{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_48736/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_48736","id":"gutenberg_48736","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48736","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Old Testament -- Legends","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"LEGENDS\n\nOF THE\n\nPATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS.\n\n\n\n\nLEGENDS\n\nOF THE\n\nPATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS\n\nAND OTHER\n\nOLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS\n\nFROM VARIOUS SOURCES\n\n\n BY THE\n\n REV. S. BARING-GOULD, M.A.\n\n _Author of \u201cCurious Myths of the Middle Ages,\u201d \u201cThe Origin and\n Development of Religious Belief,\u201d \u201cIn Exitu Israel,\u201d etc._\n\n [Publisher's Logo]\n\n NEW YORK:\n AMERICAN BOOK EXCHANGE,\n 764 BROADWAY.\n 1881.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nAn incredible number of legends exists connected with the personages\nwhose history is given in the Old Testament. The collection now\npresented to the public must by no means be considered as exhaustive.\nThe compiler has been obliged to limit himself as to the number, it\nbeing quite impossible to insert all. He trusts that few of peculiar\ninterest have been omitted.\n\nThe Mussulman traditions are nearly all derived from the Talmudic\nwriters, just as the history of Christ in the Koran is taken from the\nApocryphal Gospels. The Koran follows the \u201cSepher Hajaschar\u201d (Book\nof the Just) far more closely than the canonical Scriptures; and the\n\u201cSepher Hajaschar\u201d is a storehouse of the Rabbinic tradition on the\nsubject of the Patriarchs from Adam to Joshua.\n\nThe Jewish traditions are of various value. Some can be traced to\ntheir origin without fail. One class is derived from Persia, as, for\ninstance, those of Asmodeus, the name of the demon being taken, along\nwith his story, from Iranian sources. Another class springs from the\nCabbalists, who, by permutation of the letters of a name, formed the\nnuclei, so to speak, from which legends spread.\n\nAnother class, again, is due to the Rabbinic commentators, who, unable\nto allow for poetical periphrasis, insisted on literal interpretations,\nand then coined fables to explain them. Thus the saying of David,\n\u201c_Thou hast heard me from among the horns of the unicorns_,\u201d which\nsignified that David was assisted by God in trouble, was taken quite\nliterally by the Rabbis, and a story was invented to explain it.\n\nAnother class, again, is no doubt due to the exaggeration of Oriental\nimagery, just as that previously mentioned is due to the deficiency of\nthe poetic fancy in certain Rabbis. Thus, imagination and defect of\nimagination, each contributed to add to the store.\n\nBut when we have swept all these classes aside, there remains a\nresiduum, small, no doubt, of genuine tradition. To this class, if I am\nnot mistaken, belong the account of Lamech and his wives, and the story\nof the sacrifice of Isaac. In the latter instance, the type comes out\nfar clearer in the Talmudic tradition that in the canonical Scriptures;\nand this can hardly have been the result of Jewish interpolation,\nknowing, as they did, that Christians pointed triumphantly to this type.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWith regard to Jewish traditions, it is unfortunate that both\nEisenmenger and Bartolocci, who collected many of them, were so\nprejudiced, so moved with violent animosity against the Rabbinic\nwriters, that they preserved only the grotesque, absurd, and\nindecent legends, and wholly passed over those--and there are many of\nthem--which are redolent of poetry, and which contain an element of\ntruth.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA certain curious interest attaches to these legends--at least, I think\nso; and, should they find favor with the public, this volume will\nbe followed by another series on the legends connected with the New\nTestament characters.\n\nThe author is not aware of any existing collection of these legends,\nexcept that of M. Colin de Plancy, \u201cLegendes de l\u2019Ancien Testament,\u201d\nParis, 1861; but he has found this work of little or no use to him\nin composing his volume, as M. de Plancy gives no reference to\nauthorities; and also, because nearly the whole of the contents\nare taken from D\u2019Herbelot\u2019s \u201cBiblioth\u00e8que Orientale\u201d and Migne\u2019s\n\u201cDictionnaire des Apocryphes.\u201d\n\nIt will be necessary to add a few words on certain works largely quoted\nin the following pages.\n\n1. Dr. G. Weil\u2019s \u201cBiblische Legende der Muselm\u00e4nner,\u201d Frankfurt a. M.,\n1845, is derived from three Arabic MS. works--\u201c_Chamis_,\u201d by Husein\nIbn Mohammed Ibn Alhasan Addiarbekri; \u201c_Dsachirat Alulun wanatidjat\nAlfuhum_,\u201d by Ahmed Ibn zein Alabidin Albekri; and \u201c_Kissat Alanbija_,\u201d\nby Mohammed Ibn Ahmed Alkissai.\n\n2. The Chronicle of Abou-djafar Mohammed Tabari was translated into\nPersian by Abou Ali Mohammed Belami, who added sundry traditions\ncirculating in Persia; and has been rendered into French, in part, by\nM. Hermann Zolenberg, for the Oriental Translation Fund, Paris, 1867.\n\n3. The \u201cSepher Hajaschar,\u201d or Book of Jasher (Yaschar), is quoted from\nthe translation by Le Chevalier P. L. B. Drach, inserted in Migne\u2019s\n\u201cDictionnaire des Apocryphes.\u201d\n\n4. Eisenmenger, \u201cNeuentdektes Judenthum,\u201d 2 vols. 8vo, K\u00f6nigsburg,\n1711, contains a great many Rabbinic traditions collected from sources\ninaccessible to most persons.\n\n5. Bartolocci, \u201cBibliotheca Magna Rabbinica,\u201d 4 vols. fol., Rome,\n1675-93, is a very valuable storehouse of information, but sadly\ndisfigured by prejudice.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n PAGE.\n\n PREFACE v\n\n I.\n\n THE FALL OF THE ANGELS 15\n\n II.\n\n ADAM 21\n 1. The Creation of Man 21\n 2. The Pre-Adamites 27\n\n III.\n\n EVE 29\n\n IV.\n\n THE FALL OF MAN 36\n\n V.\n\n ADAM AND EVE AFTER THE FALL 48\n\n VI.\n\n CAIN AND ABEL 69\n\n VII.\n\n THE DEATH OF ADAM 77\n\n VIII.\n\n SETH 81\n\n IX.\n\n CAINAN SON OF ENOS 84\n\n X.\n\n ENOCH 85\n 1. The Translation of Enoch 85\n 2. The Book of Enoch 87\n\n XI.\n\n THE GIANTS 91\n\n XII.\n\n LAMECH 96\n\n XIII.\n\n METHUSELAH 98\n\n XIV.\n\n NOAH 99\n\n XV.\n\n HEATHEN LEGENDS OF THE DELUGE 106\n\n XVI.\n\n THE PLANTING OF THE VINE 121\n\n XVII.\n\n THE SONS OF NOAH 124\n\n XVIII.\n\n RELICS OF THE ARK 126\n\n XIX.\n\n CERTAIN DESCENDANTS OF HAM 127\n\n XX.\n\n SERUG 130\n\n XXI.\n\n THE PROPHET EBER 131\n\n XXII.\n\n THE PROPHET SALEH 136\n\n XXIII.\n\n THE TOWER OF BABEL 144\n\n XXIV.\n\n ABRAHAM 149\n 1. His Youth and early Struggles 149\n 2. The Call of Abraham, and the Visit to Egypt 162\n 3. The War with the Kings 166\n 4. The Birth of Ishmael 171\n 5. The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah 172\n 6. The Birth of Isaac 177\n 7. The Expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael 181\n 8. The Strife between the Shepherds 185\n 9. The Grove in Beer-sheba 186\n 10. The Offering of Isaac 187\n 11. The Death of Sarah 197\n 12. The Marriage of Isaac 201\n 13. The Death of Abraham 203\n\n XXV.\n\n MELCHIZEDEK 205\n\n XXVI.\n\n OF ISHMAEL AND THE WELL ZEMZEM 210\n\n XXVII.\n\n ESAU AND JACOB 215\n\n XXVIII.\n\n JOSEPH 227\n\n XXIX.\n\n THE TESTAMENTS OF THE TWELVE PATRIARCHS 243\n\n XXX.\n\n JOB 245\n\n XXXI.\n\n JETHRO 251\n\n XXXII.\n\n MOSES 252\n 1. Israel in Egypt 252\n 2. The Birth and Childhood of Moses 259\n 3. The Youth and Marriage of Moses 266\n 4. Moses before Pharaoh 275\n 5. The Passage of the Red Sea 283\n 6. The giving of the Law 288\n 7. The Manna 292\n 8. The Smitten Rock 294\n 9. Moses visits El Khoudr 295\n 10. The Mission of the Spies 298\n 11. Of Korah and his Company 301\n 12. The Wars of the Israelites 304\n 13. The Death of Aaron 307\n 14. The Death of Moses 310\n\n XXXIII.\n\n JOSHUA 315\n\n XXXIV.\n\n THE JUDGES 319\n\n XXXV.\n\n SAMUEL 319\n\n XXXVI.\n\n SAUL 325\n 1. War with the Philistines.--Goliath slain 325\n 2. Saul\u2019s Jealousy of David 329\n 3. The Death of Saul 331\n\n XXXVII.\n\n DAVID 323\n\n XXXVIII.\n\n SOLOMON 347\n 1. How Solomon obtained Power 347\n 2. How Solomon feasted all Flesh 349\n 3. The Building of the Temple 351\n 4. The Travels of Solomon 353\n 5. The History of the Queen of Sheba 358\n 6. Solomon\u2019s Adventure with the Apes 364\n 7. Solomon marries the Daughter of Pharaoh 365\n 8. How Solomon lost and recovered his Ring 366\n 9. The Death of Solomon 369\n\n XXXIX.\n\n ELIJAH 371\n\n XL.\n\n ISAIAH 373\n\n XLI.\n\n JEREMIAH 376\n\n XLII.\n\n EZEKIEL 377\n\n XLIII.\n\n EZRA 377\n\n XLIV.\n\n ZACHARIAH 380\n\n\n\n\nLEGENDS OF THE PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS.\n\n\n\n\nI.\n\nTHE FALL OF THE ANGELS.\n\n\nIn the beginning, before the creation of heaven and earth, God made\nthe angels; free intelligences and free wills; out of His love He made\nthem, that they might be eternally happy. And that their happiness\nmight be complete, He gave them the perfection of a created nature;\nthat is, He gave them freedom.\n\nBut happiness is only attained by the free will agreeing in its freedom\nto accord with the will of God. Some of the angels by an act of free\nwill obeyed the will of God, and in such obedience found perfect\nhappiness; other angels by an act of free will rebelled against the\nwill of God, and in such disobedience found misery.\n\nSuch is the catholic theory of the fall of the angels.\n\nHistorically, it is represented as a war in heaven. \u201c_And there was\nwar in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and\nthe dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their\nplace found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out,\nthat old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the\nwhole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast\nout with him._\u201d[1] The reason of the revolt was that Satan desired to\nbe as great as God. \u201c_Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend\ninto heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit\nalso upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north; I\nwill ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most\nHigh._\u201d[2]\n\nThe war ended in the fall of Satan and those whom he had led into\napostasy; and to this fall are referred the words of Christ, \u201c_I saw\nSatan like lightning fall from heaven._\u201d[3]\n\nFabricius, in his collections of the apocryphal writings of the Old\nTestament, has preserved the song of triumph which the Archangel\nMichael sang on obtaining the victory. This is a portion of it:--\n\n\u201cGlory to our God! Praise to His holy Name! He is our God; glory be\nto Him! He is our Lord! His be the triumph! He has stretched forth\nHis right hand; He has manifested His power, He has cast down our\nadversaries. They are mad who resist Him; they are accursed who depart\nfrom His commandments! He knoweth all things, and cannot err. His will\nis sovereignly just, and all that He wills is good, all that He advises\nis holy. Supreme Intelligence cannot be deceived; Perfect Being cannot\nwill what is evil. Nothing is above that which is supreme, nothing is\nbetter than that which is perfect. None is worthy beside Him but him\nwhom He has made worthy. He must be loved above all things and adored\nas the eternal King. You have abandoned your God, you have revolted\nagainst Him, you have desired to be gods; you have fallen from your\nhigh estates, you have gone down like a fallen stone. Acknowledge that\nGod is great, that His works are perfect, and that His judgments are\njust. Glory be to God through ages of ages, praises of joy for all His\nworks!\u201d This song of the Archangel is said to have been revealed to S.\nAmadeus.[4]\n\nAccording to the Talmudists, Satan, whose proper name is Sammael, was\none of the Seraphim, with six wings.[5] He was not driven out of heaven\ntill after he had led Adam and Eve into sin; then Sammael and his host\nwere precipitated out of the place of bliss, with God\u2019s curse to weigh\nthem down. In the struggle between Michael and Sammael, the falling\nSeraph caught the wings of Michael and tried to drag him down with him,\nbut God saved him, whence Michael derives his name (the Rescued). This\nis what the Rabbi Bechai says in his commentary on the Five Books of\nMoses.[6]\n\nAccording to a Talmudic authority, the apostate angels having fallen in\na heap, God laid his little finger on them and consumed them.[7]\n\nSammael was the regent of the planet Mars, and this he rules still, and\ntherefore it is that those born under the influence of that star are\nlovers of war and given to strife.[8]\n\nHe was chief among the angels of God, and now he is prince among\ndevils.[9] His name is derived from Simm\u00e9, which means to blind and\ndeceive. He stands on the _left_ side of men. He goes by various names;\nsuch as the Old Serpent, the Unclean Spirit, Satan, Leviathan, and\nsometimes also Asael. In his fall he spat in his hatred against God,\nand his spittle stained the moon, and thus it is that the moon has on\nit spots.\n\nAfter his fall, Satan took to himself four wives, Lilith and Naama the\ndaughter of Lamech and sister of Tubal-cain, Igereth and Machalath.\nEach became the mother of a great host of devils, and each rules with\nher host over a season of the year; and at the change of seasons there\nis a great gathering of devils about their mothers. Lilith is followed\nby four hundred and seventy-eight legions of devils, for that number\nis comprised in her name (\u05dc\u05d9\u05dc\u05d9\u05ea--478). According to some, Lilith is\nidentical with Eve. She rules over Damascus, Naama over Tyre, Igereth\nover Malta and Rhodes, and Machalath over Crete.[10]\n\nMany traditions date the existence of angels and demons from a remote\nperiod before the creation of the world, but some connect the fall of\nSatan and his host with the creation of man.\n\nAbou-Djafar-Mohammed Tabari says that when God made Adam, He bade all\nthe angels worship him as their king and superior, as says the Koran,\n\u201cAll the angels adored Adam\u201d (xv. 30), but that Satan or Eblis answered\nGod, \u201cI will not adore Adam, for he is made of earth and I of fire,\ntherefore I am better than he\u201d (vii. II), and that God thereupon cursed\nEblis and gave him the form of a devil, because of his pride, vain\nconfidence, and disobedience.[11]\n\nAbulfeda says, \u201cAfter God had made man He thus addressed the angels.\n\u2018When I have breathed a portion of my spirit into him, bow before him\nand adore.\u2019 After He had inspired Adam with His spirit, all the angels\nof every degree adored him, except Eblis; he, through pride and envy,\nscorned to do this, and disobeyed God. Then God cursed him, and he cut\nhim off from all hope in divine mercy, and He called him Scheithanan\nredjiman (Satan devoted to misery), and He cast him out who had been\nbefore an angel of the earth, and keeper of terrestrial things, and a\nguardian of Paradise.\u201d[12]\n\nBut the general opinion seems to have been that the fall of the angels\npreceded the creation of man. Ibn-Ezra dates it on the second day of\ncreation, others on the first day when God \u201c_divided the light from the\ndarkness_.\u201d Manasseh Ben Israel says that God has placed the devils\nin the clouds, that they might torment the wicked with thunder and\nlightnings, and showers of hail and tempests of wind, and that this\ntook place on the second day, when the firmaments were divided.\n\nAs the fall of Satan took place through his aspiration to be God, so it\nis closely connected with the origin of idolatry and false worship; for\nnow that Satan is cast out of heaven, he still seeks to exalt himself\ninto the place of God, and therefore leads men from the worship of the\ntrue God into demonolatry. Thus the gods of the heathens were regarded\nby the first Christians as devils aspiring to receive that worship\nfrom men on earth which they sought and failed to obtain in heaven.\nThus St. Paul tells the Corinthians that \u201c_the Gentiles sacrifice to\ndevils_.\u201d[13] The temptation of Christ can only be fully understood\nwhen we bear in mind that pride and craving for worship is the prime\nsource of Satan\u2019s actions. \u201c_All these will I give thee_,\u201d he said to\nChrist, \u201c_if Thou wilt fall down and worship me._\u201d It was a second\nattempt of Satan to set himself above the Most High.\n\nAmong the heathen, traditions of the Angelic apostasy and war have\nremained.\n\nThe Indian story is as follows:--\n\nAt the head of the apostate spirits is Mahisasura, or the great Asur;\nhe and those who followed him were once good, but before the creation\nof the world they refused obedience to Brahma, wherefore they were\ncast down by the assistance of Schiva into the abyss of Onderah.[14]\nMahisasura is also represented as the great serpent Vrita, against\nwhich Indra fought, and which after a desperate struggle he overcame.\n\nThe Persian tradition is that Ahriman, the chief of the rebels, is not\nby nature evil. He was not created evil by the Eternal One, but he\nbecame evil by revolting against his will; and the ancient books of the\nParsees assert that at the last day Ahriman will return to obedience,\nand having been purified by fire, will regain the place among the\nheavenly beings which he lost. In this war the Izeds fought against the\nDivs, headed by Ahriman, and flung the conquered into Douzahk or hell.\n\nThe Norse story is that Loki, the spirit of evil, is one of the gods,\nand sat with them at their table till he declared himself their enemy,\nwhen he with his vile progeny, the wolf and the serpent, were cast out.\nThe wolf is bound, Thorr constrains the serpent, and Loki is chained\nunder the mountains, and a serpent distils poison on his breast; when\nhe tosses in agony, the earth quakes.\n\nIn Egypt, Typhon was brother of Osiris, but he revolted against him.\n\nMaximus of Tyre, and Apollonius of Rhodes, following Orpheus, speak\nof the war of the gods against the angels who rebelled under their\nchief Ophion, or the Serpent, and Pherecydes, according to Origen,\nsang of this event as having taken place in pre-historic times; so\nthat the knowledge of it could only have reached man by revelation. He\ndescribed the two armies face to face,--one commanded by Saturn, the\nsupreme Creator; the other by Ophioneus, the old Dragon, and the defeat\nof the latter and its expulsion from the realms of bliss to Ogenos,\nthe regions of annihilation.[15] The story of the Titans is connected\nwith this. They were the sons of Uranus (heaven) and Ge (earth), and\ndwelt originally in heaven, whence they are called Uranid\u00e6. They were\ntwelve in number. Uranus threw out of heaven his other sons, the\nHecatoncheires and the Cyclopes, and precipitated them into Tartarus.\nWhereupon Ge persuaded her sons, the Titans, to rise up against their\nfather, and liberate their brethren. They did as their mother bade\nthem, deposed Uranus, and placed on his throne their brother Cronus,\nwho immediately re-imprisoned the Cyclopes. But Zeus with his brothers\nfought against the reigning Titans, cast them out of heaven, and\nenthroned himself on the seat of Cronus; and the Titans he enchained\nin the abyss under Tartarus.\n\nThis is simply the same story told over twice, and formed into a\ndynasty. Chronos Titan is the same as the Arabic Scheitan, the Erse\nTeitin, the Time-god, and the Biblical Satan, or Lucifer, the Son of\nthe Morning.\n\nAmongst the Battas of Sumatra exists a myth to this effect: Batara\nGuru, the supreme God, from whose daughter Putiarla Buran all mankind\nare descended, cast the mountain Bakkara out of heaven upon the head of\nthe serpent, his foe, and made the home of his son Layanga-layaad-mandi\non the top of this mountain. From this summit the son descended that he\nmight bind the hands or feet of the serpent, as it shook its head and\nmade the earth rock.\n\nConnected with the fall of Satan is his lameness. The devil is\nrepresented in art and in legion as limping on one foot; this was\noccasioned by his having broken his leg in his fall.\n\nHeph\u00e6stus, who pursued Athene and attempted to outrage divine Wisdom,\nwas precipitated from heaven into the fire-island Lemnos, and was\nlamed thereby. Hermes cut the hamstring out of Typhon, therewith to\nstring his lyre. The Norse god Loki lusted after Freya, and was lamed\ntherefor. Wieland the smith (V\u00f6lundr), who ventured to do violence to\nBeodohild, was lamed, and was known thereby. Phaethon, daring to drive\nhis father\u2019s chariot of the sun, was cast out and thrown to earth.\n\nThe natives of the Caroline Islands relate that one of the inferior\ngods, named Merogrog, was driven by the other gods out of heaven,\nand he took with him a spark of fire which he gave to men.[16] This\nmyth resembles that of Prometheus, \u201cthe contriver, full of gall and\nbitterness, who sinned against the gods by bestowing their honors\non creatures of a day, the thief of fire,\u201d as Hermes calls him. He\nreappears as Tohil among the Quiches, the giver of fire, hated, yet\nadored.\n\nThe Northern Californians say that the supreme God once created\ninvisible spirits, of whom one portion revolted against him, headed\nby a spirit named War or Touparan, and that the Great Spirit having\novercome him, drove him from the plains of heaven, and confined him\nalong with his comrades in a cavern, where he is guarded by whales.[17]\n\nThe Egyptian Typhon, already alluded to, did not belong to Egypt alone,\nbut also to Ph\u0153nicia and Asia Minor, and thence the story passed into\nGreece, where it took root, and has been preserved to us as the attack\nof the hundred-headed dragon against the heaven-god Zeus. Typhon\ndesired to obtain supremacy over gods and men, and, in order to win\nfor himself this sovereignty, he fought against the gods; but he was\ndefeated, bound, and precipitated into Tartarus, or, according to\nanother version, was buried under the flaming mountains.\n\nAccording to a tradition of the Salivas, a people of New Granada, a\nserpent slew the nations, descended from God, who inhabited the region\nof the Orinoco, but a son of the God Puru fought him and overcame\nhim, and bade him depart with his curse, and never to enter his house\nagain, and, say these Salivas, from the flesh of the serpent sprang the\nCaribees, their great foes, as maggots from putrid meat.[18]\n\nBut these stories might be infinitely extended. How far they refer to\na tradition common to the human race, and how far they relate to the\nstrife between summer and winter, sun and storm-cloud, I do not pretend\nto decide. It is one of those vexed questions which it is impossible to\ndetermine.\n\n\n\n\nII.\n\nADAM.\n\n\n1. THE CREATION OF MAN.\n\nCertain of the angels having fallen, God made men, that they might take\ntheir vacated places.\n\nAccording to the most authoritative Mussulman traditions, Adam was\ncreated on Friday afternoon at the Assr-hour, or about three o\u2019clock.\nThe four archangels--Gabriel, Michael, Israfiel, and Asrael--were\nrequired to bring earth from the four quarters of the world, that\ntherefrom God might fashion man. His head and breast were made of\nclay from Mecca and Medina, from the spot where later were the Holy\nKaaba and the tomb of Mohammed. Although still lifeless, his beauty\namazed the angels who had flocked to the gates of Paradise. But\nEblis, envious of the beauty of Adam\u2019s as yet inanimate form, said to\nthe angels: \u201cHow can you admire a creature made of earth? From such\nmaterial nothing but fragility and feebleness can come.\u201d However, most\nof the angels praised God for what he had done.\n\nThe body of Adam was so great, that if he stood up his head would reach\ninto the seventh heaven. But he was not as yet endowed with a living\nsoul. The soul had been made a thousand years before, and had been\nsteeped all that while in the sea of light which flowed from Allah. God\nnow ordered the soul to enter the body. It showed some indisposition to\nobey; thereupon God exclaimed: \u201cQuicken Adam against your will, and,\nas a penalty for your disobedience, you shall leave the body sorely\nagainst your will.\u201d Then God blew the spirit against Adam with such\nforce that it entered his nose, and ran up into his head, and as soon\nas it reached his eyes Adam opened them, and saw the throne of God\nwith the inscription upon it: \u201cThere is no God but God, and Mohammed\nis His prophet.\u201d Then the soul ran into his ears, and Adam heard the\nsong of the angels; thereupon his tongue was unloosed, for by this time\nthe soul had reached it, and he said, \u201cPraise be to Thee, my Creator,\none and only!\u201d And God answered him: \u201cFor this purpose are you made.\nYou and your successors must pray to me, and you will find mercy and\nloving-kindness at my hands.\u201d Then the soul penetrated all the members,\nreaching last of all the feet of Adam, which receiving strength, he\nsprang up, and stood upon the earth. But when he stood upright he\nwas obliged to close his eyes, for the light of God\u2019s throne shining\ndirectly into them blinded them. \u201cWhat light is this?\u201d he asked, as\nhe covered his eyes with one hand, and indicated the throne with the\nother. \u201cIt is the light of a prophet,\u201d God answered, \u201cwho will spring\nfrom thee in later ages. By mine honor I swear, for him alone have I\ncreated the world. In heaven he bears the name of the much lauded, and\non earth he will be called Mohammed. Through him all men will be led\nout of error into the way of truth.\u201d\n\nGod then called all created animals before Adam, and told him their\nnames and their natures. Then He called up all the angels, and bade\nthem bow before Adam, the man whom He had made. Israfiel obeyed first,\nand God gave to him in recompense the custody of the Book of Fate; the\nother angels obeyed in order; only Eblis refused, in the pride of his\nheart, saying, \u201cWhy shall I, who am made of fire, bend before him who\nis made of earth?\u201d Therefore he was cast out of the angel choirs, and\nwas forbidden admission through the gates of Paradise. Adam also was\nled out of Paradise, and he preached to the angels, who stood before\nhim in ten thousand ranks, a sermon on the power, majesty, and goodness\nof God, and he showed such learning and knowledge--for he could name\neach beast in seventy languages--that the angels were amazed at his\nknowledge, which excelled their own. As a reward for having preached\nthis sermon, God sent Adam a bunch of grapes out of Paradise by the\nhands of Gabriel.[19]\n\nIn the Midrash, the Rabbinical story is as follows: \u201cWhen God wished to\nmake man, He consulted with the angels, and said to them, We will make\na man in our image. Then they said, What is man, that you regard him,\nand what is his nature? He answered, His knowledge excels yours. Then\nHe placed all kinds of beasts before them, wild beasts and fowls of the\nair, and asked them their names, but they knew them not. And after Adam\nwas made, He led them before him, and He asked Adam their names, and he\nreplied at once, This is an ox, that is an ass, this is a horse, that\nis a camel, and so forth.\u201d[20]\n\nThe story told by Tabari is somewhat different.\n\nWhen God would make Adam, He ordered Gabriel to bring Him a handful of\nevery sort of clay, black, white, red, yellow, blue, and every other\nkind.[21] Gabriel went to the middle of the earth to the place where\nnow is Kaaba. He wished to stoop and take the clay, but the earth\nsaid to him, \u201cO Gabriel, what doest thou?\u201d And Gabriel answered, \u201cI\nam fetching a little clay, dust, and stone, that thereof God may make\na Lord for thee.\u201d Then the earth swore by God, \u201cThou shalt take of me\nneither clay nor dust nor stone; what if of the creatures made from me\nsome should arise who would do evil upon the earth, and shed innocent\nblood?\u201d Gabriel withdrew, respecting the oath, and took no earth; and\nhe said to God, \u201cThou knowest what the earth said to me.\u201d\n\nThen God sent Michael and bade him fetch a little mud. But when Michael\narrived, the earth swore the same oath.\n\nAnd Michael respected the oath and withdrew.\n\nThen God sent Azrael, the angel of death. He came, and the earth swore\nthe same oath; but he did not retire, but answered and said, \u201cI must\nobey the command of God in spite of thine oath.\u201d\n\nAnd the angel of death stooped, and took from forty ells below the\nearth clay of every sort, as we have said, and therefrom God made Adam.\n\nNo one in the world had seen a form like that of Adam. H\u00e2reth or Satan\nwent to look at him. Adam had lain stretched in the same place for the\nspace of about forty years. No one thought of him or knew what sort of\na thing he was. H\u00e2reth coming up to him, saw him stretched from east to\nwest, of huge size and as dry as dry palm leaves. Then H\u00e2reth pushed\nAdam, and the dry earth rattled. H\u00e2reth was astonished. He examined the\nform more attentively, and he found that it was hollow. Then he went to\nthe mouth and crept in at it, and crept out again and let the angels\nknow the doubt that was in his breast, for he said, \u201cThis creature is\nnothing, its inside is empty, and a hollow thing can easily be broken.\nNow that God has made him, He has given him the empire of the world,\nbut I will fight against him and drive him from the earth as I drove\nout the Jins. What is your advice?\u201d\n\nThe angels answered, \u201cO H\u00e2reth, if we overcame the Jins it was in\nobedience to God\u2019s command. Now that God has created this thing, if He\norders us to submit to it, we must do so.\u201d Now when H\u00e2reth saw that the\nangels thought otherwise, he changed his discourse and said, \u201cYou speak\nthe truth, I agree with you, but I wanted to prove you.\u201d\n\nWhen God gave the soul to Adam, it entered his throat and passed down\ninto his bosom and belly, and wherever it passed, the earth, the clay,\nthe dust, and the black mud became bones, nerves, veins, flesh, skin,\nand the like. And when his soul entered his head, Adam sneezed, and\nsaid, \u201cPraise be to God.\u201d And when he turned his head, he saw Paradise\nand all its delights; and when the soul entered his belly, he wanted to\neat, so he tried to rise and get some food, but the soul had not yet\nreached his extremities, which were as yet mere clay, so Gabriel said:\n\u201cO Adam, don\u2019t be in a hurry.\u201d[22] Then follows the story of Eblis\nrefusing to adore Adam. According to another version of the Mussulman\nstory, the soul showed such repugnance to enter the body, that the\nangel Gabriel took a flageolet, and sitting down near the head of the\ninanimate Adam, played such exquisite melodies that the soul descended\nto listen, and in a moment of ecstasy entered the feet, which began\nimmediately to move. Thereupon the soul was given command by Allah not\nto leave the body again till special permission was given it by the\nMost High.[23]\n\nIn the Talmud we are told that the Rabbi Meir says that the dust from\nwhich Adam was made was gathered from all parts of the earth: the Rabbi\nHoshea says that the body of the first man was made of dust from Babel;\nthe head, of earth from the land of Israel, and the rest of his limbs\nfrom the soil of other countries: but the Rabbi Acha adds that his\nhinder quarters were fashioned out of clay from Acre.[24] When Adam was\nmade, some of the dust remained over; of that God made locusts.[25]\n\nA Rabbinical tale is to this effect. God was interrupted by the Sabbath\nin the midst of creating fauns and satyrs, after He had made man, and\nwas obliged to postpone their completion till the Sunday, consequently\nthese creatures are misshapen. A Talmudic account of the way in which\nwere spent the hours of the day in which Adam was made, is sufficiently\ncurious.\n\nAt the first hour, God gathered the dust of the earth; in the second,\nHe formed the embryo; in the third, the limbs were extended; in the\nfourth, the soul was given; at the fifth hour Adam stood upright; at\nthe sixth, Adam named the animals. Having done this, God asked him,\n\u201cAnd I, what is my name?\u201d\n\nAdam replied--\u201cJehovah.\u201d\n\nAt the seventh hour, Adam married Eve; at the eighth, Cain and his\nsister were born; at the ninth, they were forbidden to eat of the tree;\nat the tenth hour Adam fell; at the eleventh he was banished from Eden;\nand at the twelfth, he felt the sweat and pain of toil.[26]\n\nIn the Apocryphal Little Genesis, we are told that Adam did not disobey\nGod till the expiration of the seventh year, and that he was not\npunished till forty-five days after. It adds, that before the Fall,\nAdam conversed familiarly with the animals, but that by the Fall they\nlost the faculty of speech.\n\nGod, say the Rabbis, made Adam so tall that his head touched the sky;\nand the tree of life, planted in the midst of the garden of Eden, was\nso broad at the base that it would take a good walker five years to\nmarch round it, and Adam\u2019s proportions accorded with those of the tree.\nThe angels murmured, and told God that there were two sovereigns, one\nin heaven and one on earth. Thereupon God placed his hand on the head\nof Adam and reduced him to a thousand cubits.[27]\n\nTo the question, How big was Adam? the Talmud replies, He was made\nso tall that he stood with his head in heaven, till God pressed him\ndown at the Fall. Rabbi Jehuda says, that as he lay stretched on the\nearth he covered it completely;[28] but the book Sepher Gilgulim says\n(fol. 20, col. 4), that when he was made, his head and throat were in\nParadise, and his body in the earth. To judge how long he was, says\nthe same book, understand that his body stretched from one end of the\nearth to the other, and it takes a man five hundred years to walk that\ndistance.[29] And when Adam was created, all the beasts of earth fell\ndown before him and desired to worship him, but he said to them, \u201cYou\nhave come to worship me, but come and let us clothe ourselves with\npower and glory, and let us take Him to be king over us who has created\nus; for a people chooses a king, but the king does not appoint himself\nmonarch arbitrarily.\u201d Therefore Adam chose God to be king of all the\nworld, and the beasts, fowls, and fishes gladly consented thereto.[30]\nBut the sun, seeing Adam, was filled with fear and became dark; and the\nangels quaked and were dismayed, and prayed to God to remove from them\nthis mighty being whom He had made. Then God cast a deep sleep on Adam,\nand the sun and the angels looked on him lying helpless in his slumber,\nand they plucked up courage and feared him no more. The book Sepher\nChasidim, however, says, that the angels seeing Adam so great and with\nhis face shining above the brightness of the sun, bowed before him, and\nsaid, \u201cHoly, holy, holy!\u201d Whereupon God cast a sleep upon him and cut\noff great pieces of his flesh to reduce him to smaller proportions.\nAnd when Adam woke he saw bits of flesh strewed all round him, like\nshavings in a carpenter\u2019s shop, and he exclaimed, \u201cO God! how hast Thou\nrobbed me?\u201d but God answered, \u201cTake these gobbets of flesh and carry\nthem into all lands and drop them everywhere, and strew dust on them;\nand wherever they are laid, that land will I give to thy posterity to\ninherit.\u201d[31]\n\nMany are the origins attributed to man in the various creeds of ancient\nand modern heathendom. Sometimes he is spoken of as having been made\nout of water, but more generally it is of earth that he has been made,\nor from which he has been spontaneously born. The Peruvians believed\nthat the world was peopled by four men and four women, brothers and\nsisters, who emerged from the caves near Cuzco. Among the North\nAmerican Indians the earth is regarded as the universal mother. Men\ncame into existence in her womb, and crept out of it by climbing up\nthe roots of the trees which hung from the vault in which they were\nconceived and matured; or, mounting a deer, the animal brought them\ninto daylight; or, groping in darkness, they tore their way out with\ntheir nails.[32]\n\nThe Egyptian philosophers pretended that man was made of the mud\nof the Nile.[33] In Aristophanes,[34] man is spoken of as \u03c0\u03bb\u03ac\u03c3\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\n\u03c0\u03b7\u03bb\u03bf\u1fe6. Among some of the Chinese it is believed that man was thus\nformed:--\u201cThe book Fong-zen-tong says: When the earth and heaven were\nmade, there was not as yet man or peoples. Then Niu-hoa moulded yellow\nearth, and of that made man. That is the true origin of men.\u201d[35]\n\nAnd the ancient Chaldeans supposed man was made by the mixing of the\nblood of Belus with the soil.[36]\n\n\n2. THE PRE-ADAMITES.\n\nIn 1655, Isaac de la Peyreira, a converted Jew, published a curious\ntreatise on the Pre-Adamites. Arguing upon Romans v. 12-14, he\ncontended that there were two creations of man; that recorded in the\nfirst chapter of Genesis and that described in the second chapter\nbeing distinct. The first race he supposed to have peopled the whole\nworld, but that it was bad, and therefore Adam had been created with\na spiritual soul, and that from Adam the Jewish race was descended,\nwhereas the Gentile nations issued from the loins of the Pre-Adamites.\nConsequently the original sin of Adam weighed only on his descendants,\nand Peyreira supposed that it was his race alone which perished, with\nthe exception of Noah and his family, in the Deluge, which Peyreira\ncontends was partial. This book was condemned and burnt in Paris by\nthe hands of the executioner, and the author, who had taken refuge in\nBrussels, was there condemned by the ecclesiastical authorities. He\nappealed to Rome, whither he journeyed, and he was received with favor\nby Alexander VII., before whom he abjured Calvinism, which he had\nprofessed.\n\nHe died at the age of 82, at Aubervilliers, near Paris, and Moreri\nwrote the following epigrammatic epitaph for him:--\n\n \u201cLa Peyr\u00e8re ici g\u00eet, ce bon Isra\u00e9lite,\n Huguenot, catholique, enfin pr\u00e9-Adamite.\n Quatre religions lui plurent \u00e0 la fois;\n Et son indiff\u00e9rence \u00e9tait si peu commune,\n Qu\u2019apr\u00e8s quatre-vingts ans qu\u2019il eut \u00e0 faire un choix,\n Le bon homme partit et n\u2019en choisit aucune.\u201d\n\nThe Oriental book Huschenk-Nameh gives a fuller history of the\nPre-Adamites. Before Adam was created, says this book, there were\nin the isle Muscham, one of the Maldives, men with flat heads, and\nfor this reason they were called by the Persians, Nim-ser. They were\ngoverned by a king named Dambac.\n\nWhen Adam, expelled the earthly Paradise, established himself in the\nIsle of Ceylon, the flat-heads submitted to him. After his death they\nguarded his tomb by day, and the lions relieved guard by night, to\nprotect his body against the Divs.\n\n\n\n\nIII.\n\nEVE.[37]\n\n\nThat man was created double, _i. e._ both male and female, is and has\nbeen a common opinion. One Rabbinical interpretation of the text, \u201cAnd\nGod created man in His own image, male-female created He them,\u201d is\nthat Adam and Eve were formed back to back, united at the shoulders,\nand were hewn asunder with a hatchet; but of this more presently.\nThe Rabbis say that when Eve had to be drawn out of the side of Adam\nshe was not extracted by the head, lest she should be vain; nor by\nthe eyes, lest they should be wanton; nor by the mouth, lest she\nshould be given to gossiping; nor by the ears, lest she should be an\neavesdropper; nor by the hands, lest she should be meddlesome; nor\nby the feet, lest she should be a gadabout; nor by the heart, lest\nshe should be jealous; but she was drawn forth by the side: yet,\nnotwithstanding all these precautions, she has every fault specially\nguarded against.[38]\n\nThey also say that, for the marriage-feast of Adam and Eve, God made a\ntable of precious stone, and each gem was a hundred ells long and sixty\nells wide, and the table was covered with costly dishes.[39]\n\nThe Mussulman tradition is, that Adam having eaten the bunch of grapes\ngiven him as a reward for having preached to the angels, fell asleep;\nand whilst he slept, God took from his left side a woman whom He called\nHava, because she was extracted from one living (Hai), and He laid her\nbeside Adam. She resembled him exactly, except that her features were\nmore delicate, her hair longer and divided into seven hundred locks,\nher form more slender, her eyes softer, and her voice sweeter than\nAdam\u2019s. In the mean time Adam had been dreaming that a wife had been\ngiven to him; and when he woke, great was his delight to find his dream\nturned into a reality. He put forth his hand to take that of Hava,\nbut she withdrew hers, answering his words of love with, \u201cGod is my\nmaster, and I cannot give my hand to thee without His permission; and,\nmoreover, it is not proper for a man to take a wife without making her\na wedding present.\u201d\n\nAdam thereupon sent the angel Gabriel to ask God\u2019s permission to take\nto him Hava as his wife. Gabriel returned with the answer that she\nhad been created to be his helpmate, and that he was to treat her\nwith gentleness and love. For a present he must pray twenty times for\nMohammed and for the prophets, who, in due season, were to be born of\nhim. Ridhwan, the porter of Paradise, then brought to Adam the winged\nhorse Meimun, and to Eve a light-footed she-camel. Gabriel helped them\nto mount and led them into Paradise, where they were greeted by all the\nangels and beasts with the words: \u201cHail, father and mother of Mohammed!\u201d\n\nIn the midst of Paradise was a green silk tent spread for them,\nsupported on gold pillars, and in the tent was a throne upon which Adam\nand Hava were seated. Then they were bathed in one of the rivers of\nParadise and brought before the presence of God, who bade them dwell\nin Paradise. \u201cI have prepared you this garden for your home; in it you\nshall be protected from cold and heat, from hunger and thirst. Enjoy\nall that meets your eye, only of one fruit taste not. Beware how you\nbreak my command, and arm yourself against the subtlety of your foe,\nEblis; he envies you, and stands by you seeking to destroy you, for\nthrough you was he cast out.\u201d[40]\n\nTabari says that Adam was brought single into Paradise, through which\nhe roamed eating from the fruit trees, and a deep sleep fell upon him,\nduring which Eve was created from his left side. And when Adam opened\nhis eyes, he saw her, and asked her who she was, and she replied, \u201cI am\nthy wife; God created me out of thee and for thee, that thy heart might\nfind repose.\u201d The angels said to Adam: \u201cWhat thing is this? What is\nher name? Why is she made?\u201d Adam replied, \u201cThis is Eve.\u201d Adam remained\nfive hundred years in Paradise. It was on a Friday that Adam entered\nEden.[41]\n\nThe inhabitants of Madagascar have a strange myth touching the origin\nof woman. They say that the first man was created of the dust of the\nearth, and was placed in a garden, where he was subject to none of\nthe ills which now affect mortality; he was also free from all bodily\nappetites, and though surrounded by delicious fruit and limpid streams,\nyet felt no desire to taste of the fruit or to quaff the water. The\nCreator had, moreover, strictly forbidden him either to eat or to\ndrink. The great enemy, however, came to him, and painted to him in\nglowing colors the sweetness of the apple, the lusciousness of the\ndate, and the succulence of the orange.\n\nIn vain: the first man remembered the command laid upon him by his\nMaker. Then the fiend assumed the appearance of an effulgent spirit,\nand pretended to be a messenger from Heaven commanding him to eat and\ndrink. The man at once obeyed. Shortly after, a pimple appeared on his\nleg; the spot enlarged to a tumor, which increased in size and caused\nhim considerable annoyance. At the end of six months it burst, and\nthere emerged from the limb a beautiful girl.\n\nThe father of all living was sorely perplexed what to make of his\nacquisition, when a messenger from heaven appeared, and told him to let\nher run about the garden till she was of a marriageable age, and then\nto take her to himself as his wife. He obeyed. He called her Bahouna,\nand she became the mother of all races of men.\n\nThe notion of the first man having been of both sexes till the\nseparation, was very common. He was said to have been male on the right\nside and female on the left, and that one half of him was removed to\nconstitute Eve, but that the complete man consists of both sexes.\n\nEugubinus among Christian commentators, the Rabbis Samuel, Manasseh\nBen-Israel, and Maimonides among the Jews, have given the weight of\ntheir opinion to support this interpretation. The Rabbi Jeremiah\nBen-Eleazer, on the authority of the text \u201c_Thou hast fashioned me\nbehind and before_\u201d (Ps. cxxxix. 4), argued that Adam had two faces,\none male and the other female, and that he was of both sexes.[42]\n\nThe Rabbi Samuel Ben-Nahaman held that the first man was created\ndouble, with a woman at his back, and that God cut them apart.[43]\n\u201cAdam,\u201d said other Rabbis, \u201chad two faces and one tail, and from the\nbeginning he was both male and female, male on one side, female on the\nother; but afterwards the parts were separated.\u201d[44]\n\nThe Talmudists assert that God cut off Adam\u2019s tail and thereof formed\nEve.[45]\n\nWith this latter fable agrees the ludicrous myth of the Kikapoo\nIndians, related in my \u201cCuriosities of Olden Times.\u201d\n\nIn Aristophanes\u2019 speech in the Symposium of Plato, a myth is given,\nthat in the beginning there was a race of men of which every member was\ndouble, having two heads, four legs and four arms, and each of both\nsexes. This race, says he, was filled with pride, and it attempted\nto scale heaven. The Gods desired at once to reduce their might and\npunish their temerity, but did not wish to destroy the human race;\nconsequently at the advice of Zeus, each androgyne was hewn assunder,\nso as to leave to each half two arms and a pair of legs, one head and a\nsingle sex.\n\nAn Indian tradition is to this effect. Whilst Brahma the creator was\nengaged in the production of beings, he saw Kaya (body) divide itself\ninto two parts, of which each part was of a different sex, and thence\nsprang the whole human race.[46]\n\nAccording to another much more explicit version, Viradi, the first man,\nfinding his solitude intolerable, fell into the deepest sorrow; and,\nyearning for a companion, his nature developed into two sexes united\nin one. Then he separated into two individuals, but found in that\nseparation unhappiness, for he was conscious of his imperfection; then\nhe reunited the existence of the two portions and was happy, and from\nthat reunion the world was peopled.[47]\n\nIn Persia, Meschia and Meschiane, the first man and the first woman,\nwere said to have formed originally but one body; but they were cut\napart, and from this voluntary reunion all men are sprung.[48]\n\nThe idea so prevalent that man without woman, or woman without man, is\nan imperfect being, was the cause of the great repugnance with which\nthe Jews and other nations of the East regarded celibacy. The Rabbi\nEliezer, commenting on the text \u201cHe called their name Adam\u201d (Gen. v.\n2), laid down that he who has not a wife is not a man, for man is the\nrecomposition of male and female into one.[49]\n\nBramah, says an Indian legend, being charged with the production of\nthe human race, felt himself a prey to violent pains, till his sides\nopened, and from one flank emerged a boy and from the other a girl. In\nChina, the story is told that the Goddess Amida sweated male children\nout of her right arm-pit, and female children from her left arm-pit,\nand these children peopled the earth.[50]\n\nVishnu, according to an Indian fable, gave birth to Dharma by his\nright side, and to Adharma by his left side, and through Adharma death\nentered the world.[51] Another story is to the effect, that the right\narm of Vena gave birth to Pritu, the master of the earth, and the left\narm to the Virgin Archis, who became the bride of Pritu.[52]\n\nPygmalion, says the classic story, which is really a Ph\u0153nician myth of\ncreation, made woman of marble or ivory, and Aphrodite, in answer to\nhis prayers, endowed the statue with life. \u201cOften does Pygmalion apply\nhis hands to the work. One while he addresses it in soft terms, at\nanother he brings it presents that are agreeable to maidens, as shells\nand smooth pebbles, and little birds, and flowers of a thousand hues,\nand lilies, and painted balls, and tears of the Heliades, that have\ndistilled from the trees. He decks her limbs, too, with clothing, and\nputs a long necklace on her neck. Smooth pendants hang from her ears,\nand bows from her breast. All things are becoming to her.\u201d[53]\n\nBut Hesiod gives a widely different account of the creation of woman.\nAccording to him, she was sent in mockery by Zeus to be a scourge to\nman:--\n\n \u201cThe Sire who rules the earth and sways the pole\n Had spoken; laughter filled his secret soul:\n He bade the crippled god his hest obey,\n And mould with tempering water plastic clay;\n With human nerve and human voice invest\n The limbs elastic, and the breathing breast;\n Fair as the blooming goddesses above,\n A virgin likeness with the looks of love.\n He bade Minerva teach the skill that sheds\n A thousand colors in the glittering threads;\n He called the magic of love\u2019s golden queen\n To breathe around a witchery of mien,\n And eager passion\u2019s never-sated flame,\n And cares of dress that prey upon the frame;\n Bade Hermes last endue, with craft refined\n Of treacherous manners, and a shameless mind.\u201d[54]\n\nThat Eve was Adam\u2019s second wife was a common Rabbinic speculation;\ncertain of the commentators on Genesis having adopted this view to\naccount for the double account of the creation of woman in the sacred\ntext,--first in Genesis i. 27, and secondly in Genesis ii. 18; and they\nsay that Adam\u2019s first wife was named Lilith, but she was expelled from\nEden, and after her expulsion Eve was created.\n\nAbraham Ecchellensis gives the following account of Lilith, and her\ndoings:--\u201cThere are some who do not regard spectres as simple devils,\nbut suppose them to be of a mixed nature, part demoniacal, part human,\nand to have had their origin from Lilith, Adam\u2019s first wife, by Eblis,\nthe prince of the devils. This fable has been transmitted to the\nArabs from Jewish sources, by some converts of Mahomet from Cabbalism\nand Rabbinism, who have transferred all the Jewish fooleries to the\nArabs. They gave to Adam a wife, formed of clay, along with Adam, and\ncalled her Lilith; resting on the Scripture, \u2018_male and female created\nHe them_:\u2019[55] but when this woman, on account of her simultaneous\ncreation with him, became proud and a vexation to her husband, God\nexpelled her from Paradise, and then said, \u2018_It is not good that\nthe man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him_.\u2019[56]\nAnd this they confirm by the words of Adam when he saw the woman\nfashioned from his rib, \u2018_This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my\nflesh_,\u2019[57] which is as much as to say, Now God has given me a wife\nand companion, suitable to me, taken from my bone and flesh, but the\nother wife he gave me was not of my bone and flesh, and therefore was\nnot a suitable companion and wife for me.\n\n\u201cBut Lilith, after she was expelled from Paradise, is said to have\nmarried the Devil, by whom she had children, who are called Jins. These\nwere endued with six qualities, of which they share three with men, and\nthree with devils. Like men, they generate in their own likeness, eat\nfood, and die. Like devils, they are winged, and they fly where they\nlist with great velocity; they are invisible, and they can pass through\nsolid substances without injuring them. This race of Jins is supposed\nto be less noxious to men, and indeed to live in some familiarity and\nfriendship with them, as in part sharers of their nature. The author of\nthe history and acts of Alexander of Macedon relates, that in a certain\nregion of India, on certain hours of the day, the young Jins assume a\nhuman form, and appear openly and play games with the native children\nof human parents quite familiarly.\u201d[58]\n\nIt must not be supposed that women, as they are now, are at all\ncomparable to Eve in her pristine beauty; on this point the Talmud\nsays: \u201cAll women in respect of Sarah are like monkeys in respect of\nmen. But Sarah can no more be compared to Eve than can a monkey be\ncompared with a man. In like manner it may be said, if any comparison\ncould be drawn between Eve and Adam, she stood to him in the same\nrelation of beauty as does a monkey to a man; but if you were to\ncompare Adam with God, Adam would be the monkey, and God the man.\u201d[59]\n\nLiterary ladies may point to the primal mother as the first authoress;\nfor a Gospel of Eve existed in the times of S. Epiphanius, who mentions\nit as being in repute among the Gnostics.[60] And the Mussulmans\nattribute to her a volume of Prophecies which were written at her\ndictation by the Angel Raphael.[61]\n\nAll ladies will be glad to learn that there is a tradition, Manichean,\nit is true, and anathematized by S. Clement, which nevertheless\ncontains a large element of truth; it is to this effect, that Adam,\nwhen made, was like a beast, coarse, rude, and inanimate, but that\nfrom Eve he received his upright position, his polish, and his\nspirituality.[62]\n\n\n\n\nIV.\n\nTHE FALL OF MAN.\n\n\nWhat was the tree of which our first parents were forbidden to eat?\nIn Midrash, f. 7, the Rabbi Mayer says it was a wheat-tree; the\nRabbi Jehuda, that it was a grape-vine; the Rabbi Aba, that it was a\nParadise-apple; the Rabbi Josse, that it was a fig-tree: therefore\nit was that, when driven out of Paradise, they used its leaves for a\ncovering.\n\nThe Persian story, adopted by the Arabs, is that the forbidden fruit\nwas wheat, and that it grew on a tree whose trunk resembled gold and\nits branches silver. Each branch bore five shining ears, and each ear\ncontained five grains as big as the eggs of an ostrich, as fragrant\nas musk, and as sweet as honey. The people of Southern America\nsuppose it was the banana, whose fibres form the cross, and they say\nthat thus, in it, Adam discovered the mystery of the Redemption. The\ninhabitants of the island of St. Vincent think it was the tobacco\nplant. But, according to an Iroquois legend, the great mother of the\nhuman race lost heaven for a pot of bears\u2019 grease.[63] The story is as\nfollows:--The first men living alone were,\n\n \u201cBy the viewless winds,\n Blown with resistless violence round about\n The pendant world.\u201d\n\nFearing the extinction of their race, and having learnt that a woman\ndwelt somewhere in the heavens, they deputed one of their number to\nseek her out. This messenger of mankind was borne to the skies on the\nwings of assembled birds; and then watched at the foot of a tree till\nthe woman came forth to draw water from a neighboring well. On her\napproach he addressed her, offered her bears\u2019 fat, and then seduced\nher. The Deity perceiving her shame, in his anger thrust her out of\nheaven. The tortoise received her on his back; and from the depths of\nthe sea the fish brought clay, and thus gradually built up an island on\nwhich the universal mother brought forth her first twins.\n\nAccording to the traditions of the Lamaic faith, the first men lived\nto the age of sixty thousand years.[64] They were invisibly nourished,\nand were able to raise themselves at will to the heavens. In this\nage of the world the transmigration of souls was universal,--all\nmen were twice born; and in this age it was that the thousand gods\nsettled themselves in heaven. In an unlucky hour the earth produced a\nhoney-sweet substance: one of the men lusted after it, tasted and gave\nto his companions; the consequence was, that the men lost the power\nof rising from off the earth, their size, and their wisdom, and were\nobliged to satisfy themselves with food produced by the soil.\n\nThe Nepaul account of the beginning of sin is as follows: \u201cOriginally,\u201d\nsays one of the Tantras, \u201cthe earth was uninhabited. In those times\nthe inhabitants of Abhaswara, one of the heavenly mansions, used\nfrequently to visit the earth, and thence speedily return. It happened\nat length that when a few of these beings, who though half male, half\nfemale, through the innocence of their minds had never noticed their\ndistinction of sex, came as usual to the earth, Adi Buddha suddenly\ncreated in them so violent a longing to eat, that they ate some of the\nearth, which had the taste of almonds; and by eating it they lost their\npower of flying back to heaven, and so they remained on the earth. They\nwere now constrained to eat the fruits of the earth for sustenance.\u201d[65]\n\nAccording to the Cinghalese, the Brahmas inhabited the higher regions\nof the air, where they enjoyed perfect happiness. \u201cBut it came to pass\nthat one of them beholding the earth said to himself, What thing is\nthis? and with one of his fingers having touched the earth, he put it\nto the tip of his tongue, and perceived the same to be deliciously\nsweet; from that time all the Brahmas ate of the sweet earth for the\nspace of sixty thousand years. In the mean time, having coveted in\ntheir hearts the enjoyment of this earth, they began to say to one\nanother, This part is mine and that is thine; and so fixing boundaries\nto their respective shares, divided the earth between them. On account\nof the Brahmas having been guilty of covetousness, the earth lost\nits sweetness, and then brought forth a kind of mushroom,\u201d which the\nBrahmas also coveted and divided, and of which they were also deprived;\nand thus they proceeded from food to food, till their nature was\nchanged, and from spirits they became men, imbibed wicked ideas, and\nlost their ancient glory.[66]\n\nAccording to the Chinese, man is part spirit, part animal. The spirit\nfollows the laws of Heaven, as a disciple his master; the animal,\non the other hand, is the slave of sense. At his origin, man obeyed\nthe heavens; his first state was one of innocence and happiness; he\nknew neither disease nor death; he was by instinct wholly good and\nspiritual. But the immoderate desire to be wise, or, according to\nLao-tsee, to eat, was the ruin of mankind.[67]\n\nAccording to the Persian faith, the father of man had heaven for his\ndestiny, but he must be humble of heart, pure of thought, of word and\nof deed, not invoking the Divs: and such in the beginning were the\nthoughts and acts of our first parents.\n\nFirst they said, \u201cit is Ormuzd (God) who has given the water, the\nearth, the trees, and the beasts of the field, and the stars, the moon,\nthe sun, and all things pure.\u201d But Ahriman (Satan) arose, and rushed\nupon their thoughts and said to them, \u201cIt is Ahriman who has given\nthese things to you.\u201d Thus Ahriman deceived them, and to the end will\ndeceive. To this lie they gave credence and became Darvands, and their\nsouls were condemned till the great resurrection of the body. During\nthirty days they feasted and covered themselves with black garments.\nAfter thirty days they went to the chase; and they found a white goat,\nand with their lips they drew off her milk, and drank her milk and\nwere glad. \u201cWe have tasted nothing like to this milk,\u201d said our first\nparents, Meschia and Meschiane; \u201cthe milk we have drunk was pleasant to\nthe taste,\u201d but it was an evil thing to their bodies.\n\n\u201cThen the Div, the liar, grown more bold, presented himself a second\ntime, and brought with him fruit of which they ate; and of a hundred\nexcellences they before possessed, they now retained not one. And after\nthirty days and nights they found a white and fat sheep, and they cut\noff its left ear; and they fired a tree, and with their breath raised\nthe fire to a flame; and they burned part of the branches of that tree,\nthen of the tree khorma, and afterwards of the myrtle; and they roasted\nthe sheep, and divided it into three portions: and of the two which\nthey did not eat, one was carried to heaven by the bird Kehrkas.\n\n\u201cAfterwards they feasted on the flesh of a dog, and they clothed\nthemselves in its skin. They gave themselves up to the chase, and with\nthe furs of wild beasts they covered their bodies.\n\n\u201cAnd Meschia and Meschiane digged a hole in the earth, and they found\niron, and the iron they beat with a stone; and they made for themselves\nan axe, and they struck at the roots of a tree, and they felled the\ntree and arranged its branches into a hut; and to God they gave no\nthanks; and the Divs took heart.\n\n\u201cAnd Meschia and Meschiane became enemies, and struck and wounded each\nother and separated; then from out of the place of darkness the chief\nof the Divs was heard to cry aloud: O man, worship the Divs! And the\nDiv of Hate sat upon his throne. And Meschia approached and drew milk\nfrom the bull, and sprinkled it towards the north, and the Divs became\nstrong. But during fifty winters, Meschia and Meschiane lived apart;\nand after that time they met, and Meschiane bare twins.\u201d[68]\n\nThe story told by the Mussulmans is as follows:--\n\nAdam and Eve lived for five hundred years in Paradise before they ate\nof the tree and fell; for Eblis was outside, and could not enter the\ngates to deceive them.\n\nFor five hundred years Eblis sought admission, but the angel Ridhwan\nwarned him off with his flaming sword.\n\nOne day the peacock came through the gates of Paradise. This bird, with\nthe feathers of emeralds and pearls, was not only the most beautiful\ncreature God had made, but it had also been endowed with a sweet and\nclear voice, wherewith it daily sang the praises of God in the highways\nof Eden.\n\nThis beautiful bird, thought Eblis, when he saw it, is surely vain, and\nwill listen to the voice of flattery.\n\nThereupon he addressed it as a stranger, beyond the hearing of Ridhwan.\n\u201cMost beautiful of all birds, do you belong to the denizens of\nParadise?\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly,\u201d answered the peacock. \u201cAnd who are you who look from side\nto side in fear and trembling?\u201d\n\n\u201cI belong to the Cherubim who praise God night and day, and I have\nslipped out of their ranks without being observed, that I might take a\nglimpse of the Paradise, God has prepared for the saints. Will you hide\nme under your feathers, and show me the garden?\u201d\n\n\u201cHow shall I do that which may draw down on me God\u2019s disfavor?\u201d asked\nthe peacock.\n\n\u201cMagnificent creature! take me with you. I will teach you three words\nwhich will save you from sickness, old age, and death.\u201d\n\n\u201cMust then the dwellers in Paradise die?\u201d\n\n\u201cAll, without exception, who know not these three words.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs this the truth?\u201d\n\n\u201cBy God the Almighty it is so.\u201d\n\nThe peacock believed the oath, for it could not suppose that a creature\nwould swear a false oath by its Creator. But, as it feared that Ridhwan\nwould search it on its return through the gates, it hesitated to take\nEblis with it, but promised to send the cunning serpent out, who would\ncertainly devise a means of introducing Eblis into the garden.\n\nThe serpent was formerly queen of all creatures. She had a head like\nrubies, and eyes like emeralds. Her height was that of a camel, and\nthe most beautiful colors adorned her skin, and her hair and face were\nthose of a beautiful maiden. She was fragrant as musk and amber; her\nfood was saffron; sweet hymns of praise were uttered by her melodious\ntongues; she slept by the waters of the heavenly river Kaulhar; she\nhad been created a thousand years before man, and was Eve\u2019s favorite\ncompanion.\n\nThis beautiful and wise creature, thought the peacock, will desire\nmore even than myself to possess perpetual youth and health, and will\ngladly admit the cherub for the sake of hearing the three words. The\nbird was not mistaken; as soon as it had told the story, the serpent\nexclaimed: \u201cWhat! shall I grow old and die? Shall my beautiful face\nbecome wrinkled, my eyes close, and my body dissolve into dust? Never!\nrather will I brave Ridhwan\u2019s anger and introduce the cherub.\u201d\n\nThe serpent accordingly glided out of the gates of Paradise, and bade\nEblis tell her what he had told the peacock.\n\n\u201cHow shall I bring you unobserved into Paradise?\u201d asked the serpent.\n\n\u201cI will make myself so small that I can sit in the nick between your\nfront teeth,\u201d answered the fallen angel.[69]\n\n\u201cBut how then can I answer when Ridhwan addresses me?\u201d\n\n\u201cFear not. I will whisper holy names, at which Ridhwan will keep\nsilence.\u201d\n\nThe serpent thereupon opened her mouth, Eblis flew in and seated\nhimself between her teeth, and by so doing poisoned them for all\neternity.\n\nWhen she had passed Ridhwan in security, the serpent opened her mouth\nand asked Eblis to take her with him to the highest heaven, where she\nmight behold the majesty of God.\n\nEblis answered that he was not ready to leave yet, but that he desired\nto speak to Adam out of her mouth, and to this she consented, fearing\nRidhwan, and greatly desiring to hear and learn the three salutary\nwords. Having reached Eve\u2019s tent, Eblis uttered a deep sigh--it was the\nfirst that had been heard in Eden, and it was caused by envy.\n\n\u201cWhy are you so disquieted, gentle serpent?\u201d asked Eve.\n\n\u201cI am troubled for Adam\u2019s future,\u201d answered the evil spirit, affecting\nthe voice of the serpent.\n\n\u201cWhat! have we not all that can be desired in this garden of God?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is true; but the noblest fruit of the garden, the only one\nsecuring to you perfect happiness, is denied to your lips.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave we not abundance of fruit of every color and flavor--only one is\nforbidden?\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd if you knew why that one is forbidden, you would find little\npleasure in tasting the others.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you know?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do, and for that reason am I so cast down. This fruit alone gives\neternal youth and health, whereas all the others give weakness,\ndisease, old age and death, which is the cessation of life with all its\njoys.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, dearest serpent, did you never tell me this before? Whence know\nyou these things?\u201d\n\n\u201cAn angel told me this as I lay under the forbidden tree.\u201d\n\n\u201cI must also see him,\u201d said Eve, leaving her tent and going towards the\ntree.\n\nAt this moment Eblis flew out of the serpent\u2019s mouth, and stood in\nhuman form beneath the tree.\n\n\u201cWho art thou, wondrous being, the like of whom I have not seen\nbefore?\u201d asked Eve.\n\n\u201cI am a man who have become an angel.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd how didst thou become an angel?\u201d\n\n\u201cBy eating of this fruit,\u201d answered the tempter,--\u201cthis fruit which is\ndenied us through the envy of God. I dared to break His command as I\ngrew old and feeble, and my eyes waxed dim, my ears dull, and my teeth\nfell out, so that I could neither speak plainly nor enjoy my food; my\nhands shook, my feet tottered, my head was bent upon my breast, my back\nwas bowed, and I became so hideous that all the beasts of the garden\nfled from me in fear. Then I sighed for death, and hoping to find it\nin the fruit of this tree, I ate, and lo! instantly I was young again;\nthough a thousand years had elapsed since I was made, they had fled\nwith all their traces, and I enjoy perpetual health and youth and\nbeauty.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you speak the truth?\u201d asked Eve.\n\n\u201cI swear by God who made me.\u201d\n\nEve believed this oath, and broke a branch from the wheat-tree.\n\nBefore the Fall, wheat grew to a tree with leaves like emeralds. The\nears were red as rubies and the grains white as snow, sweet as honey,\nand fragrant as musk. Eve ate one of the grains and found it more\ndelicious than any thing she had hitherto tasted, so she gave a second\ngrain to Adam. Adam resisted at first, according to some authorities\nfor a whole hour, but an hour in Paradise was eighty years of our\nearthly reckoning. But when he saw that Eve remained well and cheerful,\nhe yielded to her persuasions, and ate of the second grain which Eve\nhad offered him daily, three times a day, during the hour of eighty\nyears. Thereupon all Adam\u2019s heaven-given raiment fell from him, his\ncrown slipped off his head, his rings dropped from his fingers, his\nsilken garments glided like water from his shoulders, and he and Eve\nwere naked and unadorned, and their fallen garments reproached them\nwith the words, \u201cGreat is your misfortune; long will be your sorrows;\nwe were created to adorn those who serve God; farewell till the\nresurrection!\u201d\n\nThe throne recoiled from them and exclaimed, \u201cDepart from me, ye\ndisobedient ones!\u201d The horse Meimun, which Adam sought to mount,\nplunged and refused to allow him to touch it, saying, \u201cHow hast thou\nkept God\u2019s covenant?\u201d All the inhabitants of Paradise turned their\nbacks on the pair, and prayed God to remove the man and the woman from\nthe midst of them.\n\nGod himself addressed Adam with a voice of thunder, saying, \u201cDid\nnot I forbid thee to touch of this fruit, and caution thee against\nthe subtlety of thy foe, Eblis?\u201d Adam and Eve tried to fly these\nreproaches, but the branches of the tree Talh caught Adam, and Eve\nentangled herself in her long hair.\n\n\u201cFrom the wrath of God there is no escape,\u201d cried a voice from the tree\nTalh; \u201cobey the commandment of God.\u201d\n\n\u201cDepart from Paradise,\u201d then spake God, \u201cthou Adam, thy wife, and the\nanimals which led you into sin. The earth shall be your abode; in the\nsweat of thy brow shalt thou find food; the produce of earth shall\ncause envy and contention; Eve (Hava) shall be afflicted with a variety\nof strange affections, and shall bring forth offspring in pain. The\npeacock shall lose its melodious voice, and the serpent its feet; dark\nand noisome shall be the den in which the serpent shall dwell, dust\nshall be its meat, and its destruction shall be a meritorious work.\nEblis shall be cast into the torments of hell.\u201d\n\nOur parents were then driven out of Paradise, and one leaf alone was\ngiven to each, wherewith to hide their nakedness. Adam was expelled\nthrough the gate of Repentance, that he might know that through it\nalone could Paradise be regained; Eve was banished through the gate of\ngrace; the peacock and the serpent through that of Wrath, and Eblis\nthrough the gate of Damnation. Adam fell into the island Serendib\n(Ceylon), Eve at Jedda, the Serpent into the desert of Sahara, the\nPeacock into Persia, and Eblis into the river Eila.[70]\n\nTabari says that when the forbidden wheat had entered the belly of\nAdam and Eve, all the skin came off, except from the ends of the\nfingers. Now this skin had been pink and horny, so that they had been\ninvulnerable in Paradise, and they were left naked and with a tender\nskin which could easily be lacerated; but as often as Adam and Eve\nlooked on their fingernails, they remembered what skin they had worn in\nEden.[71]\n\nTabari also says that four trees pitying the shame of Adam and Eve, the\nPeacock, and the Serpent, in being driven naked out of Paradise, bowed\ntheir branches and gave each a leaf.\n\nCertain Rabbis say that Adam ate only on compulsion, that he refused,\nbut Eve \u201ctook of the tree,\u201d--that is, broke a branch and \u201cgave it him,\u201d\nwith the stick.\n\nAccording to the Talmudic book, Emek Hammelech (f. 23, col. 3), Eve,\non eating the fruit, felt in herself the poison of Jezer hara, or\nOriginal sin, and resolved that Adam should not be without it also; she\nmade him eat and then forced the fruit on the animals, that they might\nall, without exception, fall under the same condemnation, and become\nsubject to death. But the bird Chol--that is, the Ph\u0153nix--would not be\ndeceived, but flew away and would not eat. And now the Ph\u0153nix, says\nthe Rabbi Joden after the Rabbi Simeon, lives a thousand years, then\nshrivels up till it is the size of an egg, and then from himself he\nemerges young and beautiful again.\n\nWe have seen what are the Asiatic myths relating to Adam and Eve; let\nus now turn to Africa. In Egypt it was related that Osiris lived with\nIsis his sister and wife in Nysa, or Paradise, which was situated\nin Arabia. This Paradise was an island, surrounded by the stream\nTriton, but it was also a steep mountain that could only be reached\non one side. It was adorned with beautiful flowers and trees laden\nwith pleasant fruits, watered by sweet streams, and in it dwelt the\ndeathless ones.\n\nThere Osiris found the vine, and Isis the wheat, to become the food and\ndrink of men. There they built a golden temple, and lived in supreme\nhappiness till the desire came on Osiris to discover the water of\nImmortality, in seeking which he left Nysa, and was in the end slain by\nTyphon.[72]\n\nThe following is a very curious negro tradition, taken down by Dr.\nTutschek from a native in Tumale, near the centre of Africa.\n\nTil (God) made men and bade them live together in peace and happiness,\nlabor five days, and keep the sixth as a festival. They were forbidden\nto hurt the beasts or reptiles. They themselves were deathless, but\nthe animals suffered death. The frog was accursed by God, because when\nHe was making the animals it hopped over his foot. Then God ordered\nthe men to build mountains: they did so, but they soon forgot God\u2019s\ncommands, killed the beasts and quarrelled with one another. Wherefore\nTil (God) sent fire and destroyed them, but saved one of the race,\nnamed Musikdegen, alive. Then Til began to re-create beings. He stood\nbefore a wood and called, Ombo Abnatum Dgu! and there came out a\ngazelle and licked His feet. So He said, stand up, Gazelle! and when it\nstood up, its beast-form disappeared, and it was a beautiful maiden,\nand He called her Mariam. He blessed her, and she bore four children, a\nwhite pair and a black pair. When they were grown up, God ordered them\nto marry, the white together and the black together. In Dai, the story\ngoes that Til cut out both Mariam\u2019s knee-caps, and of each He made a\npair of children. Those which were white He sent north; those which\nwere black He gave possession of the land where they were born.\n\nGod then made the animals subject to death, but the men He made were\nimmortal. But the new created men became disobedient, as had the first\ncreatures; and the frog complained to Him of His injustice in having\nmade the harmless animals subject to death, but guilty man deathless.\n\u201cThou art right,\u201d answered Til, and He cast on the men He had made, old\nage, sickness, and death.[73]\n\nThe Fantis relate that they are not in the same condition as that in\nwhich they were made, for their first parents had been placed in a\nlofty and more suitable country, but God drave them into an inferior\nhabitation, that they might learn humility. On the Gold Coast the\nreason of the Fall is said to have been that the first men were offered\nthe choice of gold or of wisdom, and they chose the former.[74]\n\nIn Ashantee the story is thus told. In the beginning, God created three\nwhite and three black men and women, and gave them the choice between\ngood and evil. A great calabash was placed on the earth, as also a\nsealed paper, and God gave the black men the first choice. They took\nthe calabash, thinking it contained every thing, and in it were only a\nlump of gold, a bar of iron, and some other metals. The white men took\nthe sealed paper, in which they learned every thing. So God left the\nblack men in the bush and took the white men to the sea, and He taught\nthem how to build ships and go into another land. This fall from God\ncaused the black men to worship the subsidiary Fetishes instead of\nHim.[75]\n\nIn Greenland \u201cthe first man is said to have been Kallak. He came out\nof the earth, but his wife issued from his thumb, and from them all\ngenerations of men have sprung. To him many attribute the origin of all\nthings. The woman brought death into the world, in that she said, Let\nus die to make room for our successors.\u201d[76]\n\nThe tradition of the Dog-rib Indians near the Polar Sea, as related by\nSir J. Franklin in his account of his expedition of 1825-27, is that\nthe first man was called Tsch\u00e4piwih. He found the earth filled with\nabundance of all good things. He begat children and he gave to them two\nsorts of fruit, one white and the other black, and he bade them eat\nthe white, but eschew the black. And having given them this command,\nhe left them and went a long journey to fetch the sun to enlighten the\nworld. During his absence they ate only of the white fruit, and then\nthe father made a second journey to fetch the moon, leaving them well\nprovided with fruit. But after a while they forgot his command, and\nconsumed the black fruit. On his return he was angry, and cursed the\nground that it should thenceforth produce only the black fruit, and\nthat with it should come in sickness and death.\n\nDr. Hunter, in his \u201cMemoirs of Captivity amongst the Indians,\u201d says\nthat the Delawares believe that in the beginning the Red men had short\ntails, but they blasphemed the Great Spirit, and in punishment for\ntheir sin their tails were cut off and transformed into women, to be\ntheir perpetual worry. The same story is told by Mr. Atherne Jones, as\nheard by him among the Kikapoos.\n\nThe ancient Mexicans had a myth of Xolotl, making out of a man\u2019s bone\nthe primeval mother in the heavenly Paradise; and he called the woman\nhe had made Cihuacouhatl, which means \u201cThe woman with the serpent,\u201d or\nQuilatzli, which means \u201cThe woman of our flesh.\u201d She was the mother of\ntwins, and is represented in a Mexican hieroglyph as speaking with the\nserpent, whilst behind her stand the twins, whose different characters\nare represented by different colors, one of whom is represented\nslaying the other.[77] Xolotl, who made her out of a bone, was cast\nout of heaven and became the first man. That the Mexicans had other\ntraditions, now lost, touching this matter is probable, for they had a\nform of baptism for children in which they prayed that those baptized\nmight be washed from \u201cthe original sin committed before the founding of\nthe world.\u201d And this had to do, in all probability, with a legend akin\nto that of the Iroquois, who told of the primeval mother falling, and\nthen of the earth being built up to receive her, when precipitated out\nof heaven.\n\nThe Caribs of South America relate that Luoguo, the first man and\ngod, created the earth and the sea, and made the earth as fair as the\nbeautiful garden in the heaven where dwell the gods. Luoguo dwelt\namong the men he had made for some while. He drew the men out of his\nnavel and out of his thigh which he cut open. One of the first men was\nRacumon, who was transformed into a great serpent with a human head,\nand he lived twined round a great Cabatas tree and ate of its fruit,\nand gave to those who passed by. Then the Caribs lived to a great age,\nand never waxed old or died. Afterwards they found a garden planted\nwith manioc, and on that they fed. But they became wicked, and a flood\ncame and swept them away.[78]\n\nIn the South Sea Islands we find other traditions of the Fall. In Alea,\none of the Caroline Islands, the tale runs thus:--\n\n\u201cThe sister of Eliulap the first man, who was also a god, felt herself\nin labor, so she descended to earth and there brought forth three\nchildren. To her astonishment she found the earth barren; therefore by\nher mighty word, she clothed it with herbage and peopled it with beasts\nand birds. And the world became very beautiful, and her sons were happy\nand did not feel sickness or death, but at the close of every month\nfell into a slumber from which they awoke renewed in strength and\nbeauty. But Erigeres, the bad spirit, envied this happiness, so he came\nto the world and introduced into it pain, age, and death.\u201d[79]\n\nWith the Jewish additions to the story given in Genesis, we shall\nconclude.\n\nThe godless Sammael had made an alliance with all the chiefs of his\nhosts against the Lord, because that the holy and ever blessed Lord\nhad said to Adam and Eve, \u201c_Have dominion over the fish of the sea_,\u201d\netc.; and he said, \u201cHow can I make man to sin and drive him out?\u201d Then\nhe went down to earth with all his host, and he sought for a companion\nlike to himself; he chose the serpent, which was in size like a camel,\nand he seated himself on its back and rode up to the woman, and said to\nher, \u201c_Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?_\u201d\nAnd he thought, \u201cI will ask more presently.\u201d Then she answered, \u201cHe has\nonly forbidden me the fruit of the Tree of Knowlege which is in the\nmidst of the garden. And He said, \u2018In the day thou touchest it thou\nshalt die.\u2019\u201d She added two words; God did not say any thing to her\nabout touching it, and she spoke of the fruit, whereas God said the\nTree.\n\nThen the godless one, Sammael, went up to the tree and touched it.\nBut the tree cried out, \u201c_Let not the foot of pride come against me,\nand let not the hand of the ungodly cast me down!_ Touch me not, thou\ngodless one!\u201d\n\nThen Sammael called to the woman, and said, \u201cSee, I have touched the\ntree and am not dead. Do you also touch it and try.\u201d But when Eve drew\nnear to the tree she saw the Angel of Death waiting sword in hand, and\nshe said in her heart, \u201cPerhaps I am to die, and then God will create\nanother wife for Adam; that shall not be, he must die too.\u201d So she gave\nhim of the fruit. And when he took it and bit, his teeth were blunted,\nand thus it is that the back teeth of men are no longer sharp.[80]\n\n\n\n\nV.\n\nADAM AND EVE AFTER THE FALL.\n\n\nWhen Adam reached the earth, the Eagle said to the Whale, with whom\nit had hitherto lived in the closest intimacy, \u201cNow we must part, for\nthere is no safety for us animals since man has come amongst us. The\ndeepest abysses of ocean must be thy refuge, and thou must protect\nthyself with cunning from the great foe who has entered the earth. I\nmust soar high above the clouds, and there find a place of escape from\nhim who is destined to be my pursuer till death.\u201d[81]\n\nAccording to certain cabbalistic Rabbis, Adam, when cast out of Eden,\nwas precipitated into Gehenna, but he escaped therefrom to earth, by\nrepeating and pronouncing properly the mystic word Laverererareri.[82]\nIn the Talmud it is related that when Adam heard the words of God,\n\u201c_Thou shalt eat the herb of the field_\u201d (Gen. iii. 18), he trembled\nin all his limbs, and exclaimed, \u201cO Lord of all the world! I and my\nbeast, the Ass, shall have to eat out of the same manger!\u201d But God said\nto him, because he trembled, \u201cThou shalt eat bread in the sweat of thy\nbrow.\u201d[83]\n\nLearned Rabbis assert that the angel Raphael had instructed Adam in\nall kinds of knowledge out of a book, and this book contained mighty\nmysteries which the highest angels could not fathom, and knew not; and\nbefore the Fall the angels used to assemble in crowds, and listen to\nAdam instructing them in hidden wisdom. In that book were seventy-two\nparts and six hundred and seventy writings, and all this was known;\nbut from the middle of the book to the end were the one thousand five\nhundred hidden secrets of Wisdom, and these Adam began to reveal to the\nangels till he was arrested by the angel Haddarniel. This book Adam\npreserved and read in daily; but when he had sinned, it fled out of his\nhands and flew away, and he went into the river Gihon up to his neck,\nand the water washed the glory wherewith he had shone in Paradise from\noff his body. But God was merciful, and He restored to him the book by\nthe hands of Raphael, and he left it to his son Seth, and Enoch and\nAbraham read in this book.[84]\n\nAlong with the book Adam retained the rod which God had created at the\nclose of the Sabbath, between sun and sun; _i. e._ between nightfall\nand daybreak, so says the Rabbi Levi. Adam left it to Enoch, and\nEnoch gave it to Noah, and Noah gave it to Shem, and Shem to Abraham,\nand Abraham delivered it to Isaac, and Isaac gave it to Jacob; Jacob\nbrought the staff with him to Egypt, and gave it to his son Joseph. Now\nwhen Joseph died, his house was plundered by the Egyptians, and all his\neffects were taken into Pharaoh\u2019s house. Jethro was a mighty magician,\nand when he saw the staff of Adam and read the writing thereon, he\nwent forth into Edom and planted it in his garden. And Jethro would\nallow none to touch it; but when he saw Moses he said, \u201cThis is he who\nwill deliver Israel out of Egypt.\u201d Wherefore he gave him his daughter\nZipporah and the staff. But the book Midrash Vajoscha relates this\nrather differently, in the words of Moses himself: \u201cAfter I had become\ngreat I went out, and seeing an Egyptian ill-treat a Hebrew man of my\nbrethren, I slew him and buried him in the sand. But when Pharoah heard\nthis he sought to slay me, and brought a sharp sword the like of which\nwas not in the world; and therewith I was ten times smitten on my neck.\nBut the Holy God wrought a miracle, for my neck became as hard as a\nmarble pillar, so that the sword had no power over me. And I was forty\nyears old when I fled out of Egypt; and I came to Jethro\u2019s house and\nstood by the well and found Zipporah his daughter; and when I saw her,\nI was pleased with her, and asked her to marry me. Then she related to\nme her father\u2019s custom, and it was this. \u2018My father proves every suitor\nfor my hand by a tree which is in his garden; and when he comes to the\ntree, the tree clasps him in its branches.\u2019 Then I asked her where such\na tree was, and she answered me, \u2018This is the staff which God created\non the eve of the Sabbath, which was handed down from Adam to Joseph;\nbut Jethro saw the staff at the plundering of Joseph\u2019s house, and he\ntook it away with him from Pharaoh\u2019s palace and brought it here. This\nis the staff on which is cut the Schem hammphorasch and the ten plagues\nthat are in store for Egypt, and these are indicated by ten letters\non the staff, and they stand thus: _dam_, blood; _zephardeim_, frogs;\n_kinnim_, lice; _arof_, various insects; _defer_, murrain; _schechim_,\nblain; _barad_, hail; _arbeh_, locusts; _choschech_, darkness; and\n_bechor_, first born:--these will be the plagues of Egypt. This staff\nwas for many days and years in my father\u2019s house, till he one day took\nit in his hand and stuck it into the earth in the garden; and then it\nsprouted and bloomed and brought forth almonds, and when he saw that,\nhe proved every one who sought one of his daughters by that tree.\u2019\u201d\nThese are the words of the Book Midrash Vajoscha, and thereby may be\nseen that the staff of Adam was of almond wood; but Yalkut Chadasch,\nunder the title \u201cAdam,\u201d says that the staff was of the wood of the Tree\nof the Knowledge of Good and Evil.[85]\n\nWhen Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden, says the Talmud, they\nwandered disconsolate over the face of the earth. And the sun began to\ndecline, and they looked with fear at the diminution of the light, and\nfelt a horror like death steal over their hearts.\n\nAnd the light of heaven grew paler, and the wretched ones clasped one\nanother in an agony of despair.\n\nThen all grew dark.\n\nAnd the luckless ones fell on the earth, silent, and thought that God\nhad withdrawn from them the light for ever; and they spent the night in\ntears.\n\nBut a beam of light began to rise over the eastern hills, after many\nhours of darkness, and the clouds blushed crimson, and the golden sun\ncame back, and dried the tears of Adam and Eve; and then they greeted\nit with cries of gladness, and said, \u201c_Heaviness may endure for a\nnight, but joy cometh in the morning_; this is a law that God has laid\nupon nature.\u201d[86]\n\nAmong the Manichean myths prevalent among the Albigenses, was one\npreserved to us by the troubadour Pierre de-Saint-Cloud. When Adam was\ndriven out of Paradise, God in mercy gave him a miraculous rod, which\npossessed creative powers, so that he had only to strike the sea with\nit and it would forthwith produce the beast he might require.\n\nAdam struck the sea, and there rose from it the sheep; then Eve took\nthe staff and smote the water, and from it sprang the wolf, which fell\non the sheep and carried it off into the wood. Then Adam took back the\nstaff, and with it called forth the dog to hunt the wolf and recover\nthe sheep.\n\nAccording to the Mussulman tradition, Adam\u2019s beard grew after he had\nfallen, and it was the result of his excessive grief and penitence:\nhow this affected his chin is not explained, the fact only is thus\nboldly stated. He was sorely abashed at his beard, but a voice from\nheaven called to him, saying, \u201cThe beard is man\u2019s ornament on earth; it\ndistinguishes him from the feeble woman.\u201d Adam shed so many tears that\nall birds and beasts drank of them, and flowing into the earth they\nproduced the fragrant plants and gum-bearing trees, for they were still\nendued with the strength and virtue of the food of Paradise.\n\nBut the tears of Eve were transformed into pearls where they dribbled\ninto the sea, and into beautiful flowers where they sank into the soil.\n\nBoth wailed so loud that Eve\u2019s cry reached Adam on the West wind, and\nAdam\u2019s cry was borne to Eve on the wings of the East wind. And when\nEve heard the well-known voice she clasped her hands above her head,\nand women to this day thus testify their sorrow; and Adam, when the\nvoice of the weeping of Eve sounded in his ears, put his right hand\nbeneath his beard,--thus do men to this day give evidence of their\nmourning. And the tears pouring out of Adam\u2019s eyes formed the two\nrivers Tigris and Euphrates. All nature wept with him; every bird and\nbeast hastened to him to mingle their tears with his, but the locust\nwas the first to arrive, for it was made of the superfluous earth which\nhad been gathered for the creation of Adam. There are seven thousand\nkinds of locusts or grasshoppers, of all colors and sizes, up to the\ndimensions of an eagle; and they have a king to whom God addresses\nHis commands when He would punish a rebellious nation such as that of\nEgypt. The black character imprinted on the locust\u2019s wing is Hebrew,\nand it signifies, \u201cGod is One; He overcometh the mighty; the locusts\nare a portion of His army which He sends against the wicked.\u201d As all\nnature thus wailed and lamented, from the invisible insect to the angel\nwho upholds the world, God sent Gabriel with the words which were in\nafter-time to save Jonah in the whale\u2019s belly, \u201cThere is no God but\nThou; pardon me for Mohammed\u2019s sake, that great and last prophet, whose\nname is engraved on Thy throne.\u201d\n\nWhen Adam had uttered these words with penitent heart, the gates of\nheaven opened, and Gabriel cried out, \u201cGod has accepted thy penitence,\nAdam! pray to him alone, He will give thee what thou desirest, even the\nreturn to Paradise, after a certain time.\u201d\n\nAdam prayed, \u201cLord, protect me from the further malice of my enemy\nEblis.\u201d\n\n\u201cSpeak the word, There is no God but God; that wounds him like a\npoisoned arrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cLord, will not the meat and drink provided by this earth lead me into\nsin?\u201d\n\n\u201cDrink water, and eat only clean beasts which have been slain in the\nname of Allah, and build mosques where you dwell, so will Eblis have no\npower over you.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut if he torment me at night with evil thoughts and dreams?\u201d\n\n\u201cThen rise from thy couch and pray.\u201d\n\n\u201cLord, how shall I be able to distinguish between good and evil?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy guidance will be with thee; and two angels will dwell in thy heart,\nwho shall warn thee against evil and encourage thee to good.\u201d\n\n\u201cLord, assure me Thy grace against sin.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat can only be obtained by good works. But this I promise thee, evil\nshall be punished one-fold, good shall be rewarded tenfold.\u201d\n\nIn the meanwhile the angel Michael had been sent to Eve to announce to\nher God\u2019s mercy. When Eve saw him, she exclaimed, \u201cO great and almighty\nArchangel of God, with what weapon shall I, poor frail creature, fight\nagainst sin?\u201d\n\n\u201cGod,\u201d answered the Angel, \u201chas given me for thee, the most potent\nweapon of modesty; that, as man is armed with faith, so mayest thou be\narmed with shamefacedness, therewith to conquer thy passions.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what will protect me against the strength of man, so much more\nrobust and vigorous than I, in mind and in body?\u201d\n\n\u201cLove and compassion,\u201d answered Michael. \u201cI have placed these in the\ndeepest recesses of his heart, as mighty advocates within him to plead\nfor thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd will God give me no further gift?\u201d\n\n\u201cFor the pangs of maternity thou shalt feel, this shall be thine,\ndeath in child-bearing shall be reckoned in heaven as a death of\nmartyrdom.\u201d[87]\n\nEblis, seeing the mercy shown to Adam and Eve, ventured to entreat\nGod\u2019s grace for himself, and obtained that he should not be enchained\nin the place of torment till the day of the general Resurrection, and\nthat he should exercise sovereignty over the wicked and all those who\nshould reject God\u2019s word in this life.\n\n\u201cAnd where shall I dwell till the consummation of all things?\u201d he asked\nof Allah.\n\n\u201cIn ruined buildings, and in tombs, and in dens and caves of the\nmountains.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what shall be my nourishment?\u201d\n\n\u201cAll beasts slain in the name of false gods and idols.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd how shall I slake my thirst?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn wine and other spirituous liquors.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd how shall I occupy myself in hours of idleness?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn music, dancing, and song.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is the word of my sentence?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe curse of God till the Judgment-day.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd how shall I fight against those men who have received Thy\nrevelation, and are protected by the two angels?\u201d\n\n\u201cThy offspring shall be more numerous than theirs: to every man born\ninto this world, there will be born seven evil spirits, who, however,\nwill be powerless to injure true Believers.\u201d\n\nGod then made a covenant with Adam\u2019s successors; He rubbed Adam\u2019s\nback, and lo! from out of his back crawled all generations of men that\nwere to be born, about the size of ants, and they ranged themselves\non the left and on the right. At the head of those on the right stood\nMohammed, then the other prophets and the faithful, distinguished from\nthose on the left by their white and dazzling splendor. Those on the\nleft were headed by Kabil (Cain).\n\nGod then acquainted Adam with the names and fate of all his posterity;\nand when the recital arrived at David, to whom God had allotted only\nthirty years, Adam asked God, \u201cHow many years are accorded to me?\u201d\n\nAllah replied, \u201cOne thousand.\u201d\n\nThen said Adam, \u201cI make a present to David of seventy years out of my\nlife.\u201d God consented; and knowing the shortness of Adam\u2019s memory, at\nall events in matters concerning himself inconveniently, He made the\nangels bring a formal document of resignation engrossed on parchment,\nand required Adam to subscribe thereto his name, and Michael and\nGabriel to countersign it as witnesses.\n\nA very similar tradition was held by the Jews, for in Midrash Jalkut\n(fol. 12) it is said: God showed Adam all future generations of men,\nwith their captains, learned and literary men. Then he saw that\nDavid was provided with only three hours of life, and he said, \u201cLord\nand Creator of the world, is this unalterable?\u201d \u201cSuch was my first\nintention,\u201d was the reply.\n\n\u201cHow many years have I to live?\u201d\n\n\u201cA thousand.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd is there such a thing known in heaven as making presents?\u201d\n\n\u201cMost certainly.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I present seventy years of my life to David.\u201d\n\nAnd what did Adam next perform? He drew up a legal document of\ntransfer, and sealed it with his own seal, and God and Metatron did\nlikewise.\n\nTo return to the Mussulman legend.\n\nWhen all the posterity of Adam were assembled, God exclaimed to them,\n\u201cAcknowledge that I am the only God, and that Mohammed is my prophet.\u201d\nThe company on the right eagerly made this acknowledgment; those,\nhowever, on the left long hesitated,--some said only the former portion\nof the sentence, and others did not open their mouths.\n\n\u201cThe disobedient,\u201d said Allah to Adam, \u201cshall, if they remain\nobstinate, be cast into hell, but the true believers shall be received\ninto Paradise.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo be it,\u201d replied Adam. And thus shall it be at the end of the world.\n\nAfter the covenant, Allah rubbed Adam\u2019s back once more, and all his\nlittle posterity retreated into it again.\n\nWhen now God withdrew His presence from Adam\u2019s sight for the remainder\nof our first parents\u2019 life, Adam uttered such a loud and bitter cry\nthat the whole earth quaked.\n\nThe All-merciful was filled with compassion, and bade him follow a\ncloud which would conduct him to a spot where he would be directly\nopposite His throne, and there he was to build a temple.\n\n\u201cGo about this temple,\u201d said Allah, \u201cand I am as near to you as the\nangels who surround my throne.\u201d Adam, who was still the size that God\nhad created him, easily strode from Ceylon to Mecca after the cloud,\nwhich stood over the place where he was to build. On Mount Arafa,\nnear Mecca, to his great delight, he found Eve again, and from this\ncircumstance the mountain takes its name (from Arafa, to recognize,\nto know again). They both began to build, and erected a temple having\nfour doors--one was called Adam\u2019s door, another Abraham\u2019s door, the\nthird Ishmael\u2019s door, and the fourth Mohammed\u2019s door. The plan of the\ntemple was furnished by Gabriel, who also contributed a precious stone,\nbut this stone afterwards, through the sin of men, turned black. This\nblack stone is the most sacred Kaaba, and it was originally an angel,\nwhose duty it had been to guard the Wheat-Tree of the knowledge of\ngood and evil, and to warn off Adam should he approach it. But though\nhis inattention the design of God was frustrated, and in punishment\nhe was transformed into a stone, and he will not be released from his\ntransformation till the Last Day.\n\nGabriel taught Adam also all the ceremonies of the great pilgrimage.\n\nAdam now returned with his wife to India, and lived there till he\ndied, but every year he made a pilgrimage to Mecca, till he lost his\nprimitive size, and retained only the height of sixty eels.\n\nThe cause of his diminution in height was his horror and dismay at\nthe murder of Abel, which made him shrink into himself, and he was\nnever afterwards able to stretch himself out again to his pristine\ndimensions.[88]\n\nThe Book of the Penitence of Adam is a curious apocryphal work of\nSyriac origin; I give an outline of its contents.\n\nGod planted, on the third day, the Terrestrial Paradise; it is bounded\non the east by the ocean in which, at the Last Day, the elect will\nwash away all those sins which have not as yet been purged away by\nrepentance.\n\nOn leaving this garden of delights, Adam turned to take of it one last\nlook. He saw that the Tree which had caused his fall was cursed and had\nwithered away.\n\nHe was much surprised when night overtook him, for in Paradise he\nhad not known darkness. As he went along his way, shedding tears, he\novertook the serpent gliding over the ground, and licking the dust.\nThat serpent he had last seen on four feet, very beautiful, with the\nhair of a young maiden, enamelled with brilliant colors. Now it was\nvile, hideous, and grovelling. The beasts which, before the Fall, had\ncoveted its society, fled from it now with loathing.\n\nFilled with rage at the sight of Adam and Eve, to whom it attributed\nits present degradation, the serpent flew at them and prostrated them.\nThereupon God removed from it its sole remaining possession--the gift\nof speech, and it was left only its hiss of rage and shame.\n\nAdam soon felt exhaustion, heat, fear and pain;--afflictions he had\nnot known in Eden. As the shadows of night fell, an intense horror\noverwhelmed the guilty pair; they trembled in every limb and cried to\nGod. The Almighty, in compassion, consoled them by announcing to them\nthat day would return after twelve hours of night. They were relieved\nby this promise, and they spent the first night in prayer.\n\nBut Satan, who never lost sight of them, fearing lest their prayers\nshould wholly appease the divine justice, assembled his host of evil\nangels, surrounded himself with a brilliant light, and stood at the\nentrance of the cave where the banished ones prayed. He hoped that Adam\nwould mistake him for God, and prostrate himself before him.\n\nBut Adam said to Eve: \u201cObserve this great light and this multitude of\nspirits. If it were God who sent them, they would enter and tell us\ntheir message.\u201d Adam did not know then that Satan cannot approach those\nwho pray. Then Adam addressed himself to God and said, \u201cO my God! is\nthere another God but Thou, who can create angels and send them to us?\nLord, deign to instruct us!\u201d\n\nThen a heavenly angel entered the cavern and said, \u201cAdam, fear not\nthose whom you see; it is Satan and his host. He sought to seduce you\nagain to your fall.\u201d\n\nHaving thus spoken, the angel fell upon Satan and tore from off him his\ndisguise, and exposed him in his hideous nakedness to Adam and Eve.\nAnd to console them for this trial, God sent Adam gold rings, incense\nand myrrh, and said to him, \u201cPreserve these things, and they will give\nyou at night Light and fragrance; and when I shall come down on earth\nto save you, clothed in human flesh, kings shall bring me these three\ntokens.\u201d\n\nIt is because of this present that the cavern into which Adam and Eve\nretreated has been called the Treasure-cave.\n\nAdam and Eve, greatly cheered, blessed the Lord, and thanked him for\nhis goodness, and resolved to continue their repentance.\n\nA short time after they committed a fault. Satan presented himself to\nthem under the form of an angel of light, and announced that he was\ncommissioned by the Most High to lead them to the brink of the River of\nthe Water of Life, into which they were to plunge and wash away their\nsin.\n\nThey believed, and followed him by a strange road, and he led them\nto the edge of a precipice, down which he endeavored to fling them;\nfor, he thought, were he to destroy the man and the woman, he would be\nsupreme in the world God had made. But the Almighty rescued Adam and\nEve, and drave Satan from them.\n\nTo punish themselves for their involuntary fault, Adam and Eve\nseparated, so as not to see one another, and resolve to spend forty\ndays up to their necks in the sea.\n\nBefore parting, Adam said to his wife, \u201cRemain in the water here, and\ndo not quit it till I return, and spend your time in praying the Lord\nto pardon us.\u201d\n\nNow, whilst they were undergoing this penance, Satan cast about how\nhe might bring to naught our first parents, and he sought them but\ncould not find them, till on the thirty-fifth day of their penance he\nperceived the two heads above the water; then he knew at once what was\ntheir intention, and he resolved to frustrate it. So he took upon him\nthe form of an angel of Heaven, and flew over the sea singing praises\nto God; and when he came to the place where Eve was, he cried, \u201cJoy,\njoy to thee! God is with thee, and he has sent me to bring thee to Adam\nto announce to him that he has found favor with the Most High.\u201d\n\nEve instantly scrambled out of the water, and followed Satan to Adam,\nand the Evil One placed her before her husband, and vanished. When Adam\nsaw his wife, he was filled with dismay, and beat his breast and wept.\nWhen she told him why she was there, he knew that the great Enemy had\nbeen again at his work of deception, and he fell into despair. But a\nvoice from Heaven bade him return with Eve to the Treasure-cave.\n\nHunger, thirst, cold, and prayer had completely exhausted the pair, and\nAdam cried to the Lord, \u201cO God, my Creator! Thou hast given me reason\nand an enlightened heart. When Thou didst forbid me to eat of the fruit\nof the Tree, Eve was not yet made, and she did not hear Thy command;\nin Eden we hungered not, nor felt thirst or pain or fatigue. All this\nhave we lost. And now we dare not touch the fruit of the trees or drink\nof water without Thy command. Our bodies are exhausted, our strength\nis gone; grant us wherewith to satisfy our hunger, and to quench our\nthirst.\u201d\n\nGod ordered the Cherubim who kept the gate of Eden, to carry to Adam\ntwo figs from the tree under which our first parents had concealed\nthemselves after the Fall.\n\n\u201cTake,\u201d said the Cherubim, presenting the figs to them, \u201ctake the fruit\nof the tree whose leaves covered your shame.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d cried Adam, \u201cmay God grant us some of the fruit of the Tree of\nLife.\u201d\n\nBut God answered, \u201cI will give unto you this fruit and living water,\nto you and to your descendants, on that day that I shall descend into\nthe abode of death and shall break the gates of iron in sunder, to\nbring you forth into my garden of pleasures. That which you ask of Me\nshall take place at the expiration of five long days and a half (_i.\ne._ 5,500 years), after that my blood has flowed upon thy head, O Adam,\nupon Golgotha.\u201d\n\nAdam and Eve took the figs, which were very heavy, for the fruits of\nthe earthly paradise were much larger than the fruit of this outer\nworld in which we live. And when they were about to enter into the Cave\nof Treasures, they saw there a great fire; this mightily astonished\nthem, for as yet they had not seen fire except in the flaming sword of\nthe Cherub. Now this fire which surprised them was the work of Satan;\nhe had collected branches and had fired them in the hope of burning\ndown the cavern and driving Adam to despair.\n\nThe fire lasted till the morrow; Satan, without showing himself,\nkeeping it supplied with fresh fuel. Adam and Eve did not venture to\napproach, but recommended themselves to God; and the Evil One, finding\nthat his plan had failed, let the fire die out and departed.\n\nAdam and Eve slept the following night at the foot of a mountain near\ntheir lost Eden. Satan beholding them, said, \u201cGod has made a compact\nwith Adam, whom he desires to save, but I will slay him, and the earth\nshall be mine.\u201d\n\nHe therefore summoned his attendant angels, and they dislodged a huge\nrock from the mountain and hurled it upon the sleepers. But as this\nmass was bounding down the flank of the mountain, and was in mid-air in\none of its leaps, God arrested it above the heads of the sleepers, and\nit sheltered them from the dews of night.\n\nAdam and Eve awoke greatly troubled by their dreams, and they asked of\nGod garments to cover their naked bodies, for they suffered from the\nscorching sun by day, and the frost by night. God replied, \u201cGo to the\nshore of the sea; you will there find the skins of sheep which have\nbeen devoured by lions: of them make to yourselves raiment.\u201d\n\nSatan heard the words of God, and he outran our first parents, that he\nmight secure the skins and destroyed them, in the hopes that Adam and\nEve, finding no hides, would doubt God and think that he had failed in\nHis word. But God fastened Satan in his naked hideousness beside the\nskins, immovable, till Adam and Eve arrived, when he addressed them\nin these terms: \u201cBehold him who has seduced you; see what has become\nof his beauty. After having made you such promises, he was about to\nrob you of these hides.\u201d Adam and Eve took the skins and made of them\ngarments. A few days after, God said to them, \u201cGo to the west till you\narrive at a black land; there you will find food.\u201d They obeyed, and\nthey saw corn full ripe, and God inspired Adam with knowledge how to\nmake bread. But not having sickles they tore the corn up by the roots,\nand having made a rick of it, they slept, expecting to thrash it out\nand grind it on the morrow. But Satan fired this rick and reduced their\nharvest to ashes.\n\nWhilst they wept and lamented, Satan came to them as an angel, and\nsaid, \u201cThis is the work of your Enemy the Fiend, but God has sent me to\nbring you into a field where you will find better corn.\u201d\n\nThey followed him, nothing doubting, and he led them for eight days,\nand they fainted with exhaustion and were foot-sore. Then he left them\nin an unknown land; but God was their protector, He brought them back\nto their harvest and restored their rick of corn, and they made bread\nand offered to God the first sacrifice.[89]\n\nBut enough of this apocryphal work, which contains a string of absurd\ntricks played by Satan on our first parents, which are invariably\ndefeated by God; of these the specimens given above are sufficient.\n\nA curious legend exists among the Sclavonic nations by which the\nexistence of elves is accounted for. It is said that Adam had by his\nwife Eve, thirty sons and thirty daughters. God asked him, one day, the\nnumber of his children. Adam was ashamed of having so many girls, so he\nanswered, \u201cThirty sons and twenty-seven daughters.\u201d But from the eye of\nGod nothing can be concealed, and He took from among Adam\u2019s daughters\nthe three fairest, and He made them Willis, or elves; they were good\nand holy, and therefore did not perish in the Deluge, but entered with\nNoah into the ark and were saved.\n\nThe story of Adam\u2019s penitence, as told by Tabari, is as follows:--\n\nThe moment that Adam fell out of Paradise and touched the ground on the\nmountains in the centre of Ceylon, he understood in all its magnitude\nthe greatness of his loss and his sin. He remained stupefied with his\nface on the earth, and did not raise it, but allowed his tears to flow\nupon and soak into the soil. For a hundred years he remained in this\nposition, and his tears formed a stream which rolled down the mountain,\nwhich still flows from Adam\u2019s Peak in the island of Ceylon, and gives\ntheir virtue to the healing plants and fragrant trees which there\nflourish, and are exported for medicinal purposes.\n\nWhen a hundred years had elapsed, God had compassion on Adam, and sent\nGabriel to him, who said, \u201cGod salutes thee, O Adam! and He bids me say\nto thee, Did I not create thee out of the earth by My will? Did I not\ngive thee Paradise to be thine abode? Why these tears and sighs?\u201d\n\nAdam replied, \u201cHow shall I not weep, and how shall I abstain from\nsighing? Have I not lost the protection of God, and have I not\ndisobeyed His will?\u201d\n\nGabriel said, \u201cDo not afflict thyself. Recite the words I shall teach\nthee, and God will grant thee repentance which He will accept,\u201d as it\nis written in the Koran, \u201cAdam learnt of His Lord words; and the Lord\nreturned to Him, for He is merciful, and He returns.\u201d Adam recited\nthese words, and in the joy he felt at the prospect of finding mercy,\nhe wept, and his joyous tears watered the earth, and from them sprang\nup the narcissus and the ox-eye.\n\nThen said Adam to Gabriel, \u201cWhat shall I now do?\u201d\n\nAnd Gabriel gave to Adam wheat-grains from out of Paradise, the fruit\nof the Forbidden Tree, and he bade him sow it, and he said, \u201cThis shall\nbe thy food in future.\u201d\n\nAfterwards, Gabriel taught Adam to draw iron out of the rock and to\nmake instruments of husbandry. And all that Adam sowed sprang up in the\nself-same hour that it was sown, for the blessing of God was upon it.\nAnd Adam reaped and thrashed and winnowed. Then Gabriel bade him take\ntwo stones from the mountain, and he taught him with them to grind the\ncorn; and when he had made flour, he said to the angel, \u201cShall I eat\nnow?\u201d But Gabriel answered, \u201cNot so;\u201d and he showed him how to build\nan oven of iron. It was from this oven that the water of the deluge at\nKoufa flowed. He taught him also to make dough and to bake.\n\nBut Adam was hungry, and he said, \u201cLet me eat now,\u201d and the angel\nstayed him, and answered, \u201cTarry till the bread be cold and stale,\u201d but\nhe would not, but ate. Therefore he suffered from pain in his belly.\nNext, Gabriel by the command of Allah brought out of Eden the ox and\nfruit; of these latter there were ten kinds whose exterior was edible,\nbut whose insides were useless to eat, such as the apricot, the peach\nand the date. And there were three that could not be eaten anyhow. Then\nhe brought ten more whose insides and outsides might be eaten, such as\nthe grape, the fig, and the apple. Said Gabriel to Adam, \u201cSow these,\u201d\nand he sowed them. These are the trees that the angel brought out of\nParadise.\n\nNow Adam was all alone on the peak in the midst of Ceylon, and his head\nwas in the first heaven. The sun burnt him, so that all his hair fell\noff; and God, in compassion, bade Gabriel pass his wing over Adam\u2019s\nhead, and Adam thereupon shrank to the height of sixty cubits. And then\nhe could no longer hear the voices of the angels in heaven, and he was\nsore distressed.\n\nThen God said to him, \u201cI have made this world thy prison, but I send to\nthee out of heaven a house of rubies, in order that thou mayest enter\nin and walk round it, and therein find repose for thy heart.\u201d\n\nThereupon out of heaven descended \u201cthe visited house,\u201d and it was\nplaced where now stands the temple of Mecca. The black stone which\nis there was originally white and shining. It was placed in the ruby\nhouse. Whosoever looked in that direction from ten parasangs off, could\nsee the light of that house shining like a fire up to the heaven, and\nin the midst of that red light shone the white stone like a star.\n\nAfterwards, Gabriel conducted Adam to that house that he might go in\nprocession round it. All the places where his foot was planted became\nverdant oases, with rivers of water and many flowers and trees, but all\nthe tract between was barren.\n\nGabriel taught Adam how to make the pilgrimage; and if any one now goes\nthere without knowing the ceremonies, he needs a guide.\n\nThen Adam met with Eve again, and they rejoiced together; and she went\nback with him to Ceylon. Now at that time there was in the world no\nother pair than Adam and Eve, and no other house than the mansion of\nrubies.\n\nNow Eblis had made his prayer to Allah that he might be allowed to\nlive till Israfiel should sound the last trumpet. And he asked this,\nbecause those who are alive when that trumpet sounds, shall not die any\nmore, for Death will be brought in, in the shape of a sheep, and will\nbe slaughtered; and when Death is slaughtered, no one will be able to\ndie.\n\nAnd God said, \u201cI give thee the time till all creatures must die.\u201d\n\nThen Eblis said, \u201cJust as Thou didst turn me out of the right way, so\nshall I pervert those whom Thou hast made.\u201d Satan went to man and said\nto him, \u201cGod has driven me out of Paradise, never to return there, and\nHe has taken from me the sovereignty of this world to give it to thee.\nWhy should we not be friends and associate together, and I can advise\nthee on thy concerns?\u201d\n\nAnd Adam thought to himself, \u201cI must be the companion of this one, but\nI will make use of him.\u201d So he suffered him to be his comrade.\n\nThe first act of treachery he did was this.\n\nEvery child Adam had by Eve died when born. Eve became pregnant for\nthe fourth time, and Eblis said to Adam, \u201cI believe this child will be\ngood-looking and will live.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am of the same opinion,\u201d answered Adam.\n\n\u201cIf my prophecy turns out right,\u201d said the Evil One, \u201cgive the child to\nme.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will give it,\u201d said Adam.\n\nNow the child, when born, was very fair to look upon, and Adam, though\nhe repented of his rash promise, did not venture to break his word; so\nhe gave the child to Eblis, that is to say, he named it Abd-el-Hareth,\nor Servant of Hareth, instead of Abd-Allah, Servant of God. And after\nliving two years it died.[90]\n\nThus Satan became an associate in the affairs of man.\n\nBut others tell the conclusion of the story somewhat differently. They\nsay that the child Abd-el-Hareth became the progenitor of the whole\nrace of Satyrs, nightmares, and hobgoblins.\n\nMaimonides says that the Sabians attribute to Adam the introduction of\nthe worship of the moon, on which account they call him the prophet or\napostle of the moon.[91]\n\nA large number of books are attributed to Adam. The passage in\nGenesis, _This is the Book of the generations of Adam_,[92] led many to\nsuppose that Moses quoted from a book written by our first parent. That\nsuch an apocryphal book did exist in after-times, appears from the fact\nof Pope Gelasius in his decrees rejecting it as spurious. He speaks of\nit as \u201cthe book which is called the Book of the generations of Adam\nor Geneseos.\u201d And the Rabbis say that this book was written by Adam,\nafter he had seen all his posterity brought out before him, as already\nrelated. And this book, they say, Adam gave to Enoch.[93]\n\nBeside this, there existed an Apocalypse of Adam, which is mentioned by\nS. Epiphanius, who quotes a passage from it, in which Adam describes\nthe Tree of Life, which produced twelve kinds of fruit every year.[94]\nAnd George Syncellus, in his Chronicle, extracts a portion of an\napocryphal Life of Adam.\n\nAmongst the Revelations of S. Amadeus are found two psalms, which, in\nvision, he heard had been composed by Adam. One was on the production\nof Eve, the other is a hymn of repentance, a joint composition of the\ntwo outcasts. It runs as follows:--\n\n_Adam._--\u201cAdonai, my Lord God, have mercy upon me for Thy great\ngoodness, and according to the multitude of Thy mercies do away my\ntransgressions. I am bowed down with trouble, Thy waves and storms\nhave gone over me. Deliver me, O God, and save me from the flood of\nmany waters. Hear my words, O Heavens, and all ye that dwell in them.\nMay the angels bear up all my thoughts and words to Thee, and may the\ncelestial virtues declare them. May the Lord bend His compassionate\near to my lowly petition. May He hear my prayer, and let the cry of my\nheart reach Him. Thou, O God, art the true and most brilliant light;\nall other lights are mingled with darkness. Thou art the sun that\nknowest no down-setting, that dwellest in inaccessible light. Thou art\nthe end to which all flesh come. Thou art the only satisfaction of all\nthe blessed.\u201d\n\n_Eve._--\u201cAdonai, Lord God, have mercy upon me for Thy great goodness,\nand for the multitude of Thy mercies do away my transgressions. Thou\nbefore all things didst create the immovable heaven as a holy and\nexalted home, and Thou didst adorn it with angel spirits, to whom\nThou didst in goodness declare thy purposes. They were the bright\nmorning stars who sang to Thee through ages of ages. Thou didst form\nthe movable heaven and Thou didst set in it the watery clouds. Those\nwaters are under the immovable heaven, and are above all that live and\nmove. Thou didst create the light; the beauteous sun, the moon with the\nfive planets didst Thou place in the midst, and didst fix the signs and\nconstellations. Thou didst produce four elements, and didst kindle all\nwith Thy wisdom.\u201d\n\n_Adam._--\u201cAdonai, Lord God, have mercy upon me for Thy great goodness,\nand for the multitude of Thy mercies do away my transgressions. Thou\nhast cast out the proud and rebel dragon with Thy mighty arm. Thou hast\nput down the mighty from their seat and hast exalted the humble and\nmeek. Thou hast filled the hungry with good things, and the rich Thou\nhast sent empty away. Thou didst fashion me in Thine own image of the\ndust of earth, and destine me, mortal, to be immortal; and me, frail,\nto endure. Thou didst lead me into the place of life and joy, and didst\nsurround me with all good things; Thou didst put all things under my\nfeet, and didst reveal to me Thy great name, Adonai. Thou didst give me\nEve, to be a help meet for me, whom Thou didst draw from my side.\u201d\n\n_Adam._--\u201cAdonai, Lord and God, have mercy upon me for Thy\ngreat goodness, and for the multitude of Thy mercies do away my\ntransgressions; for Thou hast made me the head of all men. Thou hast\ninspired me and my consort with Thy wisdom, and hast given us a free\nwill and placed our lot in our own hands. But thou hast given us\nprecepts and laws, and hast placed life and death before us that we\nmight keep Thy commandments, and in keeping them find life; but if we\nkeep them not, we shall die. Lucifer, the envious one, saw and envied.\nHe fought against us and prevailed. Conquered by angels, he conquered\nman, and subjugated all his race. I have sinned. I am he who have\ncommitted iniquity. If I had refused in my free will, neither Eve nor\nthe Enemy could have obtained my destruction. But being in honor I had\nno understanding and I lost my dignity. I am like to the cattle, the\nhorse, and the mule, which have no understanding.\u201d\n\n_Eve._--\u201cAdonai, Lord and God, have mercy upon me for Thy great\ngoodness, and for the multitude of Thy mercies do away mine offences.\nGreat is our God, and great is His mercy; His goodness is unmeasured.\nHe will supply the remedy to our sin, that if we will to rise, we may\nbe able to arise; He has appointed His Son, the glorifier of all, and\nour Redeemer; and He has appointed the Holy Mother to be our mediatrix,\nin whose image He has built me, Eve, the mother of all flesh. He has\nfashioned the Mother after the likeness of her daughter. He has made\nthe father after the image and likeness of His Son; and He will blot\nout our transgressions for His merits, if we yield our wills thereto,\nand receive His sacraments. He will receive a free-will offering, and\nHe will not despise a contrite heart. To those going towards Him, He\nwill fly with welcome, He will pardon their offences and will crown\nthem with glory.\u201d\n\n_Adam._--\u201cAdonai, Lord and God, have mercy upon me for Thy great\ngoodness, and for the multitude of Thy mercies do away mine offences.\nO God, great is the abundance of Thy sweetness. Blessed are all they\nthat hope in Thee. After the darkness Thou bringest in the light; and\npain is converted into joy. Thou repayest a thousand for a hundred, and\nfor a thousand thou givest ten thousand. For the least things, Thou\nrewardest with the greatest things; and for temporal joys, Thou givest\nthose that are eternal. Blessed are they that keep Thy statutes, and\nbend their necks to Thy yoke. They shall dwell in Thy Tabernacle and\nrest upon Thy holy hill. They shall be denizens of Thy courts with\nThee, whose roots shine above gold and precious stones. Blessed are\nthey who believe in the triune God, and will to know His ways. We all\nsing, Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, and\nwe magnify our God. As in the beginning the angels sang, so shall we\nnow and ever, and in ages of ages. Amen.\u201d[95]\n\nManasseh Ben-Israel has preserved a prophecy of Adam, that the world is\nto last seven thousand years. He says this secret was handed down from\nAdam to Enoch, and from Enoch to Noah, and from Noah to Shem.[96]\n\nAt Hebron is a cave, \u201cwhich,\u201d says an old traveller, \u201cChristians and\nTurks point out as having been the place where Adam and Eve bewailed\ntheir sins for a hundred years. This spot is towards the west, in a\nvalley, about a hundred paces from the Damascene field; it is a dark\ngrotto, not very long or broad, very low, in a hard rock, and not\napparently artificial, but natural. This valley is called _La valle de\u2019\nLagrime_, the Vale of Tears, as they shed such copious tears over their\ntransgressions.\u201d[97]\n\nAbu Mohammed Mustapha Ben-Alschit Hasen, in his Universal History, says\nthat Adam\u2019s garment of fig-leaves, in which he went out of Eden, was\nleft by him, when he fell, on Adam\u2019s Peak in Ceylon. There it dried to\ndust, and the dust was scattered by the wind over the island, and from\nthis sprang the odoriferous plants which grow there.[98]\n\nAdam is said to have not gone altogether empty-handed out of Paradise.\nHottinger, in his Oriental History, quoting Jewish authorities, says:\n\u201cAdam having gone into the land of Babel, took with him many wonderful\nthings, amongst others a tree with flowers, leaves and branches of\ngold, also a stone tree, also the leaves of a tree so strong that they\nwere inconsumable in fire, and so large as to be able to shelter under\nthem ten thousand men of the stature of Adam; and he carried about\nwith him two of these leaves, of which one would shelter two men or\nclothe them.\u201d[99] Of these trees we read in the Gemara that the Rabbi\nCanaan asked of the Rabbi Simon, son of Assa, who had gone to see them,\nwhether this was true. He was told in reply that it was so, and that at\nthe time of the Captivity the Jews had seated themselves under these\ntrees, and in their shadow had found consolation.\n\nBut Palestine seems also to have possessed some of the trees of Adam\u2019s\nplanting, for Jacob Vitriacus in his Jewish History says: \u201cThere are in\nthat land wonderful trees, which for their pre-excellence are called\nApples of Paradise, bearing oblong fruit, very sweet and unctuous,\nhaving a most delicious savor, bearing in one cluster more than a\nhundred compressed berries. The leaves of this tree are a cubit long\nand half a cubit wide. There are three other trees producing beautiful\napples or citrons, in which the bite of a man\u2019s teeth is naturally\nmanifest, wherefore they are called Adam\u2019s Apples.\u201d[100] Hottinger says\nthat at Tripoli grows a tree called Almaus, or Adam\u2019s apple, with a\ngreen head, and leaves like outspread fingers, no branches, but only\nleaves, and with a fruit like a bean-pod, of delicious flavor, and an\nodor of roses. Buntingius, in his Itinerary, describes an Adam\u2019s apple\nwhich he tasted at Alexandria, and he said the taste was like pears,\nand the clusters of prodigious size, with twenty in each cluster, like\nmagnificent bunches of grapes. But the most remarkable fact about\nthem was that, if one of the fruit were cut with a knife, the figure\nof a crucifix was found to be contained in it.[101] And this tree\nwas supposed to have been the forbidden tree, and the fruit to have\nthus brought hope as it also brought death to the eater. Nider, \u201cIn\nFormicario,\u201d also relates that this fruit, thus marked with the form of\nthe Crucified, grows in Granada.[102]\n\n\u201cAt Beyrut, of which S. Nicodemus was the first bishop,\u201d writes the\nFriar, Ignatius von Rheinfelden, \u201cI saw a wonderful fruit which is\ncalled by the Arabs, Mauza, and by the Christians Adam\u2019s fig. This\nfruit grows upon a trunk in clusters of fifty or more, and hangs down\ntowards the ground on account of its weight. The fruit is in shape\nsomething like a cucumber, and is a span long, yellow, and tasting\nsomething like figs. The Christians of those parts say it is the fruit\nof which Adam and Eve ate in Paradise, and they argue thus: first,\nthere are no apples in those parts; secondly, S. Jerome translated\nthe word in the Bible, Mauza; thirdly, if the fruit be cut, within it\nis seen the figure of a crucifix, and they conclude thereby that the\nfirst parents were showed by this figure how their sin would be atoned;\nfourthly, the leaves being three ells long and half an ell wide, were\nadmirably adapted to make skirts of, when Adam and Eve were conscious\nof their nakedness. And Holy Scripture says nothing of apples, but says\nmerely--fruit. But whether this was the fruit or not, I leave others to\ndecide.\u201d[103]\n\nAdam is said by the Easterns to have received from Raphael a magic\nring, which became his symbol, and which he handed down to his\ndescendants selected to know and read mysteries. This was no other than\nthe \u201ccrux ansata,\u201d or handled cross, so common on Egyptian monuments as\nthe hieroglyph of Life out of death. The circle symbolized the apple,\nand thus the Carthusian emblem, which bears the motto \u201cStat crux dum\nvolvitur orbis,\u201d is in reality the mystic symbol of Adam. \u201cWhich,\u201d\nsays the Arabic philosopher, Ibn-ephi, \u201cMizraim received from Ham,\nand Ham from Noah, and Noah from Enoch, and Enoch from Seth, and Seth\nfrom Adam, and Adam from the angel Raphael. Ham wrought with it great\nmarvels, and Hermes received it from him and placed it amongst the\nhieroglyphics. But this character signifies the progress and motion of\nthe Spirit of the world, and it was a magic seal, kept secret among\ntheir mysteries, and a ring constraining demons.\u201d[104]\n\n\n\n\nVI.\n\nCAIN AND ABEL.\n\n\nAfter that the child given to Satan died, says Tabari, Adam had another\nson, and he called him Seth, and Seth was prophet in the room of his\nfather, after the death of Adam.\n\nAdam had many more children; every time that Eve bore, she bare twins,\nwhereof one was male, the other female, and the twins were given to one\nanother as husband and wife.\n\nNow Adam sought to give to Abel the twin sister of Cain, when she\nwas old enough to be married, but Cain (Kabil, in Arabic) was\ndissatisfied.[105] Adam said to the brothers, Cain and Abel, \u201cGo, my\nsons, and sacrifice to the Lord; and he whose sacrifice is accepted,\nshall have the young girl. Take each of you offerings in your hand and\ngo, sacrifice to the Lord, and he shall decide.\u201d\n\nAbel was a shepherd, and he took the fattest of the sheep, and bore it\nto the place of sacrifice; but Cain, who was a tiller of the soil, took\na sheaf of corn, the poorest he could find, and placed it on the altar.\nThen fire descended from heaven and consumed the offering of Abel, so\nthat not even the cinders remained; but the sheaf of Cain was left\nuntouched.\n\nAdam gave the maiden to Abel, and Cain was sore vexed.\n\nOne day, Abel was asleep on a mountain. Cain took a stone and crushed\nhis head. Then he threw the corpse on his back, and carried it about,\nnot knowing what to do with it; but he saw two crows fighting, and one\nkilled the other; then the crow that survived dug a hole in the earth\nwith his beak, and buried the dead bird. Cain said, \u201cI have not the\nsense of this bird. I too will lay my brother in the ground.\u201d And he\ndid so.\n\nWhen Adam learned the death of his son, he set out in search of Cain,\nbut could not find him; then he recited the following lines:--\n\n \u201cEvery city is alike, each mortal man is vile,\n The face of earth has desert grown, the sky has ceased to smile,\n Every flower has lost its hue, and every gem is dim.\n Alas! my son, my son is dead; the brown earth swallows him!\n We one have had in midst of us whom death has not yet found,\n No peace for him, no rest for him, treading the blood-drenched\n ground.\u201d[106]\n\nThis is how the story is told in the Midrash:[107] Cain and Abel could\nnot agree, for, what one had, the other wanted; then Abel devised a\nscheme that they should make a division of property, and thus remove\nthe possibility of contention. The proposition pleased Cain. So Cain\ntook the earth, and all that is stationary, and Abel took all that is\nmovable.\n\nBut the envy which lay in the heart of Cain gave him no rest. One day\nhe said to his brother, \u201cRemove thy foot, thou standest on my property:\nthe plain is mine.\u201d\n\nThen Abel ran upon the hills, but Cain cried, \u201cAway, the hills are\nmine!\u201d Then he climbed the mountains, but still Cain followed him,\ncalling, \u201cAway, the stony mountains are mine!\u201d\n\nIn the Book of Jasher the cause of quarrel is differently stated. One\nday the flock of Abel ran over the ground Cain had been ploughing; Cain\nrushed furiously upon him and bade him leave the spot. \u201cNot,\u201d said\nAbel, \u201ctill you have paid me for the skins of my sheep and wool of\ntheir fleeces used for your clothing.\u201d Then Cain took the coulter from\nhis plough, and with it slew his brother.[108]\n\nThe Targum of Jerusalem says, the subject of contention was that\nCain denied a Judgment to come and Eternal Life; and Abel argued for\nboth.[109] The Rabbi Menachem, however, asserts that the point on which\nthey strove was whether a word was written _zizit_ or _zizis_ in the\nParascha.[110]\n\n\u201cAnd when they were in the field together, the brothers quarrelled,\nsaying. \u2018Let us divide the world.\u2019 One said, \u2018The earth you stand on\nis my soil.\u2019 The other said, \u2018You are standing on my earth.\u2019 One said,\n\u2018The Holy Temple shall stand on my lot;\u2019 the other said, \u2018It shall\nstand on my lot.\u2019 So they quarrelled. Now there were born with Abel two\ndaughters, his sisters. Then said Cain, \u2018I will take the one I choose,\nI am the eldest;\u2019 Abel said, \u2018They were born with me, and I will have\nthem both to wife.\u2019 And when they fought, Abel flung Cain down and was\nabove him; and he lay on Cain. Then Cain said to Abel, \u2018Are we not both\nsons of one father; why wilt thou kill me?\u2019 And Abel had compassion,\nand let Cain get up. And so Cain fell on him and killed him. From this\nwe learn not to render good to the evil, for, because Abel showed mercy\nto Cain, Cain took advantage of it to slay Abel.\u201d[111]\n\nS. Methodius the Younger refers to this tradition. He says: \u201cBe it\nknown that Adam and Eve when they left Paradise were virgins. But\nthe third year after the expulsion from Eden, they had Cain, their\nfirst-born, and his sister Calmana; and after this, next year, they had\nAbel and his sister Deborah. But in the three hundredth year of Adam\u2019s\nlife, Cain slew his brother, and Adam and Eve wailed over him a hundred\nyears.\u201d[112]\n\nEutychius, Patriarch of Alexandria, says, \u201cWhen Adam and Eve rebelled\nagainst God, He expelled them from Paradise at the ninth hour on Friday\nto a certain mountain in India, and He bade them produce children to\nincrease and multiply upon the earth. Adam and Eve therefore became\nparents, first of a boy named Cain, and of a girl named Azrun, who\nwere twins; then of another boy named Abel, and of a twin sister named\nOwain, or in Greek Laphura.\n\n\u201cNow, when the children were grown up, Adam said to Eve, \u2018Let Cain\nmarry Owain, who was born with Abel, and let Abel have Azrun, who was\nborn with Cain.\u2019 But Cain said to his mother, \u2018I will marry my own twin\nsister, and Abel shall marry his.\u2019 For Azrun was prettier than Owain.\nBut when Adam heard this, he said, \u2018It is contrary to the precept that\nthou shouldst marry thy twin sister.\u2019\n\n\u201cNow Cain was a tiller of the ground, but Abel was a pastor of sheep.\nAdam said to them, \u2018Take of the fruits of the earth, and of the young\nof the sheep, and ascend the top of this holy mountain, and offer there\nthe best and choicest to God.\u2019 Abel offered of the best and fattest of\nthe first-born of the flock. Now as they were ascending the summit of\nthe mountain, Satan put it into the head of Cain to kill his brother,\nso as to get Azrun. For that reason his oblation was not accepted by\nGod. Therefore he was the more inflamed with rage against Abel, and as\nthey were going down the mount, he rushed upon him and beat him about\nthe head with a stone and killed him. Adam and Eve bewailed Abel a\nhundred years with the greatest grief.... And God cast out Cain whilst\nhe was still unmarried into the land of Nod. But Cain carried off with\nhim his sister Azrun.\u201d[113]\n\nThe Rabbi Zadok said, \u201cThis was the reason why Cain slew Abel. His twin\nsister and wife was not at all good-looking. Then he said, \u2018I will kill\nmy brother Abel, and carry off his wife.\u2019\u201d[114]\n\nGregory Abulfaraj gives this account of the strife: \u201cAccording to the\nopinion of Mar Theodosius, thirty years after he was expelled from\nParadise, Adam knew his wife Eve, and she bore twins, Cain and his\nsister Climia; and after thirty more years she bore Abel and his twin\nsister Lebuda. Then, seventy years after when Adam wanted to marry one\nof the brothers with the twin sister of the other, Cain refused, asking\nto have his own twin sister.\u201d[115]\n\nThe Pseudo-Athanasius says, \u201cUp to this time no man had died so that\nCain should know how to kill. The devil instructed him in this in a\ndream.\u201d[116]\n\nLeonhard Marius on Genesis iv. says, \u201cAs to what instrument Cain used,\nScripture is silent. Chrysostom calls it a sword; Prudentius, a spade;\nIren\u00e6us, an axe; Isidore says simply, steel; but artists generally\npaint a club, and Abulensis thinks he was killed with stones.\u201d Reuchlin\nthinks, as iron was not discovered till the times of Tubal-cain, the\nweapon must have been made of wood, and he points out how much more\nthis completes the type of Christ.[117]\n\nCain and Abel had been born and had lived with Adam in the land of\nAdamah; but after Cain slew his brother, he was cast out into the\nland Erez, and wherever he went, swords sounded and flashed as though\nthirsting to smite him. And he fled that land and came to Acra, where\nhe had children, and his descendants who live there to this day have\ntwo heads.[118]\n\nBefore Cain slew his brother, says the Targum of Jerusalem, the earth\nbrought forth fruits as the fruits of Eden; but from the day that blood\nwas spilt upon it, thistles and thorns sprang up; for the face of earth\ngrew sad, its joy was gone, the stain was on its brow.\n\nAbel\u2019s offering had been of the fattest of his sheep, the Targum adds,\nbut Cain offered flax.[119]\n\nAbel\u2019s offering, say certain Rabbis, was not perfect; for he offered\nthe chief part to God, but the remainder he dedicated to the Devil;\nand Cain offered the chief part to Satan, and only the remainder to\nGod.[120]\n\nThe Rabbi Johanan said, Cain exclaimed when accused by God of the\nmurder, \u201cMy iniquity is greater than I can bear,\u201d and this is supposed\nto mean, \u201cMy iniquity is too great to be atoned for, except by my\nbrother rising from the earth and slaying me.\u201d What did the Holy One\nthen? He took one letter of the twenty-two which are in the Law, and\nHe wrote it on the arm of Cain, as it is written, \u201cHe put a mark upon\nhim.\u201d[121]\n\nAfter Abel was slain, the dog which had kept his sheep guarded his\nbody, says the Midrash. Adam and Eve sat beside it and wept, and knew\nnot what to do. Then said a raven whose friend was dead, \u201cI will teach\nAdam a lesson,\u201d and he dug a hole in the soil and laid his friend there\nand covered him up. And when Adam saw this, he said to Eve, \u201cWe will\ndo the same with Abel.\u201d God rewarded the raven for this by promising\nthat none should ever injure his young, that he should always have\nmeat in abundance, and that his prayer for rain should be immediately\nanswered.[122]\n\nBut the Rabbi Johanan taught that Cain buried his brother to hide what\nhe had done from the eye of God, not knowing that God can see even the\nmost secret things.[123]\n\nAccording to some Rabbis, all good souls are derived from Abel and all\nbad souls from Cain. Cain\u2019s soul was derived from Satan, his body alone\nwas from Eve; for the Evil Spirit Sammael, according to some, Satan,\naccording to others, deceived Eve, and thus Cain was the son of the\nEvil One.[124] All the children of Cain also became demons of darkness\nand nightmares, and therefore it is, say the Cabbalists, that there is\nno mention in Genesis of the death of any of Cain\u2019s offspring.[125]\n\nWhen Cain had slain his brother, we are told in Scripture that he fled.\nCertain Rabbis give the reason:--He feared lest Satan should kill him:\nnow Satan has no power over any one whose face he does not see, thus he\nhad none over Lot\u2019s wife till she turned her face towards Sodom, and he\ncould see it; and Cain fled, to keep his face from being seen by the\nEvil One, and thus give him an opportunity of taking his life.[126]\n\nWith regard to the mark put upon Cain, there is great diverging of\nopinion. Some say that his tongue turned white; others, that he was\ngiven a peculiar dress; others, that his face became black; but the\nmost prevalent opinion is that he became covered with hair, and a horn\ngrew in the midst of his forehead.\n\nThe Little Genesis says, Cain was born when Adam was aged seventy, and\nAbel when he was seventy-seven.\n\nThe book of the penitence of Adam gives us some curious details. When\nCain had killed his brother, he was filled with terror, for he saw the\nearth quivering. He cast the body into a hole and covered it with dust,\nbut the earth threw the body out. Then he dug another hole and heaped\nearth on his brother\u2019s corpse, but again the earth rejected it.\n\nWhen God appeared before him, Cain trembled in all his limbs, and God\nsaid to him, \u201cThou tremblest and art in fear; this shall be thy sign.\u201d\nAnd from that moment he quaked with a perpetual ague.\n\nThe Rabbis give another mark as having been placed on Cain. They say\nthat a horn grew out of the midst of his forehead. He was killed by a\nson of Lamech, who, being shortsighted, mistook him for a wild beast;\nbut in the Little Genesis it is said that he was killed by the fall of\nhis house, in the year 930, the same day that Adam died. According to\nthe same authority, Adam and Eve bewailed Abel twenty-eight years.\n\nThe Talmud relates the following beautiful incident.\n\nGod had cursed Cain, and he was doomed to a bitter punishment; but\nmoved, at last, by Cain\u2019s contrition, he placed on his brow the symbol\nof pardon.\n\nAdam met Cain, and looked with wonder on the seal or token, and asked,--\n\n\u201cHow hast thou turned away the wrath of the Almighty?\u201d\n\n\u201cBy confession of sin and repentance,\u201d answered the fratricide.\n\n\u201cWoe is me!\u201d cried Adam, smiting his brow; \u201cis the virtue of repentance\nso great, and I knew it not! And by repentance I might have altered my\nlot!\u201d[127]\n\nTabari says that Cain was the first worshipper of fire. Eblis (Satan)\nappeared to him and told him that the reason of the acceptance of\nAbel\u2019s sacrifice was, that he had invoked the fire that fell on it and\nconsumed it; Cain had not done this, and therefore fire had not come\ndown on his oblation. Cain believed this, and adored fire, and taught\nhis children to do the same.[128]\n\nCain, says Josephus, having wandered over the earth with his wife,\nsettled in the land of Nod. But his punishment, so far from proving of\nadvantage to him, proved only a stimulus to his violence and passion;\nand he increased his wealth by rapine, and he encouraged his children\nand friends to live by robbery and in luxury. He also corrupted the\nprimitive simplicity in which men lived, by the introduction amongst\nthem of weights and measures, by placing boundaries, and walling\ncities.[129]\n\nJohn Malala says the same: \u201cCain was a tiller of the ground till he\ncommitted the crime of slaying his brother; after that, he lived by\nviolence, his hand being against every man, and he invented and taught\nmen the use of weights, measures, and boundaries.\u201d[130]\n\nThe passage in Genesis \u201c_Whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be\ntaken on him sevenfold_,\u201d[131] has been variously interpreted. Cosmas\nIndopleustes renders it thus, \u201cWhosoever slayeth Cain will discharge\nseven vengeances;\u201d that is, he will deliver him from those calamities\nto which he is subject when living.[132]\n\nBut Malala renders it otherwise; he says it is to be thus understood:\n\u201cEvery murderer shall die for his sin, but thou who didst commit the\nfirst homicide, and art therefore the originator of this crime, shalt\nbe punished sevenfold; that is, thou shalt undergo seven punishments.\u201d\nFor Cain had committed seven crimes. First, he was guilty of envy;\nthen, of treachery; thirdly, of murder; fourthly, of killing his\nbrother; fifthly, this was the first murder ever committed; sixthly, he\ngrieved his parents; and seventhly, Cain lied to God. Thus the sin of\nCain was sevenfold; therefore sevenfold was his punishment. First, the\nearth was accursed on his account; secondly, he was sentenced to labor;\nthirdly, the earth was forbidden from yielding to him her strength;\nfourthly, he was to become timid and conscience-stricken; fifthly, he\nwas to be a vagabond on the earth; sixthly, he was to be cast out from\nGod\u2019s presence; seventhly, a mark was to be placed upon him.\n\nThe Mussulmans say that the penitence of Cain, whom they call Kabil,\nwas not sincere. He was filled with remorse, but it was mingled with\nenvy and hatred, because he was regarded with disfavor by the rest of\nthe sons of Adam.\n\nNear Damascus is shown a place at the foot of a mountain where Cain\nslew Abel.[133]\n\nThe legends of the death of Cain will be found under the title of\nLamech.\n\n\u201cHalf a mile from the gates of Hebron,\u201d says the Capuchin Friar,\nIgnatius von Rheinfelden, in his Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, \u201cbegins the\nvalley of Mamre, in which Abraham saw the three angels; the _Campus\nDamascenus_ lies toward the west; there, Adam was created; and the spot\nis pointed out where Cain killed his brother Abel. The earth there is\nred, and may be moulded like wax.\u201d[134] Salmeron says the same, \u201cAdam\nwas made of the earth or dust of the _Campus Damascenus_.\u201d And St.\nJerome on Ezekiel, chap. xvii., says: \u201cDamascus is the place where\nAbel was slain by his brother Cain; for which cause the spot is called\nDamascus, that is, Blood-drinking.\u201d This Damascus near Hebron is not to\nbe confused with the city Damascus.\n\n\n\n\nVII.\n\nTHE DEATH OF ADAM.\n\n\nAccording to a Mussulman tradition, Adam was consoled for the loss\nof Abel by the discovery of how to make wheat-bread. The story is as\nfollows:--\n\nThe angel Gabriel was sent out of Paradise to give him the rest of the\nwheat-grains Eve had plucked from the forbidden tree, together with\ntwo oxen, and various instruments of husbandry. Hitherto he had fed on\nroots and berries, and had known nothing of sowing grain; acting under\nGabriel\u2019s directions, he ploughed the land, but the plough stuck, and\nAdam impatiently smote one of the oxen, and it spoke to him and said,\n\u201cWherefore hast thou smitten me?\u201d\n\nAdam replied, \u201cBecause thou dost not draw the plough.\u201d\n\n\u201cAdam!\u201d said the ox, \u201cwhen thou wast rebellious, did God smite thee\nthus?\u201d\n\n\u201cO God!\u201d cried Adam to the Almighty, \u201cis every beast to reproach me,\nand recall to me my sin?\u201d\n\nThen God heard his cry, and withdrew from beasts the power of speech,\nlest they should cast their sin in the teeth of men.\n\nBut as the blow was still arrested, Adam dug into the soil, and found\nthat the iron had been caught by the body of his son Abel.\n\nWhen the wheat was sprung up, Gabriel gave Adam fire from hell, which\nhowever he had previously washed seventy times in the sea, or it would\nhave consumed the earth and all things thereon. In the beginning,\nwheat-grains were the size of ostrich eggs, but under Edris (Enoch)\nthey were no bigger than goose eggs; under Elias they were the size of\nhen\u2019s eggs; under Christ, when the Jews sought to slay him, they were\nno larger than grapes; it was in the time of Uzeir (Esdras) that they\ndiminished to their present proportions.\n\nAfter Adam and Eve had been instructed in all that appertained to\nagriculture, Gabriel brought them a lamb and showed Adam how to slay it\nin the name of God, how to shear off the wool, and skin the sheep. Eve\nwas instructed in the art of spinning and weaving by the angel, and she\nmade of the wool, first a veil for herself, and then a shirt for her\nhusband.\n\nThe first pair brought up their grandsons and great grandsons, to the\nnumber of 40,000 according to some, and 70,000 according to others, and\ntaught them all that they had learned of the angel.\n\nAfter the death of Abel, and after Cain had been slain by the avenging\nangel, Eve bore a third son, named Seth, who became the father of the\nrace of the prophets.\n\nFinally, when Adam had reached his nine hundred and thirtieth year, the\nAngel of Death appeared under the form of a goat, and ran between his\nlegs.\n\nAdam recoiled with horror, and exclaimed, \u201cGod has given me one\nthousand years; wherefore comest thou now?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d exclaimed the Angel of Death, \u201chast thou not given seventy\nyears of thy life to the prophet David?\u201d\n\nAdam stoutly denied that he had done so. Then the Angel of Death drew\nthe document of transfer from out of his beard, and presented it to\nAdam, who could no longer refuse to go.\n\nHis son Seth washed and buried him, after that the angel Gabriel, or,\naccording to some accounts, Allah himself, had blessed him: Eve died a\nyear later.\n\nLearned men are not agreed as to the place of their burial; some\ntraditions name India, others the Mount Kubais, and others again,\nJerusalem--God alone knows![135]\n\nTabari says that Adam made Seth his testamentary executor.\n\n\u201cWhen Adam was dead, Gabriel instructed Seth how to bury him, and\nbrought him the winding sheet out of heaven. And Gabriel said to Seth,\n\u2018Thou art sole executor of thy father, therefore it is thy office to\nperform the religious functions.\u2019 Then Seth recited over Adam thirty\n_Teb\u00edrs_. Four of these _Teb\u00edrs_ were the legal prayers, the others\nwere supererogatory, and were designed to exalt the virtues of Adam.\nSome say that Adam was buried near Mecca, on Mount Abui-Kubais.\u201d[136]\n\nAccording to the apocryphal \u201cLife of Adam and Eve,\u201d Adam before his\ndeath called to his bedside all his sons and daughters, and they\nnumbered fifteen thousand males, and females unnumbered. Adam is said\nto have been the author of several psalms; amongst others Psalm civ.,\n_Benedic anima mea_, and Psalm cxxxix., _Domine probasti_; as may be\ngathered from the 14th, 15th, and 16th verses: \u201c_My bones are not hid\nfrom thee: though I was made secretly, and fashioned beneath in the\nearth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; and in Thy\nbook were all my members written; which day by day were fashioned, when\nas yet there was none of them._\u201d\n\nThe Arabs say that when Adam dictated his last will and testament,\nthe angel Gabriel descended from heaven to receive it, accompanied by\nsixty-two millions of angels, each provided with clean white sheets of\nparchment and pens, and that the will was sealed by Gabriel.[137]\n\nTradition is not agreed as to the place of Adam\u2019s burial. Khaithemah\nsays that Adam was buried near Mecca on Mount Abu-Kubais. But\nthe ancient Persians assert that he was buried in Ceylon, where\nhis sepulchre was guarded by lions at the time of the war of the\ngiants.[138]\n\nBut the most generally received tradition is this:--\n\nThe body of Adam was taken by Noah into the ark, and when the ark\nrested on Ararat, Noah and his sons removed the body from it, and they\nfollowed an angel who led them to the place where the first father\nwas to lie. Shem or Melchizedek--for they are one, as we shall see\npresently--being consecrated by God to the priesthood, performed the\nreligious rites; and buried Adam at the centre of the earth, which is\nJerusalem; but, say some, he was buried by Shem along with Eve, in the\ncave of Machpelah, in Hebron. But others relate that Noah on leaving\nthe ark distributed the bones of Adam among his sons, and that he\ngave the head to Shem, who buried it in Jerusalem. Some, taking this\nmystically, suppose that by this is meant the sin and punishment of\nAdam, which was transmitted to all the sons of Noah, but that to Shem\nwas given the head, the Messiah who was to regenerate the world.[139]\nS. Basil of Seleucia says: \u201cAccording to Jewish traditions, the skull\nof Adam was found there (_i. e._, on Golgotha), and this, they say,\nSolomon knew by his great wisdom. And because it was the place of\nAdam\u2019s skull, therefore the hill was called Golgotha, or Calvary.\u201d[140]\n\nWith this a great concourse of Fathers agree; whose testimony has been\nlaboriously collected by Gretser in his famous and curious book \u201cDe\nCruce.\u201d And this tradition has become a favorite subject for artists,\nwho, in their paintings or sculptures, represent the skull of Adam at\nthe foot of the Cross of Christ.\n\nThe apocryphal \u201cTestament of Adam\u201d still exists.\n\nThe tomb of Eve is shown at Jedda. \u201cOn entering the great gate of the\ncemetery, one observes on the left a little wall three feet high,\nforming a square of ten to twelve feet. There lies the head of our\nfirst mother. In the middle of the cemetery is a sort of cupola, where\nreposes the navel of her body; and at the other extremity, near the\ndoor of egress, is another little wall also three feet high, forming\na lozenge-shaped enclosure: there are her feet. In this place is a\nlarge piece of cloth, whereon the faithful deposit their offerings,\nwhich serve for the maintenance of a constant burning of perfumes over\nthe midst of her body. The distance between her head and feet is four\nhundred feet. How we have shrunk since the creation!\u201d[141]\n\nThe bones of Adam and Eve, says Tabari, were taken by Noah into the ark\nwith him, and were reburied by him.\n\nThis article may be fitly concluded with the epitaph of Adam, composed\nby Gabriel Alvarez, and published by him in his \u201cHistoria Ecclesi\u00e6\nAntediluvian\u00e6,\u201d Madrid, 1713.\n\n \u201cHere lies, reduced to a pinch of dust, he who, from a pinch of\n dust; was formed to govern the earth,\n ADAM,\n The son of None, the father of All, the stepfather of All\n and of himself.\n Having never wailed as a child, he spent his life in weeping\n the result of penitence.\n Powerful, Wise, Immortal, Just,\n he sold for the price of disobedience, power, wisdom, justice,\n immortality.\n Having abused the privilege of Free-will, which weapon\n he had received for the preservation of Knowledge and Grace,\n by one stroke he struck with death himself and all the human race.\n The Omnipotent Judge\n who in His Justice took from him Righteousness, by His Mercy\n restored it to him whole again:\n by whose goodness it has fallen out, that we may\n call that crime happy, which obtained such and so great\n A Redeemer.\n Thenceforth Free-will, which he in happiness used to\n bring forth Misery, is used in Misery to bring forth\n Happiness.\n For if we, partakers of his pernicious inheritance, partake\n also of his penitential example, and lend our ears\n to salutary counsels,\n Then we (who by our Free-will could lose ourselves) can be saved\n by the grace of the Redeemer, and the co-operation of our\n Free-will.\n The First Adam Lived to Die;\n The Second Adam Died to Live.\n Go, and imitate the penitence of the First Adam;\n Go, and celebrate the Goodness of the Second Adam.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nVIII.\n\nSETH.\n\n\nWhen Seth had ascended the throne of his father, says Tabari, he was\nthe greatest of the sons of Adam. Every year he made the pilgrimage\nto the Kaaba, and he ruled the world with equity, and every thing\nflourished during his reign. At the age of fifty he had a son; he\ncalled his name Enoch, and named him his executor. He died at the age\nof nine hundred.[142]\n\nSeth and the other sons of Adam waged perpetual war against the Dives,\nor giants, the sons of Kabil, or Cain.\n\nRocail was another son of Adam, born next after Seth.\n\nHe possessed, says the Tahmurath N\u00e2meh, the most wonderful knowledge in\nall mysteries. He had a genius so quick and piercing, that he seemed to\nbe rather an angel than a man.\n\nSurkrag, a great giant, son of Cain, commanded in the mountains of Kaf,\nwhich encompass the centre of the earth. This giant asked Seth to send\nhim Rocail, his brother, to assist him in governing his subjects. Seth\nconsented, and Rocail became the vizier or prime minister of Surkrag,\nin the mountains of Kaf.\n\nAfter having governed many centuries, and knowing, by divine\nrevelation, that the time of his death drew nigh, he thus addressed\nSurkrag: \u201cI am about to depart hence and enter on another existence,\nbut before I leave, I wish to bequeath to you some famous work, which\nshall perpetuate my name into remote ages.\u201d\n\nThereupon Rocail erected an enormous sepulchre, adorned with statues\nof various metals, made by talismanic art, which moved, and spake, and\nacted like living men.[143]\n\nAccording to the Rabbinic traditions, Seth was one of the thirteen who\ncame circumcised into the world. The rest were Adam, Enoch, Noah, Shem,\nTerah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.[144]\nThe book Schene Luch\u00f4th says that the soul of righteous Abel passed\ninto the body of Seth, and afterwards this same soul passed into Moses;\nthus the law, which was known to Adam and in which Abel had been\ninstructed, was not new to Moses.[145]\n\nThe Little Genesis says, that Seth was instructed by the angels in what\nwas to take place in the world; how its iniquity was to grow, and a\nflood was to overwhelm it; and how the Messiah would come and restore\nall things. Seth was remarkable for the majesty and beauty of his\nappearance, as he had inherited much of the loveliness of unfallen man.\nHe married his sister Azur, or, according to others, Nor\u00e6a or Hor\u00e6a.\n\nSuidas under the heading \u2018\u03a3\u03ae\u03b4,\u2019 says: \u201cSeth was the son of Adam: of\nthis it is said, the sons of God went in unto the daughters of men;\nthat is to say, the sons of Seth went in unto the daughters of Cain.\nFor in that age Seth was called God, because he had discovered Hebrew\nletters, and the names of the stars; but especially on account of his\ngreat piety, so that he was the first to bear the name of God.\u201d\n\nTheodoret thus refers to the verse,--\u201c_And to Seth, to him also there\nwas born a son; and he called his name Enos; then began men to call\nupon the name of the Lord_,\u201d or as our marginal reading is, \u201c_then\nbegan men to call themselves by the name of the Lord_:\u201d \u201cAquila\ninterpreted it thus, \u2018then Seth began to be called by the name of the\nLord.\u2019 These words intimate his piety, which deserved that he should\nreceive the sacred name; and he was called God by his acquaintance,\nand his children were termed the sons of God, just as we are called\nChristians after Christ.\u201d[146]\n\nThe origin of this tradition seems to be the fact that Seth was the\nname of an ancient Egyptian deity, at first regarded as the giver of\nlight and civilization, but afterwards identified with Typhon by\nthe Egyptians, who considered Seth to be the chief god of the Hyksos\nor shepherd kings; and in their hatred of these oppressors, the name\nof Seth was every where obliterated on their monuments, and he was\nregarded as one with the great adversary, Typhon; and was represented\nas an ass, or with an ass\u2019s head.[147]\n\nAbulfaraj, in his history, says that Seth discovered letters, and that,\ndesirous to recover the Blessed Life, he and his sons went to Mount\nHermon, where they served God in piety and continence, and associated\nnot with the people of the land, nor took to themselves wives;\nwherefore they were called the sons of God.[148]\n\nFlavius Josephus relates that after the things that were to take\nplace had been revealed to Seth,--how the earth was to be destroyed,\nfirst with water and then with fire,--lest those things which he had\ndiscovered should perish from the memory of his posterity, he set up\ntwo pillars, one of brick, the other of stone, and he wrote thereon all\nthe science he had acquired, hoping that, in the event of the brick\npillar perishing by the rain, the stone would endure.[149]\n\nFreculphus adds that Jubal assisted the sons of Seth in engraving on\nthe columns all that was known of the conduct and order of the heavens,\nand all the arts then known.[150]\n\nThe stone pillar was to be seen, in the time of Josephus, in Syria.\n\nAnastasius of Sinai says that, when God created Adam after His image\nand likeness, He breathed into him grace, and illumination, and a\nray of the Holy Spirit. But when he sinned, this glory left him, and\nhis face became clouded. Then he became the father of Cain and Abel.\nBut afterwards it is said in Scripture, \u201c_He begat a son in his own\nlikeness, after his image; and called his name Seth_;\u201d which is not\nsaid of Cain and Abel; and this means that Seth was begotten in the\nlikeness of unfallen man and after the image of Adam in Paradise; and\nhe called his name Seth, that is, by interpretation, Resurrection,\nbecause in him he saw the resurrection of his departed beauty, and\nwisdom and glory, and radiance of the Holy Spirit. And all those then\nliving, when they saw how the face of Seth shone with divine light, and\nheard him speak with divine wisdom, said he is God; therefore his sons\nwere commonly called the sons of God.[151]\n\nAs Seth was an ancient Egyptian Sun-god, the origin of the myth of his\nshining face can be ascertained without difficulty.\n\nTo Seth were attributed several apocryphal writings.\n\n\n\n\nIX.\n\nCAINAN SON OF ENOS.\n\n\n\u201c_And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos: and Seth\nlived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat\nsons and daughters: and all the days of Seth were nine hundred and\ntwelve years: and he died. And Enos lived ninety years, and begat\nCainan._\u201d[152]\n\nAlexander wrote many epistles to Aristotle, his preceptor, in which he\nnarrated what had befallen him in India. Amongst other things he wrote:\n\u201cAfter I had entered the Persian region, which is a province of India,\nI arrived at some islands of the sea, and there I found men, like\nwomen, who feed on raw fish, and spake a language very like Greek; they\nsaid to me that there was in the island the sepulchre of a most ancient\nking, who was called Cainan, son of Enos, and who ruled the whole\nworld, and taught men all kinds of knowledge, and had demons and all\nkinds of evil spirits under his control. He, by his wisdom, understood\nthat the ever-blessed God would bring in a flood in the times of Noah;\nwherefore he engraved all that was to take place on stone tables, which\nexist there to this day, and are written in Hebrew characters. He wrote\ntherein that the ocean would, in that age, overflow a third part of the\nworld, which took place in the lifetime of Enos, the son of Seth, who\nwas the son of Adam, our first parent.\n\n\u201cIn the same island, Cainan built a most extensive city, surrounded\nwith walls; and a great marble citadel, in which he treasured jewels\nand pearls, and gold and silver in great abundance.\n\n\u201cMoreover, he erected a tower, very lofty, over a sepulchre for\nhimself, to serve as his monument. This tower can be approached by no\nman; for it was built by astronomical art under the seven planets, and\nwith magical skill, so that every one who draws near the wall is struck\ndown with sudden death.\u201d[153]\n\n\n\n\nX.\n\nENOCH.\n\n\n1. THE TRANSLATION OF ENOCH.\n\nEnoch, or Edris,[154] as he is called by the Arabs, was born in\nHindostan, but he lived in Yemen. He was a prophet. In his days men\nworshipped fire, being deceived by Eblis. When God sent Enoch to his\nbrethren to turn them from their false worship, they would not believe\nhim.\n\nIdolatry began in the times of Jared, son of Mahalaleel, and it spread\nto such an extent that, when Noah was born, there were not eighty\npersons who worshipped the true, and living, and only God. Jared fought\nSatan, the prince of demons, and captured him, and led him about in\nchains wherever he went.\n\nEnoch knew how to sew, and was an accomplished tailor. He was the first\nto put pen to paper; he wrote many books. He had in his possession the\nbooks of Adam, and for ten years, instead of sleeping, he spent the\nnight in reading them.\n\nHe instructed men in the art of making garments; Enoch showed them how\nto cut out the skins to the proper shape, and to sew them together; and\nhow to make shoes to protect their feet.\n\nAnd then, when the people had derived this great blessing from him,\nthey were ready to listen to his books; and he read to them the books\nof Adam, and endeavored thereby to bring them back to the knowledge of\nthe true God.\n\nWhen he had spent many years in prayer, the Angel of Death desired to\nmake a compact of friendship with him. He took on him a human form\nand approached him, saying, \u201cI am the Angel of Death, and I desire\nthy friendship. On account of thy great piety, thou mayest make me a\nrequest which I shall accomplish.\u201d\n\nEnoch answered, \u201cI desire that thou shouldst take my soul.\u201d\n\nThe angel replied, \u201cI have not come to thee for this purpose; thy time\nis not yet arrived at its appointed close.\u201d\n\nThen Enoch said, \u201cIt is well; but take my soul away for a little space,\nand then return it to my body, if God so wills.\u201d\n\nThe angel said, \u201cI cannot do this without God\u2019s consent.\u201d But he\npresented the supplication of Enoch before Allah, and God, knowing what\nwas the design of Enoch, granted the prayer.\n\nThen Azrael bore away the soul of Enoch, and at the same instant the\nEternal One restored it to him. After this, Enoch continued to praise\nand pray to God; and the Angel of Death became his friend, and often\ncame to visit him.\n\nYears passed, and Enoch said one day to the angel, \u201cOh, my friend! I\nhave yet a request to make.\u201d\n\nAzrael answered, \u201cIf I can grant it, I will do so readily.\u201d\n\nEnoch said, \u201cI would see Hell, for I have undergone death, and I know\nits sensations. I would know now the torments of the lost.\u201d\n\nBut the angel answered, \u201cThis I cannot grant without permission from\nthe Almighty.\u201d\n\nGod heard the prayer of Enoch, and He suffered Azrael to accomplish\nwhat the prophet had desired. Then the Angel of Death bore away Enoch,\nand showed him the seven stages of Hell, and all the torments inflicted\nthere on sinners: after that he replaced him where he was before.\n\nAfter some while had elapsed, Enoch again addressed Azrael, and said,\n\u201cI have another request to make.\u201d\n\nThe angel answered, \u201cSay on.\u201d\n\nThen said Enoch, \u201cI desire to see the Paradise of God, as I have seen\nHell.\u201d\n\nAzrael replied, \u201cI cannot grant thy petition without the consent of\nGod.\u201d\n\nBut the All-Merciful, when he heard the request of his servant\nconsented that it should be even as he desired. So the angel bore\nEnoch into Paradise. And when they had reached the gates, the keeper,\nRidhwan, refused to open, saying to Enoch, \u201cThou art a man, and no man\ncan enter Paradise who has not tasted death.\u201d\n\nThen Enoch replied, \u201cI also have tasted death; the soul that I have\nwill dwell eternally with me; God has resuscitated me from death.\u201d\n\nRidhwan, however, said, \u201cI cannot do this thing and admit thee without\nthe order of God.\u201d\n\nThen the order arrived from Allah, and the angel of the gate refused no\nmore; so Enoch entered; but before Enoch and Azrael passed the gates,\nRidhwan said to the prophet, \u201cGo in, and behold Paradise, but be speedy\nand leave it again, for thou mayest not dwell there till after the\nResurrection.\u201d\n\nEnoch replied, \u201cBe it so;\u201d and he went in and viewed Paradise, and came\nout, as he had promised; and as he passed the threshold of the door he\nturned and said to the angel, \u201cOh, Ridhwan! I have left something in\nthere; suffer me to run and fetch it.\u201d\n\nBut Ridhwan refused; and a dispute arose between them.\n\nEnoch said, \u201cI am a prophet; and God has sent me thirty books, and I\nhave written them all, and I have never revolted against God. In those\nbooks that God sent me, I was promised Paradise. If it be necessary\nthat I should have undergone death I have undergone it. If it be\nnecessary that I should have seen Hell, I have seen it. Now I am come\nto Paradise, and that is my home; God has promised it to me, and now\nthat I have entered I will leave it no more.\u201d\n\nThe dispute waxed hot, but it was terminated by the order of God, who\nbade Ridhwan open the gate and re-admit Enoch into Paradise, where he\nstill dwells.[155]\n\n\n2. THE BOOK OF ENOCH.\n\nThe Book of Enoch, quoted by S. Jude in his Epistle, and alluded to\nby Origen, S. Augustine, S. Clement of Alexandria, and others of the\nFathers, must not be passed over.\n\nThe original book appears from internal evidence to have been written\nabout the year 110 B. C.[156] But we have not the work as then written;\nit has suffered from numerous interpolations, and it is difficult\nalways to distinguish the original text from the additions.\n\nThe book is frequently quoted in the apocryphal \u201cTestament of the\nTwelve Patriarchs,\u201d which is regarded as canonical by the Armenian\nChurch, but the references are for the most part not to be found in\nthe text. It was largely used by some of the early Christian writers,\neither with acknowledgment or without. The monk George Syncellus, in\nthe eighth century, extracted portions to compose his Chronography.\nThis fragment in Syncellus was all that was known of the book in the\nWest till the last century. The Jews, though remembering the work, had\nlost it in Hebrew; but it was alluded to by the Rabbis down to the\nthirteenth century, and it is referred to in the Book Sohar, though\nthe writer may not have read the book of Enoch. Bruce, the African\ntraveller, was the first to bring it to Europe from Abyssinia in two\nMSS., in the year 1773. Much attention was not, however, paid to it\ntill 1800, when De Sacy in his \u201cMagasin Encyclop\u00e9dique,\u201d under the\ntitle \u201cNotice sur le Livre d\u2019Enoch,\u201d gave some account of the work. In\n1801, Professor Laurence gave to the public an English translation,\naccompanied by some critical remarks. Since then, the book has been\ncarefully and exegetically examined. The version we now have is\nEthiopic.\n\nThe Book of Enoch consists of five divisions, or books, together with a\nProlegomena and an Epilegomena.\n\nAfter the introduction (caps. 1-5), which describes the work as the\nrevelation of the seer Enoch concerning the future judgment and its\nconsequences, with warnings to the elect as to the signs; the _First_\npart (caps. 6-16) opens with an account of the fall of the Angels,\ntheir union with the daughters of men, and the generation of the\ngiants. Connected with this, and divided from it by no superscription\nor sign of change of subject, is an account of a journey made by Enoch,\nin the company of the angels, over the earth and through the lower\ncircles of heaven, during which he is instructed in various mysteries\nhidden from the knowledge of men, and a great deal of this wondrous\ninformation is communicated to the reader.\n\nThis description of a journey, which is itself divided into two parts,\nunquestionably belongs to the original book, and the historical\nportion, narrating the procreation of the Giants, is an interpolation.\n\nThe _Second_ portion of the book (caps. 37-71), with its own special\nsuperscription and introduction, is called \u201cThe Second History of\nWisdom.\u201d It continues the history of the voyage. The first portion\ncontained the description of the mysterious places and things in the\nearth and in the lower heaven; the second portion contains an account\nof the mysteries of the highest heaven, the angel-world, the founding\nof the kingdom of the Messias, and the signs of His coming.\n\nThe close of this portion contains prophecies of Noah\u2019s Flood,\nand accounts of the fall of the Angels, their evil life and their\npunishment. The whole account of the Flood, which comes in without\nrhyme or reason, is also a manifest interpolation.\n\nThe _Third_ portion (caps. 72-82) also under its own heading, is on\n\u201cThe Revolution of the Lights of Heaven,\u201d and describes the motions of\nthe planets, the duration of the seasons, and the number of the days of\nthe months, and the great winds of heaven. With this part the voyage of\nEnoch closes.\n\nThe _Fourth_ part (caps. 83-91), which has no superscription, but which\nis generally designated as \u201cThe Book of the Dream History,\u201d contains\nthe visions shown Enoch in his youth, which, in a series of pictures,\ngives the history of the world till the end of time. This part closes\nwith some words of advice from Enoch to his sons.\n\nThe _Fifth_ and last part (caps. 92-105) is \u201cThe Book of Exhortation,\u201d\naddressed by Enoch to his family against sin in all its forms, under\nall its disguises, and concludes with an account of certain presages\nwhich should announce the birth of Noah.\n\nThe Talmudic writers taught that Enoch at his translation became a\nchief angel, and that his name became Metatron. In the Chaldee version\nof Jonathan on the words of Genesis v. 24, it is said, \u201cAnd Enoch\nserved before the Lord in truth, and was not among the inhabitants of\nthe earth, for he was translated above into the firmament, through\nthe word of the Lord; and He called him by the name of Metatron (the\ngreat writer).\u201d And in Rabbi Menachem\u2019s Commentary on the Five Books\nof Moses, it is written, \u201cThe Rabbi Ishmael relates that he spoke to\nthe Metatron, and he asked him why he was named with the name of his\nCreator and with seventy names, and why he was greater than any prince,\nand higher than any angel, and dearer than any servant, and more\nhonored than all the host and more excellent in greatness, in power,\nand dominion than all the mighty ones. Then he answered and said,\n\u2018Because I was Enoch, son of Jared. This is what the holy, ever-blessed\nGod wrought,--when the races of the Flood (_i. e._, the sinners who\nlived at the time when the Flood came) sinned, and did unrighteously\nin their works, and had said to God, \u201cDepart from us,\u201d--He took me\nfrom that untoward generation into the highest heaven, that I might be\na witness against that generation. And after the ever-blessed God had\nremoved me that I should stand before the throne of his Majesty, and\nbefore the wheels of His chariot, and accomplish the requirements of\nthe Most High, then my flesh became flame, and my arteries fire, and my\nbones juniper ashes, and the light of my eyelids became the flashing of\nlightning, and my eyeballs torches of fire, and the hair of my head was\na flame, and all my limbs were fiery, burning wings, and my body became\nburning fire; and by my right hand flames were cleft asunder; and\nfrom my left hand burnt fiery torches; but around me blew a wind, and\nstorm, and tempest; and before and behind me was the voice of a mighty\nearthquake.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe Rabbi Ishmael gives further particulars which are enshrined in the\ngreat Jalkut Rubeni.[157]\n\nThe Rabbi Ishmael, according to this book, received in addition\nthese particulars from the lips of Enoch. He was carried to heaven\nin a chariot of fire by horses of fire; and when he entered into the\npresence of God, the Sacred Beasts, the Seraphim, the Osannim, the\nCherubim, the wheels of the chariot, and all the fiery ministers\nrecoiled five thousand three hundred and eighty miles at the smell of\nhim, and cried aloud, \u201cWhat a stink is come among us from one born of a\nwoman! Why is one who has eaten of white wheat admitted into heaven?\u201d\n\nThen the Almighty answered and said, \u201cMy servants, Cherubim and\nSeraphim, do not be grieved, for all my sons have rejected my\nsovereignty and adore idols, this man alone excepted; and in reward I\nexalt him to principality over the angels in heaven.\u201d When Enoch heard\nthis he was glad, for he had been a simple shoemaker on earth; but\nthis had he done, at every stitch he had said, \u201cThe name of God and His\nMajesty be praised.\u201d\n\nThe height of Enoch when a chief angel was very great. It would take\na man five hundred years to walk from his heel to the crown of his\nhead. And the ladder which Jacob saw in vision was the ladder of\nMetatron.[158] The same authority, above quoted, the Rabbi Ishmael,\nis reported to have had the exact measure of Enoch from his own lips;\nit was seven hundred thousand times thousand miles in length and in\nbreadth.[159]\n\nThe account in the Targum of Palestine is simply this. \u201cEnoch served in\nthe truth before the Lord; and behold, he was not with the sojourners\nof the earth; for he was withdrawn, and he ascended to the firmament by\nthe Word before the Lord, and his name was called Metatron, the Great\nSaphra.\u201d[160]\n\nWhether the Annakos, or Nannakos of whom Suidas wrote, is to be\nidentified with Enoch, I do not venture to decide. Suidas says that\nNannak was an aged king before Deucalion (Noah), and that, foreseeing\nthe Deluge, he called all his subjects together into the temple to pray\nthe gods with many tears to remit the evil.[161] And Stephanos, the\nByzantine lexicographer, says that Annakos lived at Iconium in Phrygia,\nand that to weep for Annak, became a proverb.\n\n\n\n\nXI.\n\nTHE GIANTS.\n\n\nThe Giants, say the Cabbalists, arose thus.\n\nAza and Azael, two angels of God, complained to the Most High at the\ncreation of man, and said, \u201cWhy hast Thou made man who will anger Thee?\u201d\n\nBut God answered, \u201cAnd you, O angels, if you were in the lower world,\nyou too, would sin.\u201d And He sent them on earth, and then they fell,\nas says the Book of Genesis, \u201c_And it came to pass that the sons of\nGod saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them\nwives of all which they chose._\u201d After they had sinned, they were given\nbodies of flesh; for an angel who spends seven days on earth becomes\nopaque and substantial. And when they had been clothed with flesh and\nwith a corrupt nature, then they spake the word \u201cShem hamphorasch,\u201d\nand sought to regain their former place, but could not; and were cast\nout into mountains, there to dwell. From these angels descend the sons\nof the giants and the Anakim, and from their seed also spring the\ndevils.[162] The Rabbi Eliezer says that the giants sprang from the\nunion of the angels with the daughters of Cain, who walked about in\nimmodest clothing and cast their eyes around with bold glances. And the\nbook Zeenaureena, in the Parascha Chykkath, says that Og sprang from\nthis connection, and that Sammael, the angel, was the parent of Og, but\nthat Sihon was the son of the same angel who deceived the wife of Ham\nwhen she was about to enter the ark.[163]\n\nThe account in the Book of Enoch is as follows:--\n\n\u201cHear and fear not, Enoch, thou righteous man, and writer of\nrighteousness, come hither and hear my words: Go speak unto the\nWatchers of Heaven, and say unto them, Ye shall pray for men and not\nmen for you. Why have ye forsaken the high and holy and eternal heaven,\nand have joined yourselves to women, and polluted yourselves with the\ndaughters of men, and have taken to you wives, and have become the\nfathers of a giant race? Ye who were spiritual, holy, and enjoying\neternal life, have corrupted yourselves with women, and have become\nparents of children with flesh and blood; lusting after the blood of\nmen, ye have brought forth flesh and blood, like those who are mortal\nand perishable. Because men die, therefore did I give unto them wives,\nthat they might have sons, and perpetuate their generation. But ye are\nspiritual and in the enjoyment of eternal life. Therefore give I not to\nyou wives, for heaven is the abode of the spirits. And now the giants,\nwho are born of flesh and blood, shall become evil spirits, and their\ndwelling shall be on the earth. Bad beings shall proceed from them.\nBecause they have been generated from above, from the holy Watchers\nhave they received their origin, therefore shall they be evil spirits\non the earth, and evil spirits shall they be called. And the spirits of\nthe giants, which mount upon the clouds, will fail and be cast down,\nand do violence, and cause ruin on the earth and injury; they shall not\neat, they shall not thirst, and they shall be invisible.\u201d[164]\n\nAmong the Oriental Christians it is said, that Adam having related to\nthe children of Seth the delights of Paradise, several of them desired\nto recover the lost possession. They retired to Mount Hermon and dwelt\nthere in the fear of the Lord; living in great austerity, in hope that\ntheir penitence would recover Eden. But the Canaanites dwelt round them\non all sides, and the sons of Seth becoming tired of celibacy, took\nthe daughters of the Canaanites to wife, and to them were born the\ngiants.[165]\n\nOthers say that the posterity of the patriarch Seth were those called\nthe \u201cSons of God,\u201d because they lived on Mount Hermon in familiar\ndiscourse with the angels. On this mountain they fed only on the fruit\nof the earth, and their sole oath was \u201cBy the blood of Abel.\u201d[166]\n\nAmong the giants was Surkrag, of whom we have already related a few\nparticulars. He was not of the race of men, nor of the posterity of\nAdam. According to the Mussulman account he was commander of the armies\nof Soliman Tchaghi, who reigned over the earth before the time of Gian\nben Gian, who succeeded him and reigned seven thousand years. The whole\nearth was then in the power of the Jins. Gian ben Gian erected the\npyramids of Egypt.\n\nSurkrag obeyed God, and followed the true religion, and would not\nsuffer his subject Jins to insult or maltreat the descendants of Adam.\nHe reigned on Mount Kaf, and allied himself, according to Persian\nauthorities, with Ka\u00efumarth, the first king of the world, whom some\nPersian writers identify with Adam, but others suppose to be the son\nof Mahalaleel, and cotemporary with Enoch. Ferdusi, the author of the\nSchah-N\u00e2meh, speaks of him as the first who wore a crown and sat on\na throne, and imposed a tribute on his subjects. He says that this\nmonarch lived a thousand years, and reigned five hundred and fifty\nyears. He was the first to teach men to build houses.\n\nBut if Ka\u00efumarth was the first man to reign, he was the first also to\nweary of it; for he abdicated his sovereignty and retired into his\nformer abode, a cave, after having surrendered his authority to his son\nSiamek. Siamek having been killed, Ka\u00efumarth re-ascended his throne\nto revenge his death. After having recovered the body of his son, he\nburied him with great honors, and kindled over his grave a great fire,\nwhich was kept perpetually burning, and this originated the worship of\nfire among the people of Iran.\n\nKa\u00efumarth overcame the giant Semendoun, who had a hundred arms; his\nson, Huschenk, also overcame a giant who had three heads, mounted on\nan animal with twelve legs. This animal, namad Rakhsche, was found by\nhim in the Dog Isle, or the New Continent, and was born of the union of\na crocodile and an hippopotamus, and it fed on the flesh of serpents.\nHaving mastered this beast, Huschenk overcame the Mahisers, which have\nheads of fish and are of great ferocity. After having extended his\nconquests to the extremities of the earth, Huschenk was crushed to\ndeath by a mass of rock which the giants, his mortal enemies, hurled\nagainst him.[167]\n\nAccording to Tabari, Huschenk was the son of Ka\u00efumarth, who was the\nson of Mahalaleel. He was the first man to cut down trees and to make\nboards, and fashion them into doors to close the entrance to houses. He\nalso discovered many precious stones, such as the topaz and jacinth. He\nreigned four hundred years.[168]\n\nHe was succeeded by Tahmourath, who taught men to saddle and bridle\nhorses; he was also the first man to write in Persian characters;\nhe figures as a great hero in Iranian fable. According to the story\nin Persia, he was carried by the Simorg to the mountain of Kaf. Now\nthe Simorg is a wondrous bird, speaking all languages, and eminently\nreligious.\n\nAccording to the Kaherman N\u00e2meh, the bird Simorg, being asked its age,\nreplied, \u201cThis world has been seven times peopled, and seven times made\nvoid of living beings. The generation of Adam, in which we now are,\nwill last seven thousand years, which form a cycle, and I have seen\ntwelve of these revolutions. How many more I shall see is unknown to\nme.\u201d\n\nThe same book informs us that the Simorg was a great friend of the\nrace of Adam, and a great enemy to the demons and Jins. He knew Adam\npersonally, and had done obeisance to him, and enjoyed the same\nreligion as our first fathers. He foretold to Tahmourath all that was\nto take place in the world, and plucking from his bosom some feathers,\nhe presented them to him, and from that time all great captains and men\nof war wear feather crests.\n\nTahmourath having been transported by the bird to the mountains of\nKaf, he assisted the Peris, who were at war with the Jins. Argenk,\nthe giant, finding that the Peris were gaining the mastery, with the\nassistance of Tahmourath, sent an embassy desiring peace; but the\nambassador, Imlain, abandoned the party of the Jins and assisted\nTahmourath to obtain complete mastery in the mountains of Kaf, and\nto overcome not only the giant Argenk, but also Demrusch, a far more\nterrible monster. Demrusch lived in a cavern guarding a vast treasure,\nwhich he had amassed in Persia and India. He had also carried off the\nPeri Mergian. Tahmourath slew Demrusch and released Mergian.\n\nAccording to the Persian story, Tahmourath was the first to cultivate\nrice, and to nourish silk-worms in the province of Tabristan.[169]\n\nTo return to Tabari.\n\nDjemschid was the brother of Tahmourath; he was the first man to\nforge arms, and he is probably to be identified with Tubal-cain.\nHe introduced also the use of pigments, and he discovered pearls,\nand also to dig for lime, vermilion, and quicksilver; he likewise\ncompounded scents, and cultivated flowers. He divided all men into four\nclasses,--soldiers, scribes, agriculturists, and artisans. At the head\nof all he placed the learned, that they might guide the affairs of men,\nand set them their tasks and instruct them in what they were to do.\n\nThen Djemschid asked the wise men, \u201cWhat must a king do to secure his\nthrone?\u201d\n\nThey answered, \u201cHe must reign in equity.\u201d\n\nConsequently, Djemschid instituted justice; and he sat the first day of\nevery month with his wise men, and ministered righteous judgments. For\nseven hundred years he continued this practice; and in all that time no\nrebellion broke out, no afflictions troubled him, nor was his reign in\nany way menaced.\n\nOne day, whilst Djemschid was taking his siesta alone in his chamber,\nEblis entered by the window, and Djemschid asked, \u201cWho art thou?\u201d Now\nhe thought he was one of those who waited without till he should come\nforth to administer justice. Eblis entered into conversation with\nDjemschid, and said, \u201cI am an angel, and I have descended from heaven\nto give thee counsel.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat counsel dost thou offer?\u201d asked the king.\n\nEblis replied, \u201cTell me, who thou art?\u201d\n\nHe answered, \u201cI am one of the sons of Adam.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou mistakest,\u201d said the Evil One: \u201cthou art not a man. Consider,\nsince thou hast reigned, has any thing failed thee? Hast thou suffered\nany affliction, any loss, any revolt? If thou wert a son of Adam,\nsorrow would be thy lot. Nay, verily, thou art a god!\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what sign canst thou show me of my divinity?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am an angel. Mortal man cannot behold an angel, and live.\u201d\n\nThen he vanished. Djemschid fell into the snare of pride.\n\nNext day he caused a great fire to be lighted, and he called together\nall men and said to them, \u201cI am a god, worship me; I created heaven\nabove and earth beneath; and those that refuse to adore me shall be\nconsumed in the fire.\u201d\n\nThen from fear of him many obeyed; and the same hour revolt broke out.\n\nThere was a man named Beyourasp who stirred up the people, and led a\ngreat army against Djemschid, and overcame him, and took from him his\nkingdom, and sawed the king asunder from the head to the feet.[170]\n\n\n\n\nXII.\n\nLAMECH.\n\n\n\u201c_Methusael begat Lamech. And Lamech took unto him two wives: the\nname of one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. And Adah bare\nJabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have\ncattle. And his brother\u2019s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such\nas handle the harp and organ. And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain,\nan instructor of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of\nTubal-cain was Naamah. And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah,\nHear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have\nslain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall\nbe avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy-fold._\u201d[171]\n\nThe speech of Lamech points to a tradition unrecorded in the Sacred\nText, with which the Israelites were probably well acquainted, and\nwhich therefore did not need repetition; or else, there has been a\nparagraph dropped out of the original text. The speech is sufficiently\nmysterious to raise our curiosity. Whom had Lamech slain? and why\nshould Lamech be avenged?\n\nThe Targums throw no light on the passage, merely paraphrasing it,\nwithout supplying the key to the speech of Lamech.[172] But Rabbinic\ntradition is unanimous on its signification. The book Jasher says that\nin those days men did not love to have children, therefore they gave\ntheir wives drink to make them sterile. Zillah had taken this drink,\nand she was barren till in her old age she bare Tubal-cain and Naamah.\nNow Lamech became blind in his old age, and he was led about by the boy\nTubal-cain. Tubal-cain saw Cain in the distance, and supposing from the\nhorn on his forehead that he was a beast, he said to his father, \u201cSpan\nthy brow and shoot!\u201d Then the old man discharged his arrow, and Cain\nfell dead.\n\nBut when he ascertained that he had slain his great ancestor, he\nsmote his hands together, and in so doing, by accident struck his\nson and killed him. Therefore his wives were wroth and would have no\ncommunication with him. But he appeased them with the words recorded in\nGenesis.[173] The same story is told in the book of the \u201cCombat with\nAdam.\u201d\n\nSome Jewish writers adopt a tradition that Tubal-cain was not slain,\nbut was severely injured by his father; according to some, he was\nlamed. Connecting this tradition with his name, a striking analogy\nsprings up between him and the Vulcan of classic antiquity, and the\nV\u00f6lundr of Norse mythology. Both were lame, both were forgers of iron,\nand the names Vulcan and V\u00f6lundr bear some affinity to Tubal-cain;\nfor cutting off Tu, we have Balcain or Vulcan. A very learned and\nexhaustive monograph on V\u00f6lundr has been written by MM. Depping and\nMichel.[174]\n\nTubal is said by Tabari to have discovered the art of fermenting the\njuice of the grape, as well as that of music. Eblis deceived the young\nman, who was full of gayety, and taught him many things, amongst others\nhow to make wine. Tubal took grapes and crushed them, and made must,\nand let it grow bitter. Then he took it and put it in a glass jug. He\nmade flutes, lutes, cymbals, and drums. When he began to drink the\nwine he had made, he jumped and danced. All the sons of Cain looked\non, and, pleased with his merriment, they also drank and played on the\ninstruments Tubal had made.[175]\n\nNaamah, the sister of Tubal-cain, became the wife of the devil\nSchomron, by whom she became the mother of Asmodeus.[176]\n\n\n\n\nXIII.\n\nMETHUSELAH.\n\n\nIt is related that an angel appeared to Methuselah, who was then aged\nfive hundred years, and lived in the open air, and advised him to build\na house. The Patriarch asked how long he had to live. \u201cAbout five\nhundred years more,\u201d answered the angel. \u201cThen,\u201d said Methuselah, \u201cit\nis not worth taking the trouble for so short a time.\u201d[177]\n\n\u201cMethuselah,\u201d says the Midrash, \u201cwas a thoroughly righteous man. Every\nword that fell from his lips was superlatively perfect, exhausting\nthe praises of the Lord. He had learnt nine hundred chapters of the\nMischna. At his death a frightful thunder was heard, and all beasts\nburst into tears. He was mourned seven days by men, and therefore the\noutbreak of the Flood was postponed till the morning was over.\u201d[178]\n\nEusebius says, \u201cHe lived longer than all who had preceded him. He,\naccording to all editions (of the LXX.), lived fifteen years after the\nDeluge, but where he was preserved through it is uncertain.\u201d[179]\n\nBut the general opinion of the Jews follows the Midrash. The Rabbi\nSolomon says, he died seven days before the Flood; and the Pirke of\nRabbi Eliezer and the Jalkut confirm this opinion. He is said to have\npronounced three hundred and thirty parables to the honor of the Most\nHigh. But the origin of this is to be traced to the Cabbalists, who say\nthat, by transposition of the letters of his name, the anagram \u201cHe who\nprophesied in parables\u201d can be read.[180]\n\nHe had a sword inscribed with the Schem hammphorasch (the\nIncommunicable Name), and with it he succeeded in slaying a thousand\ndevils.[181]\n\n\n\n\nXIV.\n\nNOAH.\n\n\nThe earth being filled with violence, God resolved on its destruction,\nbut Noah, the just, He purposed to save alive.\n\nOn the words of Genesis, \u201c_All flesh had corrupted his way upon the\nearth_,\u201d the Rabbi Johanan taught that not only was the race of men\nutterly demoralized, but also all the races of animals.[182]\n\nNoah and his family, and one pair of all the beasts of earth, were to\nbe saved in the ark, but of every clean beast seven were to enter in.\nFalsehood hastened to the ark and asked to be admitted; Noah refused.\n\u201cI admit the animals only in pairs,\u201d said he.\n\nThen Falsehood went away in wrath, and met Injustice, who said--\n\n\u201cWhy art thou so sad?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have been refused admittance into the ark, for I am single,\u201d said\nFalsehood; \u201cbe thou my companion.\u201d\n\n\u201cSee, now,\u201d answered Injustice, \u201cI take no companionship without\nprospect of gain.\u201d\n\n\u201cFear not,\u201d said Falsehood, \u201cI will spread the toils and thou shalt\nhave the booty.\u201d\n\nSo they went together to the ark, and Noah was unable to refuse them\nadmission. And when the Flood was passed and the beasts went forth\nout of the ark, Falsehood said angrily, \u201cI have done my work and have\ncaused evil, but thou hast all the plunder; share with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou fool!\u201d answered Injustice, \u201cdost thou forget the agreement? Thine\nit is to spread the net, mine alone to take the spoil.\u201d[183]\n\nAt the time of the Deluge the giants were not all drowned, for Og\nplanted his foot upon the fountains of the great deep, and with his\nhands stopped the windows of heaven, or the water would have risen\nover his head. The Rabbi Eliezer[184] said that the giants exclaimed,\nwhen the Flood broke out, \u201cIf all the waters of the earth be gathered\ntogether, they will only reach our waists; but if the fountains of the\ngreat deep be broken up, we must stamp them down again.\u201d And this they\ndid, but God made the waters boiling hot, and it scalded them so that\ntheir flesh was boiled and fell off their bones.[185] But what became\nof Og in the Deluge we learn from the Talmud.[186] He went into the\nwater along with a rhinoceros[187] beside the ark, and clung to it; now\nthe water round the ark was cold, but all the rest was boiling hot.\nThus he was saved alive, whereas the other giants perished.\n\nAccording to another authority, Og climbed on the roof of the ark;\nand on Noah attempting to dislodge him, he swore that, if allowed to\nremain there, he and his posterity would be the slaves of the sons of\nNoah. Thereupon the patriarch yielded. He bored a hole in the side of\nthe vessel, and passed through it every day the food necessary for the\ngiant\u2019s consumption.[188]\n\nIt is asserted by some Rabbinic writers that the Deluge did not\noverflow the land of Israel, but was partial; some say the Holy Land\nwas alone left dry, and a rhinoceros had taken refuge on it and so\nescaped being drowned. But others say that the land of Israel was\nsubmerged, though all agree that the rhinoceros survived without having\nentered the ark. And they explain the escape of the rhinoceros in this\nmanner. Its head was taken into the ark, and it swam behind the vessel.\nNow the rhinoceros is a very large animal, and could not be admitted\ninto the ark lest it should swamp it. The Rabbi Jannai says, he saw a\nyoung rhinoceros of a day old, and it was as big as Mount Tabor; and\nTabor\u2019s dimensions are forty miles. Its neck was three miles long,\nand its head half a mile. It dropped dung, and the dung choked up\nJordan. Other commentators object that the head was too large to be\nadmitted into the ark, and suppose that only the tip of its nose was\nreceived. But as the ark swayed on the waters, Noah tied the horn of\nthe rhinoceros to the side of the vessel, lest the beast\u2019s nose should\nslip off in a lurch of the ark, and so the creature perish.\n\nAll this is from the Talmud.\n\nLet us now turn to some of the Mussulman legends of Noah. His history\nis briefly related in the Koran, in the chapter entitled \u201cHud.\u201d\n\n\u201cNoah built the ark with our assistance and that of the angels,\nfollowing the knowledge we revealed to him, and we said to him: Speak\nno more in behalf of the sinners; they shall all be drowned.\n\n\u201cWhilst Noah was building his ark, all those who passed by mocked him;\nbut he said to them: Though you rail at me now, the time will come when\nI shall rail at you; for you will learn to your cost, Who it is that\npunishes the wicked in this world, and reserves for them a further\npunishment in the world to come.\u201d\n\nIn the annals of Eutychius of Alexandria, who wrote in Egypt in the\ntenth century, and who probably quoted from apocryphal documents now\nperished, we read that, before the Flood broke out, Noah made a bell of\nplane wood, about five feet high, which he sounded every day, morning,\nnoon, and evening. When any one asked him why he did so, he replied,\n\u201cTo warn you that God will send a deluge to destroy you all.\u201d\n\nEutychius adds some further particulars.\n\n\u201cBefore they entered the ark,\u201d says he, \u201cNoah and his sons went to\nthe cave of Elcanuz, where lay the bodies of Adam, Seth, Cainan,\nMahalaleel, Jared, Methuselah, and Lamech. He kissed his dead\nancestors, and bore off the body of Adam together with precious\noblations. Shem bore gold; Ham took myrrh; and Japheth incense. Having\ngone forth, as they descended the Holy Mount they lifted their eyes\nto Paradise, which crowned it, and said, with tears, \u2018Farewell! Holy\nParadise, farewell!\u2019 and they kissed the stones and embraced the trees\nof the Holy Mount.\u201d[189]\n\nIbn Abbas, one of the commentators on the Koran, adds, that Noah being\nin doubt as to the shape he was to give to the ark, God revealed to\nhim that it was to be modelled on the plan of a bird\u2019s belly, and that\nit was to be constructed of teak wood. Noah planted the tree, and in\ntwenty years it grew to such a size that out of it he was able to build\nthe entire ark.[190]\n\nTo return to the Koran.\n\n\u201cWhen the time prescribed for the punishment of men was arrived, and\nthe oven began to boil and vomit, we said to Noah: Take and bring into\nthe ark two couples of every kind of animal, male and female, with\nall your family, except him who has been condemned by your mouth, and\nreceive the faithful, and even the unbelievers; but few only will\nenter.\u201d\n\nThe interpreters of the Koran say that the ark was built in two years.\nThey give it the dimensions mentioned in Genesis:--three stages,\nthat on the top for the birds, the middle one for the men and the\nprovisions, whilst the beasts occupied the hold. The sign of the\noutburst of the Flood was that water flowed out of the burning oven of\nNoah\u2019s wife. Then all the veins and arteries of the earth broke and\nspirted out water. He who was excluded was Canaan, the son of Ham, whom\nhe had cursed. But Abulfeda says that it was Jam, a fourth son of Noah,\nwho was excluded from the ark.[191] The Persians say that Ham incurred\nhis father\u2019s malediction as well, and, for that, he and his posterity\nbecame black and were enslaved; but that Noah, grieved for his son\u2019s\nprogeny, prayed God to have mercy on them, and God made the slave to be\nloved and cherished by his master.\n\nThe Koran says, \u201cNoah having entered the ark with his wife (Noema,\ndaughter of Enoch, according to the Yaschar, Noria, according to the\nGnostics; Vesta, according to the Cabbalists), and his three sons,\nShem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives, the three daughters of\nEliakim, son of Methuselah, he said to those who dwell on the earth,\n\u2018Embark in the name of the Lord.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd whilst he thus spake, the ark advanced or halted, according to his\norder, in the name of God.\u201d\n\nBut the Yaschar says that the ungodly dwellers on the earth, finding\nthe Flood rising, hastened in such crowds to the ark, that they would\nhave overfilled it, had not the lions and other animals within defended\nthe entrance and repulsed them.[192]\n\nAccording to some Oriental traditions, Noah embarked at Koufah;\naccording to others, near where Babylon was afterwards erected; but\nsome say in India; and some affirm that in the six months during which\nthe Deluge lasted, the ark made the circuit of the world.[193]\n\nNoah, seeing that his grandson Canaan was not on board, called to him,\nand said, \u201cEmbark, my child, and do not remain among the ungodly.\u201d\n\nBut Canaan replied, \u201cI will ascend the mountains, and shall be safe\nthere.\u201d\n\n\u201cNothing can save thee to-day but the mercy of God,\u201d said Noah.\n\nWhilst thus speaking, a wave rushed between them and submerged Canaan.\n\nAfter forty days, the ark swam from one end of the earth to the other,\nover the highest mountains. Over Mount Kubeis, chosen by God in which\nto preserve the sacred black stone of the Kaaba, the ark revolved seven\ntimes.[194]\n\nTabari says that Noah had four sons, and that of these Canaan was the\nyoungest, and that the three elder believed in his mission, but his\nwife and Canaan laughed at his predictions. The animals that were\nbrought into the ark were collected and wafted to it by the wind. When\nthe ass was about to enter, Eblis (Satan) caught hold of its tail. The\nass came on slowly; Noah was impatient, and exclaimed, \u201cYou cursed one,\ncome in quick.\u201d\n\nWhen Eblis was within, Noah saw him, and said, \u201cWhat right have you in\nhere?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have entered at your invitation,\u201d answered the Evil One. \u201cYou said,\n\u2018Cursed one, come in;\u2019 I am the accursed one.\u201d\n\nWhen six months had passed, the ark rested on the surface of the water\nabove Djondi,[195] and the rain ceased to fall, and God said to the\nearth, \u201cSuck in the water;\u201d and to the sky, \u201cWithhold thy rains.\u201d The\nwater abated; and the ark lodged on the top of the mountain.\n\n\u201cThere left the ark two sorts of animals which had not entered it--the\npig and the cat. These animals did not exist before the Deluge, and\nGod created them in the ark because it was full of filth and human\nexcrements, which caused a great stench. The persons in the ark, not\nbeing able to endure any longer the smell, complained to Noah. Then\nNoah passed his hand down the back of the elephant, and it evacuated\nthe pig. The pig ate all the dung which was in the ark, and the stench\nwas no more.\n\n\u201cSome time after the rats gave great annoyance. They ate the food, and\nbefouled what they did not eat. Then the voyagers went to Noah, and\nsaid to him, You delivered us in our former difficulty, but now we are\nplagued with rats, which gnaw our garments, eat our victuals, and cover\nevery thing with their filth. Then Noah passed his hand down the back\nof the lion, who sneezed, and the cat leaped out of its nose. And the\ncat ate the rats.\n\n\u201cWhen Noah had left the ark, he passed forty days on the mountain, till\nall the water had subsided into the sea. All the briny water that is\nthere is what remains from the Flood.\n\n\u201cNoah said to the raven, Go and place your foot on the earth and\nsee what is the depth of the water. The raven departed; but, having\nfound a carcase, it remained to devour it, and did not return. Noah\nwas provoked, and he cursed the raven, saying, May God make thee\ncontemptible among men and let carrion be thy food!\n\n\u201cAfter that Noah sent forth the dove. The dove departed, and, without\ntarrying, put her feet in the water. The water of the Flood scalded and\npickled the legs of the dove. It was hot and briny, and feathers would\nnot grow on her legs any more, and the skin scaled off. Now, doves\nwhich have red and featherless legs are of the sort that Noah sent\nforth. The dove returning showed her legs to Noah, who said, May God\nrender thee well-pleasing to men! For that reason the dove is dear to\nmen\u2019s hearts.\u201d[196]\n\nAnother version of the story is this. Noah blessed the dove, and since\nthen she has borne a neck-ring of green feathers; but the raven, on the\nother hand, he cursed, that its flight should be crooked, and never\ndirect like that of other birds.[197] This is also a Jewish legend.[198]\n\nAfter that, Noah descended the mountain along with the eighty persons\nwho had been saved with him, and he found that not a house was left\nstanding on the face of the earth. Noah built a town consisting of\neighty houses,--a house apiece for all who had been saved with him.[199]\n\nFabricius, in his collection of apocrypha of the Old Testament, has\npublished the prayer that Noah offered daily in the ark, beside the\nbody of Adam, which he bore with him, to bury it on Golgotha.\n\n\u201cO Lord, Thou art excellent in truth, and nothing is great beside\nThee; look upon us in mercy; deliver us from this deluge of water for\nthe sake of the pangs of Adam, the first man whom Thou didst make;\nfor the sake of the blood of Abel, the holy one; for the sake of just\nSeth, in whom Thou didst delight; number us not amongst those who have\nbroken Thy commandments, but cover us with Thy protection, for Thou art\nour deliverer, and to Thee alone are due the praises uttered by the\nworks of Thy hands from all eternity.\u201d And all the children of Noah\nresponded, \u201cAmen, O Lord.\u201d[200]\n\nNoah is said to have left the ark on the tenth day of the first month\nof the Mussulman year, and to have instituted the fast which the\nMahommedans observe on that day, to thank God for his deliverance.\n\nAccording to the Book of Enoch, the water of the Flood was transformed\nby God into fire, which will consume the world and the ungodly, at the\nconsummation of all things.[201]\n\nThe Targum of Palestine says that the dove plucked the leaf she brought\nto Noah from off a tree on the Mount of Olives.[202]\n\nThe Book Jasher supplies an omission in Genesis. In Genesis it is\nsaid of Lamech, on the birth of Noah, \u201c_He called his name Noah;\nsaying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our\nhands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed_;\u201d[203] but\nNoah signifies _rest_, not _comfort_. The Book Jasher says that the\nMethuselah called the child Noah, _rest_, because the land rested from\nthe curse; but Lamech called him Menahem, _comfort_, for the reason\ngiven in the text of Genesis. The sacred writer has given one name with\nthe signification of the other.[204]\n\n\n\n\nXV.\n\nHEATHEN LEGENDS OF THE DELUGE.\n\n\nArarat has borne this name for three thousand years. We read in the\nBook of Genesis that \u201c_the ark rested, in the seventh month, on the\nseventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat_.\u201d In\npassages of the Old Testament, as in Isaiah xxxvii. 38 and 2 Kings\nxix. 37, mention is made of a land, in Jeremiah li. 27 of a kingdom,\nof Ararat; and we are likewise informed by Moses of Chorene, the first\nauthority among Armenian writers, that an entire country bore this name\nafter an ancient Armenian king, Arai the Fair, who lived about 1750\nyears before Christ. He fell in a bloody battle with the Babylonians on\na plain in Armenia, called after him Arai-Arat, the Fall of Arai.\n\nBefore this event the country bore the name of Amasia, from its\nsovereign, Amassis, the sixth in descent from Japheth, who gave the\nname of Massis to the mountain. This is still the only name by which\nit is known to the Armenians; for, though it is called Ararat in the\nArmenian edition of the Old Testament, yet the people call it Massis,\nand know no other name for it. The Mussulmans call it Agridagh, the\nstrong mountain. The name by which it is known to the Persians is\nKuhi-Nuh, the mountain of Noah, or Saad-dagh, the Blessed Mountain.[205]\n\nBut tradition is not at one as to the peak on which the ark rested,\nor from which Noah descended, as we shall presently see. Ararat is\n17,210 feet in altitude above the sea, and 14,320 feet above the plain\nof the Araxes. On the northeastern slope of the mountain, even from a\ndistance, may be seen a deep, gloomy chasm, which gives the appearance\nas if the mountain had been rent asunder at the top: this was probably\nat some remote period the volcanic vent, for the mountain is composed\nof tufa, scoria, and erupted matter. It shoots up in one rigid crest,\nand then sweeps down towards Little Ararat, the second summit, which\nstands 13,000 feet above the sea.[206]\n\nThe people of the neighborhood point to a step on the mountain side,\ncovered with perpetual snow and glacier, and where, say they, the ark\nrested; and to a town near Ararat named Naktschiwan, or \u201cthe first\noutgoing\u201d of Noah from the ark. This etymological interpretation is\nprobably as questionable as that of Ararat given by Moses of Chorene;\nit is true the city is ancient, for it was severely injured by an\nearthquake in the reign of Astyages the Median, in the sixth century\nbefore Christ. It is called Naxuana by Josephus,[207] and he says it\nwas so called because there Noah first descended from the ark, and\nthat remains of the ark were there to be seen carefully preserved. And\nthere, says the Armenian historian Vartan, is also the tomb of Noah.\nNicolas of Damascus, in his History of Syria, Berosus the ancient\nBabylonian writer and other heathen historians, tell a similar tale;\nand we learn that relics of the ark were distributed thence, and were\nregarded with the utmost reverence, as amulets.\n\nNicolas of Damascus, who wrote in the reign of Augustus, says, \u201cThere\nis beyond the Minyadian land a great mountain in Armenia, Baris by name\n(perhaps for Masis), on which, as the tradition says, some one sailing\nover it in an ark, lodged on the topmost peak. The remains of the wood\ncontinued to exist long. Perhaps this may be the same as he of whom\nMoses, the Jewish historian, has written.\u201d[208]\n\nThe story quoted by Eusebius from an ancient writer named Molo, gives\na form of the Syrian tradition. \u201cAfter the Deluge, the man who with\nhis sons escaped the flood, went out of Armenia, after he had been\ndriven out of his inheritance by the violence of the natives. He came\nthence into the mountains of Syria, which were then uninhabited.\u201d[209]\nAnd with this agrees a curious allusion in Lucian, who was himself a\nSyrian. He says that there was in Syria, in the city Hierapolis, a\nreligious festival, and a very ancient temple, connected \u201cwith the\npopular story of Deucalion the Scythian, who lived at the time of the\ngreat Deluge.\u201d It is curious that he should give to the Syrian Noah\nthe Greek name, and that he should speak of him as not a native, but\nas coming from the East, from Scythia. He says: \u201cOf this Deucalion\nhave I heard in Greece, what the Greeks relate. The story is this:\nThe present race of men is not the first, for that perished. This is\nthe second race which sprang from Deucalion, and was very numerous.\nThe earlier generation was very evil, and violated the Divine law.\nThey neither kept oaths nor showed hospitality; they took not the\nstranger in, nor protected him when he sought protection; therefore\na terrible destruction fell upon them. Much water gushed out of the\nearth, great rains poured down, and the sea rose and overwhelmed the\nearth. Deucalion alone of all men was preserved to another generation\non account of his wisdom and piety. He was thus saved. He went into a\ngreat ark which he had built, along with his wife and children. Then\ncame to him, pair by pair, cows, horses, lions, serpents, and all kinds\nof animals which are nourished on earth, and he took them all in. They\ndid not hurt him, for Zeus ordained a great friendship amongst them.\nSo they all sailed in the ark as long as the flood lasted. This is the\nGreek story of Deucalion.\n\n\u201cBut very wonderful is the confirmation of the history as it is related\nin Hierapolis. In the neighborhood of that city a great chasm opened\nwhich engulphed all the waters of the Flood. Thereupon Deucalion\nerected altars, and dedicated a temple to Here (Atergatis) over the\nchasm. I have seen this; it is very small: whether it was once large\nbut has since become smaller, I cannot say; but I saw that it was\nsmall. For the confirmation of the history the following takes place:\ntwice in the year the sea-water is brought into the temple. Not only\ndo the priests bear it, but all Syria and Arabia, and many from beyond\nEuphrates, come and carry water. They pour it out in the temple; then\nit runs down into the chasm, and, though it may be very small, it\ntakes in all the water poured into it. This they do, say they, because\nDeucalion instituted this rite as a memorial of his deliverance, and of\nthe mercy of God.\u201d[210]\n\nEqually fully has the Babylonian tradition reached us from the Chaldee\nhistory of the old priest of Bel, Berosus (B. C. 260). The Chaldees\nhad placed ten kings at the head of this mystic history, which answer\nto the ten generations in Genesis before the Flood. The last of these\npatriarchs was called Xisuthrus, who is the same as the Biblical Noah.\nBerosus relates the story of the Deluge thus: \u201cUnder the reign of\nXisuthrus there was a great flood. Kronos (_i. e._, Bel) appeared to\nXisuthrus in a dream, and warned him that all men would be destroyed\nby a deluge on the 15th of the month D\u00e6sios, and he commanded him to\nwrite down all the learning and science of men, and to hide it in the\nsun-city Siparis, and then to build a ship and to enter it along with\nhis family and relatives and nearest friends, and to take into it with\nhim food and drink, and beasts and winged fowl. When he was asked\nwhither he was about to sail, he was bidden reply: To the gods, to pray\nthem that men may prosper. He obeyed; and made an ark five stadia long\nand two wide, laid in what was commanded, and sailed with his wife\nand child and relatives. When the flood abated, Xisuthrus sent out a\nbird which, as it found no food nor ground on which to perch, returned\nto the ship. After a day, he sent out another bird; this came back\nwith mud on its feet. The third bird he sent out did not return. So\nXisuthrus knew that the land appeared, and he broke a hole in the ship\nand saw that the ship was stranded on a mountain; so he disembarked\nwith his wife and daughter and steersman; and when he had adored the\nearth, raised an altar, and offered to the gods, he vanished. Those\nwho remained in the ship also went out, when they saw that Xisuthrus\ndid not return, to seek Xisuthrus, and they called him by name. But\nXisuthrus appeared again no more, only his voice was heard bidding\nthem fear God, and telling them that he had taken to dwell with the\ngods, because he was pious. The same honor was accorded to his wife and\ndaughter and to the steersman.\u201d This refers to their being set in the\nsky as constellations: Xisuthrus as the water-bearer, the virgin, and\nsteersman still occupy their places there. \u201cHe bade them,\u201d continues\nBerosus, \u201creturn to Babylon, and, as Fate decreed, take his writings\nout of Siparis, and from them instruct men. The place where they found\nthemselves was Armenia. Some fragments of the ship remain on the\nmountains of the Kordy\u00e6ans in Armenia, and some take away particles and\nuse them as amulets.\u201d[211]\n\nEusebius has preserved a fragment of another Babylonian writer,\nAbydenos, which gives the same story precisely.[212]\n\nAnother Chaldee tradition preserved by Cassian is that, before the\nFlood. Ham concealed in the ground treaties of witchcraft and alchemy,\nand that, when the water abated, he recovered them.[213] According\nto Berosus also, Xisuthrus had three sons,--Zerovanos, Titan, and\nJapetosthes. Zerovanos is the same as Zoroaster.\n\nFrom Phrygia also come to us traces of a Diluvian tradition. A number\nof coins of Apamea, a city of Phrygia, between the rivers M\u00e6ander and\nMarsyas, of the period of Septimius Severus and the following emperors,\npossibly bear reference to this event.[214] One, a coin of Philip,\nbears on the reverse something like a box, containing a man and woman;\non the panel of the box, under the man, is written \u201cNoe,\u201d the dove is\nbringing the olive branch, and the raven is seated on the edge of the\nbox above the head of the female figure. The same two persons are also\nrepresented on dry land, with the right hand uplifted in the attitude\nof prayer. Another coin with the same subject, on the reverse has,\ninscribed on the ark, \u039d\u0397\u03a4\u03a9\u039d.\n\nTo elucidate these coins, reference is made to a passage in the\nSibylline Oracles to this effect: \u201cIn Phrygia lies steep, to be seen\nfrom afar, a mountain, named Ararat.... Therefrom streams the river\nMarsyas; but on its crest rested the ark (\u03ba\u03b9\u03b2\u03c9\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2) when the rain\nabated.\u201d[215] As the ancient name of Apamea seems to have been Kibotos,\nit is not unlikely that the Sibylline writer mixed together in those\nlines the Mosaic and the Phrygian traditions.\n\nIt must, however, be admitted that it is quite as probable that the box\nrepresents a temple, and the two figures tutelary deities, and that the\n\u201cNoe\u201d is a contraction for \u201cNeocoros,\u201d the most important title assumed\nby Greek cities, and often recorded on their coins.\n\nThe ancient Persian account in the Bundehesch is this:--\u201cTaschter (the\nspirit ruling the waters) found water for thirty days and thirty nights\nupon the earth. Every water-drop was as big as a bowl. The earth was\ncovered with water the height of a man. All idolaters on earth died\nthrough the rain; it penetrated all openings. Afterwards a wind from\nheaven divided the water and carried it away in clouds, as souls bear\nbodies; then Ormuzd collected all the water together and placed it as a\nboundary to the earth, and thus was the great ocean formed.\u201d[216]\n\nThe ancient Indian tradition is, \u201cthat in the reign of the sun-born\nmonarch Satyavrata, the whole earth was drowned, and the whole human\nrace destroyed by a flood, except the pious prince himself, the\nseven Rishis and their several wives.\u201d This general _pralaya_, or\ndestruction, is the subject of the first Purana, or sacred poem; and\nthe story is concisely told in the eighth book of the Bhagavata, from\nwhich the following is an abridged extract:--\u201cThe demon Hayagriva\nhaving purloined the Vedas from Brahma while he was reposing, the whole\nrace of man became corrupt, except the seven Rishis and Satyavrata.\nThis prince was performing his ablutions in the river Critamala, when\nVishnu appeared to him in the shape of a small fish, and after several\naugmentations of bulk in different waters, was placed by Satyavrata in\nthe ocean, when he thus addressed his amazed votary:--\u2018In seven days\nall creatures who have offended me shall be destroyed by a deluge;\nbut thou shalt be secured in a capacious vessel miraculously formed.\nTake, therefore, all kinds of medicinal herbs and esculent grain for\nfood, and together with the seven holy men, your respective wives,\nand pairs of all animals, enter the ark without fear; then shalt thou\nknow God face to face, and all thy questions shall be answered.\u2019\nSaying this, he disappeared; and, after seven days, the ocean began to\noverflow the coasts, and the earth to be flooded by constant showers,\nwhen Satyavrata, meditating on the Deity, saw a large vessel moving\non the waters: he entered it, having in all respects conformed to the\ninstructions of Vishnu, who, in the form of a large fish, suffered\nthe vessel to be tied with a great sea-serpent, as with a cable, to\nhis measureless horn. When the deluge had ceased, Vishnu slew the\ndemon and recovered the Vedas, and instructed Satyavrata in divine\nknowledge.\u201d[217]\n\nThe Mahabharata says that the boat containing Manu and his seven\ncompanions rested on Mount Naubhandanam, the highest peak of the\nHimalayas; and the name Naubhandanam signifies \u201cships stranding.\u201d[218]\n\nThe Greek traditions are not early, and were probably borrowed from\nSemitic sources. We have seen the story told by Lucian in his book\n\u201cDe Dea Syra,\u201d but in his \u201cTimon\u201d he follows the more authentic Greek\nlegend, and makes Deucalion escape in a little skiff (consequently\nwithout the animals), and land on Mount Lycoris.\n\nWe have also the same catastrophe somewhat differently related by\nOvid. The world he represents \u201cas confederate in crime,\u201d and doomed\ntherefore to just punishment. Jupiter sends down rain from heaven, and\nrivers and seas gushing forth from their caves gather over the earth\u2019s\nsurface, and sweep mankind away. Deucalion and his wife alone, borne in\na little skiff, are stranded on the top of Parnassus. By degrees, the\nwaters subside: the only surviving pair inquire of the gods how they\nmay again people the desert earth. They are ordered, with veiled heads,\nto throw behind them the bones of their great mother. Half doubtful as\nto the meaning of the oracle, they throw behind them stones, which are\nimmediately changed into men and women, and the earth spontaneously\nproduces the rest of the animal creation.[219]\n\nApollodorus relates the matter thus:--\u201cWhen Zeus determined to destroy\nthe brazen race, Deucalion, by the advice of Prometheus, made a great\nark, \u03bb\u03ac\u03c1\u03bd\u03b1\u03be, and put into it all necessary things, and entered it with\nPyrrha. Zeus then, pouring down heavy rains from heaven, overwhelmed\nthe greater part of Greece, so that all men perished except a few who\nfled to the highest mountains. He floated nine days and nights in the\nsea of waters, and at last stopped on Mount Parnassus. Then Zeus sent\nHermes to ask him what he wished, and he solicited that mankind might\nbe made again. Zeus bade him throw stones over his head, from which men\nshould come, and said that those cast by Pyrrha should be turned into\nwomen.\u201d\n\nStephanus of Byzantium says that the tradition was that after the\nsurface of the earth became dry, Zeus ordered Prometheus and Athene\nto make images of clay in the form of men; and when they were dry, he\ncalled the winds and made them breathe into each, and rendered them\nvital: and thus the earth after the Flood was repeopled.[220] Diodorus\nsays, \u201cIn the Deluge, which happened in the time of Deucalion, almost\nall flesh died.\u201d[221]\n\nThe Chinese begin their dynasties with Jao, the last of the old race,\nwhose words are thus recorded in the Schu-Kiug:--\u201cThe mighty waters\nof the flood spread themselves out, and overflowed, and drowned every\nthing. The mountains disappeared in the deep, and the hills were buried\nbeneath them. The foaming billows seemed to threaten heaven. All people\nwere drowned.\u201d[222] An ancient inscription, which the Chinese attribute\nto Yu, the third patriarch after the Flood, and which at least dates\nfrom before Christ, refers to this event:--\u201cThe illustrious Emperor\nJao said, sighing, \u2018Companions and counsellors! The great and little\nterritories up to the mountain\u2019s peak, the homes of birds, and wild\nbeasts, were overflowed far and wide. Long had I forgotten my home; now\nI rest upon the mountain top of Jo-lu.... The trouble is over, and the\nmisfortune is at an end; the streams of the south flow, clothes and\nfood are before us. The world is at rest, and the flying rain cannot\nagain destroy us.\u2019\u201d[223]\n\nIn one of the writings of the disciples of Tao-tse, the tradition\ntakes a fuller form. Kung-Kung, a bad spirit, enraged at having been\novercome in war, gave such a blow against one of the pillars of the sky\nwith his head that he broke it; and the vault of heaven fell in, and a\ntremendous flood overwhelmed the earth. But Niu-Noa overcame the water\nwith wood, and made a boat to save himself, which could go far; and he\npolished a stone of five colors--the rainbow--and therewith he fastened\nthe heavens, and lifted them up on a tortoise shell. Then he killed the\nblack dragon Kong-Kong, and choked the holes in heaven with the ashes\nof a pumpkin.[224] In the story of Jao there is also a faint trace\nof his connection with the rainbow, for he is said to have eyebrows\ncolored and shaped like rainbows.[225]\n\nThe Kamskadales say, \u201cthat in the remote ages when their great ancestor\nand God, Kutka, lived in Kamschatka, there was a mighty deluge. Many\nmen were drowned therein, but some tried to save themselves in boats,\nbut the waves overwhelmed them. Those who were saved were rescued on\ngreat rafts made of trees bound together, to which they retreated,\ntaking food and their property with them. And that they might not\ndrift out to sea, they anchored themselves with great stones, which\nthey tied to the edges and let down into the water. And when the flood\nabated, they rested on the top of a high mountain.\u201d[226]\n\nA Lapp tradition is that God once submerged the world, saving only one\nbrother and sister alive, whom He placed on Mount Passeware. When the\nwater disappeared, the children separated to wander over the earth,\nand see whether they alone remained alive. They met after three years,\nand then separated again, for they recognized one another as brother\nand sister. After three years they met, but turned their backs on one\nanother once more for the same reason. Again they met after the lapse\nof three years, and again they parted; but when they met again, after\nthree years\u2019 further absence, they no longer recognized each other, and\nso they took one another in marriage; and of them all generations of\nmen are come.[227]\n\nAmong the Kelts, the Deluge formed a prominent feature, and the ark was\nconnected with their most sacred religious rites.\n\nA Welsh legend is this:--\u201cOne of the most dreadful of events was the\noutbreak of Llyn Llion, the sea of seas, which overwhelmed the world\nand drowned all men except Dwyan and Dwyvach, who escaped in a bare\nboat and colonized Britain. This ship was one of the three masterpieces\nof Hu, and was built by the heavenly lord, Reivion; and it received\ninto it a pair of every kind of beasts when the Llyn Llion burst\nforth.\u201d Reivion is the same as Hu Cadarn, the discoverer of the vine;\nand it is said of him that \u201che built the ark laden with fruit, and it\nwas stayed up in the water, and carried forward by serpents;\u201d and of\nthe rainbow it was said, that the Woman of the silver wheel, Arianrhod,\nto control the wizards of night and evil spirits of tempest, and out of\nlove to the Britons, \u201cwove the stream of the rainbow,--a stream which\ndrives the storm from the earth, and makes its former destruction stay\nfar from it, throughout the world\u2019s circle.\u201d[228]\n\nThe Norse legend in the younger Edda is, \u201cB\u00f6r\u2019s sons (Odin, Vilj, and\nVe) slew the giant Ymir; and when he fell, so much blood (in poetic\nphraseology Ymir\u2019s blood signified water) ran out of the wounds, that\nthe whole race of the giants was drowned in it, except one, who with\nhis family escaped; this one was called Bergelmr. He got into a boat\nalong with his wife, and was thus saved.\u201d[229]\n\nThe Lithuanian myth was this:--When Pramzimas, the most high God,\nlooked out of his heavenly house upon the world through a window, he\nsaw that it was filled with violence. Then he sent Wind and Water to\ndevastate the earth, and this they did for twenty days and nights.\nPramzimas looked on, and as he looked on, he ate nuts at his window,\nand threw the shells down. One shell fell on the top of a mountain, and\nsome men, women, and beasts scrambled into it and were saved alive,\nwhile all the rest of the inhabitants of the world were drowned. When\nthe flood drained away, the pairs in the nutshell left it, and were\nscattered over the earth. Only one aged couple remained, and they\ncomplained; then God sent them the rainbow to console them, and bade\nthem jump over the bones of the earth. They jumped nine times, and nine\npairs of living human beings started to life, and founded the nine\nraces of Lithuanian blood.[230]\n\nAmong the negroes of Africa, traditions are faint, or have been little\nsought after and collected. The Jumala negroes say that once when the\nearth was full of cruelty and wickedness, the good Til destroyed it\nwith fire, and that one man alone was saved alive, named Musikdgen, _i.\ne._, the mountain chief, because he was found without blame.\n\nIn America the crop of traditions is abundant.\n\nThe Kolosches, living in Russian America, say that the first dweller\non the earth was Kitkhughia-si, and that he resolved to destroy all\nhis children who sinned against him. Thereupon he brought a flood over\nthe land, and all perished save a few who escaped in boats to the tops\nof mountains, where, say they, the remains of the boats, and the ropes\nwhich fastened them, remained to be seen.[231]\n\nAmong the Dog-rib Indians, Sir John Franklin found the story much\nmore complete; and as this tribe lives near the Polar Sea, far from\nany mission stations, it is scarcely possible that the story can have\nbeen derived from Christian teachers. They say that Tsch\u00e4piwih, their\ngreat ancestor, lived on a track between two seas. He built a weir,\nand caught fish in such abundance that they choked the water-course,\nand the water overflowed the earth. Tsch\u00e4piwih with his family entered\nhis canoe, and took with him all kinds of beasts and birds. The land\nwas covered for many days; at last Tsch\u00e4piwih could bear it no longer,\nso he sent out the beaver to look for the earth. But the beaver was\ndrowned. Then he sent out the muskrat, which had some difficulty in\nreturning, but it had mud on its paws. Tsch\u00e4piwih was glad to see the\nearth, and moulded it between his fingers, till it became an island on\nthe surface of the water, on which he could land.[232]\n\nThe Pacullies, on the west coast of New Georgia, say that at the Deluge\none man and one woman were saved by escaping into a cave; and they add\nthat when the earth was drowned, a water rat dived for it and brought\nit to the surface again.[233]\n\nA Caddoque tradition is, that Sakechah was a great hunter. One night\nhe saw in vision the Master of Life, who spoke to the dreamer in these\nwords:--\n\n\u201cThe world is getting very wicked, Sakechah.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know it,\u201d answered the hunter.\n\n\u201cI hear no longer the voices of men supplicating me for favors; they no\nlonger thank me for what I send them. I must sweep, wash, and purify\nthe earth; I must destroy all living creatures from off the face of it.\u201d\n\nThen Sakechah said, \u201cWhat have I done, Master of Life, that I should be\ninvolved in this general destruction?\u201d\n\nThe Master answered, \u201cNo, Sakechah, thou hast been a good servant; I\nwill except thee from the general doom. Go now, cut thee a hemlock,\nknock off the cones, and bring them, together with the trunk and\nleaves, to the bottom of the hill Wecheganawan. Burn them in a fire\nmade of the dry branches of the oak, kindled with the straw of wild\nrice. When the heap is reduced to ashes, take the ashes and strew them\nin a circle round the hill. Nothing need be gathered within the circle,\nfor the living creatures will of themselves retreat to it for safety;\nbut when this is done, take the trunk of the hemlock, and strike it\ninto the earth at the spot where the large tuft of grass is growing\non the barren hill. There lies the great fountain of water; and when\nthe staff is struck into the earth the fountain shall burst forth,\nand the earth be swept and washed and purified by the great deluge\nthat shall overwhelm it. Sakechah and his family shall alone, of all\nthe inhabitants of the earth, be saved; and the creatures he assembles\naround him on the hill Wecheganawan be alone those exempted from the\nall-sweeping destruction.\u201d\n\nThe hunter obeyed. He took the staff and stuck it deep into the earth\nat the place indicated, and the great fountain was broken up, and the\nwaters burst forth in a mighty volume. Slowly the element began to\ncreep over the earth, while the hunter and his family looked on. Now\nthe low grounds appeared but as they appear in the season of showers;\nhere a little water, and there a little water; soon they became one\nvast sheet. Now a little hill sank from view, then the tops of trees\ndisappeared; again a tall hill hid its head. At length the waves rose\nso high that Sakechah could see nothing more; he stood as it were in a\nwell. The waters were piled up on every side of him, restrained from\nharming him, or his, or the beasts that had clustered around him, by\nthe magic belt of hemlock ashes.\n\n\u201cSakechah!\u201d said the Master of Life, \u201cwhen the moon is exactly over\nthy head, she will draw the waters to the hill. She is angry with me\nbecause I scourged a comet. I cannot prevent her revenge unless I\ndestroy her, and that I may not do, as she is my wife. Therefore bid\nevery living creature that is on the hill take off the nail from the\nlittle finger of his right hand, if a man; if a bird, or beast, of the\nright foot or claw. When each has done this, bid him blow in the hollow\nof the nail with the right eye shut, saying these words, \u2018Nail become a\ncanoe, and save me from the wrath of the moon.\u2019 The nail will become a\nlarge canoe, and in this canoe will its owner be safe.\u201d\n\nThe Great Spirit was obeyed, and shortly every creature was floating in\na boat on the surface of the water. And, lest they should be dispersed,\nSakechah bound them together by thongs of buffalo-hide.\n\nThey continued floating for a long time, till at last Sakechah said,\n\u201cThis will not do--we must have land. Go,\u201d said he to a raven that sat\nin his canoe near him, \u201cfetch me a little earth from the bottom of\nthe abyss. I will send a female, because women are quicker and more\nsearching than men.\u201d\n\nThe raven, proud of the praise bestowed on her sex, left her tail\nfeathers at home, and dived into the abyss. She was gone a long time,\nbut, notwithstanding her being a woman, she returned baffled of her\nobject. Whereupon Sakechah said to the otter, \u201cMy little man, I will\nsend you to the bottom, and see if your industry and perseverance\nwill enable you to accomplish what has been left undone by the wit\nand cunning of the raven.\u201d So the otter departed upon his dangerous\nexpedition. He accomplished his object. When he again appeared on the\nearth, he held in his paw a lump of black mud. This he gave into the\nhands of Sakechah; and the Great Master bade him divide the lump into\nfive portions; that which came out of the middle of the lump he was\ncommanded to mould into a cake and to cast into the water: he did so,\nand it became dry land, on which he could disembark; and the earth thus\nformed was repeopled from his time. No matter whether the men of the\nearth be red or white, all are descended from Sakechah.[234]\n\nThe Iroquois tell a very similar story, differing from the above in\nmerely a few trivial particulars. According to the tradition of the\nKnistineaux on the Upper Missouri, all men perished in the Deluge\nexcept one woman, who caught the leg of a bird which carried her to the\ntop of a rock, where she was confined of twins, of whom the earth was\npeopled.[235]\n\nThe Appalachian tribe in Florida is a relic of a more ancient nation\nthan the North American Indian tribes. They relate that the lake Theomi\nburst its bounds, and overflowed the earth, and stood above the top of\nthe highest mountains, saving only the peak Oldamy, on which stood a\ntemple to the sun. Those men who had succeeded in reaching this temple\nwere saved, but all the rest perished.[236]\n\nAccording to the Cherokees, a dog foresaw the destruction that was\ncoming on the earth. It went every day to the bank of a river and\nhowled; and when its master rebuked it, it revealed to him what was\nabout to take place. The man therefore built a boat and entered it with\nhis family, and he alone of all mankind was saved.[237]\n\nIf we turn to Central America, we find that there also traditions of\nthe Flood abounded.\n\nThe ancient inhabitants of Mexico related the event as follows:--\n\nThere was a great deluge which destroyed all men and beasts, save\nCoxcox and his wife Chichequetzal, who escaped in a cyprus trunk and\nlanded on Mount Colhuacan, where they became parents of many children,\nwho, however, were all dumb. Then appeared a dove, which seated\nitself on a high tree, and taught them language. But as none of them\nunderstood the speech of the other, they separated and dispersed over\nthe world. Fifteen heads of families, however, had the good fortune to\nspeak the same language. These lived together in the same place, but\nat last they moved, and after 104 years of wandering they settled in\nAztlan. Thence they journeyed to Chiapultepeque, and then returned to\nthe Mount Colhuacan and settled in Mexico.[238]\n\nThere was a story of similar description connected with the ancient\ncity of Cholula in the modern province of Puebla. \u201cBefore the great\nflood in the year 4,008 after the creation of the world, the land\nAnaknac (Mexico) was peopled with giants. All those who did not perish,\nwith the exception of seven, escaped into holes, and were transformed\ninto fish. When the deluge was over, one of these giants, Xelhuaz\nby name, the builder, went to Cholula, and built a pyramid on Mount\nTlalok, to commemorate his having been saved thereon along with his six\nbrothers.\u201d[239]\n\nThe inhabitants of Mechoacan related that, on account of the iniquity\nof men, a flood was sent to sweep them all away; but a priest, named\nTezbi, along with his wife and children, were saved in a box of wood\ninto which they had entered along with all kinds of seeds and animals.\nAfter some time Tezbi, wearying of his confinement, sent forth the\nvulture, which however did not return to him; then he sent forth other\nbirds, but they did not come back; finally, he sent out the Colibri,\nwhich returned with a branch in its beak.[240] And of this event they\nhad paintings in their temples which they showed to the white men who\narrived amongst them.\n\nThe Indians in Cuba told a similar story, so did those at St. Domingo\nand the Antilles.[241]\n\nNor is South America without a rich crop of similar legends, Humboldt\nsays, \u201cThis belief (in a deluge) is not found merely among the\nTamanaks, but is a portion of a whole system of historical traditions\nof which the scattered accounts are to be gathered from the Maipures of\nthe Great Cataract, the Indians of Rio-Crevato, which pours into the\nCauca, and almost from all the races in the Upper Orinoko.\u201d[242]\n\nThis is the tradition of the Tamanaks. \u201cAt the time of our ancestors\nthe whole earth was overflowed. Then two persons alone were saved, a\nman and a woman, who remained on Mount Tamanaku, which is not far from\nthe Cucivero river, where our ancestors formerly dwelt. They lamented\nsore over the loss of their friends and relations, and as they wandered\nsadly about the mountain they heard a voice which told them to cast\nthe kernels of the nuts of the _Palma Mauritia_ back-wards over their\nshoulders. They did so, and out of the nuts cast by the woman rose\nfemales, and out of those cast by the man sprang males.\u201d[243]\n\nThe Peruvians related that their first king and founder of their\nnation, Manco Capak, along with his wife Mama Ocllo, after the great\ndeluge left their land, and came from the holy island in the lake\nTiticaca, on which the sun cast its first beam when the flood drained\naway.[244]\n\nA Brazilian legend is that the Evil Spirit Arbomoku, and the spirits of\nthe air, made a compact together to destroy mankind. The former opened\nall the fountains of the earth, the latter poured the clouds upon the\nground and inundated it, so that only one mountain-top appeared above\nthe water, and on that took refuge two persons, a brother and a sister,\nfrom whom all the new generations sprang.[245]\n\n\n\n\nXVI.\n\nTHE PLANTING OF THE VINE.\n\n\nBowed under his toil, dripping with perspiration, stood the patriarch\nNoah, laboring to break the hard clods. All at once Satan appeared and\nsaid to him,--\n\n\u201cWhat new undertaking have you in hand? What new fruit do you expect to\nextract from these clods?\u201d\n\n\u201cI plant the grape,\u201d answered the patriarch.\n\n\u201cThe grape! proud plant, most precious fruit! joy and delight to men!\nYour labor is great; will you allow me to assist you? Let us share the\nlabor of producing the vine.\u201d\n\nThe patriarch in a fit of exhaustion consented.\n\nSatan hastened, got a lamb, slaughtered it, and poured its blood over\nthe clods of earth. \u201cThence shall it come,\u201d said Satan, \u201cthat those who\ntaste of the juice of the grape, shall be soft-spirited and gentle as\nthis lamb.\u201d\n\nBut Noah sighed; Satan continued his work; he caught a lion, slew that,\nand poured the blood upon the soil prepared for the plant. \u201cThence\nshall it come,\u201d said he, \u201cthat those who taste the juice of the grape\nshall be strong and courageous as the lion.\u201d\n\nNoah shuddered. Satan continued his work; he seized a pig and\nslaughtered it, and drenched the soil with its blood. \u201cThence shall\nit come,\u201d said he, \u201cthat those who drink of the juice of the grape in\nexcess, shall be filthy, degraded, and bestial as the swine.\u201d[246]\n\nThe Mussulman tradition is somewhat similar.\n\n\u201cWhen Ham had planted the vine, Satan watered it with the blood of a\npeacock. When it thrust forth leaves, he sprinkled it with the blood of\nan ape; when it formed grapes, he drenched it with the blood of a lion;\nwhen the grapes were ripe, he watered it with the blood of a swine.\n\n\u201cThe vine, watered by the blood of these four animals, has assumed\nthese characters. The first glass of wine makes a man animated, his\nvivacity great, his color is heightened. In this condition he is like\nthe peacock. When the fumes of the liquor rise into his head, he is\ngay, leaps and gambols as an ape. Drunkenness takes possession of him,\nhe is like a furious lion. When it is at its height, he is like the\nswine; he falls and grovels on the ground, stretches himself out, and\ngoes to sleep.\u201d[247]\n\nMohammed, to justify his forbidding his disciples to drink wine, cites\nthe history of the two angels, Arot and Harot.\n\n\u201cGod,\u201d says he, \u201ccharged them with a commission on the earth. A young\nlady invited them to dinner, and they found the wine so good that they\ngot drunk. They then remarked that their hostess was beautiful, and\nthey were filled with love which they declared to her. This lady, who\nwas prudent, replied that she would only listen to their protestations\nwhen she knew the words by which they were enabled to ascend to heaven.\nWhen she had learned these words, she mounted to the throne of God,\nwho, as a reward for her virtue, transformed her into a shining star\n(the Morning Star), and condemned the two drunken angels to await the\nday of judgment, suspended by their heels in the well of Babel, near\nBagdad, which Mussulman pilgrims visit.\u201d\n\nAccording to Tabari,[248] Ham, for having laughed at his father\u2019s\ndrunkenness, was cursed by Noah, that his skin should become black,\nas well as all the fruits which were to grow in the land he should\ninhabit, and thus the purple grape arose. It was the white grape that\nHam transplanted, but it blackened in his hands.\n\nAbulfaraj relates that after the Deluge, Noah divided the habitable\nworld between his sons. He gave to Ham the country of the Black, to\nShem that of the Brown, and to Japheth that of the Red.[249] Noah also,\nhe continues, said to his son Shem, \u201cWhen I am dead, take the bier of\nour father Adam from the ark, and, together with your son Melchizedek,\nwho is a priest of the Most High, go with the body of Adam whither an\nangel shall guide you.\u201d\n\nThis they did; and an angel directed them to mount Breitalmakdes\n(Jerusalem), where they deposited the bier on a certain hill, and\ninstantly it sank out of their sight into the ground. Then Shem\nreturned to his home, but not so Melchizedek, who remained to guard the\nbody of Adam: and he built there a city called Jerusalem, and he was\ncalled Melek Salim, the King of Peace, and there he spent the rest of\nhis life in the worship of God; he touched not women, nor shed blood,\nbut offered to God oblations of bread and wine.[250]\n\nEutychius, the Egyptian patriarch of Alexandria, in his Annals, which\nare rife with Oriental traditions, gives a fuller account of the same\nincident.\n\nWhen Noah was near his death, he bade Shem take the body of Adam,\nand go with Melchizedek, son of Peleg, whither the angel of the Lord\nshould lead. \u201cAnd,\u201d said he, \u201cthou shalt enjoin on Melchizedek to fix\nhis habitation there, to take to him no wife, and to spend his life in\nacts of devotion, for God has chosen him to preserve His true worship.\nHe shall build himself no house, nor shall he shed blood of beast, or\nbird, or any animal; nor shall he offer there any oblation save bread\nand wine; and let the skins of lions be his only vesture; he shall\nremain alone there; he shall not clip his hair, or pare his nails;\nfor he is a priest of the Most High. The angel of God shall go before\nyou, till ye come to the place where ye shall bury the body of Adam,\nand know that that place is the middle of the world.\u201d Now Noah died on\nWednesday, at the second hour, in the second month of Ayar, which is\nthe same as Bashnes, in the nine hundred and fiftieth year of his age.\nAnd this year Shem was aged forty-five. The sons of Noah buried him,\nand bewailed him forty days.[251]\n\nThe wife of Noah is said by some to have been called Bath-Enos, or\nthe daughter of Enos; but the Rabbi Gedaliah says her name was Noema;\nothers say it was Tethiri, or Tith\u0153a, the nurse of men, as Eve was\nthe mother of men. The Gnostics called her Noria. She is, however,\ngenerally supposed by the Rabbis to have been Naamah, the sister of\nTubal-cain.[252] But Eutychius, of Alexandria, says she was called\nHaical, and was the daughter of Namus, son of Enoch; and that the wives\nof Shem, Ham, and Japheth were the three daughters of Methuselah.\nShem\u2019s wife was named Salith; the wife of Ham, Nahlath; and the wife of\nJapheth, Arisivah.[253]\n\nThe nurse of Noah was an important personage, and must not be\nforgotten. She was named Sambethe, and was the first Sibyl. Suidas, the\ngrammarian, says, \u201cThe Chaldee Sibyl, named Sambethi by the Hebrews,\nand identified with the Persian Sibyl, was of the race of Noah. She\nforetold those things which were to befall Alexander of Macedon. She\nalso predicted the coming of the Lord Christ, and many other things,\nthrough divine inspiration.\u201d[254]\n\n\n\n\nXVII.\n\nTHE SONS OF NOAH.\n\n\nHam, the accursed, the third son of Noah, was the inventor or the\npreserver of magic. As we have already seen, he buried the books\nof magic which existed in the world, before the Deluge swept over\nthe globe; and when it abated he exhumed them. Cerco d\u2019Ascoli, in\nthe fourth chapter of his \u201cCommentary on the Sphere of Sacrabosco,\u201d\ndeclares that he had seen a book of magic which had been composed by\nHam, \u201cwhich contained the elements and practice of necromancy.\u201d Certain\nit is that apocryphal books of alchemy and conjuration of spirits\nexisted in the Middle Ages, which purported to have been composed by\nHam.\n\nHam was turned black, according to the Talmud, because he did not\nmaintain himself in perfect continence whilst in the ark;[255] other\nauthorities say his skin became sooty in consequence of his scoffing\nat his father\u2019s drunkenness; and Japheth, for having smiled, says the\nMussulman lost the gift of prophecy from his family.[256]\n\nBerosus supposed that Ham was the same as Zoroaster.\n\nJapheth, according to Khondemir, was given by his father all the land\nto the east and north of Ararat; he was the progenitor of the Turks,\nthe Sclaves, of Gog and Magog, says Tabari. Before he started with his\nfamily to people these countries, Noah gave him a stone, on which was\nwritten the great name of God. The Turks say that, by means of this\nstone, Noah was able to guide the course of the ark without sail or\noars. The Turks have similar stones, which, they pretend, came by a\nprocess of generation from the parental stone given to Japheth.[257]\nHe is said by the Mussulmans to have had eleven male children: Sin\nor Tchin, the father of the Chinese; Scklab, the ancestor of the\nSclavonian races; Manschug or Magog, the parent of the Scythians\nand Kalmuks; Gomari, the father of the Franks; Turk and Khalos, the\nancestors of the Turks; Khozaz, from whom the Khozarans trace their\npedigree; Rus, father of the Russians; Souffan, Ghoy, and Tarag, from\nwhom the Turcomans derive.\n\nIlak, son of Turk, discovered the use of salt by having let fall a\npiece of meat he was eating on the ground covered with saline deposit.\n\nOf Shem the Rabbis have somewhat to say. \u201cI have found in the Midrash\nthat the Rabbi Johanan, son of Nuri, said: \u2018The holy, ever-blessed God\ntook Shem, son of Noah, and consecrated him priest of the Most High,\nthat he should minister before Him: and He let his Majesty dwell with\nHim, and He gave him the name Melchizedek, a priest of the Most High\nGod, king of Salem. His brother Japheth learnt the law of him in his\nschool, till Abraham came, who learnt it in the school of Shem. For\nthis Abraham obtained, praying to God that his Majesty should remain\nand dwell in the house of Shem, wherefore it was said of him, _Thou art\na priest forever after the order of Melchizedek_.\u2019\u201d[258]\n\nShem learned his knowledge from the Book of Wisdom which Raphael,\nthe holy angel, gave to Adam; but Shem\u2019s instructor was the angel\nJophiel.[259]\n\nThe Rabbi Gerson writes in his book called \u201cSepher geliloth erez\nIsrael,\u201d that having travelled through the lands of Og, king of Bashan,\nhe saw there a grave which measured eighty ells, and it was indicated\nto him as the sepulchre of Shem.[260] A curious tradition that Shem,\nHam, and Japheth fell asleep in a cave, and woke up at the Nativity of\nChrist, and that they were themselves the three wise men who came to\nadore Him, shall be mentioned more fully when we treat of the legends\nconnected with the New Testament characters.\n\nShem is said to have received the priesthood instead of Noah, because\nNoah was bitten by the lion as he was leaving the ark, and, being\nsuffused with blood, became incapable of receiving the priesthood.\n\nShem is believed to have written many books, and apocryphal writings of\nhis exist.\n\n\n\n\nXVIII.\n\nRELICS OF THE ARK.\n\n\nWe have already seen that Berosus relates how in his time portions of\nthe ark were removed, and used as amulets. Josephus says that remains\nof the ark were to be seen at his day upon Ararat; and Nicolas of\nDamascus reports the same. S. Epiphanius writes: \u201cThe wood of the ark\nof Noah is shown to this day in the Kard\u00e6n (Koord) country.\u201d[261] And\nhe is followed by a host of fathers. El Macin, in his History of the\nSaracens, relates that the Emperor Heraclius visited the relics after\nhe had conquered the Persians, in the city of Thenia, at the roots of\nArarat. Haithon, the Armenian, declares that upon the snows of Ararat a\nblack speck is visible at all times: this is Noah\u2019s ark.[262] Benjamin\nof Tudela, in his Itinerary, says that all the wood was carried away\nby the Caliph Omar, in A. D. 640, and was placed by him in a temple or\nmosque he erected in an island formed by the Tigris. One of the beams\nis shown in the Lateran at Rome. In 1670, Johann Jansenius Strauss\nascended to a hermit\u2019s cell on the side of Ararat, to bind up the\nc\u0153nobite\u2019s leg which was broken. The hermit\u2019s cell, said Strauss, was\nfive days\u2019 journey up the mountain, athwart three clouds, and above\na region of intolerable cold, in a calm warm atmosphere. From the\naccount of the hermit, Herr Strauss learnt that the old man had dwelt\nthere twenty-five years, and that he had felt there neither rain nor\nwinds. On the top of the mountain, fifteen Italian miles from the cell,\nthrough the clear air, was distinguishable the great vessel grounded in\nthe snow. The hermit had reached it, and of one of its planks had cut a\ncross, which he exhibited to the German traveller.\n\nIn the town of Chenna, in Arabia Felix, says the traveller Pr\u00e9voux, is\na large building, said to have been erected by Noah; and a large piece\nof wood is exhibited through an iron grating, which is said to have\nformed a portion of his ark. There is also to be seen at Chenna a well,\nsaid to have been dug by the patriarch Jacob, of which the water is icy\ncold.\n\nThe Armenians say that a certain monk, Jacob, once ascended Ararat,\nand carried off a fragment of the ark, which he made afterwards into a\ncross, and this is preserved amongst the sacred relics of Etchmiadzin.\nWhen the Persian king, Abassus the great, sent to inquire about the\nark, the monks replied that it was in vain for him to attempt to\nreach it, on account of the precipices and glaciers, and innumerable\ndifficulties of the way.[263]\n\n\n\n\nXIX.\n\nCERTAIN DESCENDANTS OF HAM.\n\n\nWe shall follow certain Mussulman traditions for what follows. Ad,\nson of Amalek, therefore grandson of Ham, established himself in\nArabia, where he became chief of the tribe of the Adites. He fell into\nidolatry. He had two sons named Schedad and Scheded, who reigned over\nnumerous subjects--one for two hundred and fifty, the other for three\nhundred years. They built a superb city, where houses were of sumptuous\nmagnificence; the like of this city was never seen before, nor will\nbe seen again. This city vanished when the tribe of the Adites was\nexterminated; as we shall relate when we give the legends attaching to\nHeber. The commentators of the Koran tell marvels of this wondrous city.\n\nUnder the Khalifate of Moawiyah, first of the Ommiades, an Arab of the\ndesert, named Kolabah, going in quest of his camel in the plain of\nAden, lighted on the gate of a beautiful city. He went in, but, being\nfilled with fear, he did not remain there more time than sufficed for\nhim to collect some of the stones of the street, and then he returned.\n\nHis neighbors, to whom he relates his adventure, repeated it to the\nKhalif, who ordered Kolabah to be brought before him. The Arab related\nfrankly what he had seen, but Moawiyah would not give credence to the\nmarvellous tale, till he had consulted his learned men, and especially\nthe illustrious Al-Akhbar, who assured him that the story of the poor\nArab was worthy of all trust, for the city he had seen was none other\nthan that built by Schedad, son of Ad, in the land of the Adites in\nwhich Aden is situated; and that, as the pride of this prince knew no\nbounds, God had sent His angel to destroy all the inhabitants, and\nconceal their splendid city from the eyes of men, to be revealed only\nat intervals, that the memory of God\u2019s judgment might not fade out of\nmen\u2019s minds.\n\nSchedad had a son named Dhohak, of whom strange tales are told. He knew\nmagic, and gained the sovereignty over the entire universe; and he kept\nhis subjects in terror by excessive cruelty. In the Caherman-N\u00e2meh it\nis related that the Devil, satisfied with his proceedings, offered\nhim his services gratuitously, and they were cheerfully accepted. The\nferocity of the tyrant increased, he skinned men alive, impaled and\ncrucified them on the slightest charges.\n\nAfter having served him five years, the Evil One thus addressed him:\n\u201cSire! for many years I have been thy faithful attendant, neither\nhave I received of thee any recompense. Now I beseech of thee one\nfavor--that I may kiss thy shoulders.\u201d\n\nThis favor was readily granted. Dhohak himself plucked off his mantle\nto facilitate the kiss.\n\nBut no sooner had the Devil applied his lips to the two shoulders of\nthe tyrant, than two serpents, which could not be plucked off, fastened\nthere and began to gnaw his flesh.\n\nTabari says that the king bore on his shoulders two frightful ulcers or\ncancers, resembling serpents\u2019 heads, sent him by God as a punishment\nfor his crimes. These cancers caused him such acute agony, that he\nshrieked night and day. No one was able to provide a remedy or to abate\nthe torment.\n\nOne night when he was asleep, some one appeared to him in a dream, and\nsaid, \u201cIf you desire your ulcers to give less pain, apply to them human\nbrains.\u201d\n\nNext day, Dhohak awoke and ordered two men to be brought before him; he\nslew them, cut open their skulls, extracted the brains and applied them\nto his cancers. The relief was instantaneous, and Dhohak felt, for the\nfirst time for many days, some hours of repose.\n\nAfter this, every day two men were killed to form poultices for his\nulcers. During the two hundred latter years of the life of Dhohak, the\nprisons were emptied to satisfy his requirement for fresh brains; and\nwhen no more criminals could be procured, it was made a tribute for his\nkingdom to render to him two men, each day, to be immolated to soothe\nhis pain.\n\nNow there was at Ispahan a blacksmith, named Kaveh, who had two\nbeautiful sons, whom he loved more dearly than his own life. One day\nthey were seized, carried before the king, and his shoulders were\npoulticed with their brains.\n\nKaveh was at work at his anvil when the news of the slaying of his\nsons reached him. He deserted his anvil; and uttering a piercing\ncry, he rushed into the streets, with his leathern apron before him,\nbitterly lamenting his loss, and calling for vengeance on the monarch.\nThe people crowded about him, they plucked off his leather apron, and\nconverted it into a standard.\n\nThe crowd gathered as it advanced. From every street men flowed to join\nthe army, and shortly the blacksmith found himself at the head of a\nhundred thousand men.\n\nThey marched to Demavend, where was the palace of the tyrant. And\nKaveh, before attacking it, thus addressed his soldiers, \u201cI am not one\nto lead you against a king; you need a king to make war against a king.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said his followers, \u201cwe elect you to be our king.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am but a simple blacksmith, and am not fit to rule,\u201d answered Kaveh,\n\u201cbut there is a royal prince named Afridoun, the son of Djemschid, who\nis fled from the cruelty of Dhohak: choose him.\u201d\n\nThey agreed. The prince was found and invested with the sovereignty;\nthen a battle was fought, and Dhohak\u2019s army was routed, and the tyrant\nwas slain.\n\nWhen Afridoun mounted the throne, he named Kaveh governor of Ispahan.\nAnd when Kaveh was dead, the king asked his children to give him their\nfather\u2019s leathern apron. Then, having obtained it, he placed it among\nhis treasures, and whenever he went to battle he attached the smith\u2019s\napron to a tall staff, and marched under that banner against his\nenemies.\n\nIn after years, this leathern apron was studded with precious stones,\ntill Omar, despising it, ordered the old piece of leather to be burnt;\nbut Yezdeguerd had already robbed it of its gems.[264]\n\nAfridoun exercised the sovereignty during two hundred years. He was\nthe first to study astronomy, and he founded the science of medicine.\nHe was the first king to ride on an elephant. He had three sons, Tur,\nSalm, and Irad. He loved the third son, Irad, more than the two elder,\nand he gave him the sovereignty over Irad, Mosul, Koufa, Bagdad.\n\nAfter the death of Afridoun, Tur and Salm marched against Irad,\ndefeated him and killed him, saying: \u201cOur father has divided his\ninheritance unjustly. He has given to Irad the best portion, the centre\nof the world; as for us, we are cast out to its extremities.\u201d\n\nOn the death of Tur and Salm, the crown left this family, and passed to\na king named Cush, who was of the sons of Ham, the son of Noah. Cush\nreigned forty years. After him Canaan ascended the throne. Cush and\nCanaan worshipped idols. It is said that Nimrod was the son Canaan.\nWhen Canaan died, Nimrod succeeded him. Nimrod had a vizir named\nAzar (Terah), son of Nahor, son of Sarough (Serug), who was sixth in\ngeneration from Noah. This Azar was the father of Abraham, the friend\nof God.\n\nFrom the time of the Deluge to the time of Abraham was three thousand\nyears. During that period, there was no prophet save Hud (Eber), who\nwas sent to the Adites, and Saleh, who was sent to the Thamudites.\n\nWe shall relate the history of Hud and of Saleh, and then return to\nthat of Nimrod.[265]\n\n\n\n\nXX.\n\nSERUG.\n\n\n\u201c_And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg._\n\n\u201c_And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu. And Reu lived two and\nthirty years, and begat Serug. And Serug lived thirty years, and begat\nNahor._\u201d[266]\n\nSerug is said to have discovered the art of coining gold and silver\nmoney. In his days men erected many idols, into which demons entered\nand wrought great signs by them. Samiri was king of the Chaldees, and\nhe discovered weights and measures and how to weave silk, and also how\nto dye fabrics. He is related to have had three eyes and two horns.\n\nAt the same time Apiphanus was king of Egypt. He built a ship, and in\nit made practical descents upon the neighboring people living on the\nshores of the Mediterranean Sea. He was succeeded by Pharaoh, son of\nSaner, and the kings after him assumed his name as their title.[267]\n\nNahor was the son of Serug. In the twenty-fifth year of his life, Job\nthe Just, underwent his trial, according to the opinion of Arudha the\nCanaanite. At that time Armun, king of Canaan, built the two cities\nSodom and Gomorrah, and called them after the names of his two sons;\nbut Zoar he named after his mother. At the same time, Murk or Murph,\nking of Palestine, built Damascus.[268]\n\n\n\n\nXXI.\n\nTHE PROPHET EBER.\n\n\n\u201c_Unto Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of\nJapheth the elder, even to him were children born._\n\n\u201c_The children of Shem;--Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad and Lud and\nAram._\n\n\u201c_And the children of Aram;--Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash._\n\n\u201c_And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber._\u201d[269]\n\nAccording to some Mussulman writers, Oudh (Lud), the son of Shem, had a\nson named Ad; but, according to others, Ad was the son of Aram, son of\nShem.\n\nThe tribes of Ad and Thamud lived near one another in the desert of\nHedjaz, in the south of Arabia. The land of the people of Ad was nearer\nMecca than the valley of Hidjr, and the valley of Hidjr is situated at\nthe extremity of the desert on the road to Syria.\n\nNever in all the world were there such great and mighty men as the\nAdites. Each of them was twelve cubits high, and they were so strong\nthat if any of them stamped on the ground he sank up to his knees.\n\nThe Adites raised great monuments in the land which they inhabited.\nWherever these Cyclopean edifices exist, they are called by the Arabs\nthe constructions of the Adites.\n\nGod ordered the prophet Hud (Eber) to go to the Adites and preach to\nthem the One true God, and turn them from idolatry. But the Adites\nwould not hearken to his words, and when he offered them the promises\nof God, they said, \u201cWhat better dwellings can He give us than those\nwhich we have made?\u201d And when he spoke to them of God\u2019s threatenings,\nthey mocked and said, \u201cWho can resist us who are so strong?\u201d\n\nFor fifty years did the prophet Hud speak to the Adites, and their\nreply to his exhortations is preserved in the Koran, \u201cO Hud, you\nproduce no evidence of what you advance; we will not abandon our gods\nbecause of your preaching. We mistrust your mission. We believe that\none of our gods bears a hatred against you.\u201d\n\nHud replied, \u201cI take God to witness, and you also be witnesses, that I\nam innocent of your polytheism.\u201d[270]\n\nThe words of the Adites, \u201cWe believe that one of our gods bears a\nhatred against thee,\u201d signified that they believed one of their gods\nhad driven him mad.\n\nDuring the fifty years that Hud\u2019s mission lasted, the Adites believed\nneither in God nor in the prophet, with the exception of a very few,\nwho believed in secret.\n\nAt the end of that time God withheld the rain from heaven, and\nafflicted the Adites with drought. All the cattle of Ad died, and the\nAdites fainted for lack of water. For three years no rain fell.\n\nHud said to the Adites, \u201cBelieve in God, and He will give you rain.\u201d\n\nThey replied, \u201cThou art mad.\u201d But they choose three men to send to\nMecca with victims; for the infidels believe in the sanctity of Mecca,\nthough they believe not in the One true God.\n\nBut Eber said, \u201cYour sacrifices will be unavailing, unless you first\nbelieve.\u201d\n\nThe three deputies started for Mecca with many camels, oxen, and sheep,\nas sacrifices. And when they reached Mecca they made friends with the\ninhabitants of that city, and were received with hospitality. They\npassed their days and nights in eating and drinking wine, and in their\ndrunkenness they forgot their people, and the mission on which they\nhad been sent. The inhabitants of Mecca ordered musicians to sing the\nafflictions of the Adites, to recall to the envoys the purpose of their\nvisit. Then Lokman and Morthed, two of the deputies, declared to Qa\u00efl,\nthe third, that they believed in Allah; and they added, \u201cIf our people\nhad believed the words of the prophet Hud, they would not have suffered\nfrom drought,\u201d and Lokman and Morthed were not drunk when they said\nthese words.\n\nQa\u00efl replied, \u201cYou do not partake in the affliction of our nation. I\nwill go myself and will offer the victims.\u201d\n\nHe went and led the beasts to the top of a mountain to sacrifice them,\nand turning his face to heaven, he said, \u201cO God of heaven, hearken unto\nmy prayer, and send rain on my poor afflicted people.\u201d\n\nInstantly there appeared three clouds is the blue sky: one was red, one\nwas black, the third was white; and a voice issued from the clouds,\nsaying, \u201cChoose which shall descend upon thy people.\u201d\n\nThen Qa\u00efl said within himself, \u201cThe white cloud, if it hung all day\nover my nation, would not burst in rain; the red cloud, if it hung over\nthem night and day, would not drop a shower; but the black cloud is\nheavy with water.\u201d So he chose the black cloud.\n\nAnd a voice cried, \u201cIt is gone to fall upon the people.\u201d\n\nQa\u00efl returned full of joy, thinking he had obtained rain; but that\ncloud was big with the judgments of God. Qa\u00efl told what he had done to\nhis companions, Lokman and Morthed, but they laughed at him.\n\nNow the cloud, when it arrived over the land of Ad, was accompanied by\na wind. And the Adites looked up rejoicing, and cried, \u201cThe rain, the\nrain is coming!\u201d\n\nThen the cloud gaped, and a dry whirlwind rolled out from it, and swept\nup all the cattle that were in the land, and raised them in the air,\nspun them about, and dashed them lifeless on the ground.\n\nBut the Adites said, \u201cFear not; first comes wind, then comes rain.\u201d And\nthey rushed out of their houses into the fields. Hud thought they were\ncoming forth to ask his assistance; but they sought him not. Then the\nwhirlwind caught them up and cast them down again. Now each of these\nmen was like a palm-tree in statue, and they lay shattered and lifeless\non the sand.\n\nHud was saved, along with those who had believed his word.\n\nNow when the envoys at Mecca heard what had befallen their people, they\nwent all three to the summit of the mountain, and Lokman and Morthed\nsaid to Qa\u00efl, \u201cBelieve.\u201d But he answered, raising his face and hands\nto heaven: \u201cO God of heaven, if thou hast destroyed my people, slay me\nalso.\u201d\n\nThen the whirlwind came, and rushed on him, and caught him up and cast\nhim down, and he was dead.\n\nBut Lokman and Morthed offered their sacrifice, and a voice from heaven\nsaid, \u201cWhat is your petition?\u201d\n\nLokman answered: \u201cO Lord, grant me a long life, that I may outlive\nseven vultures.\u201d Now a vulture is the longest-lived of all birds; it\nlives five hundred years.\n\nAnd the voice replied, \u201cHowever long thy life may be, death will close\nit.\u201d\n\nLokman said, \u201cI know; that is true.\u201d\n\nThen his prayer was granted. And Lokman took a young vulture and fed it\nfor five hundred years, and it died; then he took a second, and at the\nexpiration of five hundred years it died also; and so on till he had\nreached the age of three thousand five hundred years, and then he died\nalso.\n\nMorthed made his request, and it was, \u201cO Lord, give me wheat bread,\u201d\nfor hitherto in Ad he had eaten only barley bread. So Allah gave\nMorthed so much wheat, that he was able to make bread thereof all the\nrest of his life.\n\nHud lived fifty years with the faithful who had received his doctrine,\nand his life in all was one hundred and fifty years. The prophet\nSaleh appeared five hundred years after Hud; he was sent to the\nThamudites.[271]\n\nBut there is another version of the story given by Weil.\n\nHud promised Schaddad, king of the Adites, a glorious city in the\nheavens, if he would turn to the true God. But the king said, \u201cI need\nno other city than that I have built. My palace rests on a thousand\npillars of rubies and emeralds; the streets and walls are of gold, and\npearl, and carbuncle, and topaz; and each pillar in the house is a\nhundred ells long.\u201d\n\nThen, at Hud\u2019s word, God let the city and palace of Schaddad fade away\nlike a dream of the night, and storm and rain descended, and night\nfell, and the king was without home in the desert.[272]\n\nOf Lokman we must relate something more. He was a great prophet; some\nsay he was nephew of Job, whose sister was his mother; others relate\nthat he was the son of Beor, the son of Nahor, the son of Terah.\n\nOne day, whilst he was reposing in the heat of the day, the angels\nentered his room and saluted him, but did not show themselves. Lokman\nheard their voices, but saw not their persons. Then the angels said to\nhim,--\n\n\u201cWe are messengers of God, thy Creator and ours; He has sent us unto\nthee to announce to thee that thou shalt be a great monarch.\u201d\n\nLokman replied, \u201cIf God desires what you say, His will can accomplish\nall things, and doubtless He will give me what is necessary for\nexecuting my duty in that position in which He will place me. But if\nHe would suffer me to choose a state of life, I should prefer that\nin which I now am,\u201d--now Lokman was a slave,--\u201cand above all would I\nask Him to enable me never to offend Him; without which all earthly\ngrandeur would be to me a burden.\u201d\n\nThis reply of Lokman was so pleasing to Allah, that He gave him the\ngift of wisdom to such a degree of excellence, that he became capable\nof instructing all men; and this he did by means of a great multitude\nof maxims, sentences, and parables to the number of ten thousand, each\nof which is more valuable than the whole world.[273]\n\nWhen Lokman did not know any thing with which others were acquainted,\nhe held his tongue, and did not ask questions and thus divulge his\nignorance.\n\nAs he lived to a great age, he was alive in the days King David. Now\nDavid made a coat of mail, and showed it to Lokman. The sage had seen\nnothing like it before, and did not know what purpose it was to serve,\nbut he looked knowing and nodded his head. Presently David put the\narmor upon him, and marched, and said, \u201cIt is serviceable in war.\u201d\nThen Lokman understood its object; so his mouth became unsealed and he\ntalked about it.\n\nLokman used to say, \u201cSilence is wisdom, but few practise it.\u201d[274]\n\nThalebi relates, in his Commentary on the Koran, that Lokman was a\nslave, and that having been sent along with other slaves into the\ncountry to gather fruit, his fellow-slaves ate them, and charged Lokman\nwith having done so. Lokman, to justify himself, said to his master,\n\u201cLet every one of us slaves be given warm water to drink, and you will\nsoon see who has been the thief.\u201d\n\nThe expedient succeeded; the slaves who had eaten the fruit vomited it,\nand Lokman threw up only warm water.\n\nThe same story precisely is told of \u00c6sop.\n\nLokman is always spoken of as black, with thick lips. He is regarded by\nthe Arabs much as is Bidpay by the Indians, and \u00c6sop by the Europeans,\nas the Father of Fable.\n\n\n\n\nXXII.\n\nTHE PROPHET SALEH.\n\n\nThe prophet Saleh was the son of Ad, son of Aram, son of Shem, and is\nnot to be confused with Saleh, son of Arphaxad.\n\nThe Mussulmans say that he was sent to convert the Thamudites.\n\nThe Thamudites were in size and strength like their brethren the\nAdites, but they inhabited the rocks, which they dug out into spacious\nmansions. They had in the midst of their land an unfailing supply of\nsweet and limpid water. They were idolaters. Saleh came armed with the\ncommand of Allah to these men, and he preached to them that they should\nturn from the worship of stocks and stones to that of the living God\nwho made them.\n\nNow Saleh had been born among the Thamudites, but he had never been an\nidolater. When he was young, the natives of the land had laughed at\nhim, and said, \u201cHe is young and inexperienced; when he is old, and has\ngrown wiser, he will adore our gods.\u201d\n\nWhen Saleh grew old, he forbade the Thamudites to worship idols, and he\nspoke to them of the true and only God.\n\nBut they said, \u201cWhat miracle can you work, to prove that your mission\nis from God?\u201d[275]\n\nThen he said, \u201cOh, my people, a she-camel that shall come from God\nshall be to you for a sign. Let her go and eat on the earth, and do her\nno injury, that a terrible retribution fall not upon you.\u201d[276]\n\nNow Saleh had asked them what miracle they desired, and they had\nanswered, \u201cBring out of the rock a camel with red hair, and a colt of a\ncamel also with red hair; let them eat grass, and we will believe.\u201d\n\nSaleh said to them, \u201cWhat you ask is easy,\u201d and he prayed.\n\nThen the rock groaned and clave asunder, and there came out a she-camel\nwith her foal, and their hair was red, and they began to eat grass.\n\nThen the Thamudites exclaimed, \u201cHe is a magician!\u201d and they would not\nbelieve in him.\n\nThe camel went to the perpetual fountain, and she drank it up, so that\nfrom that day forward from their spring they could get no water, and\nthey suffered from thirst.\n\nThe Thamudites went to Saleh and said, \u201cWe need water!\u201d\n\nSaleh replied, \u201cThe fountain shall flow one day for you, and one day\nfor the camel.\u201d\n\nSo it was agreed that the camel should drink alternate days with the\npeople of the land, and that alternate days each should be without\nwater whilst the other was drinking.\n\nThen Saleh said, for he saw that the people hated the camel and her\nfoal, \u201cBeware that you slay not these animals for the day that they\nperish, great shall be your punishment.\u201d\n\nThe she-camel lived thirty years among the Thamudites, but God revealed\nto Saleh that they were bent on slaying the camel, and he said, \u201cThe\nslayer will be a child with red hair and blue eyes.\u201d\n\nNow the Thamudites ordered ten midwives to attend on the women in their\nconfinement, and if a child were born with the signs indicated by the\nprophet, it was to be destroyed instantly.\n\nNine children had thus been killed, and the parents conceived a deadly\nanimosity against Saleh the prophet, and formed a design to slay him.\n\nOne of the chiefs among the Thamudites had a son born to him with red\nhair and blue eyes, and the nurses would have destroyed it, but the\nnine men spake to the father of the child, and they banded together,\nand saved the infant.\n\nNow when this child had attained the age of eleven, he became great and\nhandsome; and each of the parents whose children had been put to death,\nwhen he saw him, said, \u201cSuch an one would have been my son, had not he\nbeen slain at the instigation of Saleh.\u201d And they combined to put the\nprophet to death. They said among themselves, \u201cWe will kill him outside\nthe city, and returning, say we were elsewhere when he was murdered.\u201d\n\nHaving formed this project, they left the city and placed themselves\nunder a rock, awaiting his exit from the gates But God commanded the\nrock, and it fell and crushed them all.\n\nNext day their corpses were recovered, but the Thamudites were very\nwroth, and said, \u201cSaleh has slain our children, and now he slays our\nmen;\u201d and they added, \u201cWe will be revenged on his camel.\u201d\n\nBut no one could be found to undertake the execution of this deed,\nsave the red-haired child. He went to the fountain where the camel was\ndrinking, and with one kick he knocked her over, and with another kick\nhe despatched her.\n\nBut the foal, seeing the fate of her mother, ran away, and the boy with\nthe red hair and blue eyes ran after her.\n\nSaleh, seeing what had taken place, cried, \u201cThe judgment of God is\nabout to fall.\u201d\n\nThe people were frightened, and asked, \u201cWhat shall we do?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe judgment of God will not fall as long as the colt remains among\nyou.\u201d\n\nHearing this, the whole population went in pursuit of the young\ncamel. Now it had fled to the mountain whence it had sprung, and the\nred-haired boy was close on its heels. And when the young camel heard\nthe shouting of the inhabitants of the city, and saw the multitude in\npursuit, it stood before the rock, turned round, uttered three piercing\ncries and vanished.\n\nThe Thamudites arrived and beat the rock, but they could not open it.\nThen said Saleh, \u201cThe judgment of God will fall; prepare to receive it.\nThe first day your faces will become livid, the second day they will\nbecome black, and the third day red.\u201d\n\nThings happened as Saleh had predicted. And when the signs befel them\nwhich Saleh had foretold, they knew that their end was near. The first\nday they became ash pale, the second day coal black, and the third day\nred as fire, and then there came a sound from heaven, and all fell dead\non the earth, save Saleh and those who believed in him; these heard the\nsound, but did not perish.\n\nBy the will of God, when the people were destroyed, one man was absent\nat Mecca; the name of this man was Abou-Ghalib. When he knew what had\nbefallen his nation, he took up his residence in Mecca; but all the\nrest perished, as it is written in the Koran, \u201cIn the morning they were\nfound dead in their houses, stretched upon the ground, as though they\nhad never dwelt there.\u201d\n\nFrom Saleh to Abraham there was no prophet. At the time of that\npatriarch there was no king over all the earth. The sovereignty had\npassed to Canaan, the son of Cush, the son of Ham, who was the son of\nNoah.[277]\n\nThe camel of the prophet Saleh was placed by Mohammed in the heavens,\ntogether with the ass of Balaam, and other favored animals.\n\nNow wonderful as is this story, it is surpassed by that related by\ncertain Arabic historians of the mission of Saleh. This we proceed to\ngive.\n\nDjundu Ibn Omar was king of the Thamudites, a people numbering seventy\nthousand fighting men. He had a palace cut out of the face of a rock,\nand his high priest, Kanuch Ibn Abid, had one likewise. The most\nmagnificent building in the city was a temple which contained the idol\nworshipped by the people. This idol had the head of a man, the neck of\na bull, the body of a lion, and the feet of a horse. It was fashioned\nout of pure gold, and was studded with jewels.\n\nOne day, as Kanuch, the high priest, was worshipping in the temple, he\nfell asleep, and heard a voice cry, \u201cThe truth will appear, and the\nmadness will pass away.\u201d He started to his feet in alarm, and saw the\nidol prostrate on the floor, and its crown had fallen from its head.\n\nKanuch cried out for assistance, and fled to the king, who sent men to\nset up the image, and replace on its head the crown that had fallen\nfrom it.\n\nBut doubt took possession of the heart of Kanuch; he no longer\naddressed the image in prayer, and his enthusiasm was at an end. The\nking observed this, and sent two vizirs with orders to imprison and\nexecute him. But Allah struck the vizirs with blindness, and he sent\ntwo angels to transport Kanuch to a well-shaded grotto, well supplied\nwith all that could content the heart of man.\n\nAs Kanuch was nowhere to be found, the king appointed his kinsman Davud\nto be high priest. But on the third day he came to the king to announce\nto him that the idol was again prostrate.\n\nThe monarch set it up once more, and Eblis, entering the image, spoke\nthrough its mouth, exhorting all men to beware of novel doctrines which\nwere about to be introduced.\n\nNext feast-day Davud was about to sacrifice two oxen to the idol, when\none of them opened its mouth, and thus addressed him:--\n\n\u201cWill you sacrifice creatures endued with life by the living God to a\nmass of lifeless metal? O God, do thou destroy this sinful nation!\u201d And\nthe oxen broke their halters, and ran away.\n\nHorsemen were deputed to pursue and capture them, but they escaped, for\nAllah screened them.\n\nBut God in his mercy resolved to give the Thamudites another chance of\nrepenting of their idolatry.\n\nRaghwah, Kanuch\u2019s wife, had shed incessant tears since the\ndisappearance of her husband. Allah despatched a bird out of Paradise\nto guide her to the grotto of Kanuch.\n\nThis bird was a raven; its head was white as snow, its back was green\nas emerald. Its feet were purple; its beak of heaven\u2019s blue. Its eyes\nwere gems; only its body was black, for this bird did not fall under\nthe curse of Noah, as it was in Paradise.\n\nIt was midnight when the raven entered Raghwah\u2019s dark chamber, where\nshe lay weeping on a carpet; but the glory of its eyes illumined the\nwhole room, as though the sun had suddenly flashed into it. Raghwah\nrose from her place, and gazed in wonder on the lovely bird, which\nopened its beak and said, \u201cArise and follow me! God has seen thy tears,\nand will reunite thee to thy husband.\u201d\n\nRaghwah followed the raven, which flew before her, and with the light\nof its eyes turned the night into day. The morning star had not risen,\nwhen they stood before Kanuch\u2019s grot. Then cried the raven, \u201cKanuch,\nopen to thy wife!\u201d and so vanished.\n\nNine months after that Raghwah had rejoined her husband, she bore him\na son, who was the image of Seth, and had on his brow the prophetic\nlight; and Kanuch, in the hope of drawing him to the knowledge of the\ntrue God and to a pious life, gave him the name of Saleh (The Blessed).\n\nNot long after Saleh\u2019s birth, Kanuch died; and the raven of Paradise\nreturned to the grotto to lead back Saleh to his own people.\n\nSaleh grew in beauty and strength, to the admiration of his mother and\nall who saw him.\n\nA war was being waged between the descendants of Ham and the\nThamudites, and the latter had lost many battles and a large portion\nof their army, when Saleh suddenly appeared in the battle-field at the\nhead of a few friends, and, by his personal heroism, turned the tide of\nvictory, and routed the enemy.\n\nThis success drew upon him the gratitude and love of the people,\nbut the envy of the king was kindled, and he sought the life of the\nyoung prophet. But as often as assassins were sent by the king to\ntake his life, their arms shrivelled up, and were only restored by\nthe intercession of Saleh. These circumstances tended to increase and\nconfirm the number of his adherents, so that he was able to build a\nmosque, and occupy with worshippers of the true God one whole quarter\nof the city.\n\nBut one day the king surrounded the mosque with his troops, and\nthreatened Saleh and his followers with death if they would not work a\nmiracle to prove their worship to be the true one.\n\nSaleh prayed, and instantly the leaves of the date-tree that stood\nbefore the mosque were transformed into serpents and scorpions, which\nfell over the king and his soldiers; whilst two doves, which dwelt\non the terrace of the mosque, sang aloud, \u201cBelieve in Saleh, he is a\nprophet and messenger of God!\u201d\n\nBut Saleh was moved with compassion when he saw the anguish of those\nwho had been bitten by the scorpions and vipers, and he prayed to God,\nand the noxious reptiles were transformed back again into date-leaves,\nand those who had been stung were made whole. Nevertheless the king\nhardened his heart, and continued to worship false gods.\n\nWhen Saleh saw the impenitence of the Thamudites, he besought God to\ndestroy them; but an angel appeared to him in a cave, and sent him to\nsleep for twenty years.\n\nWhen he awoke he betook himself towards the mosque he had built, never\ndoubting that he had slept but a single night. The mosque was gone,\nhis friends and adherents were dead or dispersed, a few remained, but\nthey were old, and he hardly recognized them. Falling into despair, the\nangel Gabriel came to him and said,--\n\n\u201cThou wert hasty in desiring the destruction of this people, therefore\nGod hath withdrawn from thy life twenty years, which He has taken from\nthee in sleep. Now He sends thee precious relics wherewith to establish\nthy mission, to wit, Adam\u2019s shirt, Abel\u2019s sandals, Seth\u2019s overcoat,\nEnoch\u2019s seal ring, Noah\u2019s sword, and Hud\u2019s staff.\u201d\n\nNext day, as the king Djundu with his brother Schihab, and the priests\nand the princes of the people formed a procession to an idol temple\nnear the town, Saleh ran before the procession entered the temple, and\nstood in the door.\n\n\u201cWho art thou?\u201d asked the king in astonishment: for he did not\nrecognize Saleh, so greatly had God changed him in his sleep of twenty\nyears.\n\nHe answered: \u201cI am Saleh, the messenger of the only God, who preached\nto you twenty years ago, and showed to you many signs and wonders, but\nyou would not believe. And now once more I appear unto you to give you\na proof of my mission. Ask what miracle I shall perform and it shall be\ndone.\u201d\n\nThen the king said, \u201cBring me here out of the rock a camel one hundred\nells long, of every color under the sun, whose eyes are like lightning,\nand whose feet are swifter than the wind.\u201d\n\nSaleh consented. Then said Davud, \u201cLet its fore feet be golden and its\nhinder feet silver, its head of emerald and its ears of ruby. Let it\nbear on its hump a tent of silver, woven with gold threads and adorned\nwith pearls, resting on four pillars of diamonds!\u201d\n\nWhen Saleh agreed to this also, the king added, \u201cAnd let it bring with\nit a foal like to its mother, just born, and running by her side; then\nwill I believe in Allah, and in thee as His prophet.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd wilt thou believe too?\u201d asked Saleh of the high priest.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered Davud, \u201cif she give milk without being milked, cold in\nsummer and warm in winter.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd one thing more,\u201d threw in the king\u2019s brother, Schihab, \u201cthe milk\nmust heal the sick, enrich the poor, and the camel must of its own\naccord go into every house, and fill the pails with milk.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe it according to your will,\u201d said Saleh. \u201cBut I warn you,--no one\nmust injure the camel, deprive it of its food or drink, attempt to ride\nit, or use it for any other kind of labor.\u201d\n\nWhen they consented, Saleh prayed to God, and the earth opened under\nhis feet and a well of fragrant water gushed up, and poured over the\nrock, and the rock was rent, and the camel started forth in every\nparticular such as the king and his high priest had desired. So they\ncried, \u201cThere is no God but God, and Saleh is his prophet.\u201d\n\nThen the angel Gabriel came down from heaven, having in his hand a\nflaming sword, wherewith he touched the camel, and she bore instantly a\nfoal like her parent.\n\nThen the king fell on Saleh\u2019s neck, and kissed him and believed. But\nhis brother Schihab and Davud attributed all that had been done to\nmagic, and they labored to convince the people that the camel was the\nwork of necromancy.\n\nBut as daily the camel gave her milk, and, whenever she drank, said her\ngrace with formality, the number of true believers increased daily,\nand the high priest and all the chiefs of the infidels resolved on\nher destruction. Schihab, the king\u2019s brother, hoping to overturn the\nking and take his place, by adhering to the established religion and\nignoring all novelties, was resolute in his resistance to the true\nreligion. Therefore he promised his daughter Rajan in marriage to\nwhosoever should kill the wondrous camel.\n\nNow there was a young man of humble origin, named Kaddar, who had long\nloved the maiden, but had never ventured to show his passion; he armed\nhimself with a great sword and attacked the camel as it was drinking,\nin the rear, and wounded it in the hock.\n\nInstantly all nature uttered a piercing cry. Then the youth, filled\nwith compunction, ran to the top of a mountain, and cried, \u201cGod\u2019s curse\non you, ye sinful people!\u201d\n\nSaleh betook himself with the king, who would not be separated from\nhim, into the town, and demanded the punishment of Kaddar and his\naccomplices. But Schihab, who in the mean time had seized on the\nthrone, threatened them with death, and Saleh, obliged to fly to save\nhis life, had only time to speak his threat, \u201cThree days are given you\nfor repentance; after that ye shall be slain.\u201d\n\nNext day every man\u2019s face was yellow as the leaves in autumn, and\nwherever the wounded camel limped a spring of blood bubbled out of the\nsoil.\n\nOn the second day the faces of all were blood-red, and on the third\nthey were coal-black.\n\nTowards evening the camel spread a pair of scarlet wings and flew away,\nand then mountains of fire were rained from heaven on the city, by the\nhands of angels; and the keepers of the fire beneath the earth opened\nvents, and blew fire from below in the form of flaming camels.\n\nWhen the sun went down, all that remained of the Thamudites was a heap\nof ashes.\n\nSaleh alone, and the king Djundu, were saved.[278]\n\n\n\n\nXXIII.\n\nTHE TOWER OF BABEL.\n\n\nFirst we will take Jewish traditions, and then Mahommedan legends. The\nRabbis relate as follows:--\n\nAfter the times of the great Deluge, men feared a recurrence of that\ngreat overthrow, and they assembled on and inhabited the plain of\nShinar. There, they no longer obeyed the gentle guidance of Shem, the\nson of Noah; but they cast the kingdom of God far from them, and choose\nas their sovereign, Nimrod, son of Cush, son of Ham.[279] Nimrod became\nvery great in power. Having been born when his father was old, he was\ndearly beloved, and every whim had been gratified. Cush gave him the\ngarment which God made for Adam when he was expelled from Paradise, and\nwhich Adam had given to Enoch, and Enoch to Methuselah, and Methuselah\nhad left to Noah, and which Noah had taken with him into the ark. Ham\nstole it from his father in the ark, concealed it, and gave it to\nhis son Cush. Nimrod, vested in this garment, was unconquerable and\nirresistible.[280] All beasts and birds fell down before him, and his\nenemies were overcome almost without a struggle.\n\nIt was thus that he triumphed over the king of Babylon. His kingdom\nrapidly extended, and he became daily more powerful, till at last he\nwas sole monarch over the whole world.[281]\n\nNimrod rejected God as his ruler; he trusted in his own might,\ntherefore it is said of him, \u201cHe was mighty in hunting, and in sin\nbefore the Lord; for he was a hunter of the sons of men in their\nlanguages. And he said to them, Leave the judgments of Shem, and adhere\nto the judgments of Nimrod.\u201d[282]\n\nBut Nimrod was uneasy in his mind, and he feared lest some one should\narise who would be empowered by God to overthrow him; therefore he said\nto his subjects, \u201cCome, let us build a great city, and let us settle\ntherein, that we may not be scattered over the face of the earth, and\nbe destroyed once more by a flood. And in the midst of our city let us\nbuild a high tower, so lofty as to overtop any flood, and so strong as\nto resist any fire. Yea, let us do further, let us prop up the heaven\non all sides from the top of the tower, that it may not again fall and\ninundate us. Then let us climb up into heaven, and break it up with\naxes, and drain its water away where it can do no injury. Thus shall we\navenge the death of our ancestors. And at the summit of our tower we\nwill place an image of our god with a sword in his hand, and he shall\nfight for us. Thus shall we obtain a great name, and reign over the\nuniverse.\u201d\n\nEven if all were not inspired with the same presumption, yet all saw in\nthe tower a means of refuge from a future deluge; and therefore they\nreadily fell in with the proposal of the king. Six hundred thousand\nmen were set to work under a thousand captains, and raised the tower\nto the height of seventy miles (_i. e._, fifty-six English miles). A\ngreat flight of stairs on the east side was used by those carrying up\nmaterial, and a flight on the west side served those who descended,\nhaving deposited their burdens. If a workman fell down and was killed,\nno one heeded; but if any of the bricks gave way, there was an outcry.\nSome shot arrows into the sky, and they came down tinged with blood,\nthen they shouted and cried, \u201cSee, we have killed every one who is in\nheaven.\u201d[283] Curiously enough a similar story is told by the Chinese\nof one of their earlier monarchs, who thought himself so great that he\nmight war against heaven. He shot an arrow into the sky, and a drop of\nblood fell. \u201cSo,\u201d said he, \u201cI have killed God!\u201d\n\nAt this time Abraham was forty-eight. He was filled with grief and\nshame at the impiety of his fellow-men, and he prayed to God, \u201c_O Lord!\nconfound their tongues, for I have spied unrighteousness and strife in\nthe city!_\u201d\n\nThen the Lord called the seventy angels who surround His throne, that\nthey should confuse the language of the builders, so that none should\nunderstand the other.\n\nThe angels came down, and cast confusion among the subjects of Nimrod,\nand seventy distinct languages sprang up, and the men could not\nunderstand each other; so they separated from one another, and were\nspread over the surface of the earth. The tower itself was destroyed in\npart. It was in three portions: the upper story was destroyed by fire\nfrom heaven, the basement was overthrown by an earthquake, only the\nmiddle story was left intact,--how, we are not informed.[284]\n\nWe will now take the Mussulman tradition. Nimrod, who, according to the\nArabs, was the son of Canaan, and brother of Cush, sons of Ham, having\ncast Abraham, who refused to acknowledge him as supreme monarch of the\nworld, into a burning, fiery furnace, from which he issued unhurt, said\nto his courtiers, \u201cI will go to heaven and see this God whom Abraham\npreaches, and who protects him.\u201d\n\nHis wise men having represented to him that heaven is very high, Nimrod\nordered the erection of a tower, by which he might reach it. For three\nyears an immense multitude of workmen toiled at the erection of this\ntower. Every day Nimrod ascended it and looked up, but the sky seemed\nto him as distant from the summit of his tower as it had from the level\nground.\n\nOne morning he found his tower cast down. But Nimrod was not to be\ndefeated so easily. He ordered a firmer foundation to be laid, and a\nsecond tower was constructed; but however high it was built, the sky\nremained inaccessible. Then Nimrod resolved on reaching heaven in\nanother fashion. He had a large box made, and to the four corners he\nattached gigantic birds of the species Roc. They bore Nimrod high into\nthe air, and then fluttered here and fluttered there, and finally upset\nthe box, and tumbled him on the top of a mountain, which he cracked by\nhis fall, without however materially injuring himself.\n\nBut Nimrod was not penitent, nor ready to submit to the Most High,\ntherefore God confounded the language of his subjects, and thus rent\nfrom him a large portion of his kingdom.[285]\n\nGod sent a wind, says Abulfaraj, which overthrew the Tower of Babel and\nburied Nimrod under its ruins.[286]\n\nOf Babel we find fewer traditions preserved amongst the ancient\nnations, than we did of the Deluge.\n\nThe Zendavesta makes no mention of such an event; and it is equally\nunknown to the Chinese books, though curiously enough, in Chinese\nhieroglyphics, the _tower_ is the symbol of _separation_.[287]\n\nThe Chaldeans, however, says Abydessus, probably quoting Berosus, the\npriest of Bel, related, \u201cThat the first inhabitants of the earth,\nglorying in their own strength and size, and despising the gods,\nundertook to raise a tower whose top should reach the sky in the place\nwhere Babylon now stands; but when it approached the heavens, the\nwinds assisted the gods, and overthrew the work of the contrivers; and\nits ruins are said to be still in Babylon; and the gods introduced a\ndiversity of tongues among men, who till that time had all spoken the\nsame language; and a war arose between Kronos and Titan. The place on\nwhich they built the tower is now called Babylon.\u201d[288]\n\nAlexander Polyhistor relates the events as follows, and quotes the\nSibyl. \u201cThe Sibyl says, when all men had one speech, they built a great\ntower in order to climb into heaven, but the gods blowing against it\nwith the winds, threw it down, and confounded the language of the\nbuilders, therefore the city is called Babylon.\u201d[289] The writings of\nthis Sibyl, commonly called the Chaldean Sibyl, formed part of the\nsacred scriptures of the Babylonians. Eupolemus, quoting apparently\nSyro-ph\u0153nician traditions, relates the matter somewhat differently.\n\u201cThe city Babylon,\u201d says he, \u201cwas built after the Deluge by those who\nwere saved. But they were giants, and they built the famous tower\nthen. But when this was overthrown by the will of the gods, the giants\nwere scattered over the whole face of the earth.\u201d[290] The Armenian\ntradition recorded by Moses of Chorene, is to this effect: \u201cFrom them\n(_i. e._, from the first dwellers on the earth) sprang the race of the\ngiants, with strong bodies and of huge size. Full of pride and envy,\nthey formed the godless resolve to build a high tower. But whilst they\nwere engaged on the undertaking, a fearful wind overthrew it, which the\nwrath of God had sent against it, and unknown words were at the same\ntime blown about among men, wherefore arose strife and contention.\u201d[291]\n\nThe Hindu story of the confusion of tongues and the separation of\nnations is not connected with the erection of a tower, but with the\npride of the Tree of Knowledge, or the world tree. This tree grew in\nthe centre of the earth, and its head was in heaven. It said in its\nheart, I shall hold my head in heaven, and spread my branches over all\nthe earth, and gather all men together under my shadow and protect\nthem, and prevent them from separating. But Brahm, to punish the pride\nof the tree, cut off its branches and cast them down on the earth,\nwhere they sprang up as Wata trees, and made differences of belief and\nspeech and customs to prevail in the earth, to disperse men over its\nsurface.[292]\n\nThe Dutch traveller, Hamel van Gorcum, found a tradition of the Tower\nof Babel, in the seventeenth century, in the Korea, in the midst of\na sect which had not adopted Buddhism, but which retained much of\nthe old primitive Schamanism of the race. They said, \u201cThat formerly\nall men spake the same language, but, after building a great tower,\nwherewith they attempted to invade heaven, they fell into confusion of\ntongues.\u201d[293]\n\nThe Mexican story was, that after the Deluge the sole survivors Coxcox\nand Chichequetzl engendered many children who were born dumb, but one\nday received the gift of speech from a dove, which came and perched\nitself on a lofty tree: but the dove did not communicate to them the\nsame language, so they separated in fifteen companies. And Gemelli\nCarreri and Clavigero describe an ancient Mexican painting representing\nthe dove with thirty-three tongues, answering to the languages and\ndialects he taught.[294]\n\nAt Cholula they related that Xelhuaz began to build a tower on Mount\nTlalok to commemorate his having been saved along with his brothers\nfrom the Flood. And the tower he built in the form of a pyramid. The\nclay was baked into bricks in the province of Tlamanalco, at the foot\nof the Sierra Cocotl, and to bring them to Cholula a row of men was\nplaced, that the bricks might be passed from hand to hand. The gods\nsaw this building, whose top reached the clouds, with anger and dismay,\nand sent fire from heaven, and destroyed the tower.[295]\n\n\n\n\nXXIV.\n\nABRAHAM.[296]\n\n\n1. HIS YOUTH AND EARLY STRUGGLES.\n\nAbraham or Abram, as he was first called, was the son of Terah, general\nof Nimrod\u2019s army, and Amtelai, daughter of Carnebo. He was born at Ur\nof the Chaldees, in the year 1948 after the Creation.\n\nOn the night on which Abraham was born, Terah\u2019s friends, amongst whom\nwere many councillors and soothsayers of Nimrod, were feasting in the\nhouse. On leaving, late at night, they observed an unusual star in the\neast; it seemed to run from one quarter of the heavens to another,\nand to devour four stars which were there. All gazed in astonishment\non this wondrous sight. \u201cTruly,\u201d said they, \u201cthis can signify nothing\nelse but that Terah\u2019s new-born son will become great and powerful, will\nconquer the whole realm, and dethrone great princes, and seize on their\npossessions.\u201d\n\nNext morning they hastened to the king, to announce to him what they\nhad seen, and what was their interpretation of the vision, and to\nadvise the slaughter of the young child, and that Terah should be\ncompensated with a liberal sum of money.\n\nNimrod accordingly sent gold and silver to Terah, and asked his son in\nexchange, but Terah refused. Then the king sent and threatened to burn\ndown and utterly destroy the whole house of Terah, unless the child\nwere surrendered. In the mean time one of the female slaves had born a\nson; this Terah gave to the royal officers, who, supposing it to be the\nson of the householder, brought it before Nimrod and slew it.\n\nThen, to secure Abraham, Terah concealed him and his mother and nurse\nin a cave.\n\nBut there is another version of the story, and it is as follows:--\n\nNimrod had long read in the stars that a child would be born who would\noppose his power and his religion, and would finally overcome both.\n\nActing on the advice of his wise men, he built a house, sixty ells high\nand eighty ells broad, into which all pregnant women were brought to be\ndelivered, and the nurses were instructed to put to death all the boys\nthat were born, but to make handsome presents to the mothers who were\nbrought to bed of daughters.\n\nAfter seventy thousand male children had thus perished, the angels of\nheaven turned to the All Mighty, and besought Him with tears to stay\nthis cruel murder of innocents.\n\n\u201cI slumber not, I sleep not,\u201d God answered. \u201cYe shall see that this\natrocity shall not pass unpunished.\u201d\n\nShortly after, Terah\u2019s wife was pregnant; she concealed her situation\nas long as was possible, pretending that she was ill; but when she\ncould conceal it no more, the infant crept behind her breasts, so that\nshe appeared to every eye as if nothing were about to take place.\n\nWhen the time came for her delivery, she went in fear out of the city,\nand wandered in the desert till she lighted on a cave, into which she\nentered. Next morning she was delivered of a son, Abraham, whose face\nshone, so that the grotto was as light as though the sun were casting\na golden beam into it. She wrapped the child in a mantle, and left it\nthere to the custody of God and His angels, and returned home. God\nheard the cry of the weeping infant, and He sent His angel Gabriel\nto the cave, who let the child suck milk out of his fore-finger. But\naccording to another account he opened two holes in the cave, from\nwhich dropped oil and flour to nourish Abraham. Others, however, say\nthat Terah visited the cave every day, and nursed and fed the child.\n\nAccording to the Arab tradition, which follows the Jewish in most\nparticulars, the mother, on visiting the cave, found the infant sucking\nits two thumbs. Now out of one of its thumbs flowed milk, and out of\nthe other, honey, and thus the babe nourished itself: or, say others,\nfrom one finger flowed water when he sucked it; from a second, milk;\nfrom a third, honey; from a fourth, the juice of dates; and from the\nlittle finger, butter.[297]\n\nWhen Abraham had been in the cave, according to some, three years,\naccording to others ten, and according to others thirteen, he left the\ncavern and stood on the face of the desert. And when he saw the sun\nshining in all its glory, he was filled with wonder, and he thought,\n\u201cSurely the sun is God the Creator!\u201d and he knelt down and worshipped\nthe sun. But when evening came, the sun went down in the west, and\nAbraham said, \u201cNo! the Author of creation cannot set.\u201d Now the moon\narose in the east, and the stars looked out of the firmament. Then\nsaid Abraham, \u201cThis moon must indeed be God, and all the stars are His\nhost!\u201d And kneeling down he adored the moon.\n\nBut after some hours of darkness the moon set, and from the east\nappeared once more the bright face of the sun. Then said Abraham,\n\u201cVerily these heavenly bodies are no gods, for they obey law: I will\nworship Him who imposed the law upon them.\u201d\n\nThe Arab story is this. When Abraham came out of the cave, he saw a\nnumber of flocks and herds, and he said to his mother, \u201cWho is lord of\nthese?\u201d She answered, \u201cYour father Azar (Terah).\u201d \u201cAnd who is the lord\nof Azar?\u201d he further asked. She replied, \u201cNimrod.\u201d \u201cAnd who is the lord\nof Nimrod?\u201d \u201cOh, hush, my son,\u201d said she, striking him on the mouth;\n\u201cyou must not push your questions so far.\u201d But it was by following this\ntrain of thought that Abraham arrived at the knowledge of the one true\nGod.\n\nAnother Rabbinical story is, that Abraham was only ten days in the cave\nafter his birth, and then he was able to walk, and he left it. But his\nmother, who visited the grotto, finding him gone, was a prey to anguish\nand fear.\n\nWandering along the bank of the river, searching for her child, she met\nAbraham, but did not recognize him, as he had grown tall; and she asked\nhim if he had seen a little baby anywhere.\n\n\u201cI am he whom you seek,\u201d answered Abraham.\n\n\u201cIs this possible!\u201d exclaimed the mother. \u201cCould you grow to such a\nheight, and be able to walk and talk, in ten days?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, mother,\u201d answered the youthful prodigy; \u201call this has taken place\nthat you might know that there is but one living and true God who made\nheaven and earth, who dwells in heaven and fills the earth with His\ngoodness.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d asked Amtelai, \u201cis there another god besides Nimrod?\u201d\n\n\u201cBy all means,\u201d replied the infant son; \u201cthere is a God in heaven, who\nis also the God who made Nimrod. Now go to Nimrod and announce this to\nhim.\u201d\n\nAbraham\u2019s mother related all this to her husband, who bore the message\nto the king. Nimrod, greatly alarmed, consulted his council what was to\nbe done with the boy.[298]\n\nThe council replied that he had nothing to fear from an infant of ten\ndays,--he, the king and god of the world! But Nimrod was not satisfied.\nThen Satan, putting on a black robe, mingled with the advisers of\nthe monarch and said, \u201cLet the king open his arsenal, arm all his\ntroops, and march against this precocious infant.\u201d This advice fell in\ncompletely with Nimrod\u2019s own personal fears, and his army was marched\nagainst the baby. But when Abraham saw the host drawn up in battle\narray, he cried to heaven with many tears, and Gabriel came to his\nsuccor, enveloped the infant in clouds, and snatched him from the sight\nof those who came against him; and they, frightened at the cloud and\ndarkness, fled precipitately to Babylon.\n\nAbraham followed them on the shoulders of Gabriel, and reaching the\ngates of the city in an instant of time, he cried, \u201cThe eternal One\nis the true and only God, and none other is like Him! He is the God\nof heaven, God of gods and Lord of Nimrod! Be convinced of this, all\nye men, women and children who dwell here, even I am Abraham, his\nservant.\u201d Then he sought his parents, and bade Terah go and fulfil his\ncommand to Nimrod.\n\nTerah went accordingly, and announced to the king that his son, whom\nthe army had been unable to capture, had, in a brief space of time,\ntraversed a country across which was forty days\u2019 journey.\n\nNimrod quaked, and consulted his princes, who advised him to institute\na festival of seven days, during which every subject and dweller on the\nface of the earth was to make a pilgrimage to his palace, and there to\nworship and adore him.\n\nIn the mean time Nimrod, being very curious to see Abraham, ordered\nTerah to bring him into his royal presence. The child entered the\nthrone-room boldly, and going to the foot of the steps which led to the\nthrone, he exclaimed; \u201cWoe to thee, accursed Nimrod, blasphemer of God!\nAcknowledge, O Nimrod, that the true God is without body, everlasting,\nnever slumbering nor sleeping; acknowledge that He created the world,\nthat all men may believe in Him likewise!\u201d\n\nAt the same moment all the idols in the palace fell, and the king\nrolled from his throne in convulsions, and remained in a fit for two\nhours.\n\nWhen he came to himself again, he said to Abraham, \u201cWas that thy voice,\nor was it the voice of God?\u201d\n\nAbraham answered, \u201cIt was the voice of the meanest of His creatures.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen your God must be great and mighty, and a King of kings.\u201d\n\nNimrod now suffered Abraham to depart, and as his anger was abated, the\nchild remained in his father\u2019s house, and no attempts were made against\nhis life.\n\nHere must be inserted a legend of the childhood of Abraham, which I\nhave ventured to render into verse.\n\n THE GIFT OF THE KING.\n\n Nimrod the Cushite sat upon a throne\n Of gold, encrusted with a sapphire stone,\n And round the monarch stood, in triple rank,\n Three hundred ruddy pages, like a bank\n Of roses all a-blow,\n Two gentle boys, with blue eyes clear as glass,\n And locks as light as tufted cotton grass,\n And faces as the snow\n That lies on Ararat, and flushes pink\n On summer evenings, as the sun doth sink,\n Were stationed by the royal golden chair\n With fillets of carnation in their hair,\n And clothed in silken vesture, candid, clean,\n To flutter fans of burnished blue and green,\n Fashioned of peacock\u2019s plume.\n A little lower, on a second stage\n On either side, was placed a graceful page,\n To raise a fragrant fume--\n With costly woods and gums on burning coals\n That glowed on tripods, in bright silver bowls;\n And at the basement of the marble stair,\n Sweet singing choirs and harping minstrels were,\n In amber kirtles purple gilt and sashed.\n The throbbing strings in silver ripples flashed,\n Where slaves the choral song\n Accompanied with psaltery and lyre,\n In red and saffron, like to men of fire,\n Whilst hoarsely boomed the gong:\n Or silver cymbals clashed, or, waxing shrill,\n Danced up the scale a flute\u2019s melodious thrill.\n\n Now at the monarch\u2019s signal, pages twain,\n With sunny hair as ripened autumn grain,\n And robed in lustrous silver tissue, shot\n With changing hues of blue forget-me-not,\n Start nimbly forth, and bend\n Before the monarch, at his gilded stool,\n And crystal goblets brimming, sweet and cool,\n Obsequiously extend;\n But Nimrod, slightly stirring, stately, calm,\n Towards the right-hand beaker thrusts his arm,\n And languid, raises it towards his lips;\n Yet ere he of the ruby liquor sips,\n He notices upon the surface lie--\n Fallen in and fluttering--a feeble fly,\n With draggled wings outspread.\n Then shot from Nimrod\u2019s eyes an angry flare,\n And passionately down the marble stair\n The costly draught he shed.\n He spoke no word, but with a finger wave,\n Made signal to a scarlet-vested slave;\n And as the lad before him, quaking, kneels,\n Above him swift the gleaming falchion wheels,\n Then flashes down, and, with one leap, his head\n Bounds from his shoulders, and bespirts with red\n The alabaster floor.\n And, mingled with the outpoured Persian wine,\n Descends the steps a sliding purple line\n Of smoking, dribbled gore;\n And floats the little midge upon a flood\n Of fragrant grape-juice, and of roseate blood.\n\n Then Nimrod said: \u201cI would you ugly stain\n Were wiped away; and thou, my chamberlain,\n Obtain for me a stripling, to replace\n This petty fool. Let him have comely face,\n And be of slender mould:\n Be lithely built, of noble birth; a youth,\n The choicest thou canst find. His cost, in sooth!\n I heed not. Stint no gold,\n But buy a goodly slave: for I, a king,\n Will have the best, the best of every thing--\n Of gems, of slaves, of fabrics, meats, or wine;\n The best, the very best on earth be mine.\u201d\n Then, prostrate flung before his master\u2019s throne,\n The servant said, \u201cSire! Terah hath a son\n Whose equal in the whole round world is none,\n Beloved as himself.\n But, Sire! I fear the father will not deign\n To yield his son as slave through love of gain,\n For great is he in wealth.\u201d\n \u201cGo!\u201d said the monarch, \u201cI must have the child:\n Be sure the father can be reconciled,\n If you expend of gold a goodly store,\n And, if he haggles at your price, bid more;\n I will it, chamberlain!\n I care not what the cost. I\u2019ll have the lad!\u201d\n And then, he leaned him idly back, and bade\n The slaves to fan again.\n\n Now on the morrow, to the royal court,\n Terah Ben-Nahor from old Ur was brought--\n Protesting loud he would not yield his son\n As slave, at any price, to any one.\n \u201cMy flesh and blood be sold!\n Fie on you! Do you reckon that I prize\n My first-begotten as mere merchandise,\n To barter him for gold!\n A curse on him who would the old man\u2019s stay,\n That bears him up, with money buy away!\n Require me not to offer child of mine\n To serve and brim a tyrant\u2019s cup with wine;\n To waste a life from morning to its grave,\n Branded in mind and soul and body \u2018Slave!\u2019\n How could I be repaid?\n His artless fondlings, all his childish ways:\n The reminiscences of olden days,\n That sudden flash and fade,\n Of her who bore him--her, my boyhood\u2019s choice--\n Resemblances in feature, figure, voice,\n In gesture, manner, ay! in very tone\n Of pealing laugh, of that dear partner gone?\n Thou, Nimrod, to an old man condescend\n To hear his story; your attention lend,\n And judge if acted well.\n Last year to me thou gav\u2019st a goodly steed,\n From thine own stud, of purest Yemen breed:\n And thus it me befel.\n A stranger offered me a price so fair\n That I accepted it, and sold the mare.\u201d\n \u201cMy gift disposed of!\u201d with an angry start,\n King Nimrod thundered: \u201cThou, old man, shalt smart\n For this thy avarice. A royal gift,\n Thou knowest well, must never owners shift,\n As thing of little worth.\u201d\n Then Terah raised his trembling hands, and said,\n \u201cFrom thine own mouth, O King has judgment sped.\n The Lord of Heaven and Earth,\n The King of Kings to me my offspring gave,\n And shall I sell His gift to be a slave?\n Nimrod! that child, which is His royal gift,--\n Thy mouth hath said it,--may not owners shift.\u201d\n\nAt this time idolatry was commonly practised by all. Nimrod and his\nservants Terah and his whole house worshipped images of wood and stone.\nTerah had not only twelve idols of the twelve months which he adored,\nbut he manufactured images and sold them.\n\nOne day, when Terah was absent, and Abraham was left to manage the\nshop, he thought the time had come when he must make his protest\nagainst idolatry. This he did as follows. Every purchaser who came,\nwas asked by Abraham his age; if he answered fifty or sixty years old,\nAbraham exclaimed, \u201cWoe to a man of such an age who adores the work of\none day!\u201d and the purchaser withdrew in shame.\n\nAnother version of the incident is more full.\n\nA strong, lusty fellow came one day to buy an idol, the strongest that\nthere was. As he was going away with it, Abraham called after him, \u201cHow\nold are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cSeventy years,\u201d he answered.\n\n\u201cOh, you fool!\u201d said Abraham, \u201cto adore a god younger than yourself.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d asked the purchaser.\n\n\u201cWhy, you were born seventy years ago, and this god was made only\nyesterday.\u201d\n\nHearing this, the buyer threw the idol away.\n\nShortly after, an old woman brought a dish of meal to set before the\nidols. Abraham took it, and then with a stick smashed all the gods\nexcept the biggest, into whose hands he placed the stick.\n\nTerah, who was returning home, heard the noise of blows, and quickened\nhis pace. When he entered, his gods were in pieces.\n\nHe accused Abraham angrily; but Abraham said, \u201cMy father, a woman\nbrought this dish of meal for the gods: they all wanted to have it, and\nthe strongest knocked the heads off the rest, lest they should eat it\nall.\u201d And this, say the Mussulmans, was the _first_ lie that Abraham\ntold, but it was not a lie, but a justifiable falsehood.\n\nTerah said this could not be true, for the images were of wood and\nstone.\n\n\u201cLet thine ear hear what thy mouth hath spoken,\u201d said Abraham, and then\nhe exhorted his father against idolatry.\n\nTerah complained to Nimrod, who sent for Abraham, and he said to him,\n\u201cWilt thou not worship these idols? Well, then, adore fire.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy not water which quenches fire?\u201d asked Abraham.\n\n_Nimrod._--\u201cVery well; then worship water.\u201d\n\n_Abraham._--\u201cWhy not the clouds which swallow the water?\u201d\n\n_Nimrod._--\u201cSo be it; adore the clouds.\u201d\n\n_Abraham._--\u201cRather let me adore wind which blows the clouds about.\u201d\n\n_Nimrod._--\u201cSo be it; pray to the wind.\u201d\n\n_Abraham._--\u201cBut man can stand up against the wind, and build it out of\nhis house.\u201d\n\nThen Nimrod in a fury exclaimed, \u201cFire is my god, and that shall\nconsume you.\u201d\n\nAccording to another version, a woman came to Abraham to buy a god,\nbecause thieves had stolen her former god; this gave the patriarch a\ntext for his homily against idolatry. The woman was convinced.\n\n\u201cBelieve in the true God,\u201d said he, \u201cand you will recover the things\nthe thieves stole from your house.\u201d\n\nA few days after, the woman recovered all her lost goods, amongst them\nher image. Then she took a stone, and smashed its head, saying, \u201cOh,\nthou blockhead, not to be able to preserve my property and thyself from\nthieves!\u201d\n\nThe report of what she had said and done reached the king, who ordered\nher to be executed. But Nimrod was uneasy, and he announced a grand\nceremony to last for seven days, during which every one was to produce\nhis gods and carry them about the streets, which were to be hung with\ngold and silks. His object was to dazzle Abraham\u2019s eyes by the splendor\nof idol worship. He sent for Terah and Abraham, but the latter refused\nto attend. The Mussulmans say that Abraham excused himself thus: \u201cI\nsee in the stars that I am going to be very sick to-day.\u201d This was the\n_second_ lie Abraham told, but it was not a lie, it was a justifiable\nfalsehood. Then the king sent his guard, who arrested him and cast him\ninto a dungeon.\n\nHe lay in the dungeon ten days. The angel Gabriel brought him food, and\na crystal fountain bubbled up through the soil of his cell.\n\nNimrod called his council together, and it was unanimously decided that\nAbraham should be burnt alive. The king therefore published a decree\nordering every man to bring wood or other fuel for the heating of the\nkiln.[299] The wood was piled about the furnace to the height of five\nells, for a circle of five ells diameter, and for three days and three\nnights the fire was kept up, and the flames licked the heavens, so that\nthe oven was at a white heat. Then Nimrod ordered his jailer to produce\nAbraham. The prison-keeper humbly answered, that it was impossible that\nAbraham could be alive, for he had been given neither meat nor drink.\nBut Nimrod answered, \u201cProduce him alive or dead.\u201d\n\nThen the jailer went to the prison door and cried, \u201cAbraham, livest\nthou?\u201d\n\n\u201cI live,\u201d answered the prisoner, \u201cand am hearty.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow is that possible?\u201d asked the jailer, astonished.\n\n\u201cBecause the Almighty has wrought a miracle on my behalf. He is sole\nGod, invisible, the Creator of the world, and the Lord of Nimrod.\u201d\n\nThe jailer believed.\n\nThe news was conveyed to Nimrod, who ordered the immediate execution of\nthe jailer; but as the executioner was about to smite off his head, he\ncried, \u201cThe Eternal One is alone the true God of the world, and the God\nof Nimrod who denies him.\u201d And lo! the sword was blunted, and shivered\ninto a thousand fragments.\n\nHere we must add a few particulars from Mussulman sources.\n\n\u201cWho is your God?\u201d asked Nimrod of Abraham, when brought before him.\n\n\u201cHe who kills and makes alive again,\u201d said Abraham.\n\n\u201cI can do that,\u201d exclaimed Nimrod, and he ordered two prisoners before\nhim; one he slew, the other he spared.\n\nBut Abraham said, \u201cBehold the power of my God!\u201d and he bade a dead man\nwho had been four years in his grave, rise and bring him a white cock,\na black raven, a green pigeon, and a gayly-colored peacock. The dead\nman rose and obeyed. Then Abraham cut up the birds, but preserved their\nheads; and lo! from the heads new bodies sprouted.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said Abraham, \u201cdo the same.\u201d\n\nBut Nimrod could not.\n\n\u201cIf thou art a God,\u201d said Abraham again, \u201ccommand the sun to rise\nto-morrow in the west and set in the east.\u201d\n\nBut this he could not do.[300]\n\nNimrod was highly incensed, and ordered that Abraham should be at once\nprecipitated into the fire. When he was brought before the king, say\nthe Rabbis, the soothsayers recognized him as the boy at whose birth\nthey had warned the king that one was come into the world who would be\nthe father of a great nation which would subdue that of Nimrod, and\nwould possess the whole earth and heaven.\n\n\u201cThis is the man against whom we cautioned you,\u201d they said; \u201chis father\nTerah must have deceived you, O king, and not have given you up the\nright child.\u201d\n\nTerah, on being questioned, owned the truth.\n\n\u201cWho gave you this advice?\u201d asked the king; \u201cconfess it, and your life\nshall be spared.\u201d\n\nOut of fear Terah told a lie, and said that Haran, his other son, had\nsuggested the deception.\n\n\u201cFor having given this advice,\u201d said Nimrod, \u201cHaran shall perish along\nwith Abraham. Cast them both into the flames.\u201d Abraham and Haran were\nnow to be stripped and their hands and feet bound by ropes, and then\nthey were to be thrown into the fire. But the servants of Nimrod who\napproached the brothers were caught by the flames which, like the\ntongues of serpents, shot out, curled round them, drew them into the\nfire, and consumed them.\n\nThen Satan appeared to Nimrod, and instructed him how to make a\ncatapult which would throw stones to a distance, and by means of which\nAbraham and Haran could be projected into the midst of the fire.\n\nHaran was undecided in his mind whether to worship God or idols;\nsometimes he sided with Abraham, and sometimes with Terah. Now, the\nmoment Haran was shot into the flames, his heart failed him, and he\ncried out that he would worship idols if his life were spared. But it\nwas too late, he was burnt to ashes. But Abraham was unharmed. The\ncords which bound him were consumed, but for three days and nights he\nwalked about in the flames, and felt no inconvenience.[301]\n\nThen the king cried aloud. \u201cAbraham, servant of the God of Heaven, come\nforth from the furnace to me.\u201d\n\nAnd Abraham came forth. Then the king said to him, \u201cHow is it that thou\nart not consumed?\u201d And Abraham answered, \u201cThe Lord God of Heaven and\nEarth, whom I serve, hath delivered me.\u201d\n\nInstantly the flames were extinguished, and the wood burst forth into\nflower and fruit; and the pile was like a grove of flowering shrubs to\nlook upon, and Angels descended and took Abraham and seated him in the\nmidst.\n\nThe Arabic version of this part of the story is something different.\n\nNimrod could not see into the fire, so he ascended a high tower in his\npalace, and from the top looked down into the furnace, and saw that in\nthe midst was a garden with flowers and a fountain of sparkling water,\nand Abraham seated on the grass beside the spring, conversing with an\nangel.[302]\n\nNimrod now loaded Abraham with presents, amongst which were two slaves\nnamed Oni and Eliezer; according to some, the latter was a son of the\ntyrant. Many followed Abraham home, and brought their children to him,\nand said, \u201cNow we see that the God in whom thou trustest, is the only\ntrue God; teach our children the truth, that they may serve Him in\nrighteousness.\u201d Thus three hundred persons accompanied Abraham home,\nmost of whom were servants of the king, and of noble race.\n\nHere follows in the Mussulman account the story of Nimrod\u2019s attempt\nto reach heaven in a box, to which were attached four vultures. His\nobject was, says Tabari, to kill the God of Abraham. He went up along\nwith his vizir. After a night and day in the air, the king said to\nhis vizir, \u201cOpen the window of the box towards the earth and tell me\nwhat you see.\u201d He did so, and replied, \u201cI see the earth.\u201d After another\nday and night, he again looked out and saw the earth still; on the\nthird day, at the king\u2019s command he looked out and saw nothing. Then\nsaid Nimrod, \u201cOpen the window towards heaven and look out.\u201d He did so\nand saw nothing. Then Nimrod shot three arrows into the sky, and they\nfell back with blood on them. So Nimrod said, \u201cI have killed the God\nof Abraham.\u201d But whence the blood came is unsettled. Some say that the\narrows hit a bird which flew higher than the vultures; but others, with\nmore probability, say they struck a fish, which was being carried by\nthe wind, that had caught it up with the rain out of the sea.[303]\n\nAbraham now married the daughter of his brother Haran, named Sarai\nor Jisha, \u201cthe seeress,\u201d because she was endowed with the spirit of\nprophecy, say some, or, say others, because she was so beautiful that\nevery one wanted to see her. At the time of his marriage, Abraham was\naged fifty; others, however, suggest twenty-five.\n\nTwo years later, Nimrod was visited with a dream. He saw himself and\nall his army in a valley, near the furnace into which he had cast\nAbraham. A man resembling the latter stepped out of the furnace and\napproached the king, holding a naked sword. When Nimrod recoiled, the\nman cast an egg at his head; the egg broke and became a mighty river,\nwhich swept all his hosts away, saving only three men; and on looking\nat them, the king saw that they wore royal robes, and exactly resembled\nhimself. Then the stream retreated into the egg, and when all the water\nwas gathered into it, from the egg hopped out a chicken, which seated\nitself on Nimrod\u2019s head, and pecked out one of his eyes.\n\nNext morning the king sent for his soothsayers to explain the dream,\nand this was their interpretation; \u201cHear, O king! this dream presages\nto thee great misfortune, which Abraham and his posterity shall bring\nupon thee. The time will come when he will war with his forces against\nthee and thy forces, and will overcome them and put them to the sword.\nThou alone wilt escape with three of thy confederates; but a messenger\nof Abraham will cause thy death. Therefore, O king! remember that thy\ncouncil of wise men foretold this fifty-two years ago, in the stars\nat Abraham\u2019s birth. As long as Abraham lives thou art in jeopardy.\nWherefore could he be suffered to live any longer?\u201d\n\nNimrod believing what was said, sent a servant to assassinate Abraham.\nBut Eliezer, the slave, whom Nimrod had given to the patriarch, had\nbeen with the councillors when this advice was given, and he fled and\ntold Abraham before the emissary of the tyrant arrived; and Abraham\nleft his house and took refuge with Noah and Shem, and remained hidden\nwith them for the space of one month.\n\nHere Terah sought him in secret; and Abraham addressed him a long\ndiscourse on the vanity of idol-worship and the evil of serving the\ngodless tyrant Nimrod. And Noah and Shem supported him.\n\nThen Terah, who grieved over the death of his son Haran, consented to\nall that Abraham had said, and he went forth with Abraham and his wife\nSarah, and Lot his grandson, the son of Haran, and all his household,\nand they settled at Charan, where the land was fruitful and well\nwatered. The dwellers in Charan associated themselves with Abraham, who\ninstructed them in the knowledge and fear of the Lord.\n\n\n2. THE CALL OF ABRAHAM, AND THE VISIT TO EGYPT.\n\nFor three years Abraham dwelt in Charan, till God called him to go\nfurther with his wife Sarah, and to take up his abode in Canaan; but\nTerah and Lot remained at Charan. Abraham reached Canaan and pitched\nhis tent among the inhabitants of that land; and on the spot where\nGod promised that He would give him all that pleasant country for his\ninheritance, he erected an altar to the Eternal One.\n\nFor fifteen years he had dwelt in Canaan, and Abraham was now aged 70,\nwhen, on the 15th day of the first month (Nisan), on the self-same day\non which, in after years, the children of Israel went out of Egypt,\nthe voice of God came to him saying, \u201cI am the Lord that brought\nthee out of the furnace of Chald\u00e6a; to thee will I give this land to\ninherit it.\u201d And he said, \u201cLord God, whereby shall I know that I shall\ninherit it? Shall my descendants be faithful and true, and serve Thee\nthe living God, or will they rebel against God, against Thee, as did\nthe men before the Flood, and as did the men of Shinar who builded the\ntower?\u201d\n\nThen God bade him take an heifer of three years old, or a she-goat of\nthree years old, and a ram, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon. And\nhe took all these and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece\none against another; but the birds divided he not.[304] And God said to\nhim, \u201cWhen, in after days, thy descendants shall build me a temple, in\nit shall these five kinds of victims be offered to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d said Abraham, \u201cshould the temple be destroyed, what then shall\nthey do?\u201d\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d answered the Most Holy, \u201cThey shall offer to me in spirit, and\nI will pardon their sins.\u201d The beasts and birds also signified the\nraces over which his seed was to reign; the beasts he divided, and they\nbetokened the Gentile races, from which they were to purge away their\nidolatry; but _the birds divided he not_; for the birds signified the\nelect nation.\n\nThen came ravens and vultures down upon the carcases, but Abraham drove\nthem away (ver. 11); a symbol of the protection which God would accord\nto the people, for His promise sake, and the sake of their father\nAbraham, when the powers of evil, or mighty princes, menaced them.\n\nAnd when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham (ver.\n12), and he saw the four realms,--the horror-awakening Babylonian,\nMedo-Persian, Syro-Grecian, and Roman empires. And God said to Abraham\n(ver. 13), \u201c_Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a\nland that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict\nthem four hundred years._ But in the fourth generation thy seed shall\ncome hither again, after I have plagued the nation that has held them\nin bondage with 250 plagues.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs this decree spoken to punish me for my crimes?\u201d asked Abraham.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d answered the Almighty: \u201c_Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace;\nthou shalt be buried in a good old age_ (ver. 15); and Terah, who now\nbewails his former idolatry, has a share in the eternal happiness; also\nIshmael, thy son, who shall be born to thee, will, in thy lifetime,\nrepent and return to good, and the profanity of thy grandson Esau shalt\nthou not see.\u201d\n\nAnd when the sun was set, it was dark, and the various periods of\nfuturity passed before the eyes of the seer. He beheld _a smoking\nfurnace_ (ver. 17); this was the flaming Gehinom, Hell, where sinners\nshall expiate their iniquities. Then he saw _a burning lamp_: that was\nthe Law given on Sinai, and it _passed between those pieces_; that is,\nhe saw Israel go through the Red Sea.\n\nThen said the voice of God to the patriarch, \u201cI have showed thee the\nTemple-worship, Law, Bondage, and Hell. I must tell thee that in the\ntimes to come, through the sins of thy children, the Temple will be\ndestroyed, and the Law will be disregarded.\n\n\u201cChoose now, whether thou wilt have for their punishment, Bondage or\nHell.\u201d\n\nAnd Abraham after long hesitation answered, \u201cI choose Hell;\u201d for he\nthought, \u201cIt is better to fall into the hands of God, than into the\nhands of men.\u201d\n\nBut the Lord answered and said, \u201cNot so; thou hast chosen wrongly, for\nfrom Bondage there will come deliverance, but from Gehinom, never.\u201d\n\nAfter that, Abraham returned to the land of Charan, and dwelt there\nmany years; and he instructed the men, and Sarah the women, in the true\nreligion. And when his father Terah was dead, God called him again, and\nbade him go forth to the land which God had promised him; and he went\nobediently, and Lot his brother\u2019s son accompanied him. And he reached\nthe land of Canaan, and pitched first his wife\u2019s tent, and then his\nown, on the plain between Gerizim and Ebal; and he erected three altars\nin thanks to God for His call, for His having brought him into the\npromised land, and for having cast down his enemies before him. Then he\nwent south, and pitched on the spot where stands Jerusalem.\n\nAnd now a famine came upon the land; this was the third famine since\nthe world was formed, and it was sent to prove Abraham. He murmured\nnot, but went down with Sarah his wife, and his servants.\n\nWhen he reached the River of Egypt (Wadi el Arisch), Abraham rested\nsome days. As Abraham and Sarah walked together by the water-side,\nAbraham saw for the first time, reflected in the water, the beauty of\nSarah; for he was so modest that he had never lifted his eyes to her\nface, and knew not what she was like, till he saw her in the water.\nThen, when he saw how beautiful she was, he persuaded her to pass as\nhis sister in Egypt, for he feared lest he should be slain for her\nsake; but as a further precaution he shut her up in a chest.\n\nOn the frontier, the Custom-house officers insisted on his paying\nthe customs, due for the box, and required that it should be opened.\nAbraham offered to pay for the box as if it contained gold dust or\ngems, if only they would not enforce their right of search.\n\n\u201cDoes it contain silk?\u201d asked the officers.\n\n\u201cI will pay the tenth, as of silk,\u201d he answered.\n\n\u201cDoes it contain silver?\u201d they further asked.\n\n\u201cI will pay for it as silver.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, then it must contain gold.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will pay for it as gold.\u201d\n\n\u201cMaybe it contains the most rare and costly gems.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will pay for it as for gems.\u201d\n\nIn the altercation the chest was violently broken open, and lo! in\nit was seated a beautiful woman, so beautiful that her countenance\nillumined all Egypt; and the news reached the ears of Pharaoh. All this\noccurred in the night of the 15th of the month Nisan.\n\nAbraham and Sarah were sorely troubled, and prayed to God to protect\nthem. Then the angel of the Lord was sent to watch over Sarah, and the\nangel comforted her with these words, \u201cFear not; God has heard thy\npetitions!\u201d\n\nPharaoh asked Sarah who that man was who accompanied her, and when she\nanswered \u201cMy brother,\u201d Pharaoh bade him to be brought before him, and\nhe gave him rich gifts.\n\nAnd Pharaoh asked Abraham, \u201cWho is this woman?\u201d He answered \u201cShe is my\nsister.\u201d This say the Mussulmans, is the _third_ lie that Abraham told;\nbut it was not a lie, but a justifiable falsehood.\n\nPharaoh was filled with love for Sarah, and he offered her as his\npresent for her hand, all his possessions of gold and silver and\nslaves, and the land of Goshen. And when he pressed his suit upon her\nwith great vehemence, she cried to God and told him she was already\nmarried; then he was smitten with paralysis, and great plagues\nafflicted all his servants. But Pharaoh sent for Abraham, and returned\nhim Sarah, his wife, and dismissed him with costly presents, and he\ngave to Sarah also his daughter, Hagar, to be her servant.\n\n\u201cTruly, my daughter, it is better,\u201d said Pharaoh, \u201cto be servant in\na house which God has taken under His protection, than to command\nelsewhere.\u201d\n\nAfter a three months\u2019 sojourn in Egypt, Abraham returned to Canaan.\n\nAccording to Tabari, Hagar loved Sarah greatly. On their way back to\nCanaan the provisions failed, and Abraham went out one day to get food,\nwith a sack on his back; but the day was hot, so that he laid down and\nwent to sleep. He did not awake till evening, and then he returned, but\nwas ashamed to appear with the sack empty before his wife, so he filled\nit with sand. On reaching the tent he put the sack under his head and\nwent to sleep again. Very early in the morning Sarah said to Hagar,\n\u201cWhat has Abraham in his sack? open it and look.\u201d So Hagar untied it,\nput in her hand and drew out flour. She and Sarah baked cakes of the\nflour, and woke Abraham and bade him eat. Then, full of wonder, he\nasked where they had obtained meal. They told him, and he understood\nthat God had wrought a miracle.[305]\n\nNow Abraham\u2019s flocks and herds, and those of Lot, pastured together.\nAbraham\u2019s cattle were muzzled that they should not feed in the lands of\nthe neighbouring people; but Lot\u2019s cattle were not muzzled. And when\nAbraham\u2019s shepherds complained of this to those of Lot, the latter\nanswered, \u201cYour master is old, and has no children; soon he will die,\nand then all will belong to our master Lot.\u201d\n\nBut Abraham spake to Lot and said, \u201cThy ways and my ways do not agree:\nwe must part; do thou go to the left, and I will go to the right.\u201d So\nthey separated; and Lot departed from Abraham, and from the way of\nrighteousness, and from the living God; but Abraham camped in Mamre.\n\n\n3. THE WAR WITH THE KINGS.\n\nAfter the failure of the Tower of Babel, and the people had been\nscattered over the whole earth, Chedorlaomer, one of Nimrod\u2019s chief\ncaptains, had left his service, and had established a kingdom of his\nown in Elam. He speedily brought into subjection all the Canaanitish\npeoples that dwelt in the fertile valley of Jordan,--Sodom, Gomorrah,\nAdmah, Zebojim, and Zoar, and made them tributary to himself. These\ncities bore his yoke for twelve years, and then they rebelled. Five\nyears after did Nimrod, who is also called Amraphel in the sacred\ntext,[306] march against Chedorlaomer, but Nimrod was defeated, along\nwith his allies, Arioch, king of Ellasar, and Tidal, king of many\nconfederate nations; and obliged to enter into alliance with his former\ngeneral, Chedorlaomer, and agree to assist him in bringing back the\nrevolted cities--Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zebojim, and Zoar--to their\nallegiance.\n\nConsequently a huge army of confederates, under Chedorlaomer, Nimrod or\nAmraphel, Arioch, and Tidal, overran the plain and valley of Jordan,\nand slew all the giants that were there. The country before them was a\ngarden, and behind them it was a desert.\n\nThey resolved also to defeat, and utterly to destroy Abraham, the\nservant of the Most High; for Nimrod (Amraphel) remembered the perils\nto which his soothsayers had assured him he was exposed so long as\nAbraham lived.\n\nThe rulers of the five cities--Bera (Ruffian), king of Sodom; Birsha\n(Evil-doer), king of Gomorrah; Shirrab (Covetous one), king of Admah;\nShemeber (the Strong one), king of Zebojim; and the king (a nameless\none) of Bela (the engulfing city)--went forth in battle array, and\nmet the host of Chedorlaomer in the great plain of Siddim, from whose\ncanals and fountains the Salt Sea, or Dead Sea, was afterwards formed;\nand there they were utterly routed, and fled in precipitate haste to\nthe mountains and to the desert.\n\nThe king of Sodom alone escaped unharmed of all the five kings, by a\nmiracle which God wrought, to exhibit His power to the dwellers in the\nplain, who had begun to doubt the truth of Abraham\u2019s deliverance out of\nthe burning, fiery furnace.\n\nThe conquerors took the spoils of Sodom, and carried away Lot, who was\nlike Abraham in face, thinking that they had taken Abraham captive; and\nthey placed him in chains.\n\nAbraham was, in prophetic spirit, performing all the sacred rites, and\npreparing the unleavened cakes for the Paschal feast, for it was the\nEve of the Passover, when the only giant who escaped the overthrow of\nthe Rephaim by Chedorlaomer and his confederate kings,--Og, who was\nafterwards king of Basan, and who had been saved alive in the Flood of\nNoah,--came in haste to announce to the Patriarch the captivity of Lot.\n\nNow Og had long cast his lustful eyes on Sarah, and he thought in his\nheart, \u201cThis Abraham is full of fire and zeal, like a sportsman; that\nI know well. He will rush into battle to deliver his kinsman Lot, and\nwill perish; and then Sarah, his beautiful wife, will be mine.\u201d\n\nBut, according to another version, it was the angel Michael who brought\nthe news to Abraham; and to another, it was Oni, one of the slaves\nNimrod had given him, and who had been sent to observe the progress of\nthe war.\n\nNo sooner had Abraham heard the tidings than, filled with anxiety on\nLot\u2019s behalf, and with sympathy for the Sodomites, his neighbors, he\ncalled all his neighbors together, and all those who had followed him,\nand in earnest words exhorted them to prepare to fight and rescue Lot.\nBut they, knowing the disparity of numbers, would make no promise;\nthen he threatened them, but could not persuade them to join in what\nthey regarded as an infatuated course certain to lead to destruction.\nConsequently Abraham was obliged to go against the enemy with only his\nown servants. But as they neared the plain, and saw the devastations\nwrought by the host of Chedorlaomer, they also slipped away in the\nnight, and Abraham was left alone with Eliezer, his trusty slave, and\nhis three friends Aner, Eshcol, Mamre. And he followed after the foe,\nas they retired with their spoil, till he reached one of the fountains\nof Jordan, which is named Paneas, or Dan.\n\nHere his three friends forsook him, along with their wives, who had\naccompanied them thus far.\n\nIt was the night of the 15th Nisan, the self-same night in which in\nafter-years the first-born of Egypt would be slain; and Abraham\u2019s\nheart fainted as he overtook the mighty host, and saw that they were\ncountless as the sands of the sea-shore, and as grasshoppers for number.\n\nBut lo! God fought for Abraham. The grass-blades changed into swords,\nand the stubble into spears, and battled all that night; and in the\nmorning, when he looked upon the host, they were all dead corpses. Thus\nhe delivered Lot and all the captives, men, women, and children, and\nthe spoil that had been carried away; and none stayed them, for all\ntheir foes lay dead upon the ground.\n\nThe King of Sodom came forth to meet Abraham, full of pride of heart\nbecause he had been miraculously delivered, and attributing all the\nglory of the victory to Divine interposition on his own behalf. But\nall the people knew that Abraham was the favored of God, and their\ndeliverer, and they built a throne of the trees that covered the\nplain, and which had been burnt in the war, and set Abraham as their\nprince and king thereon; therefore is that place called to this day,\n\u201cThe king\u2019s dale.\u201d[307]\n\nBut Abraham was little pleased with this exhibition of honor, and\nhe thought upon what he had learnt of old from that aged man, Shem,\nconsecrated by God to be His priest, when he fled to him in his cave\nfrom the tyranny of Nimrod.\n\nShem reigned now in the city of Salem, which was in later years called\nJerusalem, and from his righteous government he was named Melchizedek\n(king of righteousness). And Abraham thought, \u201cWill Shem ever forgive\nme for having drawn the sword against his grandsons, the sons of Elam?\u201d\n\nBut Shem was of no less noble and considerate temper than Abraham; and\nhe mused within himself, and said, \u201cWhat sort of opinion can Abraham\nhave formed of me, that such godless and violent hosts should have\nsprung from my loins, and have devastated the fair plain of Jordan, and\ncarried away captive even his near kinsman!\u201d\n\nThen Shem full of noble resolution to reconcile himself with Abraham,\nrose up and went forth, bearing bread and wine as tokens of friendship.\n\nThe words of God flowed from his mouth; he instructed Abraham in all\nthat appertained to the high priest\u2019s office, which was in future\ntimes to belong to his family; and before he left, he blessed Abraham\nwith these words, \u201c_Blessed be Abraham of the most high God, possessor\nof heaven and earth; and blessed be the most high God, which hath\ndelivered thine enemies into thy hand._\u201d[308]\n\nBut in so saying, Melchizedek erred grievously, for he blessed Abraham\nbefore he blessed God, and the Creator should be blessed first, and the\ncreature blessed afterwards; therefore the high priesthood was taken\nfrom him, and given to Aaron in after-times.\n\nOf all the spoil which Abraham had taken, he separated a tenth part,\nand he gave it to Melchizedek, as the offering due to the priest, and\nthis was the first tithe paid in the history of the world. All the\nbooty of Sodom Abraham returned to the king thereof, and he took an\noath, \u201c_I will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and I\nwill not take any thing that is thine, lest thou should say, I have\nmade Abraham rich, save only that which the young men have eaten, and\nthe portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let\nthem take their portion._\u201d[309]\n\nOn account of this unselfishness, the remembrance of which was to be\ncontinued through all generations, God gave the descendants of Abraham\nmaxims to be written on their phylacteries and shoe-latchets; and the\npromise was made, \u201c_Over Edom will I cast out my shoe_;\u201d[310] that is,\nEdom, the most cruel oppressor of the chosen people, should fall under\nthe condemnation of the Most High.\n\nThe end of Nimrod and his confederate kings is related with greater\nfulness by the Mussulman historians.\n\nAccording to Tabari, God sent an army of flies against the host of\nChedorlaomer and Nimrod, and these flies attacked the soldiers in their\nfaces; and the flies were so numerous that the soldiers could not\nsee one another; and the horses stung by them went mad, and leaped,\nand fell; so that, what with the horses and the flies, the army was\nentirely dispersed. Nimrod escaped to Babylon, but he was pursued by\nthe meanest of the gnats of that host; it was blind of one eye and lame\nof one leg. When Nimrod sat down on his throne, the gnat settled upon\nhis knee. Then the tyrant smote at it; and it rose, flew up one of his\nnostrils and entered his brain, which it began to devour.\n\nNimrod beat his face and his head, and when he did so the fly ceased\ngnawing at his brain, but he had no repose from his agonies save when\nstruck upon the head. Consequently there was, after that, always\nsome one stationed by him to strike his head. The king had a large\nblacksmith\u2019s hammer brought into his throne-room, and with that his\nprinces and nobles smote him on the head; and the more violent the\nblow, the greater was the relief afforded. Nimrod reigned a thousand\nyears before he felt the torment of the gnat; up to that moment he had\nsuffered no pains. He lived for five hundred years with the fly eating\nat his brain; and all that while, night and day, there were relays of\nmen to strike his head with the hammer.[311]\n\nPrecisely the same story is told by the Jewish Rabbis of Titus.[312]\n\nThere is, however, another version of the tradition; which is, that\nthe gnat fattening on the brain grew in size till it swelled to the\ndimensions of a pigeon, and then the skull of Nimrod burst, and the\ngnat flew away; and this was fifteen days after it had entered by his\nnose.[313]\n\nMore shall be told of Melchizedek in a separate article.\n\n\n4. THE BIRTH OF ISHMAEL.\n\nTen years passed, and yet Sarah was barren. Abraham, in sore distress,\nprayed to God, and reminded Him of His promises. Sarah then said to\nAbraham, \u201cGod has refused me children, therefore take Hagar to wife,\nthe daughter of Pharaoh, who was given to be my servant; I give her\nthee in all good-will, that my reproach may be taken away, and to her I\ngive her freedom.\u201d\n\nAbraham consented; but Hagar, who had been virtuously brought up by\nSarah, objected modestly, till Sarah pointed out to her how great an\nhonor it would be to be the concubine of such a holy man.\n\nBut no sooner was Hagar installed as second wife, and felt in herself\nthat she was about to become a mother, than her character changed; she\nassumed the pre-eminence, and cast bitter words in the teeth of her\nmistress. \u201cWhat,\u201d said she, \u201ccan Sarah be so holy and beloved of God,\nand He has never given her her heart\u2019s desire?\u201d\n\nSarah was stung to the quick by these words of her former slave. She\nturned to her husband and said, \u201cI demand of thee my rights. For thee\nI forsook my father\u2019s house, and followed thee into a strange land;\nfor thee I passed myself off in Egypt as thy sister. And now what hast\nthou done? Thou hast suffered my slave to assume the chief place in\nthe house, and to take upon herself airs, and thou holdest thy peace.\nDepend upon it, if she bear thee a son there will be no peace in the\nhouse, for she is a daughter of Pharaoh, who is of the race of Nimrod,\nwho cast thee into the furnace of fire.\u201d\n\n\u201cHagar is in thy power,\u201d answered Abraham; \u201cbut do her no harm. After\nthou gavest her her freedom, she may not again be brought into bondage.\u201d\n\nBut Sarah paid no attention to these words of gentleness, and treated\nHagar with such cruelty, beat her, and cast an evil eye on her, so that\nshe was delivered before her time of a dead child, and she fled for her\nlife from the house.\n\nThe All-Righteous, for this offence, shortened Sarah\u2019s life, and made\nher die thirty-eight years before her husband.\n\nAngels appeared to Hagar in the desert by the well of water whither she\nhad fled, and bade her return to Abraham. So she went back, and was\nagain pregnant, and bore a son, and called his name Ishmael.\n\n\n5. THE DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH.\n\nAt noon on the 15th Nisan, the third day after the circumcision of\nAbraham, as recorded in the Book of Genesis, the heat of the sun was\nso great that Gehinom (Hell) was penetrated by it. And Abraham had not\nrecovered the administration of the rite, which had been performed by\nthe hands of Shem, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God.\n\nAbraham was wont every day to go forth and invite any travellers he\nmight see to feast with him. But this day, owing to the heat and to\nhis being in pain, he sent Eliezer, his servant, forth, who looked and\nreturned and said that there was no one to be seen.\n\nBut Abraham thought, \u201cCan I trust the words of this slave, and neglect\nfor one day the performance of my accustomed hospitality?\u201d\n\nThen, notwithstanding the heat and his suffering, he went and sat in\nthe shade of the door, and he beheld in the plain of Mamre the glory\nof the Lord that appeared. Abraham would have risen, but the voice\nof God called to him, saying, \u201cRemain where thou art, and let thy\npious, sitting posture teach future generations in their prayer and\ninstruction to be seated; and let judges, in delivering judgment,\noccupy the same position.\u201d\n\nThen Abraham lifted his eyes, and beheld three men, who seemed to\napproach and then to withdraw. These were the angels Michael, Raphael,\nand Gabriel, sent to him with messages, whereof each bore one. They\nnow stood before Abraham\u2019s tent, and they came to satisfy his desire\nto show hospitality: but when they observed the predicament in which\nhe was, they attempted to withdraw, but Abraham supposed them to be\ntravellers of the three neighboring races of Saracens, Nabath\u00e6ans,\nand Arabians; and as two of the angels were smaller of stature than\nthe third, who stood in the middle--this was Michael--Abraham supposed\nhim to be their chief; and he rose and bowed himself before him, and\nsaid to the Majesty of God which still shone, \u201cIf I have found favor in\nThy sight, O Lord, may Thy majesty not depart from me whilst I receive\nhospitably these wanderers.\u201d And the Lord granted his request.\n\nThen said Abraham to the men, \u201c_Let a little water, I pray you, be\nfetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree; and I\nwill fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye\nshall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant._\u201d\n\nNow the reason why he said \u201cLet a little water be fetched and wash your\nfeet,\u201d was, that he supposed the men were idolaters, and he would not\nhave the dust from the feet of idolaters to pollute the floor of his\ntent.\n\nAnd they said, \u201cDo so.\u201d\n\nThen Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, \u201c_Make ready\nquickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the\nhearth._\u201d And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf which he\nhad dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the\ntree, and they did eat.\n\nAbraham placed butter and milk on the table first, then calves\u2019\ntongues, then the other dishes, and lastly Sarah\u2019s cakes; but some\ncommentators doubt whether the men ate the cakes. It is asserted by\nsome that the angels only appeared to eat, but by others we are assured\nthat to reward Abraham\u2019s hospitality they really did eat, and this was\nthe only occasion on which angels tasted the food of earth.\n\nThe angels, knowing that Sarah was within the tent, asked after her.\nAnd this betokens her great modesty, that she did not thrust herself\nforward to be seen of strange visitors. Abraham replied that she was\nwithin, engaged in women\u2019s household work. Then said Michael, the chief\nof the angels, \u201cTruly shall such pious and seemly habits not pass\nunrewarded; but Sarah shall bloom again as fair as in her youth, and\nshall bear a son in her old age.\u201d\n\nSarah heard these words at the entrance of the tent; so did Ishmael,\nwho stood near. Sarah stepped behind the angel, but the beauty of\nher countenance shone before her, and the angel turned to look at\nher, and then he saw she was laughing to herself, and saying, \u201cI am\ngood-looking, and smart dresses become me; I could perfectly well\nproduce a son, but then my husband is old.\u201d\n\nThen the word of God came to Abraham, and said, \u201c_Wherefore did Sarah\nlaugh?_ Am I, the all-powerful God, too old to create miracles? _At\nthe appointed time Sarah shall have a son._\u201d To Sarah, who, out of\nfear, denied having laughed, the word came, \u201cFear not, _but thou didst\nlaugh_.\u201d\n\nThen Michael withdrew, for his mission was accomplished; and left the\nother two, Gabriel and Raphael, with Abraham. Then God revealed to\nAbraham, by Gabriel, that He was about to destroy the cities of the\nplain; and by Raphael, that He would deliver Lot and his family in the\noverthrow.\n\nThese cities were very guilty before God. Eliezer, having been sent by\nSarah to her brother Lot with a message, some years before, arrived\nin Sodom. An acquaintance invited him to a meal. But hospitality was\na virtue abhorred in Sodom, and the news of the invitation having got\nwind, Eliezer\u2019s friend was driven out of the city. Now it was a custom\nin Sodom to make every stranger arriving within the walls rest in a\ncertain bed; and if the bed proved too long for him, his legs were\npulled out to fit it; and if it proved too short, his legs were pared\ndown to its dimensions. Eliezer saw with horror what it was that they\npurposed to do with him, and he had recourse to a lie of necessity; he\ndeclined to sleep in the bed, because he had taken an oath upon the\ndeath of his mother never to lie on a bed again; and thus he escaped.\nShortly after, having seen a Sodomite rob a poor stranger of his\ngarment, Eliezer attempted to interfere, but the robber struck him over\nthe head and made a gash, from which he lost much blood. Both being\nbrought before the judge, this was the magistrate\u2019s decision:--That\nEliezer was indebted to the Sodomite robber for having bled him. The\nservant of Abraham thereupon took up a large stone, flung it at the\njudge\u2019s head, which he cut open, and said, \u201cNow, pay me for having bled\nthee!\u201d and then he fled out of the city.\n\nFrom these incidents it maybe seen how wicked the city was.\n\nNow Abraham had interceded with God to spare the cities of the plain,\nfor the intercession of His saints is mighty with God. And Abraham\nhad obtained of God that if in Zoar, the smallest of the cities,\nfive righteous could be found, and forty-five in all the rest of the\ncountry, God would spare them. Then God ceased talking with Abraham.\nNext morning early, Abraham arose and took his staff, and went to the\nplace where God had met him, to make further intercession for the\ncities of the plain, but the smoke of them rose as from a furnace, for\nbrimstone and fire had been rained upon them out of heaven, and they\nhad been consumed along with their inhabitants. Only Zoar was spared,\nas a place of refuge for Lot, and Lot was kept alive and his daughters;\nfor God remembered how he had been true to Abraham in Egypt, and had\nnot betrayed the truth about Sarah when questioned by Pharaoh.\n\nThe Mussulman tradition is as follows:--\n\nLot, whom the Arabs called Loth, was sent by God as a prophet to\nconvince the inhabitants of the cities of the plain of their ungodly\ndeeds. But, though he preached for twenty years, he could not convince\nthem. And whenever he visited Abraham he complained to him of the\niniquity of the people. But Abraham urged him to patience.\n\nAt length the long-suffering of God was exhausted, and He sent\nthe angels Michael, Gabriel, and Azrael, armed with the sword of\ndestruction, against these cities.\n\nThey came to Abraham, who received them, and slaughtered a calf, and\nprepared meat and set it before them. But they would not eat. And he\npressed them, and ate himself; but they would not eat, being angels.\nThen Abraham\u2019s color went and he was afraid, for to refuse to eat with\na man is a token that you seek his life.\n\nSeeing him discouraged, the angels announced their mission. But Sarah,\nobserving her husband\u2019s loss of color, laughed and said in her heart,\n\u201cWhy is he fearful, being surrounded with many servants and faithful\nfriends?\u201d\n\nNow the angels promised to Abraham a son in his old age, and that they\nwould rescue Lot in the overthrow of Sodom. Then they rose up and went\non their way, and entered into Sodom; and they met a young maiden in\nthe street, and asked her the way to Lot\u2019s house.\n\nShe answered, \u201cHe is my father, and I dwell with him; but know you\nnot, O strangers, that it is against the laws of this city to show\nhospitality?\u201d\n\nBut they answered her, \u201cFear not; lead us to thy father.\u201d\n\nSo she led them, and ran before and told Lot, \u201cBehold three men come\nseeking thee and asking shelter, and they are beautiful as the angels\nof God.\u201d\n\nThen Lot went out to them, and told them the city was full of\nwickedness, and that hospitality was not permitted.\n\nBut they answered, \u201cWe must tarry this night in thy house.\u201d Then he\nadmitted them, and he hid them. But Lot\u2019s wife was an infidel, a native\nof Sodom; and finding that he lodged these strangers, she hastened to\nthe chief men of the city and said, \u201cMy husband has violated your laws,\nand the customs of this people; he has housed travellers, and will feed\nthem and show them all courtesy.\u201d\n\nTherefore the men of the city came tumultuously to the door of Lot\u2019s\nhouse, to bring forth the men that were come to him, and to cast them\nout of the city, having shamefully entreated them. They would not\nlisten to the remonstrances of Lot, but went near to break in his door.\n\nThen the three angels stepped forth and passed their hands over the\nfaces of all who drew near, and they were struck blind, and fled from\ntheir presence.\n\nNow, long before the day began to break, the angels rose up and called\nLot, his wife and daughters, and bade them take their clothes and all\nthat they had that was most precious, and escape out of the city.\nTherefore Lot and his family went forth.\n\nAnd when they were escaped, the angel Gabriel went through the cities,\nand passed his wing over the soil on which they were built, and the\ncities were carried up into heaven; and they came so near thereto that\nthose on the confines of heaven could hear the crowing of the cocks\nin Sodom, and the barking of the dogs in Gomorrah. And then they were\noverthrown, so that their foundations were towards the sky and their\nroofs towards the earth. And God rained on them stones heated in the\nfire of hell; and on each stone was written the name of him whom it was\ndestined to slay. Now there were many natives of these accursed cities\nin other parts of the land, and where they were, there they were sought\nout by the red-hot stones, and were struck down. But some were within\nthe sacred enclosure of the temple at Mecca, and the stones waited for\nthem in the air; and at the expiration of forty days they came forth,\nand as they came forth the stones whistled through the air, and smote\nthem, and they were slain.\n\nNow Lot\u2019s wife turned, as she went forth, to look back upon the city,\nand a stone fell on her, and she died.[314]\n\nIt is related further of Lot that, after he had escaped, he committed\nin ignorance a very great sin; and Abraham sent him to expiate his\ncrime to the sources of the Nile, to fetch thence three sorts of wood,\nwhich he named to him. Abraham thought, \u201cHe will be slain by ravenous\nbeasts, and so will he atone for the sin that he has committed.\u201d\n\nBut Lot after a while returned, bringing with him the woods which\nAbraham had demanded--a cypress plant, a young cedar, and a young pine.\n\nAbraham planted the three trees in the shape of a triangle, on a\nmountain, and charged Lot with watering them every day from Jordan.\nNow the mountain was twenty-four thousand paces from Jordan, and this\npenance was laid on Lot to expiate his sin.\n\nAt the end of three months the trees blossomed; Lot announced this to\nAbraham, who visited the spot, and saw to his surprise that the three\ntrees had grown together to form one trunk, but with three distinct\nroots of different natures.\n\nAt the sight of this miracle he bowed his face to the ground and said,\n\u201cThis tree will abolish sin.\u201d\n\nAnd by that he knew that God had pardoned Lot.\n\nThe tree grew and subsisted till the reign of Solomon, when it was cut\ndown, and this was the tree which the Jews employed to form the Cross\nof Christ.[315]\n\nThis tradition is, of course, Christian; though Jewish in origin, it\nhas been adapted to the Gospel story.\n\n\n6. THE BIRTH OF ISAAC.\n\nThe country was wasted; travellers were few; those who passed by, and\naccepted Abraham\u2019s hospitality, spoke with scorn of the sin of Lot, his\nnephew; and the neighborhood became intolerable to the patriarch, who\nresolved to change his place of residence for a while.\n\nHe therefore went south, between Kadesh and Sur, and dwelt in Gerar.\n\nNow Sarah had bloomed again as fair as in her youth, as the angel\nMichael had foretold; and Abraham persuaded her to pretend again to be\nhis sister, though Sarah, remembering the ill-success of this deceit\nbefore, hesitated to comply.\n\nAbimelech, king of Gerar, hearing of Sarah\u2019s beauty, sent for her to\nhis palace. He asked Abraham, \u201cWho is this woman?\u201d and he answered,\n\u201cShe is my sister.\u201d Then Abimelech inquired of the camels and of the\nasses, and they answered the same, \u201cShe is his sister.\u201d But that same\nevening, as it grew towards dusk, as he sat on his throne, he fell\nasleep; and in dream saw an angel of God approach him with a drawn\nsword in his hand to slay him. The king in his dream cried out to know\nwhy he was doomed to death; and the angel answered, \u201cBecause thou hast\nreceived into thy house the wife of another man, the mistress of a\nhouse.\u201d\n\nAbimelech excused himself, saying that Abraham had concealed the truth\nfrom him, and had said Sarah was his sister.\n\n\u201cThe All-Holy knows that thou hast sinned in ignorance,\u201d said the\nangel; \u201cbut is it seemly, when strangers enter thy land, to be\nquestioning closely into their connections? Know that Abraham is a\nprophet, and foreseeing that thy people would entreat his wife ill, he\nresolved to call her his sister, and he knew, being a prophet, that\nthou couldst not harm her.\u201d[316]\n\nThat night--it was the Paschal eve--the angel with the drawn sword\ntraversed all the streets of the city, and closed the wombs of those\nabout to bear.\n\nNext morning early, while it was yet dark, Abimelech sent for Abraham\nand Sarah, and gave Sarah back to her husband, and paid him a thousand\nounces of silver, and to Sarah he gave a costly robe, which might\nconceal her from her eyes to her feet, that none might henceforth be\nbewitched by her beauty. \u201cBut,\u201d said Abimelech to Abraham, \u201cbecause\nthou didst deceive me and blind my eyes with a lie, therefore thou\nshalt bear a son, whose eyes shall be dim so that he shall be\ndeceived.\u201d And Abraham prayed to the Lord, and all the woman that were\nwith child in Gerar were delivered of men-children, without the pangs\nof maternity, and those who were barren felt themselves with child.\nThe angel hosts besought the Lord to look upon Sarah, and to remember\nHis covenant. \u201cO Lord of the whole world! Thou didst hear the cry of\nAbraham, and grant his petitions when he prayed for the barren women\nof Gerar; and his own wife, from whom Thou didst promise him a son,\nis unfruitful and despised. Does it beseem a Lord, when he prepares a\nfleet, to free his subjects from pirates, but to leave the vessel of\nhis best friend in bondage?\u201d\n\nNow it was the first day of the seventh month, Tischri, the day on\nwhich, at the close of the world\u2019s history, the Lord will come to judge\nthe quick and the dead, that the Lord God remembered Sarah, and the\npromise He had made, and looked upon her, and she conceived a son in\nher old age, one year and four months after her sojourn in Gerar; and\nnine months after, say some, but, say others, six months and two days\nafter; at mid-day say some, others say in the evening of the fifteenth\nof Nisan; or, as others affirm, on the first of Nisan she was delivered\nof a son, without suffering any pains in the bringing forth. And the\nsame time that Sarah\u2019s womb was blessed, God looked upon many other\nbarren women and blessed them also; and on the day that the child was\nborn they were delivered likewise; and the blind saw, the dumb spake,\nthe deaf heard, and the lame walked, and the crazed recovered their\nsenses. Also, the sun shone forty-eight times brighter than he shines\nat Midsummer, even with the splendor that he had on the day of his\ncreation.\n\nAnd when eight days were accomplished, Abraham circumcised his son, and\ncalled him Isaac.\n\nBut many thought it was an incredible thing that Abraham and Sarah\nshould have a son in their old age, and they said, \u201cThis is a\nfoundling, or it is the child of one of the slaves, which they pass off\nas their own.\u201d Now Abraham held a great feast on the day that Isaac\nwas weaned, and he invited thereto all the princes and great men of\nthe country. And there came Abimelech, king of Gerar, and Og, king of\nBasan, and all the princes of Canaan, sixty-two princes in all. Such an\nassembly was not seen before, yet all these princes fell in after-years\nby the hands of Joshua.[317]\n\nOf this feast it is related that Og\u2019s companions said to him, \u201cDo you\nbelieve that that old mule, Abraham, can be the father of this child?\u201d\n\nOg replied with scorn, \u201cI could crack this imp with the nail of my\nlittle finger.\u201d\n\nThen came there a voice from heaven, saying, \u201cThou despisest this\nlittle child, but know thou that tens of thousands shall spring from\nhis loins, and that before them thy pride shall be humbled.\u201d\n\nAlso, Abraham\u2019s ancestors, Shem and Eber, and his father,\nTerah--though some say he was dead--and Nahor, Abraham\u2019s brother,\nattended the feast, and the Shekinah, the glory of the Lord, appeared\nto grace it.\n\nBut Satan also appeared in the form of a poor beggar-man, and he\nstood at the door and asked an alms. Now Abraham and Sarah were busy\nattending to their guests, so they perceived him not, but the servants\nthrust him away, and Satan received nothing; therefore he presented\nhimself before the Most High, and laid an accusation of inhospitality\nand churlishness against the Friend of God.\n\nIn the mean time Sarah had assembled, and was entertaining all the\nwives of the guests of Abraham. And it happened that the women found\nthat they had no milk in their bosoms to give their infants, and the\nbabes screamed that no one could hear the voice of another. The mothers\nwere in despair, for the children were hungry, and they were all dry.\nThen Sarah uncovered her breasts, and there spirted from them jets of\nmilk, and all the babes were nourished at her bosom, and yet there was\nmore.\n\nNow when they saw this, the women, who had doubted that the child was\nreally the offspring of Sarah, doubted no more, and cried, \u201cWe are not\nworthy that our little ones should be nourished at thy bosom!\u201d And\nthe story goes that all those who afterwards joined themselves to the\npeople of Israel, and all those in every nation who in after-times\nbecame proselytes, were descended from those who sucked the breasts of\nSarah. In allusion to this incident it is said in the Book of Psalms:\n\u201c_Thou makest the barren woman to keep house, and to be the joyful\nmother of_ (i. e., giving suck to) _children._\u201d[318]\n\nThe child Isaac was shown to every visitor, and all were astonished at\nhis resemblance to Abraham. Both the babe and his father were so much\nalike that it was impossible to distinguish one from the other, and all\ndoubt as to whose it was vanished before such evidence of likeness to\nthe father, and before the fulness of Sarah\u2019s breasts. But as confusion\nwas likely to arise through the striking similarity between father and\nson, Abraham besought God to give him wrinkles and white hair, that he\nmight not be mistaken for the babe Isaac, or the babe Isaac be mistaken\nfor him.[319]\n\n\n7. THE EXPULSION OF HAGAR AND ISHMAEL.\n\nIshmael grew up, and became skilful with his bow; he was rough and\nundisciplined, and he occasionally lapsed into idolatry, but without\nhis father knowing it. But Sarah was aware of his sin, and was grieved\nthereat.\n\nIshmael often boasted, \u201cI am the eldest son, and I shall have a double\nportion of my father\u2019s inheritance.\u201d These words were reported to\nSarah, and she hated Ishmael for them in her heart.\n\nOne day when Isaac was five years old, but others say fifteen, Ishmael\nsaid to him, \u201cCome forth into the field and let us shoot.\u201d Isaac was\nwell pleased. And when they were in the field, Ishmael turned his bow\nagainst his brother, but he did it in jest. Sarah saw him from the\ntent door, and she ran out, and caught away her son Isaac, and she\nwent to Abraham and told him all the evil she knew of Ishmael; how he\nhad gone after idols and had learnt the ways of the Canaanites that\nwere in the land, how he had boasted of his majority, and how he had\nsought Isaac\u2019s life. And she said, \u201cGive the maid-servant a writing of\ndivorcement, and send her away. _Cast out this bond-woman and her son;\nfor the son of this bond-woman shall not be heir with my son, even with\nIsaac._ Then she will no more vex Isaac. Do thou leave to Isaac all thy\npossessions. Never shall Ishmael inherit any thing from thee, for he is\nnot my son.\u201d\n\nAbraham was grieved at heart, for he loved Ishmael his son, but nothing\nthat he said could alter Sarah\u2019s determination. She insisted on the\nexpulsion of Hagar and her son, and she stirred up the wrath of Abraham\nagainst Ishmael, because he had fallen into idolatry.\n\nSarah, say the Mussulmans, was so fierce in her jealousy, that she\nwould not be satisfied till she had washed her hands in the blood of\nHagar. Then Abraham quickly pierced Hagar\u2019s ears, and drew a ring\nthrough them, so that Sarah could fulfil her oath, without endangering\nthe life of Hagar.[320]\n\nIt was long before Abraham could be brought to consent to Sarah\u2019s\ndesire, but God appeared to him in a dream and said, \u201cFear not to obey\nthe voice of Sarah, for she is the wife of thy youth, and was chosen\nfor thee from her mother\u2019s womb. But Hagar is not thy wife; she is but\na bond-woman. Sarah also is a prophetess, and sees into things that\nshall be in the latter days, further than thou. Unto Isaac and those of\nhis seed who believe in the Two Worlds are the promises made; and they\nalone shall be accounted as thy seed.\u201d[321]\n\nAbraham now did what he was commanded. Next morning he gave Hagar a\nwriting of dismissal, and took twelve loaves of bread and a pitcher\nof water, and laid them upon Hagar, for Sarah had cast an evil eye\nupon Ishmael, so that he was ill, and unable to carry any burden. And\nAbraham attached the pitcher by a cord to the hips of Hagar, that all\nmight know she was a slave, and the pitcher hung down and trailed on\nthe sand. Ishmael was sent away without garments; he went forth naked\nas he came into the world: thus it may be seen how implacable was the\nanger of Sarah, because he had boasted of his birthright, and the wrath\nof Abraham, because he had fallen into idolatry.\n\nBut when they went along their way, Abraham looked after them for long,\nstanding in the door of his tent, for his bowels yearned after his son,\nand he saw the trail in the sand of the water pitcher which Hagar had\ndragged sadly along, and thereby Abraham knew the direction which they\nhad taken.\n\nNow God forsook not the outcast in her affliction, but filled the\npitcher with water as fast as she and her son drank out of it, and the\nwater was always sweet and cold. Thus they penetrated the wilderness,\nand there they lost their way, and Hagar forgot the God of Abraham, and\nin her distress turned to the false gods of her father Pharaoh, and\nbesought their protection, for she said, \u201cWhere are the promises of the\nGod of Abraham, that of Ishmael would He make a great nation?\u201d\n\nNow Ishmael was sick of a burning fever, and the water in the pitcher\nfailed when Hagar forsook the God of Abraham. So she cast him under a\nthorn bush, and went from him the space of two thousand ells, that she\nmight not hear his cries. But Ishmael prayed to the Lord God of Heaven\nand Earth, and said, \u201cO Lord God of my father Abraham! thou canst send\ndeath in so many forms; take my life speedily or give me a drop of\nwater, that I suffer this agony no longer.\u201d\n\nAnd the Lord in His compassion heard the prayer of the weeping child,\nand He sent His angel and showed Hagar that fountain which He had\ncreated on the sixth day at dusk, and of which the children of Israel\nwere destined to drink when they came forth out of Egypt.\n\nBut the accusing angel murmured against this judgment of God, and said,\n\u201cO Lord of the whole earth! shall this one, of whom a nation of robbers\nshall arise, who will war upon thine elect people, and be a scourge\nupon the face of the earth, shall he be delivered now, and given to\ndrink of a fountain destined for thine elect?\u201d\n\nThe Lord answered, \u201cIs the youth guilty, or is he not guilty?\u201d\n\nThe angel answered, \u201cHe is not himself guilty, but his posterity will\nsin.\u201d\n\nThen God said, \u201cI punish men for what they have done, and not for what\ntheir children will do. Ishmael hath not merited a death of suffering,\ntherefore shall he not die.\u201d And God opened the eyes of Hagar, and she\nsaw the spring of water, and filled her pitcher, and took it to Ishmael\nto drink. She filled the pitcher before she gave her son a draught of\nwater, for she had little faith, and thought that the fountain would be\nwithdrawn before she could return to it again.\n\nThen Ishmael was strengthened and could go, and he and his mother went\nfurther, and were fed by the shepherds; and they reached Paran, and\nthere they found springs of water, and they settled there. Ishmael took\na wife, a daughter of Moab, named Aischa, or Aifa, or Asiah; but others\nsay she was an Egyptian woman, and was named Meriba (the quarrelsome),\nand by her he had four sons and one daughter.\n\nIshmael lived a wandering life in tents with his wife and cattle; and\nthe Lord blessed his flocks, and he had great possessions. But his\nheart remained the same; and he was a master of archery, and instructed\nhis neighbors in making bows.\n\nAfter three years, Abraham, whose heart longed after his son, said to\nSarah, \u201cI must see how my son Ishmael fares.\u201d And she answered, \u201cThou\nshalt go if thou wilt swear to me not to alight from off thy camel,\u201d\nfor she hated Hagar, and feared to suffer her husband to meet her once\nmore. So Abraham swore. Then he went to Paran, over the desert, seeking\nIshmael\u2019s tent; and he reached it at noon, but neither Hagar nor her\nson were at home. Only Ishmael\u2019s wife was within, and she was scolding\nand beating the children.\n\nSo Abraham halted on his camel before the tent door, and the sun was\nhot in the blue sky above, and the sand was white and glaring beneath.\nAnd he called to her, \u201cIs thy husband within?\u201d\n\nShe answered, without rising from her seat, \u201cHe is hunting.\u201d Or, say\nothers, she said without looking at him or rising, \u201cHe is gathering\ndates.\u201d\n\nThen Abraham said, \u201cI am faint and hungry; bring me a little bread and\na drop of water.\u201d\n\nBut the woman answered, \u201cI have none for such as thee.\u201d\n\nSo Abraham said to her, \u201cSay to thy husband, even to Ishmael, these\nwords: \u2018An old man hath come to see thee out of the land of the\nPhilistines, and he says, The nail that fastens thy tent is bad; cast\nit away or thy tent will fall, and get thee a better nail.\u2019\u201d Then he\ndeparted, and went home.\n\nNow when Ishmael returned, his wife told him all these words, and he\nknew that his father had been there, and he understood the tenor of his\nwords, so he sent away his wife, and he took another, with his mother\u2019s\nadvice, out of Egypt, and her name was Fatima.\n\nAnd after three years, Abraham\u2019s bowels yearned once more after his\nson, and he said to Sarah, \u201cI must see how Ishmael fares.\u201d And she\nanswered, \u201cThou shalt go, if thou wilt swear to me not to alight from\noff thy camel.\u201d So Abraham swore.\n\nThen he went to Paran, over the desert, seeking Ishmael\u2019s tent, and he\nreached it at noon; but neither Hagar nor her son was at home. Only\nIshmael\u2019s wife, Fatima, was within, and she was singing to the children.\n\nSo Abraham halted on his camel before the tent door, and the sun was\nhot in the blue sky above, and the sand was white and glaring beneath.\nAnd when Fatima saw a stranger at the door, she rose from her seat, and\nveiled her face, and came out and greeted him.\n\nThen said Abraham, \u201cIs thy husband within?\u201d\n\nShe answered, \u201cMy lord, he is pasturing the camels in the desert;\u201d and\nshe added, \u201cEnter, my lord, into the cool of the tent and rest, and\nsuffer me to bring thee a little meat.\u201d\n\nBut Abraham said, \u201cI may not alight from off my camel, for my journey\nis hasty; but bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread and a drop of\nwater, for I am hungry and faint.\u201d\n\nThen she ran and brought him of the best of all that she had in the\ntent, and he ate and drank, and was glad.\n\nSo he said to her, \u201cSay to thy husband, even to Ishmael, that an old\nman out of the land of the Philistines hath been here, and he says,\nThe nail that fastens thy tent is very good; let it not be stirred out\nof its place, and thy tent will stand.\u201d\n\nAnd he returned. And when Ishmael came home, Fatima related to him all\nthe words that the old man had spoken, and he understood the tenor of\nthe words.\n\nIshmael was glad that his father had visited him, for he knew thereby\nthat his love to him was not extinguished.[322]\n\nShortly after, he left his wife and children, and went across the\ndesert to see his father in the land of the Philistines. And Abraham\nrelated to him all that had taken place with the first wife, and why he\nhad exhorted him to put her away.\n\n\n8. THE STRIFE BETWEEN THE SHEPHERDS.\n\nAbraham lived twenty-six years in the land of the Philistines; then\nhe went to Hebron, and there his servants dug wells, and there they\nencamped.\n\nWhen Abimelech\u2019s servants heard of these wells that they had dug, they\ncame with their flocks, and desired to use them also, and the largest\nof the wells they claimed as their own. But Abraham\u2019s shepherds said,\n\u201cLet the well belong to those to whom it gives water. The Lord shall\ndecide between us!\u201d\n\nTo this the servants of Abimelech agreed. And when the flocks of\nAbraham came to drink, the well sprang up and overflowed; but when the\nflocks of Abimelech drew near, the water sank and disappeared.\n\nNow when Abimelech heard of the strife, he came with Phicol, his chief\ncaptain, to seek Abraham, and to be reconciled with him. \u201cGod is with\nall that thou doest,\u201d said Abimelech; \u201cHe protected thee when Sodom was\ndestroyed. He has given thee a son in thine old age. He rescued thy\nfirst-born when perishing in the desert. Swear to me, as I have offered\nthee my whole land, my own palace not excepted, in which to dwell, that\nthou wilt show equal love and liberality to my descendants to the third\ngeneration.\u201d\n\nAbraham swore to him, and they made a covenant together.[323]\n\nAnd Abraham set apart seven lambs as a witness and token, that just as\nthe well had sprung up when his flocks had come to water at it, so, in\nafter days should it spring up to water the descendants of Abraham; as\nit is said, \u201c_From thence they went to Beer, that is, the well whereof\nthe Lord spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give\nthem water Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto\nit._\u201d[324]\n\nBut such condescension and courtesy ill became Abraham in his dealings\nwith a rude and savage people, and therefore there came to him a voice\nfrom heaven which said: \u201cBecause thou hast given these seven innocent\nlambs into the hands of a barbarous nation, therefore seven of thy\ndescendants shall be slain by their hands (Samson, Hophni and Phinehas,\nSaul and his three sons); also seven dwellings that thy people shall\nraise to my Name shall they destroy (the Tabernacle, Gilgal, Nob,\nGibeon, Shiloh, and twice the Temple at Jerusalem), and seven months\nshall the ark of my covenant remain in the land of the Philistines.\u201d\n\n\n9. THE GROVE IN BEER-SHEBA.\n\n\u201c_And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the\nname of the Lord._\u201d[325] The reason was as follows:--\n\nOnce Abraham asked Shem the son of Noah, otherwise called Melchizedek,\nking of Salem, what service he and his father and brethren rendered to\nthe Lord in the ark, which was so acceptable to God that He preserved\nthem alive and brought them in safety to Ararat; and Shem answered,\n\u201cThe service we rendered to God, all the time of our sojourn in the\nark, was charity.\u201d\n\nAnd when Abraham wondered and asked how that could possibly be, as\nthere were none in the ark save themselves and the beasts, Shem\nanswered,--\n\n\u201cEven so; we showed charity and forethought and hospitality to the\nanimals. We fed them regularly, and we slept not at night; so busy were\nwe with them in making them comfortable. Once, when we had delayed\nsomewhat, the lion was hungry and bit Noah, my father.\u201d\n\nThen said Abraham to himself, \u201cIn very truth, if it was reckoned to\nNoah and his sons as so great righteousness, that they fed and tended\nthe dumb and senseless beasts, how much more pleasing must it be to the\nMost High, to be kind and generous to men who are made in His image,\nafter His likeness!\u201d\n\nFilled with this thought, Abraham settled at Beer-sheba, where was an\nabundant spring of fresh water, and there he resolved to do service\nacceptable to the living God, and to honor His name, as Noah and his\nsons had done Him service and honored Him in the ark.\n\nSo Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, one hundred ells long and one\nhundred ells broad, and he planted it with vines and figs, pomegranates\nand other fruit trees; and he built a guest-house adjoining this\ngarden, and he made in it four doors, one towards each quarter of the\nheavens; and when a hungry man came by, Abraham gave him food; if there\ncame a man who was thirsty, he gave him drink; if one who was naked, he\nclothed him; if one who was sick, he took him in and nursed him; and he\ngave to every man who passed by what he most needed for his journey.\n\nHe would receive neither thanks nor payment; and when any one thanked\nhim, he said hastily, \u201cGive thanks, not to me the servant but to the\nMaster of this house, _who openeth His hand, and filleth all things\nliving with plenteousness_.\u201d\n\nThen when the traveller asked, \u201cWho, and where is this Master?\u201d\n\nAbraham answered, \u201cHe is the God who rules over heaven and earth; He is\nLord of all; He kills and makes alive; He wounds and heals; He forms\nthe fruit in the mother\u2019s womb, and gives it life; He makes the plants\nand trees to grow; He brings man to destruction, and raises him from\nhis grave again.\u201d\n\nThus Abraham instructed those whom he relieved. And if a traveller\nasked further, how he was to worship the great God, Abraham answered,\n\u201cSay only these words, Praised be the Eternal One who reigns over\nheaven and earth! Praised be the Lord of the whole world, who filleth\nall things living with plenteousness.\u201d And no traveller went on his way\nwithout thanking God.\n\nThus that guest-house was a great school, in which men were taught the\ntrue religion, and gratitude to the Almighty God.\n\n\n10. THE OFFERING OF ISAAC.[326]\n\nAbraham loved the son of his old age, and Isaac grew up in the fear\nof God, and his good conduct heightened the love Abraham bore him; but\nthe Patriarch thought in his heart, \u201cI prepare gifts to give of my\nabundance to every man that asks of me, and to every passer-by; but to\nmy Lord and God, the Giver of all good things, have I given nothing!\u201d\n\nThere was a day when the sons of God (the angels) stood before the\nEternal One, and amongst them was the accusing angel, Satan or Sammael.\nThe Lord asked them, \u201cWhence comest thou?\u201d\n\n\u201cFrom walking to and fro upon the face of the earth,\u201d he replied.\n\n\u201cAnd what hast thou beheld there of the doings of the sons of men?\u201d\n\nThe accuser answered, \u201cI saw that the sons of earth no longer praise\nThee, and adore Thee; when they have obtained their petition, then they\nforget to give Thee thanks. I saw that Abraham, the son of Terah, as\nlong as he was childless, built altars and proclaimed Thy name to all\nthe world: now he has been given a son at the age of a hundred, and he\nforgets Thee. I went to his door as a beggar, on the day that Isaac was\nweaned, and I was turned away without an alms. I have seen him strike\nalliance with the king of the Philistines, a nation that knows Thee\nnot, and to him has he given seven lambs. He has built a large house\nand he gives to strangers, but to Thee he gives no sacrifice of value.\nAsk of him any sacrifice that is costly, and he will refuse it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat shall I ask?\u201d inquired the Almighty.\n\n\u201cAsk of him now his son, and he will refuse him to Thy face.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will do so, and thou shalt be confounded,\u201d answered the Holy One.\n\nThe self-same night God appeared to Abraham, and addressed him gently\nso as not to alarm him, and He said to him, \u201cAbraham!\u201d\n\nThe patriarch in deep humility answered, \u201cHere am I, Lord what willest\nThou of Thy servant?\u201d\n\nThe Lord answered, \u201cI have come to ask of thee something. I have saved\nthee in all dangers; I delivered thee out of the furnace of Babylon; I\nrescued thee from the army of Nimrod; I brought thee into this land,\nand gave thee men-servants and maid-servants and cattle and sheep and\nhorses, and I have given thee a son in thine old age, and victory\nover all thine enemies, and new temptations await thee, for I must\nprove thee, and see if thou art grateful in thy heart, and that thy\nrighteousness may be manifest unto all, and that thy obedience may be\nperfected. Take therefore thy son--\u201d\n\nAbraham answered trembling, \u201cWhich son? I have two.\u201d\n\n_The voice of God._--\u201cThat son which alone counteth with thee.\u201d\n\n_Abraham._--\u201cEach is the only son of his mother.\u201d\n\n_The voice of God._--\u201cThe one you love.\u201d\n\n_Abraham._--\u201cI love both.\u201d\n\n_The voice of God._--\u201cThe one you love best.\u201d\n\n_Abraham._--\u201cI love both alike.\u201d\n\n_The voice of God._--\u201cThen I demand Isaac.\u201d\n\n_Abraham._--\u201cAnd what shall I do with him, O Lord?\u201d\n\n_The voice of God._--\u201cGo to the place that I shall tell thee, where,\nunexpectedly, hills shall arise in sight out of the valley bottom. Go\nto that place whence once My Light, My Teaching issued, which My eye\nwatches over untiringly, and where the smoke of incense shall arise\nto Me, to the place where prayer is heard and sacrifice shall be\noffered, where at the end of time I shall judge the nations, and cast\nthe ungodly into the pit of Gehinom;--to the land of Moriah that I\nshall show thee, there shalt thou take thy son Isaac as a whole burnt\noffering.\u201d\n\n_Abraham._--\u201cShall I bring Thee such an offering as this, O Lord? Where\nis the priest to prepare the sacrifice?\u201d\n\n_The voice of God._--\u201cI have taken from Shem his priesthood, and thou\nart clothed therewith.\u201d\n\n_Abraham._--\u201cBut in that country there are many hills; which shall I\nascend?\u201d\n\n_The voice of God._--\u201cA mountain on which shall rest my Glory; there\nshall it be told thee further what thou must do.\u201d\n\nAbraham prepared to fulfil the command of God, but he dreaded the\nseparation between Sarah and her son. If he took Isaac away secretly,\nthen he feared that, in the excess of her distress, she would do\nherself harm. At last he decided on this course; he went to Sarah\u2019s\ntent, and he said to her, \u201cMy dearest, prepare this day a little\nbanquet, that in our old days we may rejoice our hearts.\u201d\n\nSarah answered, \u201cWherefore this day, my husband? Are you about to lose\nany thing this day?\u201d\n\nAbraham said, \u201cThink, my wife, Sarah! how good God has been to us;\ntherefore it behoves us to thank Him all the days of our life.\u201d\n\nSarah did as Abraham had commanded.\n\nAs they sat and ate, Abraham said, \u201cThou knowest well, dear wife, that\nI knew the one true God from the time that I was three years old. Isaac\nis older, and it behoves him to know more of the law of God. Therefore\nI design to take him with me to Shem and Eber, our ancestors, who live\nnot far from here, that they may instruct him. Hast thou any thing to\nobject to this, Sarah?\u201d\n\nShe answered, \u201cNo; do that which is pleasing in thine eyes; only let\nnot Isaac be away too long, for thou knowest how precious the sight of\nhim is to me.\u201d\n\nThen Sarah put her arms round her son, and kissed him, and they parted\nwith many tears; and she exhorted Abraham to have great care of the\nyouth, that the journey might not be too great for him.\n\nNext morning, very early, Abraham rose, and he saddled the ass himself,\nthough he had many slaves, for he was eager to be gone, and to go where\nthe Lord called him. This was the ass, born of the she-ass created by\nGod on the eve of the sixth day, upon which Moses afterwards rode when\nhe went to Egypt:[327] it is the ass which spake to Balaam, and it is\nthe ass of which the prophet Zechariah has spoken, that on it Messiah\nshall ride.[328]\n\nThis ass was of a hundred colors.[329]\n\nSarah clothed Isaac in the garment that Abimelech had given her,\nand placed a jewel-studded fillet about his head. She provided the\ntravellers with food for their journey, and accompanied them with her\nmaids, till Abraham bade them return. Then she clasped Isaac once more\nto her breast, and said with tears, \u201cGod be gracious to thee, my son;\nhow know I that I shall see thee again?\u201d\n\nAbraham had two to accompany him, Eliezer and Ishmael; he had cut fig\nand palm wood and made a fagot. On the way this discourse took place\nbetween Eliezer and Ishmael.\n\nIshmael said, \u201cI perceive clearly that my father is about to offer\nIsaac as a whole burnt offering; therefore I, his eldest son, will\ninherit his possessions.\u201d\n\nBut Eliezer said, \u201cThat is false: I am his trusty servant! Did not thy\nfather drive thee away from home? He will leave all to me.\u201d\n\nWhilst they thus spake, there came a voice from heaven, \u201cO ye fools!\nneither of you knows the truth.\u201d\n\nAbraham in the mean time walked forward. Then came Satan to him in the\nform of an old man bowed upon a staff, and said to him, \u201cWhither goest\nthou?\u201d\n\nHe answered, \u201cI go to offer up my prayers.\u201d\n\n\u201cWherefore this knife, and fuel, and fire?\u201d asked Satan.\n\n\u201cI take them in case we have to spend much time on the mountain, that\nwe may bake bread and slay beasts.\u201d\n\n\u201cOld man, thou deceivest me,\u201d said Satan. \u201cWas I not by when a voice\nbade thee slay thy son, thine only son; ane now, what art thou about to\ndo? Thinkest thou that thou shalt have another son, now that thou art a\nhundred years old? Art thou then about to cut down with thine own hands\nthe main pillar of thy tent, the staff on which thou mayest lean in\nthine old age? Knowest thou not the proverb, \u2018He who destroys his own\ngoods, how shall he get more?\u2019 That was not the voice of God, it was\nthe voice of the Tempter, and thou didst listen to it. Dost thou think\nthat God, who promised to make of thee a great nation, and to bless all\ngenerations through Isaac, would thus persuade thee to make void His\nown promises?\u201d\n\nAbraham answered, \u201cNo, it was not the Tempter who spake, it was the\nvoice of God; therefore I will not hearken to thy words, but walk on\nstill in mine uprightness.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut if God were to ask of thee some further sacrifice, wouldst thou\ngrant it?\u201d\n\n\u201cOf a truth would I,\u201d answered Abraham.\n\n\u201cThy piety is folly,\u201d said Satan impatiently. \u201cTo-morrow God will\npunish thee for this murder thou art about to commit, since thou wilt\nshed the blood of thine own son.\u201d\n\nBut when Satan saw that Abraham was not to be moved from his purpose,\nthen he took the form of a blooming youth, and joined himself to Isaac,\nand asked him the object of his journey.\n\nIsaac replied that he was going to receive instruction in the law of\nthe Most High.\n\n\u201cArt thou going to receive this instruction living or dead?\u201d asked\nSatan, scornfully.\n\n_Isaac._--\u201cCan a man receive instruction after he is dead?\u201d\n\n_Satan._--\u201cO thou son of a mother much to be pitied, knowest thou not\nthat thy father is leading thee to death?\u201d\n\n_Isaac._--\u201cNevertheless I shall follow him.\u201d\n\n_Satan._--\u201cThen all the tears and prayers of thy mother, beseeching\nHeaven to grant her a son, end in this! All the pains and grief in\nchild-bearing! All the afflictions she laid on Hagar and Ishmael! All\nthe care she has taken of thy youth! All the love she has expended upon\nthee! All these things for nothing!\u201d\n\n_Isaac._--\u201cAs my father wills.\u201d\n\n_Satan._--\u201cThen the inheritance passes to Ishmael. How he will glory\nin being the first-born, and his mother Hagar will despise Sarah, and\nmaybe will drive her out!\u201d\n\n_Isaac._--\u201cI obey the command of my father and the will of God, be they\nwhat they may.\u201d\n\nBut these words were not without some effect on Isaac. With piteous\nvoice he urged his father to suspend or delay what he had undertaken.\nBut Abraham exhorted his son not to listen or give credence to the\nwords he had heard, for they were the temptations of Satan to draw him\nfrom the path of obedience and the fear of God.\n\nThey went a little further and came to a broad stream. Abraham, Isaac,\nand their followers sought to wade it; the water at first reached their\nknees, but when they were in the middle, it rose to their necks.\n\nAbraham, who knew well the spot, and that there was neither brook\nnor river there by nature, recognized this as a deception of Satan,\nto divert them from the right way. He told Isaac that this was his\nopinion, and raising his eyes to heaven he prayed; \u201cThou, O Lord, didst\ndeclare to me Thy will, that I should take Isaac my son and offer\nhim to Thee in pledge of my obedience. I did not hesitate, I did not\nrefuse, and now the water overwhelms us and we sink; how then can I\nperform that which Thou badest me do?\u201d\n\nThe Lord answered, \u201cFear not, through thee shall My Name be known.\u201d\n\nThen the stream vanished away, and they stood upon dry land.\n\nBut now Satan made another attempt to turn Abraham from his purpose.\nHe drew him aside and said, \u201cThe object of thy journey has failed. I\ncaught a whisper in heaven, and it was this--God will prepare a lamb\nfor the sacrifice, and not thy son.\u201d\n\nAbraham answered, \u201cEven if thy words be true, it matters not; for this\nis the penalty of liars, that when they speak the truth they are not\nbelieved.\u201d\n\nAbraham journeyed on the rest of that day, without seeing his appointed\nplace. Next day he retraced his steps, but could find no signs of the\nplace. The Almighty had so ordered it, that men might not say Abraham\nwas hasty and acted precipitately, but might see that he had leisure\nand time for reflection on what he was about to do.\n\nOn the morning of the third day,[330] they reached the height of\nZophim, and thence Abraham saw a beautiful mountain-land, and on the\ntop of one of the mountains was a fiery pillar, which reached from\nearth to heaven,--it was the Glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.\n\nWhen Abraham asked Isaac if he beheld this sight, he answered that he\ndid so: but when he asked his other companions, they replied that they\nsaw nothing save the brown hills and purple valleys. Some say they\nanswered that one hill was to them like every other hill.\n\nFrom this, Abraham concluded that God was well pleased with Isaac as a\nvictim. Then he said to Eliezer and Ishmael:\n\n\u201cTarry ye here with the ass, for you are not worthy to behold the\nShekinah nearer. But I and the youth will go on, _so many_ only shall\ngo.\u201d\n\nNow, as he said these words, it suddenly came to his mind that God had\npromised him a great people descended from Isaac, _so many_ as the\nstars for multitude, and with prophetic voice he said, \u201cIf the Lord\nwill, _so many_ as go on, _so many_ shall return.\u201d\n\nThen Abraham laid the wood of the sacrifice on his son Isaac, and took\nthe fire and the knife in his hand; and they went on both together,\nAbraham joyous, and Isaac without fear or thought.\n\nBut after they had gone some way, Isaac turned to his father and said,\n\u201cFather, whither are we going alone?\u201d\n\n_Abraham._--\u201cMy son, we go to offer a sacrifice?\u201d\n\n_Isaac._--\u201cBut art thou a priest to execute this undertaking?\u201d\n\n_Abraham._--\u201cShem, the High Priest, will prepare the victim.\u201d\n\nA great fear fell upon Isaac when he saw that they had no animal with\nthem to offer, and he said, \u201cHere are the fire and the wood, but where\nis a lamb for the whole offering?\u201d\n\n_Abraham._--\u201cThe lamb which is to be offered is foreknown to the\nAlmighty. He will provide the lamb; and if none other is here, then\nmust thou be the offering, my son.\u201d\n\nIsaac was silent, for the fear of death came over him. But presently he\nrecovered himself and said, \u201cIf God chooses me, I place my soul in His\nhands.\u201d\n\n_Abraham._--\u201cMy son! Is there any blemish in thee within? For the\noffering must be without blemish of any sort.\u201d\n\n_Isaac._--\u201cMy father! There is none. I swear by God and by thy life,\nthat in my heart there is not the least resistance to the Divine will.\nMy limbs do not tremble, and there is no quaking at my heart. With\ngladness do I say, The Lord be praised, who has chosen me for a whole\nsacrifice.\u201d[331]\n\n_Abraham._--\u201cO my son, with many a wish wast thou brought into this\nworld. Since thou hast been in it, every care has been lavished on\nthee. I hoped to have had thee to follow me and make a great nation.\nBut now I must, myself, offer thee. Wondrous was thy coming into this\nworld, and wondrous will be thy going out of it![332] Not by sickness,\nnot by war, but as a sacrifice. I had designed thee to be my comfort\nand stay in old age; now God himself must take thy place.\u201d[333]\n\n_Isaac._--\u201cIt were unworthy of thee were I to think to withstand the\ndecree of God, and of thee. Had the decision been thine alone, I would\nhave obeyed.\u201d\n\nWhen they reached the top of Moriah, God said to Abraham,--\n\n\u201cThis is the place where once Adam, when driven out of Paradise, built\nan altar to My name. Here also Cain and Abel offered their sacrifice.\nThen came the Flood, and when it was passed away, Noah offered victims\nto Me here. When the people were scattered from the tower of Babel,\nthen this altar was overthrown. Now it is for thee, friend of God, to\nset it up again!\u201d\n\nAbraham built the altar, and Isaac brought him the stones. But,\naccording to some authors, this was not so. Abraham hid his son in a\ncave, lest Satan should take advantage of the opportunity, with a stone\nor clod of earth, to blemish him.\n\nAnd when all was ready and the wood laid in order, then Isaac said to\nhis father, \u201cBind me hand and foot, lest in the fear of death I start\nand thou wound me, and so I be blemished. Fold thy garments together,\nand gird thy loins, and bare thine arm, and strike me with the knife\nand then burn me to ashes, and lay up my ashes in a coffer, and let\nthis coffer be preserved as a memorial of me in thy house, before my\nmother; and when thou passest by it, bid her remember me. But remind\nher not of it near a well, or on the edge of a precipice, lest she cast\nherself down in her grief.\u201d[334]\n\nAnd he continued, \u201cWhen thou returnest home, how wilt thou console my\nmother?\u201d\n\nAbraham answered, \u201cWell I know that he who comforted us before thou\ncamest, will comfort us after thou art gone from us.\u201d[335]\n\nAbraham now stood over his son, who was bound with his hands to his\nfeet, upon the wood laid in order; and the eyes of Abraham rested on\nthe eyes of his son. But Isaac looked up into heaven, and saw the Angel\nhosts crowded about God\u2019s throne. Abraham saw not this, and he lifted\nthe knife; but he trembled and the knife fell from his hand, and he\ncried aloud, \u201cO my son! Would that another offering were found instead\nof thee! But my help cometh only from the Lord who hath made heaven and\nearth?\u201d\n\nThen he gathered up his resolution, and took the knife and held it once\nmore to strike; and Isaac\u2019s spirit left him, and he swooned away.\n\nBut the angels of God, who stood round about His throne, announced to\nthe Most High all that took place, and they cried and wept, and even\nthe fiery seraphim exclaimed, \u201cWoe! He slays his son.\u201d And the tears of\nthe angels fell upon the face of Isaac, and made him ever after sad of\ncountenance.\n\nThen God said, \u201cBehold and see how great is the faith of My servant\nAbraham, how on earth a man can hallow My great name, and devote his\nbest and dearest to My service; see that, ye, who at the creation\nexclaimed, _What is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the son of\nman that thou so regardest him?_\u201d\n\nThen He ordered Michael to fly swiftly, and stay the hand of Abraham.\n\nAnd the archangel, when he came near, cried aloud, \u201cAbraham! Abraham!\nwhat doest thou?\u201d\n\nAbraham looked in the direction of the voice, in doubt, and said,\n\u201c_Here am I._\u201d\n\nThen said the angel, \u201c_Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou\nany thing unto him_.\u201d\n\nAnd Abraham said, \u201cWho art thou?\u201d\n\nMichael told him who he was. Then said Abraham, \u201cThe Most High appeared\nto me in a vision, and bade me take my son as a whole offering to the\nplace which He should say, and I may take no command from a servant of\nGod, against that which God Himself hath laid upon me.\u201d\n\nThen heaven opened, and he saw the glory of God, and God said to him,\n\u201c_Touch not the lad to do him harm, for now I know that thou fearest\nGod, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me_.\u201d\n\nAnd Abraham said, \u201cHow is this, O Lord! that Thou changest Thy purpose,\nand sayest one day, Do this, and the next, Do it not?\u201d\n\nAnd the Lord answered, and said, \u201cI said not unto thee, Slay the lad as\na burnt offering, but I said, Take thy son to the place that I shall\ntell thee, as a whole burnt offering. This hast thou done; thou hast\nfulfilled My command, I exact no more of thee. I change not my purpose,\nbut I did suffer thee to misunderstand the purport of My command, and\nto think that I exacted more of thee; and this I did to prove thee. And\nnow, _by Myself have I sworn; for because thou hast done this thing,\nand hast not withheld thy son, thine only son; that in blessing I will\nbless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of\nthe heavens, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed\nshall possess the gate of his enemies._\u201d\n\nThen Isaac revived, and Abraham cut his cords, and he stood up and\nsaid, \u201cPraised be the eternal One, who quickeneth those that be dead.\u201d\n\nAnd Abraham turned to the Shekinah and said, \u201cLord! how shall I depart\nhence without having offered to Thee a sacrifice?\u201d The Lord answered,\n\u201cLift thine eyes, and thou shalt see a beast for sacrifice behind thee.\u201d\n\nIn the thicket of the wood was that ram which God created at dusk on\nthe sixth day, that it might serve this purpose. An angel had brought\nit out of Paradise, where it had lived since its creation, and had fed\nunder the shadow of the Tree of Life, and had drunk of the River that\nthere flows. And when the ram was brought into this earth, all the\nearth was filled with the fragrance from its fleece, on which hung the\nodors of the flowers on which it had lain in Paradise.\n\nBut by Satan\u2019s fraud, the animal was frightened and strayed away, and\nAbraham tracked it by its foot-prints. Then Satan decoyed the beast\nbehind some bushes and entangled its horns in the thicket; and Abraham\nwould have passed by, and not seen it, but the ram caught him by his\ncloak. So Abraham slew it, and offered it in sacrifice, and sprinkled\nwith its blood the altar he had made.\n\nNow the Last Trumpets that shall sound, the one to call the just, the\nother the unjust, are made of the horns of this wondrous ram.\n\n\n11. THE DEATH OF SARAH.\n\nSarah,--who, as we have seen, accompanied Abraham and Isaac part of the\nway to Moriah,--on her return to the tent, found an old man awaiting\nher. It was Satan.\n\nHe greeted her with profound respect, and asked after her husband and\nson.\n\nShe answered that they had gone forth on a journey.\n\n\u201cWhither have they gone?\u201d asked Satan.\n\n\u201cMy lord has gone to visit the school of Shem and Eber, our grandsires,\nthere to leave my son Isaac to be instructed in the law of God.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas! alas!\u201d exclaimed the Apostate Angel; \u201cthou art greatly deceived.\u201d\n\nSarah was alarmed; and she asked wherefore he spake thus.\n\n\u201cKnow then,\u201d said Satan, \u201cthat Abraham has gone forth with Isaac to\nsacrifice him, upon a mountain, to the Most High.\u201d\n\nWhen she heard this, Sarah laid her head on the bosom of a slave and\nfainted. When she came to herself she hurried with her maidens to\nthe school of Shem and Eber, and inquired after her husband and son,\nbut they had neither seen nor heard any thing of them. So Sarah was\nconvinced that what had been told her was true, and there was no spirit\nleft in her.\n\nNow when Satan knew that Abraham was bringing back his son, and that\nGod had accepted the will for the deed, he was moved with envy and\nspite, and he could not rest to think of the joy that this would cause;\nso he went hastily to Sarah, and she was weeping in her tent, and\nsorely cast down and broken in spirit. Then he said suddenly to her,\n\u201cThy son liveth and is returning. God hath spared him!\u201d\n\nAnd she rose up and uttered a cry, and fell, and was dead; for the joy\nhad killed her.\n\nAbraham and Isaac, in the mean time had returned from Moriah, and they\nsought Sarah at Beer-sheba, but she was not there; therefore they went\nto Hebron, and there they found her corpse. Isaac fell weeping upon\nthe face of his mother, and he cried, \u201cMother, mother! why hast thou\nforsaken me? why hast thou gone away?\u201d\n\nAbraham wept aloud, and all the dwellers in Hebron wept and lamented\nover Sarah, and ceased from their labors, that they might mourn with\nAbraham and Isaac. Sarah\u2019s age was one hundred and seven-and-twenty\nyears, and she was as fair to look upon when she died as in the bloom\nof her youth.\n\nAnd as Abraham was bowed over the body of his wife, he heard the laugh\nof the Angel of Death, and his words, \u201cWherefore weepest thou? Thou\nbearest the blame of her death. Hadst thou not taken her son from her,\nshe would have been alive now.\u201d\n\nAbraham sought a place where to bury her; and he went to the Hittites\nand asked them to suffer him to buy for his possession a parcel of\nland, where he might bury one dead body. But they said, \u201cNay, we will\ngive thee land;\u201d but he would not. So they said, \u201cChoose now a place\nwhere thou wouldst have thy sepulchre, and we will entreat the owner\nfor thee.\u201d\n\nThen Abraham said, \u201cI desire the double cave of Ephron the son of\nZohar. _If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight,\nhear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may\ngive me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath; for as much money as is\nworth he shall give it me, for a possession of a burying-place amongst\nyou._\u201d\n\nAnd this was the reason why Abraham desired that cave. When he had\ngone after the calf, to slay it for the three angels that came to him\nbefore the destruction of Sodom, the calf had fled from him, and he\nhad pursued it into this cave; and on entering it, he found that it\nwas roomy, and in the inner recesses he saw the bodies of Adam and Eve\nlaid out with burning tapers around them, and the air was fragrant with\nincense.\n\nThe Hittites elected Emor their chief that he might deal with Abraham,\nfor it did not become a chief and prince, like Abraham, to deal with an\ninferior; and Emor said in the audience of the people of the land, \u201c_My\nLord, hear me; the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I\ngive it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee;\nbury thy dead._\u201d\n\nBut this he said with craft, for he sought to take an advantage of\nAbraham.[336]\n\nThen Ephron said, \u201cPut thine own price upon the land;\u201d but this Abraham\nwould not do.\n\nThen Ephron said to Abraham, \u201c_My lord, Hearken unto me; the land is\nworth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee?\nbury therefore thy dead._\u201d\n\nNow the land was not worth half that sum, but Emor said in his heart,\n\u201cAbraham can afford to pay it, and he is in haste to bury his dead out\nof his sight.\u201d\n\nNevertheless, Abraham paid him in the sight of all his people. And the\ntransfer of the land and cave was signed by Amigal, son of Abischna the\nHittite; Elichoran, son of Essunass, the Hivite; Abdon, son of Ahirah,\nthe Gomorrhite; and Akdil, son of Abdis, the Sidonian.\n\nMachpelah (double cave) was so called, because, say some, it contained\ntwo chambers; or, say others, because Abraham paid double its value;\nor, say others, because it became doubly holy; but others again\nobserve, with the highest probability, because Adam\u2019s body had to be\ndoubled up to get it into the cave.\n\nBecause the Hittites dealt honorably, and sought to procure a place for\nAbraham, where he might lay Sarah, their name is written ten times in\nthe Holy Scriptures.\n\nThey took also an oath of Abraham, that he and his seed should never\nattack their city Jebus with violence; and they wrote his promise\non brazen pillars, and set them up in the market-place of Jebus.\nTherefore, when the Israelites conquered Canaan, they left the\nJebusites unmolested.[337] But when David sought to take the stronghold\nof Jebus,[338] its inhabitants said to him, \u201cThou canst not storm our\ncity, because of the covenant of Abraham, which is engraven on these\npillars of brass.\u201d\n\nDavid removed these brazen pillars, for they were in time honored\nas idols; therefore the inhabitants of Jebus were _hated of David\u2019s\nsoul_;[339] but he did not break the covenant of Abraham, for he\nobtained the city of Jebus, not by force of arms, but by purchase.[340]\n\nSarah was buried with the utmost honor; Shem (Melchizedek), his\ngrandson Eber, Abimelech, Aner, Eschol and Mamre, together with all\nthe great men of the land, followed the bier. Abraham caused a great\nmourning throughout the country to be made for seven days. After that,\nAbraham returned to Beer-Sheba, and Isaac went to be instructed in the\nlaw by Melchizedek. A year after, died Abimelech, king of Gerar, and\nAbraham attended his funeral. Soon after, also, died Nahor, Abraham\u2019s\nbrother.\n\n\n12. THE MARRIAGE OF ISAAC.\n\nAfter the death of Sarah, say some, Abraham had a daughter named\nBakila, by Hagar, who returned to him now that her enemy was dead; but,\naccording to others, the great blessing of Abraham consisted in this,\nthat he had no daughters. Ishmael abandoned his disorderly ways, and\nloved and respected his brother.\n\nIsaac mourned his mother three years. When this time was elapsed,\nAbraham called to him his faithful servant Eliezer, and said to him, \u201cI\nam old, and I know not the day of my death; therefore must I no longer\ndelay the marriage of my son Isaac. Lay thine hand upon my thigh, and\nswear to me by God Almighty to fulfil my commission. Do not take for my\nson a wife of the daughters of the Canaanites, but go to Haran, to the\nplace whence I came, and bring thence a wife for my son Isaac.\u201d And he\nadded the proverb, \u201cWhen you have wheat of your own, do not sow your\nfield with your neighbor\u2019s corn.\u201d\n\nEliezer asked, \u201cBut how, if a woman of that place will not accompany me\nhither?\u201d\n\nBut Abraham said, \u201cFear not; go, and the Lord be with thee.\u201d\n\nSo the servant of Abraham went with ten camels, and he reached Haran\nin three hours, for the earth fled under the feet of his camels, and\nMichael, the angel, protected him on his way.\n\nWhen he reached Haran, he besought the Lord to give him a sign, by\nwhich he might know the maiden who was to be the wife of Isaac. \u201c_Let\nit come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy\npitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and\nI will give thy camels drink also; let the same be she that Thou hast\nappointed for Thy servant Isaac._\u201d\n\nAnd there were many damsels by the fountain. And the servant said to\nthem, \u201cLet down the pitcher that I may drink.\u201d But they all said, \u201cWe\nmay not tarry, for we must take the water home.\u201d\n\nThen came Rebekah the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of\nNahor, Abraham\u2019s brother, out of the well, and she chid the maidens for\ntheir churlishness; and lo! the water in the well leaped to the margin,\nand she let down her pitcher and offered it to the man, and said,\n\u201c_Drink; and I will give thy camels drink also._\u201d Then Eliezer leaped\nfrom his camel, and he brought forth his gifts, and he gave her a nose\nring with a jewel of half a shekel weight, and bracelets of ten shekels\nweight. And he asked if he might lodge in her house one night.\n\nShe answered, \u201cNot one night only, but many.\u201d\n\nNow Rebekah\u2019s brother, Laban, so called from the paleness of his\nface, or, say some, from the cowardice of his breast, which made him\npale,--coveted the man\u2019s gold, and resolved to kill him. Therefore he\nput poison in the bowl of meat which was offered him. But the bowl was\nchanged by accident, and it fell to the portion of Bethuel, and he ate,\nand died that same night.\n\nAnd Laban would have fallen upon Eliezer with his own hand, but that he\nsaw him lead the two camels at once over the brook, and he knew thereby\nthat he was stronger than he.\n\nAfter the engagement had been drawn up, as it is written in the first\nbook of Moses,[341] Eliezer urged for a speedy departure. Mother and\nbrother consented, but on the following day they asked that, besides\nthe seven days of mourning for Bethuel, they should tarry a year, or at\nleast ten months, according to the usual custom. But Rebekah opposed\nthem, and said that she would go at once.\n\nIt was noon when Eliezer and his retinue, together with Rebekah and her\nnurse Deborah, left Haran, and in three hours they were at Hebron.\n\nAt the self-same time Isaac was abroad in the fields, returning from\nthe school of Seth, lamenting over his mother, and saying his evening\nprayer. Rebekah saw him with his hands outspread, and his angel walking\nbehind him, and she said, \u201cWho is that with a shining countenance, with\nanother walking behind him?\u201d\n\nAt the same moment she knew who it was, and with prophetic vision she\nsaw that she would become the mother of Esau, and she trembled and fell\nfrom the camel.\n\nIsaac took Rebekah to wife and led her into the tent of Sarah, and the\ndoor was once more open, and the perpetual lamp was again kindled, and\nit seemed to Isaac as if all the happiness that had gone with Sarah,\nhad returned with Rebekah, so he was comforted for his mother.\n\nEliezer was rewarded for his faithful service, for Abraham gave him his\nfreedom, and he was taken into Paradise without having tasted of death.\n\n\n13. THE DEATH OF ABRAHAM.\n\nAbraham, after the death of Sarah, had brought back Hagar, and she\nwas called Keturah, which signifies \u201cthe Bond-woman,\u201d and this she\nwas called because she had ever regarded herself as bound to Abraham,\nthough he had cast her away. But others say that Keturah was not\nHagar, but was a daughter of one of Abraham\u2019s slaves. She bare him six\nsons,[342] all strong, and men of clear understandings.\n\nAccording to Mussulman traditions, she was the daughter of Jokdan, and\nwas a Canaanitish woman.\n\nAbraham said to the Most High, in gratitude of heart, \u201cThou didst\npromise me one son, Isaac, and thou hast given me many!\u201d\n\nAll his substance he gave to Isaac; but some say he gave him a double\nportion only, and the rest he made over to his other sons. And to Isaac\nonly he gave the right to be buried in the cave of Machpelah, and\nalong with that, his blessing. But others say that he did not give his\nblessing to Isaac, lest it should cause jealousy to spring up between\nhim and his brothers. He said, \u201cI am a mortal man; to-day here and\nto-morrow in the grave; I have done all I can do for my children, and\nnow I will depart when it pleases my heavenly Father.\u201d\n\nHe sent the sons of Keturah away, that they might not dwell near Isaac,\nlest his greatness should swallow them up; and he built them a city of\niron, with walls of iron. But the walls were so high that the light\nof the sun could not penetrate the streets, therefore he set in them\ndiamonds and pearls to illumine the iron city.\n\nEpher, a grandson of Abraham and Keturah,[343] went with an army into\nLibya and conquered it, and founded there a kingdom, and the land he\ncalled after his own name, Africa.\n\nAbraham was alive when Rebekah, after twenty years of barrenness, bare\nto Isaac his sons, Esau and Jacob; and he saw them grow up before him\ntill their fifteenth year, and he died on the day that Esau sold his\nbirthright.\n\nThe days of his life had been 175 years; he reached not the age of 180,\nto which Isaac attained, because God shortened his life by five years,\nlest he should know the evil deeds of Esau.\n\nThe Angel of Death did not smite him, but God kissed him, and he died\nby that kiss; and because the sword of the angel touched him not, but\nhis soul parted to the kiss of God, his body saw no corruption.\n\nThis is the Mussulman story of his death. The Angel of Death, when\nbidden to take the soul of the prophet, hesitated about doing so\nwithout his consent. So he took upon him the form of a very old man,\nand came to Abraham\u2019s door. The patriarch invited him in and gave him\nto eat, but he noted with surprise the great infirmity of the old man,\nhow his limbs tottered, how dull was his sight, and how incapable he\nwas of feeding himself, for his hands shook, and how little he could\neat, for his teeth were gone. And he asked him how old he was. Then the\nangel answered, \u201cI am 202.\u201d Now Abraham was then 200 years old. So he\nsaid, \u201cWhat! in two years shall I be as feeble and helpless as this? O\nLord, suffer me to depart; now send the Angel of Death to me, to remove\nmy soul.\u201d Then the angel took him,[344] having first watched till he\nwas on his knees in prayer.[345]\n\nIsaac and Ishmael buried him in the double cave by the side of Sarah;\nand he was followed to his grave by all the inhabitants of Canaan, and\nShem and Eber went before the bier. And all the people wailed and said,\n\u201cWoe to the vessel when the pilot is gone! woe to the pilgrims when\ntheir guide is lost!\u201d\n\nA whole year was Abraham lamented by the inhabitants of the land; men,\nand women, and young children joined in bewailing him.\n\nNever was there a man like Abraham in perfect righteousness, serving\nGod, and walking in His way from the earliest youth to the day of his\ndeath.\n\nAbraham was the first, say the Mussulmans, whose beard became white. He\nasked God when it became so, \u201cWhat is this?\u201d The Lord replied, \u201cIt is a\ntoken of gentleness, my son.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nXXV.\n\nMELCHIZEDEK.\n\n\nWe have seen that, according to Jewish traditions, Melchizedek is Shem,\nthe son of Noah, whom God consecrated to be a priest forever, and who\nset up a kingdom on Salem.[346]\n\nIt is also said that, before he died, Lamech ordered his son, Noah, to\ntransport the body of Adam to the centre of the earth. Now the centre\nor navel of the earth is Salem, afterwards called Jerusalem.\n\nLamech also bade Noah confide to one of his children the custody of the\nbody of Adam, obliging him to remain all his life in the service of\nGod, and in the practice of celibacy, never to shed blood, and to offer\nto God only the sacrifice of bread and wine.\n\nNoah chose, according to some, Shem; according to others, Melchizedek,\nthe son of Shem. He did not suffer him to wear other garments than the\nskins of beasts; nor to shave his head nor cut his nails, nor to build\na house.\n\nA Christian tradition is that Adam was buried on Golgotha, and that\nwhen Christ died, His blood flowed down upon the head of Adam, and\ncleansed him of his sin.\n\nDom Calmet, in one of his dissertations, gives various curious opinions\nwhich have been entertained on the subject of Melchizedek: some\naffirmed that he was identical with the patriarch Enoch, who came from\nthe Terrestrial Paradise to confer with Abraham; and others, that the\nMagi who adored the infant Christ were Enoch, Melchizedek, and Elias.\n\nAnd some have supposed that Melchizedek was created before Adam, and\nwas of celestial race. Others again have supposed that he was our Lord\nJesus Christ who appeared to Abraham.\n\nS. Athanasius gives a curious tradition of Melchizedek.\n\nA queen, named Salem, had a grandson named Melchi. He was an idolater.\nWhere he reigned is unknown; but it is supposed that it was where now\nstands the city Jerusalem. Melchi married a princess named Salem, like\nhis grandmother. By her he had two sons, of whom the younger was\ncalled Melchizedek.\n\nOne day that Melchi was about to sacrifice to idols, he said to his son\nMelchizedek, \u201cBring me here seven calves to sacrifice to the gods.\u201d\n\nWhilst going to execute his father\u2019s order, Melchizedek raised his eyes\nto heaven and said, \u201cHe who made heaven and earth, the sea and the\nstars, is the only God to whom sacrifice should be offered.\u201d\n\nThen he returned to his father, who asked him, \u201cWhere are the calves?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy father,\u201d he replied, \u201chearken to me, and be not angry. Instead of\noffering thy victims to those gods which are no gods, offer them to Him\nwho is above the heavens, and who rules all things.\u201d\n\nKing Melchi replied, \u201cGo and do what I have commanded thee, as thou\nvaluest thy life.\u201d\n\nAfter that he turned to his wife Salem, and he told her that he\npurposed sacrificing one of his sons. The queen wept bitterly, because\nshe knew that the king designed the immolation of Melchizedek, and she\nsaid, \u201cAlas! I have suffered and labored in vain.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo not weep,\u201d said Melchi, somewhat touched. \u201cWe will draw the lot: if\nit is mine, I will choose which of the sons is to die; if it be thine,\nthou shalt keep the one dearest to thee.\u201d\n\nNow the lot fell to the queen, so she chose Melchizedek, whom she\nloved: and the king adorned his eldest son for sacrifice.\n\nThere were in the temple troops of oxen and flocks of sheep and five\nhundred and three children, destined by their parents to be sacrificed.\nThe queen was at home weeping, and she said to Melchizedek, \u201cDost thou\nnot weep for thy brother, whom we have brought up with so much care,\nand who is led to the slaughter?\u201d\n\nMelchizedek wept, and he said to his mother, \u201cI will go and invoke the\nLord, the only true God Most High.\u201d\n\nHe ascended Tabor, and kneeling down, he prayed, saying, \u201cMy God, Lord\nof all, Creator of heaven and earth, I adore Thee as the only true God;\nhearken now unto my prayer. May the earth open her mouth and swallow up\nall those who assist at the sacrifice of my brother!\u201d\n\nGod heard the cry of Melchizedek, and the earth parted asunder, and\nswallowed up the temple and all who were therein; and the city of\nSalem also, and not a stone was left standing where it had been.\n\nWhen Melchizedek came down from Tabor, and saw what God had done, he\nwas filled with dismay, and retired into a forest, where he spent seven\nyears, feeding on herbs and drinking the dew.\n\nAt the end of that time, a voice from heaven called Abraham, and said,\n\u201cTake thine ass, lade it with rich garments, go to Tabor and cry\nthrice, O man of God! Then a man of a savage appearance will come forth\nto thee out of the forest. And after thou hast cut his hair and pared\nhis nails, clothe him with the garments thou hast taken with thee, and\nask him to bless thee.\u201d\n\nAbraham did as he was bidden. He went to Tabor and called thrice, \u201cO\nman of God!\u201d and there came out to him Melchizedek. Then a voice was\nheard from heaven, which said, \u201cAs there remains no one on earth of\nthe family of Melchizedek, it shall be said of him that he is without\nfather and without mother, without beginning of days or end of life.\u201d\n\nTherefore it is said of him, as of Enoch and Elias, that having been\ncreated a priest forever, he is not dead.\n\nAfterwards he is said to have founded Jerusalem.[347]\n\nSuidas the Grammarian gives the following account of this mysterious\npersonage.\n\n\u201cMelchizedek, priest of God, king of Canaan, built a city on a mountain\ncalled Sion, and named it Salem; which is the same as \u0395\u1f30\u03c1\u03b7\u03cc\u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03b9\u03c2, the\nCity of Peace. In which, when he had reigned a hundred and thirteen\nyears, he died, righteous and single. For this reason he is said\nto have been without generation, because he was not of the seed of\nAbraham, but of the race of Canaan, and of abhorred seed. Therefore he\nwas without honorable generation. Nor did it beseem him, the essence\nof all righteousness, to unite with the race of all unrighteousness.\nTherefore he is said to have been without father or mother. But that he\nwas a Caananite, both as to country, of which he was lord; and as to\nnation, of which he was king: and as to neighborhood, joining that of\nthe iniquitous Sodomites,--that is evident enough. Nevertheless Salem,\nof which he was king, is that celebrated Jerusalem, which, however, did\nnot bear then the complete name of Hierusalem, but the adjective \u1f31\u03b5\u03c1\u03bf\u1fe6\nwas added to \u03a3\u03b1\u03bb\u03ae\u03bc afterwards, and compounded into Hierusalem. And\nbecause no genealogy is given to him, he is said to be without father\nand mother. Therefore, when you hear him spoken of as God, by the sect\nof the Melchizedekites, remember the saying of the Apostle, that he was\nof another race, to wit, that of Canaan.\u201d[348]\n\nAnother apocryphal account of Melchizedek is in the \u201cChronicon\nPaschale:\u201d--\n\n\u201cA certain ancient relates and affirms, concerning Melchizedek, this.\nHe was a man of the tribe of Ham, who, being found a holy seed in his\ntribe, pleased God; and God called him into the land beyond Jordan,\neven as He called Abraham out of the land of the Chaldeans. And as this\nman was holy and just, he was made a priest of the Most High God, to\noffer bread and wine, and holy prayers to the Most High God. He prayed\nfor his tribe, saying, Lord, thou hast brought me from my own people,\nand hast had mercy on me; have mercy on them also. But God answered\nhim, and said, I will save them when I call my Son out of Egypt. This\npromise God gave to Melchizedek. The same ancient relates also that\nat this time it happened that Lot was carried away captive from Sodom\nby those who were of the tribe Gothologomos, whom Abraham pursued and\ndestroyed, and he liberated all the captives; and Lot also, the son\nof his brother Aram, he delivered from their hands. Therefore Abraham\nsaid within himself, Lord, if in my days Thou sendest Thy angel upon\nthe earth, grant me to see that day! The Lord said, It cannot be, but I\nwill show thee a figure of that day; go down and cross the river Jordan\nand thou shalt behold it.\n\n\u201cTherefore Abraham crossed Jordan with his men, and Melchizedek came\nforth to meet him, called by the Holy Ghost, having in his hands the\nbread of Eucharists and the wine of thanksgiving. Abraham did not see\nMelchizedek till he had passed over Jordan, which is the symbol of\nBaptism.\n\n\u201cAbraham then, seeing Melchizedek coming to meet him having the bread\nof Eucharists and the cup of thanksgiving, fell on his face upon the\nearth, and adored, since he saw the day of the Lord, and was glad.\n\n\u201cMelchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, blessed\nAbraham and said, _Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor\nof heaven and earth; and blessed be the Most High God, which hath\ndelivered thine enemies into thy hands_. And Abraham gave him tithes of\nall.\u201d[349]\n\nMichael Glycas says: \u201cMelchizedek, though he is said in the Sacred\nScriptures to have been without father and mother, yet sprung from\nSidos, son of \u00c6gyptos, who built Sidon. When he had built a city on\nMount Sion, named Salem, he reigned there thirteen years, and died a\njust man and a virgin.\u201d[350] And Cedrenus: \u201cMelchizedek was the son\nof King Sidos, son of \u00c6gyptos, but he was said to be without father\nand mother and of uncertain generation, because he was not of Jewish\nextraction, and because his parents were bad and not reckoned among the\nrighteous.\u201d[351]\n\nJoseph Ben-Gorion writes: \u201cO Jerusalem! once the city of the great\nKing, by what name shall I designate thee? Anciently thou wast called\nJebus, after thy founder; then thou didst acquire the name of Zedek,\nand from thence did thy king Jehoram take his title Melchi-zedek (or\nMelech-zedek, Lord of Zedek), for he was a just king, and he reigned\nin thee justly. And thou didst obtain the name of Justice, and in thee\njustice dwelt, and the star that did illumine thee; thou wast called\nZedek, and in the same king\u2019s reign, to thee was given the title\nSalem, as it is written in the Law: and Melchizedek was king of Salem,\nso called because thus the measure of the iniquity of the people was\naccomplished. But Abraham, our father, of pious memory, chose thee, to\nlabor in thee and to acquire in thee a possession, and in thee to lay a\nroot of good works, and because the majesty of God dwelt in thee, when\nAbraham, our father, flourished.\u201d[352]\n\nS. Epiphanius, however, says: \u201cAlthough no names of the parents of\nMelchizedek are given, yet some assert that his father was called\nHeraclas, and his mother Astaroth, or Asteria.\u201d[353] The \u201cCatena\nArabica\u201d on Genesis says: \u201cMelchizedek was the son of Heraclis, the son\nof Peleg, the son of Eber; and the name of his mother was Salathiel,\nthe daughter of Gomer, the son of Japheth, the son of Noah.\u201d\n\nMelchizedek is said to have composed the cx. Psalm, _Dixit\nDominus_.[354]\n\nThe tomb of Melchizedek is, or was, shown at Jerusalem, says Gemelli\nCarrere, the traveller in Palestine.\n\n\n\n\nXXVI.\n\nOF ISHMAEL AND THE WELL ZEMZEM.\n\n\nThe Arabs call Hagar, Hagiar Ana\u00ef, the mother in chief, because of\nIshmael her son. They do not suppose that she was the bond-servant\nof Sarah, but that she was the legitimate wife of the patriarch; and\nshe bore him Ishmael, who, as his eldest son, had the birthright, and\nobtained, as his double portion of Abraham\u2019s inheritance, the land of\nArabia, whereas to Isaac was given the inferior land of Canaan.\n\nThey say that Hagar died at Mecca, and that she was buried in the\nexterior enclosure of the Kaaba, or square temple, built, say they, by\nAbraham.\n\nNear the tomb is the well of Zemzem, which is the fountain which God\nrevealed to her when she had been driven out of the house of Sarah, and\nhad fled into Arabia.\n\nAs has been already mentioned, the Mussulmans say that it was Ishmael\nand not Isaac whom Abraham prepared to sacrifice. The story need not\nbe related again, as all the particulars in the Jewish legends are\nabsorbed into the Mussulman account.\n\nOne particular alone needs mention. Gabriel gave the ram to Abraham\nin the place where Mussulman pilgrims now cast stones; namely, on the\nmountain of Mina. But the ram escaped out of the hands of Abraham, and\nthe patriarch threw seven stones after it. Then Ishmael went forward,\nand the ram halted. Ishmael went up to the ram and brought it to\nAbraham, and he took it, and slew it. Some say that this was the same\nram that Abel had offered in sacrifice, and which had been preserved in\nParadise.[355]\n\nThen God said to Abraham, \u201cGo to Mecca along with Ishmael, and build me\nthe temple there.\u201d\n\nAt Mecca had been the \u201cVisited-house,\u201d to which Adam went in\npilgrimage, and round which he walked in procession every year. When\nthe Flood came, this house had been caught up into heaven.\n\nWhen Abraham went in obedience to the command of God to visit Ishmael,\nand to call him to build the temple, he found him on a mountain engaged\nin making arrows. He said to him, \u201cO my son, God has ordered me to\nbuild a house along with thee.\u201d\n\nIshmael replied, \u201cI am ready to obey, O my father.\u201d\n\nThen they prepared to build. But Abraham knew nothing of architecture.\n\nGod sent a cloud of the size of the Kaaba, to show them, by its shadow\non the ground, what were to be the dimensions of the house, and to give\nthem shade in which to build.\n\nBut some say that the Serpent arrived and instructed Abraham in the\nproportions of the house. After that, Abraham and Ishmael began to\ndig the trenches which were to receive the foundations; and they gave\nthem the depth of a man\u2019s stature. Then they raised them to the level\nof the soil; after that, they cut stones out of the neighboring rocks\nfor the walls of the edifice. Abraham built, and Ishmael handed the\nstones. Now, when the wall got above his reach, Abraham placed a stone\non the ground, and stood upon that to build, and he left thereon the\nimpression of his foot. The stone remains to this day, and is called\nMakam Ibrah\u00eem.\n\nAnd when the temple was built, God sent Gabriel to instruct Abraham\nin all the rights of pilgrimage, and how to visit Mina and Mount\nArafat, and how to go processionally round the Kaaba, and to cast the\nstones, and to wear the pilgrim\u2019s dress, and to make sacrifice, and to\nshave the head, to visit the holy places, and all that concerns the\npilgrimage.\n\nThat same year Abraham made the pilgrimage, and he confided the care of\nthe temple to Ishmael, his son, and he said to him, \u201cThis land belongs\nto thee and to thy children till the Judgment Day.\u201d\n\nThen Abraham, turning him about, went at God\u2019s command to the top of\na high mountain, and cried, \u201cO men, God has built you a house, and He\ncalls you to visit it.\u201d\n\nAnd all men and women, and the children yet unborn, answered from every\nquarter of the world, \u201cWe will visit it.\u201d\n\nThen Abraham returned into Syria.[356]\n\nNow the well of Zemzem was formed when Hagar and Ishmael were in the\ndesert. The angel Gabriel trod in the ground and the water bubbled up.\nAt first it was sweet as honey, and as nourishing as milk. This well is\none of the wonders of Mecca. We shall relate more of it presently.\n\nAnd the stone that was white and shining, but now is black, that stone\nwas an angel who wept over the sins of men till he has grown dark; that\nalso is one of the wonders of Mecca.\n\nWhilst Ishmael was engaged one day in building the Kaaba, there came to\nhim Alexander the Two-horned, and asked him what he was doing.\n\nThen Abraham answered, \u201cWe build a temple to the only God in whom we\nbelieve.\u201d And Alexander knew that he was a prophet of God; and he went\non foot seven times round the temple.\n\nAbout this Alexander authorities differ. Some say that he was a Greek,\nand that he was lord of the whole earth as Nimrod was before him, and\nas Soloman was after him.\n\nAlexander was lord of light and darkness; when he went forth with his\nhosts, he had light before him, and behind him was darkness: thus he\ncould overtake his enemies, but could not be overtaken by them. He had\nalso two banners, one white and the other black, and when he unfurled\nthe white one, it was instantly broad day; and when he unfurled the\nblack one, it was instantly midnight. Thus he could have day in the\ndarkest night, and night in the brighest day.\n\nHe was also unconquerable; for he could, at will, make his army\ninvisible, and fall upon his enemies and destroy them, without their\nbeing able to see who were opposed to them. He went through the whole\nworld in quest of the Fountain of Immortality, of which, as he read in\nhis sacred books, a descendant of Shem was pre-ordained to drink, and\nbecome immortal.\n\nBut his vizir Al Hidhr[357] lighted on the fountain before him and\ndrank, not knowing what were the virtues of this spring; and when\nAlexander came afterwards, the water had sunk away, for by God\u2019s\ncommand only one man was destined to drink thereof.\n\nAlexander was called the Two-horned, according to some, because he went\nthrough the world from one end to the other; according to others,\nbecause he wore two long locks of hair which stood up like horns;\naccording to others, because he had two gold horns on his crown which\nsymbolized the kingdoms of Grecia and Persia over which he reigned. But\naccording to others, he once dreamed that he had got so near to the\nson, that he caught it by its two ends, and therefore he was given his\nname.\n\nLearned men are also equally disagreed as to the time in which he\nlived, and as to the place of his birth and residence.\n\nMost think that there were two Alexanders. One was descended from Shem,\nand went with El Khoudr to the end of the world after the Fountain of\nImmortality, and who was ordered by God to build an indestructible wall\nagainst the incursions of the children of Gog and Magog. The other\nAlexander was the son of Philip of Macedon, and was descended from\nJapheth, and was the pupil of Aristotle at Athens.[358]\n\nAnd now let us return to the fountain or well of Zemzem, and relate\nwhat befel that.\n\nNabajoth, the eldest son of Ishmael, succeeded his father in the\ncustody of the Kaaba, of the tombs of Adam and Eve, of the stone and\nthe well. But having left only very young children to succeed him,\nMadad-ben-Amron, their maternal grandfather, took charge of their\neducation, and at the same time became the protector of the Kaaba and\nof the well of Zemzem.\n\nThe children of Nabajoth, when they grew old, would not contest with\ntheir foster-father the possession of the Holy places, therefore it\nremained to him and his sons till the time when the Giorhamides took\nthem by violence.\n\nThen the posterity of Ishmael having attacked them, defeated them, and\nrecovered the city and temple of Mecca. But the stone, and the two\ngazelles of gold which a king of Arabia had given to the Kaaba, had\nbeen lost, for they had been thrown into the well of Zemzem, which had\nbeen filled up.\n\nThe well remained choked and unregarded till the times of\nAbd-el-Motalleb, grandfather of Mohammed, who one day heard a voice bid\nhim dig the well of Zemzem.\n\nAbd-el-Motalleb asked the voice what Zemzem was.\n\nThen the voice replied: \u201cIt is the well that sprang up to nourish\nIshmael in the desert, whereof he and his children drank.\u201d\n\nAbd-el-Motalleb, not knowing whereabouts to dig, asked further, and\nthe voice answered, \u201cThe well of Zemzem is near two idols of the\nKora\u00efschites named Assaf and Nailah; dig on the spot where you shall\nsee a magpie pecking in the ground and turning up a nest of ants.\u201d\n\nAbd-el-Motalleb set about obeying the voice, in spite of the opposition\nof the Kora\u00efschites, who objected to the overthrow of their idols.\nHowever, he dug, along with his ten sons, and he vowed that if God\nwould show him the water, he would sacrifice one of his sons. And when\nhe came to water, he found the gazelles of gold and the Black Stone.\n\nThen he summoned his children before him and told them his vow. And he\ndrew lots which of them should die, and the lot fell on Abd-Allah, the\nfather of the prophet.\n\nThen said Abd-el-Motalleb, \u201cI am in a great strait; how shall I perform\nmy vow?\u201d For he loved Abd-Allah best of his ten sons. Now the mother\nof Abd-Allah belonged to the family of Benu-Zora, which is one of the\nchief in Mecca.\n\nThe Benu-Zora family assembled and said, \u201cWe will not suffer you to\nslay your son.\u201d But he said, \u201cI must perform my vow.\u201d Then he consulted\ntwo Jewish astrologers, who said, \u201cGo, and put on one side your child,\nand on the other your camel, and draw the lot; and if the lot fall on\nAbd-Allah, add a second camel to the first, and draw the lot again, and\ncontinue adding camels till the lot falls on them; then you will know\nhow many camels will be accepted by God as an equivalent for your son.\u201d\n\nHe did so, and he put one camel, then two, then three, up to fifty.\nThe lot fell on Abd-Allah up to the ninety-ninth camel; but when\nAbd-el-Motalleb had added the hundreth, then the lot fell on those\nanimals, and he knew that they were accepted in place of his son, and\nhe sacrificed them to the Lord; and this custom has continued among\nthe Arabs, to redeem a man who is to be sacrificed by one hundred\ncamels.[359]\n\nNow when the Kora\u00efschites saw what Abd-el-Motalleb had drawn from\nthe well, they demanded a share of the treasure he had found. But he\nrefused it, saying that all belonged to the temple that Abraham and\nIshmael had built.\n\nTo decide this quarrel, they agreed to consult a dervish who dwelt on\nthe confines of Syria, and passed for a prophet. It fell out that, on\nthe way, Abd-el-Motalleb, exhausted with thirst, was obliged to ask\nwater of the Kora\u00efschites, but they fearing that they would not have\nenough for themselves, were obliged to refuse.\n\nThen, from the ground pressed by the foot of the camel of\nAbd-el-Motalleb, a fountain gushed forth, which quenched the thirst\nof himself and of those who had refused to give him water, and they,\nseeing the miracle, recognized him as a prophet sent from God, and they\nrelinquished their pretensions to the well of Zemzem.\n\nAnd when the well was cleared out, Abd-el-Motalleb gave to the temple\nof the Kaaba the two gazelles of gold, and all the silver, and the\narms and precious things he found in the well. For long, Mecca was\nsupplied with water from the well of Zemzem alone, till the concourse\nof pilgrims became so great, that the Khalifs were obliged to construct\nan aqueduct to bring abundance of water into the city.\n\nMohammed, to honor the town of Mecca, where he was born, gave great\npraise to the water of the well. It is believed among the Arabs that\na draught of that water gives health, and that to drink much thereof\nwashes away sin. It is related of a certain Mussulman teacher, who knew\na great many traditions, that, having been interrogated on his memory,\nhe replied, \u201cSince I have drunk long draughts of the water of Zemzem, I\nhave forgotten nothing that I learnt.\u201d\n\nTo conclude what we have to say of Ishmael.\n\nHe had a daughter named Basemath, whom he married to Esau, and many\nsons; two, Nabajoth and Kedar, were his sons who dwelt in Mecca. He\nwas a hundred and thirty years old when he died, and he was buried at\nMecca, after having appointed Isaac his executor.\n\n\n\n\nXXVII.\n\nESAU AND JACOB.\n\n\nThere are few Oriental traditions, whether Rabbinic or Mussulman,\nconcerning Isaac\u2019s life after he was married and his father died.\nThose touching his birth, early life, and marriage, have been given in\nthe article on Abraham.\n\nWe proceed therefore, to his history as connected with Esau and Jacob.\n\nIsaac, says Tabari, lived a hundred years after Ishmael. God granted\nhim the gift of prophecy, and sent him to the inhabitants of Syria,\nin the country of Canaan, for he could not change his place of abode\non account of his blindness; for Abimelech had wished him to be dim\nof sight, because Abraham had deceived him by saying, \u201cSarah is my\nsister;\u201d and, say the Rabbis, Isaac\u2019s eyes were made dim by the tears\nof the angels falling into them as he was stretched upon the altar by\nhis father; or because he had then looked upon the Throne of God, and\nhad been dazzled thereby.\n\nBut others say he went blind through grief and tears at his son Esau\nhaving taken four Canaanitish women to wife.\n\nIsaac had two sons, twins, by Rebekah his wife--Esau and Jacob.\n\nThe Cabbalists say that the soul of Esau, whom the Arabs call A\u00efs,\npassed into the body of Jesus Christ by metempsychosis, and that Jesus\nand Esau are one; and this they attempt to prove by showing that the\nHebrew letters composing the name of Jesus are the same as those of\nwhich Esau is compounded.[360]\n\nThe following curious story is told of the brothers by the Rabbi\nEliezer:--\u201cIt is said that when Jacob and Esau were in their mother\u2019s\nwomb, Jacob said to Esau, \u2018My brother, there are two worlds before\nus, this world and the world to come. In this world, men eat, and\ndrink, and traffic, and marry, and bring up sons and daughters; but\nall this does not take place in the world to come. If you like, take\nthis world, and I will take the other.\u2019 And Esau denied that there was\na resurrection of the dead, and said, \u2018_Behold I am at the point to\ndie; and what profit shall this birthright do to me?_\u2019 And he gave over\nto Jacob in that hour his right to the other world.\u201d[361] Therefore\nEsau and his descendants have no part or lot in Paradise, and none are\nadmitted there.[362]\n\nIt is also said that the religious predilections of the children were\ndeveloped before they were born. On the words of Genesis, \u201c_The\nchildren struggled together within her_,\u201d[363] a Rabbinic commentator\nsays that when Rebekah passed before a synagogue, then Jacob made great\nefforts to escape into the world, that he might attend the synagogue,\nand this is the meaning of the words of the prophet Jeremiah, when God\nsays of Jacob, \u201c_Before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified\nthee_:\u201d[364] But whenever she went before an idol temple, Esau became\nexcited, and desired to come forth.[365]\n\nWhen Esau was born, he had on his heel the likeness of a serpent, and\nhis name indicates that he was closely connected with Satan (Sammael);\nfor, says the Rabbi Isaiah, if you write the name Sammael in Hebrew\ncharacters, you will find it to be identical with that of Esau; for the\nfour letters of Esau turned one way make Sammael, and turned another\nway make Edom.[366] Esau had also a serpent in his inside coiled in his\nbowels.[367]\n\nEsau was called Edom, or Red, because, say some, he sucked his mother\u2019s\nblood before he was born; or, say others, because he was to shed\nblood; or again, because he was born under the ruddy planet Mars; or\nagain, because he liked to eat his meat underdone and red;[368] but\nthe Targumim say that Esau had red hair over his body like a garment;\ntherefore he was called Esau.[369]\n\nThe lads grew; and Esau was a man of idleness to catch birds and\nbeasts, a man going forth into the field to kill, as Nimrod had\nkilled, and Anak, his son. But Jacob was a man peaceful in his works,\na minister of the school of Eber, seeking instruction before the Lord.\nAnd Isaac loved Esau, for words of deceit were in his mouth; but\nRebekah loved Jacob.[370]\n\nOn the day that Abraham died, Jacob dressed pottage of lentiles, and\nwas going to comfort his father. And Esau came from the wilderness,\nexhausted; for in that day he had committed five transgressions--he\nhad worshipped with strange worship, he had shed innocent blood, he\nhad pursued a betrothed damsel, he had denied the life of the world to\ncome, and he had despised his birthright.[371]\n\nAnd Esau said to Jacob, \u201cLet me now taste that red pottage, for I am\nfaint.\u201d Therefore he called his name Edom.\n\nAnd Jacob said, \u201cSell to me to-day what thou wouldst hereafter\nappropriate--thy birthright.\u201d\n\nAnd Esau said, \u201cBehold, I am going to die, and in another world I shall\nhave no life; and what then to me is the birthright, or the portion in\nthe world of which thou speakest?\u201d\n\nAnd Jacob said, \u201cSwear to me to-day that so it shall be.\u201d\n\nAnd he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave\nto Esau bread, and pottage of lentiles. And he ate and drank, and arose\nand went. And Esau scorned the birthright, and the portion of the world\nthat cometh, and denied the resurrection of the dead.[372]\n\nBut according to certain Rabbinic authorities Esau sold his birthright\nnot only for the mess of lentiles, but also for a sword that Jacob\nhad--to wit, the sword of Methuselah, wherewith he had slain a thousand\ndevils.[373]\n\nEsau had the garment which God had made for Adam,[374] on which were\nembroidered the forms of all the wild beasts and birds that were on the\nface of the earth, in their proper colors. This garment had been stolen\nby Ham from Noah in the ark, and had been given by him to Cush, who\ngave it to Nimrod. Esau killed Nimrod, and took from him his painted\ndress, and thenceforth all the success in hunting which had attended\nNimrod devolved upon Esau.[375]\n\nThe story of the blessing of Jacob and Esau has not become surrounded\nwith many fables. The following are the most remarkable. Esau on that\noccasion went forth in such haste to catch the venison, that he forgot\nto take with him Nimrod\u2019s garment, and therefore was not successful\nin hunting, as on former occasions, and Jacob took advantage of this\nforgetfulness to assume the embroidered coat.[376]\n\nAnd when the meat was ready, and Isaac began to eat thereof, he was\nthirsty, and there was no wine for him in the house. So an angel was\nsent to him out of Paradise, and brought him the juice of the grape\nthat grows there on the vine that was created before the foundations of\nthe earth were laid.[377]\n\nIsaac was so angry at having been deceived by Jacob, that he was about\nto doom him to Gehinnom, after he said, \u201c_Where is he that hath taken\nvension, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest,\nand have blessed him?_\u201d But he paused to prepare his curse.\n\nThen God suddenly opened hell to him beneath his feet, and he looked\ninto it, and saw the abyss of fire and darkness, and his horror\nrendered him speechless; but when he recovered his voice, he resolved\nthat no child of his should descend there; therefore he added, \u201c_Yea,\nand he shall be blessed._\u201d[378]\n\nThe Mussulmans relate the history of Esau and Jacob much as it stands\nin the Book of Genesis. They add that the benediction of Esau was\nfulfilled in his having a son named Roum, from whom sprang the Greek\nand Roman empires.\n\nThis is also a Rabbinical tradition, for the Talmudists say that Esau\nhad a son named Eliphaz, who had a son, Zepho, from whom Vespasian and\nhis son Titus were descended, and thus they attribute the destruction\nof Jerusalem to the struggle of Esau to break the yoke of Jacob from\noff his neck.\n\nEsau is said by the Rabbis to have had four wives, in imitation of\nSatan, or Sammael, as has been already related.\n\nAbulfaraj says that Esau made war with Jacob, and was killed by him\nwith an arrow.\n\nJacob feared Esau, for Esau said in his heart, \u201cI will not do as Cain\ndid, who slew his brother Abel in the lifetime of his father, after\nwhich his father begat Seth; but I will wait till the days of mourning\nfor my father are accomplished, and then I will kill Jacob, and so I\nshall be the sole heir.\u201d[379]\n\nTherefore Jacob went out only at night; during the day he hid himself\naway. Thus several years passed, and his life became intolerable to\nhim. So his mother said, \u201cThy uncle Laban, the son of Bethuel, has\ngreat possessions, and is very old. Go, and ask him to give thee his\ndaughter; and if he consents, then tarry with him till thy brother\u2019s\nanger turn away.\u201d Jacob listened to the advice of his mother, and he\nfled away without letting Esau know.\n\nFive miracles were wrought for the patriarch Jacob, at the time\nwhen he went forth from Beer-sheba. First, the hours of the day were\nshortened, and the sun went down before its time, because the Word\ndesired to speak with him; secondly, the four stones, which Jacob had\nset for his pillow, he found in the morning had coagulated into one\nstone; thirdly, the stone which, when all the flocks were assembled,\nthe shepherds rolled from the mouth of the well, he rolled away with\none of his arms; fourthly, the well overflowed, and the water continued\nto flow all the days he was in Haran. The fifth sign--the country was\nshortened before him, so that in one day he went forth and came to\nHaran.[380]\n\nAnd he prayed in the place where he rested, and took four stones of\nthat place, and set them for a pillow, and went asleep. Of these stones\nthis is the history. They were twelve in number, and Adam had set them\nup as an altar. On them Abel had offered his sacrifice. The Deluge had\nthrown them down, but Noah reared them once more. They had been again\noverthrown, but Abraham set them in their places, and of them built the\naltar on which to sacrifice Isaac. These twelve stones Jacob now found,\nand he placed them under his head as a pillow. But a great wonder was\nwrought, and in the morning the twelve stones had melted together into\none stone.[381]\n\nFinally, this stone, so ancient and with such a history, was carried\nto Scotland, by whom I do not know, where it was placed at Scone, and\nwas used for the consecration of the Scottish kings. Edward I. of\nEngland brought it to London, and it was set beneath the chair of the\nConfessor, as the following lines, inscribed on a tablet, announced:--\n\n \u201cSi quid habent veri, vel chronica cana, fidesve,\n Clauditur hac cathedra nobilis, ecce, lapis.\n Ad caput eximius Jacob quondam patriarcha\n Quem posuit cernens numina mira poli.\n Quem tulit ex Scottis, spolians quasi victor honoris,\n Edwardus primus, Mars velut omnipotens.\n Scottorum domitor, noster validissimus Hector,\n Anglorum decus, et gloria militi\u00e6.\u201d[382]\n\nThe stone may now be seen in Westminster Abbey.\n\nWhen Jacob--to return to our narrative--slept with his head on the\npillow of stones, he dreamed, and beheld a ladder fixed in the earth,\nand the summit of it reached to the height of heaven. And, behold! the\nangels who had accompanied him from the house of his father, ascended\nto make known to the angels on high, saying, \u201cCome, see Jacob the\npious, whose likeness is in the throne of glory, and whom you have been\ndesirous to see!\u201d These were the two angels who had been sent to Sodom\nto destroy it, and who had been forbidden to rise up to the throne of\nGod again, because, say some, they had revealed the secrets of the Lord\nof the whole earth, or because, say others, they had threatened in\ntheir own name to destroy the cities of the plain.\n\nThen the rest of the angels of God came down, at the call of these\ntwain to look upon Jacob.\n\nAnd the Glory of the Lord stood above him, and He said to him, \u201cI am\nthe Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land on\nwhich thou art lying I will give to thee and thy sons. And thy sons\nshall be many as the dust of the earth, and shall become strong in the\nwest and in the east, and in the north and in the south; and all the\nkindreds of the earth shall be blessed through thy righteousness and\nthe righteousness of thy sons.\u201d\n\nWhen Jacob arrived at Haran, he saw a well in a field, and three flocks\nlying near it--because from that well they watered the flocks--and a\ngreat stone was laid upon the mouth of the well.\n\nAnd Jacob said to the shepherds, \u201cMy brethren, whence are ye?\u201d\n\nThey said, \u201cFrom Haran are we.\u201d\n\nAnd he said, \u201cKnow you Laban, son of Nahor?\u201d They answered, \u201cWe know\nhim.\u201d\n\nAnd he said, \u201cHath he peace?\u201d\n\nThey said, \u201cPeace; and behold, Rachel, his daughter, cometh with the\nsheep.\u201d\n\nAnd he said, \u201cBehold, the time of the day is great; it is not time to\ngather home the cattle; water the sheep.\u201d\n\nBut they said, \u201cWe cannot, until all the shepherds be gathered, and\nthen we can altogether roll away the stone.\u201d\n\nWhile they were speaking with him, Rachel came with her father\u2019s\nsheep; for she was a shepherdess at that time, because there had been\na plague among the sheep of Laban, and but few of them were left; and\nhe had dismissed his shepherds, and had put the remaining flock before\nRachel, his daughter.\n\nThen Jacob went nigh, and rolled the stone which all the shepherds\ntogether could scarce lift, with one of his hands, and the well uprose,\nand the waters flowed, and he watered the sheep of Laban, his mother\u2019s\nbrother; and it uprose for twenty years.\n\nAnd Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept.\n\nAnd Jacob told Rachel that he was come to be with her father to take\none of his daughters. Then Rachel answered him: \u201cThou canst not dwell\nwith him, for he is a man of cunning.\u201d\n\nBut Jacob said, \u201cI am more cunning than he.\u201d\n\nAnd when she knew that he was the son of Rebekah, she ran and made it\nknown to her father. And when Laban heard the account of the strength\nof Jacob, his sister\u2019s son, and how he had taken the birthright and the\norder of blessing from the hand of his brother, and how the Lord had\nrevealed Himself to him in the way, and how the stone had been removed,\nand how the well had upflowed and risen to the brink,--he ran and\nkissed him, and led him into his house.\n\nLaban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah and the name of\nthe younger, Rachel. And the eyes of Leah were moist and running, from\nweeping and praying before the Lord, that He would not destine her for\nEsau the wicked.\n\nJacob served Laban seven years, and was given Leah to wife; and he\nserved seven years more; and he was given Rachel to wife; and he served\nsix years for cattle that Laban gave him; and then, seeing that Laban\u2019s\nface was set against him, he fled away secretly from Laban\u2019s house, and\nRachel stole the image that Laban worshipped. And this image was the\nhead of a man, a first-born, that Laban had slain, and he had salted\nit with salt and balsams, and had written incantations on a plate of\ngold for it, and this head spake to him and told him oracles, and Laban\nbowed himself down before it.[383]\n\nJacob drew near to the land of Esau, and he feared that his enmity was\nnot abated; therefore he sent a message before him to his brother, and\nhe tarried all night at Mahanaim. And he sent a present before him to\nEsau to abate his anger.\n\nThe Book of Jasher gives some curious details on the meeting of the\nbrothers.\n\nJacob, trusting to the support of the Most High, besought Him to stand\nby him, and deliver him from the wrath of his brother. And God sent\nfour angels to protect him; these angels went before him. The first\nwho met Esau presented himself at the head of a thousand horsemen,\narmed at all points, who fell upon the troop that accompanied Esau, and\ndispersed it. As this body of men swept along, they shouted, \u201cWe are\nthe servants of Jacob; who can resist us?\u201d\n\nA second body followed, under the second angel; then a third phalanx,\nunder the third angel.\n\nEsau, trembling, exclaimed, \u201cI am the brother of Jacob. It is twenty\nyears since I saw him, and you maltreat me as I am on my way to meet\nhim!\u201d\n\nOne of the angels answered, \u201cIf Jacob, the servant of God, had not been\nthy brother, we would have destroyed thee and all thy men.\u201d\n\nThe forth body passing, under the command of the fourth angel,\ncompleted the humiliation of Esau.\n\nHowever, Jacob, who knew not what assistance had been rendered him by\nHeaven, prepared for Esau, to appease him, rich presents. He sent him\nfour hundred and forty sheep, thirty asses, thirty camels, fifty oxen,\nin ten troops, each conducted by a faithful servant charged to deliver\nhis troop as a gift from Jacob to his brother Esau.\n\nThis consoled and pleased Esau, who, as soon as he saw Jacob again,\nwas, by the grace of God, placed in a better mind, and the brethren\nmet, and parted with fraternal love.[384]\n\nNow let us take another version of the story of this meeting.\n\nIt came to pass that Jacob spent one night alone beyond Jabbok, and an\nangel contended with him, having taken on him the body and likeness\nof a man. This angel was Michael, and the subject of their contention\nwas this:--The angel said to Jacob, \u201cHast thou not promised to give\nthe tenth of all that is thine to the Lord?\u201d And Jacob said, \u201cI have\npromised.\u201d\n\nThen the angel said, \u201cBehold thou hast ten sons and one daughter;\nnevertheless thou hast not tithed them.\u201d\n\nImmediately Jacob set apart the four first-born of the four mothers,\nand there remained eight. And he began to number from Simeon, and Levi\ncame up for the tenth.\n\nThen Michael answered and said, \u201cLord of the world, this is Thy lot.\u201d\nSo Levi became the consecrated one to the Lord.\n\nOn account of this ready compliance with his oath, Michael was unable\nto hurt him, but he remained striving with Jacob, till the first ray of\nsunlight rose above the eastern hills.\n\nAnd he said, \u201cLet me go, for the column of the morning ascendeth, and\nthe hour cometh when the angels on high offer praise to the Lord of the\nworld: and I am one of the angels of praise; but from the day that the\nworld was created, my time to praise hath not come till now.\u201d\n\nAnd he said, \u201cI will not let thee go, until thou bless me.\u201d\n\nNow Michael had received commandment not to leave Jacob till the\npatriarch suffered him; and as it began to dawn, the hosts of heaven,\nwho desired to begin their morning hymn, came down to Michael and bade\nhim rise up to the throne of God and lead the chant; but he said, \u201cI\ncannot, unless Jacob suffer me to depart.\u201d[385]\n\nThus did God prove Jacob, as He had proved Abraham, whether he would\ngive to Him his son, when He asked him of the patriarch.\n\nBut, according to certain Rabbinic authorities, it was not Michael\nwho wrestled with Jacob, but it was Sammael the Evil One, or Satan.\nFor Sammael is the angel of Edom, as Michael is the angel of Israel;\nand Sammael went before Esau, hoping to destroy Jacob in the night.\nSammael, says the Jalkut Rubeni, met Jacob, who had the stature of the\nfirst man, and strove with him; but he could not do him an injury,\nfor Abraham stood on his right hand, and Isaac on his left. And when\nSammael would part from him, Jacob would not suffer it, till the Evil\nOne had given him the blessing which Jacob had purchased from Esau. And\nfrom that day Sammael took from Jacob his great strength, and made him\nto halt upon his thigh.[386]\n\nBut when Michael appeared before God--we must now suppose the man who\nstrove with Jacob to have been the angel--God said to him in anger,\n\u201cThou hast injured My priest!\u201d\n\nMichael answered, \u201cI am Thy priest.\u201d\n\n\u201cYea,\u201d said the Most High, \u201cthou art My priest in heaven, but Jacob is\nMy priest on earth. Why hast thou lamed him?\u201d\n\nThen Michael answered, \u201cI wrestled with him, and let him overcome me,\nto Thy honor, O Lord; that, seeing he had overcome an angel of God, he\nmight have courage to go boldly to meet Esau.\u201d\n\nBut this was no excuse for having lamed him. Therefore Michael said to\nRaphael, \u201cOh, angel of healing! come to my aid.\u201d So Raphael descended\nto earth, and touehed the hollow of Jacob\u2019s thigh, and it was restored\nas before.\n\nBut God said to Michael, \u201cFor this that thou hast done, thou shalt be\nthe guardian of Israel as long as the world lasteth.\u201d[387]\n\nJacob called the name of the place Peniel; for he said, \u201cI have seen\nthe angel of the Lord face to face, and my soul is saved.\u201d And the sun\nrose upon him before its time, as, when he went out from Beer-sheba, it\nhad set before its time.[388]\n\nAnd Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau came,\nand with him four hundred men of war. And he divided the children\nunto Leah, and to Rachel, and to the two concubines, and placed the\nconcubines and their sons foremost; for he said, \u201cIf Esau come to\ndestroy the children, and ill-treat the women, he will do it with them,\nand meanwhile we can prepare to fight; and Leah and her children after,\nand Rachel and Joseph after them.\u201d[389] And he himself went over before\nthem, praying and asking mercy before the Lord; and he bowed upon the\nearth seven times, until he met with his brother; but it was not to\nEsau that he bowed, though Esau supposed he did, but to the Lord God\nMost High.[390]\n\nAnd Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell upon his neck\nand bit him, but by the mercy of God the neck of Jacob became marble,\nand Esau broke his teeth upon it; therefore it is said in the Book of\nGenesis that he _fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they wept_.[391]\nBut the Targumim apparently do not acknowledge that the neck of Jacob\nbecame marble, for the Targum of Palestine explains their weeping thus:\n\u201cEsau wept on account of the pain of his teeth, which were shaken;\nbut Jacob wept because of the pain of his neck;\u201d and the Targum of\nJerusalem, \u201cEsau wept for the crushing of his teeth, and Jacob wept for\nthe tenderness of his neck.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Lord God prospered Jacob,\u201d and he had one hundred and two times\nten thousand and seven thousand (_i. e._, a thousand times a thousand,\nseven thousand and two hundred) sheep, and six hundred thousand dogs;\nbut some Rabbis say the sheep were quite innumerable, but when Jacob\ncounted his sheep-dogs he found that he had twelve hundred thousand of\nthem; others, however, reduce the number one-half. They say, one dog\nwent with each flock, but those who say that there were twelve hundred\nthousand dogs, count two to each flock.[392]\n\nJacob, says the Rabbi Samuel, could recite the whole of the\nPsalter.[393] Of course this must have been in the spirit of prophecy,\nas the Psalms were not written, with the exception of Psalm civ., which\nhad been composed by Adam.\n\nAdam, after his fall, had been given by God six commandments, but\nNoah was given a seventh--to this effect, that he was not to eat a\nlimb or portion of any living animal. Abraham was given an eighth,\nthe commandment of circumcision; and Jacob was communicated a ninth,\nthrough the mouth of an adder, that he was not to eat the serpent.[394]\n\nIf we may trust the Book of Jasher, the affair of Shechem, the son of\nHamor, was as follows:--The men of the city were not all circumcised,\nonly some of them, so as to blind the eyes of the sons of Jacob,\nand throw them off their guard; and Shechem and Hamor had privately\nconcerted to fall upon Jacob and his sons and butcher them; but Simeon\nand Levi were warned of their intention by a servant of Dinah, and took\nthe initiative.[395] But this is a clumsy attempt to throw the blame\noff the shoulders of the ancestors of the Jewish nation upon those of\ntheir Gentile enemies.\n\nJacob, say the Rabbis, would have had no daughters at all in his\nfamily, but only sons, had he not called himself El-elohe-Israel\n(Israel is God).[396] Therefore God was angry with him, for making\nhimself equal with God, and in punishment he afflicted him with a giddy\ndaughter.[397]\n\nEsau, say the Mussulmans, had no prophets in his family except Job.\nAll the prophets rose from the family of Jacob; and when Esau saw that\nthe gift of prophecy was not in his family, he went out of the land,\nfor he would not live near his brother.[398]\n\nThe father of the Israelites, from the land of Canaan which he\ninhabited, could smell the clothes of Joseph when he was in Egypt,\nbeing a prophet; and thus he knew that his son was alive. He was\nasked how it was that he divined nothing when his beloved son was\ncast into the pit by his brothers, and sold to the Ishmaelites. He\nreplied that the prophetic power is sudden, like a lightning flash,\npiercing sometimes to the height of heaven; it is not permanent in its\nintensity, but leaves at times those favored with it in such darkness\nthat they do not know what is at their feet.[399]\n\nThe Arabs say that Jacob, much afflicted with sciatica, was healed by\nabstaining from the meat he most loved, and that was the flesh of the\ncamel. At Jerusalem, say the Arabs, is preserved the stone on which\nJacob laid his head when he slept on his way to Haran.\n\nThe custom of saying \u201cGod bless you!\u201d when a person sneezes, dates\nfrom Jacob. The Rabbis say that, before the time that Jacob lived,\nmen sneezed once, and that was the end of them--the shock slew them;\nbut the patriarch, by his intercession, obtained a relaxation of this\nlaw, subject to the condition that, in all nations, a sneeze should be\nconsecrated by a sacred aspiration.\n\n\n\n\nXXVIII.\n\nJOSEPH.\n\n\nJoseph\u2019s story is too attractive not to have interested intensely the\nOriental nations in any way connected with him, and therefore to have\nbecome a prey to legend and myth.\n\nJoseph, say the Mussulmans, was from his childhood the best loved son\nof his father Jacob; but the old man not only loved him, but yearned\nafter the sight of him, for he was dedrived of the custody of Joseph\nfrom an early age. Joseph had been sent to his aunt, the sister of\nIsaac, and she loved the child so dearly, that she could not endure\nthe thought of parting with him. Therefore she took the family girdle,\nwhich she as the eldest retained as an heirloom, the girdle which\nAbraham had worn when he prepared to sacrifice his son, and she\nstrapped it round Joseph\u2019s waist.\n\nThen she drew him before the judge, and accused him of theft, and\nclaimed that he should be made over to her as a slave to expiate his\ntheft. And it was done so. Thus the child Joseph grew up in her house,\nand it was not till after her death that he returned to his father\nJacob.\n\nOne morning Joseph related to his father a dream that he had dreamt;\nhe said that he and his brothers had planted twigs in the earth, but\nall the twigs of his brothers had withered, whereas his own twig had\nbrought forth leaves, and flourished.\n\nJacob was so immersed in thought over the dream, that he allowed a poor\nman who came begging to go away unrelieved, because unnoticed.[400] And\nthis act of forgetfulness brought upon him some trouble, as we shall\nsee.\n\nOne morning Joseph related to him another dream; he saw the sun, the\nmoon, and the stars bow down before him. Jacob could no longer doubt\nthe significance of these dreams, which showed him how great Joseph\nwould be, but he cautioned him on no account to let his brothers know\nabout them, lest they should envy him.\n\nHe was so beautiful that he was called the Moon of Canaan, and he had\non one of his shoulders a luminous point like a star, a token that the\nspirit of prophecy rested upon him. The brothers of Joseph, however,\nheard of the dreams, and they were greatly enraged, and they said,\n\u201cJoseph and Benjamin are more loved of their father than we ten; let\nus kill Joseph, or drive him out of the country, and when we have done\nthis, we will repent at our leisure, and God will forgive us.\u201d[401]\n\nOne day the brothers went to feed their father\u2019s flock in Shechem.\nThen Israel said to Joseph, \u201cDo not thy brethren feed in Shechem? I am\nafraid lest the Hivite come upon them and smite them, and repay on me\nwhat Simeon and Levi did to Shechem and Hamor, because of Dinah their\nsister. I will send thee to them to caution them to go elsewhere.\u201d\n\nAnd he said, \u201cI am ready.\u201d So Joseph arose, and went to Shechem; and\nGabriel, in the likeness of a man, found him wandering in the field.\nAnd he said to him, \u201cThy brethren have journeyed hence. I heard of\nthem, when I was in the presence of God, behind the veil, and that,\nfrom this day, the bondage of Egypt begins.\u201d[402]\n\nWhen Joseph came in sight, the brothers conspired to slay him, but\nJudah said, \u201cSlay not Joseph, for to slay is a crime; but cast him into\na well on the way that the caravans pass, that he may be found by a\ncaravan, and be drawn out.\u201d Joseph was then aged seventeen.\n\nHis brethren fell on him and stripped him, and were about to cast him\ninto the well which was by the wayside to Jerusalem, when he said, \u201cO\nmy brothers, wherewith shall I cover my nakedness in this pit?\u201d\n\nThey replied, \u201cBid the sun, the moon, and the stars, which adored thee,\nbring thee clothes to cover thy nakedness.\u201d\n\nHaving thus mocked him, they let him down into the well. There was much\nwater in it; and a stone had fallen into it: on this Joseph stood, and\nwas above the surface of the water.[403] Not so, say the Rabbis, it was\ndry, but it was full of scorpions and adders.[404]\n\nJudah, according to the Mussulman account, had not consented to this,\nhe being absent; and when he had learned what had been done, he took\nfood and let it down into the well, and told Joseph to be of good\ncheer, his brothers\u2019 anger would turn away, and then he would bring\nhim back to them. But the Jews say that Reuben was absent, as he was\nfasting on a mountain, because he had incurred his father\u2019s anger,\nand was in disgrace, and he hoped, by restoring Joseph to Israel, to\nrecover his father\u2019s favor.\n\nThe sons of Jacob then slew a lamb and dipped the garment of Joseph in\nthe blood, and brought it to their father, and said, \u201cWe left Joseph in\ncharge of our clothes, and a wolf has fallen upon him, and has devoured\nhim.\u201d\n\nBut Jacob looked at the garment and said, \u201cI see that it is bloody,\nbut I see no rents; the wolf was merciful to my son Joseph, for he ate\nhim and left his garment whole!\u201d[405]\n\nThen Jacob went to commune with God, and the spirit of prophecy came\nupon him, and he said, \u201cNo wolf, no enemy has slain him, but a bad\nwoman is against him.\u201d[406]\n\nNow Joseph was three days and three nights in the pit, but it was not\ndark, for the angel Gabriel hung in it a precious stone to give him\nlight.[407]\n\nThe brethren of Joseph, seeing that their father mistrusted them, said\nto him, \u201cWe will go and catch the wolf that slew Joseph.\u201d\n\nHe said, \u201cGo and do so.\u201d\n\nSo they went and chased and caught a monstrous wolf, and they brought\nhim to their father and said, \u201cThis is the beast whereof we spoke to\nthee, that it had slain Joseph.\u201d\n\nBut God opened the mouth of the wolf, and he said, \u201cSon of Isaac,\nbelieve not the words of thy envious sons. I am a wolf out of a foreign\nland; I one morning lost my young one when I woke up, and I have been\nstraying in all directions to find it; is it likely that I, mourning\nover the loss of a wild cub, should attack and kill a young prophet?\u201d\n\nJacob released the wolf out of the hands of his sons, and he dismissed\nhis sons, for he abhorred the sight of their faces; only Benjamin, the\nbrother of Joseph, and the youngest child of Rachel, did he retain near\nhim.[408]\n\nOn the third morning, a party of Arabs passed near the well, and were\nthirsty. Now the chief of these Arabs was Melek-ben-Dohar; the second,\nwho accompanied Melek, was an Indian, a freed man of Melek, and his\nname was Buschra.\n\nMelek reached the well carrying a bucket and a rope, and let down the\nbucket into the well. Then Joseph put his hand on it, and, however much\nMelek and Buschra pulled, they could not raise the bucket. Then Melek\nlooked down into the pit, and exclaimed: \u201cO Buschra, the bucket was\nheavy because a young man has hold of it.\u201d\n\nNow the face of Joseph illumined the well like a lamp: Buschra and\nMelek tried to raise Joseph, but they could not.\n\nThen Melek asked, \u201cWhat is thy name, and whence art thou?\u201d\n\nJoseph answered, \u201cI am a young man of Canaan; my brothers have cast me\ninto this cistern, but I am not guilty.\u201d\n\nMelek said to his companions, \u201cIf we tell the rest of the caravan that\nwe have drawn this youth out of the well, they will demand a share in\nthe price he will fetch. Now I can sell this youth for a large sum in\nEgypt. I will therefore tell my comrades that I have bought him from\nsome people who were at the well. Do thou say the same thing, and we\nwill share the money between us.\u201d\n\nNext day, being the fourth day, the brethren, finding that their\nfather\u2019s face was turned against them, went to the cistern to draw\nforth Joseph, and when they found him not, they went to the caravan,\nand they saw Joseph among the Arabs.\n\nThen they asked, \u201cWhose is this lad?\u201d\n\nMelek-ben-Dohar replied, \u201cHe his mine.\u201d\n\nThey answered, \u201cHe belongs to us; he ran away from us.\u201d\n\nMelek replied, \u201cWell, I will give you money for him.\u201d[409]\n\nSo he bought him for twenty pieces of silver; thus each of the brothers\nobtained two drachm\u00e6, and therewith they bought shoes.[410] To this\nthe prophet Amos refers in two places (ii. 6; viii. 6), and in the\nTestament of the Twelve Patriarchs, which is received as canonical by\nthe Armenian Church, Zebulun relates the same circumstance, that the\nbrethren supplied themselves with sandals from the money which they got\nby the sale of Joseph.\n\nJoseph went along with the Ishmaelites till they passed his mother\u2019s\ntomb; then his grief overcame him, and he burst forth into bitter tears\nand cried, \u201cO mother, mother! I am an outcast and a slave, I the child\nof the wife Jacob loved. When thou wast dying, thou didst show me to\nmy father, and bade him look on me, and be comforted for my loss. O\nmother, mother! hast thou no thought of thy son? Awake and see the\nmiserable condition of thy child; shake off thy sleep; be my defence\nagainst my brethren, and comfort my father. Awake and stand up to judge\nmy quarrel, awake and plead my cause with God! awake and look upon the\ndesolation of the soul of my father who cherished thee, and who for\nfourteen years served a hard bondage for his beloved Rachel! Console\nhim, I pray thee, and by the voice that he loves, soothe the grief of\nhis last days.\u201d\n\nIt was moonlight, and the caravan was resting.\n\nA low voice issued from the tomb, \u201cMy son! my son Joseph! my child! I\nhave heard the voice of thy crying. I know all thou hast suffered, my\nson, and my grief is as deep as the sea. But put thy trust in God, who\nis the help of thy countenance and thy God! Rise, my child, and have\npatience. If thou knewest the future, thou wouldst be comforted.\u201d[411]\n\nOne of the chiefs of the caravan, wearied with the cries of Joseph,\ncame to drive him from the tomb, but suddenly a dark and threatening\ncloud appeared in the sky over his head, and he desisted in fear.\n\nIn the Testament of the Twelve patriarchs, Benjamin says that a man\nstruck Joseph as he lagged on the way, whereupon a lion fell upon the\nman and slew him.\n\nThe sun was about to set, when the caravan entered Heliopolis, the\nchief city of Egypt, which was then under the government of Rajjan, an\nAmalekite. Joseph\u2019s face shone brighter than the mid-day sun; and as\nthis new light from the east shone in the city, and cast the shadows\ntowards the declining sun, all the women and damsels ran out upon the\nterraces or to the windows to see.\n\nNext day he was placed for sale before the palace of the king. All the\nwealthy ladies of Heliopolis sent their husbands or relations to bid\nfor the beautiful youth, but he was purchased by Potiphar, the king\u2019s\ntreasurer,[412] who was childless, and designed making Joseph his\nadopted son and heir.\n\nZuleika,[413] Potiphar\u2019s wife, received him with great friendliness,\ngave him new clothes and a garden-house in which to live, as he would\nnot sit down to eat with the Egyptians. He was occupied in tending the\nfruit and the flowers in Potiphar\u2019s garden; and from her window Zuleika\nwatched him.\n\nThus Joseph served as gardener to Potiphar for six years.\n\nA graceful Arab legend of this period of Joseph\u2019s life deserves not to\nbe omitted.\n\nOne day an Ishmaelite passed the gate of Potiphar\u2019s garden, leading a\ncamel. As the beast approached Joseph, who was standing at the door,\nit bowed, refused to follow its master, and turning to Joseph, fell\nbefore him, and shed tears over his feet.\n\nJoseph recognized the camel as having once belonged to his father,\nand he remembered having often given it bread. He questioned the\nIshmaelite, who acknowledged he had purchased the beast from Israel.\n\nNow Joseph loved Zuleika as much as she loved him, but he did not\nventure to hope that he was precious to his mistress.\n\nOne day when a great feast of the gods was observed, all the household\nhad gone to the temple, save Zuleika, who pretended to be ill, and\nJoseph, who worshipped the One true God. Zuleika prepared a table with\nwine and fruit and sweet cakes, and invited Joseph to eat with her.\n\nHe was rejoiced, and his heart beat with passion; and when he took\nthe goblet of wine she offered him, he looked into her eyes, and saw\nthat she loved him. Then, says the Rabbi Ishmael in the Midrash, the\nform of his father Jacob appeared in the window or doorway, and thus\naddressed him: \u201cJoseph! hereafter the names of thy brothers engraven on\ngems shall adorn the breastplate of the High Priest, and shall thine\nbe absent from among them?\u201d Then Joseph dug his ten fingers into the\nground, and so conquered himself.[414]\n\nThe Mussulmans say also that Joseph was brought to his senses by seeing\nthe vision of his father in the door biting his finger reproachfully at\nhim.[415]\n\nWhen Potiphar returned home, Zuleika brought false accusations against\nJoseph, but a babe who was in its cradle, in the room,--the child was\na relation of Zuleika,--lifted up its voice in protest, and said,\n\u201cPotiphar, if you want to know the truth, examine the torn portion\nof the garment. If it is from the front of the dress, then know that\nZuleika was struggling to thrust Joseph from approaching her; if from\nthe back, know that she was pursuing him.\u201d\n\nPotiphar obeyed the voice of the sucking child, and found that his wife\nhad spoken falsely, and that Joseph was innocent.[416]\n\nNow one of the neighbors had seen all that took place, for she was\nsick, and had not attended the feast, so the whole affair was soon a\nmatter of gossip throughout the town. Then Zuleika invited all the\nladies who had blamed her to a great feast in her house; and towards\nthe close of the banquet, when the fruit and wine were brought in, an\norange and a knife were placed before each lady; and at the same moment\nJoseph was brought into the room. The ladies, in their astonishment,\ncut their fingers in mistake for the oranges, for their eyes were fixed\nupon him, and they were amazed at his beauty; and the table was deluged\nwith blood.\n\n\u201cThis,\u201d said Zuleika, \u201cis the youth on whose account you blame me. It\nis true that I loved him, but his virtue has opposed me; and now love\nis turned to hate, and I shall cast him into prison.\u201d[417]\n\nShe was as good as her word, and thus it fell out that Joseph was\nplaced in the king\u2019s prison. But God would not suffer the innocent\nto be punished. He illumined his cell with a celestial light, made a\nfountain spring up in the midst of it, and a fruit-bearing tree to grow\nbefore the door.[418]\n\nJoseph was five years in prison, and then the King of the Greeks, who\nwas warring against Egypt, sent an ambassador to Rajjan desiring peace.\nBut his true purpose was to throw him off his guard, that he might with\ntreachery destroy him. The ambassador sought the advice of an old Greek\nwoman who had long lived in Egypt. She said, \u201cI know of only one way of\naccomplishing what you desire, and that is to bribe the butler or the\nbaker of the king to poison him; but it would be better to put the drug\nin the wine than in the bread.\u201d\n\nThe ambassador then bribed the chief baker with much gold, and he\npromised to put poison in Pharaoh\u2019s meat. After that he told the old\nwoman that one of the two she had named to him had been persuaded to\ndestroy the king.\n\nThen the ambassador returned, and when he was gone, the woman disclosed\nall to Pharaoh, and she said, \u201cEither the butler or the baker has taken\na bribe to poison thee, O king.\u201d Thereupon the king cast both into\nprison, till it should be made manifest which was guilty. Now the name\nof the baker was Mohlib, and that of the butler was Kamra.\n\nAfter they had been in prison some time, they had dreams; and they told\ntheir dreams to Joseph.\n\nThe chief butler said, \u201cI saw in my dream, and, behold, a vine was\nbefore me. And in the vine were three branches: and as it sprouted it\nbrought forth buds, and immediately they ripened into clusters, and\nbecame grapes. And I saw till they gave the cup of Pharaoh into my\nhand, and I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh\u2019s cup, and I\ngave the cup into Pharaoh\u2019s hand.\u201d\n\nAnd Joseph said to him, \u201cThis is the interpretation of the dream. The\nthree branches are the three Fathers of the world, Abraham, Isaac,\nand Jacob, whose children are to be enslaved in Egypt in clay and\nbrickwork, and in all labors of the face of the field; but afterward\nshall they be delivered by the hand of three shepherds. As for the cup\nthou didst give into Pharaoh\u2019s hand, it is the vial of the wrath of\nGod, which Pharoah is to drink at the last. But thou, the chief butler,\nshalt receive a good reward: the three branches to thee are three days\nuntil thy liberation.\u201d\n\nJoseph, leaving his higher trust in God, now turned and reposed it in\nman, for he added, \u201cBe thou mindful of me when it shall be well with\nthee, and obtain my release from this prison-house.\u201d\n\nAnd the chief baker, seeing that Joseph had interpreted well, began to\nspeak with an impatient tongue, and said to Joseph, \u201cI also saw in my\ndream, and, behold, three baskets of hot loaves were upon my head; and\nin the upper basket of all, delicious meat for Pharaoh, made by the\nconfectioner; and the birds ate them from the basket upon my head.\u201d\n\nJoseph answered, \u201cThis is its interpretation. The three baskets are the\nthree enslavements with which the house of Israel are to be enslaved.\nBut thou, the chief baker, shalt receive an evil award. At the end of\nthree days, Pharoah shall take away thy head from thy body, and will\nhang thee upon a gibbet, and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off\nthee.\u201d\n\nAnd it fell out as Joseph had foretold. But because Joseph had\nwithdrawn from putting his trust in God, and had laid it on man,\ntherefore he was forgotten by the butler and left in prison for two\nyears more.[419]\n\nJoseph had now been seven years in prison, and this is why he had been\nso long there. Potiphar\u2019s wife persuaded her friends to bring against\nJoseph the same accusation that she had laid against him, and their\nhusbands complained to Pharaoh; so he was kept in prison that he might\nnot cause strife and evil in the city.[420]\n\nWhen the seven years were elapsed, one day the butler came to the\nprison and bade Joseph follow him, as the King had been troubled\nwith a dream, and desired to have it explained. But Joseph refused\nto leave till his innocence was proclaimed. He named to the butler\nthe ladies who had attended the banquet of Zuleika, and before whom\nshe had confessed that she loved him, and besought that they might\nbe called as witnesses before the king. Pharoah agreed; the ladies,\nwhen interrogated, related all that had been said, and Zuleika herself\nconfessed the truth.\n\nThen Pharaoh sent and fetched Joseph out of prison, and gave him his\nliberty.\n\n\u201cI dreamed,\u201d said the king, when Joseph stood before his throne, \u201cthat\nseven lean cows ate seven fat cows, and that seven empty husks ate\nseven full ears of corn. What is the interpretation of this dream?\u201d\n\n\u201cGod will give thee seven fruitful years, and then seven years of\nfamine,\u201d answered Joseph. \u201cTherefore must thou gather together all the\nsuperfluity in the first seven years to sustain the starving people in\nthe seven years of dearth.\u201d[421]\n\nThe king was so well pleased with this interpretation, that he made\nJoseph his chief treasurer in Potiphar\u2019s room. Joseph went through all\nthe land, and purchased corn, which, on account of the good harvests,\nwas at a very low price.\n\nOne day as he rode out of the town to view his magazines, he observed\na beggar-woman whose whole appearance was most woe-begone, but bespoke\nher having seen better days. Joseph approached her with compassion, and\nheld out to her a handful of gold. She hesitated about taking it, and\nsaid, sobbing, \u201cGreat prophet of God! I am not worthy to receive this\nat thy hand, though it was my love for thee which was the first step\non the ladder on which thou mountedst to thy present exaltation.\u201d And\nJoseph saw that the poor beggar-woman was Zuleika, wife of Potiphar.\n\nHe asked about her husband, and learned that shortly after he had been\ndeposed from office, he had died of distress of mind and body. \u201cThou\nhast thought evil of me,\u201d she said, \u201cbut I have great excuses, thou\nwast so beautiful; and moreover I was young, and only a wife in name,\nfor I am as I left my mother\u2019s womb, a maiden, with the seal of God\nupon me.\u201d\n\nThen Joseph was filled with joy. He extended his hands to her, and he\nbrought her to the king\u2019s palace, and she was treated there with care\nas a sister, till she recovered her bloom and joy, and then Joseph\ntook her to be his wife.[422] And by her he had two sons before the\nseven years of dearth began, during which the Egyptians gave first\ntheir gold, and their apparel and all their movable goods; then their\nland, then their slaves, and last of all themselves, their wives and\nchildren, as bondsmen, that they might have food.\n\nBut not only did Egypt suffer, the adjoining lands were also afflicted\nwith scarcity. There was no corn in Canaan, and Jacob sent his ten\nsons into Egypt to buy corn, retaining Benjamin at home. He cautioned\nhis sons not to create mistrust by their numbers, nor cause the evil\neye to light on them, and advised them to enter the city of Pharaoh by\ndifferent gates, for it had ten.\n\nBut Joseph expected that his brothers would be coming to Egypt, and\ntherefore he bade the gatekeepers every day bring him the names of\nthose who had entered the city. One day one porter gave him the name\nof Reuben, son of Jacob; and so on to the tenth, Asher, son of Jacob.\nJoseph at once gave orders for every storehouse to be closed with the\nexception of one, and gave the keepers of the open magazine the names\nof his brothers, and said to them, \u201cWhen these people arrive take them\nprisoners, and bring them before me.\u201d\n\nAnd when they appeared before him, he charged them with being spies:\n\u201cFor,\u201d said he, \u201cif ye were true men, ye would have come in together;\nbut ye entered by different gates, and that shows that ye are set upon\nevil.\u201d[423]\n\nWhen, to excuse themselves, they told their family history, he bade\nthem go and bring Benjamin down to him, and, to secure their return, he\nkept Simeon in prison as hostage.\n\nWhen Joseph wanted to imprison Simeon, his brothers desired to assist\nhim by force, but Simeon refused their assistance. Joseph ordered\nseventy fighting men of Pharaoh\u2019s body-guard to cast him down and\nhandcuff him. But when they approached, Simeon gave a scream, and\nthe seventy fell back on the ground, and their teeth went down their\nthroats. \u201cHah!\u201d said Joseph to his son Manasseh, who stood near him,\n\u201cthrow a chain about his neck.\u201d\n\nManasseh dealt Simeon a blow, and chained him. \u201cThen,\u201d said Simeon,\n\u201cthis blow comes from one of the family.\u201d[424]\n\nJacob, reluctant to part with Benjamin, was however obliged to do so,\nbeing pressed with famine. Joseph received the brethren, measured out\nto them the wheat, and, by his orders, his steward secretly put the\nsilver cup of Joseph into the sack of Benjamin. Then at the gate of the\ncity they were charged with theft, and were brought back to the palace\nof Joseph.\n\n\u201cWhat is the penalty due to him who has stolen my cup?\u201d asked Joseph.\n\n\u201cLet him be thy slave,\u201d answered the brethren, feeling confident in\ntheir innocence. But when the sacks were opened, and his cup was found\nin that of Benjamin, they said to their youngest brother, \u201cWoe to thee!\nwhat hast thou done? Wast thou resolved to follow the example of thy\nlost brother, who stole his grandfather Laban\u2019s idol, and his aunt\u2019s\ngirdle?\u201d\n\nBut as they had sworn to their father to restore Benjamin to him, they\nbesought Joseph to take one of them in the place of Benjamin. But\nJoseph persisted that he would keep Benjamin.\n\nThen said Reuben to his brothers, \u201cGo back to our father, and tell\nhim all that has occurred; I, the eldest of you, who undertook on the\nsecurity of my life to bring Benjamin home, must remain here till he\nhimself calls me back, for he will see that we have stood hostages for\na thief.\u201d[425]\n\nNow Reuben had a fierce temper, and when he became furious, all the\ndown or hair on his skin bristled and penetrated his clothes like\nneedles; he pulled off his head-gear, and uttered a scream so terrible\nthat all who heard it died of terror. This frenzy of Reuben\u2019s could\nonly be abated by one of the family of Jacob placing his hand upon\nhim. Reuben went up to Joseph, and said, \u201cO great one of Egypt, I am\nin a rage; and if I scream out, all who hear me will die of fright.\nRestore to me my brother, or I shall scream, and then thou and all the\ninhabitants of Egypt will perish.\u201d\n\nJoseph knowing that Reuben spoke the truth, and seeing his hair\nbristling through his clothes like needle-points, and knowing also that\nif any one of the house of Jacob were to lay his hand on the body of\nReuben, his force would pass away,--he said to Ephraim, his son, \u201cGo\nsoftly, so that Reuben may not observe thee, and lay thine hand upon\nhis shoulder that his anger may abate.\u201d Ephraim did as he was bidden,\nand instantly the hairs of Reuben sank, and his fury passed away, and\nhe felt that the power to scream was gone from him.\n\nThen Joseph said calmly, \u201cI shall retain Benjamin, do what you will.\u201d\n\nReuben made an effort to scream, but it was unavailing. Then\nastonishment got hold of him, and he said to Joseph, \u201cI think that\nthere must be one of the family of Jacob in this house.\u201d[426]\n\nThen Joseph ordered Benjamin to be chained. And when Judah saw this he\nroared like a lion, and his voice was so piercing, that Chuschim, the\nson of Dan, who was in Canaan, heard him, and began to roar also.\n\nAnd Judah drew his sword, and roared, and pursued the Egyptian soldiers\nsent to bind Benjamin, and the fear of him fell on them all, and they\nfell, and he smote them up to the gates of the king\u2019s palace; and he\nroared again, and all the walls of Memphis rocked, and the earth shook,\nand Pharaoh was shaken off his throne and fell on his face, and the\nroar of Judah was heard four hundred miles off.\n\nJoseph feared to be killed by Judah. When Judah was angry, blood\nspirted from his right eye. Judah wore five sets of clothes upon him,\none above another; and when he was angry, his heart swelled so as\nto tear them all. Joseph, fearing him, roared at him, and his voice\nshivered a pillar of the palace into fine dust, so that Judah thought,\n\u201cThis is a great hero! he can master me.\u201d[427]\n\nThen said Judah to Joseph, \u201cLet our brother go, or we will devastate\nthis land.\u201d\n\nThen Joseph answered, \u201cGo home, and tell your father that a wild beast\nhas devoured him.\u201d\n\nThen Judah beckoned to his brother Naphtali, who was very swift of\nfoot, and said to him, \u201cRun speedily and count all the streets in\nEgypt, and come swiftly back and tell me.\u201d\n\nBut Simeon said, \u201cThere is no need; I will break a stone out of the\nmountains and throw it down on the land of Egypt, and will utterly\ndestroy it.\u201d[428]\n\nThen Joseph saw that it was not well to press them further; so he took\na bowl, and filled it, and looked into it as though he were divining\nby it, and said suddenly, \u201cYe are liars! Ye told me that your brother\nJoseph was dead, and behold he is alive, and I see him in this bowl! Ye\nsold him.\u201d\n\nThen he bade Zuleika bring the deed of sale, and he handed it to Judah.\nThereupon the brothers knew him, and fell down before him, and besought\nhim to pardon them.\n\nThen he told them how God had exalted him, and he comforted their\nhearts, and after that he asked news of his father.\n\nThey replied, \u201cHe is blind with grief at having to part with Benjamin.\u201d\n\nTherefore Joseph said, \u201cTake my shirt and go to my father, and pass my\nshirt before his face, and he will recover his sight. Then take all\nthat you have, and come down into Egypt.\u201d[429]\n\nWhen the caravan left Memphis, the sons of Jacob carried with them\nabundance of corn and the shirt of Joseph; and the wind was in their\nbacks, and blew the scent of the shirt from the gate of Memphis into\nCanaan. And Jacob snuffed the wind, and said, \u201cO women! O children! I\ncan smell Joseph.\u201d\n\nThey all thought, \u201cHe is deranged,\u201d but they said, \u201cIt is forty years\nsince Joseph died, and thou canst think of nothing else; thou art\nalways insisting that he is alive.\u201d\n\nWhen the caravan was near the dwelling of Jacob, Judah brought the\nshirt of Joseph in, and said, \u201cOn the day upon which I bore the bloody\ncoat of Joseph, I said a wolf had devoured him. Now I bring thee good\nnews.\u201d And he cast the shirt upon the face of his father, and Jacob\nrecovered his sight.[430]\n\nThe story in the Sepher Hadjaschar, or Book of Jasher, is more\npoetical. As the sons were approaching the home of their father,\nSarah, the adopted daughter of Asher, came to meet them. She was very\nbeautiful and graceful and modest, and could play sweetly on the harp.\nThey gave her the kiss of peace, and told her the tidings. Then she\nwent singing home, accompanying her words upon the harp, \u201cJoseph is\nnot dead, God has been his protector, and he lives, and is governor in\nEgypt; rejoice and be glad of heart!\u201d Then Jacob was filled with hope\nand consolation, and he said, \u201cBecause thou hast revived my spirit, my\ndaughter, death shall never seize on thee.\u201d[431]\n\nAfter that, Jacob went down into Egypt, that he might see his son\nJoseph before he died. And when they met, they fell on one another\u2019s\nneck and wept, and kissed; and Jacob said to his son, \u201cTell me, I pray\nthee, what evil thy brothers did to thee.\u201d But Joseph answered, \u201cNay,\nmy father, I will tell thee only how great good the Lord did to me.\u201d\n\nWe have heard how that Joseph married Zuleika, the wife Potiphar, but\nthis is not a universal tradition. It is said in Genesis that he had to\nwife Asenath, daughter of Potipherah, priest of On. Many suppose that\nthis Asenath was the daughter of Potiphar, the old master of Joseph,\nand that her mother was Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and the following\nstory is related of Asenath:--\n\nShe was a maid of wondrous beauty, of which she was very proud, and she\ngreatly despised all men, though she had never seen any, saving her\nfather. She dwelt in a tower next to her father\u2019s house, ten stories\nhigh, which contained every thing that the eye could desire, and also\nidols in gold and silver, which she daily worshipped. Asenath was as\ntall as Sarah, as comely as Rebekah, and as beautiful as Rachel.\n\nNow Joseph, being on his way through Egypt, sent down to the priest\nPotipherah, to command him to bring his daughter before him. Thereupon\nPotipherah was glad, and told his daughter that Joseph, the Strength of\nGod, was coming, and that she should become his wife. At this Asenath\nwas very indignant, and spoke angry words of Joseph, declaring that\nshe would be wife to no man, saving to a king\u2019s son. Now, while she\nthus spake, Joseph came, seated in the chariot of Pharaoh, which was\nall of gold, drawn by four horses white as snow, with gilt reins. And\nJoseph was dressed in a radiant tunic, with gold embroidery, and a robe\nof crimson woven with gold hung from his shoulders, and a fillet of\ngold was about his temples, and in his hand was an olive branch full of\nfruit.\n\nThen Potipherah came with his wife, and did him homage. Joseph entered\nthe hall, and the doors were shut, and Asenath beheld him, and she was\ntroubled at what she had said of him, and thought, \u201cThis is the sun\ncome from heaven; I knew not before that Joseph was divine. What father\nhath begotten so much beauty, or what mother borne so much light?\u201d\n\nThen Joseph said, \u201cWho was that woman that was here, but hath gone?\u201d\nfor Asenath had hastened to her chamber.\n\nAnd Potipherah said, \u201cMy lord, my daughter is a maiden, and very\nmodest; she hath, till this day, seen no man save myself. If it please\nthee, she shall come and salute thee.\u201d\n\nThen Joseph said, \u201cIf thy daughter be a maiden, I will treat her as a\nsister.\u201d\n\nThey brought her into his presence, and Potipherah said to her, \u201cSalute\nthy brother, who hateth women as thou hatest men.\u201d\n\nAnd Asenath said, \u201cHail, blessed of God, who giveth life to all!\u201d\n\nThen Potipherah bade his daughter kiss Joseph, but when she approached\nhim, he thrust forth his hand and said, \u201cIt becomes not the man\nworshipping the living God to kiss an outlandish woman whose lips kiss\ndumb idols.\u201d\n\nAsenath hearing these words, fell into great grief and wept. Joseph\nhad compassion on her, and laid his hand on her head and blessed her,\nand Asenath was glad because of his benediction. But she went to her\ncouch in the tower, and was ill with fear and pain, and she turned with\npenitence from her idols, and renounced them, and cast them out of her\nwindow.\n\nJoseph ate and drank, and went his way, promising to return in eight\ndays. Then Asenath put on a black robe, and closed her door and prayed,\nand cast her food to the dogs, and laid her head on the pavement, and\nwept seven days.\n\nThen an angel visited her, and gave her honey gathered from the roses\nof paradise; and the honey was so sweet, that when she had tasted\nit she could not doubt whence it had come, and she felt herself\nenlightened by the true God; and the angel signed the honey with the\ncross, and the trace of his finger was blood. Along with faith and\nhope, charity enlightened her heart, and she besought of the angel to\ngive of this honey to the seven maidens who attended on her; and when\nthey obtained this favor, they all became like their mistress, servants\nof the Most High. Then the angel bade her lay aside her tears and black\ngarment, and rejoice, for her prayer was heard.\n\nAt that moment one of the servants of Potipherah entered, saying,\n\u201cBehold, Joseph, the Strength of God, approaches; go ye out to meet\nhim?\u201d\n\nNow when Joseph had alighted down from his chariot, he came into\nthe hall; and when he knew that Asenath had cast away her idols, he\nrejoiced greatly, and he sought her in marriage of Potipherah, and the\nPriest of On made a great supper, and gave his daughter to Joseph, and\nhe called Joseph the lord of lords, and Asenath he called the daughter\nof the Most High.[432]\n\n\n\n\nXXIX.\n\nTHE TESTAMENTS OF THE TWELVE PATRIARCHS.\n\n\nThe \u201cTestaments of the Twelve Patriarchs\u201d is one of the seventy-two\napocryphal books of the Old Testament which were at one time in\ncirculation, and, according to Epiphanius, it formed one of the\ntwenty-two canonical books sent by the Jews to Ptolemy, king of\nEgypt.[433]\n\nIt was a work of Jewish origin, which has been tampered with and\ninterpolated by Christian copyists. S. Augustine numbers it with\nthe Apocrypha; he says, \u201cThere are the apocryphal books of the Old\nTestament: the works falsely attributed to Enoch, the Patriarchs, the\nDiscourse of Joseph, the Assumption of Moses, the pseudographia of\nAbraham, Eldad and Medad, Elias the prophet, the prophet Zephaniah,\nZechariah, Baruch, Habakkuk, Ezekiel, and Daniel.\u201d\n\nCuriously enough, the Testament of the Patriarchs contains a large\nnumber of alleged quotations from the book of Enoch, which are not,\nhowever, to be found in that book as we now have it.\n\nThis Testament was read by the Jews at the time of Christ\u2019s coming,\nand S. Paul seems to have been acquainted with it, for he quotes it,\n\u201c_Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead_;\u201d[434] and again\nhe quotes the Testament of Levi, \u201c_The wrath is come upon them to\nthe uttermost_.\u201d[435] S. Jerome remarks on this, \u201cThe Apostle Paul\nquoted from the hidden prophets and from those books which are called\nApocrypha,\u201d and he adds, \u201cThat he did so in several other places is\nvery evident.\u201d[436] And Origen says, \u201cIt is evident that many examples\nwere quoted and inserted in the New Testament by the Apostles and the\nEvangelists from those Scriptures which we do not read as canonical,\nbut these passages are found in the apocryphal books, and it is evident\nthat these passages were extracted from them;\u201d and he gives the reason\nwhy that was lawful to the Apostles which is not lawful to us.\n\nHe says, \u201cIt may have been, that the Apostles and Evangelists, filled\nwith the Holy Ghost, may have known what was to be taken from these\nwritings and what was to be rejected; but for us to presume to do such\na thing would be full of danger, not having the Spirit in the same\nmeasure to guide us.\u201d[437]\n\nRobert Grost\u00eate, Bishop of Lincoln, translated the Testament of the\ntwelve Patriarchs into Latin, in 1242, according to Matthew Paris.\n\u201cAlso in this time, Robert, Bishop of Lincoln, a man most skilled in\nLatin and Greek, translated accurately the Testaments of the Twelve\nPatriarchs from the Greek into Latin; which for many years had been\nunknown and concealed, through the jealousy of the Jews, because of the\nprophecies concerning our Saviour therein contained. But the Greeks,\nthe most indefatigable investigators of all writings, being the first\nwho learnt about this, translated it from Hebrew into Greek, and kept\nit to themselves until our own time. For in the time of S. Jerome, or\nof any other holy interpreter, it could not in any way whatever come\nto the knowledge of the Christians, on account of the scheming malice\nof the Jews. Therefore the above-named Bishop, assisted by Master\nNicholas, a Greek, and clerk to the Abbey of S. Albans, translated\nclearly, evidently, and word for word, into Latin, that glorious\ntreatise, to the strengthening of the Christian faith, and to the\ngreater confusion of the Jews.\u201d[438]\n\nThe Testaments were published by Grabe, at Oxford, in 1698, and\nwere republished by Fabricius in his \u201cCodex Pseudepigraphus Vet.\nTestamenti,\u201d at Hamburg, in 1722.[439]\n\n\n\n\nXXX.\n\nJOB.\n\n\nJob was the great grandson of Esau. He was the son of Amos the son of\nZara, the son of Esau, and he had to wife Rahma, daughter of Ephraim,\nson of Joseph. Ephraim left two sons, who were prophets after him; but\namongst the children of Esau there was no prophet, saving Job.\n\nJob was more patient than any other prophet; therefore it is said of\nhim in the Koran, \u201cCertainly we have found this excellent servant\npatient.\u201d[440]\n\nThe Rabbis say that Job, Jethro, and Balaam were King Pharaoh\u2019s three\ncouncillors, and they were also his chief magicians. They, by their\nenchantments, drew a line round the land of Egypt, so that no slave\ncould escape out of it; for when he came to the line, he was held back\nand could not overleap it. But when the Israelites broke away and\ndisregarded the enchanted line, Job, Jethro, and Balaam gave up their\nwitchcrafts, and turned to the service of the living God.[441]\n\nJob lived in Bashan, which lies between Damascus and Ramla, and there\nhe reigned as a prince. Job had five hundred yoke of oxen, and to every\nyoke there was a she-ass to carry the instruments of husbandry. He had\nalso a thousand flocks of sheep, and a thousand sheep in each flock.\nHe had ten children, seven sons and three daughters; all were grown\nup.[442]\n\nIn the \u201cTestament of Job,\u201d[443] we read that this great man, illumined\nby the Divine light, comprehended that the idols which his people\nadored were no gods, and that there was but one only true God, the\nCreator and Preserver of all things. There was near his house an idol\nwhich attracted great worship. He prayed the Lord to show him whether\nthis idol were a demon or not; and he promised, in that case, to\ndestroy it and purify the place; and this he was able to do, being a\nsovereign.\n\nGod sent him an angel, who illumined him, and strengthened him in his\nresolution. So he destroyed the idol, and abolished its worship. But\nthis act drew upon him the wrath of Satan. The angel had foreseen the\ndisasters which would befall Job if he resolved to strive against the\nEvil One, and he had warned Job what to expect; but Job answered that,\nbeing convinced of the truth, he was ready to suffer for it.\n\nSatan presented himself at the door of Job\u2019s house. He had taken upon\nhim the form of a pilgrim, and he said to the portress, \u201cI desire to\nsee the faithful servant of the Most High.\u201d\n\nNow Job, who had received the gift of prophecy, knew that this was the\nEvil One, and he refused to see him, saying to the gate-keeper when she\nbrought the message, \u201cTell him that I am occupied, and that I cannot\nreceive him.\u201d\n\nSatan retired, but he returned soon after, disguised as a beggar, and\nhe said to the portress, \u201cGo and ask Job to give me a morsel of bread.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell him,\u201d replied Job, \u201cthat I will not give him of the bread I eat,\nbecause I will not have any thing in common with him. But offer him\nthis burnt crust, that he may not say I sent him empty away.\u201d\n\nThe servant, not venturing to give the burnt crust, because she was\nnot aware who the beggar was, offered him some good bread. But Satan,\nwho knew what Job had commanded, thrust it away, saying, \u201cBegone, bad\nservant, and bring me the bread you were told to give me.\u201d\n\nThe portress replied: \u201cYou say well, I am a bad servant, for I have\nnot done that which I was commanded to do. Here is the crust my master\nordered me to give you. He will not have any thing in common with you;\nno! not even the bread he eats; but he sends you this, that it may not\nbe said of him that he dismissed thee empty from his door without an\nalms.\u201d\n\nSatan took the charred crust, and bade the servant tell Job that he\nwould soon render to him such measure as he had dealt to him.[444]\n\nThen Satan ascended to God, and desired permission to afflict and prove\nJob. And when leave was given him, he descended to earth, and breathed\nsuch a hot blast, that all the cattle, and sheep, and servants of Job\nwere burnt up. Then Satan took the form of a slave, and ran and told\nthe prophet. Job answered, \u201c_The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken\naway; blessed be the name of the Lord!_\u201d\n\nThen Satan went and shook the earth under the house where the sons and\ndaughters of Job were assembled, and the house fell and destroyed them\nall.\n\nSatan immediately hastened in the disguise of a servant to Job, and\ntold him what had taken place. He said, \u201cO Job! God has shaken down\nthe house about your children, and they are dead. Had you seen their\nbleeding faces and broken limbs, and their brains bespattering the\nstones, and had heard their piercing cries, you would have been\nheart-broken.\u201d\n\nJob wept, and lifted his eyes to God; and he knew who addressed him,\nand he said, \u201cSatan! it is thou who comest to tempt me and to cast\ndoubt into my heart, and mistrust in the wisdom and goodness of God;\nget thee hence.\u201d\n\nSatan then blew a hot breath up the nose of Job, and poisoned all his\nblood. His body became scarlet next day, and the day after was covered\nwith ulcers from head to foot; there was no whole place in him, except\nthe head, the tongue, the eyes, and the heart; for over these portions\nGod had not given Satan power.\n\nAll Job\u2019s friends deserted him and fled; Rahma,[445] his wife, alone\nremained, and she spent on him the rest of his possessions, but he\nwas not cured of his disease. And this was why all his possessions\nwent--Satan stole them away; and thus in a short time he was reduced to\npenury, and Rahma went from house to house begging alms for his support.\n\nSatan saw that he could not triumph so long as the wife remained with\nher husband; she was a comfort and joy to him, and he cared not for\npossessions, or children, or health, so long as his wife was at his\nside; therefore, he sought occasion to separate them. One day, as Rahma\nwas carrying food to Job, Satan presented himself before her in the\nform of an old man, and asked her, \u201cO Rahma! art thou not the daughter\nof Ephraim, the son of Joseph?\u201d She replied, \u201cI am.\u201d\n\nThen said the Evil Angel, \u201cIn what condition do I see thee?\u201d She\nanswered, \u201cMy husband Job has fallen into poverty, and I serve him.\u201d\n\nHe said, \u201cDo not serve him, for when thou touchest him, the poison of\nhis disease passes into thy veins.\u201d\n\nShe replied, \u201cHe is my husband, and I must attend on him as long as I\nlive, in health or sickness.\u201d\n\nThen Satan retired, despairing of seducing her from her duty. Rahma\ntold Job all that had been said to her.\n\nThe prophet said, \u201cO woman! he whom you have seen is Satan, and he\ndesired to separate us. Do not speak to him again when he addresses\nyou.\u201d\n\nSome time after, the Evil One presented himself before the faithful\nwife under the form of a beautiful youth; and said to her, \u201cWhat woman\nart thou, who art so radiant in beauty?\u201d She answered, \u201cI am the wife\nof a poor man, named Job.\u201d\n\nHe said, \u201cO woman! what hast thou, with thy wondrous beauty, to do with\na poor sick husband? Go, be divorced from thy husband, and marry me. I\nhave great possessions, and I will treat thee as a queen.\u201d\n\nShe answered, \u201cI am the wife of a prophet; I desire nothing higher.\u201d\n\nThen Satan withdrew, despairing of seducing her from her duty. Rahma\ntold Job all that had been said to her.\n\nJob said, \u201cO woman! did I not tell thee to speak with him no more; why\nhast thou disobeyed my voice? That was Satan, and he sought to separate\nus. Do not speak to him again when he addresses thee.\u201d\n\nSome time after, the Evil One presented himself before the faithful\nwife, under the form of an angel; and said to her, \u201cO woman, daughter\nof a prophet! I am an angel sent from God with a message to thee.\u201d\n\nShe said, \u201cWhat message?\u201d\n\nHe said, \u201cBehold the Most High is wroth with Job, for he renders no\nthanks for all the good things He gave to him; therefore hath the Lord\nrejected him from being a prophet, and he shall fall from worse to\nworse, till he is cast into the flames of hell; we, the angels of God,\ncurse him, and do thou, daughter of a prophet, avoid him, lest thou\ncome into the same condemnation.\u201d\n\nWhen Rahma heard these words, she wept, and said, \u201cAfter so many\nafflictions, shall the name of Job be taken from the number of the\nprophets? And after so many sufferings shall he perish everlastingly?\u201d\n\nThen she went to Job and told him all that had been said to her.\n\nJob was greatly angered when she told him the tenor of the words, and\nhe cried out, \u201cHave I not warned thee these two times not to speak with\nhim, who is the author of my affliction? Wait till I am well, and I\nwill give thee a hundred strokes with a rod.\u201d[446]\n\nBut the story is told differently by others. It is said that the\nthird time Satan appeared as a baker, and Rahma wanted bread, but had\nnought to pay. Then said the pretended baker, \u201cThou hast locks of very\nbeautiful hair; cut off thy hair and give it me, and thou shalt take\nthe largest of my loaves.\u201d\n\nThen she cut off three locks and gave them to him.\n\nAnd when Job saw that she had done this, he was filled with fury, and\nhe swore that when he was well he would beat her for having cut off her\nhair.[447]\n\nThus Satan triumphed in making Job to sin by swearing, and threatening\nto ill-treat a true and good woman.\n\nNext the Evil One went as an angel, and announced to all the people of\nthe land that he came from God to declare to them that Job was no more\nreckoned among the prophets; and that they were not to trust his words\nand believe his doctrine, but were to return to the worship of those\ngods he had blasphemed and cast out.\n\nSoon after, Job heard his three friends, Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar,\nconverse together, and repeat what had been told them by Satan; and\nthe thought that he was supposed to be rejected by God from among His\nprophets, was so distressing to him, that he cried out, \u201cTruly, O God!\nevil has befallen me; but Thou art the most merciful of those who show\nmercy.\u201d[448] That is, the words of men are cruel, but Thou, O God, wilt\ndeliver me out of all my evils.\n\nJob was sick for seven years, and all that while his wife ministered to\nhim.\n\nBut the medi\u00e6val commentators draw a very different picture of this\nwife, relying on the words of Scripture which make her tempt Job to\n\u201c_curse God and die_.\u201d They say that her tongue was one of the plagues\nof Job. That he bore patiently the loss of his cattle, of his children,\nand of his health, was indeed wonderful; but that he also endured the\nnagging of his wife with equanimity,--that was the most wonderful of\nall.\n\nThen God looked on Job and had compassion upon him, and he said to\nhim, \u201cStrike the earth with thy foot.\u201d[449] Job stamped, and from the\ndung-heap on which he had been seated a clear stream of water issued,\nthe sweetest that there is, and the water continued to flow. Then God\nsaid to Job, \u201cWash in this water.\u201d\n\nRahma, the wife of Job, poured the water upon his head and over his\nbody, and he washed himself. All the sores that were on his flesh\ndisappeared, and he was healed; there was not a scar left, and he\nappeared more beautiful than before he was afflicted.\n\nThen God said to Job, \u201cDrink of the water.\u201d\n\nThen all the worms that were in the inside of Job died, and he was\nquite whole. Now this took place in Bashan, and the fountain remains\nto this day, and is called Qarya-A\u00efyub, and the city near which it is,\nA\u00efrs-A\u00efyub. \u201cI have seen the city of the fountain,\u201d says the Persian\ntranslator of Tabari: \u201cevery person who goes there, affected by\ninternal or external maladies, and washes and drinks of that water, is\nhealed of his disease.\u201d[450]\n\nThen God said to Job, \u201cFulfil thy vow, and take in thine hand a bundle\nof rods.\u201d[451] But the rods God told him to take were light sticks;\nand he took a hundred of these, and bound them together and smote\nRahma with them, and he did not hurt her. By this action of Job, the\nMussulman doctors support their advice to those who have taken rash\noaths to clear themselves by a subterfuge. Thus, if a man has sworn\nhe will not enter his house again, he is recommended to allow himself\nto be bound hand and foot and be carried into his home. Or, if he has\nsworn to recite the whole Koran, it will be sufficient for him to say\nthe word \u201cKoran,\u201d and listen to the imaum reading before the assembly.\n\nThen God restored to Job double all that he had lost; and Job lived,\nafter he was recovered of his disease, twenty years, and he died at the\nage of ninety-three.\n\nThe worms which had devoured the body of the prophet, God turned into\nsilk-worms; and the flies which had bitten him and tormented his sores,\nconverted He into honey-bees; and before this there were neither\nsilk-worms nor honey-bees on the earth. Also the rain and the snow\nwhich fell within his possessions, were grains of gold and pearl.\n\nIsidore of Seville places the fountain which cured Job in Idum\u00e6a. He\nsays, it is clear during three months of the year, troubled during the\nnext three, then for three months it is green, and for the last three,\nit is red.\n\nIn the \u201cTestament of Job,\u201d we read some details concerning his death,\nwritten by his brother Nahor.\n\nAfter three days of sickness, Job, lying on his bed, saw the angels\ncome to receive his soul. After having divided his substance between\nhis seven sons (for, after his troubles, he became the father of seven\nsons and three daughters), he gave his daughters three mantles of\ninestimable price, which he had received from heaven. To the eldest,\nHemera (Jemima), he gave his harp; to the second, Cassia (Keziah),\nhe handed his censer; to the third, Keren-happuch, he remitted his\ntamborine: and as he sang his last hymn to the Most High on his\ndeath-bed, Hemera and Keren-happuch accompanied him with harp and\ntimbrel, and Cassia cast up fumes of sweet incense. Thus they greeted\nthe messengers of heaven who came for the soul of Job.\n\n\n\n\nXXXI.\n\nJETHRO.\n\n\nAs has already been related, Jethro formed one of the council of\nPharaoh till he found that his incantations had no effect on the\nIsraelites. He escaped from Egypt before Job; for he had found in the\npalace of the king the staff of Joseph which had been cut from the Tree\nof Life, and therewith he hied him into the land of Midian, along with\nhis daughter Zipporah.\n\nAccording to Mussulman tradition, Jethro, whom the Arabs call Schohair\nor Schohaib, was a great prophet; and he was sent by God to the\nMidianites to call them to repentance and the rejection of polytheism.\nJethro was old and nearly blind. He preached to the people and exhorted\nthem with many words and for a long season, but all his words were in\nvain; the Midianites would not be converted, and at length they openly\naccused him of being a false prophet, and denied that God had sent him.\n\nTherefore God gave over this nation to destruction. He sent a fiery\nbreath upon the land, and the people could not bear the great heat,\nand retired into the fields, where there was shadow; for God sent a\ncloud to hide the face of the sun, and it cast a blot of shade upon the\nfields. But there were old men and women and little children, and the\nsick who could not leave the city and take refuge in the shade.\n\nSlowly the cloud came down from heaven, like the lid of a saucepan, and\ncovered all the Midianites that were in the field, and the cloud was of\nfire, and they fried \u201cas fish fry in an oven.\u201d Then the angel Gabriel\ngave a great shout, and all that were in the city, saving Jethro and\nhis family, died of fright when they heard his cry.\n\nThen Jethro lived in the land of Midian till Moses came to him out of\nEgypt.[452]\n\n\n\n\nXXXII.\n\nMOSES.[453]\n\n\n1. ISRAEL IN EGYPT.\n\nAfter the death of Jacob, his descendants were drawn into servitude by\nsoft and hypocritical speeches. Fifty-four years had passed since the\ndeath of Joseph.\n\nJoseph had had the good fortune to acquire the favor of Mechron, the\nson and successor of that Pharoah who had raised him from the dungeon\nto be second in the kingdom. Almost all the inhabitants of Egypt had\nloved Joseph; only a few voices were raised in murmurs at a foreigner\nexercising such extensive powers.\n\nThe successors of the patriarchs mingled among the people of the\nland and learned their ways; and many of them abandoned the rite of\ncircumcision, and spoke the language of Mizraem.\n\nThen God withdrew His protection for a while; and the former love of\nthe Egyptians towards the Hebrews was turned into implacable hatred. By\ndegrees the privileges of the children of Israel were encroached upon,\nand they were oppressed with heavy taxes, from which hitherto they had\nbeen held exempt.\n\nAfterwards the king exacted from them their labor without pay; he built\na great castle and required the Hebrews to erect it for him at their\nown cost.\n\nTwenty-two years after the death of Joseph, Levi died, who had outlived\nall his other brothers.\n\nFields, vineyards, and houses, which Joseph had given to his brethren,\nwere now reclaimed by the natives of Egypt, and the children of Israel\nwere enslaved.\n\nThe Egyptians, effeminate, and hating work, fond of pleasure and\ndisplay, had envied the prosperity of the Hebrews, who had thriven in\nGoshen, and whose wives bore sometimes six and sometimes twelve infants\nat a birth.\n\nThey also feared lest this people, increasing upon them, should become\nmore numerous than they, and should seize upon the power, and enslave\nthe native population.\n\nNine years after the death of Joseph, King Mechron died, and was\nsucceeded by his son Melol.\n\nBut before pursuing the history of the oppression of the Hebrews, we\nmust relate some events that had occurred before this time.\n\nWhen the body of Jacob, according to the last will, had been taken to\nthe cave of Machpelah, Esau and his sons and a large body of followers\nhastened to oppose the burial of Jacob. After the death of Isaac, Esau\nand Jacob had come to an agreement, by which all the movable property\nof the father was made over to Esau, and all that was immovable,\nespecially the burial cave, was apportioned to Jacob. But now Esau\ndesired to set aside this agreement, and, as first-born, to claim\nthe tomb as his, trusting that the sons of Jacob could not prove the\nagreement.\n\nBut no sooner had he raised this objection, than Naphtali, who was\nswift of foot, ran into Egypt, and returned in a few hours with the\nwriting of agreement.\n\nEsau, seeing himself baffled, had recourse to arms; and a fight took\nplace, in which Esau was killed, and his followers were put to flight\nor taken as captives to Egypt, where they became the slaves of the\nIsraelites. Amongst those captives was Zepho, son of Eliphaz, son of\nEsau.\n\nEven in Joseph\u2019s lifetime, the Edomites made incursions into Egypt to\nrecover their captive relatives, but their attempts led to no other\nresult than the tightening of the chains which bound the captives.\nLater, however, Zepho succeeded in effecting his escape, and he took\nrefuge with Angias, king of Dinhaba (Ethiopia), who made him chief\ncaptain of his host.\n\nZepho persuaded the king to make war upon Egypt. Among the servants of\nAngias was a youth of fifteen, named Balaam, son of Beor, very skilful\nin the arts of witchcraft. The king bade the youthful necromancer\ndivine who would succeed in the proposed war. Balaam formed chariots\nand horses and fighting men of wax, plunged them in water, which he\nstirred with palm twigs; and it was seen by all who stood by, that the\nmen and horses representing the Egyptians and Hebrews floated, whereas\nthose representing the Ethiopians sank.\n\nAngias, deterred by this augury, refused to have any thing to do with\na war against Egypt. Then Zepho left him, and betook himself to the\nland of the Hittites, and he succeeded in combining that nation, the\nEdomites, and the Ishmaelites together in making an invasion of Egypt.\n\nTo repel them, the Hebrews were summoned from the land of Goshen, but\nthe Egyptians would not receive their allies into the camp, fearing\nlest they should unite with their kindred nations, and deliver them up\nto destruction.\n\nZepho now asked Balaam, who had followed him, to divine the end of\nthe battle, but the attempt failed; and the future remained closed\nto him. But Zepho, full of confidence, led the combined army against\nthe Egyptians, repulsed them at every point, and drove them back upon\nthe camp of the Hebrews. Then the Israelites charged the advancing\nforces flushed with victory, who, little expecting such a determined\nonslaught, were thrown into confusion, and routed with great loss.\nThe Hebrews pursued them to the confines of Ethiopia, cutting them\ndown all along the way, and then they desisted and returned: and on\nnumbering their band--they were but a handful--they found that they had\nnot lost one man. They now looked out for their allies, the Egyptians,\nand found that they had deserted and fled; therefore, full of wrath,\nthey returned to Goshen in triumph, and slew the deserters, with many\nwords of contempt and ridicule.[454]\n\nThus the Hebrews were puffed up with pride, regarding themselves\nas invincible; and the Egyptians were filled with dread, lest this\nsmall people should resolve on seizing upon the supremacy, and should\nsubjugate them.\n\nTherefore the reigning Pharaoh and his council assembled to consult\nwhat should be done; and this was decided:--\u201cThe cities Pithom and\nRameses (Tanis and Heliopolis) are not strong enough to withstand a\nfoe, therefore they must be strengthened.\u201d And a royal decree went\nforth over all the land of Egypt and Goshen, commanding all the\ninhabitants, both Egyptians and Hebrews, to build. Pharaoh himself set\nthe example by taking trowel and basket in hand, and putting a brick\nmould on his neck. Whoever saw this hastened to do likewise, and all\nwho were reluctant were stimulated by the overseers with these words,\n\u201cSee how the king works. Will you not imitate his activity?\u201d\n\nThus the Israelites went to the work, and laid the mould upon their\nnecks, little suspecting the guile that was in the hearts of the king\nand his councillors.\n\nAt the close of the first day, the Hebrews had made a large number of\nbricks; and this number was now imposed upon them as the amount of\ntheir daily task.\n\nThus passed a month, and by degrees the Egyptian workmen were\nwithdrawn, yet the Hebrews were paid the regular wage.\n\nWhen a year and four months had elapsed, not an Egyptian was to be seen\nmaking bricks and building; and the wage was stopped for the future,\nbut the Hebrews were kept to their work.\n\nThe harshest and most cruel men were appointed to be their overseers,\nand if one of the Israelites asked for his wage, or fainted under his\nburden, he was beaten or put in the stocks.\n\nWhen Pithom and Rameses were walled, the Israelites were employed to\nstrengthen with forts all the other cities of Egypt, then to build\nstorehouses and pyramids, to dig canals for the Nile, and to rear dykes\nagainst the overflow. They were also employed to dig and plough the\nfields, to garden and prune the fruit-trees, and to exercise trades.\nThey were engaged from early dawn till late at night, and because the\nway from their homes was often far, they were forced to sleep in the\nopen air, upon the bare ground.[455]\n\nAs the life of the Israelites became embittered to them, they called\nthe king Meror, \u201cthe embitterer,\u201d instead of Melol, \u201cthe grinder,\u201d\nthough that was appropriate enough, one would have supposed.[456]\n\nBut matters grew worse; the Edomites and Hittites again threatened\nEgypt, and Pharaoh ordered a closer guard to be kept, and heavier tasks\nto be laid upon the Hebrews.\n\nNotwithstanding all attempts to crush the spirit of this unfortunate\npeople and to diminish their numbers, they were sustained by hope in\nGod, for a voice was heard from heaven, \u201cThis people shall increase\nabundantly, and multiply.\u201d\n\nWhilst the men of Israel slept exhausted after their unspeakable\noppression of mind and body, the faithful women labored to relieve and\nstrengthen them. They hastened to the springs to bring pure water to\ntheir husbands to drink, and, by the mercy of the All Merciful, it fell\nout that their pitchers were found, each time, to contain half water\nand half fish.\n\nThese gentle and diligent women dressed the fish, and prepared other\ngood meats for their husbands, and they sought them at their work with\nthe food, and with their cheerful words of encouragement. This loving\nattention of the women soothed the hearts of the men, and gave them\nfresh energy.\n\nWhen 125 years had elapsed since Jacob came into Egypt, the\nfifty-fourth year after Joseph\u2019s death, the elders and councillors of\nEgypt presented themselves before Pharaoh, and complained to him that\nthe people increased and multiplied and became very great in the land,\nso that they covered it like the bushes in the wood; and two of the\nking\u2019s councillors, of whom one was Job of Uz, said to Pharaoh, \u201cIt\nwas well that heavy tasks were laid upon the Hebrews, but that doth\nnot suffice; it is needful that they should be diminished in number as\nwell as enslaved. Therefore give orders to the nurses to kill every\nmale child that is born to the Hebrews, but to save the women children\nalive.\u201d\n\nThis council pleased the king well; and what Job had advised was put in\noperation.\n\nPharaoh summoned the two Hebrew midwives before him; they were\nmother and daughter; some say their names were Jochebed and Miriam,\nbut others Jochebed and Elizabeth. Now, Miriam was only five years\nold, nevertheless she was of the greatest assistance to her mother\nin nursing women. Both showed the utmost kindness to the new-born\nchildren, washed and brushed them up, said pretty things to them, and\nstrengthened the mothers with cordials and tonic draughts. To their\ncare the Israelites were indebted for the graceful and vigorous forms\nof their children; and the two women were such favorites with the\npeople, that they called the one Shiphrah (the soother or beautifier)\nand the other Puah (the helper).\n\nWhen they appeared before the king, and heard what he designed,\nMiriam\u2019s young face flushed scarlet, and she said, in anger, \u201cWoe to\nthe man! God will punish him for his evil deed.\u201d\n\nThe executioner would have hurried her out, and killed her for her\naudacity, but the mother implored pardon, saying, \u201cO king! forgive her\nspeech; she is only a little foolish child.\u201d\n\nPharaoh consented, and assuming a gentler tone, explained that the\nfemale children were to be saved alive, and that the male children\nwere to be quietly put to death, without the knowledge of the mothers.\nAnd he threatened them, if they did not obey his wishes, that he would\ncast them into a furnace of fire. Then he dismissed them. But the two\nmidwives would not fulfil his desire.\n\nAnd when Pharaoh found that the men-children were saved alive, he shut\nup the two midwives, that the Hebrew women might be without their\nsuccor. But this availed not. And God rewarded the midwives; for of the\nelder Moses was born.\n\nFive years passed, and Pharaoh dreamed that, as he sat upon his throne,\nan old man stood before him holding a balance. And the old man put the\nprinces, and nobles, and elders of Egypt, and all its inhabitants into\none scale, and he put into the other a sucking child, and the babe\noutweighed all that was in the first scale.[457]\n\nWhen Pharaoh awoke, he rehearsed his dream in the ears of his wise\nmen and magicians and soothsayers, and asked them the interpretation\nthereof.\n\nThen answered Balaam, who, with his sons Jannes and Jambres, was at\nthe court, and said, \u201cO king, live forever! The dream thou didst see\nhas this signification. A child shall be born among the Hebrews who\nshall bring them with a strong hand out of Egypt, and before whom all\nthy nations shall be as naught. A great danger threatens thee and all\nEgypt.\u201d\n\nThen said Pharaoh in dismay, \u201cWhat shall we do? All that we have\ndevised against this people has failed.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet the king suffer me to give my advice,\u201d said Jethro, one of his\ncouncillors. And when Pharaoh consented, he said, \u201cMay the king\u2019s days\nbe multiplied! This is my advice; the people that thou oppressest is a\ngreat people, and God is their shield. All who resist them are brought\nto destruction; all who favor them prosper. Therefore, O king, do thou\nwithdraw thy hand, which is heavy upon them; lighten their tasks, and\nextend to them thy favor.\u201d\n\nBut this advice pleased not Pharaoh nor his councillors; and his anger\nwas kindled against Jethro, and he drove him from his court and from\nthe country. Then Jethro went with his wife and daughter, and dwelt in\nthe land of Midian.\n\nThen said the king, \u201cJob of Uz, give thy opinion.\u201d\n\nBut Job opened not his lips.\n\nThen rose Balaam, son of Beor, and he said, \u201cO my king, all thy\nattempts to hurt Israel have failed, and the people increase upon you.\nThink not to try fire against them, for that was tried against Abraham\ntheir father, and he was saved unhurt from the midst of the flames. Try\nnot sword against them, for the knife was raised against Isaac their\nfather, and he was delivered by the angel of God. Nor will hard labor\ninjure them as thou hast proved. Yet there remains water, that hath not\nyet been enlisted against them; prove them with water. Therefore my\nadvice is--cast all their new-born sons into the river.\u201d[458]\n\nThe king hesitated not; he appointed Egyptian women to be nurses to the\nHebrews, and instructed them to drown all the male children that were\nborn; and he threatened with death those who withstood his decree. And\nthat he might know what women were expecting to be delivered, he sent\nlittle Egyptian children to the baths, to observe the Hebrew women, and\nreport on their appearance.\n\nBut God looked upon the mothers, and they were delivered in sleep\nunder the shadow of fruit-trees, and angels attended on them, washed\nand dressed the babes, and smeared their little hands with butter\nand honey, that they might lick them, and, delighting in the flavor,\nabstain from crying, and thus escape discovery. Then the mothers on\nwaking exclaimed:--\u201cO most Merciful One, into Thy hands we commit our\nchildren!\u201d But the emissaries of Pharaoh followed the traces of the\nwomen, and would have slain the infants, had not the earth gaped, and\nreceived the little babes into a hollow place within, where they were\nfed by angel hands with butter and honey.\n\nThe Egyptians brought up oxen and ploughed over the spot, in hopes of\ndestroying thereby the vanished infants; but, when their backs were\nturned, the children sprouted from the soil, like little flowers, and\nwalked home unperceived. Some say that 10,000 children were cast into\nthe Nile. They were not deserted by the Most High. The river rejected\nthem upon its banks, and the rocks melted into butter and honey around\nthem and thus fed them,[459] and oil distilled to anoint them.\n\nThis persecution had continued for three years and four months, when,\non the seventh day of the twelfth month, Adar, the astrologers and\nseers stood before the king and said, \u201cThis day a child is born who\nwill free the people of Israel! This, and one thing more, have we\nlearnt from the stars, _Water_ will be the cause of his death;[460] but\nwhether he be an Egyptian or an Hebrew child, that we know not.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said Pharaoh; \u201cthen in future all male children, Egyptians\nas well as Hebrews, shall be cast indiscriminately into the river.\u201d\n\nAnd so was it done.[461]\n\n\n2. THE BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF MOSES.\n\nKohath, son of Levi, had a son named Amram, whose life was so saintly,\nthat death could not have touched him, had not the decree gone forth,\nthat every child of Adam was to die.\n\nHe married Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, his aunt, and by her he had\na daughter Miriam; and after four years she bore him a son, and he\ncalled his name Aaron.\n\nNow when it was noised abroad that Pharaoh would slay all the sons\nof the Hebrews that were born to them, Amram thrust away his wife,\nand many others did the same, not that they hated their wives, but\nthat they would spare them the grief of seeing their children put to\ndeath.[462] After three years, the spirit of prophecy came on Miriam,\nas she sat in the house, and she cried, \u201cMy parents shall have another\nson, who shall deliver Israel out of the hands of the Egyptians!\u201d Then\nshe said to her father, \u201cWhat hast thou done? Thou hast sent thy wife\naway, out of thine house, because thou couldest not trust the Lord God,\nthat He would protect the child that might be born to thee.\u201d\n\nAmram, reproved by these words, sought his banished wife; the angel\nGabriel guided him on his way, and a voice from heaven encouraged\nhim to proceed. And when he found Jochebed, he led her to her home\nagain.[463]\n\nOne hundred and thirty years old was Jochebed, but she was as fresh and\nbeauteous as on the day she left her father\u2019s house.[464] She was with\nchild, and Amram feared lest it should be a boy and be slain by Pharaoh.\n\nThen appeared the Eternal One to him in a dream, and bade him be of\ngood cheer, for He would protect the child, and make him great, so that\nall nations should hold him in honor.\n\nWhen Amram awoke, he told his dream to Jochebed, and they were filled\nwith fear and great amazement.\n\nAfter six months she bore a son, without pain. The child entered this\nworld in the third hour of the morning, of the seventh day of the month\nAdar, in the year 2368 after the Creation, and the 130th year of the\nsojourn of the Israelites in Egypt. And when he was born, the house was\nfilled with light, as of the brightest sunshine.\n\nThe tender mother\u2019s anxiety for her son was increased when she noted\nhis beauty,--he was like an angel of God,--and his great height and\nnoble appearance. The parents called him Tobias (God is good) to\nexpress their thankfulness, but others say he was called Jokutiel (Hope\nin God). Amram kissed his daughter, Miriam, on the brow, and said, \u201cNow\nI know that thy prophecy is come true.\u201d[465]\n\nJochebed hid the child three months in her chamber where she slept. But\nPharaoh, filled with anxiety, lest a child should have escaped him,\nsent Egyptian women with their nurslings to the houses of the Hebrews.\nNow it is the custom of children, when one cries, another cries also.\nTherefore the Egyptian women pricked their babes, when they went into a\nhouse, and if the child were concealed therein, it cried when it heard\nthe Egyptian baby scream. Then it was brought out and despatched.\n\nJochebed knew that these women were coming to her house, and that, if\nthe child were discovered, her husband and herself would be slain by\nthe executioner of Pharaoh.\n\nMoreover they feared the astrologers and soothsayers, that they would\nread in the heavens that a male child was concealed there. \u201cBetter can\nwe deceive them,\u201d said Amram, \u201cif we cast the child into the water.\u201d\n\nJochebed took the paper flags and wove a basket, and pitched it with\npitch without, and clay within, that the smell of the pitch might not\noffend her dear little one; and then she placed the basket amongst the\nrushes, where the Red Sea at that time joined the River Nile.\n\nThen weeping and wailing, she went away, and seeing Miriam come to meet\nher, she smote her on the head, and said, \u201cNow, daughter, where is thy\nprophesying?\u201d\n\nMiriam followed the little ark, as it floated on the wash of the river,\nand swam in and out among the reeds; for Miriam was wondering whether\nthe prophecy would come true, or whether it would fail. This was on the\ntwenty-first of the month Nisan, on the day, chosen from the beginning,\non which in after times Moses should teach his people the Song of\nPraise for their delivery at the Red Sea.[466]\n\nThen the angels surrounded the throne of God and cried, \u201cO Lord of\nthe whole earth, shall this mortal child fore-ordained to chant, at\nthe head of Thy chosen people, the great song of delivery from water,\nperish this day by water?\u201d\n\nThe Almighty answered, \u201cYe know well that I behold all things. They\nthat seek their salvation in their own craftiness and evil ways shall\nfind destruction, but they who trust in Me shall never be confounded.\nThe history of that child shall be a witness to My almighty power.\u201d\n\nMelol, king of Egypt, had then only one daughter, whom he greatly\nloved; Bithia (Thermutis or Therbutis)[467] was her name. She had\nbeen married for some time to Chenephras, prince of a territory near\nMemphis, but was childless. This troubled her greatly, for she desired\na son who might succeed her father upon the throne of Egypt.\n\nAt this time God had sent upon Egypt an intolerable heat, and the\npeople were affected with grievous boils.[468] To cure themselves, they\nbathed in the Nile. Bithia also suffered, and bathed, not in the river,\nbut in baths in the palace; but on this day she went forth by the Nile\nbank, though otherwise she never left her father\u2019s palace. On reaching\nthe bathing-place she observed the ark lodged among the bulrushes, and\nsent one of her maids to swim out and bring it to her; but the other\nservants said, \u201cO princess, this is one of the Hebrew children, who are\ncast out according to the command of thy royal father. It beseems thee\nnot to oppose his commands and frustrate his will.\u201d\n\nScarcely had the maidens uttered these words than they vanished from\nthe surface of the earth. The angel Gabriel had sunk them all, with the\nexception of the one who swam for the ark, into the bosom of the earth.\n\nBut the eagerness of the princess was so great, that she could not wait\ntill the damsel brought her the basket, and she stretched forth her arm\ntowards it, and her arm was lengthened sixty ells, so that she was able\nto take hold of the ark and draw it to land, and lift the child out of\nthe water.\n\nNo sooner had she touched the babe, than she was healed of the boils\nwhich afflicted her, and the splendor of the face of the child was\nlike that of the sun.[469] She looked at it with wonder, and admired\nits beauty. But her father\u2019s stern law made her fear, and she thought\nto return the child to the water, when he began to cry, for the angel\nGabriel had boxed his ears to make him weep, and thus excite the\ncompassion of the princess. Then Miriam, hid away among the rushes, and\nlittle Aaron, aged three, hearing him cry, wept also.\n\nThe heart of the princess was stirred; and compassion, like that of a\nmother for her babe, filled her heart. She felt for the infant yearning\nlove as though it were her own. \u201cTruly,\u201d said Bithia, \u201cthe Hebrews are\nto be pitied, for it is no easy matter to part with a child, and to\ndeliver it over to death.\u201d\n\nThen, fearing that there would be no safety for the babe, if it were\nbrought into the palace, she called to an Egyptian woman who was\nwalking by the water, and bade her suckle the child. But the infant\nwould not take the breast from this woman, nor from any other Egyptian\nwoman that she summoned; and this the Almighty wrought that the child\nmight be restored to its own mother again.\n\nThen Miriam, the sister, mingled with those who came up, and said to\nBithia, with sobs, \u201cNoble lady! vain are all thine attempts to give\nthe child the breast from one of a different race. If thou wouldst\nhave a Hebrew woman, then let me fetch one, and the child will suck at\nonce.\u201d[470]\n\nThis advice pleased Bithia, and she bade Miriam seek her out a Hebrew\nmother.\n\nWith winged steps Miriam hastened home, and brought her mother,\nJochebed, to the princess. Then the babe readily took nourishment from\nher, and ceased crying.\n\nAstonished at this wonder, the king\u2019s daughter said, but unawares, the\ntruth, for she spake to Jochebed, \u201cHere is thy child; take and nurse\nthe child for me, and the wage shall be two pieces of silver a day.\u201d\n\nJochebed did what she was bidden, but better reward than all the silver\nin Pharaoh\u2019s house was the joy of having her son restored to his\nmother\u2019s breast.\n\nThe self-same day the soothsayers and star-gazers said to Pharaoh, \u201cThe\nchild of whom we spake to thee, that he should free Israel, hath met\nhis fate in the water.\u201d\n\nTherefore the cruel decree ordering the destruction of all male infants\nwas withdrawn, and the miraculous deliverance of Moses became by this\nmeans the salvation of the whole generation. In allusion to this, Moses\nsaid afterwards to the people when he would restrain them (Numbers\nxi.): \u201cVerily ye number six hundred thousand men, and ye would all\nhave perished in the river Nile, but I was delivered from the water,\nand therefore ye are all alive as at this day.\u201d\n\nAfter two years Jochebed weaned him, and brought him to the king\u2019s\ndaughter. Bithia, charmed with the beauty and intelligence of the\nchild, took him into the palace, and named him Moses (he who is drawn\nout of the water). Lo! a voice from heaven fell, \u201cDaughter of Pharaoh!\nbecause thou hast had compassion on this little child and hast called\nhim thy son, therefore do I call thee My daughter (Bithia). The\nfoundling that thou cherishest shall be called by the name thou gavest\nhim--Moses; and by none other name shall he be known, wheresoever the\nfame of him spreads under the whole heaven.\u201d\n\nNow, in order that Moses might really pass for the child of Bithia, the\nprincess had feigned herself to be pregnant, and then to be confined;\nand now Pharaoh regarded him as his true grandchild.\n\nOn account of his exceeding beauty, every one that saw him was filled\nwith admiration, and said, \u201cTruly, this is a king\u2019s son.\u201d And when he\nwas taken abroad, the people forsook their work, and deserted their\nshops, that they might see him. One day, when Moses was three years\nold, Bithia led him by the hand into the presence of Pharaoh, and the\nqueen sat by the king, and all the princes of the realm stood about\nhim. Then Bithia presented the child to the king, and said, \u201cOh, sire!\nthis child of noble mien is not really my son; he was given to me in\nwondrous fashion by the divine river Nile; therefore have I brought him\nup as my own son, and destined him to succeed thee on thy throne, since\nno child of my body has been granted to me.\u201d\n\nWith these words Bithia laid the boy in the king\u2019s arms, and he pressed\nhim to his heart, and kissed him. Then, to gratify his daughter, he\ntook from his head the crown royal, and placed it upon the temples of\nMoses. But the child eagerly caught at the crown, and threw it on the\nground and then alighting from Pharaoh\u2019s knee, he in childish fashion\ndanced round it, and finally trampled it under his feet.[471]\n\nThe king and his nobles were dismayed. They thought that this action\naugured evil to the king through the child that was before them. Then\nBalaam, the son of Beor, lifted up his voice and said, \u201cMy lord and\nking! dost thou not remember the interpretation of thy dream, as thy\nservant interpreted it to thee? This child is of Hebrew extraction,\nand is wiser and more cunning than befits his age. When he is old he\nwill take thy crown from off thy head, and will tread the power of\nEgypt under his feet. Thus have his ancestors ever done. Abraham defied\nNimrod, and rent from him Canaan, a portion of his kingdom. Isaac\nprevailed over the king of the Philistines. Jacob took from his brother\nhis birthright and blessing, and smote the Hivites and their king\nHamor. Joseph, the slave, became chief in his realm, and gave the best\nof this land to his father and his brethren. And now this child will\ntake from thee the kingdom, and will enslave or destroy thy people.\nThere is no expedient for thee but to slay him, that Egypt become not\nhis prey.\u201d\n\nBut Pharaoh said, \u201cWe will take other counsel, Balaam, before we decide\nwhat shall be done with this child.\u201d\n\nThen some advised that he should be burnt with fire, and others that he\nshould be slain with the sword. But the angel Gabriel, in the form of\nan old man, mingled with the councillors, and said, \u201cLet not innocent\nblood be shed. The child is too young to know what he is doing. Prove\nwhether he has any understanding and design, before you sentence him. O\nking! let a bowl of live coals and a bowl of precious stones be brought\nto the little one. If he takes the stones, then he has understanding,\nand discerns between good and evil; but if he thrusts his hands towards\nthe burning coals, then he is innocent of purpose and devoid of\nreason.\u201d[472]\n\nThis advice pleased the king, and he gave orders that it should be as\nthe angel had recommended.\n\nNow when the basins were brought in and offered to Moses, he thrust\nout his hand towards the jewels. But Gabriel, who had made himself\ninvisible, caught his hand and directed it towards the red-hot coals;\nand Moses burnt his fingers, and he put them into his mouth, and burnt\nhis lips and tongue; and therefore it is that Moses said, in after\ndays, \u201cI am slow of lips and slow of tongue.\u201d[473]\n\nPharaoh and his council were now convinced of the simplicity of Moses,\nand no harm was done him. Then Bithia removed him, and brought him up\nin her own part of the palace.\n\nGod was with him, and he increased in stature and beauty, and Pharaoh\u2019s\nheart was softened towards him. He went arrayed in purple through the\nstreets, as the son of Bithia, and a chaplet of diamonds surrounded his\nbrows, and he consorted only with princes. When he was five years old,\nhe was in size and knowledge as advanced as a boy of twelve.\n\nMasters were brought for him from all quarters, and he was instructed\nin all the wisdom and learning of the Egyptians; and the people looked\nupon him with hope as their future sovereign.[474]\n\n\n3. THE YOUTH AND MARRIAGE OF MOSES.\n\nMoses, as he grew older, distinguished himself from all other young\nmen of Egypt by the conquest which he acquired over himself and his\nyouthful passions and impetuous will. Although the life of a court\noffered him every kind of gratification, yet he did not allow himself\nto be attracted by its pleasures, or to regard as permanent what\nhe knew to be fleeting. Thus it fell out, that all his friends and\nacquaintances wondered at him, and doubted whether he were not a god\nappeared on earth. And, in truth, Moses did not live and act as did\nothers. What he thought, that he said, and what he promised, that he\nfulfilled.\n\nMoses had reached the summit of earthly greatness; acknowledged as\ngrandson to Pharaoh, and heir to the crown. But he trusted not in the\nfuture which was thus offered to him, for he knew from Jochebed, whom\nhe frequently visited, what was his true people, and who were his real\nparents. And the bond which attached him to his own house and people\nwas in his heart, and could not be broken.\n\nMoses went daily to Goshen to see his relations; and he observed how\nthe Hebrews were oppressed, and groaned under their burdens. And he\nasked wherefore the yoke was pressed so heavily on the neck of these\nslaves. He was told of the advice of Balaam against the people, and of\nthe way in which Pharaoh had sought the destruction of himself in his\ninfancy. This information filled Moses with indignation, and alienated\nhis affections from Pharoah, and filled him with animosity towards\nBalaam.[475] But, as he was not in a position to rescue his brethren,\nor to punish Balaam, he cried, \u201cAlas! I had rather die than continue to\nbehold the affliction of my brethren.\u201d Then he took the necklace from\noff him, which indicated his princely position, and sought to ease the\nburden of the Israelites. He took the excessive loads from the women\nand old men, and laid them on the young and strong; and thus he seemed\nto be fulfilling Pharaoh\u2019s intentions in getting the work of building\nsooner executed, whereas, by making each labor according to his\nstrength, their sufferings were lightened. And he said to the Hebrews,\n\u201cBe of good cheer, relief is not so far off as you suppose--calm\nfollows storm, blue sky succeeds black clouds, sunshine comes after\nrain. The whole world is full of change, and all is for an object.\u201d\n\nNevertheless Moses himself desponded; he looked with hatred upon\nBalaam, and lost all pleasure in the society of the Egyptians. Balaam\nseeing that the young man was against him, and dreading his power,\nescaped with his sons Jannes and Jambres to the court of Ethiopia.\n\nThe young Moses, however, grew in favor with the king, who laid upon\nhim the great office of introducing illustrious foreigners to the royal\npresence.\n\nBut Moses kept ever before his eyes the aim of his life, to relieve his\npeople from their intolerable burdens. One day he presented himself\nbefore the king and said, \u201cSire! I have a petition to make of thee.\u201d\n\nPharaoh answered, \u201cSay on, my son.\u201d\n\nThen said Moses, \u201cO king! every laborer is given one day in seven for\nrest, otherwise his work becomes languid and unprofitable. But the\nchildren of Israel are given no day of rest, but they work from the\nfirst day of the week to the last day, without cessation; therefore\nis their work inferior, and it is not executed with that heartiness\nwhich might be found, were they given one day in which to recruit their\nstrength.\u201d\n\nPharaoh said, \u201cWhich day shall be given to them?\u201d\n\nMoses said, \u201cSuffer them to rest on the seventh day.\u201d\n\nThe king consented, and the people were given the Sabbath, on which\nthey ceased from their labors; therefore they rejoiced greatly, and\nfor a thousand years the last day of the week was called \u201cThe gift of\nMoses.\u201d[476]\n\nAs the command to destroy all the male children had been withdrawn\nthe day that Moses was cast into the Nile, the people had multiplied\ngreatly, and again the fears of the Egyptians were aroused. Therefore\nthe king published a new decree, with the object of impeding the\nincrease of the bondsmen.\n\nHe required the Egyptian task-masters to impose a tale of bricks on\nevery man, and if at evening the tale of bricks was not made up, then,\nin place of the deficient bricks, even though only one brick was short,\nthey were to take the children of those who had not made up their tale,\nand to build them into the wall in place of bricks.[477] Thus upon one\nmisery another was piled.\n\nIn order that this decree might be executed with greater certainty,\nten laborers were placed under one Hebrew overseer, and one Egyptian\ntask-master controlled the ten overseers. The duty of the Hebrew\noverseers was to wake the ten men they were set over, every morning\nbefore dawn, and bring them to their work. If the Egyptian task-masters\nobserved that one of the laborers was not at his post, he went to the\noverseer, and bade him produce the man immediately.\n\nNow one of these overseers had a wife of the tribe of Dan, whose name\nwas Salome, daughter of Dibri. She was beautiful and faultless in her\nbody. The Egyptian task-master had observed her frequently, and he\nloved her. Then, one day, he went early to the house of her husband,\nand bade him arise, and go and call the ten laborers. So the overseer\nrose, nothing doubting, and went forth, and then the Egyptian entered\nand concealed himself in the house. But the overseer returning, found\nhim, and drew him forth, and asked him with what intent he had hidden\nhimself there; and Moses drew nigh. Now Moses was known to the Hebrews\nas merciful, and ready to judge righteously their causes; so the man\nran to Moses, and told him that he had found the Egyptian task-master\nconcealed in his house.\n\nAnd Moses knew for what intent the man had done thus, and his anger was\nkindled, and he raised a spade to smite the man on the head and kill\nhim.\n\nBut whilst the spade was yet in his hand, before it fell, Moses said\nwithin himself, \u201cI am about to take a man\u2019s life; how know I that he\nwill not repent? How know I that if I suffer him to live, he may beget\nchildren who will do righteously and serve the Lord? Is it well that I\nshould slay this man?\u201d\n\nThen Moses\u2019 eyes were opened, and he saw the throne of God, and the\nangels that surrounded it, and God said to him, \u201cIt is well that thou\nshouldst slay this Egyptian, and therefore have I called thee hither.\nKnow that he would never repent, nor would his children do other than\nwork evil, wert thou to give him his life.\u201d\n\nSo Moses called on the name of the Most High and smote; but before the\nspade touched the man, as the sound of the name of God reached his\nears, he fell and died.[478]\n\nThen Moses looked on the Hebrews who had crowded round, and he said to\nthem, \u201cGod has declared that ye shall be as the sand of the sea-shore.\nNow the sand falls and it is noiseless, and the foot of man presses it,\nand it sounds not. Therefore understand that ye are to be silent as is\nthe sand of the sea-shore, and tell not of what I have this day done.\u201d\n\nNow when the man of the Hebrews returned home, he drove out his wife\nSalome, because he had found the Egyptian concealed in his house,\nand he gave her a writing of divorcement and sent her away. Then the\nHebrews talked among themselves at their work, and some said he had\ndone well, and others that he had done ill. There were at their task\ntwo young men, brothers, Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, of the\ntribe of Reuben, and they strove together on this subject, and Dathan\nin anger lifted his hand, and would have smitten Abiram. Then Moses\ncame up and stayed him, and cried, \u201cWhat wickedness art thou doing,\nstriking thy comrade? It beseems you not to lay hands on each other.\u201d\n\nBoldly did Dathan answer: \u201cWho made thee, beardless youth, a lord and\nruler over us? We know well that thou art not the son of the king\u2019s\ndaughter, but of Jochebed. _Wilt thou slay me as thou didst the\nEgyptian yesterday?_\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d said Moses, \u201cnow I see that the evil words, and evil acts, and\nevil thoughts of this people will fight against them, and frustrate\nthe loving kindness of the Lord towards them.\u201d\n\nThen Dathan and Abiram went before Pharaoh, and told him that Moses had\nslain an Egyptian task-master; and Pharaoh\u2019s anger was kindled against\nMoses, and he cried, \u201cEnough of evil hath been prophesied against thee,\nand I have not heeded it, and now thou liftest thy hand against my\nservants!\u201d\n\nFor he had, for long, been slowly turning against Moses, when he saw\nthat he walked not in the ways of the Egyptians, and that he loved\nthe king\u2019s enemies, and hated the king\u2019s friends. Then he consulted\nhis soothsayers and his councillors, and they gave him advice that\nhe should put Moses to death with the sword. Therefore the young\nman, Moses, was brought forth, and he ascended the scaffold, and the\nexecutioner stood over him with his sword, the like of which was not in\nthe whole world. And when the king gave the word, the headsman smote.\nBut the Lord turned the neck of Moses into marble, and the sword bit\nnot into it.\n\nInstantly, before the second blow was dealt, the angel Michael took\nfrom the executioner his sword and his outward semblance, and gave to\nthe headsman the semblance of Moses, and he smote at the executioner,\nand took his head from off his shoulders. But Moses fled away, and none\nobserved him. And he went to the king of Ethiopia.[479]\n\nNow the king of Ethiopia, Kikannos (Candacus) by name, was warring\nagainst his enemies; and when he left his capital city, Mero, at the\nhead of a mighty army, he left Balaam and his two sons regents during\nhis absence.\n\nWhilst the king was engaged in war, Balaam and his sons conspired\nagainst the king, and they bewitched the people with their\nenchantments, and led them from their allegiance, and persuaded them\nto submit to Balaam as their king. And Balaam strengthened the city on\nall sides. Sheba, or Mero, was almost impregnable, as it was surrounded\nby the Nile and the Astopus. On two sides Balaam built walls, and on\nthe third side, between the Nile and the city, he dug countless canals,\ninto which he let the water run. And on the fourth side he assembled\ninnumerable serpents. Thus he made the city wholly impregnable.\n\nWhen King Kikannos returned from the war, he saw that his capital was\nfortified, and he wondered; but when he was refused admission, he knew\nthat there was treason.\n\nOne day he endeavored to surmount the walls, but was repulsed with\ngreat slaughter; and the next day he threw thirty pontoons across the\nriver, but when his soldiers reached the other side, they were engulfed\nin the canals, of which the water was impelled with foaming fury by\ngreat mill-wheels. On the third day he assaulted the town on the fourth\nside, but his men were bitten by the serpents and died. Then King\nKikannos saw that the only hope of reducing the city was by famine; so\nhe invested it, that no provisions might be brought into it.\n\nWhilst he sat down before the capital, Moses took refuge in his camp,\nand was treated by him with great honor and distinction.\n\nAs the siege protracted itself through nine years, Kikannos fell ill\nand died.\n\nThen the chief captains of his army assembled, and determined to elect\na king, who might carry on the siege with energy, and reduce the city\nwith speed, for they were weary of the long investment. So they elected\nMoses to be their king, and they threw off their garments and folded\nthem and made thereof a throne, and set Moses thereon, and blew their\ntrumpets, and cried \u201cGod save King Moses!\u201d[480]\n\nAnd they gave him the widow of Kikannos to wife, and costly gifts of\ngold and silver and precious stones were brought to him, but all these\nhe laid aside in the treasury. This took place 157 years after Jacob\nand his sons came down into Egypt, when Moses was aged twenty-seven\nyears.\n\nOn the seventh day after his coronation came the captains and officers\nbefore him, and besought of him counsel, how the city might be taken.\nThen said Moses, \u201cNine years have ye invested it, and it is not yet in\nyour power. Follow my advice, and in nine days it shall be yours.\u201d\n\nThey said, \u201cSpeak, and we will obey.\u201d\n\nThen Moses gave this advice, \u201cMake it known in the camp that all the\nsoldiers go into the woods, and bring me storks\u2019 nests as many as they\ncan find.\u201d\n\nSo they obeyed, and young storks innumerable were brought to him. Then\nhe said, \u201cKeep them fasting till I give you word, and he who gives\nto a stork food, though it were but a crumb of bread, or a grain of\ncorn, he shall be slain, and all that he hath shall become the king\u2019s\nproperty, and his house shall be made a dung-heap.\u201d\n\nSo the storks were kept fasting. And on the third day the king said,\n\u201cLet the birds go.\u201d\n\nThen the storks flew into the air, and they spied the serpents on the\nfourth side of the city, and they fell upon them, and the serpents\nfled, and they were killed and eaten by the storks or ever they reached\ntheir holes, and not a serpent remained. Then said Moses, \u201cMarch into\nthe city and take it.\u201d\n\nAnd the army entered the city, and not one man fell of the king\u2019s army,\nbut they slew all that opposed them.\n\nThus Moses had brought the Ethiopian army into possession of the\ncapital. The grateful people placed the crown upon his head, and the\nqueen of Kikannos gave him her hand with readiness. But Balaam and his\nsons escaped, riding upon a cloud.\n\nMoses reigned in wisdom and righteousness for forty years, and the\nland prospered under his government, and all loved and honored him.\nNevertheless, some thought that the son of their late king ought to\nascend the throne of his ancestors;--he was an infant when Moses was\ncrowned, but now that he was a man, a party of the nobles desired to\nproclaim his right.\n\nThey prevailed upon the queen to speak; and when all the princes and\ngreat men of the kingdom were assembled, she declared the matter before\nall. \u201cMen of Ethiopia,\u201d said she, \u201cit is known to you that for forty\nyears my husband has reigned in Sheba. Well do you know that he has\nruled in equity, and administered righteous judgment. But know also,\nthat his God is not our God, and that his faith is not our faith. My\nson, Mena-Cham (Minakros) is of fitting age to succeed his father;\ntherefore it is my opinion that Moses should surrender to him the\nthrone.\u201d\n\nAn assembly of the people was called, and as this advice of the queen\npleased them, they besought Moses to resign the crown to the rightful\nheir. He consented, without hesitation, and, laden with gifts and good\nwishes, he left the country and went into Midian.[481]\n\nMoses was sixty-seven years old when he entered Midian. Reuel or\nJethro,[482] who had been a councillor of Pharaoh, had, as has been\nalready related, taken up his residence in Midian, where the people\nhad raised him to be High Priest and Prince over the whole tribe. But\nJethro after a while withdrew from the priesthood, for he believed\nin the one True God, and abhorred the idols which the Midianites\nworshipped. And when the people found that Jethro despised their gods,\nand that he preached against their idolatry, they placed him under the\nban, that none might give him meat or drink, or serve him.\n\nThis troubled Jethro greatly, for all his shepherds forsook him, as\nhe was under the ban. Therefore it was, that his seven daughters were\nconstrained to lead and water the flocks.[483]\n\nMoses arrived near a well and sat down to rest. Then he saw the seven\ndaughters of Jethro approach.\n\nThe maidens had gone early to the well, for they feared lest the\nshepherds, taking advantage of their being placed under ban, should\nmolest them, and refuse to give their sheep water. They let down their\npitchers in turn, and with much trouble filled the trough. Then the\nshepherds came up and drove them away, and led their sheep to the\ntrough the maidens had filled, and in rude jest they would have thrown\nthe damsels into the water, but Moses stood up and delivered them, and\nrebuked the shepherds, and they were ashamed.\n\nThen Moses let down his pitcher, and the water leaped up and\noverflowed, and he filled the trough and gave the flocks of the seven\nmaidens to drink, and then he watered also the flocks of the shepherds,\nlest there should be evil blood between them.\n\nNow when the maidens came home, they related to their father all\nthat had taken place; and he said, \u201cWhere is the man that hath shown\nkindness to you?--bring him to me.\u201d\n\nSo Zipporah ran--she ran like a bird--and came to the well, and bade\nMoses enter under their roof and eat of their table.\n\nWhen Moses come to Raguel (Jethro), the old man asked him whence he\ncame, and Moses told him all the truth.\n\nThen thought Jethro, \u201cI am fallen under the displeasure of Midian, and\nthis man has been driven out of Egypt and out of Ethiopia; he must be\na dangerous man; he will embroil me with the men of this land, and, if\nthe king of Ethiopia or Pharaoh of Egypt hears that I have harbored him\nit will go ill with me.\u201d\n\nTherefore Raguel took Moses and bound him in chains, and threw him into\na dungeon, where he was given only scanty food; and soon Jethro, whose\nthoughts were turned to reconciliation with the Midianites, forgot him,\nand sent him no food. But Zipporah loved him, and was grateful to him\nfor the kindness he had showed her, in saving her from the hands of\nthe shepherds who would have dipped her in the water-trough, and every\nday she took him food and drink, and in return was instructed by the\nprisoner in the law of the Most High.[484]\n\nThus passed seven, or, as others say, ten years;[485] and all the while\nthe gentle and loving Zipporah ministered to his necessities.\n\nThe Midianites were reconciled again with Jethro, and restored him\nto his former position; and his scruples about the worship of idols\nabated, when he found that opposition to the established religion\ninterfered with his temporal interests.\n\nThen, when all was again prosperous, many great men and princes came to\nask the hand of Zipporah his daughter, who was beautiful as the morning\nstar, and as the dove in the hole of the rock, and as the narcissus by\nthe water\u2019s side. But Zipporah loved Moses alone; and Jethro, unwilling\nto offend those who solicited her by refusing them, as he could give\nhis daughter to one only, took his staff, whereon was written the name\nof God, the staff which was cut from the Tree of Life, and which had\nbelonged to Joseph, but which he had taken with him from the palace of\nPharaoh, and he planted it in his garden, and said, \u201cHe who can pluck\nup this staff, he shall take my daughter Zipporah.\u201d\n\nThen the strong chiefs of Edom and of Midian came and tried, but they\ncould not move the staff.\n\nOne day Zipporah went before her father, and reminded him of the man\nwhom he had cast into a dungeon so many years before. Jethro was\namazed, and he said, \u201cI had forgotten him these seven years; he must be\ndead; he has had no food.\u201d\n\nBut Zipporah said meekly, \u201cWith God all things are possible.\u201d\n\nSo Jethro went to the prison door and opened it, and Moses was alive.\nThen he brought him forth, and cut his hair, and pared his nails, and\ngave him a change of raiment, and set him in his garden, and placed\nmeat before him.\n\nNow Moses, being once more in the fresh air, and under the blue sky,\nand with the light of heaven shining upon him, prayed and gave thanks\nto God; and seeing the staff, whereupon was written the name of the\nMost High, he went to it and took it away, and it followed his hand.\n\nWhen Jethro returned into the garden, lo! Moses had the staff of the\nTree of Life in his hand; then Jethro cried out, \u201cThis is a man called\nof God to be a prince and a great man among the Hebrews, and to be\nfamous throughout the world.\u201d And he gave him Zipporah, his daughter,\nto be his wife.[486]\n\nOne day, as Moses was tending his flock in a barren place, he saw that\none of the lambs had left the flock and was escaping. The good shepherd\npursued it, but the lamb ran so much the faster, fled through valley\nand over hill, till it reached a mountain stream; then it halted and\ndrank.\n\nMoses now came up to it, and looked at it with troubled countenance,\nand said,--\n\n\u201cMy dear little friend! Then it was thirst which made thee run so far\nand seem to fly from me; and I knew it not! Poor little creature, how\ntired thou must be! How canst thou return so far to the flock?\u201d\n\nAnd when the lamb heard this, it suffered Moses to take it up and lay\nit upon his shoulders; and, carrying the lamb, he returned to the flock.\n\nNow whilst Moses walked, burdened with the lamb, there fell a voice\nfrom heaven, \u201cThou, who hast shown so great love, so great patience\ntowards the sheep of man\u2019s fold, thou art worthy to be called to\npasture the sheep of the fold of God.\u201d[487]\n\n\n4. MOSES BEFORE PHARAOH.\n\nOne day that Moses was keeping sheep, his father-in-law, Jethro, came\nto him and demanded back the staff that he had given him. Then Moses\ncast the staff from him among a number of other rods, but the staff\never returned to his hand as often as he cast it away. Then Jethro laid\nhold of the rod, but he could not move it. Therefore he was obliged to\nlet Moses retain it. But he was estranged from him.\n\nNow Pharaoh was dead. And when the news reached Moses in Midian, he gat\nhim up, and set his wife Zipporah and his son Gershom on an ass, and\ntook the way of Egypt.\n\nAnd as they were in the way, they halted in a certain place; and it was\ncloudy, and cold, and rainy. Then they encamped, and Zipporah tried to\nmake a fire, but could not, for the wood was damp.\n\nMoses said, \u201cI see a fire burning at the foot of the mountain. I will\ngo to it, for there must be travellers there; and I will fetch a brand\naway and will kindle a fire, and be warm.\u201d\n\nThen he took his rod in his hand and went. But when he came near the\nspot, he saw that the fire was not on the ground, but at the summit\nof a tree; and the tree was a thorn. A thorn-tree was the first tree\nthat grew, when God created the herb of the field and the trees of\nthe forest. Moses was filled with fear, and he would have turned and\nfled, but a voice[488] called to him out of the fire, \u201c_Moses, Moses!_\u201d\nAnd he said, \u201c_Here am I._\u201d And the voice said again, \u201c_Put off thy\nshoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy\nground._\u201d This was the reason why he was bidden put off his shoes; they\nwere made of asses\u2019 hide, and Moses had trodden on the dung of his ass\nas he followed Zipporah and Gershom.\n\nThen God gave Moses his commission to go into Egypt, and release his\ncaptive people. But Moses feared, and said, \u201cI am of slow lips and\ntongue!\u201d for he had burnt them, with his finger, when he took the live\ncoal before Pharoah, as already related. But God said to him, \u201cI have\ngiven thee Aaron thy brother to speak for thee. And now, what is this\nthat thou hast in thy hand?\u201d\n\nMoses answered, \u201cThis is my rod.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd to what purpose dost thou turn it?\u201d\n\n\u201cI lean on it when I am walking, and when I come where there is no\ngrass, I strike the trees therewith, and bring down the leaves to feed\nmy sheep withal.\u201d And when he had narrated all the uses to which he\nput the staff, God said to him, \u201cWith this staff shalt thou prevail\nagainst Pharaoh. Cast it upon the ground.\u201d And when he cast it down, it\nwas transformed into a serpent or dragon, and Moses turned his back to\nrun from it; but God said, \u201cFear not; take it up by the neck;\u201d and he\ncaught it and it became a rod in his hands. Then said the Most Holy,\n\u201cPut thy hand into thy bosom.\u201d And he did so, and drew it forth, and it\nwas white, and shining like the moon in the dark of night.\n\nThen Moses desired to go back to Zipporah his wife, but the angel\nGabriel retained him, saying, \u201cThou hast higher duties to perform\nthan to attend on thy wife. Lo! I have already reconducted her to\nher father\u2019s house. Go on upon thy way to Pharaoh, as the Lord hath\ncommanded thee.\u201d\n\nThe night on which Moses entered Egyptian territory, an angel appeared\nto Aaron in a dream, with a crystal glass full of good wine in his\nhand, and said, as he extended it to him:--\n\n\u201cAaron, drink of this wine which the Lord sends thee as a pledge of\ngood news. Thy brother Moses has returned to Egypt, and God has chosen\nhim to be His prophet, and thee to be his spokesman. Arise, and go\nforth to meet him!\u201d\n\nAaron therefore arose from his bed and went out of the city to the\nbanks of the Nile, but there was no boat there by which he could cross.\nSuddenly he perceived in the distance a light which approached; and\nas it drew nearer he saw it was a horseman. It was Gabriel mounted\non a steed of fire, which shone like the brighest diamond, and whose\nneighing was hymns of praise, for the steed was one of the cherubim.\n\nAaron at first supposed that he was pursued by one of Pharaoh\u2019s\nhorsemen, and he would have cast himself into the Nile; but Gabriel\nstayed him, declared who he was, mounted him on the fiery cherub, and\nthey crossed the Nile on his back.\n\nThere stood Moses, who, when he saw Aaron, exclaimed, \u201cTruth is come,\nFalsehood is passed.\u201d Now this was the sign that God had given to\nMoses, \u201c_Behold he cometh to meet thee._\u201d[489] And they rejoiced over\neach other.\n\nBut another account is this: Moses entered Memphis with his sheep,\nduring the night. Now Amram was dead, but his wife Jochebed was alive.\nWhen Moses reached the door, Jochebed was awake. He knocked at the\ndoor; then she opened, but knew him not, and asked, \u201cWho art thou?\u201d\n\nHe answered, \u201cI am a man from a far country; I pray thee lodge me, and\ngive me to eat this night.\u201d\n\nShe took him in, and brought him some meat, and said to Aaron, \u201cSit\ndown and eat with the guest, to do him honor.\u201d Aaron, in eating\nconversed with Moses and recognized him.\n\nThen the mother and sister knew him also. And when the meal was over,\nMoses acquitted himself of his mission to Aaron, and Aaron answered, \u201cI\nwill obey the will of God.\u201d[490]\n\nMoses spent the night, and the whole of the following day, in relating\nto his mother the things that had befallen him.\n\nAnd on the second night, Moses and Aaron went forth to Pharoah\u2019s\npalace. Now the palace had four hundred doors, a hundred on each side,\nand each door was guarded by sixty thousand fighting men. The angel\nGabriel came to them and led them into the palace, but not by the doors.\n\nWhen they appeared before Pharoah they said: \u201cGod hath sent us unto\nthee, to bid thee let the Hebrews go, that they may hold a feast in the\nwilderness.\u201d\n\nBut Pharoah said, \u201c_Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to\nlet Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go._\u201d[491]\n\nTabari tells a different story. Moses and Aaron sought admittance\nduring two years. Now Pharoah gave himself out to be a god.\n\nBut Moses and Aaron, when they spake at the door with the porters,\nsaid, \u201cHe is no god.\u201d One day the jester of Pharoah heard his master\nread the history of his own life, and when he came to the passage which\nasserted he was a god, the jester exclaimed, \u201cNow this is strange!\nFor two years there have been two strangers at thy gate denying thy\ndivinity.\u201d\n\nWhen Pharoah heard this, he was in a fury, and he sent and had Moses\nand Aaron brought before him.\n\nBut to return to the Rabbinic tale. Moses and Aaron were driven out\nfrom the presence of Pharoah; and he said, \u201cWho admitted these men?\u201d\nAnd some of the porters he slew, and some he scourged.\n\nThen two lionesses were placed before the palace to protect it, and the\nbeasts suffered no man to enter unless Pharoah gave the word.\n\nAnd the Lord spake to Moses and Aaron, saying, \u201cWhen Pharoah talketh\nwith you, saying, Give us a miracle, thou shalt say to Aaron, Take\nthy rod and cast it down, and it shall become a basilisk serpent; for\nall the inhabitants of the earth shall hear the voice of the shriek\nof Egypt when I destroy it, as all creatures heard the shriek of the\nserpent when I stripped it, and took from it its legs and made it lick\nthe dust after the Fall.\u201d[492]\n\nOn the morrow, Moses and Aaron came again to the king\u2019s palace, and the\nlionesses would have devoured them. Then Moses raised his staff, and\ntheir chains brake, and they followed him, barking like dogs, into the\nhouse.[493]\n\nWhen Moses and Aaron stood before the king, Aaron cast down the rod\nbefore Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent, which\nopened its jaws, and it laid one jaw beneath the throne, and its upper\njaw was over the canopy above it; then the servants fled from before\nit, and Pharaoh hid himself beneath his throne, and the fear it caused\nhim gave him bowel-complaint for a week. Now before this Pharaoh was\nonly moved once a week, and this was the occasion of his being lifted\nup with pride, and giving himself out to be a god.[494]\n\nPharaoh cried out from under the throne, \u201cO Moses, take hold of the\nserpent, and I will do what you desire.\u201d[495]\n\nMoses took hold of the serpent, and it became a rod in his hands. Then\nPharaoh crawled out from under his throne, and sat down upon it. And\nMoses put his hand into his bosom, and when he drew it forth, it shone\nlike the moon.\n\nThe king sent for his magicians, and the chief of these were Jannes and\nJambres. He told them what Moses had done.\n\nThey said, \u201cWe can turn a thousand rods into serpents.\u201d\n\nThen the king named a day when Moses and Aaron on one side should\nstrive with Jannes and Jambres[496] and all the magicians on the other;\nand he gave them a month to prepare for the contest.\n\nOn the day appointed--it was Pharaoh\u2019s birthday--all the inhabitants\nof Memphis were assembled in a great plain outside the city, where\nlists were staked out, and the royal tent was spread for the king to\nview the contest.\n\nMoses and Aaron stood on one side and the magicians on the other.\n\nThe latter said, \u201cShall we cast our rods, or will you?\u201d\n\nMoses answered, \u201cDo you cast your rods first.\u201d\n\nThen the magicians threw down a hundred ass-loads of rods, tied the\nrods together with cords, and by their enchantment caused them to\nappear to the spectators like serpents, leaping and darting from one\nside of the arena to the other.\n\nAnd all the people were filled with fear, and the magicians said, \u201cWe\nhave this day triumphed over Moses.\u201d\n\nThen the prophet of God cast his rod before Pharaoh, and it became a\nmighty serpent. It rolled its tail round the throne of the king, and it\nshot forth its head, and swallowed all the rods of the enchanters, so\nthat there remained not one.\n\nAfter that all had disappeared, Moses took the serpent, and it became a\nrod in his hand again, but all the rods of the magicians had vanished.\n\nAnd when the magicians saw the miracle that Moses had wrought, they\nwere converted, and worshipped the true God. But Pharaoh cut off their\nhands and feet, and crucified them; and they died. Pharaoh\u2019s own\ndaughter Maschita believed; and the king in his rage did not spare her,\nbut cast her into a fire, and she was burnt. Bithia was also denounced\nto him, and she was condemned to the flames, but the angel Gabriel\ndelivered her. The Mussulmans say that he consoled her by telling her\nthat she would become the wife of Mohammed in Paradise, after which he\ngave her to drink, and when she had tasted, she died without pain.\n\nThen Moses and Aaron met Pharaoh in the morning as he went by the side\nof the river, and Moses said to the king, \u201c_The Lord of the Hebrews\nhath sent me unto thee, saying, Let My people go, that they may serve\nMe in the wilderness_.\u201d\n\nBut Pharaoh would not hearken to him. Then Aaron stretched out his rod\nover the river, and it became blood.\n\nAll the water that was in the vessels also became blood, even the\nspittle that was in the mouth of the Egyptians. The Rabbi Levi said\nthat by this means the Israelites realized large fortunes; for if an\nIsraelite and an Egyptian went together to the Nile to fetch water,\nthe vessel of the Egyptian was found to contain blood, but that of the\nIsraelite pure water; but if an Israelite brought water to the house of\nan Egyptian and sold it, it remained water.[497]\n\nBut Pharaoh\u2019s heart was hard; and seven days passed, after that the\nLord had smitten the river.\n\nThen went Moses and Aaron to him. But the four hundred doors of the\npalace were guarded by bears, lions, and other savage beasts, so that\nnone might pass, till they were satisfied with flesh. But Moses and\nAaron came up, collected them together, drew a circle round them with\nthe sacred staff, and the wild beasts licked the feet of the prophets\nand followed them into the presence of Pharaoh.[498]\n\nMoses and Aaron repeated this message to Pharaoh, but he would not\nhearken to them, but drove them from his presence. Aaron smote the\nriver; but Moses on no occasion smote the Nile, for he respected the\nriver which had saved his life as a babe.[499] Then the Lord brought\nfrogs upon the land, and filled all the houses; they were in the beds,\non the tables, in the cups. And the king sent for Moses and said:\n\u201c_Intreat the Lord, that He may take the frogs from me and from my\npeople_.\u201d So the Lord sent a great rain, and it washed the frogs into\nthe Red Sea.\n\nThe next plague was lice.[500]\n\nThe fourth plague was wild beasts.\n\nThe fifth was murrain.\n\nThe sixth was boils and blains upon man and beast.[501]\n\nThe seventh was hail and tempest. Now Job regarded the word of Moses,\nand he brought his cattle within doors, and they were saved; but Balaam\nregarded it not, and all his cattle were destroyed.[502]\n\nThe eighth was locusts; these the Egyptians fried, and laid by in store\nto serve them for food; but when the west wind came to blow the locusts\naway, it blew away also those that had been pickled and laid by for\nfuture consumption.[503]\n\nThe ninth plague was darkness.\n\nThe tenth was the death of the first-born.\n\nThe Book of Jasher says that, the Egyptians having closed their doors\nand windows against the plagues of flies, and locusts, and lice, God\nsent the sea-monster Silinoth, a huge polypus with arms ten cubits\nlong, and the beast climbed upon the roofs and broke them up, and let\ndown its slimy arms, and unlatched all the doors and windows, and threw\nthem open for the flies and locusts and lice to enter.[504]\n\nBut the Mohammedans gave a different order to the signs:--(1) the rod\nchanged into a serpent; (2) the whitened hand; (3) the famine; (4) a\ndeluge, the Nile rose over the land so that every man stood in water up\nto his neck; (5) locusts; (6) anommals--these are two-legged animals\nsmaller than locusts; (7) blood; (8) frogs; (9) every green thing\nthroughout the land, all fruit, all grain, eggs, and every thing in the\nhouses were turned to stone.[505]\n\nAfter the plague of the darkness, Pharaoh resolved on a general\nmassacre of all the children of the Hebrews. The Mussulmans put the\ntemporary petrifaction of all in the land in the place of the darkness.\nThe Book of Exodus says that during the darkness \u201c_they saw not one\nanother, neither rose any from his place_;\u201d but the Arabs say that they\nwere turned to stone. Here might be seen a petrified man with a balance\nin his hand sitting in the bazaar; there, another stone man counting\nout money; and the porters at the palace were congealed to marble\nwith their swords in their hands.[506] But others say that this was a\nseparate plague, and that the darkness followed it.\n\nAnd now Gabriel took on him the form of a servant of the king, and he\nwent before him and asked him what was his desire.\n\n\u201cThat vile liar Moses deserves death,\u201d said Pharaoh.\n\n\u201cHow shall I slay him?\u201d asked Gabriel.\n\n\u201cLet him be cast into the water.\u201d\n\n\u201cGive me a written order,\u201d said the angel. Pharaoh did so.\n\nThen Gabriel went to Moses and told him that the time was come when he\nwas to leave Egypt with all the people, for the measure of the iniquity\nof Pharoah was filled up, and the Lord would destroy him with a signal\noverthrow.\n\n\n5. THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA.\n\nThe Israelites had made their preparations to depart out of Egypt a\nmonth before the call came to escape.\n\nAnd when all was ready, Moses called together the elders of the people\nand said to them, \u201cWhen Joseph died, he ordered his descendants to take\nup his bones, or ever they went out of the land, and to bear them to\nthe cave of Machpelah, where lie the bones of his father Jacob. Where\nare the bones of Joseph?\u201d\n\nThe elders answered him, \u201cWe do not know.\u201d\n\nNow there was an old Egyptian woman, named Miriam, and she believed in\nthe Lord. She said to Moses, \u201cI will show thee where is the tomb of\nJoseph, if thou wilt swear unto me that thou wilt take me with thee\nfrom Egypt, and that thou wilt ask the Most High to admit me into\nParadise.\u201d\n\nMoses said, \u201cI will do these things that thou askest.\u201d\n\nThen the woman said, \u201cThe tomb of Joseph is in the middle of the river\nNile, which flows through Memphis, at such a spot.\u201d\n\nMoses prayed to God, and the water fell till the bed of the river was\nleft dry; and then he and the women went into it, and came on the tomb\nof Joseph; it was a sarcophagus of marble without joints.[507]\n\nMoses made preparations for departure, and said to the children of\nIsrael, \u201cGod will destroy the Egyptians, and will give you their\nprecious things.\u201d\n\nThen every one among the Hebrews who had an Egyptian neighbor said to\nhim, if he was rich: \u201cI am going to a feast in the country, I pray thee\nlend me jewels of gold and silver to adorn my wife and children.\u201d\n\nThe Egyptians lent their precious things, and the Israelites by this\nmeans found themselves possessed of borrowed jewels in great abundance.\nThen Moses said, \u201cWe will leave Egypt this night when the Egyptians are\nasleep. Let every housekeeper softly desert his house, and bring with\nhim his precious things, and meet outside the town. And let every one\nslay a lamb, and sprinkle with the blood the lintel and door-posts of\nthe house, that the neighbors may know, when they see the blood, that\nthe house is empty.\u201d\n\nWhen the middle of the night was passed, the Israelites were assembled\noutside Memphis, at the place which Moses had appointed. Then the host\nwas numbered, and it contained six hundred thousand horsemen, not\nincluding those who were on foot, the women, the children, and the\naged. All who were under twenty were accounted infants, and all who\nwere over sixty were accounted aged.\n\nAfter that, Moses placed Aaron in command of the first battalion, and\nhe said to him, \u201cMarch in the direction of the sea, for Gabriel has\npromised to meet me on its shores.\u201d At that time one branch of the Nile\n(the Pelusiac branch) flowed into the Red Sea, which extended over\nwhere is now sandy desert to Migdol.\n\nMoses made the host follow Aaron, troop by troop, and tribe by tribe;\nand he brought up the rear with a strong guard of picked men.\n\nIt was dawning towards the first day of the week when Israel escaped\nout of Egypt.\n\nAnd when day broke, behold, they were gone away. Then the Egyptians\ncame and told Pharaoh. He sent to search all the houses of the\nIsraelites, but they were all empty, only their lamps were left\nburning. Pharaoh said, \u201cWe will pursue them.\u201d The Egyptians said, \u201cThey\nhave borrowed our jewels; we must follow after them, and recover what\nis our own.\u201d\n\nNow Moses had used craft touching these ornaments, in order that\nthe Egyptians might be constrained to follow. For if the Israelites\nhad gone without these, the Egyptians would have rejoiced at their\ndeparture. But because they had borrowed of the Egyptians, therefore\nthe Egyptians went after them to recover their ornaments, and by this\nmeans rushed into destruction.\n\nAnd Israel marched all day through the wilderness protected by seven\nclouds of glory on their four sides: one above them, that neither\nhail nor rain might fall upon them, nor that they should be burned by\nthe heat of the sun; one beneath them, that they might not be hurt by\nthorns, serpents, or scorpions; and one went before them, to make the\nvalleys even, and the mountains low, and to prepare them a place of\nhabitation.[508]\n\nAlso, when the morning dawned, there was not a house in all Egypt in\nwhich there was not a first-born dead. And this delayed the people\nfrom pursuing after the Israelites; for they were engaged in bewailing\ntheir dead, and in digging graves for them. Thus they were not at\nleisure to follow after their former slaves, till they had escaped\nclean away.\n\nAlso that night was every metal image in Egypt molten, and every idol\nof stone was broken, and every idol of clay was shattered, and every\nidol of wood was dissolved to dust.[509]\n\nThe same day Pharaoh sent into all the cities of Egypt and collected an\narmy. When even was come the whole army was assembled about the king,\nand Pharaoh said to Dathan and Abiram, who had remained behind,[510]\n\u201cThe Israelites are few in number, _they are entangled in the land, the\nwilderness hath shut them in_.\u201d For all the way was full of marshes\nand canals of water and desert tracts. \u201cThey have acted wrongly by us,\nfor they have carried away the ornaments and jewels of our people; and\nMoses, by magic, has slain all our first-born, so that there is not a\nhouse in which there is not one dead.\u201d\n\nOn the morrow--it was the second day of the week--the army was\nreviewed, and Pharaoh numbered the host, and he had six hundred chosen\nchariots, and two million foot soldiers, and five million horsemen,\nand, in addition, there were one million seven hundred thousand horses,\nand on these horses were black men.\n\nWhen the sun rose on the third day, Pharaoh marched out of Memphis, and\nhe pursued for half a day with forced marches. At noon, Pharaoh had\ncome up with Moses, and the fore-front of Pharaoh\u2019s army thrust the\nrear-guard of the army of Moses. Then the children of Israel cried unto\nthe Lord, and they said to Moses, \u201c_Because there were no graves in\nEgypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast\nthou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?_\u201d\n\nThey were divided into four opinions. One set said, \u201cLet us fling\nourselves into the sea.\u201d Another set said, \u201cLet us return and surrender\nourselves.\u201d The third set said, \u201cLet us array battle against the\nEgyptians.\u201d The fourth recommended, \u201cLet us shout against them, and\nfrighten them away with our clamor.\u201d[511]\n\nAnd Moses said unto the people, \u201c_Fear ye not, stand still, and see the\nsalvation of the Lord. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold\nyour peace._\u201d[512]\n\nThen Moses raised his rod over the sea, and it divided, and let twelve\nchannels of dry land appear traversing it, one for each of the twelve\ntribes. \u201cWhen Moses had smitten,\u201d says the Koran, \u201cthe sea divided into\ntwelve heaps, and left twelve ways through it, and each heap was as a\ngreat mountain.\u201d[513]\n\nThe Israelites hesitated to enter; for they said, \u201cO Moses! the bottom\nof this sea is black mud, and when we place our feet on it we shall\nsink in and be swallowed up.\u201d\n\nBut Moses prayed to God, and he sent a wind and the rays of the sun,\nand the wind and the sun dried the mud, and it became as sand.\n\nThen Gabriel and Michael appeared to Moses and said, \u201cPass on, and lead\nthe people through. As for us, we have orders to tarry for Pharaoh.\u201d\nSo Moses galloped forward into the sea, crying, \u201cIn the name of the\nmerciful and glorious God!\u201d and all the people went in after him. But\nas they marched by twelve ways, and there were walls of water between,\nthey could not see each other, and they were in fear; therefore Moses\nprayed to the Lord, and the Lord made the water-heaps rise and arch\nover them like bowers, and shelter them from the fire of the sun; and\nHe made the watery walls so clear they were as sheets of glass, and\nthrough them the columns of the advancing army were visible to each\nother.\n\nMoses traversed the sea in two hours, and he came forth with all the\npeople on the other side.\n\nThen Pharoah and his host came to the water\u2019s side, but he feared to\nenter in. Now Pharaoh was mounted on an entire horse of great beauty.\nHe reined in his steed and would not go forward, for he thought that\nthis was part of the enchantment of Moses.\n\nBut now Gabriel appeared mounted on a mare, and this was the cherub\nRamka.[514] And when the horse of Pharaoh saw the mare of Gabriel, he\nplunged forward and followed the mare into the sea. Then, when the\nEgyptian army saw their king enter fearlessly into one of the channels,\nthey also precipitated themselves into the ways through the deep.\n\nThey advanced till they reached the middle of the Red Sea, and then\nGabriel reined in and turned and unfurled before Pharaoh the order he\nhad given for the destruction of Moses in the water, and it was signed\nby Pharoah and sealed with his own signet.\n\n\u201cSee!\u201d exclaimed the angel, \u201cWhat thou wouldest do to Moses, that shall\nbe done to thee; for thou art but a man, thou who fightest against God.\u201d\n\nThen the twelve heaps of water overwhelmed the host. But Pharaoh\u2019s\nhorse was so fleet of foot that he outfled the returning waters, and\nhe brought the king to the shore. He would have been saved, had not\nGabriel smitten him on the face, and he fell back into the sea and\nperished with the rest. Then said Miriam, as he sank, \u201c_Sing ye to the\nLord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He\nthrown into the sea_.\u201d[515]\n\nAnother curious incident is related by Tabari. When the water reached\nPharaoh, and he knew that he must perish, he cried out, \u201cI believe in\nthe God of Israel!\u201d Gabriel, fearing lest Pharaoh should repeat these\nwords, and that God in His mercy should accept his profession of faith,\nand pardon him, passed his wing over the bottom of the sea, raised the\nearth, and threw it into the mouth of Pharaoh so as to prevent him from\nswallowing again, and said, \u201cNow thou believest, but before thou wast\nrebellious; nevertheless, thou art numbered with the wicked.\u201d[516]\n\nIt was the ninth hour of the day when the children of Israel stood on\ndry land on the further side of the sea.\n\nOn the morrow, the children of Israel assembled around Moses, and said\nto him, \u201cWe do not believe that Pharaoh is drowned, for he had peculiar\npower. He never suffered from headache, nor from fever, nor from any\nsickness, and was internally moved but once a week.\u201d\n\nThen Moses clave the sea asunder with his rod, and they saw Pharaoh and\nall his host dead at the bottom of the sea. The bodies of the Egyptians\nwere covered with armor and much gold and silver, and on the corpse\nof Pharaoh were chains and bracelets of gold. The children of Israel\nwould have spoiled the dead, but Moses forbade them, for he said, \u201cIt\nis lawful to spoil the living, but it is robbery to strip the dead.\u201d\nNevertheless many of the Hebrews went in and took from the Egyptians\nall that was valuable. Then God was wroth, because they had disobeyed\nMoses, and the sea was troubled, and for ten days it raged with fury,\nand even to this day the water is not at rest where the Israelites\ncommitted this sin. And the name of that place at this day is \u201cBab el\nTaquath.\u201d[517]\n\n\n6. THE GIVING OF THE LAW.\n\nAs long as Moses was with them, the Israelites did not venture to make\nidols, but when God summoned Moses into the Mount to talk with Him face\nto face, then they spake to Aaron that he should make a molten god to\ngo before them.\n\nAaron bade them break off their earrings and bracelets and give them\nto him, for he thought that they would be reluctant to part with their\njewels. Nevertheless the people brought their ornaments to him in great\nabundance, and one named Micah cast them into a copper vessel; and when\nthe gold was melted, he threw in a handful of the sand which had been\nunder the hoof of Gabriel\u2019s horse, and there came forth a calf, which\nran about like a living beast, and bellowed; for Sammael (Satan) had\nentered into it. \u201cHere is your god that shall go before you,\u201d cried\nMicah; and all the people fell down and worshipped the golden calf.[518]\n\nAnd when Moses came down from the Mount and drew near to the camp, and\nsaw the calf, and the instruments of music in the hands of the wicked,\nwho were dancing and bowing before it, and Satan among them dancing and\nleaping before the people, the wrath of Moses was suddenly kindled,\nand he cast the tables of the Commandments, which he had received from\nGod on the Mount, out of his hand and brake them at the foot of the\nmountain; but the holy writing that was on them flew, and was carried\naway into the heavens; and he cried and said, \u201cWoe upon the people who\nhave heard from the mouth of the Holy One, \u2018Thou shalt not make to\nthyself any image, a figure, or any likeness;\u2019 and yet at the end of\nforty days make a useless molten calf!\u201d\n\nAnd he took the calf which they had made, and burned it with fire,\nand crushed it to powder, and cast it upon the face of the water\nof the stream, and made the sons of Israel drink; and whoever had\ngiven thereto any trinket of gold, the sign of it came forth upon his\nnostrils.[519]\n\nOf all the children of Israel only twelve thousand were found who had\nnot worshipped the calf.[520]\n\nThe Mussulmans say that the Tables borne by Moses were from ten to\ntwelve cubits in length, and were made, say some, of cedar wood, but\nothers say of ruby, others of carbuncle; but the general opinion is\nthat they were of sapphire or emerald;[521] and the letters were\ngraven within them, not on the surface, so that the words could be\nread on either side. When the golden calf had been pounded to dust,\nMoses made the Israelites drink water in which was the dust, and those\nwho had kissed the idol were marked with gilt lips. Thus the Levites\nwere able to distinguish them; and they slew of them twenty and three\nthousand.[522]\n\nIt is a common tradition among the Jews that the red hair which is by\nno means infrequently met with in the Hebrew race is derived from this\nperiod; all those who had sinned and drank of the water lost their\nblack hair and it became red, and they transmitted the color to their\nposterity.\n\nAnother version of the story is as follows. Samiri (Micah), who had\nfashioned the golden calf, was of the tribe of Levi. When Moses came\ndown from the Mount, he would have beaten Aaron, but his brother said,\n\u201cIt is not I, it is Samiri who made the calf.\u201d Then Moses would have\nslain Samiri, but God forbade him, and ordered him instead to place him\nunder ban.\n\nFrom that time till now, the man wanders, like a wild beast, from one\nend of the earth to the other; every man avoids him, and cleanses the\nearth on which his feet have rested; and when he comes near any man, he\ncries out, \u201cTouch me not!\u201d\n\nBut before Moses drave Samiri out of the camp, he ground the calf to\npowder, and made Samiri pollute it; then he mixed it with the water,\nand gave it to the Israelites to drink. After Samiri had departed,\nMoses interceded with God for the people. But God answered, \u201cI cannot\npardon them, for their sin is yet in them, and it will only be purged\nout by the draught they have drunk.\u201d\n\nWhen Moses returned to the camp, he heard a piteous cry. Many\nIsraelites with yellow faces and livid bodies cast themselves before\nhim, and cried, \u201cHelp! Moses, help! the golden calf consumes our\nintestines; we will repent and die, if the Lord will pardon us.\u201d\n\nSome, really contrite, were healed. Then a black cloud came down on the\ncamp, and all those who were in it fought with one another and slew one\nanother; but upon the innocent the swords had no power. Seven thousand\nidolaters had been slain, when Moses, hearing the cry of the women\nand children, came and prayed; and the cloud vanished, and the sword\nrested.[523]\n\nAccording to some, the complaint caused by swallowing the dust of the\ncalf was jaundice, a complaint which has never ceased from among men\nsince that day. Thus the calf brought two novelties into the world, red\nhair and jaundice.\n\nAnd Moses went up again into the Mount, and took with him seventy\nof the elders. And he besought the Lord, \u201cSuffer me, O Lord, to see\nThee!\u201d[524] But the Lord answered him, \u201cThinkest thou that thou canst\nbehold Me and live?\u201d And He said, \u201cLook at this mountain; I will\ndisplay Myself to this mountain.\u201d\n\nThen the mountain saw God, and it dissolved into fine dust. So Moses\nknew that it was not for him to see God, and he repented that he had\nasked this thing.[525] After that he went with the seventy elders to\nSinai, and a cloud, white and glistening, came down and rested on the\nhead of Moses, and then descended and wholly enveloped him, so that the\nseventy saw him not; and when he was in the cloud, he received again\nthe Tables of the Commandments, and he came forth out of the cloud. But\nthey murmured that they had not also received the revelation. Then the\ncloud enveloped them also, and they heard all the words that had been\nspoken to Moses; and after that they said, \u201cNow we believe, because we\nhave heard with our own ears.\u201d\n\nThen the wrath of God blazed forth, and a thundering was heard so great\nand terrible that they fainted and died. But Moses feared, and he\nprayed to God, and God restored the seventy men to life again, and they\ncame down the Mount with him.[526]\n\nAnd it was at this time that the face of Moses shone with the splendor\nwhich had come upon him from the brightness of the glory of the\nLord\u2019s Shekinah in the time of His speaking with him. And Aaron and\nall the sons of Israel saw Moses, and, behold, the glory of his face\nwas dazzling, so that they were afraid to come near to him. And Moses\ncalled to them, and Aaron, and all the princes of the congregation;\nand he taught them all that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai.\nAnd when Moses spoke with them, he had a veil upon his face; and\nwhen he went up to speak with the Lord, he removed the veil from his\ncountenance until he came forth.[527]\n\nThis was the reason why the face of Moses shone. He saw the light which\nGod had created, whereby Adam was enabled to see from one end of the\nearth to the other. God showed this light now to Moses, and thereby he\nwas able to see to Dan.[528]\n\nWhen Moses went up into the Mount, a cloud received him, and bore him\ninto heaven. On his way, he met the doorkeeper Kemuel, chief of twelve\nthousands of angels of destruction; they were angels of fire; and he\nwould have prevented Moses from advancing: then Moses pronounced the\nName in twelve letters, revealed to him by God from the Burning Bush,\nand the angel and his host recoiled before that word twelve thousand\nleagues. But some say that Moses smote the angel, and wounded him.\n\nA little further, Moses met another angel; this was Hadarniel, who had\na terrible voice, and every word he uttered split into twelve thousand\nlightnings; he reigned six hundred thousand leagues higher than Kemuel.\nMoses, in fear, wept at his voice, and would have fallen out of the\ncloud, had not God restrained him. Then the prophet pronounced the Name\nof seventy-two letters, and the angel fled.\n\nNext he came to the fiery angel Sandalfon, and he would have fallen\nout of the cloud, but God held him up. Then he reached the river of\nflame, called Rigjon, which flows from the beasts which are beneath the\nThrone, and is filled with their sweat; across this God led him.[529]\n\nIt is asserted by the Rabbis that Moses learnt the whole law in the\nforty days that he was in the Mount, but as he descended from the\nimmediate presence of God, he entered the region where stood the angels\nguarding the Mount, and when he saw the Angel of Fear, the Angel of\nSweat, the Angel of Trembling, and the Angel of Cold Shuddering, he\nwas so filled with consternation, that he forgot all that he had\nlearnt. Then God sent the Angel Jephipha, who brought back all to his\nremembrance; and, armed with the law, Moses passed the ranks of all the\nangels, and each gave him some secret or mystery; one the art of mixing\nsimples, one that of reading in the stars, another that of compounding\nantidotes, a fourth the secret of name, or the Kabalistic mystery.[530]\n\nIt is said by the Mussulmans, that when the law was declared to the\nchildren of Israel by Moses, they refused to receive it; then Mount\nSinai rose into the air, and moved above them, and they fled from it;\nbut it followed them, and hung over their heads ready to crush them.\nAnd Moses said, \u201cAccept the law, or the mountain will fall on you and\ndestroy you.\u201d\n\nThen they fell on their faces and placed the right side of the brow and\nright cheek against the ground and looked up with the left eye at the\nmountain that hung above them, and said, \u201cWe will accept the law.\u201d This\nis the manner in which the Jews to this day perform their worship, says\nTabari; they place the brow and right cheek and eye upon the ground,\nand turn the left cheek and eye to heaven, and in this position they\npray.[531]\n\n\n7. THE MANNA. (Exod. xvi.)\n\nAll the time that Israel wandered in the wilderness they were given\nmanna, or angels\u2019 food. This food is ground by the angels in heaven, as\nMoses saw when he was there. For when Moses was in heaven, he knew not\nwhen it was night and when it was day, till he listened to the song of\nthe angels; and when they sang \u201cHoly God,\u201d then he knew it was morning\nbelow on earth; and when they sang \u201cBlessed be thou,\u201d he knew it was\nevening below. Also he observed the angels grinding the manna and\ncasting it down; and then he knew it was night, and they were strewing\nit for the Israelites to gather in the morning.[532] It is in the third\nfirmament, called Schechakim (clouds), that the mills are in which\nmanna is ground.[533] Along with the manna fell pearls and diamonds,\nand on the mountain it was heaped so high that it could be seen from\nafar.[534]\n\nAnd the manna, this bread from heaven, contained in itself all\nsweetness; and whatsoever any man desired to eat, the manna tasted to\nhim as if it were that food.[535] Thus, if any one said, \u201cI wish I had\na fat bird,\u201d the manna tasted like a fat bird. But usually it had the\ntaste of cakes made of oil, honey, and fine flour, according to the\nwords of the Lord, \u201c_My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and\noil, and honey wherewith I fed thee_\u201d (Ezek. xvi. 10).[536] The Targum\nof Palestine thus describes the fall of the manna:--In the morning\nthere was a fall of holy dew, prepared as a table,[537] round about\nthe camp; and the clouds ascended and caused manna to descend upon the\ndew; and there was upon the face of the desert a minute substance in\nlines, minute as the hoar frost upon the ground. And the sons of Israel\nbeheld, and wondered, and said to one another, \u201cMan hu?\u201d (What is it?)\nfor they knew not what it was. And Moses said to them, \u201cIt is the bread\nwhich hath been laid up for you from the beginning in the heavens on\nhigh, and now the Lord will give it you to eat. This is the word which\nthe Lord hath dictated: You are to gather of it; every man according to\nthe number of the persons of his tabernacle.\u201d\n\nAnd the children of Israel did so, and gathered manna more or less. And\nMoses said to them, \u201cLet no man reserve of it till the morning.\u201d\n\nBut some of them, Dathan and Abiram, men of wickedness, did reserve of\nit till the morning; but it produced worms, and putrefied. And they\ngathered from the time of the dawn until the fourth hour of the day;\nwhen the sun had waxed hot upon it, it liquefied and made streams of\nwater, which flowed away into the great sea; and wild animals that were\nclean, and cattle, came to drink of it; and the sons of Israel hunted,\nand ate them.[538]\n\nSome of the Gentiles, the Edomites and Midianites, came up, and, seeing\nthe chosen people eating, they also gathered of the manna and tasted,\nbut it was to them as wormwood.[539]\n\n\n8. THE SMITTEN ROCK. (Exod. xvii. 1-7.)\n\nAnd all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed from the\ndesert of Sin and encamped in Rephidim, a place where their hands were\nidle in the commandments of the law, and the fountains were dry, and\nthere was no water for the people to drink.\n\nAnd the wicked of the people contended with Moses, and said \u201cGive us\nwater that we may drink.\u201d And Moses said to them, \u201cWhy contend ye with\nme? Why tempt ye the Lord?\u201d\n\nBut the people were athirst for water, and the people murmured against\nMoses and said, \u201cWhy hast thou made us come up out of Egypt to kill us,\nand our children, and our cattle, with thirst?\u201d\n\nAnd Moses prayed before the Lord, saying, \u201cWhat shall I do for this\npeople? Yet a little while, and they will stone me.\u201d\n\nAnd the Lord said to Moses, \u201cPass over before the people, and take the\nrod, with which thou didst smite the river, in thine hand, and go from\nthe face of their murmuring. Behold, I will stand before thee there,\non the spot where thou sawest the impression of the foot on Horeb; and\nthou shalt smite the rock with thy rod, and therefrom shall come forth\nwaters for drinking, and the people shall drink.\u201d\n\nAnd Moses did so before the Elders of Israel. And he called the name of\nthat place Temptation and Strife; because the people strove with him\nthere, and tempted God.[540]\n\nTabari gives these particulars concerning the smitten rock. In the\ndesert there was no water. Moses prayed to God, and He commanded him to\nstrike a rock with his staff.\n\nSome say that this was an ordinary stone in the desert, others that\nit was a stone from Sinai which Moses carried about with him that he\nmight stand on it whenever he prayed. Moses struck the rock, and twelve\nstreams spouted from it.\n\nThen Moses said, \u201cYou have manna and quails in abundance, gather only\nsufficient for the day, and you shall have fresh on the morrow.\u201d But\nthey would not obey his word; therefore the Lord withdrew the birds,\nand the people were famished. Then Moses besought the Lord, and the\nquails were restored to them. And this is how the quails fell in the\ncamp.[541] A wind smote them as they flew over the camp, and broke\ntheir wings.\n\nThen the people murmured again, and said to Moses, \u201cThe heat is\nintolerable, we cannot endure it.\u201d\n\nSo he prayed, and God sent a cloud to overshadow Israel; and it gave\nthem cool shade all the day.[542]\n\nAfter that they complained, \u201cWe want clothes.\u201d Then God wrought a\nmarvel, and their clothes waxed not old and ragged, nor did their shoes\nwear out, nor did dirt and dust settle on their garments.[543]\n\nIt is also commonly related that the rock followed the Israelites,\nlike the pillar of fire and the manna, all the time they went through\nthe wilderness; to this tradition S. Paul alludes when he says, \u201c_They\ndrank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was\nChrist._\u201d[544]\n\n\n9. MOSES VISITS EL KHOUDR.\n\nOne day, say the Mussulmans, Moses boasted before Joshua of his wisdom.\nThen said God to him, \u201cGo to the place where the sea of the Greeks\njoins the Persian Gulf, and there you will find one who surpasses you\nin wisdom.\u201d\n\nMoses therefore announced to the Hebrews, who continued their murmurs,\nthat, in punishment for their stiffneckedness and rebellion, they were\ncondemned by God to wander for forty years in the desert.\n\nThen having asked God how he should recognize the wise man of whom God\nhad spoken to him, he was bidden take a fish in a basket; \u201cand,\u201d said\nGod, \u201cthe fish will lead thee to my faithful servant.\u201d\n\nMoses went on his way with Joshua, having the fish in a basket. In the\nevening he arrived on the shore of the sea and fell asleep.\n\nWhen he awoke in the morning, Joshua forgot to take the fish, and\nMoses not regarding it, they had advanced far on their journey before\nthey remembered that they had neglected the basket and fish. Then they\nreturned and sought where they had slept, but they found the basket\nempty. As they were greatly troubled at this loss, they saw the fish\nbefore them, standing upright like a man, in the sea; and it led them,\nand they followed along the coast; and they did not stay till their\nguide suddenly vanished.\n\nSupposing that they had reached their destination, they explored the\nneighborhood, and found a cave, at the entrance to which were inscribed\nthese words, \u201cIn the Name of the all-powerful and all-merciful God.\u201d\nJoshua and Moses, entering this cavern, found a man seated there,\nfresh and blooming, but with white hair and a long white beard which\ndescended to his feet. This was the prophet El Khoudr.\n\nSome say he was the same as Elias, some that he was Jeremiah, some that\nhe was Lot, and some that he was Jonah. The greatest uncertainty reigns\nas to who El Khoudr really is. All that is known of him is that he went\nwith Alexander the Two-horned, to the West, and drank of the fountain\nof immortality, and thenceforth he lives an undying life, ever fresh,\nbut also marked with the signs of a beautiful old age.\n\nEl Khoudr derives his name from the circumstance of his having sat on\na bare stone, and when he rose from it the stone was green and covered\nwith grass.[545]\n\nIn later times he was put to death for the true faith with various\nhorrible tortures, by an idolatrous king, but he revived after each\nexecution.\n\nThe explanation of the mystery of El Khoudr is this. He is the old\nSun-god Thammuz of the Sab\u00e6ans, and when he was dethroned by Mohammed,\nhe sank in popular tradition to the level of a prophet, and all the old\nmyths of the Sun-god were related of the prophet.\n\nHis wandering to the West is the sun setting there; his drinking there\nof the well of immortality is the sun plunging into the sea. His\nclothing the dry rock with grass is significant of the power of the sun\nover vegetation. His torments are figures of the sun setting, in storm,\nin flames of crimson, or swallowed by the black thunder-cloud: but from\nall his perils he rises again in glory in the eastern sky.[546]\n\nMoses said to El Khoudr, \u201cTake me for thy disciple, permit me to\naccompany thee, and to admire the wisdom God hath given thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou canst not understand it,\u201d answered the venerable man. \u201cMoreover,\nthy stay with me is short.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will be patient and submissive,\u201d said Moses; \u201cfor God\u2019s sake, reject\nme not.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou mayest follow me,\u201d said the sage. \u201cBut ask me no questions, and\nwait till I give thee, at my pleasure, the sense of that which thou\ncomprehendest not.\u201d\n\nMoses accepted the condition, and El Khoudr led him to the sea, where\nwas a ship at anchor. The prophet took a hatchet, and cut two timbers\nout of her side, so that she foundered.\n\n\u201cWhat art thou doing?\u201d asked Moses; \u201cthe people on board the ship will\nbe drowned.\u201d\n\n\u201cDid I not say to thee that thou wouldst not remain patient for long?\u201d\nsaid the sage.\n\n\u201cPardon me,\u201d said Moses; \u201cI forgot what I had promised.\u201d\n\nEl Khoudr continued his course. Soon they met a beautiful child who was\nplaying with shells on the sea-shore. The prophet took a knife which\nhung at his girdle, and cut the throat of the child.\n\n\u201cWherefore hast thou killed the innocent?\u201d asked Moses, in horror.\n\n\u201cDid I not say to thee,\u201d repeated El Khoudr, \u201cthat thy journey with me\nwould be short?\u201d\n\n\u201cPardon me once more,\u201d said Moses; \u201cif I raise my voice again, drive me\nfrom thee.\u201d\n\nAfter having continued their journey for some way, they arrived at a\nlarge town, hungry and tired. But no one would take them in, or give\nthem food, except for money.\n\nEl Khoudr, seeing that the wall of a large house, from which he had\nbeen driven away, menaced ruin, set it up firmly, and then retired.\nMoses was astonished, and said, \u201cThou hast done the work of several\nmasons for many days. Ask for a wage which will pay for our lodging.\u201d\n\nThen answered the old man, \u201cWe must separate. But before we part, I\nwill explain what I have done. The ship which I injured belongs to a\npoor family. If it had sailed, it would have fallen into the hands of\npirates. The injury I did can be easily repaired, and the delay will\nsave the vessel for those worthy people who own her. The child I killed\nhad a bad disposition, and it would have corrupted its parents. In its\nplace God will give them pious children. The house which I repaired\nbelongs to orphans, whose father was a man of substance. It has been\nlet to unworthy people. Under the wall is hidden a treasure. Had the\ntenants mended the wall, they would have found and kept the treasure.\nNow the wall will stand till its legitimate owners come into the house,\nwhen they will find the treasure. Thou seest I have not acted blindly\nand foolishly.\u201d\n\nMoses asked pardon of the prophet, and he returned to his people in the\nwilderness.[547]\n\nThe same story, with some variation in the incidents, is related in the\nTalmud.\n\nGod, seeing Moses uneasy, called him to the summit of a mountain,\nand deigned to explain to him how He governed the world. He bade the\nprophet look upon the earth. He saw a fountain flowing at the foot of\nthe mountain. A soldier went to it to drink. A young man came next to\nthe fountain, and finding a purse of gold, which the soldier had left\nthere by accident, he kept it and went his way.\n\nThe soldier, having lost his purse, returned to search for it, and\ndemanded it of an old man whom he found seated by the spring. The old\nman protested that he had not found it, and called God to witness the\ntruth of his assertion. But the soldier disbelieving him, drew his\nsword upon him and killed him.\n\nMoses was filled with horror. But God said to him: \u201cBe not surprised at\nthis event; this old man had murdered the father of the soldier; the\nsoldier would have wasted the money in riotous living; in the hands of\nthe youth it will serve to nourish his aged parents, who are dying of\npoverty.\u201d[548]\n\n\n10. THE MISSION OF THE SPIES. (Numb. xiii. xiv.)\n\nAnd the Lord spake with Moses, saying, \u201cSend thou keen-sighted men men\nwho may explore the land of Canaan, which I will give to the children\nof Israel; one man for each tribe of their fathers shalt thou send from\nthe presence of all their leaders.\u201d\n\nAnd Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran; all of them acute\nmen, who had been appointed heads over the sons of Israel. And Moses\nsaid to them, \u201cGo up on this side by the south, and ascend the\nmountain, and survey the country, what it is, and the people who dwell\nin it; whether they be strong or weak, few or many; what the land is in\nwhich they dwell, whether good or bad; what the cities they inhabit,\nwhether they live in towns that are open or walled; and the reputation\nof the land, whether its productions are rich or poor, and the trees\nof it be fruitful or not; and do valiantly, and bring back some of the\nfruit of the land.\u201d\n\nAnd the day on which they went was the nineteenth of the month Sivan,\nabout the days of the first grapes. They came to the stream of the\ngrapes in Eshkol, and cut from thence a branch, with one cluster of\ngrapes, and carried it on a rod between two men; and also of the\npomegranates, and of the figs; and the wine dropped from them like a\nstream.[549]\n\nAnd when they returned, they related, \u201cWe have seen the land which\nwe are to conquer with the sword, and it is good and fruitful. The\nstrongest camel is scarcely able to carry one bunch of grapes; one ear\nof corn yields enough to feed a whole family; and one pomegranate shell\ncould contain five armed men. But the inhabitants of the land and their\ncities are in keeping with the productions of the soil. We saw men,\nthe smallest of whom was six hundred cubits high. They were astonished\nat us on account of our diminutive stature, and laughed at us. Their\nhouses are also in proportion, walled up to heaven, so that an eagle\ncould hardly soar above them.\u201d[550]\n\nWhen the spies had given this report, the Israelites murmured, and\nsaid, \u201cWe are not able to go up to the people, for they are stronger\nthan we.\u201d\n\nAnd the spies said, \u201cThe country is a land that killeth its inhabitants\nwith diseases; and all the people who are in it are giants, masters of\nevil ways. And we appeared as locusts before them.\u201d\n\nAnd all the congregation lifted up their voices and wept; and it was\nconfirmed that that day, the ninth of the month Ab, should be one of\nweeping for ever to that people; and it has ever after been one of a\nsuccession of calamities in the history of the Jews.\n\n\u201cWould that we had died in the land of Egypt,\u201d said the people; \u201cwould\nthat we had died in the wilderness. Why has the Lord brought us into\nthis land, to fall by the sword of the Canaanites, and our wives and\nlittle ones to become a prey?\u201d[551]\n\nThen the Lord was wroth with the spies, and the earth opened her mouth\nand swallowed them up, saving only Joshua and Caleb, who had not given\nan evil report of the land.[552]\n\nThe account of the Targum of Palestine is different. The Targum says\nthat the men who had brought an evil report of the land died on the\nseventh day of the month Elul, with worms coming from their navels, and\nwith worms devouring their tongues.[553]\n\nThe Rabbis relate that though for the wickedness of men the\nfruitfulness of the Holy Land diminished, yet in places it remained as\ngreat as of old. \u201cThe Raf Chiji, son of Ada, was the teacher of the\nchildren of the Resch Lakisch; and once he was absent three days, and\nthe children were without instruction. When he returned, the Resch\nLakisch asked him why he had been so long absent. He answered, \u2018My\nfather sent me to his vine, which is bound to a tree, and I gathered\nfrom it, the first day, three hundred bunches of grapes, which gave as\nmuch juice as would fill two hundred and eighty and eight egg-shells\n(three gerabhs). Next day I cut three hundred bunches, of which two\ngave one gerabh. The third day I cut three hundred bunches, which\nyielded one gerabh of juice; and I left more than half the bunches\nuncut.\u2019 Then said the Resch Lakisch to him, \u2018If thou hadst been more\ndiligent in the education of my children, the vine would have yielded\nyet more.\u2019\n\n\u201cRami, son of Ezechiel, once went to the inhabitants of Berak, and\nsaw goats feeding under the fig-trees, and the milk flowed from their\nudders, and the honey dropped from the figs, and the two mingled in one\nstream. Then he said, \u2018This is the land promised to our forefathers,\nflowing with milk and honey.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe Rabbi Jacob, son of Dosethai, said that from Lud to Ono is three\nmiles, and in the morning twilight I started on my way, and I was over\nankles in honey out of the figs.\n\n\u201cThe Resch Lakisch said that he had himself seen a stream of milk and\nhoney in the neighborhood of Zippori, sixteen miles long and the same\nbreadth.\n\n\u201cThe Rabbi Chelbo and Rabbi Avera and Rabbi Jose, son of Hannina, once\ncame to a place where they were offered a honeycomb as large as the\nfrying-pan of the village Heiro; they ate a portion, they gave their\nasses a portion, and they distributed a portion to any one who would\ntake it.\n\n\u201cRabbi Joshua, son of Levi, once came to Gabla, and saw grape-bunches\nin a vineyard, as big as calves, hanging between the vines, and he\nsaid, \u2018The calves are in the vineyard.\u2019 But the inhabitants told him\nthey were grapes. Then said he, \u2018O land, land! withdraw thy fruits. Do\nnot offer to these heathen those fruits which have been taken from us\non account of our sins.\u2019\n\n\u201cA year after, Rabbi Chija passed that way, and he saw the bunches like\ngoats. So he said, \u2018The goats are in the vineyard.\u2019 But the inhabitants\nsaid, \u2018They are grape-bunches; depart from us and do not unto us as did\nyour fellow last year.\u2019\u201d[554]\n\n\n11. OF KORAH AND HIS COMPANY. (Numb. xvi.)\n\nAnd the Lord said to Moses, \u201cSpeak to the sons of Israel, and bid them\nmake fringes not of threads, nor of yarn, nor of fibre, but after a\npeculiar fashion shall they make them. They shall cut off the heads\nof the filaments, and suspend by five ligatures, four in the midst of\nthree, upon the four corners of their garments, and they shall put\nupon the edge of their garments a border of blue (or embroidery of\nhyacinth).\u201d[555]\n\nBut Korah, son of Ezhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, with Dathan and\nAbiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben,\nrefused to wear the blue border.\n\nMoses had said, \u201cThe fringes are to be of white, with one line of\nblue;\u201d but Korah said, \u201cI will make mine altogether of blue;\u201d and the\ntwo hundred and fifty men of the sons of Israel, who had been leaders\nof the congregation at the time when the journeys and encampments were\nappointed, supported Korah.[556]\n\nKorah was a goldsmith, and Moses greatly honored him, for he was his\ncousin, and the handsomest man of all Israel. When Moses returned from\nthe mount, he bade Korah destroy the calf; but the fire would not\nconsume it. Then Moses prayed and God showed him the philosopher\u2019s\nstone, which is a plant that grows in great abundance by the shores\nof the Red Sea, but none knew of its virtues before. Now, this plant\nturns metals into gold, and also if a twig of it be cast into gold, it\ndissolves it away. Moses instructed Korah in the virtues of this herb.\nThen Korah dissolved the calf by means of it, but he also used it to\nconvert base metals into gold, and thus he became very rich.\n\nKorah had great quantities of this herb, and he made vast stores of\ngold. He accumulated treasures. What he desired he bought, and he\nsurrounded himself with servants clad in cloth of gold. He built brick\nhouses with brass doors, and filled them to the roof with gold, and he\nmade his servants walk before him with the keys of his treasure-houses\nhung round their necks. He had twenty men carrying these keys; and\nstill he increased in wealth, so he placed the keys on camels; and when\nhe still built more treasuries and turned more substance into gold, he\nincreased the number of keys to such an extent that he had sixty camel\nloads of them. Moses knew whence Korah derived his wealth, but the rest\nof the congregation of Israel knew not.\n\nAfter that, Korah did that which was wrong, and he broke the\ncommandment of Moses, and would have no blue border on his servants\u2019\ntunics, but habited them in scarlet, and mounted them on red horses.\nNeither did he confine himself to the meats which Moses permitted as\nclean.\n\nThen God ordered Moses to ask Korah to give one piece of money for\nevery thousand that he possessed. But Korah refused. This state of\naffairs continued ten years. When his destiny was accomplished, he was\nlifted up with pride, and he resolved to humble Moses before all the\npeople.\n\nNow, there was among the children of Israel a woman of bad character.\nKorah gave her large bribes, and said to her, \u201cI will assemble all the\ncongregation, and bring Moses before them, and do thou bring a false\naccusation against him.\u201d\n\nThe woman consented.\n\nThen Korah did as he had said; and when all the assembly of Israel was\ngathered together, he spake against Moses all that the lying witness\nhad invented. Then he brought forth the woman. But when she saw all the\nelders of the congregation before her, she feared, and she said, \u201cKorah\nhath suborned me with gold to speak false witness against Moses, to\ncause him to be put to death.\u201d\n\nAnd when Korah was thus convicted, Moses cried, \u201cGet yourselves up and\nseparate from him.\u201d Then all the people fled away from him on either\nside. And the earth opened her lips and closed them on Korah\u2019s feet to\nthe ankles.\n\nBut Korah laughed, and said, \u201cWhat magic is this?\u201d\n\nMoses cried, \u201cEarth, seize him!\u201d\n\nThen the earth seized him to his knees.\n\nKorah said, \u201cO Moses! ask the earth to release me, and I will do all\nthou desirest of me.\u201d\n\nBut Moses was very wroth, and he would not hearken, but cried, \u201cEarth\nseize him!\u201d\n\nThen the earth seized him to the waist.\n\nKorah pleaded for his life. He said, \u201cI will do all thou desirest of\nme, only release me!\u201d\n\nBut Moses cried again, \u201cEarth, seize him!\u201d\n\nAnd the earth gulped him down as far as his breast, and his hands were\nunder the earth.\n\nOnce more he cried, \u201cMoses! spare me and release me, because of our\nrelationship!\u201d\n\nMoses was filled with bitterness, and he bade the earth swallow him;\nand he went down quick into the pit, and was seen no more.\n\nThen, when Moses was returning thanks to God, the Lord turned His face\naway from him and said, \u201cThy servant asked of thee forgiveness so many\ntimes, and thou didst not forgive him.\u201d\n\nMoses answered, \u201cO Lord, I desired that he should ask pardon of Thee\nand not of me.\u201d\n\nThe Lord said, \u201cIf he had cried but once to Me, I would have forgiven\nhim.\u201d[557]\n\nThe earth swallowed Korah and seventy men, and they are retained in the\nearth along with all his treasures till the Resurrection Day.\n\nEvery Thursday, Korah, Dathan and Abiram go before the Messiah, and\nthey ask, \u201cWhen wilt Thou come and release us from our prison? When\nwill the end of these wonders be?\u201d\n\nBut the Messiah answers them, \u201cGo and ask the Patriarchs;\u201d but this\nthey are ashamed to do.[558]\n\nThey sit in the third mansion of Sheol, not in any lowest one; nor are\nthey there tormented, because Korah promised to hear and obey Moses, as\nhe was being engulfed.[559]\n\nThe Arabic name for Korah is Karoun, and under this name he has\nreturned to Rabbinic legends, and the identity of Korah and Karoun has\nnot been observed.\n\nThe Rabbis relate of Karoun that he is an evil angel, and that Moses\ndug a deep pit for him in the land of Gad, and cast him into it. But\nwhenever the Israelites sinned, Karoun crept out of his subterranean\ndwelling and plagued them.[560]\n\nThis is a curious instance of allegorizing upon a false interpretation\nof a name. The Karoun of the Mussulmans is clearly identical with\nKorah, but Karoun in Hebrew means Anger, and Karoun was supposed to be\nthe Angel of the Anger of the Lord, and the story of his emerging from\nhis pit to punish the sinful Israelites is simply a figurative mode of\nsaying that the anger of the Lord came upon them.\n\n\n12. THE WARS OF THE ISRAELITES.\n\nThe children of Israel had many foes to contend with. Amongst these\nwere the Amorites. They hid in caves to form an ambuscade against the\npeople of God, intending, when the Israelites had penetrated into a\ndefile between two mountains, to sally forth upon them and to overthrow\nthem. But they did not know that the ark went before Israel, smoothing\nthe rough places and levelling the mountains.[561] Now, when the ark\ndrew near the place where the ambush was, the mountains fell in upon\nthe Amorites, and the Israelites passed on, and knew not that they had\nbeen delivered from a great danger. But there were two lepers named\nEth and Hav, who followed the camp and they saw the blood bubbling out\nfrom under the mountain; and thus the fate of the Amorites was made\nknown.[562]\n\nThe Israelites found a redoubtable enemy in Og, king of Bashan, who was\none of the giants who had been saved from the old world by clambering\non the roof of the ark; but his weight had so depressed the vessel,\nthat Noah was obliged to turn out the hippopotamus and rhinoceros to\npreserve the ark from foundering.\n\nOg determined to destroy Moses. Moses was ten cubits in height, and\nwhen Og came against him, he took a hatchet of ten cubits\u2019 length, and\nhe made a jump into the air, and hit Og on the ankle. Og tore up a\nmountain, and put it on his head to throw it upon Moses; but the ants\nate out the inside of the mountain, and it sank over Og\u2019s head to his\nneck, and he could not draw his head out, for his teeth grew into tusks\nand thrust through the mountain, and he was blinded and caught as in a\ntrap. Thus Moses was able to slay him.[563]\n\nSome further details on Og, furnished by the Rabbis, will assist the\nreader in estimating the powers of Moses.\n\nAt one meal, Og ate a thousand oxen and as many wild roes, and his\ndrink was a thousand firkins; one drop of the sweat from his brow\nweighed thirty-six pounds.[564] Of his size the following authentic\ndetails are given. The Rabbi Johanan said, \u201cI was once a grave-digger,\nand I ran after a deer, and went in at one end of a shin-bone of a dead\nman, and I ran for three miles and could not catch the deer or reach\nthe end of the bone. When I went back, I inquired, and was told that\nthis was the shin-bone of Og, king of Bashan.\u201d[565] The sole of his\nfoot was forty miles long. Once, when he was quarrelling with Abraham,\none of his teeth fell out, and Abraham made a bed out of the tooth, and\nslept in it; but some say he made a chair out of it.[566]\n\nWhen the Israelites came to Edrei and fought against it, in the night\nOg came and sat down on the wall, and his feet reached the ground. Next\nmorning Moses looked out and said, \u201cI do not understand how the men of\nEdrei can have built a second wall so high during the night.\u201d\n\nThen it was revealed to him that what he had taken for a wall was\nOg.[567] Og had built sixty cities, and the smallest was sixty miles\nhigh. These cities were in Argob.[568]\n\nThe Moabites also resisted Israel, and they were encouraged by Balaam\nthe son of Beor.\n\nBalak, king of Moab, sent to Balaam to curse Israel. Then Balaam rose\nin the morning and made ready his ass, and went with the princes of\nMoab. The Mussulman account is that Balaam, having been told by God\nnot to go, resolved to obey, but the princes of Moab bribed his wife,\nand she gave him no peace till he consented to go to Balak with his\nmessengers.[569] But the anger of the Lord was kindled, because he\nwould go to curse them, and the angel of the Lord stood in the way to\nbe an adversary to him. But he sat upon his ass, and his two sons,\nJannes and Jambres, were with him.\n\nAnd the ass discerned the angel of the Lord standing in the way with a\ndrawn sword in his hand, and the ass turned aside out of the road to\ngo into the field; and Balaam smote the ass. And the angel of the Lord\nstood in a narrow path that was in the midst between the vineyards,\nin the place where Jacob and Laban raised the mound, the pillars on\nthis side and the observatory on that side,[570] that neither should\npass the limit to do evil to the other. And as the ass discerned the\nangel of the Lord, and thrust herself against the hedge, and bruised\nBalaam\u2019s foot by the hedge, he smote her again. Ten things were created\nafter the world had been founded at the coming in of the Sabbath\nbetween sunset and sunrise,--the manna, the well, the rod of Moses, the\ndiamond, the rainbow, the cloud of glory, the mouth of the earth, the\nwriting on the tables of the covenant, the demons, and the speaking ass.\n\nThen the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said to Balaam,\n\u201cWhat have I done to thee, that thou hast smitten me twice?\u201d\n\nAnd Balaam said to the ass, \u201cBecause thou hast been false to me; if\nthere were now a sword in my hand, I would kill thee.\u201d\n\nAnd the ass said to Balaam, \u201cWoe to thee, wanting in understanding!\nBehold thou hast not power with all thy skill to curse me, an unclean\nbeast, which am to die in this world and not to enter the world to\ncome; how much less canst thou curse the children of Abraham, Isaac and\nJacob, on whose account the world was created.\u201d[571]\n\nBalaam finding that he could not curse the people, and that they were\nunder the protection of the Most High, saw that the only way to ruin\nthem was by leading them into sin. Therefore he advised Balak, and the\nking appointed the daughter of the Midianites for the tavern-booths\nat Beth Jeshimoth, by the snow mountain, where they sold sweetmeats\ncheaper than their price. And Israel trafficked with them for their\nsweet cakes; and when the maidens brought out the image of Peor from\ntheir bundles, the Israelites did not notice it to take it away, and\nbecoming accustomed to it they went on to sacrifice to it.[572]\n\nAnd Moses saw one of the sons of Israel come by, holding a Midianitess\nby the hand, and Moses rebuked him. Then said the man, \u201cWhat is it that\nis wrong in this? Didst not thou thyself take to wife a Midianitess,\nthe daughter of Jethro?\u201d\n\nWhen Moses heard this, he trembled and swooned away. But Phinehas\ncried, \u201cWhere are the lions of the tribe of Judah?\u201d and he took a lance\nin his hand, and slew the man and the woman.\n\nTwelve miracles were wrought for Phinehas, but they need not be\nrepeated here.[573]\n\nThen all the Israelites went forth against the Midianites and defeated\nthem; and when they numbered the slain, Balaam and his sons were\ndiscovered among the dead.\n\n\n13. THE DEATH OF AARON. (Numb. xx. 22-29.)\n\nMoses was full of grief when the word of the Lord came to him that\nAaron, his brother, was to die. That night he had no rest, and when it\nbegan to dawn towards morning, he rose and went to the tent of Aaron.\n\nAaron was much surprised to see his brother come in so early, and he\nsaid, \u201cWherefore art thou come?\u201d\n\nMoses answered, \u201cAll night long have I been troubled, and have had no\nsleep, for certain things in the Law came upon me, and they seemed to\nme to be heavy and unendurable; I have come to thee that thou shouldst\nrelieve my mind.\u201d So they opened the book together and read from the\nfirst word; and at every sentence they said, \u201cThat is holy, and great,\nand righteous.\u201d\n\nSoon they came to the history of Adam; and Moses stayed from reading\nwhen he arrived at the Fall, and he cried bitterly, \u201cO Adam, thou hast\nbrought death into the world!\u201d\n\nAaron said, \u201cWhy art thou so troubled thereat, my brother? Is not death\nthe way to Eden?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is however very painful. Think also that both thou and I must some\nday die. How many years thinkest thou we shall live?\u201d\n\n_Aaron._--\u201cPerhaps twenty.\u201d\n\n_Moses._--\u201cOh no! not so many.\u201d\n\n_Aaron._--\u201cThen fifteen.\u201d\n\n_Moses._--\u201cNo, my brother, not so many.\u201d\n\n_Aaron._--\u201cThen ten years.\u201d\n\n_Moses._--\u201cNo, not so many.\u201d\n\n_Aaron._--\u201cThen surely it must be five.\u201d\n\n_Moses._--\u201cI say again, not so many.\u201d\n\nThen said Aaron, hesitating, \u201cIs it then one?\u201d\n\nAnd Moses said, \u201cNot so much.\u201d\n\nFull of anxiety and alarm, Aaron kept silence. Then said Moses gently,\n\u201cO my beloved! would it not be good to say of thee as it was said of\nAbraham, that he was gathered to his fathers in peace?\u201d Aaron was\nsilent.\n\nThen said Moses, \u201cIf God were to say that thou shouldst die in a\nhundred years, what wouldst thou say?\u201d\n\nAaron said, \u201cThe Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all his\nworks.\u201d\n\n_Moses._--\u201cAnd if God were to say to thee that thou shouldst die this\nyear, what wouldst thou answer?\u201d\n\n_Aaron._--\u201cThe Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all his\nworks.\u201d\n\n_Moses._--\u201cAnd if He were to call thee to-day, what wouldst thou say?\u201d\n\n_Aaron._--\u201cThe Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His\nworks.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said Moses, \u201carise and follow me.\u201d\n\nAt that same hour went forth Moses, Aaron, and Eleazer, his son; they\nascended into Mount Hor, and the people looked on, nothing doubting,\nfor they knew not what was to take place.\n\nThen said the Most High to His angels, \u201cBehold the new Isaac; he\nfollows his younger brother, who leads him to death.\u201d\n\nWhen they had reached the summit of the mountain, there opened before\nthem a cavern. They went in and found a death-bed prepared by the hands\nof the angels. Aaron laid himself down upon it and made ready for\ndeath.\n\nThen Moses cried out in grief, \u201cWoe is me! we were two, when we\ncomforted our sister in her death; in this, thy last hour, I am with\nthee to solace thee; when I die, who will comfort me?\u201d\n\nThen a voice was heard from heaven, \u201cFear not; God himself will be with\nthee.\u201d\n\nOn one side stood Moses, on the other Eleazer, and they kissed the\ndying man on the brow, and took from off him his sacerdotal vestments\nto clothe Eleazer his son with them. They took off one portion of the\nsacred apparel, and they laid that on Eleazer; and then they removed\nanother portion, and laid that on Eleazer; and as they stripped Aaron,\na silvery veil of clouds sank over him like a pall and covered him.\n\nAaron seemed to be asleep.\n\nThen Moses said, \u201cMy brother, what dost thou feel?\u201d\n\n\u201cI feel nothing but the cloud that envelopes me,\u201d answered he.\n\nAfter a little pause, Moses said again, \u201cMy brother, what dost thou\nfeel?\u201d\n\nHe answered feebly, \u201cThe cloud surrounds me and bereaves me of all joy.\u201d\n\nAnd the soul of Aaron was parted from his body. And as it went up Moses\ncried once more, \u201cAlas, my brother! what dost thou feel?\u201d\n\nAnd the soul replied, \u201cI feel such joy, that I would it had come to me\nsooner.\u201d\n\nThen cried Moses, \u201cOh thou blessed, peaceful death! Oh, may such a\ndeath be my lot!\u201d\n\nMoses and Eleazer came down alone from the mountain, and the people\nwailed because Aaron was no more. But the coffin of Aaron rose, borne\nby angels, in the sight of the whole congregation, and was carried into\nheaven, whilst the angels sang: \u201cThe priest\u2019s lips have kept knowledge,\nhave spoken truth!\u201d[574]\n\nThe Mussulman story is not quite the same.\n\nOne version is that both Moses and Aaron ascended Hor, knowing that one\nof them was to die, but uncertain which, and they found a cave, and a\nsarcophagus therein with the inscription on it, \u201cI am for him whom I\nfit.\u201d\n\nMoses tried to lie down in it, but his feet hung out; Aaron next\nentered it, lay down, and it fitted him exactly.\n\nThen Gabriel led Moses and the sons of Aaron out of the cave, and when\nthey were again admitted Aaron was dead.[575]\n\nAnother version is this: God announced to Moses that he would call\nAaron to Himself. Then Moses took his brother from the camp, and they\nwent into the desert, till they came to a tree. When Aaron saw the\nshadow, he said, \u201cO my brother, whose tree is this?\u201d\n\nMoses said, \u201cGod alone knows.\u201d\n\nThen spake Aaron, \u201cI am weary, and the shadow is cool; suffer me to\nrepose a little while under the tree.\u201d\n\nMoses said, \u201cLie down my brother; and may thy rest be sweet.\u201d\n\nAaron lay down, and Moses sat by him till he died.\n\nThen suddenly the tree, the shadow, and Aaron vanished; and Moses\nreturned alone to the Israelites. They were angry with him, that he\nhad not brought back Aaron, and they took up stones against him. But\nMoses cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed them Aaron on a bed, and\nhe was dead; and the people looked, and wondered, and wept: then said a\nvoice from heaven, \u201cGod hath taken him.\u201d The people bewailed him many\ndays.[576]\n\n\n14. THE DEATH OF MOSES.\n\nWhen the time came for Moses to die, the Lord called Gabriel to Him,\nand said, \u201cGo and bring the soul of My servant Moses to Paradise.\u201d\n\nThe angel Gabriel answered in astonishment, \u201cLord, Lord, how can I\nventure to give death to that man, the like of whom all generations of\nmen have not seen?\u201d\n\nThen the Most High called to Him Michael, and said, \u201cGo and bring the\nsoul of My servant Moses to Paradise.\u201d\n\nThe angel Michael answered in fear, \u201cLord, Lord, I was his instructor\nin heavenly lore! How can I bear death to my pupil?\u201d\n\nThen the Most High called to Him Sammael, and said, \u201cGo and bring the\nsoul of My servant Moses to Paradise.\u201d\n\nThe angel Sammael flushed red with joy. He clothed himself in anger,\nand grasped his sword, and rushed down upon the holy one. But he found\nhim writing the incommunicable name of God, and he saw his face shine\nwith divine light. Then he stood irresolute, and his sword sank with\nthe point to earth.\n\n\u201cWhat seekest thou?\u201d asked Moses.\n\n\u201cI am sent to give thee death,\u201d answered the trembling angel. \u201cAll\nmortals must submit to that.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut not I,\u201d said Moses, \u201cat least from thee; I, consecrated from my\nmother\u2019s womb, the discloser of divine mysteries, the mouthpiece of\nGod, I will not surrender my soul into thy hand.\u201d\n\nThen Sammael flew away.\n\nBut a voice fell from heaven, \u201cMoses, Moses, thine hour is come!\u201d\n\n\u201cMy Lord,\u201d answered Moses, \u201cgive not my soul into the hands of the\nAngel of Death.\u201d\n\nThen the Bath-kol, the heavenly voice, fell again, \u201cBe comforted. I\nmyself will take thy soul, and I myself will bury thee.\u201d[577]\n\nThen Moses went home, and knocked at the door. His wife Zipporah\nopened; and when she saw him pale and trembling, she inquired the\nreason.\n\nMoses answered, \u201cGive God the praise. My hour of death is come.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat! must a man who has spoken with God die like ordinary mortals?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe must. Even the angels Gabriel, Michael, and Israfiel must die; God\nalone is eternal, and dies not.\u201d\n\nZipporah wept and swooned away.\n\nWhen she recovered her senses, Moses asked, \u201cWhere are my children?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey are put to bed, and are asleep.\u201d\n\n\u201cWake them up; I must bid them farewell.\u201d\n\nZipporah went to the children\u2019s bed and cried, \u201cArise, poor orphans!\narise and bid your father farewell; for this is his last day in this\nworld, and the first in the world beyond.\u201d\n\nThe children awoke in terror, and cried, \u201cAlas! who will pity us when\nwe are fatherless? who will stand protector on our threshold?\u201d\n\nMoses was so moved that he wept. Then God said to him, \u201cWhat mean these\ntears? Fearest thou death, or dost thou part reluctantly with this\nworld?\u201d\n\n\u201cI fear not death, nor do I part reluctantly with this world; but I\nlament these children, who have lost their grandfather Jethro and their\nuncle Aaron, and who now must lose their father.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn whom then did thy mother confide, when she cast thee in the bulrush\nark into the water?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn Thee, O Lord.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho gave thee power before Pharaoh? who strengthened thee with thy\nstaff to divide the sea?\u201d\n\n\u201cThou, O Lord.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho led thee through the wilderness, and gave thee bread from heaven,\nand opened to thee the rock of flint?\u201d\n\n\u201cThou, O Lord.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen canst thou not trust thy orphans to Me, who am a father to the\nfatherless? But go, take thy staff, and extend it once more over the\nsea, and thou shalt have a sign to strengthen thy wavering faith.\u201d\n\nMoses obeyed. He took the rod of God in his hand, and he went down\nto the sea-beach, and he lifted the rod over the water. Then the sea\ndivided, and he saw in the midst a black rock. And he went forward into\nthe sea till he reached the rock, and then a voice said to him, \u201cSmite\nwith thy staff!\u201d And he smote, and the rock clave asunder, and he saw\nat its foundations a little cavity, and in the cavity was a worm with a\ngreen leaf in its mouth. The worm lifted up its voice and cried thrice,\n\u201cPraise be God, who doth not forget me, though I, a little worm, lie in\nloneliness here! Praised be God, who hath nourished and cherished even\nme!\u201d\n\nWhen the worm was silent, God said to Moses: \u201cThou seest that I do\nnot fail to consider and provide for a little worm in a rock of which\nmen know not, far in the depths of the sea; and shall I forget thy\nchildren, who know Me?\u201d\n\nMoses returned with shame to his home, comforted his wife and children,\nand went alone to the mountain where he was to die.[578]\n\nAnd when he had gone up the mountain, he met three men who were digging\na grave; and he asked them, \u201cFor whom do you dig this grave?\u201d\n\nThey answered, \u201cFor a man whom God will call to be with Him in\nParadise.\u201d\n\nMoses asked permission to lend a hand to dig the grave of such a holy\nman. When it was completed, Moses asked, \u201cHave you taken the measure of\nthe deceased?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo; we have quite forgotten to do so. But he was of thy size; lie down\nin it, and God will reward thee, when we see if it be likely to suit.\u201d\n\nMoses did so.[579]\n\nThe three men were the three angels Michael, Gabriel, and Sagsagel. The\nangel Michael, had begun the grave, the angel Gabriel had spread the\nwhite napkin for the head, the angel Sagsagel that for the feet.\n\nThen the angel Michael stood on one side of Moses, the angel Gabriel on\nthe other side, the angel Sagsagel at the feet, and the Majesty of God\nappeared above his head.\n\nAnd the Lord said to Moses, \u201cClose thine eyelids.\u201d He obeyed.\n\nThen the Lord said, \u201cPress thy hand upon thy heart.\u201d And he did so.\n\nThen God said, \u201cPlace thy feet in order.\u201d He did so.\n\nThen the Lord addressed the spirit of Moses, and said, \u201cHoly soul,\nmy daughter! For a hundred and twenty years hast thou inhabited this\nundefiled body of dust. But now thine hour is come; come forth and\nmount to Paradise!\u201d\n\nBut the soul answered, trembling and with pain, \u201cIn this pure and\nundefiled body have I spent so many years, that I have learned to love\nit, and I have not the courage to desert it.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy daughter, come forth! I will place thee in the highest heaven\nbeneath the Cherubim and Seraphim who bear up My eternal throne.\u201d\n\nYet the soul doubted and quaked.\n\nThen God bent over the face of Moses, and kissed him. And the soul\nleaped up in joy, and went with the kiss of God to Paradise.\n\nThen a sad cloud draped the heavens, and the wind wailed, \u201cWho lives\nnow on earth to fight against sin and error?\u201d\n\nAnd a voice answered, \u201cSuch a prophet never arose before.\u201d\n\nAnd the Earth lamented, \u201cI have lost the holy one!\u201d\n\nAnd Israel lamented, \u201cWe have lost the Shepherd!\u201d\n\nAnd the angels sang, \u201cHe is come in peace to the arms of God!\u201d[580]\n\nBut the Mussulmans narrate the last scene differently.\n\nThey say that the Angel of Death stood over Moses, as he lay in the\ngrave, and said, \u201cProphet of God, I must take thy soul.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow wilt thou take it?\u201d\n\n\u201cFrom thy mouth.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou canst not, for my mouth hath spoken with God.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen from thine eyes.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou canst not, for my eyes have seen the uncreated Light of God.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen from thy ears.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou canst not, for my ears have heard the Voice of God.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen from thy hands.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou canst not, for my hands have held the diamond tables, on which\nwas engraven the Tora.\u201d\n\nThen God bade the Angel of Death obtain from Rhidwan, the porter of\nParadise, an apple from the garden, and give it to Moses to smell.\n\nMoses took the apple out of the hand of the Angel of Death, and smelt\nat it; and as he smelt thereat, the angel drew his soul forth at his\nnostrils.\n\nNone know where is the grave of Moses, save Gabriel, Michael, Israfiel,\nand Azrael, for they buried him and defend his grave to the Judgment\nDay.[581]\n\n By Nebo\u2019s lonely mountain,\n On this side Jordan\u2019s wave,\n In a vale in the land of Moab\n There lies a lonely grave.\n And no man knows that sepulchre,\n And no man saw it e\u2019er,\n For the angels of God upturned the sod,\n And laid the dead man there.\n\n That was the grandest funeral\n That ever passed on earth;\n But no man heard the trampling,\n Or saw the train go forth--\n Noiselessly as the daylight\n Comes back when night is done,\n And the crimson streak on Ocean\u2019s cheek\n Grows into the great sun;\n\n Noiselessly as the spring-time\n Her crown of verdure weaves,\n And all the trees on all the hills\n Open their thousand leaves;\n So without sound of music,\n Or voice of them that wept,\n Silently down from the mountain\u2019s crown\n The great procession swept.\n\n * * * * *\n\n And had he not high honor--\n The hill-side for a pall,\n To lie in state, while angels wait\n With stars for tapers tall;\n And the dark rock-pines, like tossing plumes.\n Over his bier to wave,\n And God\u2019s own hand in that lonely land\n To lay him in the grave?[582]\n\nOnce when the Persian Empire was at the summit of its power, an attempt\nwas made to discover the body of Moses. A countless host of Persian\nsoldiers was sent to search Mount Nebo. When they had reached the\ntop of the mountain, they saw the sepulchre of Moses distinctly at\nthe bottom. They hastened to reach the valley, and then they clearly\ndistinguished the tomb of Moses at the summit. Thus, whenever they were\nat the top, they saw it at the foot; and when they were at the foot, it\nappeared at the top; so they were forced to abandon the prosecution of\ntheir search.[583]\n\nThe incident of the contention of Michael with Satan for the body of\nMoses mentioned by S. Jude is contained in the apocryphal \u201cAssumption\nof Moses,\u201d now lost, but which has been quoted by Origen and other\nFathers.\n\n\n\n\nXXXIII.\n\nJOSHUA.\n\n\nHitherto Israel had required a lawgiver, and they had been given one in\nMoses; now they needed a general, and they were provided with one in\nJoshua.\n\nAfter the death of Moses and his brother Aaron, the children of Israel\nremained seven years in the wilderness, till the forty years were\naccomplished. Then God conferred on Joshua the function of prophet, and\nordered him to lead the chosen people out of the desert and to attack\nthe three cities of the giants.\n\nJoshua was of the tribe of Joseph. He was the son of Nun, who was the\nson of Ephraim, who was the son of Joseph; and his mother was Miriam,\nthe sister of Moses and Aaron.[584]\n\nBefore Joshua led the people of the Lord to the conquest of the Holy\nLand, Joshua sent three deputations into Canaan; of these the first\nproclaimed, \u201cLet any one who will escape death, leave the country.\u201d\n\nThen came the second deputation, and declared, \u201cLet such people as will\nmake an alliance with us, do so, and we will receive them.\u201d\n\nThen came the third deputation, and cried, \u201cLet those who persist in\ndesiring war prepare for it.\u201d\n\nThe result of these deputations was that one nation deserted the\ncountry and settled in Africa, and that another nation made terms with\nIsrael. But thirty-one princes made ready for war.[585]\n\nJoshua marched with his army against Jericho, took the city, and slew\nall the men therein; they were giants, and it took a hundred men to cut\noff the head of each giant.\n\nAfter the capture of Jericho, Joshua went against Ai, which is beside\nBeth-aven, on the east side of Bethel. And as the people went up, the\nmen of Ai came forth, and routed them, and they fled.[586]\n\nThen Joshua rent his clothes, and fell on his face to the earth before\nthe ark of the Lord, until eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and\nput dust on their heads.\n\nAnd the Lord said to Joshua, \u201cGet thee up. I am wroth with the people,\nfor there is amongst them a sin which is not put away, and till that\naccursed thing is cast out, victory shall not attend their arms.\u201d\n\nNow Joshua had ordered all the plunder of Jericho to be burnt with\nfire; but although it was heaped up, the fire would not consume it.\nThen he knew that the pile could not be complete, for the flames danced\nup, but would consume nothing, as though they waited for the entirety\nof their prey.\n\nSo Joshua made inquisition; and it was found that Achan (Adjezan in\nArabic) had concealed a portion of the booty, which he desired to\nappropriate to his own use.\n\nThen the booty taken by Achan was added to the heap, and instantly the\nflames roared up, and devoured the whole of the spoil.[587]\n\nAnd when Ai was taken, Joshua said: \u201cEnter into this town; for God\nhas taken it from the giants, and has given it to you to be your\ninheritance. But when you pass through the gates, prostrate yourselves,\nwith your heads in the dust, and adore God, saying, Hittaton, hittaton,\nwhich is by interpretation, Pardon our sins.\u201d\n\nSome of those who entered Ai obeyed the voice of Joshua, and God gave\nthem a possession in that city, and their posterity retain it to this\nday.\n\nBut there were some ungodly men who disobeyed the voice of Joshua, and\nwhen they passed through the gates, they did not prostrate themselves,\nbut they raised their heads to heaven, and instead of saying\n\u201c_hittaton_,\u201d as commanded, they said \u201c_hintaton_,\u201d asking for corn.\n\nThen the wrath of God was kindled against these men, and fire fell\nfrom heaven, and consumed all that had said _hintaton_ in place of\n_hittaton_.[588]\n\nNear Ai there were mountains, in which reigned two kings, Kuma and\nDjion (Sihon). These Amorites were wealthy. When Joshua attacked these\nkings, they asked to make a league with the people of Israel; and they\nwere accepted, on condition that they believed in the religion of Moses.\n\nAnother of these mountain kingdoms was governed by a king called Barak\n(Adoni-bezek). He also sought by submission to escape ruin, and Joshua\naccepted him on the same terms as Kuma and Djion.\n\nTo the west were five cities, whose inhabitants were also Amorites. The\nkings of these cities made war on Joshua. Joshua routed them, and these\nfive kings took refuge in a cave. Joshua ordered the cave to be closed\nwith a stone, whilst he pursued the routed army. Then God sent hail\nfrom heaven, and each hailstone struck down and killed a man.[589]\n\nOn that day Joshua cried to the Lord, for the sun hastened to go\ndown, and it was a Friday, and he feared that he should not have\nutterly discomfited the host before the Sabbath came in. Then the\nLord lengthened the day one hour, so as to enable him to complete his\nvictory.[590]\n\nAfter the battle, it was announced to him that Barak and the other\nkings who had made submission to him had taken advantage of the rising\nof the kings of the five cities to renounce their allegiance, and to\nreturn to the worship of false gods. Therefore Joshua prayed, \u201cO Lord!\nbecause they have become unfaithful, take from them their riches, and\nmake them poor, that they may become bondsmen; and that their king may\nfall into misery!\u201d\n\nJoshua was sick and unable to march against them. He was aged a hundred\nand twenty-eight years. He was a hundred years old when Moses died, and\nhe governed Israel twenty-eight years.[591]\n\nFor the benefit of coin-collectors, the following information is\ninserted. \u201cOn the coins struck by Abraham are figured, on the obverse,\nan old man and an ass; on the reverse, a boy and a girl. On the coins\nof Joshua are, on one side a bull, on the other a unicorn. On those of\nDavid, on one side a staff and wallet, on the other a tower. On those\nof Mordecai, on the obverse, sackcloth and ashes; and on the reverse a\ncrown.\u201d[592]\n\nAfter Joshua, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Othniel, the son of\nKenaz,[593] Caleb\u2019s brother, governed Israel. They collected the\npeople, and marched against Barak (Adoni-bezek)[594] and his people who\nhad apostatized, and attacked them, and slew great numbers of them.\n\nThey took the king and cut off his thumbs. This Barak had, during his\nreign, treated seventy kings in like fashion, so that they were unable\nto pick up any thing off the ground. And when Barak was feasting, these\nkings were brought before him. Then he cast bread among them, but they\nwere unable to pick it up, having no thumbs, and they were obliged to\nstoop to the ground, and take it in their mouths like dogs; and this\ncaused huge merriment to the king.[595]\n\n\n\n\nXXXIV.\n\nTHE JUDGES.\n\n\nIf Joshua, the first of the Judges, has, to a great extent, escaped the\nhands of legend manufacturers, the same may be said of his successors,\nPhinehas, Othniel, Ehud, Deborah and Barak, Gibeon, Abimelech, Tola,\nJair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon. Even Samson has not been\nsurrounded by such a multitude of traditions as might have been\nexpected.\n\nThe Mussulmans have little to say of him, and the Jewish legends are\nnot numerous.\n\nThe Rabbi Samuel, son of Nahaman, said that Samson once took two\nmountains, one in each hand, and knocked them together, as a man will\nstrike together two pebbles. The Rabbi Jehuda said that when the\nSpirit of the Lord rested on him he strode in one stride from Zorah to\nEshtaol. The Rabbi Nahaman added that his hair stood up, and one hair\ntinkled against another, so that the sound could be heard, like that of\nbells, from Zorah to Eshtaol.[596]\n\nAbulfaraj says that Phinehas, the son of Eleazer, the son of Aaron,\nafter the death of Joshua, was commanded by an angel to put the manna,\nthe rods, the tables of the covenant, and the five books of Moses in\na brazen urn, seal it with lead, and conceal it in a cave, as the\nIsraelites were too wicked to be entrusted with such a treasure.[597]\n\n\n\n\nXXXV.\n\nSAMUEL.\n\n\nGjalout (Goliath) was king of the Philistines. He was of the race of\nthe ancient giants, the Adites and the Themudites, who were from fifty\nto a hundred cubits in height.\n\nThe children of Israel were grievously oppressed by him, and they\nbesought God to send them a prophet who would reinstruct them in\nthe law of Moses, and in the true religion. For thirty years they\nbesought God, but no prophet was given to them. In the meanwhile, the\nPhilistines oppressed them more and more, and whenever the Israelites\nrose against them they defeated the Israelites with great slaughter.\n\nThere died a man of the tribe of Levi, Rayyan (Elkanah), son of Elkama,\nwho was descended from Aaron the brother of Moses. The elders of Israel\nhearing that he had died, leaving his wife pregnant, went to her and\nsurrounded her with the greatest care and comforts.\n\nThere was amongst them a wise man named Hil (Eli) who was high-priest;\nto him they confided the care of the widow. In time she bore a son, who\nwas named Ischmawil (Samuel).\n\nEli brought up the child Samuel in the temple, to the age of seven\nyears, and he taught him the Pentateuch and the religion of Moses.\n\nSamuel regarded Eli as his father, because he had been brought up by\nhim, and he loved and reverenced him greatly.\n\nOne night when he was asleep, Gabriel came into the room and made a\nnoise, so that Samuel awoke.\n\nHe saw no one, so he called to Eli, \u201cMaster! didst thou summon me?\u201d\n\nEli replied, \u201cNo, my son, I did not summon thee.\u201d\n\nNext night the same occurred; so also the third night.\n\nThen Eli thought that God wished to give to Samuel the gift of\nprophecy; therefore he said, \u201cMy son, if thou art called again in the\nnight, reply, Here am I; what wouldest Thou? I am in Thy hands.\u201d\n\nSamuel did so. Then Gabriel appeared to him and communicated to him the\nmessage of God.\n\nSamuel told Eli that the Lord had given him the gift of prophecy, by\nthe mouth of His messenger Gabriel.\n\nThen Eli was rejoiced, and he announced the glad tidings to all Israel.\n\nEli had two sons whom he had instructed in the art of offering\nsacrifice according to the law of Moses, but he had taught them nothing\nelse. Eli himself moreover neglected to sacrifice, and he allowed\nhis sons to live after their lusts, unrestrained by his paternal and\npriestly rebuke.\n\nTherefore God spake to Samuel that He would punish Eli and his sons;\nbut Samuel feared to show it to the high priest.\n\nThen said Eli to him, \u201cHas God given thee a message to me?\u201d\n\nAnd Samuel answered, \u201cGod has said, Why hast thou neglected to offer\nsacrifice, so that thy sons add thereto or detract therefrom? And why\nhast thou not constrained them? Because of this sin, I shall deliver\nthee into the hands of an enemy, who shall slay thy sons, and take the\nark, and cause thee to perish also.\u201d[598]\n\nThen Gjalout came, and made war against the children of Israel, and\nthere was a great battle, and Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli,\nwere slain, and the ark was taken; and Eli fell backward from off his\nseat when he heard the news, and his neck brake, and he died.\n\nIn the ark, that now fell into the hands of the Philistines, were\npreserved the tables of the Law, which God had given to Moses, and\na basin in which the angels washed and purified the hearts of the\nprophets, and the mitre and breastplate and potificial robes of Aaron.\n\nThe Israelites had been accustomed, in times of peril, to produce the\nark, and it had delivered them from evil by virtue of the sacred relics\nit contained. As for the Shekinah which rested upon it, and from which\nthe ark took its name of Tabut-Shekinah, the Mussulman authors assure\nus it had the form of a leopard, which, whenever the ark was carried\nagainst the enemies of God\u2019s people, rose on its legs, and uttered\nso potent a roar, that the foes of Israel fell to the ground. These\nauthors, however, derive this fable from Rabbinic writers.[599]\n\nThe king of the Philistines, having obtained possession of the ark,\nplaced it in a draught-house, purposing thereby to express his hatred\nof the Jews, and his contempt for that which they regarded as most\nsacred.\n\nBut a terrible disease broke out among the Philistines, and the ark was\nsent from Gaza to another city. There the plague appeared immediately,\nand the Philistines were at length obliged to return the ark to the\nIsraelites.\n\nIn the mean time, the Israelites, in consternation at the loss of their\nark, gathered about Samuel, and besought him to consecrate a king for\nthem, who might go forth to battle before them, and recover for them\nthe ark.\n\nThen Samuel said: \u201cIf I consecrate a king for you, will you not desert\nhim, and refuse to obey him?\u201d\n\nBut they all protested, \u201cWe will follow him wherever he leads, and we\nwill obey all his commands.\u201d[600]\n\nThen Schareh, who was surnamed Thalout (Saul), on account of the\ngreatness of his stature, was chosen by Samuel to be their king. He\nwas poor, and by trade a water-carrier, and his ancestors had all been\nwater-carriers.\n\nNow the father of Saul had lost an ass, which had escaped into the\ndesert. Saul went after it.\n\nThen Samuel came to meet him, and said to him: \u201cThou shalt reign as\nking over the people of Israel.\u201d\n\nSaul replied: \u201cO prophet of God! thou knowest that my tribe is the\nleast among the tribes, and that I am the poorest among the members of\nmy tribe.\u201d\n\nSamuel said: \u201cNevertheless, God has ordered that so it should be.\u201d\n\nThen he poured on his head the sacred oil which had been brought to\nSamuel out of heaven by Gabriel.\n\nBut some say that this oil belonged to Joseph the son of Jacob, and it\nwas preserved by the prophets. When this oil was poured on Saul\u2019s head\nand face, it made his skin brilliant and pure.\n\nNow the prophets all came out of the tribe of Levi, and the tribe of\nBenjamin was despised greatly by the Israelites. And when they heard\nthat their king was from that tribe, and was a water-carrier, they were\nangry, and exclaimed, \u201cWhy should he reign over us? We are as worthy to\nreign as he!\u201d[601]\n\nSamuel answered, \u201cGod gives power to whom He wills.\u201d\n\nThe Israelites said, \u201cShow us a sign.\u201d\n\nSamuel brought the sacred oil forth, and it boiled in the presence of\nSaul.[602]\n\nBut that did not suffice them. They then asked another sign; and Samuel\nsaid, \u201cThe ark shall return.\u201d\n\nAnd they lifted their eyes, and lo! the ark was coming to them attached\nto the tails of two cows, and angels guided the cows.[603]\n\nThen the children of Israel doubted no longer, but accepted Saul as\ntheir king.\n\nThen said Samuel to the people: \u201cThe God of your fathers has sent me\nunto you, to promise you victory over the Philistines, and deliverance\nfrom your bondage, if you will turn and leave your evil ways.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat shall we do?\u201d asked one of the elders, \u201cthat we may obtain the\nfavor of God?\u201d\n\nSamuel answered, \u201cYe must pray to God alone, and offer no sacrifices\nto idols, nor eat the flesh of swine, or blood; neither must you eat\nany thing which is not slaughtered in the name of the Most High. Ye\nmust assist one another, honor your parents, entreat your wives with\nkindness, and support the widows, orphans, and poor. Ye shall believe\nin the prophets who have gone before me, especially in Abraham, for\nwhom God turned a fiery pile into a pleasure garden; in Ishmael, whose\nneck God made as a flint stone, and for whom He opened a fountain in\nthe stony desert; and in Moses, who with his staff opened twelve clay\npaths through the sea. Also ye shall believe in the prophets who shall\nfollow after me, especially in Isa Ibn Mariam (Jesus, Son of Mary), the\nSpirit of God, and in Mohammed Ibn Abd-Allah.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd who is this Isa?\u201d asked one of the elders of Israel.\n\n\u201cIsa,\u201d pursued Samuel, \u201cis the prophet foretold in the Tora as the Word\nof God. His mother Mariam (Mary) shall conceive him by the will of God,\nand by a breath of the angel Gabriel. In his mother\u2019s womb will he\npraise the almighty power of God, and testify to the immaculate purity\nof his mother; afterwards will he heal the sick and crippled, will\nquicken the dead, and will create living birds out of clay.[604] His\ngodless cotemporaries will deal cruelly with him, and will crucify him;\nbut God will deceive their eyes and will let another die in his room,\nand he will be carried up into heaven like the prophet Idris (Enoch).\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd Mohammed,\u201d asked the same Israelite, \u201cwho is he? His name sounds\nstrange in our ears, never have we heard that name before.\u201d\n\n\u201cMohammed,\u201d answered Samuel, \u201cdoes not belong to the race of Israel;\nhe will descend from the seed of Ishmael, and he will be the last and\ngreatest of the prophets, before whom Moses and Christ will bend at\nthe Resurrection Day. His name, which signifies the Much Praised, is\nprophetic of the laud and honor he will receive from all creatures on\nearth, and all the angels in heaven. The miracles he will work are\nnumberless, so that a man\u2019s life is not long enough to relate them\nall. I shall be able to tell you only the events of a single night.\n\n\u201cOne fearful night of tempest, in which neither cock will crow nor dog\nbark, Mohammed shall be aroused from sleep by Gabriel, who shall appear\nto him in the shape he has when he appears before God, with seven\nhundred wings streaming with light; between each a space such as a\nfleet-footed horse could scarce traverse in five hundred years. Gabriel\nwill lead the prophet forth into the open air, where the wondrous\nhorse Borak will be ready. That is the horse on which Abraham mounted\nwhen he made his pilgrimages from Syria to Mecca. This horse has two\nwings as an eagle, and feet like a dromedary, and a body like a costly\ngem, shining like the sun, and a head like the fairest maiden. On this\nwondrous beast, whose brow bears the inscription, \u2018There is no God save\nGod, and Mohammed is his prophet,\u2019 he will mount and ride, first to\nMedina, then to Sinai, thence to Bethlehem, and finally to Jerusalem,\nto view the holy places, and at them to offer up his prayers. From\nJerusalem he will ascend on a golden ladder, with rungs of rubies,\nemeralds, and jacinths, into the seventh heaven, where he will be\ninstructed in all the mysteries of the creation, and the governance\nof the world. He will see the blessed in all their joy, in Paradise,\nand the sinners, in all their pain, in Hell. There will he see many\npasturing wild cattle in unfruitful fields. These are they who in the\ntime of life used the gifts of God without giving to those in need.\nOthers will he see running about, and carrying in one hand fresh, and\nin the other putrid, meat, and as often as they attempt to taste the\nformer, a fiery rod will smite them on the hand, till they devour the\nlatter. This is the punishment of those who have violated marriage,\nand have preferred forbidden pleasures. Others have a swollen body,\nswelling daily more and more; these are the fraudulent and avaricious.\nOthers have their tongues and lips fastened together with iron clamps;\nthese are the slanderers and backbiters. Between Paradise and Hell\nsits Adam, laughing with joy when the gate of Heaven opens to receive\none of his sons, and he hears the songs and shouts of the blessed;\nweeping with self-reproach when the gate of Hell uncloses to take in\none of his descendants, and he hears the sobbing of the damned. On this\nnight will Mohammed also see, besides Gabriel, the other angels, who\nhave each seventy thousand heads, and in each head seventy thousand\nfaces, and in each face seventy thousand mouths, and in each mouth\nseventy thousand tongues, wherewith they cease not day or night to\npraise God in seventy thousand diverse languages. He will also see\nthe angel of atonement, who is half fire, half ice; also the angel\nwho watches the treasure of fire with gloomy countenance and flashing\neyes; also the angel of death, with a great writing-table in his hand,\nwhereon are inscribed many names, and from which at every instant he\nwipes off several hundreds; finally, the angel who guards the waters,\nand weighs in great scales the water allotted to each spring and\nwell, and brook and river; and the angel who bears up the throne of\nGod on his shoulders, and has a horn in his mouth, wherewith he will\nblow the blast that is to wake the dead. Moreover, the prophet will\nbe conducted through many seas of light near to the throne itself,\nwhich is so great that the whole world will be beside it as a link in\na coat of mail dropped in the desert. What will be further revealed\nto him,\u201d answered Samuel, \u201cis unknown to me; this only I know, that,\nafter having contemplated the Majesty of God a bowshot off, he will\ndescend the ladder precipitately, and, mounting Borak, will return to\nMecca. Now the whole of this journey, his sojourn in Medina, Bethlehem,\nJerusalem, and the seventh heaven, will occupy so little time, that a\nwater-pitcher which he upset as he left the house in Mecca will not\nhave run all its waters out by his return.\u201d\n\nThe assembled Israelites listened to Samuel, and when he was silent\nthey cried with one voice, \u201cWe believe in God and in all the past\nprophets, and in all those who are yet for to come. Pray for us that we\nmay escape the tyrrany of Gjalout (Goliath).\u201d\n\nThus Saul was chosen king of Israel, and Samuel was prophet to the\npeople of God.[605]\n\n\n\n\nXXXVI.\n\nSAUL.\n\n\n1. WAR WITH THE PHILISTINES.--GOLIATH SLAIN.\n\nSamuel ordered Thalout (Saul) to make war upon Gjalout (Goliath), and\nto assemble the fighting men of the tribes of Israel. Saul summoned\nall the men and they numbered eighty thousand. Samuel gave Saul a suit\nof mail, and said to him, \u201cHe who can wear this coat with ease will\ndecide the war, and Goliath will perish by his hand.\u201d\n\nSaul started with his army; his way led through a desert, a day\u2019s\njourney across; and it was very hot weather. On the other side of\nthe desert was a broad river, between Jordan and Palestine, and the\nchildren of Israel had to pass this river to reach the army of Goliath.\nSaul thought that now he would prove his soldiers, for Samuel had\nbidden him take into battle only as many men as he could rely upon.\n\nThe men were faint with heat and thirst as they reached the river of\nPalestine, and Saul said, \u201cHe who drinks of this water shall not come\nwith me, but he who drinks not thereof shall follow after me.\u201d[606] For\nhe would not have them slake their thirst till they reached Jordan.[607]\n\nBut, according to another version of the story, the men were fainting\nin the wilderness, and murmured against Saul. Then Samuel prayed, and\nGod brought a water-spring out of the dry, stony ground, and made\nstanding water in the desert, fresh as snow, sweet as honey, and white\nas milk.[608]\n\nSamuel spake to the soldiers, and said, \u201cYe have sinned against your\nking and against God, by murmuring. Therefore refuse to drink of\nthis water except in the hollow of your hand, and so expiate your\nfault.\u201d[609]\n\nSamuel\u2019s words were disregarded. Only three hundred and thirteen men\nwere found who had sufficient control over themselves not to drink\nexcept slightly out of the hollow of their hand; but these felt their\nthirst quenched, whereas those who had laid down and lapped were still\nparched with thirst.\n\nSaul and his army came before that of Goliath; then said the majority\nof those who had lain down and lapped, \u201cWe have no strength to-day to\nstand against the Philistines.\u201d So Saul dismissed them to their homes,\nto the number of seventy-six thousand men; he had still with him four\nthousand men. Next day, when they saw the array of the Philistines, and\nthe gigantic stature of their king, and their harness flashing in the\nsun, the hearts of more of the warriors failed, and they would not\nfollow Saul into battle, but said, \u201cWe have no strength to-day to stand\nagainst the Philistines!\u201d\n\nSo Saul dismissed three thousand six hundred men, and there remained to\nhim only three hundred and thirteen, the same number as those who on\nthe day of Bedr remained with the prophet Mohammed.\n\nThen said Saul, \u201cGod is favorable to us!\u201d and he advanced, and set his\narmy in array against Goliath. And he prayed, saying, \u201cGrant us, O\nLord, perseverance.\u201d[610]\n\nHowever, God sent an order by Samuel saying, \u201cGo not into battle\nthis day, for the man who is to slay Goliath is not here; he is Daud\n(David), son of Jesse, son of Obed, son of Boaz; he is a little man,\nwith grey eyes, and little hair, timid of heart, and slender of body.\nBy this shalt thou know him: when thou placest the horn upon his head,\nthe oil will overflow and boil.\u201d\n\nThen Samuel went to Jesse, and said to him, \u201cAmongst thy sons there is\none who will slay Goliath.\u201d\n\nJesse said, \u201cI have eleven sons, men stalwart and comely.\u201d\n\nSamuel placed the horn on their heads, but the oil was not to be seen.\n\nThen God gave him a vision, and he said to him, \u201cLook not at the beauty\nand strength of these men, but on the purity of their hearts and their\nfear of God.\u201d\n\nSamuel said to Jesse, \u201cGod says thou art a liar, and He says thou hast\nanother son besides these.\u201d\n\nJesse answered, \u201cIt is true; but he is diminutive in stature, and I am\nashamed to bring him into the company of men; I make him tend sheep; he\nis somewhere with the flock to-day.\u201d\n\nSamuel went to the place, and it was a valley into which a torrent\nfell. He saw David drawing the sheep out of the torrent by twos. Samuel\nsaid, \u201cCertainly this is the man I seek.\u201d He placed the horn on his\nhead, and the oil overflowed.\n\nNow Goliath, seeing the small number of the children of Israel,\ndespised them, and scorned to fight them. He sent a messenger to Saul,\nsaying, \u201cThou hast come out to fight against me with this handful, and\nI disdain to attack thee with my large army. If thou wilt, come forth\nthat we may fight each other, or send any one out of the army, whom\nthou wilt, to fight with me.\u201d\n\nNone in Saul\u2019s army would venture against the giant, and Saul was\nhimself afraid. He produced the shirt of mail Samuel had given him, and\nhe tried it upon each of his soldiers in turn; but it was too short for\none, too long for another, too tight for a third, and too loose for a\nfourth.\n\nNow the father of David had come with his eleven sons into the host;\nbut he had left David, because he was young and small of stature, to\nkeep the sheep: and he had bidden him, from time to time, bring him\nsupplies of food. David came with the provisions. He was dressed in a\nwoollen shirt, and he bore in his hand the staff, and a pouch attached\nto his waist.\n\nAs he passed over a pebbly strip of soil, a stone cried to him, \u201cPick\nme up, and take me with thee.\u201d He stooped and picked up the stone, and\nplaced it in his pouch. And when he had taken a few paces, another\nstone cried to him, \u201cPick me up, and take me with thee.\u201d He did so.\nAnd a third stone cried in like manner, and was in like manner taken\nby David. The first stone was that wherewith Abraham had driven away\nSatan, when he sought to dissuade the patriarch from offering up his\nson; and the second stone was that on which the foot of Gabriel rested\nwhen he opened the fountain in the desert for Hagar and Ishmael; and\nthe third stone was that wherewith Jacob strove against the angel whom\nhis brother Esau had sent against him.[611] But, according to another\naccount, the first was the stone which Moses cast against the enemies\nof God, the second was that cast by Aaron, the third was destined to\ncause the death of Goliath.[612] When David came into the army, Saul\nhad finished trying on the suit of mail upon the soldiers, and he said,\n\u201cIt fits none of them.\u201d Then he spied David, and he said, \u201cYoung man,\nlet me place this shirt of mail on thee.\u201d Then he cast it over him, and\nit fitted him exactly.\n\nSaul said, \u201cWilt thou fight Goliath?\u201d\n\nDavid answered, \u201cI will do so.\u201d\n\nSaul said, \u201cWith what horse and arms wilt thou go?\u201d\n\nDavid answered, \u201cI will have no horse and no arms, save these stones of\nthe brook.\u201d\n\nDavid was feeble in body, he had grey eyes, was short,\nyellow-complexioned, thin-faced, and had red hair.[613]\n\nSaul had little hope that David would overcome the giant but he\nthought his example might shame and stimulate others, therefore he let\nhim go.\n\nNow when Goliath came forth and defied the army of Israel, David went\nto meet him, wearing only his linen shirt, and belt, and pouch, and he\nhad his shepherd\u2019s staff in his hand.\n\nThen cried Goliath, \u201cWho art thou, that comest out to meet me?\u201d\n\nThen David replied, \u201cI am come out to fight with thee.\u201d\n\nGoliath said, \u201cGo back, petty fool, and play with children of thine own\nage. I despise thee; thou art unarmed.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I despise thee, dog of a Philistine!\u201d cried the stripling; \u201cthou\ndeservest to be dealt with as men deal with dogs,--pelting them with\nstones till they turn tail.\u201d\n\nThen Goliath was in a rage, and he lifted his spear against David; but\nDavid hasted and loosed his belt, and laid in it one of the stones,\nand slung it; and the wind caught the helmet of Goliath, and lifted it\nin the air above his head, and the stone struck him on the brow, and\nsank in, and crushed all his skull, and strewed his brains all over the\nhorse he rode; then the giant fell out of his saddle, and died.\n\nThen again David placed the second stone in his sling, and he cast it,\nand it smote the right wing of the army of the Philistines; then he\ncast the third stone, and it smote the left wing, and the host of the\nPhilistines fled before him.[614]\n\n\n2. SAUL\u2019S JEALOUSY OF DAVID.\n\nSaul had promised his daughter to the man who should slay Goliath. When\nthe Philistines had been routed, Saul told Samuel all that had taken\nplace; and the prophet exhorted the king to fulfil his promise, and to\ngive to David his daughter in marriage.\n\nTo this Saul agreed, and he gave David his ring, and made him manager\nof all his affairs, and he exalted him to be his son-in-law.\n\nSeveral years passed, and Saul became envious of David, whose praise\nwas in everybody\u2019s mouth.\n\nHe sent David into the wars, in hopes of his there meeting his death;\nbut it was all in vain. Then he spoke to his daughter Michal, that she\nshould introduce him into her husband\u2019s chamber at night, that he\nmight slay David with his own hand.\n\nMichal told David her father\u2019s resolution, with many tears; but David\nbade her be comforted. \u201cFor,\u201d said he, \u201cthe God of my fathers, who\npreserved Abraham and Moses from the hands of the executioner, will\ndeliver me from thy father. But do as he bade thee, open the door at\nnight, and fear not for me.\u201d\n\nThen David went into his smithy and wrought a suit of chain mail. He\nwas the inventor of chain-armor. And he had received from God the power\nof moulding iron, like wax, in his fingers, without fire and without\nhammer.\n\nNow he fashioned for himself a whole suit of chain mail; it was so thin\nthat it was like gossamer, and it fitted to his body like his skin, and\nit was impenetrable to the thrust of every weapon.\n\nDavid put upon him his armor, and lay down in his bed. He slept,\nbut was awakened at midnight by the knife of Saul stabbing at him\nas he lay. He sprang up, struck the weapon from the hands of his\nfather-in-law, and thrust him forth out of the house.[615]\n\nAfter this, Saul came to Michal and said, \u201cHe was not asleep, or I\ncertainly would have slain him. Admit me again into his chamber at\nnight.\u201d\n\nMichal went to David and told him all with many tears.\n\nThen said David, \u201cI must escape from my house, for my life is not in\nsecurity here. But do thou fill a leather bottle with wine, and lay it\nin my bed.\u201d\n\nMichal did so; she took a large skin of wine and placed it in the bed,\nand drew the cover over it. But David fled away to Hebron.\n\nAnd in the night came Saul, and he felt the clothes, and he thought it\nwas David in the bed, so he stabbed at him with his knife, and the wine\nran out in the bed. Then Saul smelt it, and he said, \u201cHow much wine the\nfellow drank for his supper!\u201d[616]\n\nBut when he found that David had escaped him once more, he was wroth,\nand he gathered men together, and pursued after him; in his anger,\nmoreover, he sought to kill Michal, but she fled away and concealed\nherself.\n\nSaul pursued David in the mountains, but David knew all the caves and\nlurking-places, and Saul was unable to catch him. One night, David\ncrept into the camp and thrust four arrows, inscribed with his name,\ninto the ground, round the head of Saul. When Saul awoke, he saw these\narrows, and he said, \u201cDavid has been here; he might have slain me had\nhe willed it.\u201d\n\nDuring the day, Saul came upon his enemy in a narrow valley; he was\nmounted, and he pursued David, who was on foot. David fled as fast as\nhe could run, and managed to reach a cave a few moments before Saul\ncould reach it. Then God sent a spider, which spun a web over the mouth\nof the cave; and Saul saw it and passed on, saying, \u201cCertainly David\ncannot have entered in there, or the web would be torn.\u201d[617]\n\nOne night, Saul and his soldiers lodged in a cavern. And David was\nthere, but they knew it not. In the night David carried off the sword\nand banner and seal-ring of the king, and he went forth out of the\ncave, for it had two openings. In the morning, when Saul prepared to\ncontinue his search, he saw him on a mountain opposite the mouth of the\ncave, and David had girded the royal sword to his side, and brandished\nthe flag, and held forth his finger that all might note that he had on\nit the king\u2019s signet.[618]\n\nThen Saul said, \u201cHis heart is better than mine;\u201d and he was reconciled\nwith David, and he bade him return with him and live at peace. And he\ndid so.\n\n\n3. THE DEATH OF SAUL.\n\nNow when Saul had gone forth against David, the wise men of Israel had\ngathered themselves together, and had remonstrated with him. But Saul\nwas wroth at this interference, and he slew them all, and there escaped\nnone of them save one wise woman, whom his vizir spared. This vizir was\na good man, and he took the woman into his own house, and she lived\nwith his family.\n\nSome time after that, Saul had a dream, and in his dream he was\nreproached for having slain the wise men. And when he awoke he was\nfull of remorse, and he went to his vizir and said, \u201cIt repents me\nthat I have put to death all the wise men of my realm; is there none\nremaining of whom I might ask counsel how I could expiate my crime?\u201d\n\nThen the vizir answered, \u201cThere remains but one, and that is a woman.\u201d\n\nSaul said, \u201cBring her hither before me.\u201d\n\nNow, when the wise woman was come before Saul, the king was troubled in\nmind, and he said, \u201cShow me how I can make atonement for the great sin\nthat I have committed.\u201d\n\nThe woman answered, \u201cLead me to the tomb of a prophet; I will pray, and\nmay be God will suffer him to speak.\u201d\n\nThey went to the tomb of Samuel, and the woman prayed.\n\nThen Samuel spake out of his sepulchre, and said, \u201cLet his expiation\nbe this: He shall go down, he and his sons, to the city of Giants, and\nthey shall fall there.\u201d\n\nSaul had twelve sons. He called them to him and said to them all the\nwords of Samuel. They then answered, \u201cWe are ready, let us go down.\u201d\n\nSo they went to the city of Giants, and fought against it, and fell\nthere, all in one day.[619]\n\n\n\n\nXXXVII.\n\nDAVID.\n\n\nDavid says of himself, \u201c_Behold, I was shapen in wickedness; and in\nsin did my mother conceive me._\u201d[620] The Rabbis explain this passage\nby narrating the circumstances of the conception of David, which I\nshall give in Latin. The mother of David they say was named Nitzeneth.\n\u201cDixerunt Rabbini nostri beat\u00e6 memori\u00e6, quod Isai (Jesse) habebat\nancillam, eamque sollicitabat ad turpia; qu\u00e6, cum esset pudica et\nfidelis uxori Isai, eidem retulit; qu\u00e6 seipsam aptavit (loco ancill\u00e6)\net congressa est cum Isai, ex quo concubitu egressus est David. Et quia\nIsai intentio fuerat in ancillam, quamquam res aliter evenerat, idcirco\ndixit David,--super eum sit pax: Ecce in iniquitate formatus sum, et\npeccato calefecit me mater mea.\u201d[621]\n\nOn this account, Jesse, having discovered the deception, lightly\nesteemed his son David, and sent him to keep sheep, and made him as\na servant to his brethren. And to this David refers when he says,\n\u201c_The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the\ncorner_;\u201d[622] for, from being the despised brother, put to menial\nwork, he was exalted before his brethren to be king over Israel.\n\nWhen David was born he would have died immediately, had not Adam, when\nhe saw his posterity marshalled before him, taken compassion on David,\nand given him seventy years.[623]\n\nHowever, David was without a soul for the first fourteen years of his\nlife, and was so regarded by God, as he was uncircumcised;[624] but\nother Rabbinic writers say that he was born circumcised.\n\nThe Jewish authors relate, as do the Mussulman historians, that David\nhad red hair. In Jalkut (1 Sam. xvi. 12) it is said, \u201cSamuel sent,\nand made David come before him, and he had red hair;\u201d[625] and again\nin Bereschith Rabba, \u201cWhen Samuel saw that David had red hair, he\nfeared and said, He will shed blood as did Esau. But the ever-blessed\nGod said, This man will shed it with unimpassioned eyes--this did not\nEsau. Esau slew out of his own caprice, but this man will execute those\nsentenced to death by the Sanhedrim.\u201d\n\nDavid was very small, but when Samuel poured the oil upon his head and\nanointed him, he grew rapidly, and was soon as tall as was Saul. And\nthis the commentators conclude from the fact of Saul having put his\narmor upon David, and it fitted him. Now Saul was a head and shoulders\ntaller than any man in Israel; therefore David must have started to\nequal height since his anointing.[626]\n\nDavid was gifted with the evil eye, and was able to give the leprosy\nby turning a malignant glance upon any man. \u201cWhen it is written, \u2018_The\nPhilistine cursed David by his gods_,\u2019[627] David looked at him with\nthe evil eye. For whoever was looked upon by him with the evil eye\nbecame leprous, as Joab knew to his cost, for after David had cast the\nevil glance on him, it is said, \u2018_Let there not fail from the house of\nJoab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper._\u2019[628]\n\n\u201cThe same befell the Philistine when he cursed David. David then threw\non him the malignant glance, and fixed it on his brow, that he might\nat once become leprous; and at the same moment the stone and the\nleprosy struck him.\u201d[629]\n\nBut David was himself afflicted for six months with this loathsome\nmalady, and it is in reference to this that he says, \u201c_Thou shalt\npurge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Thou shalt wash me, and I\nshall be whiter than snow._\u201d During this period, he was cast out and\nseparated from the elders of the people, and the Divinity withdrew from\nhim.[630] And this explains the discrepancy apparent in the account\nof the number of years he reigned. It is said that he reigned over\nIsrael forty years,[631] but he reigned seven years in Hebron and\nthirty and three in Jerusalem. In the Second Book of Samuel, however,\nit is said, he reigned in Hebron seven years and six months;[632]\nthough the statement that he reigned only forty years in all, that is,\nthirty-three in Jerusalem, is repeated. Consequently these six months\ndo not count, the reason being that David was at that time afflicted\nwith the disorder, and cut off from society, and reputed as one\ndead.[633]\n\nThe Rabbis suppose that David sinned in cutting off the skirt of Saul\u2019s\nrobe;[634] and they say that he expiated this fault in his old age, by\nfinding no warmth in his clothes, wherewith he wrapped himself.[635]\nFor it is said, \u201c_King David was old and stricken in years; and they\ncovered him with clothes, but he got no heat._\u201d[636]\n\nTo David is attributed by the Rabbi Solomon the power of calling down\nthe rain, the hail, and the tempest, in vengeance upon his enemies.\n\u201cOur Rabbis,\u201d says he, \u201csay that these things were formerly stored\nin heaven, but David came and made them to descend on the earth: for\nthey are means of vengeance, and it is not fitting that they should be\ngarnered in the Treasury of God.\u201d[637] But the rain and hail fell at\nthe Deluge, in Egypt, and on the Amorites; therefore the signification\nto be attributed to this opinion of the Rabbis probably is, that David\nwas the first to be able to call them down by his prayer.\n\nDavid had a lute which he hung up above his head in the bed, and the\nopenings of the lute were turned towards the north, and when the cool\nnight air whispered in the room towards dawn, it stirred the strings of\nthe lute, which gave forth such sweet and resonant notes, that David\nwas aroused from his sleep early, before daybreak, that he might occupy\nhimself in the study of the Law. And it is to this that he refers when\nhe cries in his Psalm, \u201c_Awake lute and harp: I myself will awake right\nearly._\u201d[638]\n\nWhen Absalom was slain, David saw Scheol (Hell) opened, and his son\ntormented, for his rebellion, in the lowest depths. The sight was so\ndistressing to the king, that he wrapped his mantle about his face and\ncried, \u201c_O my son Absalom! my son, my son Absalom! would God I had\ndied for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!_\u201d Here it is to be noted\nthat David called Absalom either by name or by his relationship seven\ntimes. Now in Hell there are seven mansions, and as each cry escaped\nthe father\u2019s heart, Absalom was released from one of these divisions of\nthe Pit; and he thus effected his escape from Gehenna through the love\nof his father, which drew him up out of misery.[639]\n\nDavid was very desirous to build a temple to the Lord, but God would\nnot suffer him to do so, as he was a man of blood. This is the reason\nwhy he so desired to erect a temple. When he was young, and pastured\nhis father\u2019s sheep, he came one day upon a rhinoceros (unicorn) asleep,\nand he did not know that it was a rhinoceros, but thought it was a\nmountain, so he drove his flock up its back, and fed them on the grass\nwhich grew thereon. But presently the rhinoceros awoke, and stood up,\nand then David\u2019s head touched the sky. He was filled with terror, and\nhe vowed that if God would save his life and bring him safely to the\nground again, he would build to the Lord a temple of the dimensions\nof the horn of the beast, an hundred cubits. The Talmudists are not\nagreed as to whether this was the height, or the breadth, of the horn;\nhowever, the vow was heard, and the Lord sent a lion against the\nrhinoceros; and when the unicorn saw the lion, he lay down, and David\ndescended his back, along with his sheep, as fast as possible; but when\nhe saw the lion, his spirit failed him again. However he took the lion\nby the beard, and smote, and slew him. This adventure the Psalmist\nrecalls when he says, \u201c_Save me from the lion\u2019s mouth; Thou hast heard\nme also from among the horns of the unicorn_;\u201d[640] and to his vow he\nalludes in Psalm cxxxii., \u201c_Lord, remember David, and all his trouble;\nhow he sware unto the Lord, and vowed a vow unto the Almighty God of\nJacob._\u201d[641]\n\nOne day David was hunting in the wilderness. Then came Satan, in the\nform of a stag, and David shot an arrow at him, but could not kill\nhim. This astonished him, for on one occasion, in strife with the\nPhilistines, he had transfixed eight hundred men with one arrow.[642]\nThen he chased the deer, and it ran before him into the Philistine\nland. Now when Ishbi-benob, who was of the sons of the giant, knew\nthis, he said, \u201cDavid has slain my brother Goliath; now he is in my\npower!\u201d and he came upon him and chained him, and cast him down, and\nlaid a wine-press upon him, that he might crush him, and squeeze all\nthe blood out of him. But God softened the earth beneath him, so that\nit yielded to his body, and he was uninjured; as he says in the Psalms,\n\u201c_Thou shalt make room enough under me for to go._\u201d[643] And as David\nlay under the press, he saw a dove fly by, and he said, \u201c_O that I had\nwings as a dove, that I might flee away, and be at rest_;\u201d[644] and he\nalludes to his being among the pots, and noting the wings of the dove\nas silver, in another Psalm.[645]\n\nNow Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, heard the plaining of the dove, which\nhad seen the trouble of the king, and came into Jerusalem in grief\nthereat. Then Abishai went to the chamber of David to search for him,\nbut he was not there. Then he knew that the king must be in danger,\nand the only means of reaching him with speed was to mount the royal\nmule, which was fleet as the wind; but this Abishai did not venture to\ndo without advice, for he remembered the words of the Mischna, \u201cThou\nshalt not ride the king\u2019s horse, nor mount his throne, nor grasp his\nsceptre.\u201d But as the danger was pressing, Abishai went to the school,\nand consulted the doctors of the Law, who said, \u201cIn an emergency all\nthings are lawful.\u201d Then he mounted the mule of King David, and rode\ninto the desert, and the earth flew under him, and he reached the house\nof Ishbi-benob. Now the mother of Ishbi-benob--her name was Orpha--sat\nwithout the door spinning. And when she saw Abishai galloping up, she\nbrake her thread and flung the spindle at him, with intent to strike\nhim dead. But the spindle fell short of him. So Orpha cried to him,\n\u201cGive me my spindle, boy.\u201d Abishai stooped and picked it up, and cast\nit at her with all his force, and it struck her on the brow, and broke\nher skull, and she fell back and died.\n\nThen, when Ishbi-benob saw what was done, he said, \u201cThese two men will\nbe too much for me!\u201d so he drew David from under the wine-press, and\nflung him high into the air, and set his lance in the ground, that\nDavid might fall upon it, and be transfixed. But Abishai cried the\nSacred Name, and David was arrested in his fall, and hung between\nheaven and earth, and gradually was let down, not on the spear, but at\na distance. Then Abishai and David slew Ishbi-benob.[646]\n\nWhen David\u2019s life was run out, the Angel of Death came to fetch his\nsoul. But David spent all his time in reading the Law. The angel stood\nbefore him, and watched that his lips should cease moving, for he might\nnot interrupt him in this sacred work. But David made no pause. Then\nthe angel went into the garden which was behind the house, and shook\nviolently one of the trees. David heard the noise, and turned his head,\nand saw that the branches of one of his trees were violently agitated,\nbut no leaf stirred on the other trees; so he closed the book of the\nLaw, and went into his garden, and set a ladder against the tree and\nascended into it, that he might see what was agitating the leaves. Then\nthe angel withdrew the ladder, but David knew it not; so he fell and\nbroke his neck, and died. It was the Sabbath day. Then Solomon doubted\nwhat he should do, for the body of his father was exposed to the sun,\nand to the dogs; and he did not venture to remove it, lest he should\nprofane the Sabbath; so he sent to the Rabbis, and said, \u201cMy father is\ndead, and exposed to the sun, and to be devoured by dogs; what shall I\ndo?\u201d\n\nThey answered, \u201cCast the body of a beast before the dogs, and place\nbread or a boy upon thy father, and bury him.\u201d[647]\n\nDavid had such a beautiful voice, that, when he sang the praises of\nGod, the birds came from all quarters and surrounded him, listening\nto his strains. The mountains even and the hills were moved at his\nnotes.[648] He could sing with a voice as loud as the most deafening\npeal of thunder, or warble as sweetly as the tuneful nightingale.\n\nHe divided his time, say the Mussulmans, into three parts. One day\nhe occupied himself in the affairs of his kingdom, the second day he\ndevoted to the service of God, and the third day he gave up to the\nsociety of his wives.\n\nAs he was going home from prayer, one day, he heard two of his servants\ndiscussing him and comparing him with Abraham.\n\n\u201cWas not Abraham saved from a fiery furnace?\u201d asked one.\n\n\u201cDid not David slay the giant Goliath?\u201d asked the other.\n\n\u201cBut what has David done that will compare with the obedience of\nAbraham, who was ready to offer his only son to God?\u201d asked the first.\n\nWhen David reached home, he fell down before God and prayed: \u201cLord!\nThou who didst give to Abraham a trial of his obedience in the pyre,\ngrant that an opportunity may be afforded me of proving before all the\npeople how great also is mine.\u201d[649]\n\nBut others relate this differently. They say that David besought the\nLord to endue him with the spirit of prophecy. Then God answered, \u201cWhen\nI give great gifts, he who receives them must suffer great trials.\nI proved Abraham by the fire, and by the sacrifice of one son, and\nseparation from others; Jacob by his children; Joseph by the well\nand the prison; Moses by Pharaoh; Job by the worms. I afflicted all\nthese, but thee have I not afflicted.\u201d But David said, \u201cO Lord, prove\nme and try me also, that I may obtain the same degree of celebrity as\nthey.\u201d[650]\n\nOne day, as David sang psalms before God and the congregation, a\nbeautiful bird appeared at the window, and it attracted his whole\nattention, so that he could scarcely sing. David concluded his\nrecitation of the psalms earlier than usual, and went in pursuit of the\nbird, which led him from bush to bush, and from tree to tree, till it\nsuddenly disappeared near a secluded lake. Now this bird was Eblis, and\nhe came to tempt David into evil.\n\nWhen the bird vanished, David saw in the water a beautiful woman,\nbathing, and when she stood up, her hair covered her whole person.\n\nDavid hid behind the bushes, that he might not startle her, till she\nwas dressed; then he stood forth, and asked her her name.\n\n\u201cMy name,\u201d said she, \u201cis Bathsheba,[651] daughter of Joshua, and wife\nof Uriah, son of Hanan, who is with the army.\u201d[652]\n\nThen David departed, but his heart was inflamed with love, and he sent\na message to Joab, the captain of his host, to set Uriah before the\nark in every battle. Now those who went before the ark must conquer or\nfall. Three times Uriah came out of battle victorious, but the fourth\ntime he was killed.\n\nThen David took Uriah\u2019s wife to his own house and made her his own\nwife. And she consented upon the condition that should she bear him a\nson, that son was to succeed him in the kingdom. Now David had, before\nhe married her, ninety-nine wives. The day after his marriage, Michael\nand Gabriel appeared before him in human form, as he was in his court,\nand Gabriel said to him; \u201cThis fellow here possesses ninety and nine\nsheep, but I have only one, and that I love, and cherish in my bosom.\nThis man claims my little ewe lamb, and will take it from me, and, if\nI will not give it him, he says that he will slay me; and take my lamb\nfrom me by force.\u201d\n\nThen David\u2019s anger was kindled against Michael, and he said, \u201cThou who\nhast so many sheep, wherefore lustest thou after the poor man\u2019s ewe\nlamb? Thou hast an evil heart and an insatiable spirit.\u201d\n\nThen Michael exclaimed, \u201cThou hast given judgment against thyself: what\nthou rebukest in this man, thou hast allowed thyself to do!\u201d[653]\n\nAnd David knew that God had sent His angels to rebuke him, and he fell\nupon his face to the ground. But, some say, he drew his sword and\nrushed upon Michael: then Gabriel held him back, and said, \u201cThou didst\nask to be tried; now thou hast fallen under the temptation.\u201d[654]\n\nThen the angels vanished, and David fell to the ground, tore off his\npurple robe, cast aside his golden crown, and wept, for forty days and\nforty nights. And his tears flowed in such abundance, that every now\nand then he plunged a cup into them and drank it off.\n\nAt the expiration of forty days Gabriel came to him, and said, \u201cThe\nLord salutes thee!\u201d But David felt this was an additional reproach, and\nhe wept still more. It is said that during the ensuing forty days and\nnights David shed more tears than Adam and all his descendants had, and\nwill, shed from the day of the Fall to the day of the Resurrection.\n\nThen God sent Gabriel to him again, and Gabriel said, \u201cThe Lord salutes\nthee!\u201d But David lifted his tearful face and said, \u201cO Gabriel, what\nwill Uriah say to me on the day of the general Resurrection?\u201d\n\nGabriel answered, \u201cThe Lord will give him so great an inheritance in\nParadise, that he will not have the heart to reproach thee.\u201d\n\nThen David knew that he was pardoned, and he rejoiced greatly. But he\nnever forgot his sins. He wrote them on the palm of his hand, that he\nmight have them always before him; therefore he says, \u201cMy shame is ever\nbefore mine eyes.\u201d\n\nNevertheless David\u2019s heart was lifted up with pride, when he considered\nthat he was a king, a prophet, and a great general. And one day he said\nto Nathan, \u201cI think I am perfect, I have every thing.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so,\u201d answered Nathan, \u201cthou exercisest no handicraft.\u201d\n\nThen David was ashamed, and he asked God to teach him a craft; and God\nmade him skilful in fabricating coats of mail of rings twined together;\nhis trade therefore was that of an armorer, and his disgrace was wiped\naway.\n\nAfter his judgment between the two angels, David had no confidence in\ngiving sentence in cases pleaded before him; therefore God sent him, by\nthe hand of Gabriel, a reed of iron and a little bell, and the angel\nsaid to him, \u201cGod is pleased with thy humility, and He has sent thee\nthis reed and this bell to assist thee in giving judgment. Place this\nreed in thy judgment-hall, and hang up the bell in the middle, and\nplace the accuser on one side, and the accused on the other, and give\nsentence in favor of him who makes the bell to tinkle when he touches\nthe reed.\u201d\n\nDavid was highly pleased with his gift, and he gave such righteous\njudgment, that men feared, throughout the land, to do wrong to one\nanother.\n\nOne day, two men came before David, and one said, \u201cI left a goodly\npearl in the charge of this man, and when I asked for it again, he\ndenied it me.\u201d\n\nBut the other said, \u201cI have returned it to him.\u201d\n\nThen David bade each lay his hand on the reed, but the bell gave the\nsame indication for both. Then David thought, \u201cThey both speak the\ntruth, and yet that cannot be; the gift of God must err.\u201d\n\nThen he bade the men try again, and the result was the same. However,\nhe observed that the defendant, when he went up to the reed to lay his\nhand upon it, gave his walking staff to the plaintiff to hold, and\nthis he did each time, so that David\u2019s suspicion was awakened, and he\ntook the staff, and examined it, and found that it was hollow, and the\nstolen pearl was concealed in the handle. Thus the bell had given right\njudgment, for when the accused touched the reed, he had returned the\npearl into the hand of the accuser; but David by his doubt in the reed\ndispleased Him who gave it, and the reed and the bell were taken from\nhim.\n\nAfter that, David often gave wrong judgment till Solomon, his son, was\nof age to advise him.\n\nOne day, when Solomon was aged thirteen, there came two men before\nthe king. The first said, \u201cI sold a house and cellar to this man,\nand on digging in the cellar he found a treasure hidden there by my\nforefathers. I sold him the house and cellar but not the treasure. Bid\nhim restore to me what he has found.\u201d\n\nBut the other said, \u201cNot so. He sold me the house, the cellar, and all\nits contents.\u201d\n\nThen King David said, \u201cLet the treasure be divided, and let half go to\none, and half go to the other.\u201d\n\nBut Solomon stood up and said to the plaintiff, \u201cHast thou not a son?\u201d\nHe said, \u201cI have.\u201d\n\nThen said Solomon to the defendant, \u201cHast thou not a daughter?\u201d He\nanswered, \u201cI have.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said Solomon, \u201cgive thy daughter to the son of this man who\nsold thee the house, and let the treasure go as a marriage gift to thy\ndaughter and his son.\u201d And all applauded this judgment.\n\nOn another occasion, a husbandman came before the judgment-seat to lay\ncomplaint against a herdsman, whose sheep had broken into his field,\nand had pastured on his young wheat.\n\nThen King David said, \u201cLet some of the sheep be given to the\nhusbandman.\u201d\n\nBut Solomon stood up, and said, \u201cNot so; let the husbandman have the\nwool, and the milk of the flock, till the wheat is grown up again as it\nwas before the sheep destroyed it.\u201d\n\nAnd all wondered at his wisdom.\n\nBut the king\u2019s elders and councillors were filled with envy, because\nthis child\u2019s opinion was preferred before theirs; and they complained\nto King David.\n\nThen David said, \u201cCall an assembly of the people, and prove Solomon\nbefore them, whether he be learned in the Law, and whether he have\nunderstanding and wit.\u201d\n\nSo the people were assembled, and the elders took council together how\nthey might perplex him with hard questions. But or ever they asked him,\nhe answered what they had devised, and they were greatly confounded,\nso that the people supposed this was a preconcerted scene arranged\nby the king. Then, when the elders were silenced, Solomon turned to\ntheir chief, and said, \u201cI too will prove you with questions. What you\nhave asked me have been trials of my learning, but what I will ask you\nshall put to proof the readiness of your wits. What is all, and what is\nnothing? What is something, and what is naught?\u201d\n\nThe elder was silent; he thought, but he knew not what was the answer.\nAnd all the people perplexed themselves to discover the riddle, but\nthey could not. Then said Solomon, \u201cGod is all, and the world He made\nis as nothing before Him. The faithful is something, but the hypocrite\nis naught.\u201d\n\nThereupon he turned to a second, and he said: \u201cWhat are most and what\nare fewest? What is the sweetest, and what is the bitterest?\u201d But\nwhen the second could find no solution to these questions, Solomon\nanswered, \u201cMost men are unbelievers, the fewest have true faith. The\nsweetest thing is the possession of a virtuous wife, good children,\nand a competence; the bitterest thing is to have a disreputable wife,\ndisorderly children, and penury.\u201d\n\nThen Solomon turned to a third elder and asked: \u201cWhat is the most\nodious sight, and what is the most beautiful sight? What is the surest\nthing, and what is that which is most insecure?\u201d\n\nAnd when this elder also was unable to give an answer, Solomon\ninterpreted his riddle once more, \u201cThe most odious sight is to see a\nrighteous man fall away; the most beautiful sight is to see a sinner\nrepent. The surest thing is death, the most insecure thing is life.\u201d\nAfter that Solomon said to all the people, \u201cYe see that the oldest\nand the most learned men are not always the wisest. True wisdom comes\nnot with years, nor is derived from books, but is a gift of God the\nAll-wise.\u201d\n\nSolomon by his words threw the whole assembly into astonishment, and\nall the heads of the people cried with one voice, \u201cPraised be the Lord,\nwho has given to our king a son who surpasses all in wisdom, and who is\nworthy to ascend the throne of his father David.\u201d\n\nAnd David thanked God that He had given him such a wise son, and now he\ndesired but one thing further of God, and that was to see him who was\nto be his companion in Paradise; for to every man is allotted by God\none man to be his friend and comrade in the Land of Bliss.\n\nSo David prayed to God, and his prayer was heard, and a voice fell\nfrom heaven and bade him confer the kingdom upon his son Solomon, and\nthen to go forth, and the Lord would lead him to the place where his\ncompanion dwelt.\n\nDavid therefore had his son Solomon crowned king, and then he went\nforth out of Jerusalem, and he was in pilgrim\u2019s garb, with a staff in\nhis hand; and he went from city to city, and from village to village,\nbut he found not the man whom he sought. One day, after the lapse\nof many weeks, he drew near to a village upon the borders of the\nMediterranean Sea, and alongside of him walked a poorly dressed man\nladen with a heavy bundle of fagots. This man was very old and reverend\nof aspect, and David watched him. He saw him dispose of his wood and\nthen give half the money he had obtained by the sale of it to a poor\nperson. After that he bought a piece of bread and retired from the\ntown. As he went, there passed a blind woman, and the old man broke his\nbread in half, and gave one portion to the woman; and he continued his\ncourse till he reached the mountains from which he had brought his load\nin the morning.\n\nDavid thought, \u201cThis man well deserves to be my companion for eternity,\nfor he is pious, charitable, and reverend of aspect: I must ask his\nname.\u201d\n\nHe went after the old man, and he found him in a cave among the rocks,\nwhich was lighted by a rent above. David stood without and heard the\nhermit pray, and read the Tora and the Psalms, till the sun went down.\nThen he lighted a lamp and began his evening prayers; and when they\nwere finished, he drew forth the piece of bread, and ate the half of it.\n\nDavid, who had not ventured to interrupt the devotions of the old\nhermit, now entered the cave and saluted him.\n\nThe hermit asked, \u201cWho art thou? I have seen no man here before, save\nonly Mata, son of Johanna, the companion destined to King David in\nParadise.\u201d\n\nDavid told his name, and asked after this Mata. But the aged man could\ngive him no information of his whereabouts. \u201cBut,\u201d said he, \u201cgo over\nthese mountains, and observe well what thou lightest upon, and it may\nbe thou wilt find Mata.\u201d\n\nDavid thanked him, and continued his search. For long it was\nprofitless. He traversed the stony dales and the barren mountains, and\nsaw no trace of human foot. At last, just as hope was abandoning him,\non the summit of a rugged peak he saw a wet spot. Then he stood still\nin surprise. \u201cHow comes there to be a patch of soft and sloppy ground\nhere?\u201d he asked; \u201cthe topmost peak of a stony mountain is not the place\nwhere springs bubble up.\u201d\n\nAs he thus mused, an aged man came up the other side of the mountain.\nHis eyes were depressed to the earth, so that he saw not David. And\nwhen he came to the wet patch, he stood still, and prayed with such\nfervor, that rivulets of tears flowed out of his eyes, and sank into\nthe soil; and thus David learnt how it was that the mountain-top was\nwet.\n\nThen David thought, \u201cSurely this man, whose eyes are such copious\nfountains of tears, must be my companion in Paradise.\u201d\n\nYet he ventured not to interrupt him in his prayer, till he heard him\nask, \u201cO my God! pardon King David his sins, and save him from further\ntrespass! for my sake be merciful to him, for Thou hast destined him to\nbe my comrade for all eternity!\u201d\n\nThen David ran towards him, but the old man tottered and fell, and\nbefore the king reached him he was dead.\n\nSo David dug into the ground which had been moistened by the tears of\nMata, and laid him there, and said the funeral prayer over him, and\ncovered him with the earth, and then returned to Jerusalem.\n\nAnd when he came into his harem, the Angel of Death stood there and\ngreeted him with the words, \u201cGod has heard thy supplications; now has\nthy life reached its end.\u201d\n\nThen David said, \u201cThe Lord\u2019s will be done!\u201d and he fell down upon the\nground, and expired.\n\nGabriel descended to comfort Solomon, and to give him a heavenly shroud\nin which to wrap David. And all Israel followed the bier to Machpelah,\nwhere Solomon laid him by the side of Abraham and Joseph.[655]\n\nIt will doubtless interest the reader to have an English version of\nthe Psalm supposed to have been composed by David after the slaying of\nGoliath, which is not included in the Psalter, as it is supposed to be\napocryphal.\n\n\nPSALM CLI. (_Pusillus eram_).\n\n1. I was small among my brethren; and growing up in my father\u2019s house,\nI kept my father\u2019s sheep.\n\n2. My hands made the organ: and my fingers shaped the psaltery.\n\n3. And who declared unto my Lord! He, the Lord, He heard all things.\n\n4. He sent His angel, and He took me from my father\u2019s sheep; He\nanointed me in mercy with His unction.\n\n5. Great and goodly are my brethren: but with them the Lord was not\nwell pleased.\n\n6. I went to meet the stranger: and he cursed me by all his idols.\n\n7. But I smote off his head with his own drawn sword: and I blotted out\nthe reproach of Israel.\n\nThis simple and beautiful psalm does not exist in Hebrew, but is found\nin Greek, in some psalters of the Septuagint version, headed \u201cA Psalm\nof David when he had slain Goliath.\u201d S. Athanasius mentions it with\npraise, in his address to Marcellinus on the Interpretation of the\nPsalms, and in the Synopsis of Holy Scripture. It was versified in\nGreek in A. D. 360, by Apollinarius Alexandrinus.[656]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe subjoined shield of David is given in a Hebrew book on the\nproperties and medicaments of things. It is said to be a certain\nprotection against fire. A cake of bread must be made, and on it must\nbe impressed the seal or shield of David, having in the corner the\nword \u05d8\u05f4\u05d9\u05e8, and in the middle \u05d0\u05e0\u05f4\u05dc\u05d0 (Thou art mighty to everlasting, O\nJehovah); and it must be cast aside into the fire with the words of\nPsalm cvi. 30, \u201c_Then stood up Phinees and prayed; and so the plague\nceased_;\u201d and also Exod. xii. 27, \u201c_It is the sacrifice of the Lord\u2019s\npassover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in\nEgypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our homes._\u201d[657]\n\n\n\n\nXXXVIII.\n\nSOLOMON.[658]\n\n\n1. HOW SOLOMON OBTAINED POWER.\n\nAfter Solomon had executed the last offices for his father, he rested\nin a dale betwixt Hebron and Jerusalem, and fell asleep. As he returned\nto himself, there stood before him eight angels, each with countless\nwings, diverse in kinds and colors; and the angels bowed themselves\nbefore him three times.\n\n\u201cWho are ye?\u201d asked Solomon, with eyes still closed.\n\n\u201cWe are the angels ruling over the eight winds of heaven,\u201d was their\nreply. \u201cGod hath sent us to give thee dominion over ourselves and\nover the winds subject to us. They will storm and bluster, or breathe\nsoftly, at thy pleasure. At thy command they will swoop down on earth,\nand bear thee over the highest mountains.\u201d\n\nThe greatest of the angels gave him a jewel inscribed with \u201cGod is\nPower and Greatness,\u201d and said, \u201cWhen thou hast a command for us, then\nraise this stone towards heaven, and we shall appear before thee as thy\nservants.\u201d\n\nWhen these angels had taken their departure, there appeared four more,\nof whom each was unlike the other. One was in fashion as a great whale,\nanother as an eagle, the third as a lion, and the fourth as a serpent.\nAnd they said, \u201cWe are they who rule over all the creatures that move\nin the earth, and air, and water; and God hath sent us to give thee\ndominion over all creatures, that they may serve thee and thy friends\nwith all good, and fight against thine enemies with all their force.\u201d\n\nThe angel who ruled over the winged fowls extended to Solomon a\nprecious stone, with the inscription, \u201cLet all creatures praise the\nLord!\u201d and said, \u201cBy virtue of this stone, raised above thy head, canst\nthou call us to thy assistance, and to fulfil thy desire.\u201d\n\nSolomon immediately ordered the angels to bring before him a pair of\nevery living creature that moves in the water, flies in the air, and\nwalks or glides or creeps on the earth.\n\nThe angels vanished, and in an instant they were before Solomon once\nmore, and there were assembled in his sight pairs of every creature,\nfrom the elephant to the smallest fly.\n\nSolomon conversed with the angels, and was instructed by them in the\nhabits, virtues, and names of all living creatures; he listened to\nthe complaints of the beasts, birds, and fishes, and by his wisdom he\nrectified many evil customs among them.\n\nHe entertained himself longest with the birds, both on account of their\nbeautiful speech, which he understood, and also because of the wise\nsentences which they uttered.\n\nThis is the signification of the cry of the peacock: \u201cWith what measure\nthou judgest others, thou shalt thyself be judged.\u201d\n\nThis is the song of the nightingale: \u201cContentment is the greatest\nhappiness.\u201d\n\nThe turtle dove calls, \u201cBetter were it for some created things that\nthey had never been created.\u201d\n\nThe peewit pipes, \u201cHe that hath no mercy, will not find mercy himself.\u201d\n\nThe bird syrdar cries, \u201cTurn to the Lord, ye sinners!\u201d\n\nThe swallow screams, \u201cDo good, and ye shall receive a reward.\u201d\n\nThis is the pelican\u2019s note: \u201cPraise the Lord in heaven and earth.\u201d\n\nThe dove chants, \u201cThe fashion of this world passeth away, but God\nremaineth eternal.\u201d\n\nThe kata says, \u201cSilence is the best safeguard.\u201d\n\nThe cry of the eagle is, \u201cHowever long life may be, yet its inevitable\nterm is death.\u201d\n\nThe croak of the raven is, \u201cThe further from man, the happier I.\u201d\n\nThe cock crows before the dawn and in the day, \u201cRemember thy Creator, O\nthoughtless man!\u201d\n\nSolomon chose the cock and the peewit to be his constant\ncompanions--the first because of its cry, and the second because it can\nsee through the earth as through glass, and could therefore tell him\nwhere fountains of water were to be found.\n\nAfter he had stroked the dove, he bade her dwell with her young in the\ntemple he was about to build to the honor of the Most High. This pair\nof doves, in a few years, multiplied to such an extent, that all who\nsought the temple moved through the quarter of the town it occupied\nunder the shadow of the wings of doves.\n\nWhen Solomon was again alone, an angel appeared to him, whose upper\nhalf was like to earth, and whose lower half was like to water. He\nbowed himself before the king, and said, \u201cI am created by God to do His\nwill on the dry land and in the watery sea. Now, God has sent me to\nserve thee, and thou canst rule over earth and water. At thy command\nthe highest mountains will be made plain, and the level land will rise\ninto steep heights. Rivers and seas will dry up, and the desert will\nstream with water at thy command.\u201d Then he gave to him a precious\nstone, with the legend engraved thereon, \u201cHeaven and earth serve God.\u201d\n\nFinally, an angel presented to him another stone, whereon was cut,\n\u201cThere is no God save God, and Mohammed is the messenger of God.\u201d\n\n\u201cBy means of this stone,\u201d said the angel, \u201cthou shalt have dominion\nover the whole world of spirits, which is far greater than that of\nmen and beasts, and occupies the space between earth and heaven. One\nportion of the spirits is faithful, and praises the One only God; the\nother portion is unfaithful: some adore fire, others the sun, others\nworship the planets, many revere winter. The good spirits surround the\ntrue believers among men, and protect them from all evil; the evil\nspirits seek to injure them and deceive them.\u201d\n\nSolomon asked to see the Jinns in their natural and original shape. The\nangel shot like a column of flame into heaven, and shortly returned\nwith the Satans and Jinns in great hosts: and Solomon, though he had\npower over them, shuddered with disgust at their loathsome appearance.\nHe saw men\u2019s heads attached to the necks of horses, whose feet were\nthose of an ass; the wings of an eagle attached to the hump of a\ndromedary; the horns of a gazelle on the head of a peacock.[659]\n\n\n2. HOW SOLOMON FEASTED ALL FLESH.\n\nWhen Solomon returned home, he placed the four stones, which the angels\nhad given him, in a ring, so that he might at any moment exercise his\nauthority over the realms of spirits and beasts, the earth, the winds\nand the sea.\n\nHis first care was to subject the Jinns. He made them all appear before\nhim, with the exception of the mighty Sachr, who kept himself in\nconcealment on an unknown island in the ocean, and the great Eblis, the\nmaster of all evil spirits, to whom God had promised complete liberty\ntill the day of the last judgment.\n\nWhen all the demons were assembled, Solomon pressed his seal upon their\nnecks to mark them as his slaves. Then he commanded all the male Jinns\nto collect every sort of material for the construction of the temple\nhe was about to build. He bade also the female Jinns cook, bake, wash,\nweave, and carry water; and what they made, he distributed amongst the\npoor. The meats they cooked were placed on tables which covered an area\nof four square miles; and daily thirty thousand portions of beef, as\nmany portions of mutton, and very many birds and fishes were devoured.\nThe Jinns and devils sat at iron tables, the poor at tables of wood,\nthe heads of the people at silver tables, the wise and pious at tables\nof gold; and these latter were served by Solomon in person.\n\nOne day, when all spirits, men, beasts, and birds rose satisfied from\nthe tables, Solomon besought God to permit him to feed to the full all\ncreated animals at once. God replied that he demanded an impossibility.\n\u201cBut,\u201d said he, \u201ctry to-morrow what thou canst do to satisfy the\ndwellers of the sea.\u201d\n\nOn the morrow, accordingly, Solomon bade the Jinns lade a hundred\nthousand camels and the same number of mules with corn, and lead them\nto the sea-shore. He then cried to the fishes and said: \u201cCome, ye\ndwellers in the water, eat and be satisfied!\u201d\n\nThen came all manner of fishes to the surface of the water, and Solomon\ncast the corn to them, and they ate and were satisfied, and dived out\nof sight. But all at once a whale lifted his head above the surface,\nand it was like a mountain. Solomon bade the spirits pour one sack of\ncorn after another down the throat of the monster, till all the store\nwas exhausted, there remained not a single grain. But the whale cried,\n\u201cFeed me, Solomon! feed me! never have I suffered from hunger as I have\nthis day!\u201d\n\nSolomon asked the whale if there were any more in the deep like him.\nThe fish answered: \u201cThere are of my race as many as a thousand kinds,\nand the smallest is so large that thou wouldst seem in its belly to be\nbut a sand-grain in the desert.\u201d\n\nSolomon cast himself upon the earth, and began to weep, and prayed to\nGod to pardon him for his presumption.\n\n\u201cMy kingdom,\u201d called to him the Most High, \u201cis far greater than thine.\nStand up, and behold one creature over which no man has yet obtained\nthe mastery.\u201d\n\nThen the sea began to foam and toss, as though churned by the eight\nwinds raging against it, and out of the tumbling brine rose the\nLeviathan, so great that it could easily have swallowed seven thousand\nwhales such as that which Solomon had attempted to feed; and the\nLeviathan cried, with a voice like the roar of thunder: \u201cPraised\nbe God, who by His mighty power preserves me from perishing by\nhunger.\u201d[660]\n\n\n3. THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE.[661]\n\nWhen Solomon returned from the sea-shore to Jerusalem, he heard the\nnoise of the hammers, and saws, and axes of the Jinns who were engaged\nin the building of the temple; and the noise was so great that the\ninhabitants of Jerusalem could not hear one another speak. Therefore\nhe commanded the Jinns to cease from their work, and he asked them if\nthere was no means whereby the metals and stones could be shaped and\ncut without making so much noise.\n\nThen one of the spirits stepped forth and said: \u201cThe means is known\nonly to the mighty Sachr, who has hitherto escaped your authority.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it impossible to capture this Sachr?\u201d asked Solomon.\n\n\u201cSachr,\u201d replied the Jinn, \u201cis stronger than all the rest of us\ntogether, and he excels us in speed as he does in strength. However, I\nknow that once every month he goes to drink of a fountain in the land\nof Hidjr; by this, O king, thou mayest be able to bring him under thy\nsceptre.\u201d\n\nSolomon, thereupon, commanded a Jinn to fly to Hidjr--and to empty the\nwell of water, and to fill it up with strong wine. He bade other Jinns\nremain in ambush beside the well and watch the result.[662]\n\nAfter some weeks, when Solomon was pacing his terrace before his\npalace, he saw a Jinn flying, swifter than the wind, from the direction\nof Hidjr, and he asked, \u201cWhat news of Sachr?\u201d\n\n\u201cSachr lies drunk on the edge of the fountain,\u201d said the Jinn; \u201cand\nwe have bound him with chains as thick as the pillars of the temple;\nnevertheless, he will snap them as the hair of a maiden, when he wakes\nfrom his drunken sleep.\u201d\n\nSolomon instantly mounted the winged Jinn and bade him transport him to\nthe well at Hidjr. In less than an hour he stood beside the intoxicated\ndemon. He was not a moment too soon, for the fumes of the wine were\npassing off, and, if Sachr had opened his eyes, Solomon would have\nbeen unable to constrain him. But now he pressed his signet upon the\nnape of his neck: Sachr uttered a cry so that the earth rocked on its\nfoundations.\n\n\u201cFear not,\u201d said Solomon, \u201cmighty Jinn; I will restore thee to liberty\nif thou wilt tell me how I may without noise cut and shape the hardest\nmetals.\u201d\n\n\u201cI myself know no means,\u201d answered the demon; \u201cbut the raven can tell\nthee how to do this. Take the eggs out of the raven\u2019s nest and place a\ncrystal cover upon them, and thou shalt see how the raven will break\nit.\u201d\n\nSolomon followed the advice of Sachr. A raven came, and fluttered some\ntime round the cover, and seeing that she could not reach her eggs, she\nvanished, and returned shortly with a stone in her beak, named Samur or\nSchamir; and no sooner had she touched the crystal therewith, than it\nclave asunder.\n\n\u201cWhence hast thou this stone?\u201d asked Solomon of the raven.\n\n\u201cIt comes from a mountain in the far west,\u201d replied the bird.\n\nSolomon commanded a Jinn to follow the raven to the mountain, and to\nbring him more of these stones. Then he released Sachr as he had\npromised. When the chains were taken off him, he uttered a loud cry\nof joy, which in Solomon\u2019s ears, bore an ominous sound as of mocking\nlaughter.\n\nWhen the Jinn returned with the stone Schamir, Solomon mounted a Jinn\nand was borne back to Jerusalem, where he distributed the stones\namongst the Jinns, and they were able to cut the rocks for the temple\nwithout noise.[663]\n\nSolomon also made an ark of the covenant ten ells square, and he\nsought to bring it into the Holy of Holies that he had made; and when\nhe sought to bring the ark through the door of the temple, the door\nwas ten ells wide. Now, that was the width of the ark, and ten ells\nwill not go through ten ells. Then, when Solomon saw that the ark\nwould not pass through the door, he was ashamed and cried, \u201cLift up\nyour heads, O ye gates, and the King of Glory shall come in!\u201d Then the\ngates tottered, and would have fallen on his head to punish what they\nsupposed to be a blasphemy, for the doors thought that by \u201cthe King of\nGlory\u201d he meant himself; and they cried to him in anger, \u201cWho is the\nKing of glory?\u201d and he answered, \u201cIt is the Lord of Hosts, He is the\nKing of Glory.\u201d And because the doors were so zealous for the honor of\nGod, the Lord promised them that they should never fall into the hands\nof the enemies of Israel. Therefore, when the temple was burnt and the\ntreasures were carried into Babylon, the gates sank into the earth and\nvanished. And to this the prophet Jeremiah refers (Lament. ii. 9).[664]\n\nSolomon also built him a palace, with great riches in gold, and\nsilver, and precious stones, like no king that was before him. Many\nof the halls had crystal floors, and crystal roofs. He had a fountain\nof liquid brass.[665] He had also a carpet five hundred parasangs in\nlength; and whenever the carpet was spread, three hundred thrones of\ngold and silver were placed on it, and Solomon bade the birds of the\nair spread their wings over them for a shade.[666] He built a throne\nfor himself of sandal wood, encrusted with gold and precious stones.\n\n\n4. THE TRAVELS OF SOLOMON.\n\nWhilst the palace was being built, Solomon made a journey to Damascus.\nThe Jinn, on whose back he flew, carried him directly over the valley\nof ants, which is surrounded by such crags and precipices, that no man\nhad hitherto seen it. The king was much astonished to see such a host\nof ants under him, which were as big as wolves, and which, on account\nof their grey eyes and grey feet, looked from a distance like a cloud.\nThe queen of the ants, who, till this moment, had not seen a man, was\nfilled with fear when she beheld Solomon, and she cried to her host,\n\u201cHie to your holes, fly!\u201d\n\nBut God commanded her not to fear, and to summon all her subjects, and\nto anoint Solomon king of all insects. Solomon, who heard the words of\nGod, and the answer of the queen from a distance of many miles, borne\nto him upon the wind, descended into the valley beside the queen.\nImmediately the whole valley was filled with ants, as far as the eye\ncould see.\n\nSolomon asked the queen, \u201cWhy didst thou fear me, being surrounded with\nsuch a countless and mighty host?\u201d\n\n\u201cI fear God alone,\u201d answered the queen; \u201cIf any danger were to threaten\nmy subjects, at a sign from me seven times as many would instantly\nappear.\u201d\n\n\u201cWherefore then didst thou command the ants to fly to their holes when\nI appeared?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause I feared they would look with wonder and reverence on thee,\nand thereby for a moment forget their Creator.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am greater than thou,\u201d added the queen of the ants.\n\n\u201cHow so?\u201d asked Solomon in surprise.\n\n\u201cBecause thou hast a metal throne, but my throne is thy hand, on which\nI now repose,\u201d said the ant.\n\n\u201cBefore I leave thee, hast thou no word to say to me?\u201d\n\n\u201cI ask nothing of thee, but I give thee a piece of advice. As long\nas thou livest, give not occasion to be ashamed of thy name, which\nsignifies _The blameless_. Beware also never to give the ring from thy\nfinger, without saying first, \u2018In the name of the God of all mercy.\u2019\u201d\n\nSolomon exclaimed, \u201cLord! Thy kingdom exceeds and excels mine!\u201d and he\nbade farewell to the queen of the ants.[667]\n\nAfter Solomon had visited Damascus, he returned another way, so as\nnot to disturb the ants in their pious contemplation. Ashe returned,\nhe heard a cry on the wind, \u201cO God of Abraham, release me from life!\u201d\nSolomon hastened in the direction of the voice, and found a very aged\nman, who said he was more than three hundred years old, and that he had\nasked God to suffer him to live, till there arose a mighty prophet in\nthe land.\n\n\u201cI am that prophet,\u201d said Solomon. Then the Angel of Death caught away\nthe old man\u2019s soul.\n\nSolomon exclaimed, \u201cThou must have been beside me, to have acted with\nsuch speed, thou Angel of Death.\u201d\n\nBut the Angel answered, \u201cGreat is thy mistake. Know that I stand on the\nshoulders of an angel, whose head reaches ten thousand years\u2019 journey\nabove the seventh heaven, and whose feet are five hundred years\u2019\njourney beneath the earth. He it is who tells me when I am to fetch a\nsoul. His eyes are ever fixed on the tree Sidrat Almuntaha, which bears\nas many leaves as there are living men in the world; when a man is\nborn, a new leaf buds out; when a man is about to die, the leaf fades,\nand at his death, falls of; and, when the leaf withers, I fly to fetch\nthe soul, the name of which is inscribed upon the leaf.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what doest thou then?\u201d\n\n\u201cGabriel accompanies me, as often as one of the believers dies; his\nsoul is wrapped in a green silk cloth, and is breathed into a green\nbird, which feeds in Paradise till the end of time. But the soul of the\nsinner is carried by me in a tarred cloth to the gates of hell, where\nit wanders in misery till the last day.\u201d\n\nThen Solomon washed the body of the dead man, buried him, and prayed\nfor his soul, that it might be eased of the pains it would have to\nundergo during its purgation by the angels Ankir and Munkir.[668]\n\nThis journey had so exhausted Solomon, that on his return to Jerusalem\nhe ordered the Jinns to weave him stout silk carpets on which he\nand all his servants, his throne, tables, and kitchen could be\naccommodated. When he wanted to go a journey, he ordered the winds to\nblow, and raise the carpet with all that was on it, and waft it whither\nhe desired to travel.\n\nOne night, Abraham appeared to the king in a dream, and said to him:\n\u201cGod has given thee wisdom and power above every other child of man;\nHe has given thee dominion over the earth and over the winds; He has\nsuffered thee to build a house to his honor; thou hast power to speed\non the back of Jinns or on the wings of the winds where thou listest;\nnow employ the gift of God, and visit the city of Jathrib (Medina),\nwhich will one day give shelter to the greatest of prophets; also the\ncity Mecca, in which he will be born, and the temple which I and my son\nIshmael--peace be with him!--rebuilt after the flood.\u201d\n\nNext morning Solomon announced his intention to make a pilgrimage to\nMecca, and bade every Israelite join in the expedition. The number\nof pilgrims was so great, that Solomon was obliged to have a new\ncarpet woven by the Jinns of such vast size that it could serve the\nwhole caravan, with the camels and oxen and sheep they destined for\nsacrifice. When ready to start, Solomon bade the Jinns and demons fly\nbefore the carpet; his confidence in their integrity was so small, that\nhe would not trust them out of his sight: for this reason also he drank\ninvariably out of crystal goblets, that even when drinking he might\nkeep his eyes upon them. The birds he ordered to fly in ranks above the\ncarpet, to give shadow to the pilgrims with their wings.\n\nWhen all was in readiness, and men, Jinns, beasts, and birds were\nassembled together, Solomon ordered the winds to descend and bear the\ncarpet, with all upon it, into the air, and waft it to Medina.\n\nWhen they approached this town Solomon made a sign, and the birds\ndepressed their wings, and the winds abated, and the carpet sank\nlightly to the earth. But he suffered no man to step off the carpet,\nas Medina was then in the hands of idolaters. He alone went to the\nspot where afterwards Mohammed was to erect the first mosque--it was\nthen a cemetery--and there he offered up his noon-day prayer. Then\nhe returned to the carpet; at a sign the birds spread their wings,\nthe winds gathered force and lifted the carpet, and the whole caravan\nsailed through the air to Mecca, which was then under the power of the\nDjorhamides, who were worshippers of the One God, and preserved the\nKaaba from desecration by idols.\n\nSolomon, with all his company, entered the city, went in procession\nround the temple, performed the requisite ceremonies, and offered\nsacrifices brought for the purpose from Jerusalem. Then he preached a\nlong sermon in the Kaaba, in which he prophesied the birth of Mohammed\nand the future glory of Mecca.\n\nAfter three days, Solomon desired to return to Jerusalem, and he\nremounted his throne on the carpet, and all the pilgrims resumed their\nplaces. When the birds spread their wings, and the carpet was again in\nmotion, the king perceived one ray of sun which pierced the canopy of\nbirds, and this proved to him that one of the birds had deserted its\nplace.\n\nHe called to the eagle, and bade it go through the roll-call of the\nbirds, and ascertain which was absent.\n\nThe eagle obeyed, and found that the peewit was missing. Solomon was\ninflamed with anger, especially as he needed the peewit during his\njourney over the desert, to discover for him the hidden wells and\nfountains.\n\n\u201cSoar aloft!\u201d exclaimed Solomon to the eagle, \u201cand seek me this\nrunaway, that I may strip him of his feathers and send him naked forth\ninto the sun, to become the prey of the insects.\u201d\n\nThe eagle mounted aloft, till the earth was beneath him like a\nrevolving bowl, and he looked in all directions, and at length he spied\nthe peewit coming from the south. The eagle would have grasped him in\nhis talons, but the little bird implored him, by Solomon, to spare him\ntill he had related his history to the king.\n\n\u201cTrust not in the protection of Solomon,\u201d said the eagle; \u201cthy mother\nshall bewail thee.\u201d Then the eagle brought the culprit before the king,\nwhose countenance was inflamed with anger, and who, with a frown,\nsigned the runagate to be brought before his throne.[669]\n\nThe peewit trembled in every limb, and, in token of submission, let\nwings and tail droop to the ground. As Solomon\u2019s face still expressed\ngreat anger, the bird exclaimed, \u201cO king and prophet of God! remember\nthat thou also shalt stand before the judgment-throne of God!\u201d\n\n\u201cHow canst thou excuse thine absence without my consent?\u201d asked the\nking.\n\n\u201cSire I bring thee news of a land and a queen of which thou hast not\neven heard the name--the land of Sheba, and the queen, Balkis.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese names are indeed strange to me. Who told thee of them?\u201d\n\n\u201cA lapwing of that country whom I met in my course, to whom I spoke of\nthy majesty, and the greatness of thy dominion, and wisdom, and power.\nThen he was astonished, and he related to me that thy name was unknown\nin his native land; and he spake to me of his home and the wonders that\nare there, and he persuaded me to accompany him thither. And on the way\nhe related to me the history of the Queen of Sheba, who commands an\narmy generalled by twelve thousand officers.\u201d\n\nSolomon bade the eagle release the peewit, and bade him relate what he\nhad heard of Sheba and its queen.\n\n\n5. THE HISTORY OF THE QUEEN OF SHEBA.\n\n\u201cSheba,\u201d said the peewit, \u201cis the name of the king who founded the\nkingdom; it is also the name of the capital. Sheba was a worshipper of\nthe sun, Eblis having drawn him from the true God, who sends rain from\nheaven, and covers the earth with plenty, and who reads the thoughts of\nmen\u2019s hearts.\n\n\u201cA succession of kings followed Sheba: the last of the dynasty was\nScharabel, a tyrant of such dissolute habits that every husband\nand father feared him. He had a vizir of such singular beauty that\nthe daughters of the Jinns took pleasure in contemplating him, and\nfrequently transformed themselves into gazelles that they might\ntrot alongside of him as he walked, and gaze with admiration on his\nexquisite beauty. One of these Jinn damsels, Umeira by name, conceived\nfor the vizir a violent passion, and forgetting the great distance\nwhich separates the race of the Jinns from that of mortals, she\nappeared to him one day as he was hunting, and offered him her hand,\non condition that he should fly with her into her own land, and that\nhe should never ask her origin. The vizir, dazzled by the marvellous\nbeauty of Umeira, gladly yielded, and she transported him to an island\nin the midst of the ocean, where she married him. At the end of nine\nmonths she gave birth to a daughter, whom she named Balkis. The vizir,\nall this while, was ignorant of the nature of his bride, and one day\nforgot himself so far as to ask her to what race she belonged. No\nsooner had he asked the fatal question, than, with a wail of sorrow,\nshe vanished forever from his sight.\n\n\u201cThe vizir now left the island, and, regaining his native country,\nretired with his babe to a valley far from the capital, and there lived\nin seclusion.\n\n\u201cAs Balkis grew up, her beauty became more striking, and was of such a\nsuperhuman nature, that her father became uneasy lest the fame of it\nshould reach the dissolute monster then seated on the throne of Sheba,\nand lest his daughter should be ravished from his arms. He therefore\nredoubled his precautions to guard Balkis, keeping her much at home,\nand only allowing her to appear veiled in public. But these precautions\nwere vain. Scharabel was in the habit of travelling about his empire in\ndisguise, and making himself, by this means, personally acquainted with\nthe condition of his estates.\n\n\u201cOn one of these expeditions he appeared, dressed in rags, as a\nmendicant, at the door of the ex-vizir, and obtained a glimpse of\nBalkis, then thirteen years old, lovely as a houri; she stepped out\nto give the beggar alms. At the same moment, the father hurried out\ntowards his daughter. The eyes of the two men met; a mutual recognition\nensued. The vizir fell at the feet of his king, and entreated pardon,\ntelling him all that had happened; and Scharabel, who had fallen in\nlove at first glance with Balkis, readily pardoned him, restored him to\nhis place as grand vizir, and lodged him in a magnificent palace near\nSheba.\n\n\u201cInstalled there, the vizir was full of disquiet. His daughter\nobserving this, inquired the cause, and received from her father the\nanswer that he dreaded lest the tyrant should carry her off to his\nharem; \u2018and,\u2019 said the unhappy man, \u2018I had rather see thee dead,\nBalkis, than in the power of this licentious monster.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Do not fear for me, my father,\u2019 replied Balkis; \u2018what thou dreadest\nshall not take place. Appear cheerful before the king. If he wishes to\nmarry me, then ask him to give me a splendid wedding.\u2019\n\n\u201cA few days after, Scharabel sent to ask the hand of Balkis. The virgin\nreplied that it should be his if he would solemnize the marriage with\ngreat pomp. To this the king agreed, and a magnificent banquet was\nprepared.\n\n\u201cAfter dinner, the vizir and all the company retired, leaving Balkis\nalone with the king. There were, however, four female slaves present,\none singing, another harping, a third dancing, and a fourth pouring\nout wine for the king. Balkis took the goblet, and plied her royal\nbridegroom well, till he fell drunk upon the floor, and then, with a\ndagger, she stabbed him to the heart.\n\n\u201cShe at once communicated with her father, and bade him send orders\nthroughout the town that all the citizens were to bring their daughters\nbefore the king, that he might add the comely ones to his already\nextensive list of wives and concubines. He obeyed her, and the\ncommotion in the town was prodigious. Parents gathered their friends,\nthose who were officers in the army agitated amongst their soldiers,\nand the whole town rose up in revolt, and rushed furiously to the\npalace, determined on the death of the tyrant.\n\n\u201cThen Balkis cut off the head of the king, and showed it to the excited\nmultitude from a window. A cry of joy rang through Sheba. The palace\ngates were thrown open, and Balkis was unanimously elected queen in the\nroom of the murdered tyrant.\n\n\u201cFrom that hour she has governed Sheba with prudence, and has made\nthe country prosperous. She sits to hear suits, and gives judgment\non a throne of gold, robed in splendor. All prospers under her wise\nadministration: but, alas! like her predecessors, she too is a\nworshipper of the sun.\u201d\n\nWhen Solomon heard the story of the peewit, he wrote a letter and\nsealed it with his ring, gave it to the bird, and bade him carry it\nimmediately to the Queen of Sheba.\n\nThe peewit flew like an arrow, and on the morrow appeared before\nBalkis, and gave her the missive. The queen broke the seal and read:\n\u201cSolomon, son of David, and servant of the Most High God, to Balkis,\nqueen of Sheba, sendeth greeting. In the name of the merciful and\ngracious God, peace be to those who walk in His ways. Do what I bid\nthee: submit immediately to my sceptre.\u201d[670]\n\nThe queen, startled at the abrupt and peremptory command, read the\nletter to her council, and asked their advice.\n\nThey urged her to follow her own devices, and promised to agree to\nwhatever she thought fit. She then said: \u201cYou know what disasters\nfollow on war. The letter of Solomon is threatening; I will send him\na messenger, and propitiate him with gifts. If he accepts them, he is\nnot above other kings; if he rejects them, he is a prophet, and we must\nyield to his sway.\u201d\n\nShe then dressed five hundred boys as girls, and five hundred girls\nshe equipped in boys\u2019 clothes. She collected, for presents, a thousand\ncarpets of gold and silver tissue, a crown adorned with pearls and\ndiamonds, and a great quantity of perfumes.\n\nShe also placed a pearl, a diamond cut through in zigzags, and a\ncrystal goblet, in a box, and gave it to her chief ambassador.\n\nFinally, she wrote a letter to Solomon, telling him that, if he was a\nprophet, he would be able to distinguish boys from girls in the train\nof the ambassadors, that he would be able to guess the contents of\nthe box, pierce the pearl, thread the diamond, and fill the goblet\nwith water which came neither from earth nor heaven. The chief nobles\nof Sheba were sent to bear the letter. Before they left, she said to\nthem: \u201cIf Solomon receives you with arrogance, fear nothing; pride is a\nsure token of weakness. If he receives you graciously, be careful--he\nis a prophet.\u201d The peewit, who had watched all these proceedings, and\nlistened to the message and advice, now flew to Solomon and told him\nall.\n\nThe great king immediately ordered his Jinns to spread his carpet seven\nleagues long, leading from his throne towards Sheba. He then surrounded\nhimself with gold and gems, and gathered all his courtiers and officers\ntogether, and prepared for the audience.\n\nWhen the ambassadors of Sheba set their feet on the carpet--the end of\nwhich was beyond the range of vision--they were full of astonishment.\nThis astonishment increased, and became terror, when they passed\nbetween ranks of demons, and Jinns, and nobles, and princes, and\nsoldiers, extending for many miles.\n\nWhen the leaders of the embassy reached the foot of the throne, Solomon\nreceived them with a gracious smile. Then they presented the letter of\nthe queen. Solomon, without opening it, told them its contents, for it\nhad been read by the peewit. They offered the box, and he said that in\nit were a pearl, a diamond, and a goblet. He next ordered his servants\nto bring silver ewers before the train of the ambassadors, that they\nmight wash their hands after their journey. Solomon watched intently,\nand he picked out the boys from the girls at once; for the boys dipped\ntheir hands only in the water, whilst the girls tucked up their sleeves\nto their shoulders and washed arms as well as hands.\n\nThen the box was opened and the pearl produced. Solomon unclasped his\npouch and drew forth Schamir, applied it to the pearl, and a hole was\ndrilled through it immediately. Next he took the diamond. The hole\npierced in it wound about, and a thread inserted in one end would not\npass through to the other end. Solomon took a piece of silk, called to\nhim a worm, put one end of the thread in its mouth and inserted it in\nthe diamond. The worm crawled down the winding passage, and appeared at\nthe other opening with the silk. In gratitude to the little creature,\nSolomon gave it for its food forever the mulberry-tree. Then he took\nthe crystal goblet. He summoned to him a huge negro slave, bade him\nmount a wild horse and gallop it about the plain till it steamed with\nsweat. Then with ease, the monarch filled the chalice with water that\nneither came from earth or heaven.\n\nSolomon, having accomplished these tasks, said to the ambassadors:\n\u201cTake back your presents, I do not want them. Tell the queen what you\nhave seen, and bid her submit to my rule.\u201d\n\nWhen Balkis had heard the report of her servants, she saw that it was\nin vain for her to resist.\n\n\u201cSolomon,\u201d said she, \u201cis a great prophet, and I must myself do him\nhomage.\u201d\n\nShe accordingly hastened to prepare for her journey, and marched to\nKing Solomon at the head of her twelve thousand generals, and all the\narmies they commanded. When she was a league from Solomon, the king\nhit upon a scheme. He called to him a demon, and bade him transport\nimmediately from Sheba the throne of the queen, and set it beside his\nown. The Jinn replied that he would bring it before noon, but the king\ncould not wait, for the queen would soon be there; then Asaph, his\nvizir, said \u201cRaise thine eyes, sire, to heaven, and before thou canst\nlower them the throne of Balkis will be here.\u201d\n\nAsaph knew the ineffable name of God, and therefore was able to do what\nhe said.\n\nSolomon looked up, and before he looked down, Asaph had brought the\nthrone.\n\nAs soon as Balkis appeared, Solomon asked her if she recognized the\nseat. She replied, \u201cIt is mine, if it is that which it was.\u201d A reply,\nwhich we are told, charmed Solomon.\n\nNow the Jinns were envious of Balkis, and they sought to turn away the\nheart of Solomon away from her; so they told him that she had hairy\nlegs.[671]\n\nSolomon, accordingly, was particularly curious to inspect her legs.\nHe therefore directed the Jinns to lay down in front of the throne a\npavement of crystal one hundred cubits square. Upon this pavement he\nordered them to pour water, so that it might appear to be water.\n\nIn order to approach Solomon, Queen Balkis raised her petticoats, lest\nthey should be wet in passing through what she supposed to be water of\nconsiderable depth. The first step, however, convinced her that the\nbottom was nearer the surface than she anticipated, and so she dropped\nher petticoats, but not before the great king had seen that the Jinns\nhad maligned her legs, and that the only blemish to her legs was three\ngoat\u2019s hairs; and these he was enabled to remove by a composition of\narsenic and lime, which was the first depilatory preparation ever\nemployed. This was one of the five arts introduced by Solomon into\nthe world. The others were, the art of taking warm baths, the art of\npiercing pearls, the art of diving, and the art of melting copper.\n\nThe queen stepped gracefully towards the king, and bowing, offered him\ntwo wreaths of flowers, whereof one was natural, the other artificial,\nasking him which he preferred. The sagacious Solomon seemed perplexed;\nhe who had written treatises on the herbs, \u201cfrom the cedar to the\nhyssop,\u201d was nearly outwitted. A swarm of bees was fluttering outside a\nwindow. Solomon ordered the window to be opened, and the insects flew\nin, and settled immediately on the wreath of natural flowers, not one\napproaching the artificial wreath.\n\n\u201cI will have the wreath the bees have chosen,\u201d said the king,\ntriumphantly.\n\nSolomon took Balkis to be his wife, and she worshipped the true God.\nShe gave him all her realm, but he returned it to her; and when she\nwent into her own land, she bore with her the fruit of her union with\nSolomon, and in the course of time bore a son, who is the ancestor of\nthe kings of Abyssinia.[672]\n\n\n6. SOLOMON\u2019S ADVENTURE WITH THE APES.\n\nOn one of his journeys, Solomon passed through a valley which was\ninhabited by apes which dressed themselves like men, and lived in\nhouses, and ate their food in a way wholly superior to other apes.\n\nSolomon descended from his carpet and marched at the head of his\nsoldiers into the valley. The apes assembled to resist him, but one of\ntheir elders stepped into the midst of them and said, \u201cLet us rather\nsubmit and lay down our arms, for he who comes against us is a holy\nprophet.\u201d\n\nThen three apes were chosen as ambassadors, and were sent to Solomon\nwith overtures of peace.\n\nSolomon asked them to what race they belonged.\n\nThe envoys replied, \u201cWe are of human origin, and of the race of Israel,\nand we are descended from those who, in spite of all warnings, have\nviolated the Sabbath, and who have therefore, in punishment, been\ntransformed by God into monkeys.\u201d\n\nSolomon had compassion on the apes, and he gave them a letter on\nparchment, assuring to them undisturbed possession of their valley\nagainst all assault by men.\n\nAnd in after days, in the time of the Calif Omar, some of his troops\ninvaded this valley, and, with great amazement, beheld the apes stone\na female which had been taken in adultery. And when they would conquer\nthe valley, an aged ape came before them bearing a parchment letter.\nThis they were unable to read; so they sent it to the Calif Omar, who\nwas also unable to decipher the writing; but a Jew at his court read\nit, and it was an assurance given to the apes against invasion by King\nSolomon.\n\nTherefore Omar sent orders that they were to be left unmolested, and\nreturned to them their parchment.[673]\n\n\n7. SOLOMON MARRIES THE DAUGHTER OF PHARAOH.\n\nThe throne of Solomon had four feet. It was of red ruby, and of the\nruby were made four lions. None but Solomon could sit upon the throne.\nWhen Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem and sought to ascend the throne,\nthe lions rose and struck at him, and broke his legs. He was given\nremedies, and his legs were reset. No one after that ventured to sit on\nthe throne.[674]\n\nDjarada was the daughter of King Nubara, of an island in the Indian\nSea, according to the Arabs; of King Pharaoh of Egypt, say the Jews.\n\nSolomon marched against the king, on his carpet, with as many soldiers\nas it would accommodate; defeated him, and slew him with his own hand.\nIn the palace of King Nubara Solomon found the Princess Djarada, who\nwas more beautiful than all the ladies in Solomon\u2019s harem, surpassing\neven the beautiful Balkis.\n\nSolomon made her mount the carpet, and he forced her, by threats of\ndeath, to share his faith and his couch. But Djarada saw in Solomon\nonly the murderer of her father, and she recoiled from his embrace with\nloathing, and spent her nights and days in tears and sighs. Solomon\nhoped that time would heal these wounds and reconcile her to her fate;\nbut as, after the expiration of a year, her sorrow showed no signs of\nabating, he asked her what he could do which might give her comfort.\nShe replied that at home was a statue of her father, and that she\ndesired greatly to have it in her chamber as a reminder of him whom she\nhad lost. Solomon, moved with compassion, sent a Jinn for the statue,\nand it was set up in the apartment of Djarada. Djarada immediately\nprostrated herself before it, and offered incense and worship to the\nimage; and this continued for forty days.\n\nThen Asaph heard of it, and he ascended the pulpit in the temple and\npreached before the king and all the people. He declared how holy and\npure had been the ancient prophets from Adam to David, how they had\nbeen preserved clean from all idolatry. Then he turned to Solomon, and\npraised his wisdom and piety during the first years of his reign; but\nhe regretted that his latter conduct had not been as full of integrity\nas at first.\n\nWhen Solomon heard this, he called Asaph to him, and asked him thus\nbefore all the people. Asaph answered, \u201cThou hast suffered thy passions\nto blind thee, so that idolatry is practised in thy palace.\u201d\n\nSolomon hastened to the room of Djarada, and found her in prayer before\nthe image of her departed father. Then he cried out, \u201cWe are the\nservants of God, and to Him shall we return.\u201d Then he broke the image\nand punished Djarada.\n\nAfter that he put on him garments which had been woven and sewn by\nvirgins, strewed ashes on his head, and went into the wilderness to\nbewail his sin. God forgave him, after that he had fasted and wept for\nforty days.[675]\n\nAnother sin that Solomon committed was this. He was very fond of\nhorses. One day, when the hour of prayer approached, the horses of Saul\nwere brought before him; and when nine hundred had passed, Solomon\nlooked up and saw that the hour of prayer was passed and he had\nforgotten to give glory to God. Then said Solomon, \u201cI have cared for\nthe things of this world, instead of thinking of my Lord;\u201d and he said,\n\u201cBring back the horses;\u201d and when they were brought back, he cut their\nthroats.[676]\n\nSome commentators on the Koran object that this was an act of\ninjustice, for Solomon had sinned, not the horses; and they explain\naway the passage by saying that he dedicated the horses to God, and\nthat he did not kill them.[677]\n\n\n8. HOW SOLOMON LOST AND RECOVERED HIS RING.\n\nOne day that Solomon retired to perform the necessary functions\nof nature, he placed his ring in the hand of Djarada; for on such\noccasions he was wont to remove the ring from his finger. For the first\ntime he forgot the advice of the queen of the ants, and gave no praise\nto God as he committed the signet to other hands.\n\nSachr, the mighty Jinn,[678] took advantage of this act of\nforgetfulness, and, assuming the form of Solomon, came to the Egyptian\nprincess and asked her for the ring. She, nothing doubting, restored it\nto him; and Sachr went to the hall of audience, and ascended the throne.\n\nWhen Solomon returned, he asked Djarada for the signet.\n\n\u201cI have already given it thee,\u201d said she; and then, contemplating him\nwith attention, she exclaimed, \u201cThis is not the king! Solomon is in the\njudgment-hall; thou art an impostor, an evil spirit who has assumed his\nshape for evil purposes.\u201d\n\nThen Solomon was driven, at her cry, from the palace, and every one\ntreated him as a fool or rogue. He begged from door to door, saying,\n\u201cI, Solomon, was king in Jerusalem!\u201d but the people mocked him. For\nthree years he was an outcast, because he had transgressed three\nprecepts of the Law--\u201cThe king set over thee ... shall not multiply\nhorses to himself ... neither shall he multiply wives to himself;\nneither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.\u201d[679]\nAnd this is what befell him in that time. He went into the land of the\nAmmonites, and there he fell into great want; but the master cook of\nthe king\u2019s house took him to serve as scullion in the kitchen. After he\nhad served for some time, he one day cooked some meats for the king;\nand when the king tasted the meats Solomon had baked, he was well\npleased, and sent for Solomon and asked him if he would be his head\ncook.\n\nThen Solomon consented, and the king of the Ammonites dismissed the\nmaster cook, and placed Solomon in his room, and Solomon excelled\ngreatly in cooking, and pleased the king more and more with the variety\nand excellence of his dishes every day.\n\nNow it fell out that Naama, daughter of the king, saw Solomon from day\nto day, and she conceived an ardent passion for him, and she went to\nher mother and said, \u201cI shall die of love, unless I am given the head\ncook to husband.\u201d\n\nThe queen was astonished and ashamed, and said, \u201cThere are kings and\nprinces and nobles in Ammon; take to you which you will.\u201d But Naama\nanswered, \u201cI will have none save the head cook.\u201d\n\nThen the queen went and told the king, and he was exceeding wroth,\nand would have slain both Solomon and Naama; but when the first fury\nof his anger was cooled down, he bade one of his servants take them,\nboth Solomon and Naama, and conduct them into the desert, and there\nleave them to perish.[680] The command of the king was executed, and\nSolomon and Naama were left in the wilderness without food. Then they\nwandered on till they came to the borders of the sea, and Solomon found\nsome fishers, and he labored for them, and every day they gave him, in\npayment for his services, two fish.\n\nThus passed the time, till one day Solomon\u2019s wife, Naama, on cleaning\none of the fishes, found in its belly a ring, and she brought it to her\nhusband; and behold! it was his signet which he had put in the hands\nof Djarada, and which had been taken from her by subtlety by the evil\nspirit. And this was how he recovered it: on the ring was engraved the\nIncommunicable Name, and this the Jinn could not endure; therefore he\ncould not wear the signet, and he cast it into the sea, where the fish\nhad swallowed it.\n\nNow when Solomon recovered his ring, he was filled with joy, and the\nlight returned to his eyes; he went back to Jerusalem with great haste,\nand all the people recognized him, and bowed before him: and when the\nEvil Spirit saw Solomon, and that he had the signet upon his hand, he\nuttered a loud cry and fled. Solomon refused to see again Djarada, the\nauthor of his misfortune; but he visited Queen Balkis every month, till\nthe day of her death.[681]\n\nWhen Balkis died, he had her body conveyed to Tadmor in the desert,\nthe city she had built; but her grave was known to none till the reign\nof the Calif Walid, when in consequence of a heavy rain, the walls of\nTadmor fell. Then was found an iron sarcophagus which was sixty ells\nlong and forty ells wide, which bore this inscription:--\u201cHere lies\nthe pious Balkis, queen of Sheba, wife of the prophet Solomon, son of\nDavid. She was converted to the true faith in the thirteenth year of\nthe reign of Solomon; she married him in the fourteenth, and died in\nthe three-and-twentieth year of his reign.\u201d\n\nThe son of the Calif raised the lid of the coffin, and beheld a woman,\nas fresh as if she had only been lately buried.\n\nHe announced the fact to his father, and asked what should be done\nwith the sarcophagus. Walid ordered him to leave it where it had been\nfound, and to pile blocks of marble over it, so that it might not again\nbe disturbed by the hand of man.[682]\n\nSolomon, when he was again on the throne, placed a crown on the head\nof Naama, and seated her beside him, and sent for the king of Ammon.\nAnd when the king came, he was filled with astonishment, and wondered\nhow his daughter had escaped from the desert and had found favor with\nthe greatest of monarchs. Then said Solomon, \u201cSee! I was thy head-cook,\nand this is thy daughter; bid her come to thee and kiss thee.\u201d Then the\nking of Ammon kissed his daughter and returned, glad of heart, to his\nown land.[683]\n\n\n9. THE DEATH OF SOLOMON.\n\nWhen Solomon had recovered his throne, he reigned twenty years. His\nwhole reign was forty years, and he lived in all fifty-five years.[684]\nHe spent these years in prosecuting the building of the temple. Towards\nthe end of his life he often visited the temple, and remained there\none or two months plunged in prayer, without leaving it. He took his\nnourishment in the temple. He even remained a year thus; and when he\nwas standing, with bowed head, in an humble attitude before God, no one\nventured to approach him, man or Jinn; if a Jinn drew near, fire fell\nfrom heaven and consumed him.\n\nIn the garden of Solomon grew every day an unknown tree. Solomon asked\nit, \u201cWhat is thy name, and what are thy virtues?\u201d And the tree answered\nhim, \u201cI am called such and such, and I serve such a purpose, either by\nmy fruits, or by my shadow, or by my fragrance.\u201d\n\nThen Solomon transplanted it elsewhere; and if it were a tree with\nmedicinal properties, he wrote in books the kinds of remedies for which\nit served. One day Solomon saw in his garden a new tree, and he asked\nit, \u201cWhat is thy name, and what purpose dost thou serve?\u201d\n\nThe tree replied, \u201cI serve for the destruction of the temple. Make of\nme a staff, whereon to lean.\u201d\n\nSolomon said, \u201cNone can destroy the temple as long as I am alive.\u201d Then\nhe understood that the tree warned him that he must shortly die. He\npulled up the tree, and of it he made a staff, and, when he prayed, he\nleaned on this staff to keep himself upright.\n\nSolomon knew that the temple was not completed, and that if he died,\nand the Jinns knew of it, they would leave off building; therefore he\nprayed, \u201cO Lord! grant that the event of my death may be hidden from\nthe Jinns, that they may finish this temple.\u201d\n\nGod heard his prayer, that the temple might be completed, and that the\nJinns might be humbled. Solomon died in the temple, standing, leaning\non his staff, with his head bowed in adoration. And his soul was taken\nso gently from him by the Angel of Death, that the body remained\nstanding; and so it remained for a whole year, and those who saw him\nthought he was absorbed in prayer, and they ventured not to approach.\n\nThe Jinns worked night and day till the temple was finished. Now, God\nhad ordered, the same day that the soul left Solomon, a little white\nant, which devours wood, to come up out of the earth under the staff,\nand to gnaw the inside of the staff. She ate a little every day; and as\nthe staff was very strong and stout, she had not finished it till the\nend of the year. Then, when the temple was finished, at the same time\nthe staff was eaten up, and it crumbled under the weight of Solomon,\nand the body fell. Thus the Jinns knew that Solomon was dead. Now,\nwherever the white ant eats wood, the void is filled up with clay and\nwater by the Jinns; and this they will continue to do till the day of\nthe Resurrection, in gratitude to the little ant which announced to\nthem the death of him who held them in bondage. If the clay and the\nwater are not inserted by the Jinns, whence can they come?\n\nThe sages assembled and enclosed an ant in a box, with a piece of wood,\nfor a night and a day; then they compared the amount devoured in that\ntime with the length of the staff, and thus they ascertained how long a\ntime Solomon had been dead.[685]\n\n\n\n\nXXXIX.\n\nELIJAH.\n\n\nWhen the prophet Elijah appeared, idolatry was general. God sent him\nto Balbek (Heliopolis), to persuade the inhabitants to renounce the\nworship of Baal, from whom the city took its name. Some say that Baal\nwas the name of a woman, beautiful of countenance. The Israelites\nalso adored Baal; Elijah preached against idolatry; and Ahab at first\nbelieved in him, and rejected Baal, but after a while relapsed. Then\nElijah prayed, and God sent a famine on the land for three years, and\nmany men died. None had bread save Elijah, and when any smelt the odor\nof bread, they said \u201cElijah hath passed this way!\u201d\n\nOne day Elijah came to the house of an old woman who had a son named\nElisha. Both complained of hunger. Elijah gave them bread. It is said,\nlikewise, that Elisha was paralytic, and that at the prayer of Elijah\nhe was healed.\n\nWhen the famine had lasted three years, Elijah went, accompanied by\nElisha, before King Ahab, and he said:--\u201cFor three years you have been\nwithout bread; let your god Baal, if he can, satisfy your hunger. If\nhe cannot, I will pray to Jehovah, and He will deliver you out of your\ndistress, if you will consent to worship Him.\u201d\n\nAhab consented. Then Elijah ordered the idol of Baal to be taken out\nof the city, and the worshippers of Baal invoked the god, but their\nprayers remained unanswered. Then Elijah prayed, and immediately rain\nfell, and the earth brought forth green herb and corn.\n\nNevertheless, shortly after, the people returned to idolatry, and\nElijah was weary of his life; he consecrated Elisha to succeed him, and\nhe prayed to God, \u201cO Lord! save me from this untoward generation.\u201d And\nGod heard his cry, and He carried him away and gave him life till the\nday when Israfiel shall sound the trump of judgment.[686]\n\nBoth Jews and Mussulmans believe that Elijah is not dead, but that\nhe lives, and appears at intervals. The Mussulmans have confused\nhim with El Khoudr, and relate many wonderful stories of him. He is\nunquestionably the origin of the Wandering Jew. His reappearances are\nmentioned in the Talmud, and in later Jewish legends, as, for instance,\nin a story told by Abraham Tendlau.[687] A poor Jew and his wife were\nreduced to great necessity; the man had not clothes in which to go\nforth and ask for work. Then his wife borrowed for him clothes, and he\nentered the street seeking work. He met a venerable man, who bade him\nuse him as a slave. The Jew engaged to build a palace for a prince with\nthe assistance of his slave, for ten thousand thalers. The mysterious\nstranger labored hard and angels assisted him, so that the mansion was\ncompleted with astonishing rapidity. When the Jew had received the\nmoney, the old man announced that he was Elijah, who had come to assist\nhim, and vanished.\n\nAfter the Arabs had captured the city of Elvan, Fadhilah, at the head\nof three hundred horsemen, pitched his tents, late in the evening,\nbetween two mountains. Fadhilah having begun his evening prayer\nwith a loud voice, heard the words \u201cAllah akbar!\u201d (God is great!)\nrepeated distinctly, and each word of his prayer was followed in a\nsimilar manner. Fadhilah, not believing this to be an echo, was much\nastonished, and cried out, \u201cO thou! whether thou art of the angel\nranks, or whether thou art of some other order of spirits, it is well,\nthe power of God be with thee; but if thou art a man, then let mine\neyes light upon thee, that I may rejoice in thy presence and society.\u201d\n\nScarcely had he spoken these words, before an aged man with bald head\nstood before him, holding a staff in his hand, and much resembling a\ndervish in appearance. After having courteously saluted him, Fadhilah\nasked the old man who he was. Thereupon the stranger answered, \u201cBassi\nHadut Issa, I am here by command of the Lord Jesus, who has left me in\nthis world, that I may live therein until He comes a second time to\nearth. I wait for the Lord, who is the Fountain of Happiness, and in\nobedience to his command I dwell beyond the mountain.\u201d\n\nWhen Fadhilah heard these words, he asked when the Lord Jesus would\nappear; and the old man replied that his appearing would be at the end\nof the world.\n\nBut this only increased Fadhilah\u2019s curiosity, so that he inquired the\nsigns of the approach of the end of all things; whereupon Zerib bar\nElia gave him an account of the general social and moral dissolution\nwhich would be the climax of this world\u2019s history.[688]\n\n\u201cIn the second year of Hezekiah,\u201d says the Rabbinic Sether Olam Rabba\n(c. 17), \u201cElijah disappeared, and he will not appear again till the\nMessiah come; then he will show himself once more; and he will again\ndisappear till Gog and Magog show themselves. And all this time he\nwrites the events and transactions that happen in each century....\nLetters from Elijah were brought to King Joram seven years after Elijah\nhad disappeared.\u201d\n\nA prophecy ascribed to Elijah is preserved in the Gemara:[689] \u201cThe\nworld will last six thousand years; it will lie desert for two thousand\nyears; the Messiah will reign two thousand years; but, because of our\niniquities which have superabounded, the years of the Messiah have\npassed away.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nXL.\n\nISAIAH.\n\n\nThe Book of the Ascension of Isaiah has reached us only in an Ethiopic\nversion, which was published along with a translation by Archbishop\nLaurence, Oxford, 1819. Gieseler translated the book, and gave learned\nprolegomena, and notes, G\u00f6ttingen, 1837; and Gfrorer has included it\nin his \u201cProphet\u00e6 Pseudepigraphi,\u201d Stuttgardt, 1840, pp. 1-55, with\nthe Latin translation. It must have existed in Greek and Latin, for\nfragments of the Latin apocryphal book remain, and have been published\nby Cardinal Mai, in \u201cScriptorum Veterum Nova Collectio;\u201d Rom\u00e6, 1824, t.\nIII. ii. 238 et seq.: and it is very evident from these that they are\nversions of a Greek original, and not of the Ethiopic.\n\nWhilst Isaiah was speaking to the king Hezekiah, he suddenly stopped,\nand his soul was borne away by an angel. He traversed the firmament,\nwhere he saw the strife of the angels and demons, waged between the\nearth and the moon. He entered the six heavens and admired their glory;\nthen he penetrated into the seventh heaven, where he saw the Holy\nTrinity, and there the events of futurity were revealed to him. When\nhe returned to himself, Isaiah related to Hezekiah all that he had seen\nand heard, except what concerned his son Manasseh.\n\nThis is the prophecy of Isaiah concerning Antichrist: \u201cAnd when that\ntime had passed, Berial, the great angel, the prince of this world,\nBerial will descend from his place in the form of a man; an impious\nking, the murderer of his mother, a king of this world.\n\n\u201cAnd he will pluck up from amongst the twelve apostles the plant that\nthey had planted, and it will fall into his hands.\n\n\u201cAnd all the powers of the world will do the will of the angel Berial,\nthe impious king.\n\n\u201cAt his word, the sun will shine in the darkness of the night, and the\nmoon will appear at the eleventh hour.\n\n\u201cHe will do all his pleasures; he will ill-treat the Well-Beloved, and\nwill say to him, Lo! I am God, and before me there is none other.\n\n\u201cAnd all the world will believe in him.\n\n\u201cAnd sacrifice will be offered to him, and a worship of adoration,\nsaying, He alone is God, and there is none other.\n\n\u201cThen the greater number of those gathered together to receive the\nWell-Beloved will turn aside to Berial;\n\n\u201cWho by his power will work miracles in the cities and in the country;\n\n\u201cAnd everywhere shall a table be spread for him.\n\n\u201cHis domination shall be for three years seven months and twenty-seven\ndays.\u201d[690]\n\nOnly when Hezekiah was at the point of death, did Isaiah reveal to\nhim what and how great would be the iniquities of his son. Then the\nking would have slain Manasseh: \u201cI had rather,\u201d said he, \u201cdie without\nposterity, than leave behind me a son who should persecute the saints.\u201d\n\nWhen the prophet saw that Hezekiah loved God more than his own son, he\nwas glad, and he restrained the king, and said, \u201cIt is the will of God\nthat he should live.\u201d\n\nManasseh reigned in the room of his father, and was a cruel tyrant. He\nworshipped idols, and sought to make Isaiah partake in his idolatry.\nAnd when he could not succeed, he sawed him asunder with a saw of wood.\n\n\u201cAnd whilst Isaiah was being cut asunder, Melekira stood up and\naccused him, and all the lying prophets were present, and they showed\ngreat joy, and they mocked him.\n\n\u201cAnd Belial said to Isaiah; \u2018Confess that all thou hast said is false,\nand that the ways of Manasseh are good and just.\n\n\u201c\u2018Confess that the ways of Melekira, and of those that are with him,\nare good.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe spake thus to him, as the saw entered into his flesh.\n\n\u201cBut Isaiah was in an ecstasy, and his eyes were open, and he looked\nupon the spectators of his passion.\n\n\u201cThen said Melekira to Isaiah: \u2018Confess what I shall say, and I will\nchange the heart of those who persecute thee, and I will make Manasseh,\nand the heads of Judah, and his people, and all Jerusalem worship thee.\u2019\n\n\u201cThen Isaiah answered and said: \u2018Cursed art thou in all that thou\nsayest, and in all thy power, and in all thy disciples!\n\n\u201c\u2018Thou canst do nothing against me; all thou canst do is to take from\nme this miserable life.\u2019\n\n\u201cThen they seized the prophet, and they sawed him with a saw of wood,\nIsaiah, son of Amos.\n\n\u201cAnd Manasseh and Melekira, and the lying prophets, and the princes of\nIsrael, and all the people, beheld his execution.\n\n\u201cNow before that the execution was accomplished, he said to the\nprophets who had followed him: \u2018Fly to Tyre and Sidon, for the Lord\nhath given the cup to me alone.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd whilst the saw cut into his flesh, Isaiah uttered no complaint and\nshed no tears; but he ceased not to commune with the Holy Spirit till\nthe saw had cloven him to the middle of his body.\u201d[691]\n\nIn the Mishna[692] it is related that the Rabbi Simeon Ben Azai found\nin Jerusalem (2d cent.) a genealogy, wherein it was written that\nManasseh killed Isaiah. Manasseh said to Isaiah, \u201cMoses, thy master,\nsaid, There shall no man see God and live.[693] But thou hast said, I\nsaw the Lord seated upon His throne.[694] Moses said, What other nation\nis there so great, that hath God so nigh unto them?[695] But thou hast\nsaid, Seek ye the Lord while He may be found.\u201d[696]\n\nIsaiah thought, \u201cIf I excuse myself, I shall only increase his guilt\nand not save myself;\u201d so he answered not a word, but pronounced the\nIncommunicable Name, and a cedar-tree opened, and he disappeared\nwithin it. Then Manasseh ordered, and they took the cedar, and sawed it\ninto lengthways; and when the saw reached his mouth, he died.\n\n\n\n\nXLI.\n\nJEREMIAH.\n\n\nThe work entitled _De Vitis Prophetarum_, falsely attributed to S.\nEpiphanius, contains some apocryphal details concerning Jeremiah. It is\nsaid that he was stoned at Taphens in Egypt, in a place where Pharaoh\nformerly lived. He was held in great honor by the Egyptians, because of\nthe service he had rendered them in taming the serpents and crocodiles.\n\nThe faithful who take a little dust from the spot where he died, are\nable to employ it as a remedy against the bites of serpents, and to\ndrive away crocodiles.\n\nThe prophet announced to the priests and wise men of Egypt that when a\nvirgin, who had borne a son, should set her foot on Egyptian soil, all\nthe idols should fall.\n\nBefore the destruction of Jerusalem, he hid the ark of the covenant in\na rock, which opened for the purpose, and closed upon it. Then said\nhe to the princes of the people and to the elders, \u201cThe Lord has gone\nup from Sinai, but He will come again with His sacred power. And this\nshall be the token of His coming,--all nations shall bow before the\nWood.\u201d\n\nThen the prophet continued, \u201cNone of the priests and prophets shall\nopen the ark, except Moses, the elect of God; and Aaron shall alone\nunfold the tables it contains. At the Resurrection, the ark shall arise\nout of the rock first of all, and it shall be placed upon Mount Zion.\nThen all the saints will go there and await the Lord, and they will put\nthe enemy to flight who seeks their destruction.\u201d\n\nHaving said these words, he traced with his finger the name of God upon\nthe rock, and the name remained graven there as if cut with iron. Then\na cloud descended upon the rock and hid it, and no man has seen it\nsince. It is in the desert, amongst the mountains, where are the tombs\nof Moses and Aaron. At night a cloud of fire shines above the spot.\n\n\n\n\nXLII.\n\nEZEKIEL.\n\n\nEzekiel, whom the Arabs call Kazquil, was the son of an aged couple,\nwho had no children. They prayed to God, and He gave them a son.\n\nEzekiel was a prophet, and he exhorted the men of Jerusalem to war,\nbut they would not go forth to battle. Then God sent a pestilence, and\nthere died of them every day very many. So, fearing death, a million\nfled from the city, hoping to escape the pestilence, but the wrath of\nGod overtook them, and they fell dead.\n\nThen those who survived in the city went forth to bury them, but they\nwere too numerous; therefore they built a wall round the corpses, to\nprotect them from the beasts of the field; and thus they lay exposed to\nthe heat and cold for many years, till the flesh had rotted off their\nbones.\n\nOnce the prophet Ezekiel came that way, and he saw this great multitude\nof dead and dry bones. He prayed, and God restored them to life again,\nand they stood upon their feet a great army, and entered into the city,\nand lived out the rest of their days. It is said that among the Jews\nthere are, to this day, descendants of those who were resuscitated, and\nthey may be recognized by the corpse-like odor they exhale.[697]\n\nThe Jews relate that a celebrated Rabbi found the greatest difficulty\nin comprehending the book of Ezekiel; therefore his disciples prepared\nfor him three hundred tuns of oil to feed his lamp whilst he studied at\nnight the visions of the prophet[698]\n\n\n\n\nXLIII.\n\nEZRA.\n\n\nCyrus, in the year 537 before Christ, put an end to the captivity of\nthe Jews in Babylon, as had been foretold by Daniel; and not only did\nhe permit the Jews to return to Jerusalem, but he furnished them with\nthe means of rebuilding their city and temple. The Oriental writers,\nto explain the motive of Cyrus, say that his mother was a Jewess,\nand that he himself was married to the Jewess Maschat, sister of\nZerubabbel, a granddaughter of the king Jehoiakim.\n\nIn 523 before Christ, Cambyses, having reigned a brief time, was\nsucceeded by Smerdis, the Magian, who is called, in the Scriptures,\nArtaxerxes. He, being ill-disposed towards the Jews, withdrew from them\nthe gifts made by Cyrus, and arrested their work. Smerdis, however,\nreigned only two years, and was succeeded by Darius Hystaspes, who\ncontinued the work of Cyrus, by the hands of Ezra or Esdras, one of the\ninstruments used by God to restore His people.\n\nEzra was the son of Seraiah, of the lineage of Aaron.\n\nIn the Koran[699] it is said that Ezra, passing through a village near\nJerusalem, whose houses were ruined, exclaimed, \u201cCan God restore these\nwaste places, and revive the inhabitants?\u201d\n\nThen God made him die; and he remained dead for one hundred years. At\nthe end of that time God revived him, and he saw the village rebuilt\nand full of busy people.\n\nThe commentators on the Koran say that Ezra (Oza\u00efr), when young, had\nbeen taken away captive by Nebuchadnezzar, but that he was delivered\nmiraculously from prison, and returned to Jerusalem, which he found\nin ruins. He halted at a village, near the city, named Sair-Abad. Its\nhouses were fallen and without inhabitants, but the fig-tree and vines\nremained in the gardens. Ezra collected the fruit, and made himself a\nlittle cell out of the fallen stones. And he kept near him the ass on\nwhich he had ridden.\n\nThe holy man, on contemplating from his hermitage the ruins of the holy\ncity and the temple, wept bitterly before the Lord, and said often with\na tone rather of lament than doubt, \u201cHow can the walls of Jerusalem\never be set up again?\u201d\n\nThen God bade him die, and hid him from the eyes of men, in his cell,\nwith all that he had about him, his fruit, his mat, and his ass. At the\nclose of a century God revived him, and he found all as when he had\ndied; the ass standing, and the fruit unwithered. Then Ezra saw the\nworks that had been executed in Jerusalem, how the walls were being set\nup, and the breaches repaired, and he said, \u201cGod is Almighty; He can\ndo whatsoever pleaseth him!\u201d\n\nAfter his resurrection, he went into the holy city, and spent night\nand day in explaining to the people the Law, as he remembered it. But\nit had been forgotten by the Jews, and therefore they disregarded his\ninstruction.\n\nThe Iman Thalebi says, that the Jews, to test the mission of Ezra,\nplaced five pens in his hand, and with each he wrote at the same moment\nwith like facility as if he held only one; and he wrote all the Books\nof the Sacred Canon, as he drew them from his memory, without the\nassistance of a book.\n\nThe Jews, however, said amongst themselves, \u201cHow can we be sure that\nwhat Ezra has written is the true sacred text, since there is none\namongst us who can bear witness?\u201d\n\nThen one of them said, \u201cI have heard say that my grandfather preserved\na copy of the sacred books, and that they were hidden by him in a\nhollow rock, which he marked so that it might be recognized again.\u201d\n\nThey therefore sought the place which had been marked, and there they\nfound a volume containing the Scriptures, which having been compared\nwith what Ezra had written, it was found that the agreement was exact.\nThen the people, astonished at the miracle, cried out that Ezra was a\ngod.[700]\n\nAt the time of carrying away into Babylon, the sacred fire had been\ncast into a well in the temple court. Ezra, having drawn some of the\ndirt out of the well, placed on it the wood of the sacrifice; then the\nflame, which for a hundred and forty years had been extinguished, burst\nforth again out of the mire. When Ezra saw this wonder, he thrice drank\nof the dust out of the well; and thus he imbibed the prophetic spirit,\nand the power of recomposing from memory the lost sacred books.[701]\n\n\n\n\nXLIV.\n\nZECHARIAH.\n\n\nSozomen[702] relates that the prophet Zechariah appeared to Colomeras,\na farmer of the village of Chupher, in Palestine, and revealed to him\nhis tomb; and on excavations having been made on the spot, an ancient\nHebrew book was discovered, which, however, was not regarded as\ncanonical. Nicephoras repeats the story after Sozomen.[703]\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] Rev. xii. 7-9.\n\n[2] Isaiah xiv. 13, 14.\n\n[3] Luke x. 18.\n\n[4] Fabricius (J. A.), Codex Pseudepigraphus Vet. Test. Hamb., 1722, p.\n21.\n\n[5] Jalkut Rubeni, 3, sub. tit. Sammael.\n\n[6] Fol. 139, col. 1: see Eisenmenger, i. p. 831.\n\n[7] Jalkut Rubeni, in Eisenmenger, i. p. 307.\n\n[8] Eisenmenger, i. p. 104.\n\n[9] Ibid., i. p. 820.\n\n[10] Ibid., ii. 416, 420, 421.\n\n[11] Chronique de Tabari. Paris, 1867, i. c. xxvii.\n\n[12] Abulfeda, Hist. Ante-Islamica. Lipsi\u00e6, 1831, p. 13.\n\n[13] 1 Cor. x. 20.\n\n[14] Majer, Mythologische Lexicon, Th. i. p. 231.\n\n[15] Orig. adv. Cels. vi. 42.\n\n[16] Lettres Edifiantes, viii. p. 420.\n\n[17] Biblioth\u00e8que Univ. de Gen\u00e8ve, 1827; D\u2019Anselme, i. p. 228.\n\n[18] Hist. Naturelle de l\u2019Orinoque, par Tos. Gumilla. Avignon, 1751, t.\ni. p. 172.\n\n[19] Weil, Biblische Legenden der Muselm\u00e4nner. Frankfort, 1845, pp.\n12-16.\n\n[20] Geiger, Was hat Mohammed aus d. Judenthum aufgenommen? p. 99.\n\n[21] So also Abulfeda, Hist. Ante-Islamica, ed. Fleischer. Lipsi\u00e6, 1831\np. 13.\n\n[22] Tabari, i. c. xxvi.\n\n[23] Colin de Plancy, p. 55.\n\n[24] Eisenmenger, Neuentdecktes Judenthum. K\u00f6nigsberg, 1711, i. pp.\n364-5.\n\n[25] Bochart, Hierozoica, p. 2, l. 8, fol. 486.\n\n[26] Tract Sanhedrim, f. 38.\n\n[27] Jalkut Schimoni, f. 6.\n\n[28] Tract Hagida, f. 12.\n\n[29] Eisenmenger, i. p. 367.\n\n[30] Ibid., 368.\n\n[31] Eisenmenger, i. p. 369.\n\n[32] M\u00fcller, Amerikanische Urreligionen; Basle, 1855. Atherne Jones,\nNorth American Traditions, i. p. 210, etc. Heckewelder\u2019s Indian\nNations, etc.\n\n[33] Fourmont Anciens Peuples, i. lib. ii. p. 10.\n\n[34] Aves, 666.\n\n[35] M\u00e9moires des Chinois, i. p. 105.\n\n[36] Berosus, in Cory\u2019s Ancient Fragments, p. 26.\n\n[37] It is unfortunate that I have already written on the myths\nrelating to the formation of Eve in \u201cCuriosities of Olden Times.\u201d I\nwould therefore have omitted a chapter which must repeat what has\nbeen already published, but that by so doing I should leave this work\nimperfect. However, there is much in this chapter which was not in the\narticle referred to.\n\n[38] Rabboth, fol. 20 b.\n\n[39] Eisenmenger, i. 830.\n\n[40] Weil, pp. 17, 18.\n\n[41] Tabari, i. c. xxvi.\n\n[42] Talmud, Tract. Berachoth, f. 61; Bartolocci Bibl. Rabbin., iv. p.\n66.\n\n[43] Bartolocci, Bibl. Rabbin., iv. p. 67.\n\n[44] Bartolocci, Bibl. Rabbin., iii. p. 395.\n\n[45] Ibid., p. 396; Eisenmenger, t. i. p. 365.\n\n[46] Bhagavat, iii. 12, 51.\n\n[47] Colebrooke Miscell. Essays, p. i. 64.\n\n[48] Bundehesch, p. 377.\n\n[49] Bartolocci, Bibl. Rabbin., iv. p. 463.\n\n[50] Mendez Pinto, Voyages, ii. p. 178.\n\n[51] Bhagavat, iii. 12, 25.\n\n[52] Ibid., iv. 15, 27.\n\n[53] Ovid, Metamorph., x. 7.\n\n[54] Hesiod, Works and Days, 61-79.\n\n[55] Gen. i. 27.\n\n[56] Ibid., ii. 18.\n\n[57] Ibid., 23.\n\n[58] Abraham Ecchellensis, Hist. Arabum, p. 268.\n\n[59] Talmud, Tract. Bava Bathra.\n\n[60] S. Epiphan. H\u00e6res., xxvi.\n\n[61] Tho. Bangius, C\u0153lum Orientis, p. 103.\n\n[62] S. Clementi Recog., c. iv.\n\n[63] Lafitau, M\u0153urs des Sauvages Am\u00e9riquaines, i. p. 93.\n\n[64] Pallas, Reise, i. p. 334.\n\n[65] Hodgson, Buddhism, p. 63.\n\n[66] Upham, Sacred Books of Ceylon, iii. 156.\n\n[67] M\u00e9moires Chinois, i. p. 107.\n\n[68] Bundehesch in Windischmann: Zoroastrische Studien. Berlin, 1863,\np. 82; and tr. A. du Perron, ii. pp. 77-80.\n\n[69] So also Abulfeda, Hist. Ante-Islamica, p. 13.\n\n[70] Weil, pp. 19-28.\n\n[71] Tabari, i. p. 80.\n\n[72] Diod. Sicul., 14 et seq.\n\n[73] Ausland f\u00fcr Nov. 4, 1847.\n\n[74] W. Smith, Nouveau Voyage de Guin\u00e9e. Paris, 1751, ii. p. 176.\n\n[75] Bowdler, Mission from Cape Coast to Ashantee. London, 1819, p. 344.\n\n[76] Cranz, Historie von Gr\u00f6nland. Leipzig, 1770, i. p. 262.\n\n[77] Humboldt, Pittoreske Ansichten d. Cordilleren; Plate xiii. and\nexplanation, ii. pp. 41, 42.\n\n[78] De la Borde, Reise zu den Caraiben. N\u00fcrnb. 1782, i. pp. 380-5.\n\n[79] Allg. Hist. der Reisen, xviii. p. 395.\n\n[80] Eisenmenger, i. pp. 827-9.\n\n[81] Weil, p. 28.\n\n[82] Basnage, Histoire des Juifs. La Haye, iii. p. 391.\n\n[83] Tract. Avod., f. 1. col. 3; also Tract. Pesachim, f. 118, col. 1.\n\n[84] Eisenmenger, i. pp. 376, 377.\n\n[85] Eisenmenger, i. pp. 377-80.\n\n[86] Talmud, Avoda Sara, fol. 8 a, and in Levy, Parabeln, p. 300.\n\n[87] It is a popular superstition among the lower orders in England\nthat a woman who dies in childbirth, even if she be unmarried, cannot\nbe lost.\n\n[88] Weil, pp. 29-38.\n\n[89] Dillman, Das Adambuch des Morgenlandes; G\u00f6ttingen, 1853. This book\nis not to be confounded with the Testament of Adam.\n\n[90] Tabari, i., capp. xxviii. xxix.\n\n[91] In More Nevochim, quoted by Fabricius, i. p. 5.\n\n[92] Gen. v. i.\n\n[93] Fabricius, i. p. 11.\n\n[94] Adv. H\u00e6resi, c. 5.\n\n[95] Eusebius Nierembergius, De Origine S. Scriptur\u00e6. Lugd., 1641.\n\n[96] Fabricius, i. p. 33.\n\n[97] Ferdinand de Troilo, Orientale Itinerario. Dresd., 1667, p. 323.\n\n[98] Selden, De Synedriis, ii. p. 452.\n\n[99] Hottinger, Historia Orientalis, lib. i. c. 8.\n\n[100] Jacobus Vitriacus, Hist. Hierosol., c. lxxxv.\n\n[101] As King Charles\u2019s Oak may be seen in the fern-root.\n\n[102] Fabricius, i. p. 84.\n\n[103] Neue Ierosolymitanische Pilgerfahrt. W\u00fcrtzburg, 1667, p. 47.\n\n[104] Stephanus Le Moyne, Not\u00e6 ad Varia Sacra, p. 863.\n\n[105] Abulfeda, p. 15. In the Apocryphal book, The Combat of Adam\n(Dillman, Das Christliche Adambuch des Morgenlandes; G\u00f6ttingen, 1853),\nthe same reason for hostility is given. In that account, Satan appears\nto Cain and prompts him to every act of wickedness.\n\n[106] Tabari, i. c. xxx.\n\n[107] Jalkut, fol. 11 a.\n\n[108] Yaschar, p. 1089.\n\n[109] Targums, ed. Etheridge, London, 1862, i. p. 172.\n\n[110] Eisenmenger, i. p. 320.\n\n[111] Liber Zenorena, quoted by Fabricius, i. p. 108.\n\n[112] S. Methodius, jun., Revelationes, c. 3.\n\n[113] Eutychius, Patriarcha Alex., Annales.\n\n[114] Pirke R. Eliezer, c. xxi.\n\n[115] Historia Dynastiarum, ed. Pocock; Oxon. 1663, p. 4.\n\n[116] Ad Antiochum, qu\u00e6st. 56.\n\n[117] Fabricius, i. p. 112.\n\n[118] Eisenmenger, i. p. 462.\n\n[119] Targum, i. p. 173.\n\n[120] Jalkut Cadasch, fol. 6, col. i.\n\n[121] Pirke R. Eliezer, c. xxi.\n\n[122] Ibid.\n\n[123] Ibid.\n\n[124] Eisenmenger, ii. p. 8.\n\n[125] Ibid., p. 428.\n\n[126] Ibid., p. 455.\n\n[127] Tract. Avoda Sara.\n\n[128] Tabari, i. c. xix.\n\n[129] Antiq. Jud\u00e6., lib. i. c. 2.\n\n[130] Excerpta Chronologica, p. 2.\n\n[131] Gen. iv. 15.\n\n[132] Cosmas Indopleustes, Cosmographia, lib. v.\n\n[133] D\u2019Herbelot, Biblioth\u00e8que Orientale, _sub voce_ Cabil, i. p. 438.\n\n[134] Neue Ierosolymitanische Pilgerfahrt. Von P. F. Ignat. von\nRheinfelden. W\u00fcrtzburg, 1667. P. ii. p. 8.\n\n[135] Weil, pp. 40-3.\n\n[136] Tabari, i. c., xxxiii.\n\n[137] Colin de Plancy, p. 78.\n\n[138] Herbelot, i. p. 95.\n\n[139] Moses bar Cepha. Commentarius de Paradiso, P. i. c. 14.\nFabricius, i. p. 75.\n\n[140] S. Basil Seleuc. Orat. xxxviii.\n\n[141] Lettre de H. A. D., Consul de France en Abyssinie, 1841.\n\n[142] Tabari, i. c. xxxiv.\n\n[143] D\u2019Herbelot, i. p. 125, s. v. Rocail.\n\n[144] Midrash Tillim, fol. 10, col. 2.\n\n[145] Eisenmenger, i. p. 645.\n\n[146] Theodoret, Qu\u00e6st. in Gen. xlvii.\n\n[147] Plutarch, Isis and Osiris, ed. Parthey; pp. 72, 88, and notes pp.\n183, 238.\n\n[148] Abulfaraj, Hist. Dynast., ed. Pocock, p. 5.\n\n[149] Joseph. Antiq. Judaic., lib. i. c. 2.\n\n[150] Freculphus, Chron. lib. i. c. 12.\n\n[151] Anastasius Sinaita, \u039f\u03b4\u03b7\u03b3\u03cc\u03c2. ed. Gretser, Ingolst. 1606, p. 269.\n\n[152] Gen. v. 6-9.\n\n[153] Pseudo Josephus Gorionides; ed. Clariss. Breithauptius, lib. ii.\nc. 18, p. 131.\n\n[154] I give the Arabic legend. The account in Jasher is different.\nEnoch retired from the world, and showed himself only at rare\nintervals, when he gave advice to all who came to hear his wisdom. He\nwas taken up to heaven in a whirlwind, in a chariot with horses of\nfire. (Yaschar, pp. 1094-1096.)\n\n[155] Tabari, i. c. xxxv.\n\n[156] Dillman, Das Buch Enock; Leipzig, 1853. Ewald, in his \u201cGeschichte\nder Volks Israel\u201d (iii. 2, pp. 397-401), attributes it to the year 130.\nB. C.\n\n[157] Fol. 26, col. 2.\n\n[158] Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 27, col. 4.\n\n[159] Ibid., fol. 107, col i.\n\n[160] Targums, ed. Etheridge, i. p. 175.\n\n[161] Suidas, Lexic. s. v. Nannacos.\n\n[162] Nischmath Chajim, fol. 116, col. i.\n\n[163] Eisenmenger, i. p. 380.\n\n[164] Das Buch Henoch, von Dillmann, Leipz. 1853, c. xv. p. 9.\n\n[165] Abulfaraj, p. 6.\n\n[166] Eutych. Patriarcha Alex., Annales ab Orbe Condito, Arabice et\nLat., ed. Selden; London, 1642, i. p. 19.\n\n[167] D\u2019Herbelot, s. v. Surkrag and Ka\u00efumarth.\n\n[168] Tabari, c. xxxvii.\n\n[169] D\u2019Herbelot, s. v. Tahmourath.\n\n[170] Tabari, caps. xxxix. xl.\n\n[171] Gen. iv. 18-24.\n\n[172] Targums, ed. Etheridge, i. p. 173.\n\n[173] Yaschar, tr. Drach, p. 1092; the same in Midrash Jalkut, c. 38;\nMidrash, Par. Bereschith, fol. 2; Rabbi Raschi on Genesis; etc., etc.\n\n[174] V\u00e9land le Forgeron; Paris, 1833. There is an English translation\nby Wright.\n\n[175] Tabari, i. c. xxi.\n\n[176] Eisenmenger, ii. p. 416.\n\n[177] Colin de Plancy, p. 102.\n\n[178] Midrash, fol. 12; so also Targum of Palestine, Etheridge, i. p.\n179.\n\n[179] Chron. Gr\u00e6c., ed. Scaliger, Lugd. Batav. 1606, p. 4.\n\n[180] Fabricius, i. p. 225.\n\n[181] Eisenmenger, i. p. 651.\n\n[182] Talmud, Tractat. Sanhedrin, fol. 108, col. 1. So also the Book\nYaschar, p. 1097.\n\n[183] Jalkut, Genesis, fol. 14a.\n\n[184] Jalkut Shimoni, Job. fol. 121, col. 2.\n\n[185] Eisenmenger, i. p. 385. The Targum of Palestine says the water\nwas hot (i. p. 179).\n\n[186] Tractat. Sevachim, fol. 113, col. 2.\n\n[187] Or, a unicorn; the Hebrew word is Re\u00e9m.\n\n[188] Midrash, fol. 14.\n\n[189] Eutych, Patriarcha Alex., ed. Selden, i. p. 36.\n\n[190] Tabari, p. 108.\n\n[191] Abulfeda, p. 17.\n\n[192] Yaschar, p. 1100.\n\n[193] Colin de Plancy, p. 110.\n\n[194] Weil, p. 45.\n\n[195] Ararat.\n\n[196] Tabari, c. xli.\n\n[197] Weil, p. 45.\n\n[198] Midrash, fol. 15.\n\n[199] Tabari, p. 113.\n\n[200] Fabricius, i. pp. 74, 243.\n\n[201] Ed. Dillmann, c. 67.\n\n[202] Ed. Etheridge, i. p. 182.\n\n[203] Gen. v. 20.\n\n[204] In the Midrash Rabba, this want of connection between the name\nand the signification is remarked upon, and Solomon Jarki in his\ncommentary says that, for the meaning assigned, the name ought to have\nbeen, not Noah, but Menahem.\n\n[205] Buttmann, Ueber der Mythus d. S\u00fbndfluth, Berlin, 1819; L\u00fbken Die\nTraditionen des Menschengeschlechts, Munster, 1856; Bryant, Of the\nDeluge in Ancient Mythology, London, 1775, etc.\n\n[206] Parrot, Journey to Ararat, English Trans. Lond. 1845.\n\n[207] Joseph. Antiq., i. 3; see also Ptolem. Geogr. vi. 2.\n\n[208] Joseph. Antiq., i. 4.\n\n[209] Euseb. Pr\u00e6p. Evang. ix. 19.\n\n[210] Lucian, De Dea Syra, c. 12, 13.\n\n[211] Georg. Syncellus, Chronographia, p. 29, B., ed. Bonn; or Cory\u2019s\nAncient Fragments, p. 26 et seq.\n\n[212] Pr\u00e6p. Evang. ix. 12; see also S. Cyril contra Julian, i.\n\n[213] Bochart, Geogr. Sacra, p. 231.\n\n[214] Ekhel, Doctrina Numm. Vet. iii. p. 132 et seq.; see also Bryant\u2019s\nNew System of Ancient Mythology, Lond. 1775, i. note 3.\n\n[215] Orac. Sibvll, i. v. 260, 265-7. Ed. Fiedlieb.\n\n[216] Bundehesch, 7.\n\n[217] On the Chronology of the Hindus, by Sir W. Jones; Asiatic\nResearches, ii. pp. 116-7.\n\n[218] Bopp, Die S\u00fcndfluth; Berlin, 1829, p. 9.\n\n[219] Ovid. Metam. i. 240 et seq.\n\n[220] Steph. Bryzant., s. voce \u0399\u03ba\u03bf\u03bd\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd.\n\n[221] Diod. Sicul. lib. i.\n\n[222] M\u00e9m. concernant les Chinois, i. p. 157.\n\n[223] Klaproth, Inschrift, des Yu; Halle, 1811, p. 29.\n\n[224] M\u00e9m. concernant les Chinois, ix. p. 383.\n\n[225] Mart. Martinii, Hist. Sin. p. 26.\n\n[226] Steller, Beschreibung v. Kamschatka; Frankf. 1744, p. 273.\n\n[227] Serres, Kosmoganie des Moses, \u00fcbersetzt von F. X. Stech, p. 149.\n\n[228] Davies, Mythology of the British Druids, London, 1809; and Celtic\nResearches, London, 1844: curious works on the Arkite worship and\nart-ditions of the Kelts.\n\n[229] The prose Edda; Mallet, Northern Antiq., ed. Bohn, p. 404.\n\n[230] Grimm, Deutsche Mythol.; G\u00f6ttingen, 1854, p. 545.\n\n[231] The same story precisely, is told by the closely allied race of\nthe Chippewas; Atherne Jones, Traditions of the North American Indians,\nLondon, 1830, ii. p. 9 et seq.\n\n[232] L\u00fctke, Voyage autour du Monde, i. p. 189.\n\n[233] Braunschweig, Die alten Amerik. Denkm\u00e4ler; Berlin, 1840, p. 18.\n\n[234] Atherne Jones, Traditions of the North American Indians, ii.\n21-33.\n\n[235] Catlin, Letters and Notes on the Manners, etc., of the N.\nAmerican Indians; London, 1841.\n\n[236] Mayer, Mytholog. Taschenbuch; Weimar, 1811, p. 245.\n\n[237] Schoolcraft, Notes on the Iroquois; New York, 1847, p. 358.\n\n[238] M\u00fcller, Geschichte des Amerikanischen Urreligionem, Basle, 1855,\np. 515; L\u00fcken, Die Traditionem des Menschengeschlechts, p. 223.\n\n[239] Humboldt, Anh. des Cordilleren, i. p. 42.\n\n[240] Antonio de Herrera, Hist. general de los Hecos, etc.; Madrid,\n1601, iii. c. 10.\n\n[241] Compare L\u00fcken and M\u00fcller.\n\n[242] Humboldt, Reise in die Aequinoctial Gegenden, iii. pp. 406-7.\n\n[243] Nachrichten aus dem Lande Guiana, v. Salvator Gili; Hamb. 1785\npp. 440-1, quoted by L\u00fcken.\n\n[244] Garcilasso de la Vega, Hist. des Yncas; Amst., i. pp. 73 and 326.\n\n[245] Ausland, Jan. 1845, No. 1.\n\n[246] Jalkut, Genesis, fol. 16 a.\n\n[247] Colin de Plancy, p. 121.\n\n[248] Tabari, i. c. xli.\n\n[249] Hist. Dynastiarum, ed. Pocock; Oxon., 1663, p. 9.\n\n[250] Hist. Dynastiarum, ed. Pocock; Oxon., 1663, p. 10.\n\n[251] Eutychius, Patr. Alex., Annal., t. i. p. 44.\n\n[252] Bereschith Rabba, fol. 22, col. 4.\n\n[253] Eutych. Annal., ed. Selden, i. p. 35.\n\n[254] Suidas, Lexic. s. v. \u03a3\u03af\u03b2\u03c5\u03bb\u03bb\u03b1.\n\n[255] Tract. Sanhedrin, fol. 108, col. 2.\n\n[256] Tabari, i. p. 115.\n\n[257] Colin de Plancy, p. 224.\n\n[258] Eisenmenger, i. pp. 318-9.\n\n[259] Ibid., p. 376.\n\n[260] Ibid., p. 395.\n\n[261] Adv. H\u00e6res., lib. i.\n\n[262] De Tartaris, c. 9.\n\n[263] Reliqui\u00e6 Arc\u00e6 No\u00e6, in Fabricius, i. art. 33.\n\n[264] Tabari, i. c. xlii. xliii.\n\n[265] Tabari, i. c. xliii.\n\n[266] Gen. xi. 16, 18, 20, 22.\n\n[267] Abulfaraj, Hist. Dynastiarum, p. 12.\n\n[268] Abulfaraj, Hist. Dynastiarum, p. 13.\n\n[269] Gen. x. 21-24.\n\n[270] Koran, Sura xi. verse 57.\n\n[271] Tabari, i. c. xliv.; Abulfeda, Hist. Ante Islamica, pp. 19-21.\n\n[272] Weil, pp. 47, 48.\n\n[273] Herbelot, Biblioth. Orientale, s. v. Lokman.\n\n[274] Tabari, i. p. 432.\n\n[275] Koran, Sura xxvi. v. 153.\n\n[276] Ibid., xi. v. 67.\n\n[277] Tabari, i. c. xlv.\n\n[278] Weil, pp. 48-61; Abulfeda, p. 21.\n\n[279] Pirke of Rabbi Eliezer, c. xi.\n\n[280] Ibid., c. xxiv.\n\n[281] Ibid., c. xi.\n\n[282] Targums, ed. Etheridge, i. p. 187.\n\n[283] Bechaji, Comm. in 1 Mos. xi.; Pirke of R. Eliezer, c. xi.;\nTalmud, Sanhedrim, 109a; Targums, i. pp. 189-90, etc.\n\n[284] Talmud, Sanhedrim; see also the history of Nimrod in Yaschar, pp.\n1107-8.\n\n[285] Herbelot, s. v. Nimroud.\n\n[286] Hist. Dynast., p. 12.\n\n[287] M\u00e9moires conc. les Chinois, i. p. 213.\n\n[288] Euseb., Pr\u00e6p. Ev., ix. 14; Cory, Ancient Fragments, pp. 34-50.\n\n[289] George Syncellus, Bibl. Gr\u00e6c., v. p. 178.\n\n[290] Euseb., Pr\u00e6p. Ev., ix. 17.\n\n[291] Mos. Chorene, i. 9.\n\n[292] M\u00fcller, Glauben u. Wissen. d. Hindus; Mainz, 1822, i. p. 303.\n\n[293] Allgem. Hist. d. Reisen, vi. p. 602.\n\n[294] L\u00fcken, p. 287; Amerikanische Urreligionen, p. 517, etc.\n\n[295] Humboldt, Ansichten d. Cordilleren, i. p. 42.\n\n[296] For the Rabbinic traditions relating to Abraham I am indebted\nto the exhaustive monograph of Dr. B. Beer. \u201cLeben Abraham\u2019s nach\nAuffassung der j\u00fcdischen Sage,\u201d Leipzig, 1859, to which I must refer\nmy readers for references to Jewish books, which are given with an\nexactitude which leaves nothing to be desired.\n\n[297] Weil, p. 69.\n\n[298] The Mussulman history of the patriarch relates that Azar brought\nAbraham before Nimrod and said, \u201cThis is thy God who made all things.\u201d\n\u201cThen why did he not make himself less ugly?\u201d asked Abraham,--for\nNimrod had bad features.\n\n[299] The Mussulman story, which is precisely the same as the Jewish,\nadds that the camels refused to bear wood to form the pyre, but cast it\non the ground; therefore Abraham blessed the camels. But the mules had\nno compunction, therefore he cursed them that they should be sterile.\nThe birds who flew over the fire were killed, the city was enveloped\nin its smoke, and the crackling of its flames could be heard a day\u2019s\njourney off.\n\n[300] Weil, p. 73.\n\n[301] Both the Rabbinic commentators and the Mussulman historians\ntell a long story about the discussion carried on between Gabriel and\nAbraham in the air, as he was being shot into the flames. It is hardly\nworth repeating.\n\n[302] Tabari, i. p. 147.\n\n[303] Weil, p. 78.\n\n[304] Gen. xv.\n\n[305] Tabari, i. p. 156.\n\n[306] Gen. xiv. 19. The book Jasher also says that Amraphel and Nimrod\nare the same.\n\n[307] Gen. xiv. 17.\n\n[308] Ibid., 19, 20.\n\n[309] Gen. xiv. 23, 24.\n\n[310] Ps. ix. 8.\n\n[311] Tabari, i. c. xlviii.\n\n[312] Gittin, fol. 56 b; Pirke of R. Eliezer, fol. 49.\n\n[313] Weil, p. 80.\n\n[314] Tabari, i. c. lii; Abulfeda, p. 25.\n\n[315] Apocrypha de Loto, apud Fabricium, t. i. pp. 428-431.\n\n[316] Solomon Jarschi, Comm. on Moses, xx. 5.\n\n[317] Josh. xii. 24.\n\n[318] Psalm cxiii. 9.\n\n[319] This climax of absurdity is found also in the Mussulman histories\nof the Patriarch.\n\n[320] Weil, p. 83.\n\n[321] It seems probable that S. Paul alludes to this traditional speech\nmore than once, as for instance Gal. iii. 9.\n\n[322] The same story is told by the Mohammedans: Weil, p. 90.\n\n[323] Gen. xxi. 24-27.\n\n[324] Numbers xxi. 16, 17.\n\n[325] Gen. xxi. 33.\n\n[326] The Mussulmans tell the story of Ishmael almost in every\nparticular the same as that given below.\n\n[327] Exod. iv. 20.\n\n[328] Zech. ix. 9.\n\n[329] When King Sapor heard the R. Samuel explain that Messiah would\ncome riding on an ass, the king said, \u201cI will give him a horse; it is\nnot seemly that he should ride an ass.\u201d \u201cWhat,\u201d answered the Rabbi,\n\u201chast thou a horse with a hundred colors?\u201d (Talmud, Tract. Sanhedrim,\nfol. 98, col. 1.)\n\n[330] The day is uncertain. Some say it was the 3d Nisan; others, it\nwas the first of the seventh month, Tischri, New Year\u2019s day; others,\nthat it was the Day of Atonement. Some say Isaac\u2019s age was 37; others\nsay 36; others 26; others 25; others 16; others 13; others, again, say\n5; and others say only 2 years.\n\n[331] In the Rabbinic tradition, the type of Christ comes out more\ndistinctly than in Genesis, for here we see Isaac not merely offered by\nhis father, but also giving himself as a free-will offering, immaculate\nwithout in his body, and within in his soul.\n\n[332] Might not these words be spoken mystically of Christ?\n\n[333] And these prophetic. Abraham means that God must take care of him\nin his old age. But they may also be taken by us thus, God must take\nthy place as the victim.\n\n[334] Here again--it may be fanciful--but I cannot help thinking we\nhave the type continued of Christ\u2019s presence perpetuated in the Church,\nin the Tabernacle in which the Host is reserved, that all passing by\nmay look thereupon and worship, and \u201cRemember Me\u201d in the adorable\nSacrament. With a vast amount of utterly unfounded fable, the Rabbinic\ntraditions may, and probably do, contain much truth.\n\n[335] \u201cIf I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I\ndepart, I will send Him unto you.\u201d (John xvi. 7.)\n\n[336] This is one instance out of several in which the honorable and\ngenerous conduct of a Gentile is distorted by Rabbinical tradition; the\nlater Rabbis being unwilling to give any but their own nation credit\nfor liberal and just dealing. It may have been observed in the account\nof Abimelech, how the frank exchange of promises between Abraham and\nthe Philistine prince was regarded by them as sinful.\n\n[337] Joshua i. 21.\n\n[338] 2 Sam. v. 6; 1 Chron. xi. 4.\n\n[339] 2 Sam. v. 8.\n\n[340] 2 Sam. xxiv. 24; 1 Chron. xxi. 24. This is, however, in direct\ncontravention of the account in the fifth chapter of the 2d Samuel.\n\n[341] Gen. xxiv. 34-49.\n\n[342] Gen. xxv. 2.\n\n[343] Gen. xxv. 4.\n\n[344] Tabari, i. c. lvii.\n\n[345] Weil, p. 98.\n\n[346] This the Targumim, or pharaphrases of the Sacred Text, distinctly\nsay, \u201cMelchizedek, who was Shem, son of Noah, king of Jerusalem.\u201d\n(Etheridge, i. p. 199.)\n\n[347] Fabricius, Codex Pseud. V. T. t. i. p. 311. The Book of the\nCombat of Adam says Melchizedek was the son of Canaan.\n\n[348] Suidas, Lexic. s. v. \u039c\u03b5\u03bb\u03c7\u03b9\u03c3\u03b5\u03b4\u03b5\u03ba.\n\n[349] \u03a0\u03b1\u03c3\u03c7\u03ac\u03bb\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd, seu Chronicon Paschale a mundo condito ad Heraclii\nimp. ann. vicesimum. Ed. C. du Fresne du Cange; Paris, 1688, p. 49.\n\n[350] Michael Glycas, \u0392\u1f76\u03b2\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c7\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd\u03b9\u03ba\u03b7, ed. Labbe; Paris, 1660, p. 135.\n\n[351] Georgius Cedrenus, \u03a3\u03c2 \u03bd\u03bf\u03c8\u03b9\u03cd \u1f31\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c1\u03b9\u1ff6\u03bd, ed. Goar; Paris, 1647. t.\ni. p. 27.\n\n[352] Josephus Ben-Gorion, lib. vi. c. 35, apud Fabricium, i. p. 326.\n\n[353] S. Epiphanius H\u00e6resi, lv. c. 2.\n\n[354] Talmud, Tract. Bava Bathra.\n\n[355] Tabari, i. c. liii.\n\n[356] Tabari; Weil, Abulfeda, pp. 25-27, etc.\n\n[357] Or El Khoudr: he is identified in Arab legend with S. George and\nElias.\n\n[358] Weil, pp. 94-6.\n\n[359] Tabari, i. p. 181\n\n[360] Maschmia Jeschua, fol. 19, col. 4.\n\n[361] Nezach Israel, fol. 25, col. 3.\n\n[362] Eisenmenger, ii. pp. 260, 304.\n\n[363] Gen. xxv. 22.\n\n[364] Jer. i. 5.\n\n[365] Bereschith Rabba, fol. 56, col. 2.\n\n[366] Eisenmenger, i. p. 646.\n\n[367] Ibid.\n\n[368] Ibid., pp. 650-1.\n\n[369] Targums, ed. Etheridge, i. p. 240.\n\n[370] Ibid., p. 241.\n\n[371] Ibid., also R. Bechai\u2019s Comment. on the Five Books of Moses, fol.\n35, col. 1.\n\n[372] Targum of Palestine and Jerusalem; Etheridge, i. 241, 242. The\nbook Yaschar says the deed of transfer was written by Jacob on a leaf,\nand that he and Esau sealed it, p. 1151.\n\n[373] Eisenmenger, i. p. 651.\n\n[374] Gen. iii. 21.\n\n[375] Yaschar, p. 1150, where is the story of the assassination of\nNimrod by Esau.\n\n[376] Ibid.\n\n[377] Eisenmenger, ii. p. 879.\n\n[378] Ibid., p. 262.\n\n[379] Targums, i. p. 250.\n\n[380] Targums, i. p. 252.\n\n[381] Pirke R. Eliezer, c. 35.\n\n[382] William Sanderson, Vita Mari\u00e6, reg. Scot., et Jacobi, reg.\nAnglorum; also Beckmann, Notitiar. dignit. Dissert. 3, c. i. \u00a7 7.\n\n[383] The whole of the above is from the Targumim.\n\n[384] Jalkut Cadasch, fol. 81, col. 1; Yaschar, p. 1161 et seq.\n\n[385] Eisenmenger, i. p. 486.\n\n[386] Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 61, col. 3.\n\n[387] Jalkut Cadasch, fol. 91, col. 4.\n\n[388] Targum of Palestine, i. p. 272.\n\n[389] Jacob prepared three things against Esau--War, Gifts, and\nPrayer--as a token to all men that they must overcome evil by\nResistance, by Alms, and by Supplication. (R. Bechai, Comm. on the Five\nBooks of Moses, fol. 42, col. 4.)\n\n[390] Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 62, col. 2.\n\n[391] Bereschith rabba, fol. 71, col. 1 (70th Parascha).\n\n[392] Bereschith rabba, fol. 67, col. 1.\n\n[393] Jalkut Cadasch, fol. 90, col. 3.\n\n[394] Eisenmenger, i. p. 325.\n\n[395] Tabari, i. p. 206.\n\n[396] Gen. xxxiii. 20.\n\n[397] Jalkut Cadasch, fol. 91, col. 3.\n\n[398] Yaschar, pp. 1167, 1168.\n\n[399] D\u2019 Herbelot, Biblioth\u00e8que Orientale, s. v. Ais, i. p. 142.\n\n[400] This was Sammael, and he complained to God that Jacob had\nneglected the duty of hospitality, therefore he was suffered to afflict\nhim for a season.\n\n[401] Tabari, i. p. 210.\n\n[402] Targums, i. p. 287.\n\n[403] Tabari, i. p. 211.\n\n[404] Targums, i. p. 288. The account of the sale in Yaschar is very\nlong, and full of details too numerous for insertion here (pp. 1185-8).\n\n[405] Tabari, i. p. 212.\n\n[406] Targums, i. 289.\n\n[407] Weil, p. 102.\n\n[408] Yaschar, tr. Drachs, p. 1192.\n\n[409] Tabari, i. pp. 213, 214.\n\n[410] Targums, i. 288.\n\n[411] Yaschar, pp. 1188-9; Parrascha Wajescheb. This touching incident\nis common to Rabbinic and Mussulman traditions. It has been gracefully\nversified by Dr. Le Heris, \u201cSagen aus der Orient;\u201d Mannheim, 1852.\n\n[412] His name in Arabic is Aziz.\n\n[413] Zuleika is the name in Yaschar; it is that also given her by the\nArabs.\n\n[414] Tract. Sota., fol. 36, col. 2. The original account of this final\ndetail is too absurd and monstrous to be narrated more particularly.\n\n[415] Tabari, i. p. 217.\n\n[416] Yaschar, p. 1197. Nearly all these incidents in the life of\nJoseph are common to Jewish and Mussulman traditions.\n\n[417] Tabari, p. 220; Weil, p. 112; both taken from the Rabbinic story\nin Yaschar, p. 1195.\n\n[418] Weil, p. 113.\n\n[419] Targums, i. pp. 296-9; Midrash, fol. 45; Yaschar, p. 1200.\n\n[420] Midrash, fol. 45.\n\n[421] Weil, p. 116; Tabari, i. c. 44; Gen. xli.; Yaschar, pp. 1202-8.\n\n[422] This conclusion of the loves of Zuleika and Joseph completes the\nromance, and makes it a most popular subject for poets in the East.\nBoth Jewish and Mussulman traditions give Zuleika a very different\ncharacter from that which Holy Scripture leads one to attribute to her.\n\n[423] Midrash, Jalkut, fol. 46.\n\n[424] Midrash, Jalkut. fol. 46.\n\n[425] Weil, p. 122.\n\n[426] Tabari, i. p. 247; taken from the Rabbinic Yaschar (Sepher\nHajaschar), p. 1226.\n\n[427] Midrash, Jalkut. fol. 47; Yaschar, p. 1225; Berescheth Rabba,\nfol. 84, col. 4.\n\n[428] Yaschar, p. 1226.\n\n[429] This was the shirt given Abraham by Gabriel, to preserve him from\nthe fire into which Nimrod cast him; it was fragrant with the odors of\nParadise.\n\n[430] Koran, Sura xii.; Tabari, i. pp. 250, 251.\n\n[431] Yaschar, p. 1227.\n\n[432] Vita Aseneth, fili\u00e6 Potipharis; a Greek apocryphal book, in\nFabricius, iii. p. 85.\n\n[433] Lib. de Mensuris et Ponderibus, \u00a7 10.\n\n[434] Ephes. v. 14.\n\n[435] Thess. ii. 16.\n\n[436] Commen. in Eph. loc. cit.\n\n[437] Prolog. infin. Duarum Hom. in Cant. Canticorum.\n\n[438] Matt. Paris, Chronicle, ed. Bohn, vol. i. pp. 437, 438.\n\n[439] T. i., pp. 496-759.\n\n[440] Koran, Sura xxxviii. v. 43-4. Job in Arabic is A\u00efub.\n\n[441] Eisenmenger, ii. p. 439.\n\n[442] Tabari, i. p. 256.\n\n[443] Ma\u00ef (Angelus), Test. Job: Rom\u00e6, 1839.\n\n[444] Ma\u00ef (Angelus), Test. Job; Rom\u00e6, 1839.\n\n[445] In the \u201cTestament of Job\u201d she is called Sitis.\n\n[446] Tabari, i. c. lxvi; Abulfeda, pp. 27-29.\n\n[447] Testament of Job.\n\n[448] Koran, Sura xxi. v. 83.\n\n[449] Koran, Sura xxxviii. v. 41.\n\n[450] Tabari, i. p. 263.\n\n[451] Koran, Sura xxxviii. v. 43.\n\n[452] Tabari, i. c. lxvii; Abulfeda p. 31.\n\n[453] The early portion of the life of Moses has been elaborated from\nRabbinic sources by Dr. B. Beer. Unfortunately he died before the\nwork was completed, and it has been published as a fragment by his\nfriend, G. Wolf. It extends only as far as his marriage with Zipporoh.\n(Leben Moses nach Auffassung der J\u00fcdischen Sage, von Dr. B. Beer; ein\nFragment. Leipzig, 1863.) It is for the most part, compiled from the\nSepher Hajascher, or Book of Jasher.\n\n[454] Yaschar, pp. 1241-53. The history of Zepho is quite a romance,\ntoo long for insertion here.\n\n[455] Yaschar, pp. 1248, 1249; 1253, 1254.\n\n[456] Ibid., p. 1255.\n\n[457] Midrash, fol. 51; Yaschar, p. 1157.\n\n[458] Midrash, Jalkut, fol. 52; Yaschar, pp. 1257-9.\n\n[459] The curious passages, Isaiah vii. 15, 22, may allude to this\ntradition.\n\n[460] Moses\u2019 life was shortened because he brought water out of the\nrock contrary to God\u2019s command (Numb xxvii. 14), striking the rock\ninstead of speaking to it.\n\n[461] Beer, pp. 112-6.\n\n[462] Some authorities say that Jochebed, when thrust away, married\nEliphazan, the son of Parnach (Numb. xxxiv. 25), and bare him two sons,\nEldad and Medad (Numb. xi. 15); but others, with more probability,\nassert that she married Eliphazan after the death of Amram. (Yaschar,\np. 1259.)\n\n[463] Yaschar, p. 1260.\n\n[464] Targum of Palestine, i. p. 446.\n\n[465] Rabboth, fol. 118 a.\n\n[466] Exod. xv. 1.\n\n[467] The Arabic name for her is Asia; Yaschar, p. 1261.\n\n[468] Targum of Palestine, i. p. 446; Yaschar, p. 1261.\n\n[469] Midrash, fol. 51.\n\n[470] Midrash, fol. 51; Yaschar, p. 1262.\n\n[471] Midrash, fol. 52; Yaschar, p. 1263.\n\n[472] According to another version, it was Jethro who advised that the\nchild should be proved with the basins of rubies and coals (Rabboth,\nfol. 118 b; Yaschar, pp. 1263, 1264).\n\n[473] Exod. iv. 10.\n\n[474] Beer, pp. 26-42. Abulfaraj says that Jannes and Jambres were the\ntutors of Moses in his youth (Hist. Dynast., p. 17).\n\n[475] Yaschar, p. 1265.\n\n[476] Yaschar, p. 1265.\n\n[477] Ibid., p. 1263.\n\n[478] Parascha of R. Solomon Jaschi, on Exod. ii. 12; also Targums of\nPalestine and Jerusalem, i. p. 447; Yaschar, pp. 1265, 1266.\n\n[479] Pirke R. Eliezer, c. 40; Rabboth, fol. 119 a; Yaschar, p. 1266.\n\n[480] This illustrates the passage 2 Kings ix. 13.\n\n[481] Midrash, fol. 52; Yaschar, pp. 1265-1274.\n\n[482] These were two of his seven names.\n\n[483] It may be noticed in this as in several other instances, such\nas those of Rebekah and Rachel, the Rabbis have invented stories to\nexplain the circumstance of the damsels watering the flock, which they\nsupposed derogated from their dignity. This indicates the late date of\nthese traditions, when the old pastoral simplicity was lost.\n\n[484] Pirke R. Eliezer, c. 40; Yaschar, p. 1274.\n\n[485] The Targum of Palestine, \u201cten years;\u201d i. p. 448.\n\n[486] Beer, pp. 42-02; Pirke R. Eliezer. The Targum of Palestine says\nthe rod was in the chamber of Jethro, not in the garden; i. p. 448.\nYaschar, pp. 1277, 1278.\n\n[487] Rabbot., fol. 120 a. It is possible that our Blessed Lord\u2019s\nparable of the Good Shepherd may contain an allusion to this popular\nand beautiful tradition.\n\n[488] Gen. iii. 4. It was the angel Zagnugael who appeared and spoke to\nhim from the bush. (Targum of Palestine, i. p. 449; Abulfeda, p. 31.)\n\n[489] Exod. iv. 14.\n\n[490] Tabari, i. c. lxxiii. p. 24.\n\n[491] Midrash, fol. 54.\n\n[492] Targum of Palestine, i. p. 460.\n\n[493] Yaschar, p. 1280.\n\n[494] Tabari, p. 326.\n\n[495] Some say that Pharaoh entreated Moses to spare him for the\nsake of Asia (Bithia), and that at the mention of his name Moses was\nsoftened (Weil, p. 159)\n\n[496] In Arabic, Risam and Rijam; and Shabun and Gabun, in Persian.\n\n[497] Midrash, fol. 56. The Targums say that the enchanters turned\nthe water of Goshen into blood, so that there was no water to the\nIsraelites as to the Egyptians; i. p. 462.\n\n[498] Midrash, fol. 55.\n\n[499] Targum of Palestine, i. p. 463.\n\n[500] Venomous insects (Kalma), gnats (Kinnim). See Wisdom xvi. 1, 3.\n\n[501] Targums, i. 464.\n\n[502] Targums, i. p. 467.\n\n[503] Ibid., i. p. 471.\n\n[504] Yaschar, p. 1283.\n\n[505] Tabari, i. p. 338.\n\n[506] Weil, p. 165.\n\n[507] Talmud, Sota, fol. 13.\n\n[508] Targum of Palestine, i. p. 1478.\n\n[509] Targums, i. p. 475.\n\n[510] Ibid., i. p. 485.\n\n[511] Targum of Jerusalem, i. 488; Yaschar, p. 1287.\n\n[512] Exod. xiv. 13, 14.\n\n[513] Koran, Sura xxvi. v. 63.\n\n[514] Weil, p. 168; see also Midrash, fol. 176.\n\n[515] Exod. xv. 21.\n\n[516] Tabari, p. 350.\n\n[517] Tabari, i. p. 355.\n\n[518] Both the Rabbis and the Mussulmans lay the blame, not on Aaron,\nbut on another. The Rabbis say it was Micah who made the calf; the\nMussulmans call him Samiri. (Weil, p. 170.)\n\n[519] Targum of Palestine, i. p. 552.\n\n[520] Tabari, i. p. 362.\n\n[521] Targum of Palestine, ii. p. 685.\n\n[522] Pirke R. Eliezer, c. 45.\n\n[523] Weil, pp. 172, 173.\n\n[524] Koran, Sura vii. v. 139.\n\n[525] Tabari, i. p. 364.\n\n[526] Ibid., i. c. lxxv.\n\n[527] Targum of Palestine, i. p. 561.\n\n[528] Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 117, col. 1.\n\n[529] Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 107, cols. 2, 3.\n\n[530] Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 107, col. 3.\n\n[531] Tabari, i. p. 371; also Midrash, fol. 30.\n\n[532] Parascha R. Bechai, fol. 116.\n\n[533] Talmud, Tract. Hajada, fol. 12, col. 2.\n\n[534] Talmud, Tract. Joma, fol. 75, col. 1.\n\n[535] This is sanctioned by Scripture: \u201c_Thou feddest Thine own people\nwith angels\u2019 food, and didst send them from heaven bread prepared\nwithout their labor, able to content every man\u2019s delight, and agreeing\nto every taste._\u201d (Wisdom, xvi. 20.)\n\n[536] Talmud, Tract. Joma, fol. 75, col. 1; Schemoth Rabba, fol. 115,\ncol. 4.\n\n[537] To this tradition perhaps David refers, Ps. xxiii. 5, lxxviii. 19.\n\n[538] Targum of Palestine, i. pp. 499, 500.\n\n[539] Jalkut Shimoni, fol. 73, col. 4.\n\n[540] Targum of Palestine, i. pp. 501, 502.\n\n[541] Tabari, i. p. 393.\n\n[542] Koran, Sura ii. v. 54.\n\n[543] Tabari, i. p. 394; but also Deut. viii. 4, Nehemiah ix. 21.\n\n[544] 1 Cor. x. 4.\n\n[545] Tabari, i. p. 373.\n\n[546] See my \u201cCurious Myths of the Middle Ages,\u201d article on S. George.\nI have no doubt whatever that El Khoudr, identified by the Jews with\nElias, is the original of the Wandering Jew. I did not know this when I\nwrote on the \u201cWandering Jew\u201d in my \u201cCurious Myths,\u201d but I believe this\nto be the key to the whole story.\n\n[547] Weil, pp. 176-81; Tabari, i. c. lxxvi.; Koran, Sura xviii.\n\n[548] Voltaire has taken this legend as the basis of his story of\n\u201cZadig.\u201d\n\n[549] Targums, ii. pp. 380, 381.\n\n[550] Weil, p. 175.\n\n[551] Targums, ii. p. 382.\n\n[552] Weil, p. 176.\n\n[553] Targums, ii. p. 386.\n\n[554] Tract. Kethuvoth, fol. 111, col. 2.\n\n[555] Targums, ii. p. 391.\n\n[556] Targum of Palestine, ii. p. 390.\n\n[557] Tabari, i. c. lxxvii.; Weil, pp. 182, 183; Abulfeda, p. 33.\n\n[558] Eisenmenger, ii. p. 305. Possibly the passage Zech. ix. 11, 12,\nmay contain an allusion to this tradition.\n\n[559] Eisenmenger, ii. p. 305.\n\n[560] Pirke R. Eliezer, c. 45.\n\n[561] Perhaps the passage Isai. xl. 4 may be an allusion to this\ntradition.\n\n[562] Talmud, Tract. Beracoth, fol. 54, col. 2; Targum of Palestine,\nii., pp. 411-13.\n\n[563] Talmud, Tract. Beracoth, fol. 54, col. 2; Targums, ii. p. 416;\nYraschar, p. 1296.\n\n[564] Talmud, Tract. Sopherim, fol. 42, col. 2.\n\n[565] Ibid., Tract. Nida, fol. 24, col. 2.\n\n[566] Jalkut Cadasch, fol. 16, col. 2.\n\n[567] Eisenmenger, i. p. 389.\n\n[568] Talmud, Tract. Sopherim, fol. 14, col. 4.\n\n[569] Tabari, i. p. 398.\n\n[570] Gen. xxxi. 51.\n\n[571] Targums, ii. pp. 419-21.\n\n[572] Targums, ii. pp. 432-3.\n\n[573] Ibid., pp. 434-5.\n\n[574] Jalkut, fol. 240; Rabboth, fol. 275, col. 1; Midrash, fol. 285.\n\n[575] Weil, p. 185.\n\n[576] Tabari, i. c. lxxix.; Abulfeda, p. 35.\n\n[577] Rabboth, fol. 302 b; Devarim Rabba, fol. 246, col. 2.\n\n[578] Weil, pp. 188, 189.\n\n[579] Weil, p. 190.\n\n[580] Rabboth, fol. 302 b.\n\n[581] Weil, pp. 190, 191.\n\n[582] Lyra Anglicana, London, 1864, \u201cThe burial of Moses.\u201d\n\n[583] Talmud, Tract. Sota, fol. 14 a.\n\n[584] Tabari, i. p. 396.\n\n[585] Talmud of Jerusalem; Tract. Terumoth.\n\n[586] Josh. vii. 1-5.\n\n[587] Tabari, i. p. 402.\n\n[588] Koran, Sura ii. v. 55, 56.\n\n[589] Tabari, p. 404.\n\n[590] Tabari, p. 401.\n\n[591] Ibid., p. 404.\n\n[592] Berescheth Rabba.\n\n[593] The Mussulmans say Khasq\u00eel or Ezechiel.\n\n[594] Judges i. 4.\n\n[595] Tabari, i. p. 404.\n\n[596] Eisenmenger, i. p. 395.\n\n[597] Hist. Dynast., p. 24.\n\n[598] Tabari, i. c. lxxxvii.\n\n[599] D\u2019Herbelot, Bibl. Orient., s. v. Aschmouil.\n\n[600] Koran, Sura ii. v. 247, 248.\n\n[601] Koran, Sura ii. v. 248.\n\n[602] D\u2019Herbelot, Bibl. Orientale, t. i. p. 263.\n\n[603] Tabari, i. p. 417.\n\n[604] This incident, from the apocryphal gospels of the childhood\nof Christ, shall be related in the Legendary Lives of New Testament\nCharacters.\n\n[605] Weil, pp. 193-8.\n\n[606] Koran, Sura ii. v. 250.\n\n[607] Tabari, i. p. 418.\n\n[608] Perhaps the Passage in Psalm cvii. 35 may refer to this miracle,\nunrecorded in Holy Scripture.\n\n[609] Weil, pp. 200, 201.\n\n[610] Koran, Sura ii. v. 251.\n\n[611] Weil, p. 203.\n\n[612] Tabari, i. p. 421.\n\n[613] Ibid.\n\n[614] Tabari, i. p. 422; Weil, pp. 202-4; D\u2019Herbelot, i. p. 362.\n\n[615] Weil, pp. 205-8.\n\n[616] Tabari, i. p. 423. The same story is told of the escape of S.\nFelix of Nola, in the Decian persecution.\n\n[617] Tabari, p. 429.\n\n[618] Weil, p. 207.\n\n[619] Tabari, i. p. 424.\n\n[620] Ps. li. 5.\n\n[621] Midrash, fol. 204, col. 1.\n\n[622] Ps. cxviii. 22.\n\n[623] See the story in the Legends of Adam.\n\n[624] Zohar, in Bartolocci, i. fol. 85, col. 2.\n\n[625] Jalkut, fol. 32, col. 2 (Parasch. 2, numb. 134).\n\n[626] Ibid. (Parasch. 2, numb. 127).\n\n[627] 1 Sam. xvii. 43.\n\n[628] 2 Sam. iii. 29.\n\n[629] Zohar, in Bartolocci, i. fol. 99, col. 1.\n\n[630] Talmud, Tract. Sanhedrim, fol. 107.\n\n[631] 1 Kings ii. 11.\n\n[632] 2 Sam. v. 5.\n\n[633] Bartolocci, i. f. 100.\n\n[634] 1 Sam. xxiv. 4.\n\n[635] Bartolocci, i. f. 122. col. 1.\n\n[636] 1 Kings i. 1.\n\n[637] Bartolocci, i. f. 122. col. 2.\n\n[638] Ps. lvii. 9; Bartolocci, i. fol. 125, col. 2.\n\n[639] Talmud, Tract. Sota, fol. 10 b\n\n[640] Ps. xxii. 21.\n\n[641] Midrash Tillim, fol. 21, col. 2.\n\n[642] Eisenmenger, i. p. 409.\n\n[643] Ps. xviii. 36.\n\n[644] Ps. lv. 6.\n\n[645] Ps. lxviii. 13.\n\n[646] Talmud, Tract. Sanhedrim, fol. 95, col 1.\n\n[647] Tract. Sabbath, fol. 30, col. 2.\n\n[648] Tabari, i. p. 426; Weil, p. 208.\n\n[649] Weil, p. 207.\n\n[650] Tabari, p. 428.\n\n[651] The Arabs call her Saga.\n\n[652] The story in the Talmud is almost the same, with this difference:\nBathsheba was washing herself behind a beehive, then the beautiful bird\nperched on the hive, and David shot an arrow at it and broke the hive,\nand exposed Bathsheba to view. In the Rabbinic tale, David had asked\nfor the gift of prophecy, and God told him he must be tried. This he\nagreed to, and the temptation to adultery was that sent him. (Talmud,\nTract. Sanhedrim, fol. 107, col. 2; Jalkut, fol. 22, col. 2).\n\n[653] Koran, Sura xxxviii.\n\n[654] Weil, pp. 212, 213.\n\n[655] Weil, pp. 213-224.\n\n[656] Greek text, and Latin translation in Fabricius; Pseudigr. Vet.\nTest. t. ii. pp. 905-7.\n\n[657] \u05e1\u05d2\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5\u05ea \u05d5\u05e8\u05ea\u05d5\u05d0\u05d9\u05ea; Amst. 1703.\n\n[658] Solomon was twelve years old when he succeeded David. (Abulfeda,\np. 43; Bartolocci, iv. p. 371.)\n\n[659] Weil, pp. 225-231; Eisenmenger, p. 440, etc.\n\n[660] Weil, pp. 231-4.\n\n[661] The story of the building of the temple, with the assistance of\nSchamir, has been already related by me in my \u201cCurious Myths of the\nMiddle Ages.\u201d\n\n[662] The Rabbinic story and the Mussulman are precisely the same,\nwith the difference that Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, instead of the\nJinns, lies in ambush and captures Sachr or Aschmedai (Asmodeus).\n(Eisenmenger, i. 351-8.) As I have given the Jewish version in my\n\u201cCurious Myths of the Middle Ages,\u201d I give the Arab story here.\n\n[663] Weil, pp. 234-7; Talmud, Tract. Gittin. fol. 68, cols. 1, 2.\n\n[664] Jalkut Schimoni, fol. 90, col. 4.\n\n[665] Tabari, i. p. 435.\n\n[666] Tabari, i. p. 436.\n\n[667] Koran, Sura xxvii.; Tabari, i. c. xxviii.; Weil, pp. 237-9.\n\n[668] The Jews also believed in a purgatory; see Bartolocci, i. 342.\n\n[669] Targum Scheni Esther, fol. 401 tells the same of the moorcock.\n\n[670] This is the letter according to Rabbinic authors: \u201cGreeting to\nthee and to thine; from me, King Solomon. It is known to thee that the\nholy, ever-blessed God has made me lord and king over the wild beasts\nand birds of heaven, and over the devils, and spirits, and ghosts of\nthe night, and that all kings, from the rising to the down-setting of\nthe sun, come and greet me. If thou also wilt come and salute me, then\nI will show thee great honor above all the kings that lie prostrate\nbefore me. But if thou wilt not come, and wilt not salute me, then will\nI send kings, and soldiers, and horsemen against thee. And if thou\nsayest in thine heart, \u2018Hath King Solomon kings, and soldiers, and\nhorsemen?\u2019 then know that the wild beasts are his kings, and soldiers,\nand horsemen. And if thou sayest, \u2018What, then, are his horsemen?\u2019 know\nthat the birds of heaven are his horsemen. His army are ghosts, and\ndevils, and spectres of the night; and they shall torment and slay you\nat night in your beds, and the wild beasts will rend you in the fields,\nand the birds will tear the flesh of you.\u201d This letter, the Jews say,\nwas sent to the Queen of Sheba by a moorcock. (Targum Scheni Esther,\nfol. 401, 440).\n\n[671] According to another account, \u201cthat she had ass\u2019s legs\u201d (Weil, p.\n267). Tabari says, \u201chairy legs\u201d (i. p. 441).\n\n[672] Weil, pp. 246-267; Tabari, i. cc. 94, 95.\n\n[673] Weil, pp. 267-9.\n\n[674] Tabari, i. c. xcvi. p. 448.\n\n[675] Weil, pp. 269-271; Tabari, pp. 450, 451.\n\n[676] Koran, Sura xxxviii.\n\n[677] Tabari, pp. 460, 461.\n\n[678] In the Jewish legend, Asmodeus. In \u201cCuriosities of Olden times\u201d\nI have pointed out the connection between the story of the disgrace of\nSolomon and that of Nebuchadnezzar, Jovinian, Robert of Sicily, etc.\n\n[679] Deut. xvii. 16, 17.\n\n[680] Emek Nammelek, fol. 14; Gittin, fol. 68, col. 2; Eisenmenger, i.\npp. 358-60. The Anglo-Saxon story of Havelock the Dane bears a strong\nresemblance to this part of the story of Solomon.\n\n[681] Eisenmenger, i. pp. 358-60; Weil, pp. 271-4; Tabari, c. 96.\n\n[682] Weil, p. 274.\n\n[683] Eisenmenger, i. 361.\n\n[684] Tabari, p. 454.\n\n[685] Koran, Sura xxxiv.; Tabari, c. 97; Weil, p. 279.\n\n[686] Tabari, i. c. 84.\n\n[687] Das Buch der Sagen und Legenden j\u00fcdischer Yorzeit, p. 45;\nStuttgardt, 1845.\n\n[688] Herbelot, Bibl. Orient., s. v. Zerib, iii. p. 607.\n\n[689] Gemara, Avoda Sara, c. i. fol. 65.\n\n[690] Anabasticon, iv. 2-12.\n\n[691] Anabasticon, v. 1-14.\n\n[692] Tract. Jebammoth, c. 4.\n\n[693] Exod. xxxiii. 20.\n\n[694] Isai. vi. 1.\n\n[695] Deut. iv. 7.\n\n[696] Isai. lv. 6.\n\n[697] Tabari, i. c. 83.\n\n[698] Bartolocci, i. p. 848.\n\n[699] Sura, ii.\n\n[700] Herbelot, Biblioth\u00e8que Orientale, iii. p. 89.\n\n[701] Abulfaraj, p. 57.\n\n[702] Hist. Eccles. lib. ix. cap. ult.\n\n[703] Ibid., lib. xiv. c. 8.\n\n\n\n\nTRANSCRIBERS NOTES:\n\n\nPunctuation has been standardized to modern usage for better\nreadability. Unbalanced quotation marks were repaired. Obviously\nmissing periods at ends of sentences were repaired. Punctuation in\nchapter and section headings was made consistent. Punctuation in\nfootnotes was made consistent.\n\nSpelling of non-dialect wording in the text was made consistent when\na predominant preference was found in this book; if no predominant\npreference was found, or if there is only one occurrence of the word,\nspelling was not changed. Simple typographical errors were corrected.\n\nVariations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.\n\nSingle, oddly spelled words that could not be confirmed as\ntypographical errors, such as \u201cnamad\u201d for \u201cnamed\u201d, \u201cvension\u201d for\n\u201cvenison\u201d, \u201ctouehed\u201d for \u201ctouched\u201d, and \u201cdedrived\u201d for \u201cdeprived\u201d,\nwere left unchanged.\n\nObviously missing hyphens at the ends of printed lines were repaired\nand the words rejoined.\n\n\u201cPharaoh\u201d and \u201cPharoah\u201d both appear multiple times. Pharoah occurs 17\ntimes and 90+ for Pharaoh. No changes were made.\n\nPage xi \u2013 Original text does not give the chapter number for \u201cAbraham\u201d.\nChapter number should be \u201cXXIV\u201d. Missing chapter number was added to\nthe TOC.\n\nPage xi \u2013 Table of Contents gives chapter number for \u201cJoseph\u201d as\nXXXIII. Chapter number should be XXVIII. It was corrected in the TOC.\n\nPage xii \u2013 The table of contents shows Chapter XXXII Moses, Section\n7. The Manna starting on page 392. The section actually starts on page\n292. This has been corrected.\n\nPage 217 \u2013 (Sammael ; ... missing the closing parenthesis, which was\nadded to the text.\n\nPage 298 - Send thou keen-sighted men men who may explore the land of\nCanaan, ... Should likely be either \u201cmen, men\u201d, or else the word was\nduplicated. Without supporting evidence, it was rendered as per the\noriginal text with no change.\n\nPage 349 - The angel sho***ike a column of flame into heaven, ...\nUnreadable even in high resolution. Appears it may have been intended\nto be \u201cshot like\u201d and was rendered accordingly.\n\nIN THE FOOTNOTES:\n\nMissing and incorrect footnote numbers were repaired. Other footnote\noddities are mentioned below:\n\nPage 64 - Footnote 92: Gen., v. i. ... likely a typographical error\nfor \u201cGen., v. 1.\u201d - left unchanged as found in the original text.\n\nPage 77 \u2013 Chapter title ... \u201cDEATH OF ADAM[1]\u201d ... No footnote is\ngiven in the text to go with the anchor. Anchor was removed.\n\nPage 83 - Footnote 147: Plutarch, Isis and Osiris, ed. Parthey; pp. 72,\n88, and notes pp. 183[**] 238. ... Unclear mark after \u201c183\u201d assumed to\nbe a comma, and comma added at that point.\n\nPage 114 - Footnote 228: Davies, Mythology of the British Druids,\nLondon, 1809; and Celtic Researches, London, 1844: curious works on\nthe Arkite worship and art-ditions of the Kelts. ... Smudge after\nword \u201cCeltic\u201d was repaired. The word \u201cart-ditions\u201d ... seems to be a\nmisprint. Possibly typo for \u201ctraditions\u201d. Without confirmation, it was\nrendered as found in the original.\n\nPage 186 - _Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye\nunto it._\u201d[324] ... In original text, footnote anchor is not visible.\nHowever, the biblical reference in footnote 324 matches this phrase\nand therefor the anchor was inserted here.\n\nPage 314 - Footnote 581: Well, pp. 190, 191. ... \u201cWell\u201d is not given\nas a source anywhere else in the text, however, \u201cWeil\u201d is referenced\nmore than 55 times. \u201cWell\u201d was treated as a typographical error and\nchanged to \u201cWeil\u201d.\n\nIN THE HEBREW AND GREEK:\n\nExcept where noted, Greek and Hebrew passages have been rendered as\nthey appear in the original publication. Some Hebrew vowels were\nomitted by the Author. These have been left as found.\n\nPage 110 - but on its crest rested the ark \u03ba\u03b9\u03b2\u03c9\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2 when the rain\nabated. ... The last letter is actually a \u2018z\u2019 with which Greek words\ndo not end; but, since the propensity in this text is to use stigma in\nplace of final sigma, it can perhaps be understood as \u2018s\u2019.\n\nPage 124 - Footnote 254: Suidas, Lexic. s. v. \u03a3\u03af\u03b2\u03c5\u03bb\u03bb\u03b1. ... In the\ntext, the Greek is rendered as \u03a3\u03b9\u03b2\u03bd\u03bb\u03bb\u03b1, which is a typo for Sibylla.\nThis was corrected.\n\nPage 209 - Footnote 350: Michael Glycas, \u0392\u1f76\u03b2\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c7\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd\u03b9\u03ba\u03b7 ... In the\noriginal text biblos is shown with grave, which is incorrect. However,\nthis has been rendered as shown in the text, without change.\n\nPage 346 - having in the corner the word \u05d8\u05f4\u05d9\u05e8, and in the middle \u05d0\u05e0\u05f4\u05dc\u05d0\n... The \u2018gershayim\u2019 mark, shown as double quote, indicates that these\nare acronyms rather than words. The \u2018apostrophe\u2019 is a glottal stop\nletter, which is not available in English.\n\nPage 346 \u2013 Illustration (Shield of David) ... The Illustration lacks the\nacronym marks. In the corners the letters agree with the text; in the\ncenter there is disagreement in the 2nd letter: 'YL\u2019.","title":"Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets: And Other Old Testament Characters from Various Sources","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":149978}