281] He gave a hundred lambs\nfor his estate, a hundred yearling sheep, and a hundred pieces of\nmoney, and received in return a bill of sale, to which he attached his\nsignature, using the letters Yod-He for it. And then he erected an\naltar to God upon his land, and he said, \"Thou art the Lord of all\ncelestial things, and I am the lord of all earthly things.\" But God\nsaid, \"Not even the overseer of the synagogue arrogates privileges in\nthe synagogue, and thou assumest lordship with a high hand? Forsooth,\non the morrow thy daughter will go abroad, and she shall be\nhumbled.\"[282]\n\nTHE OUTRAGE AT SHECHEM\n\nWhile Jacob and his sons were sitting in the house of learning,\noccupied with the study of the Torah,[283] Dinah went abroad to see the\ndancing and singing women, whom Shechem had hired to dance and play in\nthe streets in order to entice her forth.[284] Had she remained at\nhome, nothing would have happened to her. But she was a woman, and all\nwomen like to show themselves in the street.[285] When Shechem caught\nsight of her, he seized her by main force, young though she was,[286]\nand violated her in beastly fashion.[287]\n\nThis misfortune befell Jacob as a punishment for his excessive\nself-confidence. In his negotiations with Laban, he had used the\nexpression, \"My righteousness shall answer for me hereafter.\" Besides,\non his return to Palestine, when he was preparing to meet his brother,\nhe concealed his daughter Dinah in a chest, lest Esau desire to have\nher for wife, and he be obliged to give her to him. God spoke to him,\nsaying: \"Herein hast thou acted unkindly toward thy brother, and\ntherefore Dinah will have to marry Job, one that is neither circumcised\nnor a proselyte. Thou didst refuse to give her to one that is\ncircumcised, and one that is uncircumcised will take her. Thou didst\nrefuse to give her to Esau in lawful wedlock, and now she will fall a\nvictim to the ravisher's illicit passion.\"[288]\n\nWhen Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter, he sent twelve\nservants to fetch Dinah from Shechem's house, but Shechem went out to\nthem with his men, and drove them from his house, and he would not\nsuffer them to come unto Dinah, and he kissed and embraced her before\ntheir eyes. Jacob then sent two maidens of his servants' daughters to\nremain with Dinah in the house of Shechem. Shechem bade three of his\nfriends go to his father Hamor, the son of Haddakum, the son of Pered,\nand say, \"Get me this damsel to wife.\" Hamor tried at first to persuade\nhis son not to take a Hebrew woman to wife, but when Shechem persisted\nin his request, he did according to the word of his son, and went forth\nto communicate with Jacob concerning the matter. In the meanwhile the\nsons of Jacob returned from the field, and, kindled with wrath, they\nspoke unto their father, saying, \"Surely death is due to this man and\nhis household, because the Lord God of the whole earth commanded Noah\nand his children that man shall never rob nor commit adultery. Now,\nbehold, Shechem has ravaged and committed fornication with our sister,\nand not one of all the people of the city spake a word to him.\" And\nwhilst they were speaking, Hamor came to speak to Jacob the words of\nhis son concerning Dinah, and after he ceased to speak, Shechem himself\ncame to Jacob and repeated the request made by his father. Simon and\nLevi answered Hamor and Shechem deceitfully, saying: \"All you have\nspoken unto us we will do. And, behold, our sister is in your house,\nbut keep away from her until we send to our father Isaac concerning\nthis matter, for we can do nothing without his counsel. He knows the\nways of our father Abraham, and whatever he saith unto us we will tell\nyou, we will conceal nothing from you.\"\n\nShechem and his father went home thereafter, satisfied with the result\nachieved, and when they had gone, the sons of Jacob asked him to seek\ncounsel and pretext in order to kill all the inhabitants of the city,\nwho had deserved this punishment on account of their wickedness. Then\nSimon said to them: \"I have good counsel to give you. Bid them be\ncircumcised. If they consent not, we shall take our daughter from them,\nand go away. And if they consent to do this, then, when they are in\npain, we shall attack them and slay them.\" The next morning Shechem and\nhis father came again to Jacob, to speak concerning Dinah, and the sons\nof Jacob spoke deceitfully to them, saying: \"We told our father Isaac\nall your words, and your words pleased him, but he said, that thus did\nAbraham his father command him from God, that any man that is not of\nhis descendants, who desireth to take one of his daughters to wife,\nshall cause every male belonging to him to be circumcised.\"\n\nShechem and his father hastened to do the wishes of the sons of Jacob,\nand they persuaded also the men of the city to do likewise, for they\nwere greatly esteemed by them, being the princes of the land.\n\nOn the next day, Shechem and his father rose up early in the morning,\nand they assembled all the men of the city, and they called for the\nsons of Jacob, and they circumcised Shechem, his father, his five\nbrothers, and all the males in the city, six hundred and forty-five men\nand two hundred and seventy-six lads. Haddakum, the grandfather of\nShechem, and his six brothers would not be circumcised, and they were\ngreatly incensed against the people of the city for submitting to the\nwishes of the sons of Jacob.\n\nIn the evening of the second day, Shechem and his father sent to have\neight little children whom their mothers had concealed brought to them\nto be circumcised. Haddakum and his six brothers sprang at the\nmessengers, and sought to slay them, and sought to slay also Shechem,\nHamor, and Dinah. They chided Shechem and his father for doing a thing\nthat their fathers had never done, which would raise the ire of the\ninhabitants of the land of Canaan against them, as well as the ire of\nall the children of Ham, and that on account of a Hebrew woman.\nHaddakum and his brothers finished by saying: \"Behold, to-morrow we\nwill go and assemble our Canaanitish brethren, and we will come and\nsmite you and all in whom you trust, that there shall not be a remnant\nleft of you or them.\"\n\nWhen Hamor and his son Shechem and all the people of the city heard\nthis, they were sore afraid, and they repented what they had done, and\nShechem and his father answered Haddakum and his brothers: \"Because we\nsaw that the Hebrews would not accede to our wishes concerning their\ndaughter, we did this thing, but when we shall have obtained our\nrequest from them, we will then do unto them that which is in your\nhearts and in ours, as soon as we shall become strong.\"\n\nDinah, who heard their words, hastened and dispatched one of her\nmaidens whom her father had sent to take care of her in Shechem's\nhouse, and informed Jacob and his sons of the conspiracy plotted\nagainst them. When the sons of Jacob heard this, they were filled with\nwrath, and Simon and Levi swore, and said, \"As the Lord liveth, by\nto-morrow there shall not be a remnant left In the whole city.\"\n\nThey began the extermination by killing eighteen of the twenty young\nmen who had concealed themselves and were not circumcised, and two of\nthem fled and escaped to some lime pits that were in the city. Then\nSimon and Levi slew all the city, not leaving a male over, and while\nthey were looking for spoils outside of the city, three hundred women\nrose against them and threw stones and dust upon them, but Simon\nsingle-handed slew them all, and returned to the city, where he joined\nLevi. Then they took away from the people outside of the city their\nsheep, their oxen, their cattle, and also the women and the little\nchildren, and they led all these away, and took them to the city to\ntheir father Jacob. The number of women whom they did not slay, but\nonly took captive, was eighty-five virgins, among them a young damsel\nof great beauty by the name of Bunah, whom Simon took to wife. The\nnumber of the males which they took captive and did not slay was\nforty-seven, and all these men and women were servants to the sons of\nJacob, and to their children after them, until the day they left Egypt.\n\nA WAR FRUSTRATED\n\nWhen Simon and Levi had gone from the city, the two young men who had\nconcealed themselves in the lime pits, and were not slain amongst the\npeople of the city, rose up, and they found the city desolate, without\na man, only weeping women, and they cried out, saying, \"Behold, this is\nthe evil which the sons of Jacob did who destroyed one of the Canaanite\ncities, and were not afraid of all the land of Canaan.\"\n\nThey left the city and went to Tappuah, and told the inhabitants all\nthat the sons of Jacob had done to the city of Shechem. Jashub, the\nking of Tappuah, sent to Shechem to see whether these young men told\nthe truth, for he did not believe them, saying, \"How could two men\ndestroy a large city like Shechem?\" The messengers of Jashub returned,\nand they reported, \"The city is destroyed, not a man is left there,\nonly weeping women, neither are there flocks and cattle there, for all\nthat was in the city was taken away by the sons of Jacob.\"\n\nJashub wondered thereat, for the like had not been heard from the days\nof Nimrod, and not even from the remotest times, that two men should be\nable to destroy so large a city, and he decided to go to war against\nthe Hebrews, and avenge the cause of the people of Shechem. His\ncounsellors said to him: \"If two of them laid waste a whole city,\nsurely if thou goest against them, they all will rise up against us,\nand destroy us. Therefore, send to the kings round about, that we all\ntogether fight against the sons of Jacob, and prevail against them.\"\n\nThe seven kings of the Amorites, when they heard the evil that the sons\nof Jacob had done to the city of Shechem, assembled together, with all\ntheir armies, ten thousand men, with drawn swords, and they came to\nfight against the sons of Jacob. And Jacob was greatly afraid, and he\nsaid to Simon and Levi, \"Why have you brought such evil upon me? I was\nat rest, and you provoked the inhabitants of the land against me by\nyour acts.\"\n\nThen Judah spoke to his father: \"Was it for naught that Simon and Levi\nkilled the inhabitants of Shechem? Verily, it was because Shechem\ndishonored our sister, and transgressed the command of our God to Noah\nand his children, and not one of the inhabitants of the city interfered\nin the matter. Now, why art thou afraid, and why art thou displeased at\nmy brethren? Surely, our God, who delivered the city of Shechem and its\npeople into their hand, He will also deliver into our hands all the\nCanaanitish kings who are coming against us. Now cast away thy fears,\nand pray to God to assist us and deliver us.\"\n\nJudah then addressed his brethren, saying: \"The Lord our God is with\nus! Fear naught, then! Stand ye forth, each man girt with his weapons\nof war, his bow and his sword, and we will go and fight against the\nuncircumcised. The Lord is our God, He will save us.\"\n\nJacob, his eleven sons, and one hundred servants belonging to Isaac,\nwho had come to their assistance, marched forward to meet the Amorites,\na people exceedingly numerous, like unto the sand upon the sea-shore.\nThe sons of Jacob sent unto their grandfather Isaac, at Hebron,\nrequesting him to pray unto the Lord to protect them from the hand of\nthe Canaanites, and he prayed as follows: \"O Lord God, Thou didst\npromise my father, saying, I will multiply thy seed as the stars of\nheaven, and also me Thou didst promise that Thou wouldst establish Thy\nword to my father. Now, O Lord, God of the whole world, pervert, I pray\nThee, the counsel of these kings, that they may not fight against my\nsons, and impress the hearts of their kings and their people with the\nterror of my sons, and bring down their pride that they turn away from\nmy sons. Deliver my sons and their servants from them with Thy strong\nhand and outstretched arm, for power and might are in Thy hands to do\nall this.\"\n\nJacob also prayed unto God, and said: \"O Lord God, powerful and exalted\nGod, who hast reigned from days of old, from then until now and\nforever! Thou art He who stirreth up wars and causeth them to cease. In\nThy hand are power and might to exalt and to bring low. O may my prayer\nbe acceptable unto Thee, that Thou mayest turn to me with Thy mercies,\nto impress the hearts of these kings and their people with the terror\nof my sons, and terrify them and their camps, and with Thy great\nkindness deliver all those that trust in Thee, for Thou art He who\nsubdues the peoples under us, and the nations under our feet.\"\n\nGod heard the prayers of Isaac and Jacob, and He filled the hearts of\nall the advisers of the Canaanite kings with great fear and terror, and\nwhen the kings, who were undecided whether to undertake a campaign\nagainst the sons of Jacob, consulted them, they said: \"Are you silly,\nor is there no understanding in you, that you propose to fight with the\nHebrews? Why do you take delight in your own destruction this day?\nBehold, two of them came to the city of Shechem without fear or terror,\nand they put all the inhabitants of the city to the sword, no man stood\nup against them, and how will you be able to fight with them all?\"\n\nThe royal counsellors then proceeded to enumerate all the mighty things\nGod had done for Abraham, Jacob, and the sons of Jacob, such as had not\nbeen done from days of old and by any of the gods of the nations. When\nthe kings heard all the words of their advisers, they were afraid of\nthe sons of Jacob, and they would not fight against them. They turned\nback with their armies on that day, each to his own city. But the sons\nof Jacob kept their station that day till evening, and seeing that the\nkings did not advance to do battle with them in order to avenge the\ninhabitants of Shechem whom they had killed, they returned home.[289]\n\nThe wrath of the Lord descended upon the inhabitants of Shechem to the\nuttermost on account of their wickedness. For they had sought to do\nunto Sarah and Rebekah as they did unto Dinah, but the Lord had\nprevented them. Also they had persecuted Abraham when he was a\nstranger, and they had vexed his flocks when they were big with young,\nand Eblaen, one born in his house, they had handled most shamefully.\nAnd thus they did to all strangers, taking away their wives by\nforce.[290]\n\nTHE WAR WITH THE NINEVITES\n\nThe destruction of Shechem by Simon and Levi terrified the heathen all\naround. If two sons of Jacob had succeeded in ruining a great city like\nShechem, they argued, what would Jacob and all his sons accomplish\nacting together? Jacob meanwhile left Shechem, hindered by none, and\nwith all his possessions he set out, to betake himself to his father\nIsaac. But after an eight days' march he encountered a powerful army,\nwhich had been dispatched from Nineveh to levy tribute upon the whole\nworld and subjugate it. On coming in the vicinity of Shechem, this army\nheard to what the city had been exposed at the hands of the sons of\nJacob, and fury seized the men, and they resolved to make war upon\nJacob.\n\nBut Jacob said to his sons: \"Fear not, God will be your helper, and He\nwill fight for you against your enemies. Only you must put away from\nyou the strange gods in your possession, and you must purify\nyourselves, and wash your garments clean.\"\n\nGirt with his sword, Jacob advanced against the enemy, and in the first\nonslaught he slew twelve thousand of the weak in the army. Then Judah\nspake to him, and said, \"Father, thou art tired and exhausted, let me\nfight the enemy alone.\" And Jacob replied, saying, \"Judah, my son, I\nknow thy strength and thy bravery, that they are exceeding great, so\nthat none in the world is like unto thee therein.\" His countenance like\na lion's and inflamed with wrath, Judah attacked the army, and slew\ntwelve myriads of tried and famous warriors. The battle raged hot in\nfront and in the rear, and Levi his brother hastened to his aid, and\ntogether they won a victory over the Ninevites. Judah alone slew five\nthousand more soldiers, and Levi dealt blows right and left with such\nvigor that the men of the enemy's army fell like grain under the scythe\nof the reaper.\n\nAlarmed about their fate, the people of Nineveh said: \"How long shall\nwe fight with these devils? Let us return to our land, lest they\nexterminate us root and branch, without leaving a remnant.\" But their\nking desired to restrain them, and he said: \"O ye heroes, ye men of\nmight and valor, have you lost your senses that you ask to return to\nyour land? Is this your bravery? After you have subdued many kingdoms\nand countries, ye are not able to hold out against twelve men? If the\nnations and the kings whom we have made tributary to ourselves hear of\nthis, they will rise up against us as a man, and make a laughing-stock\nof us, and do with us according to their desire. Take courage, ye men\nof the great city of Nineveh, that your honor and your name be exalted,\nand you become not a mockery in the mouth of your enemies.\"\n\nThese words of their king inspired the warriors to continue the\ncampaign. They sent messengers to all the lands to ask for help, and,\nreinforced by their allies, the Ninevites assaulted Jacob a second\ntime. He spoke to his sons, saying, \"Take courage and be men, fight\nagainst your enemies.\" His twelve sons then took up their stand in\ntwelve different places, leaving considerable intervals between one and\nanother, and Jacob, a sword in his right hand and a bow in his left,\nadvanced to the combat. It was a desperate encounter for him. He had to\nward off the enemy to the right and the left. Nevertheless he inflicted\na severe blow, and when a band of two thousand men beset him, he leapt\nup in the air and over them and vanished from their sight. Twenty-two\nmyriads he slew on this day, and when evening came he planned to flee\nunder cover of darkness. But suddenly ninety thousand men appeared, and\nhe was compelled to continue the fight. He rushed at them with his\nsword, but it broke, and he had to defend himself by grinding huge\nrocks into lime powder, and this he threw at the enemy and blinded them\nso that they could see nothing. Luckily, darkness was about to fall,\nand he could permit himself to take rest for the night.\n\nIn the morning, Judah said to Jacob, \"Father, thou didst fight the\nwhole of yesterday, and thou art weary and exhausted. Let me fight this\nday.\" When the warriors caught sight of Judah's lion face and his lion\nteeth, and heard his lion voice, they were greatly afraid. Judah hopped\nand jumped over the army like a flea, from one warrior to the next,\nraining blows down upon them incessantly, and by evening he had slain\neighty thousand and ninety-six men, armed with swords and bows. But\nfatigue overcame him, and Zebulon took up his station at his brother's\nleft hand, and mowed down eighty thousand of the enemy. Meantime Judah\nregained some of his strength, and, rising up in wrath and fury, and\ngnashing his teeth with a noise like unto thunder claps in midsummer,\nhe put the army to flight. It ran a distance of eighteen miles, and\nJudah could enjoy a respite that night.\n\nBut the army reappeared on the morrow, ready for battle again, to take\nrevenge on Jacob and his children. They blew their trumpets, whereupon\nJacob spake to his sons, \"Go forth and fight with your enemies.\"\nIssachar and Gad said that this day they would take the combat upon\nthemselves, and their father bade them do it while their brothers kept\nguard and held themselves in readiness to aid and relieve the two\ncombatants when they showed signs of weariness and exhaustion.\n\nThe leaders of the day slew forty-eight thousand warriors, and put to\nflight twelve myriads more, who concealed themselves in a cave.\nIssachar and Gad fetched trees from the woods, piled the trunks up in\nfront of the opening of the cave, and set fire to them. When the fire\nblazed with a fierce flame, the warriors spoke, saying: \"Why should we\nstay in this cave and perish with the smoke and the heat? Rather will\nwe go forth and fight with our enemies, then we may have a chance of\nsaving ourselves.\" They left the cave, going through openings at the\nside, and they attacked Issachar and Gad in front and behind. Dan and\nNaphtali saw the plight of their brothers and ran to their assistance.\nThey laid about with their swords, hewing a way for themselves to\nIssachar and Gad, and, united with them, they, too, opposed the foe.\n\nIt was the third day of the conflict, and the Ninevites were reinforced\nby an army as numerous as the sand on the sea-shore. All the sons of\nJacob united to oppose it, and they routed the host. But when they\npursued after the enemy, the fugitives faced about and resumed the\nbattle, saying: \"Why should we run away? Let us rather fight them,\nperhaps we may be victorious, now they are weary.\" A stubborn combat\nensued, and when Jacob saw the vehement attack upon his children, he\nhimself sprang into the thick of the battle and dealt blows right and\nleft. Nevertheless the heathen were victorious, and succeeded in\nseparating Judah from his brethren. As soon as Jacob was aware of the\nperil of his son, he whistled, and Judah responded, and his brethren\nhastened to his aid. Judah was fatigued and parched with thirst, and\nthere was no water for him to drink, but he dug his finger into the\nground with such force that water gushed out in the sight of the whole\narmy. Then said one warrior to another, \"I will flee before these\ndevils, for God fights on their side,\" and he and all the army fled\nprecipitately, pursued by the sons of Jacob. Soldiers without number\nthey slew, and then they went back to their tents. On their return they\nnoticed that Joseph was missing, and they feared he had been killed or\ntaken captive. Naphtali ran after the retreating enemy, to make search\nfor Joseph, and he found him still fighting against the Ninevite army.\nHe joined Joseph, and killed countless soldiers, and of the fugitives\nmany drowned, and the men that were besetting Joseph ran off and left\nhim in safety.\n\nAt the end of the war Jacob continued his journey, unhindered, to his\nfather Isaac.[291]\n\nTHE WAR WITH THE AMORITES\n\nAt first the people that lived round about Shechem made no attempt to\nmolest Jacob, who had returned thither after a while, together with his\nhousehold, to take up his abode there and establish himself. But at the\nend of seven years the heathen began to harass him. The kings of the\nAmorites assembled together against the sons of Jacob to slay them in\nthe Valley of Shechem. \"Is it not enough,\" they said, \"that they have\nslain all the men of Shechem? Should they be permitted now to take\npossession of their land, too?\" and they advanced to render battle.\n\nJudah leapt into the midst of the ranks of the foot soldiers of the\nallied kings, and slew first of all Jashub, the king of Tappuah, who\nwas clad in iron and brass from top to toe. The king was mounted, and\nfrom his horse he cast his spears downward with both hands, in front of\nhim and in back, without ever missing his aim, for he was a mighty\nwarrior, and he could throw javelins with one hand or the other.\nNevertheless Judah feared neither him nor his prowess. He ran toward\nhim, snatching a stone of sixty sela'im from the ground and hurling it\nat him. Jashub was at a distance of one hundred and seventy-seven ells\nand one-third of an ell, and, protected with iron armor and throwing\nspears, he moved forward upon Judah. But Judah struck him on his shield\nwith the stone, and unhorsed him. When the king attempted to rise,\nJudah hastened to his side to slay him before he could get on his feet.\nBut Jashub was nimble, he stood ready to attack Judah, shield to\nshield, and he drew his sword to cut off Judah's head. Quickly Judah\nraised his shield to catch the blow upon it, but it broke in pieces.\nWhat did Judah now? He wrested the shield of his opponent away from\nhim, and swung his sword against Jashub's feet, cutting them off above\nthe ankles. The king fell prostrate, his sword slipped from his grasp,\nand Judah hastened to him and severed his head from his body.\n\nWhile Judah was removing the armor of his slain adversary, nine of\nJashub's followers appeared. Judah slung a stone against the head of\nthe first of them that approached him, with such force that he dropped\nhis shield, which Judah snatched from the ground and used to defend\nhimself against his eight assailants. His brother Levi came and stood\nnext to him, and shot off an arrow that killed Elon, king of Gaash, and\nthen Judah killed the eight men. And his father Jacob came and killed\nZerori king of Shiloh. None of the heathen could prevail against these\nsons of Jacob, they had not the courage to stand up before them, but\ntook to flight, and the sons of Jacob pursued after them, and each slew\na thousand men of the Amorites on that day, before the going down of\nthe sun. And the other sons of Jacob set forth from the Hill of\nShechem, where they had taken up their stand, and they also pursued\nafter them as far as Hazor. Before this city they had another severe\nencounter with the enemy, more severe than that in the Valley of\nShechem. Jacob let his arrows fly, and slew Pirathon king of Hazor, and\nthen Pasusi king of Sartan, Laban king of Aram, and Shebir king of\nMahanaim.\n\nJudah was the first to mount the walls of Hazor. As he approached the\ntop, four warriors attacked him, but he slew them without stopping in\nhis ascent, and before his brother Naphtali could bring him succor.\nNaphtali followed him, and the two stood upon the wall, Judah to the\nright and Naphtali to the left, and thence they dealt out death to the\nwarriors. The other sons of Jacob followed their two brothers in turn,\nand made an end of exterminating the heathen host on that day. They\nsubjugated Hazor, slew the warriors thereof, let no man escape with his\nlife, and despoiled the city of all therein.\n\nOn the day following they went to Sartan, and again a bloody battle\ntook place. Sartan was situated upon high land, and the hill before the\ncity was likewise very high, so that none could come near unto it, and\nalso none could come near unto the citadel, because the wall thereof\nwas high. Nevertheless they made themselves masters of the city. They\nscaled the walls of the citadel, Judah on the east side being the first\nto ascend, then Gad on the west side, Simon and Levi on the north, and\nReuben and Dan on the south, and Naphtali and Issachar set fire to the\nhinges upon which the gates of the city were hung.\n\nIn the same way the sons of Jacob subdued five other cities, Tappuah,\nArbel, Shiloh, Mahanaim, and Gaash, making an end of all of them in\nfive days. On the sixth day all the Amorites assembled, and they came\nto Jacob and his sons unarmed, bowed down before them, and sued for\npeace. And the sons of Jacob made peace with the heathen, who ceded\nTimna to them, and all the land of Harariah. In that day also Jacob\nconcluded peace with them, and they made restitution to the sons of\nJacob for all the cattle they had taken, two head for one, and they\nrestored all the spoil they had carried off. And Jacob turned to go to\nTimna, and Judah went to Arbel, and thenceforth the Amorites troubled\nthem no more.[292]\n\nISAAC BLESSES LEVI AND JUDAH\n\nIf a man voweth a vow, and he does not fulfil it in good time, he will\nstumble through three grave sins, idolatry, unchastity, and bloodshed.\nJacob had been guilty of not accomplishing promptly the vow he had\ntaken upon himself at Beth-el, and therefore punishment overtook\nhim\u2014his daughter was dishonored, his sons slew men, and they kept the\nidols found among the spoils of Shechem.[293] Therefore, when Jacob\nprostrated himself before God after the bloody outrage at Shechem, He\nbade him arise, and go to Beth-el and accomplish the vow he had vowed\nthere.[294] Before Jacob set out for the holy place to do the bidding\nof God, he took the idols which were in the possession of his sons, and\nthe teraphim which Rachel had stolen from her father, and he shivered\nthem in pieces, and buried[295] the bits under an oak upon Mount\nGerizim,[296] uprooting the tree with one hand, concealing the remains\nof the idols in the hollow left in the earth, and planting the oak\nagain with one hand.[297]\n\nAmong the destroyed idols was one in the form of a dove, and this the\nSamaritans dug up later and worshipped.\n\nOn reaching Beth-el he erected an altar to the Lord, and on a pillar he\nset up the stone whereon he had rested his head during the night which\nhe had passed there on his journey to Haran.[298] Then he bade his\nparents come to Beth-el and take part in his sacrifice. But Isaac sent\nhim a message, saying, \"O my son Jacob, that I might see thee before I\ndie,\" whereupon Jacob hastened to his parents, taking Levi and Judah\nwith him. When his grandchildren stepped before Isaac, the darkness\nthat shrouded his eyes dropped away, and he said, \"My son, are these\nthy children, for they resemble thee?\" And the spirit of prophecy\nentered his mouth, and he grasped Levi with his right hand and Judah\nwith his left in order to bless them, and he spoke these words to Levi:\n\"May the Lord bring thee and thy seed nigh unto Him before all flesh,\nthat ye serve in His sanctuary like the Angel of the Face and the Holy\nAngels. Princes, judges, and rulers shall they be unto all the seed of\nthe children of Jacob. The word of God they will proclaim in\nrighteousness, and all His judgments they will execute in justice, and\nthey will make manifest His ways unto the children of Jacob, and unto\nIsrael His paths.\" And unto Judah he spake, saying: \"Be ye princes,\nthou and one of thy sons, over the sons of Jacob. In thee shall be the\nhelp of Jacob, and the salvation of Israel shall be found in thee. And\nwhen thou sittest upon the throne of the glory of thy justice, perfect\npeace shall reign over all the seed of the children of my beloved\nAbraham.\"\n\nOn the morrow, Isaac told his son that he would not accompany him to\nBeth-el on account of his great age, but he bade him not delay longer\nto fulfil his vow, and gave him permission to take his mother Rebekah\nwith him to the holy place. And Rebekah and her nurse Deborah went to\nBeth-el with Jacob.[299]\n\nJOY AND SORROW IN THE HOUSE OF JACOB\n\nDeborah, the nurse of Rebekah, and some of the servants of Isaac had\nbeen sent to Jacob by his mother, while he still abode with Laban, to\nsummon him home at the end of his fourteen years' term of service. As\nJacob did not at once obey his mother's behest, the two servants of\nIsaac returned to their master, but Deborah remained with Jacob then\nand always. Therefore, when Deborah died in Beth-el, Jacob mourned for\nher, and he buried her below Beth-el under the palm-tree,[300] the same\nunder which the prophetess Deborah sat later, when the children of\nIsrael came to her for judgment.[301]\n\nBut a short time elapsed after the death of the nurse Deborah, and\nRebekah died, too. Her passing away was not made the occasion for\npublic mourning. The reason was that, as Abraham was dead, Isaac blind,\nand Jacob away from home, there remained Esau as the only mourner to\nappear in public and represent her family, and beholding that villain,\nit was feared, might tempt a looker-on to cry out, \"Accursed be the\nbreasts that gave thee suck.\" To avoid this, the burial of Rebekah took\nplace at night.\n\nGod appeared unto Jacob to comfort him in his grief,[302] and with Him\nappeared the heavenly family. It was a sign of grace, for all the while\nthe sons of Jacob had been carrying idols with them the Lord had not\nrevealed Himself to Jacob.[303] At this time God announced to Jacob the\nbirth of Benjamin soon to occur, and the birth of Manasseh and Ephraim,\nwho also were to be founders of tribes, and furthermore He told him\nthat these three would count kings among their descendants, Saul and\nIsh-bosheth, of the seed of Benjamin, Jeroboam the Ephraimite, and Jehu\nof the tribe of Manasseh. In this vision, God confirmed the change of\nhis name from Jacob to Israel, promised him by the angel with whom he\nhad wrestled on entering the Holy Land, and finally God revealed to him\nthat he would be the last of the three with whose names the Name of God\nwould appear united, for God is called only the God of Abraham, the God\nof Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and never the God of any one else.[304]\n\nIn token of this revelation from God, Jacob set up a pillar of stone,\nand he poured out a drink offering thereon, as in a later day the\npriests were to offer libations in the Temple on the Feast of\nTabernacles,[305] and the libation brought by Jacob at Beth-el was as\nmuch as all the waters in the Sea of Tiberias.[306]\n\nAt the time when Deborah and Rebekah died, occurred also the death of\nRachel, at the age of thirty-six,[307] but not before her prayer was\nheard, that she bear Jacob a second son, for she died in giving birth\nto Benjamin. Twelve years she had borne no child, then she fasted\ntwelve days, and her petition was granted her. She brought forth the\nyoungest son of Jacob, whom he called Benjamin, the son of days,\nbecause he was born in his father's old age,[308] and with him a twin\nsister was born.[309]\n\nRachel was buried in the way to Ephrath, because Jacob, gifted with\nprophetic spirit, foresaw that the exiles would pass this place on\ntheir march to Babylon, and as they passed, Rachel would entreat God's\nmercy for the poor outcasts.[310]\n\nJacob journeyed on to Jerusalem.[311]\n\nDuring Rachel's lifetime, her couch had always stood in the tent of\nJacob. After her death, he ordered the couch of her handmaid Bilhah to\nbe carried thither. Reuben was sorely vexed thereat, and he said, \"Not\nenough that Rachel alive curtailed the rights of my mother, she must\nneeds give her annoyance also after death!\" He went and took the couch\nof his mother Leah and placed it in Jacob's tent instead of Bilhah's\ncouch.[312] Reuben's brothers learned of his disrespectful act from\nAsher. He had found it out in one way or another, and had told it to\nhis brethren, who ruptured their relations with him, for they would\nhave nothing to do with an informer, and they did not become reconciled\nwith Asher until Reuben himself confessed his transgression.[313] For\nit was not long before Reuben recognized that he had acted\nreprehensibly toward his father, and he fasted and put on sackcloth,\nand repented of his misdeed. He was the first among men to do penance,\nand therefore God said to him: \"Since the beginning of the world it\nhath not happened that a man hath sinned and then repented thereof.\nThou art the first to do penance, and as thou livest, a prophet of thy\nseed, Hosea, shall be the first to proclaim, 'O Israel, return.' \"[314]\n\nESAU'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST JACOB\n\nWhen Isaac felt his end approaching, he called his two sons to him, and\ncharged them with his last wish and will, and gave them his blessing.\nHe said: \"I adjure you by the exalted Name, the praised, honored,\nglorious, immutable, and mighty One, who hath made heaven and earth and\nall things together, that ye fear Him, and serve Him, and each shall\nlove his brother in mercy and justice, and none wish evil unto the\nother, now and henceforth unto all eternity, all the days of your life,\nthat ye may enjoy good fortune in all your undertakings, and that ye\nperish not.\"\n\nFurthermore he commanded them to bury him in the Cave of Machpelah, by\nthe side of his father Abraham, in the grave which he had dug for\nhimself with his own hands. Then he divided his possessions between his\ntwo sons, giving Esau the larger portion, and Jacob the smaller. But\nEsau said, \"I sold my birthright to Jacob, and I ceded it to him, and\nit belongs unto him.\" Isaac rejoiced greatly that Esau acknowledged the\nrights of Jacob of his own accord, and he closed his eyes in\npeace.[315]\n\nThe funeral of Isaac was not disturbed by any unseemly act, for Esau\nwas sure of his heritage in accordance with the last wishes expressed\nby his father. But when the time came to divide Isaac's possessions\nbetween the two brothers, Esau said to Jacob, \"Divide the property of\nour father into two portions, but I as the elder claim the right of\nchoosing the portion I desire.\" What did Jacob do? He knew well that\n\"the eye of the wicked never beholds treasures enough to satisfy it,\"\nso he divided their common heritage in the following way: all the\nmaterial possessions of his father formed one portion, and the other\nconsisted of Isaac's claim upon the Holy Land, together with the Cave\nof Machpelah, the tomb of Abraham and Isaac. Esau chose the money and\nthe other things belonging to Isaac for his inheritance, and to Jacob\nwere left the Cave and the title to the Holy Land. An agreement to this\neffect was drawn up in writing in due form, and on the strength of the\ndocument Jacob insisted upon Esau's leaving Palestine. Esau acquiesced,\nand he and his wives and his sons and daughters journeyed to Mount\nSeir, where they took up their abode.[316]\n\nThough Esau gave way before Jacob for the nonce, he returned to the\nland to make war upon his brother. Leah had just died, and Jacob and\nthe sons borne by Leah were mourning for her, and the rest of his sons,\nborne unto him by his other wives, were trying to comfort them, when\nEsau came upon them with a powerful host of four thousand men, well\nequipped for war, clad in armor of iron and brass, all furnished with\nbucklers, bows, and swords. They surrounded the citadel wherein Jacob\nand his sons dwelt at that time with their servants and children and\nhouseholds, for they had all assembled to console Jacob for the death\nof Leah, and they sat there unconcerned, none entertained a suspicion\nthat an assault upon them was meditated by any man. And the great army\nhad already encircled their castle, and still none within suspected any\nharm, neither Jacob and his children nor the two hundred servants. Now\nwhen Jacob saw that Esau presumed to make war upon them, and sought to\nslay them in the citadel, and was shooting darts at them, he ascended\nthe wall of the citadel and spake words of peace and friendship and\nbrotherly love to Esau. He said: \"Is this the consolation which thou\nhast come to bring me, to comfort me for my wife, who hath been taken\nby death? Is this in accordance with the oath thou didst swear twice\nunto thy father and thy mother before they died? Thou hast violated thy\noath, and in the hour when thou didst swear unto thy father, thou wast\njudged.\" But Esau made reply: \"Neither the children of men nor the\nbeasts of the field swear an oath to keep it unto all eternity, but on\nevery day they devise evil against one another, when it is directed\nagainst an enemy, or when they seek to slay an adversary. If the boar\nwill change his skin and make his bristles as soft as wool, or if he\ncan cause horns to sprout forth on his head like the horns of a stag or\na ram, then shall I observe the tie of brotherhood with thee.\"\n\nThen spoke Judah to his father Jacob, saying: \"How long wilt thou stand\nyet wasting words of peace and friendship upon him? And he attacks us\nunawares, like an enemy, with his mail-clad warriors, seeking to slay\nus.\" Hearing these words, Jacob grasped his bow and killed Adoram the\nEdomite, and a second time he bent his bow, and the arrow struck Esau\nupon the right thigh. The wound was mortal, and his sons lifted Esau up\nand put him upon his ass, and he came to Adora, and there he died.\n\nJudah made a sally to the south of the citadel, and with him were\nNaphtali and Gad, aided by fifty of Jacob's servants; to the east Levi\nand Dan went forth with fifty servants; Reuben, Issachar, and Zebulon\nwith fifty servants, to the north; and Simon, Benjamin, and Enoch, the\nlast the son of Reuben, with fifty servants, to the west. Judah was\nexceedingly brave in battle. Together with Naphtali and Gad he pressed\nforward into the ranks of the enemy, and captured one of their iron\ntowers. On their bucklers they caught the sharp missiles hurled against\nthem in such numbers that the light of the sun was darkened by reason\nof the rocks and darts and stones. Judah was the first to break the\nranks of the enemy, of whom he killed six valiant men, and he was\naccompanied on the right by Naphtali and by Gad on the left. They also\nhewed down two soldiers each, while their troop of servants killed one\nman each. Nevertheless they did not succeed in forcing the army away\nfrom the south of the citadel, not even when all together, Judah and\nhis brethren, made an united attack upon the enemy, each of them\npicking out a victim and slaying him. And they were still unsuccessful\nin a third combined attack, though this time each killed two men.\n\nWhen Judah saw now that the enemy remained in possession of the field,\nand it was impossible to dislodge them, he girded himself with\nstrength, and an heroic spirit animated him. Judah, Naphtali, and Gad\nunited, and together they pierced the ranks of the enemy, Judah slaying\nten of them, and his brothers each eight. Seeing this, the servants\ntook courage, and they joined their leaders and fought at their side.\nJudah laid about him to right and to left, always aided by Naphtali and\nGad, and so they succeeded in forcing the enemy one ris further to the\nsouth, away from the citadel. But the hostile army recovered itself,\nand maintained a brave stand against all the sons of Jacob, who were\nfaint from the hardships of the combat, and could not continue to\nfight. Thereupon Judah turned to God in prayer, and God hearkened unto\nhis petition, and He helped them. He set loose a storm from one of His\ntreasure chambers, and it blew into the faces of the enemy, and filled\ntheir eyes with darkness, and they could not see how to fight. But\nJudah and his brothers could see clearly, for the wind blew upon their\nbacks. Now Judah and his two brothers wrought havoc among them, they\nhewed the enemy down as the reaper mows down the stalks of grain and\nheaps them up for sheaves.\n\nAfter they had routed the division of the army assigned to them on the\nsouth, they hastened to the aid of their brothers, who were defending\nthe east, north, and west of the citadel with three companies. On each\nside the wind blew into the faces of the enemy, and so the sons of\nJacob succeeded in annihilating their army. Four hundred were slain in\nbattle, and six hundred fled, among the latter Esau's four sons, Reuel,\nJeush, Lotan, and Korah. The oldest of his sons, Eliphaz, took no part\nin the war, because he was a disciple of Jacob, and therefore would not\nbear arms against him.\n\nThe sons of Jacob pursued after the fleeing remnant of the army as far\nas Adora. There the sons of Esau abandoned the body of their father,\nand continued their flight to Mount Seir. But the sons of Jacob\nremained in Adora over night, and out of respect for their father they\nburied the remains of his brother Esau. In the morning they went on in\npursuit of the enemy, and besieged them on Mount Seir. Now the sons of\nEsau and all the other fugitives came and fell down before them, bowed\ndown, and entreated them without cease, until they concluded peace with\nthem. But the sons of Jacob exacted tribute from them.[317]\n\nTHE DESCENDANTS OF ESAU\n\nThe worthiest among the sons of Esau was his first-born Eliphaz. He had\nbeen raised under the eyes of his grandfather Isaac, from whom he had\nlearnt the pious way of life.[318] The Lord had even found him worthy\nof being endowed with the spirit of prophecy, for Eliphaz the son of\nEsau is none other than the prophet Eliphaz, the friend of Job. It was\nfrom the life of the Patriarchs that he drew the admonitions which he\ngave unto Job in his disputes with him. Eliphaz spake: \"Thou didst ween\nthyself the equal of Abraham, and thou didst marvel, therefore, that\nGod should deal with thee as with the generation of the confusion of\ntongues. But Abraham stood the test of ten temptations, and thou\nfaintest when but one toucheth thee. When any that was not whole came\nto thee, thou wouldst console him. To the blind thou wouldst say, If\nthou didst build thyself a house, thou wouldst surely put windows in\nit, and if God hath denied thee light, it is but that He may be\nglorified through thee in the day when 'the eyes of the blind shall be\nopened.' To the deaf thou wouldst say, If thou didst fashion a water\npitcher, thou wouldst surely not forget to make ears for it, and if God\ncreated thee without hearing, it is but that He may be glorified\nthrough thee in the day when 'the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.'\nIn such wise thou didst endeavor to console the feeble and the maimed.\nBut now it is come unto thee, and thou art troubled. Thou sayest, I am\nan upright man, why doth He chastise me? But who, I pray thee, ever\nperished, being innocent? Noah was saved from the flood, Abraham from\nthe fiery furnace, Isaac from the slaughtering knife, Jacob from\nangels, Moses from the sword of Pharaoh, and Israel from the Egyptians\nthat were drowned in the Sea. Thus shall all the wicked fare.\"\n\nJob answered Eliphaz, and said, \"Look at thy father Esau!\"\n\nBut Eliphaz returned: \"I have nothing to do with him, the son should\nnot bear the iniquity of the father. Esau will be destroyed, because he\nexecuted no good deeds, and likewise his dukes will perish. But as for\nme, I am a prophet, and my message is not unto Esau, but unto thee, to\nmake thee render account of thyself.\" But God rebuked Eliphaz, and\nsaid: \"Thou didst speak harsh words unto My servant Job. Therefore\nshall Obadiah, one of thy descendants, utter a prophecy of denunciation\nagainst thy father's house, the Edomites.\"[319]\n\nThe concubine of Eliphaz was Timna, a princess of royal blood, who had\nasked to be received into the faith of Abraham and his family, but they\nall, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had rejected her, and she said, \"Rather\nwill I be a maid servant unto the dregs of this nation, than mistress\nof another nation,\" and so she was willing to be concubine to Eliphaz.\nTo punish the Patriarchs for the affront they had offered her, she was\nmade the mother of Amalek, who inflicted great injury upon Israel.[320]\n\nAnother one of Esau's descendants, Anah, had a most unusual experience.\nOnce when he was pasturing his father's asses in the wilderness, he led\nthem to one of the deserts on the shores of the Red Sea, opposite the\nwilderness of the nations, and while he was feeding the beasts, a very\nheavy storm came from the other side of the sea, and the asses could\nnot move. Then about one hundred and twenty great and terrible animals\ncame out from the wilderness at the other side of the sea, and they all\ncame to the place where the asses were, and they placed themselves\nthere. From the middle down, these animals were in the shape of a man,\nand from the middle up some had the likeness of bears, some of apes,\nand they all had tails behind them like the tail of the dukipat, from\nbetween their shoulders reaching down to the earth. The animals mounted\nthe asses, and they rode away with them, and unto this day no eye hath\nseen them. One of them approached Anah, and smote him with its tail,\nand then ran off.\n\nWhen Anah saw all this, he was exceedingly afraid on account of his\nlife, and he fled to the city, where he related all that had happened\nto him. Many sallied forth to seek the asses, but none could find them.\nAnah and his brothers went no more to the same place from that day\nforth, for they were greatly afraid on account of their lives.[321]\n\nThis Anah was the offspring of an incestuous marriage; his mother was\nat the same time the mother of his father Zibeon. And as he was born of\nan unnatural union, so he tried to bring about unnatural unions among\nanimals. He was the first to mix the breed of the horse and the ass and\nproduce the mule. As a punishment, God crossed the snake and the\nlizard, and they brought forth the habarbar, whose bite is certain\ndeath, like the bite of the white she-mule.[322]\n\nThe descendants of Esau had eight kings before there reigned any king\nover the descendants of Jacob. But a time came when the Jews had eight\nkings during whose reign the Edomites had none and were subject to the\nJewish kings. This was the time that intervened between Saul, the first\nIsraelitish king, who ruled over Edom, and Jehoshaphat, for Edom did\nnot make itself independent of Jewish rule until the time of Joram, the\nson of Jehoshaphat. There was a difference between the kings of Esau's\nseed and the kings of Jacob's seed. The Jewish people always produced\ntheir kings from their own midst, while the Edomites had to go to alien\npeoples to secure theirs.[323] The first Edomite king was the Aramean\nBalaam,[324] called Bela in his capacity as ruler of Edom. His\nsuccessor Job, called Jobab also, came from Bozrah, and for furnishing\nEdom with a king this city will be chastised in time to come. When God\nsits in judgment on Edom, Bozrah will be the first to suffer\npunishment.[325]\n\nThe rule of Edom was of short duration, while the rule of Israel will\nbe unto all times, for the standard of the Messiah shall wave forever\nand ever.[326]","title":"The Legends of the Jews \u2014 Volume 1","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":127027}