Book 1

1. THE BEGINNING OF THE FIRST BOOK, STARTING FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. God is a Nature that lacks nothing, sufficient unto Himself for glory and for knowledge, neither needing glory from others nor comprehensible by another—unless one were to say that what is comprehensible about Him is His infinity and His incomprehensibility. And when I say God I mean Father and Son and Holy Spirit, which is the Godhead, according to the great father and theologian Gregory. The Divine, being thus, first gives substance to the angelic powers and the heavenly ministers and singers of the splendor above—not as needing them, but so that He might not be moved by the contemplation of Himself alone, but that the good might be poured out and make its way, and the benefaction extend to more; for this was the mark of the highest goodness. Then He also brings into being this material and visible world. And in the beginning He made the heaven and the earth. And while the earth was hidden in invisibility, since there was also darkness, and water lay upon its surface, God brought forth the light. And He separated the light and the darkness, and the light He called day, and the darkness He named night; to the beginning of the latter He gave the name evening, and to the first shining of the day the name morning. And there was evening, and there was morning, one day. Now I know that it is written in the Lesser Genesis that on the first day the heavenly powers too were given substance before the rest by the Maker of all things; but since this Lesser Genesis is not numbered among the books of Hebrew wisdom approved by the divine fathers, I reckon nothing of what is written in it to be certain, nor do I assent to its account. Then He established the firmament, stretching it out in the midst of the waters, so that the waters above it were held off, while those below were poured around the earth. It was called the firmament because its body is solid and does not have a thin or rarefied nature like the waters out of which it took its composition; and this was also named heaven. These things came to pass on the second day. On the third, God commanded the water that covered the whole face of the earth to be gathered together, and the dry land to appear. And the word became deed, and deep hollows came to be and received the waters. And the dry land He named earth, and the gatherings of the waters He named seas. On this same day plants and seeds were sent up from the earth; for it was needful that the earth, being unadorned, should be adorned with grasses and the countless growing things and the flowers and fruits of every kind and the graces of the trees. The fourth day had the coming-to-be of the luminaries, the sun and the moon and the rest of the stars. With these the Maker made the heaven resplendent, and He placed in these luminaries the light that had been brought forth on the first day, ordaining for them their motions and risings and courses and settings, so that through them the region of the earth might be lit and time might be numbered by their risings and settings, and so that they might furnish signs through these to those who attend most rightly to their shinings—and not to those who scrutinize them too curiously, or who, as one might say (to put it exactly), foolishly imagine that all our affairs are carried along together with the motion of the heavenly bodies. On the fifth of the days, again, when God commanded, the waters sent up the creeping things of living souls and the birds; of which some dwell in the waters and swim in them, while the birds cleave the air, creeping, as it were, aloft through it. On the sixth, the earth was commanded to bring forth the living soul—four-footed beasts and creeping things and wild animals—and according to the divine command all of these were brought forth. Now Scripture states that the earth was commanded to make the bringing-forth of the living soul, so that in this way it might show the difference of the soul of man from it. For the soul of the other living creatures grew up from the earth according to the command, and being earthy might reasonably be reckoned also perishable, since elsewhere too the Scripture says, "the soul of every beast is its

2. blood," and blood is in every way perishable. But the soul of man the earth did not send up; rather, the Divine put it into Adam as an in-breathing; and for this reason it is believed to be something divine and immortal.

The sixth of the days had also the man, fashioned by the hand of God. For the supreme Artist, having first established all things and brought forth the world in order and rhythm—wherefore it is also named "cosmos"—and having prepared it beforehand as a palace for the reception of a king, then brings forth the man himself, as a kind of king over the things on earth, ruled from above; and Him He did not establish by a mere command, but fashioned with His hands, making his creation not like that of the others, but distinct and incomparable. For all the rest were brought forth by a word, but man was deemed worthy of God's own handiwork. For "having taken dust from the earth," the book of Genesis says, "God formed the man, and breathed into him a living soul," through which man is also said to have come to be in the image of God. For certain of the things that belong essentially to the divine Nature are imaged in the soul of man—not present in it by nature, but by grace. For by nature the Divine is invisible and immortal, incomprehensible and incorruptible; and these belong to the soul too by grace, not by nature, for neither is its nature and substance comprehensible nor indeed visible, and it is incorruptible and immortal. And other distinguishing marks of the divine Nature have been observed in the soul by grace. The one fashioned He named Adam, which in the Hebrew tongue means "red," as Josephus says, because he had been fashioned out of red earth; for such is the virgin earth. Having thus brought forth the world in six days, on the seventh He rested; wherefore among the Hebrews the seventh of the days is held to be a day without work, whence it is also called the Sabbath; and "Sabbath" in the tongue of the Hebrews means "rest."

And God placed Adam in the paradise that He Himself had planted, where there was the tree of life and the tree of knowledge—or, according to Josephus, of understanding. And He commanded him to enjoy the rest, but to abstain from the tree of knowledge, and He foretold that death would be the penalty of transgression. The paradise is watered by a river, and from there this river goes forth, divided into four. The name of the one is Pishon, which means "multitude"; among the Greeks this is named the Ganges, which traverses India and empties into the sea. The second is called Gihon; the name signifies the one that empties from the east, which Josephus says the Greeks call the Nile. After this is the Tigris, which the same writer says is also called Diglath, the name conveying what is sharp together with narrowness. The remaining one is the Euphrates, that is, Phora—either "flower" or "dispersion." And both of these flow into the Red Sea. And God presented all the animals to Adam, who set a name upon each kind of them. And God created the woman, taking one of the ribs of Adam while he slept, and brought her to him. And he recognized her as having come from himself, and named her woman; for among the Hebrews woman is called "Eve," and she had been named Eve. There was, then, a blessed way of life for the two of them in paradise, since they were naked in their simplicity and lived an artless life. But they are envied by the serpent, or rather by the intelligible dragon. And the serpent approaches the woman and counsels her to taste of the plant of understanding. (Josephus says that at that time all the animals spoke the same language.) And she is persuaded, and being pleased with the eating, she persuades her husband too to share in the fruit. And they knew themselves to be naked, and out of fig leaves they made themselves girdles, and Adam and the woman hid themselves from God because of their nakedness. And God asked the reason, and Adam put forward his nakedness and fastened the blame upon the woman; and she said she had been deceived by the serpent. And God, having first cursed the serpent and deprived it of feet and taken away its voice (according to Josephus), and commanded it to crawl upon the ground, and declared it an enemy to the seed of those who had been deceived, turns to the woman, and makes her subject to her husband, and lays upon her the pangs of childbearing. Then He brings Adam too under a penalty; and this was his being turned back toward the earth from which he was taken, and the eating of his bread in sweat, and the earth's sending up thorns and thistles for him. And He removes them from paradise, clothing them in garments of skin—perhaps the coarser, mortal, and resistant flesh. From this comes our wretched and painful life, and our proneness to slip into evil.

3. Children, then, are born to them, of whom Cain was the first—the name means "possession," because they had gained possession of a man—and Abel was the second; the name signifies "mourning," for through him mourning was to come upon them. And Abel was a herdsman of a flock and gave heed to virtue, while Cain tilled the earth and was utterly wicked. When it seemed good to them to bring firstfruits from their own labors to God, Abel offered the better of the firstborn of his beasts, while Cain offered whatever came to hand of the fruits of the earth. And God gave heed to the gifts of Abel, but to the offering of Cain He did not give heed. And he, envying because of the preference, kills his brother, and becomes accursed before God, and is condemned to groan and to tremble. And being cast out from the presence of God, he dwelt in the land of Nod, where he also begot children. This man devised measures and weights and was the first to fix boundaries of land, having proved himself a guide to wickedness. And he built a city after the name of his firstborn son, Enoch. The son of Enoch was Gaidad, and his child was Maviael, whose son was Methuselah, whose son was Lamech. This man, having taken to himself two wives, who were named Adah and Zillah, had from both of them seventy-seven children; of whom Jabal was a herdsman of cattle and loved the keeping of sheep, while Jubal devised music and contrived the lyre and the psaltery, and Tubal, born of Zillah, was a smith, that is, a worker of iron and bronze. And to Adam, after the death of Abel, when he was two hundred and thirty years old, another son was born, whom he called Seth. And Adam died, having lived nine hundred and thirty years. And Seth, when he was two hundred and five years old, begot Enos, who first hoped to call upon the name of the Lord God—that is, to address the Lord as God. And Seth, having lived in all nine hundred and twelve years, and having left sons and daughters, departed. He pursued virtue and left behind his descendants as imitators of it; and they understood the wisdom concerning the heavenly bodies, and they inscribed their discoveries upon two pillars, the one made of stones and the other of brick, so that they might be preserved for those who came after; for Adam had foretold that there would be a destruction of all things by fire and by water. And from Enos was born Kenan, and other sons and daughters, and he died, having lived nine hundred and five years. And from Kenan there sprang Mahalalel and other children, and he died, having lived a count of nine hundred and ten years. The son of Mahalalel was Jared, and others, who ended his life at eight hundred and ninety-five years. Jared was the father of Enoch and of other children after him, and he died, having lived nine hundred and sixty-two years. The son of Enoch was Methuselah, and others. And Enoch pleased the Lord and was translated and was not found, having been three hundred and sixty-five years old. The son of Methuselah was Lamech, and others, and he dies, having lived nine hundred and sixty-nine years. And Noah was born to Lamech, and Lamech died, having lived seven hundred and

4. seven and fifty-three years. And to Noah three sons were born: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And when the sons of God saw the daughters of men, they took to themselves wives. By "sons of God" Scripture means the descendants of Seth, as pursuing virtue, just as it also calls the virtuous "sons of the Most High"; and by "daughters of men" it means those descended from the offspring of Cain. But Josephus says that angels took the daughters of men, having so named them, I suppose, as those well pleasing to God and following their manner of life. But men, being multiplied, inclined toward evil; and to them were born children, insolent and reckless through their confidence in their strength. With these the Divine was angered, and cut short their length of life, limiting the life of men to a hundred and twenty years.

But Noah found grace before God. Therefore, when the dry land was changed into sea through a rainfall of many days and great violence, all the human race perished, but Noah alone was saved by the providence of God in a wooden chest, which he had built four-square, with a length of three hundred cubits, a breadth of fifty, and a depth of thirty. Into it he himself and his sons embarked, and the mother and their wives, having placed within it seeds of every kind and animals of every kind for the preservation of their species—two of the unclean, but seven of each kind of the clean. Now Noah was the tenth counting from Adam, and after one thousand six hundred and fifty-six years the flood was brought upon the earth, for forty days a violent rain pouring down upon the earth, so that the water rose fifteen cubits above the highest of the mountains. And when the rain had ceased and the water was diminishing, after a hundred and fifty days the chest ran aground on a certain mountain of Armenia in the seventh month. At that time Noah, having opened it, sends forth a raven; and it did not return. And after some days he let go a dove, which again came back. And when seven days had passed, he let it go again, and it came back bearing a sprig of olive. And from this he knew that the water had failed from the earth. And Noah went out, and his wife and his sons with their wives, and the animals that were with them in the ark, and he sacrificed to God. Josephus says that the place in Armenia is called Apobaterion ("the place of disembarking"), and that remains of the chest are shown there. And he says that many of those who wrote the histories of the barbarian peoples make mention of the flood and of the ark—Berosus the Chaldaean, and Hieronymus the Egyptian, who wrote the antiquities of Phoenicia, and Mnaseas of Damascus. And God promised no longer to bring such a calamity upon the earth. And He commanded them to use the animals for food, save only that they should not eat flesh with the blood of the soul in it, and that they should keep from the murder of men. And as a sign that He would no longer flood the earth with rain He set the bow in the cloud, signifying the rainbow by "the bow." And Noah, having lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood, dies, having been nine hundred and fifty years old. These things have been said by Josephus concerning the long life of those men of that time. Let no one, then, judging by present life and the brevity of years, suppose the things recorded about the ancients to be false. For being dear to God and made by God Himself, and because their nourishment was better suited for a longer span, they reasonably lived so great a number of years; and then, too, on account of the usefulness of the things they devised, astronomy and geometry, which they could not have understood and stated with certainty had they not lived six hundred years; for it is in so many years that the Great Year is fulfilled.

5. The sons of Noah—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—settled from the mountains into the plains. And Noah, having planted a vineyard, drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered. And Ham, seeing the nakedness of his father, told his brothers, as though in mockery of his father. But they, putting the garment upon their backs, covered their father's nakedness, going backwards and not looking upon their father. Therefore, when Noah had come to himself, he requited the others with blessings, but cursed Ham. And the plain in which the sons of Noah dwelt was called Shinar. And as many children were born to each and went forward into generations, their descendants were multiplied. Now a certain Nimrod, a grandson of Ham, who first appeared as a giant upon the earth, bold and mighty of hand, taking the lead over the rest, turned affairs toward tyranny, and proposed to them to build a tower, made of baked brick and bitumen. And God, seeing them thus gone mad, made them of different tongues and unable to understand one another's speech, through the division of languages. And the place in which they were building the tower is now called Babylon, because of the confusion concerning speech; for the Hebrews call confusion "Babel." And thereafter they are scattered by the diversity of tongues, so that every continent and island was filled with them.

When the descendants of Noah had been scattered, the nations were formed and named from them. Japheth, then, begot seven sons, who went forth from the mountains Taurus and Amanus—in Asia as far as the river Tanais, and in Europe as far as Gadeira; and from their names nations too were called: the Gomarites from Gomer, who are now called Galatians; Magog named those descended from him Magogites, and they are now called Scythians. From Javan the Ionians and all the Greeks were named, and from Madai the Madaeans, who are now called Medes. Tubal named those from him Thobelians; these are the Iberians. Meshech founded the race of the Meschenians; these are reckoned to be the Cappadocians. Tiras called those from him Tirasians, who were later renamed Thracians. And of the descendants of Japheth, those called Rheginians were brought forth from Ashkenaz, while the Riphathaeans—so they formerly called the Paphlagonians—are believed to draw their descent from Riphath; and the Thorgamaeans inscribe Thorgama as their ancestor, who were later renamed Phrygians. Elisha became the founder of the Elisaeans, who are the Aeolians. And Tarshish was the ancestor of the Tarshishaeans; for in old times the Cilicians were called Tarshishaeans, whence the most notable of the cities among them is called Tarsus, the theta having been changed into tau; for so it is written by Josephus concerning Tarsus. But others say that Perseus, having come to the country of the Cilicians and wishing to found a city, in showing the builders the site of the city struck the ground with the sole of his foot, and from this the city was named Tarsus. And Kittim settled the island Chettima; this is Cyprus, so called by the Greeks because of the goddess among them, Aphrodite, whom they call Cypris. The sons of Ham held the land from Syria and the mountains Amanus and Lebanon, and they seized whatever of it faced the sea, as far as the ocean. And from Cush came the Cushites; these are the Ethiopians. Mizraim became the forefather of the Mestraeans; so the Egyptians are called, and the country of Egypt is named Mestren. Phut settled Libya, and called the people of the country Phutians, and the country itself Phute. But its name was afterward changed to Libya, from Libyos a son of Mizraim. Canaan, settling the land later called Judaea, named it Canaanitis and those from it Canaanites. The sons of Mizraim held the land from Gaza to Egypt. Only the portion of Philistim preserved its name, which the Greeks have named Palestine. Sidonios, the firstborn son of Canaan, raised up a city in Phoenicia, calling it Sidon. Amathi founded the city Amathe, which the Macedonians renamed Epiphaneia after one of the Ptolemies called Epiphanes. To Shem the son of Noah five children are born, who dwell in Asia as far as the ocean toward India, beginning from the Euphrates. Elam, then, left the Elamites, who are the founders of the Persians; Asshur settles the city Nineveh and named those under him Assyrians; and Arphaxad was the forefather of the Chaldaeans; Aram named those later called Syrians Aramaeans after himself; and Lud brought forth the Ludians, who were afterward called Lydians. And of the sons of Aram, who were four, one settles Trachonitis and Damascus, which lies between Palestine and Coele-Syria, another settles Armenia, and the other the Bactrians. The son of Arphaxad was Kenan, and the son of Kenan was Salah. He was the father of Eber. And Eber begot Peleg, so called because of the division of the earth; for when the division of the men of that time took place, then too came the division of the earth; for the Hebrews name division "phalek." And the nation of the Hebrews was called from Eber in the beginning. The son of Peleg was Reu, and Reu was the father of Serug, who begot Nahor, and from Nahor came Terah, and from Terah Abraham.

6. The forefather of the race of the Hebrews and the patriarch of his line was this great Abraham, who was a Chaldaean by descent, the tenth from Noah, two hundred and ninety-two years having passed since God flooded the whole earth with rain. He, being of impious forebears, was the first to know one God, the Maker of all, having grasped the Maker from His works, and he said that to this God alone honor must be rendered. And when, on account of this, the Chaldaeans rose against him, he removed from there at the command of the God who had become known to him, and took possession of the land of Canaan. But when famine pressed upon Canaan, he migrates into Egypt. And being admired for his understanding, he hands down to the Egyptians, who were ignorant of these things, arithmetic and the matters concerning astronomy. And these are said to have passed from the Chaldaeans to Egypt and from there to the Greeks. When the Assyrians came against the Sodomites, among whom Lot also dwelt—being the nephew of Abraham and brother of Sarah—and many of the Sodomites had fallen and the rest had been taken captive, Lot too had been taken captive with the Sodomites. Learning this, Abraham, with three hundred and eighteen of his servants and three friends, pursued after the Assyrians, and saved both the Sodomites and Lot. And as he was returning from the pursuit, the king of the city Solyma received him, called Melchizedek—which, rendered into the language of the Greeks, means "righteous king"; for Solyma was then the name of the city Jerusalem; so ancient was the city, and by length of time it had obtained precedence over all. And God, having approved Abraham for his virtue, promised him a recompense for it; but when Abraham said that every benefaction seemed to him without grace, since he had no one to inherit it—for he was still without legitimate offspring, because Sarah's womb was barren—God promised to give him a child also, and that from him a great nation would come forth, equal in number to the stars; and He commanded that he himself and the males under him should be circumcised, so that his race might be unmixed with the other nations; and they were circumcised. There is born, then, to Abraham, when he was a hundred years old, a child from Sarah, whom God ordered to be named Isaac; the name means "laughter," either because it was a cause of smiling to Sarah that she should bear a child, when God had so declared, on account of the unlikelihood of the promise, since she was past the prime of age and did not expect to bear—for she happened to be ninety years old when she bore Isaac—or because the child became to its parents a cause of laughter, that is, of gladness and joy. And the father circumcised this child on the eighth day after his birth; whence it is the custom among the Jews too to be circumcised in this way. But the Arabs are accustomed to circumcise their children after the thirteenth year, because Ishmael their forefather was circumcised at this age; for he was thirteen years old when God commanded the circumcision to Abraham. And this name means "God-heard," since God hearkened to the supplication of Abraham and gave him a child. And he begot him from a maidservant whom Sarah laid beside him. For being herself at that time without offspring, she asked her husband to have intercourse with her own maidservant, named Hagar, an Egyptian by race; and when she had borne Ishmael, Sarah made the child her own. But when she had borne Isaac, she condemned Hagar with her son to flight, out of jealousy. When Isaac had come to manhood—according to the Hebrew Josephus, who says that Isaac was then twenty-five years old—God brings a test upon Abraham, and calling him He commands him to offer his son as a sacrifice, and to lead his only-begotten, his beloved, to one of the mountains and offer him as a whole burnt offering. And Abraham did not refuse, but taking his child and leading him up to the mountain appointed to him, he shares with him the divine oracle, and exhorts him to bear the consecration nobly, at God's command. And he is persuaded and willingly offers himself for the consecration, saying that it was not right to resist the will of God and his father. So these things are recorded by Josephus. Then Abraham is commanded to spare his son, and a ram is given in his stead of its own accord for the whole burnt offering. After this Sarah dies, being a hundred and twenty-seven years old, and Abraham took another wife, called Keturah, from whom six sons are born to him. And to Isaac, when he was about forty years old, his father betroths Rebekah from Mesopotamia, the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, Abraham's brother. Then Abraham dies, having lived a hundred and seventy-five years. And Isaac, having married Rebekah, begets twin children from her; of whom upon the elder thick hair grew over the whole body, whence he was called Esau, on account of the hairiness; while the younger held with his hand the heel of his brother, having sprung forth before him from the mother's womb, wherefore he was named Jacob; and the name means "supplanter" among the Hebrews.

7. After these things Isaac grows old and is blinded in his eyes. And he summons Esau—for he was attached to him because of the rights of the firstborn—and bids him to hunt and to prepare a meal for him, "so that," he says, "having eaten, I may bless you before I die." And Esau went out to the hunt; but Rebekah, loving Jacob more, called him too and told him what his father had commanded Esau, and urged him to hasten to the flock and bring her two tender kids, that from these she might prepare for the old man the kind of dish she knew he loved, and that having eaten he might bless him. And he does according to his mother's commands. And when the dishes were already prepared, she wraps the arms of the boy with the skins of the kids, and gives him the meal to take to his father. But Isaac, perceiving by the voice that the one approaching was Jacob, summons him very near and feels his hands. And since God had in any case judged Esau unworthy of the blessing, it seemed to Isaac that his firstborn stood before him—he was perhaps deceived by the thickness of the hair—and having eaten he blessed Jacob. And Esau too returned and brought a meal to his father and asked for the blessing. But he understood the trick and said, "Your brother came and took your blessing." And when he lamented and demanded to be blessed—since there was not, he said, a single blessing left with him—Isaac, moved to compassion, set out to bless him; but because it did not seem to the divine Spirit that prompted him that Esau should obtain a blessing, since he was not worthy of it, the words of Isaac were shaped for him into a curse instead of a blessing. On account of these things Esau was hostile toward his brother. And Jacob, fearing his brother, departs into Mesopotamia by his mother's counsel. And as he was going, he is deemed worthy in his sleep of the famous vision of the ladder, of which the one end was set upon the earth and the other upon heaven, and he is initiated into things to come by the Higher Power, and the place in which he saw the vision he called Bethel; which means "divine hearth" among the Greeks. And having come to Haran, he was brought to Laban, the brother of his mother Rebekah, and obtained hospitality from him and is entrusted with the care of the flocks. Now Laban had two daughters, of whom the elder was called Leah and the other Rachel; and Jacob was stirred to love of the younger, who was comely in form beyond her sister, and he brings words to Laban concerning her. And he agrees to give Rachel in marriage to Jacob, if he will serve him for seven years. The lover consents to this; the time passes; the father-in-law prepares the marriage; but by night he lays the elder of his daughters beside Jacob. And learning by day that he had been deceived, he charges his father-in-law with wrongdoing. But he promised Rachel to him as well, after the service of another seven years. Jacob is persuaded again to serve, being enslaved by love, and after another seven years he is also wedded to Rachel. Now to Leah there were children by Jacob. And she calls the firstborn Reuben, because he came to her by the mercy of God; for she was grieved that her sister was beloved by her husband, and she expected rather to become more honored if she should conceive in her womb. And the second she names Simeon; this means that God became a hearer to her. And after him Levi is born; the name means "confirmer." After whom Judah is born to her; the name signifies "thanksgiving." But Rachel had no child, and fearing that on account of her childlessness she should be esteemed less, she asks her husband to go in to her maidservant. And he is persuaded and goes in to Bilhah, and Bilhah bears a child from Jacob, and the child was called Dan; the Greeks would say "God-judged." And from the same maid again is born Naphtali, "resourceful," as it were, because she contrived in rivalry against her sister's good fortune in children. At these things Leah is jealous, and she too lays her own maidservant Zilpah beside Jacob. And she too bore a son, Gad; one might call him "the chance-born." And after him she bears another, who was Asher; he might be called "the blessing-bringer," as having become a cause of good repute and felicitation to Leah on account of her many children. And when Reuben, the son of Leah, had brought mandrake apples, Rachel asked her to share some of them with her, and offered her sister in exchange the bed of Jacob on that night; for that night had been allotted to Rachel. And on account of this Jacob is wedded to Leah, and the woman bears yet two more children, Issachar—the name signifies "the one born from hire"—and Zebulun, which means "the one pledged by goodwill toward her"—and a daughter called Dinah. And to Rachel too a son, Joseph, is born; the name signifies the addition of someone to come.

8. Now for twenty years Jacob shepherded for his father-in-law; then, wishing to withdraw, he was not permitted. Therefore he fled secretly with his wives, together with the maidservants and the children, taking along his possessions and the flocks that had been allotted to him as wages for shepherding. And Rachel also carried off the idols of her father—not as honoring them, but that she might have these as a refuge, if her father, pursuing them, should overtake them. And when Laban overtook them on the seventh day, God commanded him in a dream to make a treaty with Jacob. By day there are words between the two, and when Jacob had shown that he did no wrong, Laban charged him concerning the ancestral gods. But he, conscious of nothing concerning them, allowed him to search. And he searched. But Rachel had placed the idols in the saddle of the camel that bore her, and she sat upon it, saying that the flow of her monthly periods was troubling her. And Laban, thinking that his daughter would never approach his gods with such an affliction, passed her by. And he turned back; but Jacob, fearing his brother, sends ahead a message declaring to him his return, and dispatches gifts to him. And when night came on, meeting with a phantom he wrestled with it and seemed to prevail. And perceiving that it was an angel of God, he begged it to tell him what fortune he would have; and it said that the prevailing over a divine angel must be deemed a sign of great good things, and bade him be called Israel. This name some interpret as "a mind seeing God," but Josephus says it signifies "one who withstood a divine angel." And Jacob calls the place Peniel, that is, "the face of God." And since a pain arose in him during the wrestling with the angel, about the broad sinew, he renounced the eating of it, and on his account it is forbidden also to all his race. When Esau met his brother, they came together and embraced. Then Esau departed, and Jacob came to Shechem. And while the Shechemites were keeping a festival, his daughter Dinah went into the city to see the festival. So Shechem, the son of the king of the city, beholding her, defiled her by violence. Then his father begged Jacob to give Dinah in marriage to Shechem; but he would not consent. And Simeon and Levi, the brothers of the girl by the same mother, while those in the city were feasting on account of the festival and were heavy-headed, going in by night, slew every male of full age, and the king and his son. So Josephus says. But the book of Genesis records these things more credibly. For it says that, when Hamor the father of Shechem asked that Dinah be married to his son, Simeon and Levi said, "If all the males in the city should be circumcised, we will give our sister to your son," and that they accepted the proposal and were all circumcised. And on the third day after the circumcision, while those who had been circumcised were in a bad state and in pain from the inflammation, they fell upon them and slew them all, without Jacob's knowledge. And when he was angry at these things, God bade him take courage. And Jacob, having come to Bethel, where he had seen the dream, sacrificed. And going on, he buries Rachel, who had died in childbirth, at Ephratha. And the child born from her he called Benjamin, on account of the pain that befell its mother at his birth. And coming to Hebron, a city of the Canaanites, he found his father Isaac still living, but Rebekah had died beforehand. And after a little while Isaac too dies, and is buried with his wife in the ancestral tomb, having lived a hundred and eighty-five years. Now Esau ruled over Idumaea, having called the country after himself. For he was called Edom, because, returning once from the hunt famished, and finding his brother having prepared lentils for himself as food, he asked him to give him some; but Jacob compelled him to sell him his birthright in exchange for the lentils. And Esau yields it to him with oaths on account of the famine; whence he was called Edom, on account of the yellowness of the lentils; for they were exceedingly of such a color. And among the Hebrews "Edom" means "red."

9. Now Jacob loved Joseph, the son of Rachel, more than the other children, both for the goodliness of his body and for the virtue of his soul. And indeed his father's affection, and the dreams that he saw, stirred his brothers to envy of him. Of the dreams the one was of this kind: in the season of summer he seemed, while reaping with his brothers, to be binding sheaves and setting them up, and his own remained at rest, while those of his brothers ran up and did obeisance to his. The other was this: the sun and the moon and the rest of the stars seemed to him to do obeisance to him. When he had related these visions to his father, in the presence of his brothers, he asked to learn their meaning. And he proclaimed good fortune to the child, and that a time would come in which he would be honored and venerated by his parents and his brothers. These things grieved the brothers of Joseph, and they looked askance at the youth. And while the sons of Jacob were grazing the flocks at Shechem, the father sends Joseph to look after them. But they, seeing him, set out to kill him. Reuben, however, counseled them not to become the slayers of their brother with their own hands, but to throw him into a pit nearby, that he might die there, and so the evil would be more moderate. And when the young men assented to the proposal, Reuben, taking the youth, gently let him down into the pit. But Judah, seeing Arab merchants, counseled his brothers to sell Joseph to them. And when this seemed good to them, they sell him to the merchants for twenty minae, being seventeen years old. And Reuben, coming to the pit by night, that he might bring up Joseph and save him without his brothers' knowledge, when he did not find him, in his grief reproached his brothers. But when they told what had been done, he ceases from his grief. And having stained the boy's tunic with the blood of a he-goat, they came to their father and said that they had neither seen Joseph nor known how he had perished, but had found this tunic bloodied and torn. And Jacob sat mourning for the youth, having put on sackcloth. Now Joseph was bought from the merchants by Potiphar, an Egyptian, the chief of the cooks of King Pharaoh, and he held him in honor. But when the wife of his master, on account of his comeliness and his adroitness, was disposed amorously toward him and brought words concerning intercourse, he put aside her demand. And she, sorely besieged by love, brought a second attempt, and despairing of persuasion she wished to use force. And when the young man, leaving his garment behind, leapt out, she sat downcast and confounded. And when her husband came, she accused Joseph and displayed the garment, as though he had left it when he was attempting to use force. And Potiphar casts Joseph into the prison of evildoers, in which the cupbearer of Pharaoh too was shut up in anger, and the chief baker. Having become familiar with these men, he was asked to tell them the meaning of their dreams. For the cupbearer thought he saw a vine, from which three branches grew, on which hung great and ripe clusters, and that he pressed these into a cup and brought it to Pharaoh, and that he received it. Joseph interpreted that the dream signified good things for him; for within the three days following he would be restored to his former office. And he asked that, when he had prospered, he would remember him. But the chief baker said that he seemed to be carrying three baskets upon his head, two full of bread, the other of cooked food and various viands, and that these were snatched away by birds flying down upon them. And Joseph said to this man too that the three baskets signified three days, and that on the third day he was to be hanged and become food for flesh-eating birds. And it came to pass for both of them as Joseph had interpreted.

10. Then God sends upon Pharaoh two visions of dreams, and the meanings of both. But he remembered the visions and forgot the interpretations. So he summons together the wise men of the Egyptians and reports to them the dreams and demands the meaning; and when they were at a loss, he was angry. And the cupbearer, if not before, yet then came to remember Joseph, and tells Pharaoh about him. So he is led in at once. And Pharaoh says, "Tell me, young man, the interpretation of the dreams that I have seen. I thought that seven well-fed oxen, coming up out of the river, went toward the marsh; and that seven others, lean and wasted with hunger, coming out of the marsh, met these, and that the first and fat ones were devoured by the second, and that they remained still lean as before. And again I see seven ears of grain growing from a single root, flourishing and bowed by the weight of the fruit. And near them I seemed to see an equal number of ears, feeble from lack of dew and unpleasant to the sight, which consumed those that were fruitful and fair." And Joseph says, "Although the dreams are twofold, O king, they have one meaning of things to come. For the oxen, an animal that labors at the plow, devoured by the worse; and the flourishing ears wasted away by the feeble—these announce a famine for so many years upon your country, in an equal number of years previously flourishing in fruits, so that the abundance of these will be consumed by what comes after. But if you store up the goods of the former prosperity for the years of barrenness, you will make the misfortune imperceptible to the Egyptians." And Pharaoh, struck with amazement at Joseph's wisdom on account of the interpretation and the counsel, said, "You yourself shall be the judge and counselor and steward of the things resolved upon." And he gave him his authority, so that he used Pharaoh's seal and clothed himself in purple and rode upon a chariot. Joseph was then thirty years old. And Pharaoh named him Psothomphanech; the name means "discoverer of hidden things." And he joined to him also a wife, called Asenath, the daughter of the chief of the priests in Heliopolis. From her children are born to him before the famine, of whom the elder was Manasseh—the name means "forgetting," because he found forgetfulness of his misfortunes—and the younger was Ephraim, which means "rendering back," because the freedom of his forefathers was rendered back to him. From there came the time of want. And the famine prevailed not only over Egypt, but also over the country in which Jacob dwelt. So he sends his sons into Egypt to buy grain, keeping only Benjamin with himself as the youngest. They, then, came to Joseph. And he, not recognized, recognized his brothers, and said that they had come as spies. But they told from where they came, and that they were of one father, still living, and that there was another younger brother with the father. And Joseph said that they would give him assurance of the truth, if they would bring the younger brother to him. So he gives them grain, and secretly placing the silver in the sack of each; but he kept Simeon to be a hostage for their return. The sons came back to Jacob bringing the grain, and reported what had happened, and the holding back of Simeon caused him grief, and he would not consent to let Benjamin be taken to Egypt. But when the grain had already been spent, since it was not otherwise possible for them to go to Egypt unless they brought Benjamin too, the father, yielding to necessity, gives him, and double the price of the grain, and gifts for Joseph. And when they came to Egypt, they brought him the gifts. But he, seeing Benjamin and being deeply moved, withdrew, that he might not become visible in his tears. Then he takes the brothers to a meal, and honored Benjamin with double portions, and bids the steward of the grain to give them grain and to put the price into the sacks, and into Benjamin's load to throw also a silver cup. When these things had been done, the brothers departed, taking Simeon. But horsemen surround them as they were leaving, charging them with the theft of the cup, and searching they found the cup by Benjamin's load. So the horsemen led Benjamin to Joseph, and his brothers, rending their robes, wept and followed along. And Joseph, having reproached them as ungrateful, set the rest free, but was content with the holding of Benjamin alone. And helplessness gripped them. But Judah, speaking and pleading much that was moving toward compassion, brought Joseph to a breaking of his feeling. And he, no longer able to feign anger, makes himself known to his brothers, and acknowledged his thanks to them as fellow-causes of what had been resolved by God concerning him. "Go, then," he says, "and declare these things to my father, and taking him and all the kindred, remove here; for there will be famine for five years more." Saying this, he embraces his brothers and honors them with gifts.

11. And they departed; and Jacob, learning about Joseph, set out at once to him, taking along all who were with him; and they were seventy-five. And when he was already near Egypt, Joseph meets him. And from joy he all but fainted. And when Pharaoh heard that Jacob and those with him had come to Egypt, he was glad, and when Jacob came to him he greeted him. And learning that those with him were shepherds, he granted them dwelling in Heliopolis. And as the famine grew worse, Joseph gave out the grain to the Egyptians for money. And when this failed, they bought it with their cattle, then they yielded up even their land, that they might be fed. And so, when Pharaoh had become master of all property except that of the priests—for to these their land remained—when the famine had now abated, Joseph, gathering the Egyptians each to his own city, gave them back the land and exhorted them to industry, paying the fifth of the fruits to Pharaoh. And Jacob, having passed seventeen years in Egypt, fell sick and departed, foretelling how those of his line were to dwell in Canaan. And to the rest of his sons he prayed for the gaining of good things; but of Joseph he recounted a eulogy, that he had not borne a grudge against his brothers, and he commanded his sons that they should reckon the children of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, as their own, dividing Canaan together with these. And when Joseph had presented his sons to Jacob to be blessed, he set the elder by the right hand, and the younger by the left. But he, placing his hands crosswise upon the heads of the children, assigned the right hand to the younger, and to the elder the left. And when Joseph said to his father that the laying on of hands ought not to be done thus, he was not persuaded to alter the arrangement of his hands. For it was not, as Joseph supposed, that he did not know what he was doing, harmed in his understanding by the depth of his old age; rather, as a prophet he was hinting at things to come, and prefigured the saving cross, and showed that the new people, that is, the people from the nations, would be reckoned at the right hand by God and preferred to the elder—I mean, that is, the Jewish people. And Jacob dies, having lived a hundred and forty-seven years. And Joseph, with Pharaoh's consent, goes to Hebron and buries his father lavishly. And when his brothers feared to return with him, lest, remembering the wrong, he should requite them, he persuaded them to suspect nothing. And he too dies, having lived a hundred and ten years, having commanded that, when those of his line should migrate from Egypt, they should carry up his bones also and bring them into Canaan.

12. But the Egyptians, seeing the Israelites flourishing and having forgotten Joseph, devised various afflictions against them. For they ordered them to cut the river into very many channels, and to build walls for the cities and to raise up embankments, that by these the river might be kept from forming a lake, and to set up pyramids; and with these labors they wore down the Hebrews. For a long time, then, they passed in these very hardships. Then one of the sacred scribes announces to Pharaoh that there would be born at that time among the Israelites one who, when grown, would humble the Egyptians but exalt his own kindred. So Pharaoh, taking fright, commands that every male born to the Hebrews be destroyed by being cast into the river, and that the parents of children who did not do this be killed with their whole household, and that the Egyptian midwives watch over the childbirths of the Hebrew women. And while they were in these straits, a certain man of noble birth was grievously distressed at these things, for his wife was with child, and he prayed to God. And God commanded him in his sleep not to despair. "For the child," He said, "whom the Egyptians suspect will be yours, and will be saved and reared, escaping the notice of those who plot, and will release his kinsmen from the slavery among the Egyptians, and will obtain everlasting remembrance. And his brother will serve me as priest, with his descendants, forever." So his wife bears him a male child, escaping the notice of the guards, and the babe is reared by its parents for three months. But fearing, they entrusted his safety to God, and contriving a kind of basket and smearing it round with bitumen, they put the babe in it and let it go down the river. And the child's sister, Mariamme, watched what would happen. Now while she was playing by the banks of the river, Thermouthis, the daughter of Pharaoh, sees the basket, and sending, she fetches it. And seeing the child, she loved it, both for its beauty and for its size. And Egyptian women are brought to suckle it; but it would not take their breast. And Mariamme, as if happening to be present, said, "O queen, if a Hebrew woman should be called, perhaps the babe will accept the breast of one of its own kind." And she said, "Call her." And she brought the mother, and Thermouthis entrusted the child's nursing to her for wages, and from what had happened she names it. For the Egyptians call water "mo," and those saved from water "yses"; so, putting together both words, she used them as the name of the babe. Now Moses was the seventh from Abraham; for he himself was the son of Amram, and Kohath was the father of Amram, and he was the son of Levi, and Levi was the son of Jacob, and Jacob was born to Isaac, and Isaac sprang from Abraham. When the child was three years old, both the height of his stature and the grace of his form became distinguished by a more divine charm, and his understanding grew far greater than his age. So Thermouthis, being without offspring of her own, adopts him and brings him to her father; and he, embracing the child to his breast, places upon him in affection the diadem. And the child, as if in childish play, throws it to the ground and trampled it with his feet. When the sacred scribe—who had foretold that one of the Hebrews would arise to humble the rule of the Egyptians—saw this, he cried out and said, "This is that child, by whose destruction you may take away the fear of the Egyptians." But Thermouthis forestalled him by snatching the child away, and God made Pharaoh sluggish toward the murder. And when Moses, after such a beginning, came to manhood, he became manifest to the Egyptians for his virtue. The Ethiopians, neighbors of Egypt, were ravaging their country, and the Egyptians make war upon them; and they were defeated, and the Ethiopians, despising them, wore down the whole of Egypt. And by a divine oracle Pharaoh asks his daughter for Moses, now come to manhood, that he might be their general against the Ethiopians. And she gives him, having put her father under oath to do him no harm. And Moses, entrusted with the war, leads the army against the enemy not by the customary road, but by an untrodden one, full of venomous reptiles; and there too he displayed his understanding. For having made baskets and filled them with ibises—which Egypt rears many and tame—he carried these along that road; and the ibises are enemies to these venomous creatures; and using them as champions, going before the army, against the venomous creatures, he came upon the Ethiopians, who had no forewarning, and conquers them and takes not a few of their cities. And they, driven together into Saba, a city that was the royal seat of Ethiopia—which Cambyses later named Meroe after his sister of the same name—were besieged; but the city was hard to besiege. And Tharbis, the daughter of the ruler of the Ethiopians, slipped into love of Moses and sends to him concerning marriage; and he consented, if she should hand over the city to him. The deed forestalled the words, and Moses celebrated the marriage, and led the Egyptians back to their own land. But they hated him even while they were being saved by him, and incited Pharaoh against him. And he, both persuaded by the sacred scribes and on account of the killing of the Egyptian who was scourging the Hebrew—as is contained in the book of Genesis, even if Josephus passed this over—set himself to the slaying of Moses. But Moses, though the roads were guarded, slipped away unnoticed through the wilderness, and goes to the city of Midian, and is received as a guest by the priest of the city, who, bearing two names, was called both Reuel and Jethro. And he gives his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage, and makes him a shepherd of his flocks.

13. Now while Moses was pasturing his flock toward Mount Sinai, he is deemed worthy of the vision of the bush, which fire burned but did not consume. Then he hears a voice from there, which commanded him not to come forward, since the place was holy, and foretold things to come, and ordered him to go to Egypt to free his kinsmen from their affliction there and to lead them out of Egypt, and commanded him to offer sacrifices in that place. These things Moses heard from God out of the fire. But he was at a loss how he should either persuade his own people or constrain Pharaoh to permit the departure. And God promised that He would accomplish these things most easily for him, and, as proof, Moses is commanded to throw his staff to the ground, and when he had thrown it, it became a serpent, then when he took hold of it again, it was a staff. And being commanded to put his right hand into his bosom, he drew it out white as chalk in color, then it was restored to its former appearance. And being bidden to take some of the water nearby and pour it on the ground, he sees what was poured out turned to blood. He was therefore exhorted to take courage at these signs and no longer to delay. Taking, then, his wife and the sons from her—Gershom, which means "into a foreign land," and Eleazar, which signifies that he had used the ancestral God as ally—he set out for Egypt. And as he drew near, his brother Aaron met him. So both come to Pharaoh, and stating the commands from God, they asked him not to act against the divine will. And when he scoffed, they showed the signs in deed, and the rod, when thrown, became a serpent. And when the Egyptian sorcerers had done the same and changed their own staffs into serpents, Moses throws his staff again to the ground, and being changed into a serpent, it devoured the staffs of the Egyptians, which appeared as serpents; then he takes it up again when it had fallen back into its own shape. And as Pharaoh hardened himself, the waters were changed into blood. Then frogs covered the whole land of Egypt. After these, gnats sprang up from the ground. Now the other portents the sorcerers of Pharaoh seemed to produce, but they were not able to conjure up gnats. So they said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God"; but he was still unyielding. And there came the dog-fly, and after it the destruction of the cattle. Then, when Moses scattered furnace-soot into the air, sores and blisters broke out both on the cattle and on the men; and again hail rained down, and after it came the locust, and after these darkness covered the Egyptians for three days, and last of all there was brought upon them the destruction of the firstborn. For as Pharaoh hardened himself, God commanded Moses to prepare a sacrifice for the fourteenth of the month—which among the Hebrews is called Nisan, among the Egyptians Pharmuthi, among the Macedonians Xanthikos, and among the Greeks April. And when the fourteenth came, all sacrificed and anointed the doorposts of their houses with the blood of the victim, and having dined, they burned what was left of the flesh. Whence from that time the Hebrews keep a festival at this season and sacrifice, calling the festival Pascha. And some say that "Pascha" means "passage," but Josephus says it means "passing over," because on that night God, passing over the Hebrews, sent upon the Egyptians the destruction of the firstborn. Whence the Egyptians, coming together, begged Pharaoh to release the Hebrews; and he ordered them to depart. And they went out. And the number of those migrating, of military age alone, was six hundred thousand. They went out on the fifteenth of the month Xanthikos by the moon, four hundred and thirty years after Abraham's coming into Canaan, and two hundred and fifteen years after Jacob's sojourn into Egypt. Moses was then in the eightieth year of his life, and Aaron exceeded him by three. And they carried along also the bones of Joseph, fulfilling the command of the man.

14. So they departed; but the Egyptians repented, and taking up arms they pursued. They had six hundred chariots and fifty thousand horsemen and two hundred thousand foot soldiers. The Hebrews were brought to despair, since their situation had become straitened, and they were about to stone Moses. But he exhorted them to follow him, and led them to the sea, and standing beside it and calling upon God, he strikes the sea with his staff; and it was driven back and left the ground bare for the Hebrews, and they crossed in haste. Seeing this, the Egyptians too, putting their cavalry in front, pursued. But when the Hebrews had already been brought safely to the land on the opposite side, the sea was poured over the Egyptians, when Moses with his rod struck the water again in the contrary direction and united its divided parts. So all the Egyptians in the waters perished. And the Hebrews were singing hymns and rejoicing, and Moses composed a song to God, set in a hexameter measure, as Josephus says. And the arms of the Egyptians, together with their bodies cast up out of the sea by the wind, the Hebrews took and armed themselves with them. And Moses led them to Mount Sinai, to sacrifice there the thank-offerings for their deliverance, as had been commanded him. But as they were being led there, the scarcity of provisions and the lack of water grieved them. And in this state they come to a place in which there was a well, whose water was undrinkable on account of its bitterness. And the name of the place the book of Exodus calls Marah, but Josephus records that it was called Mar by the Hebrews, saying that the Hebrews call the bitter "mar." And they murmured against their leader; but he, having first prayed to God, took a piece of wood and threw it into the well and sweetened the water. Josephus, however, seems not to believe that the sweetening of the water was a miracle, but, supposing it to have been sweetened naturally, says that Moses, having thrown the wood into the water, ordered them to draw the well dry, and they labored, and the water, exercised and cleansed by the continual drawings, was now drinkable. And he healed the lack of provisions, having prayed to God, by means of quails. For a multitude of quails flew down upon the camp of the Hebrews, which they caught and ate. And after these things God rained the manna upon them, in sweetness like honey, but in size like coriander seed, and called "manna" by them, as they were at a loss what this might be; for "man" also means a question in their language. So Josephus relates these things too. And he had commanded each to gather an assaron of it each day—the assaron is a measure—but if anyone gathered more, it was uneatable on the morrow, corrupted by worms and bitterness. And this was arranged so that, the strong gathering much, there might not be a shortage for the weak. And of this food they made use for forty years, as long as they were in the wilderness. Again, then, they came to a waterless place called Rephidim, and being thirsty they were stirred against Moses. But he, having prayed to God, is commanded to strike the rock with his rod, and he strikes it, from which at once gushed forth water, abundant and very clear. But the Amalekites advanced against the Hebrews, having summoned the neighboring peoples as allies. And Moses, having separated the warlike portion of the people from the rest, and set over them Joshua the son of Nun, and left a part of the army for the guarding of the water, himself withdrew to the mountain, and commanded Joshua to trust in God and to lead the army out against the enemy. So now the battle was joined; and as long as Moses held his hands aloft, the Hebrews handled the Amalekites badly, but whenever Moses let down his hands, wearied by their lifting up, then it came to pass that the Hebrews were worsted. So setting on either side his brother Aaron and Hur, the husband of his sister Miriam, he commanded them to hold up his hands. And thus the Hebrews, conquering the Amalekites, would have destroyed them all, had not night stopped them. And of the Hebrews not one died.

15. From there they went forward, and in the third month after the departure from Egypt they came to Mount Sinai, and Moses sacrificed there to God. There too Reuel his father-in-law met him; and seeing his son-in-law beset by a press of business, with all coming to him, he counseled him to entrust the examination of lawsuits to others, but himself to take thought for the greater affairs and for the safety of the people, and to appoint rulers over thousands by ten-thousands, then over thousands, and to set others over five hundreds, and besides these to make commanders of hundreds and of fifties, and to set those who should keep order over thirties and twenties and tens. When Reuel had given this counsel, Moses does according to his suggestion. Then, having commanded the people to encamp near Mount Sinai, he himself went up the mountain; and the people encamped, keeping themselves pure both in other purity and from intercourse with women for three days. And on the third day at dawn a cloud encircled the camp of the Hebrews, and there were fearful lightnings and a violence of winds, which struck the Hebrews with terror as they waited at their tents. But Moses appears, full of courage, and being seen he frees them from their fear and declares to them what God had commanded and what laws they should keep, and he brings the people, together with their wives and children, that they might hear God. And they heard a voice coming from on high. Then again he goes up to the mountain; and when he tarried there, the people gathered to Aaron, saying, "Make us gods; for as for this Moses, we do not know what has become of him." And Aaron, being pressed, ordered each to bring the golden earrings and the ornaments that their wives and daughters wore. And they brought them, and from these they made a molten calf and sacrificed to it. But Moses, coming down from the mountain and carrying in his hands the two tablets of the testimony, of stone, inscribed on both sides, when he drew near the camp, sees the calf, and in anger he shattered the tablets, and taking the calf he burned it and ground it fine and, throwing it into water, made the people drink. And he commanded the sons of Levi, and they went through the camp and killed many, so that those who fell were numbered up to three thousand. And Moses returned to the mountain, saying, "Lord, your people has sinned, and now, if you forgive them their sin, forgive it; but if not, blot me too out of your book." And the Lord said to him, "Go down, lead this people to the place of which I told you." And the Lord revealed to Moses, who had asked to see Him, His back parts. And he came down to the people again, carrying two tablets that had the ten words written on them, and the appearance of his face was glorified, and the people could not look steadily at him, and he put a veil about his face, and so he spoke with them. And he reported to them what God had commanded concerning sacrifices and purifications, and concerning unclean and clean animals, so that they should abstain from the one and be nourished by the other, and concerning unlawful unions, and whom the priests should take in marriage, and what kind the high priests, and concerning the Sabbath and the seventh year and the fiftieth, which they call the Jubilee; and that God had commanded a tabernacle to be made, into which He would come, brought along with them as they moved; and He showed him the measures of the tabernacle and the form according to which it should be constructed. And the people, rejoicing at these things, brought gold and silver and precious stones and bronze and wood and goat's hair and rams' skins and linen and wool. And he set as master-builders of the tabernacle the son of his sister Miriam, Bezalel, and Eliphaz.

16. When the tabernacle had now been made, Moses set it up. And the ark had been made of incorruptible wood, which gold covered on every side, in which they placed the two tablets that had the ten words inscribed on them. Of these the first says that there is one God and that He alone must be worshiped; the second, that one should make no image of any living thing nor worship it; the third, not to swear by God for any vain thing; the fourth, to observe the seventh days, resting from every work; the fifth, to honor parents; the sixth, to abstain from murder; the seventh, not to commit adultery; the eighth, not to steal; the ninth, not to bear false witness; the tenth, not to covet anything belonging to another. This ark, then, they bring into the innermost sanctuary. And in the holy place they set a table, and upon it twelve unleavened loaves, and a golden lampstand, and a censer of wood within, but covered with gold without. And before the tabernacle he set up an altar of wood, plated round with bronze scales, opposite which were placed bowls and mixing-vessels with incense-pans, and other utensils that had been prepared for the sacred service, all of gold. And robes are made for the priests, and indeed for the high priest as well. And God appointed Aaron as high priest. And Moses, gathering the multitude together, said, "Men, the work is finished, but God deems Aaron worthy of the honor of the priesthood." And Moses commanded each to bring in half a shekel, that there might be a fund for the needs concerning the tabernacle. The shekel is a Hebrew coin equal to four Attic drachmas. And the number of those contributing was six hundred and five thousand five hundred and fifty. And the contribution was made by those of the free men who had passed their twentieth year and were under the fiftieth. And the tabernacle was made in seven months. And God showed that the work had been done according to His purpose, being present in the tabernacle. And He revealed His presence thus. A mist came over the tabernacle alone, neither deep and dense and like the clouds, nor very thin and rare, so that sight could pass through it; and a pleasant dew flowed from it. And Moses sacrificed in the open court of the tabernacle for seven days, and on the eighth he proclaimed a festival to the people and commanded them to sacrifice. And they vied with one another. And when the sacred offerings were laid upon the altar, a fire was kindled of its own accord and consumed all that was upon the altar. But the elder of the four sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, having sacrificed contrary to what was ordained, were burned in the chest and the face, a fire being kindled of its own accord and consuming them; whose bodies, carried outside the camp, were buried. And he separated the tribe of Levi from the rest and consecrated it, and handed over to them the tabernacle and the sacred utensils, that, as the priests directed, they themselves might minister. After these things he resolved to number the people, and there were found, of those able to bear arms, six hundred and three thousand six hundred and fifty. These were those who had passed their twentieth year and reached the fiftieth. And in place of the tribe of Levi they reckoned among the chiefs of tribes the sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, according to the ordinance of their forefather Jacob. But the Levites, when numbered, were found to be twenty-three thousand eight hundred and eighty.

17. Then the multitude rose in revolt, blaming Moses because, having taken them away from a good land, he had made them wander in the wilderness. Leading them from there to the place called the Ravine, near the land of the Canaanites, he took one from each tribe and sent them to spy out both the strength of the Canaanites and the quality of the land. They, having traversed the land in forty days, returned, bringing fruits from that land, and praised the country as good, but frightened the multitude, saying that the taking of it was beyond their power, on account of the size of the rivers and the difficulty of the mountains and the strength of the cities. And the multitude again were angry with Moses, and thought to stone both him and Aaron and to return to Egypt. Only of the spies, Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb encouraged the people, asserting that nothing difficult would meet them. But Moses and Aaron supplicated God that He would stop the multitude from its folly. And the cloud was present in the tabernacle and signified the appearing of God. And Moses, taking courage, spoke to the multitude, and said that God was angry, but that He would not destroy them all nor blot out the race, yet would not give them Canaan, but would leave them in the wilderness for forty years, while to their children He would give the land. When Moses had said these things, the multitude was grieved. Then they wished to engage the Canaanites, though God forbade it; and attacking, they were defeated, and some fell, while others fled together into the camp. Then a sedition seized the multitude from such a cause as this. Korah, being of the tribe of Levi, and most conspicuous in lineage and wealth and most persuasive in speech, had envy toward Moses and cried out against the man as exercising a tyranny. "For on what ground," he said, "did he assign the priesthood to Aaron and his sons? If because he is of the tribe of Levi, I have a juster claim to obtain it, being of like lineage but superior in wealth and age. But if it ought to be assigned to another tribe, that of Reuben will be preferred by reason of seniority, and Dathan and Abiram will receive it." These things he said with malice, and there were arrayed with him two hundred and fifty of the leading men, and the multitude too had been stirred up. But Moses, standing in the midst, said, "To me, O Korah, both you and each of those arrayed with you seem worthy of honor; but God assigned the priesthood to Aaron, and now He Himself will again judge whom He wishes to be priest. At dawn, then, all of you who lay claim to the priesthood, come forward, each bringing a censer from his house, and fire and incense; and with you likewise let Aaron come forward. And when you offer incense before the people, whosesoever sacrifice God judges the more pleasing, he shall be your priest." The multitude approved this, and on the next day they came together to the assembly. And Moses, sending to Dathan and Abiram, commanded them to come; but they, not persuaded, threatened against Moses. And Moses, bidding the chief men follow him, went to their tents, and coming near, he raised his hands to heaven and cried with a loud voice, "Since I am suspected of acting wickedly, Master, come yourself as judge, and show that nothing happens of its own accord, but all is governed by your providence. And if it was at your command that I gave the priesthood to Aaron, may the earth gape open about Dathan and Abiram and their families, on the ground on which they stand; but if they speak the truth against me, may I fall into the very things I have called down upon them." This he said weeping. And the earth is shaken all at once, and, a harsh sound being broken forth, it sank in about their tents and carried them and their belongings down into the chasm, and so what had been divided came together again. At these things the people shuddered, and Moses calls those who were contending for the priesthood. And when two hundred and fifty men of the notable ones, and Aaron and Korah, had come together before the tabernacle and consecrated upon the censers what they brought, a great fire blazed forth, such as would be kindled at God's command, by which the two hundred and fifty and Korah were destroyed, so that not even their bodies were found; only Aaron was found unharmed. And Moses ordered the censers of those men to be set about the bronze altar, that they might be a reminder of what had happened to those who came after. And convening the assembly again, he told the chiefs of the tribes to come, bringing the names of the tribes inscribed upon staffs, the priesthood being for him on whose staff a sign should come from God. So the others bring them, and Aaron, having inscribed "Levite" upon his staff. And Moses set them down in the tabernacle of God. On the next day he brought them out. And the others remained just as they were, but the staff of Aaron had sprouted branches and fruit. And the fruit the book of Leviticus calls nuts, but Josephus almonds. So all were amazed, since God had three times appointed Aaron. And since the tribe of Levi was released from wars and military service, that they might not, through lack of necessities, neglect the service of the sanctuary, Moses commanded that when the Hebrews had acquired Canaan they should apportion to the Levites forty-eight cities and land about them, and pay them the tithe of the yearly fruits, both to them and to the priests; and he ordained that the people should furnish them with very many other things, the particulars of which he who inquires will find by opening the book of Leviticus.

18. Having ordained these things, Moses came to Idumaea with the army and asked to pass through it. But the king of the country came out to meet Moses with an armed force. And he proceeded through the wilderness, since God counseled him not to begin a battle. At that time too Mariamme, the sister of Moses, died, in the fortieth year after the departure from Egypt. And he led the people through the wilderness and through Arabia; there too Aaron died, having gone up to a high mountain and handed over the high-priestly robe to his son Eleazar, in the sight of the multitude, having lived a hundred and twenty-three years. And Moses, coming to the country of the Moabites and Amorites, asked passage for the army. But Sihon, the king of the country, prevented the Hebrews from crossing, and when God signified victory to Moses, who inquired, the Hebrews, taking up their full armor, advanced to battle. The Amorites are at once routed and all destroyed, and Sihon their king fell. And they took the cities and seized their land. And Og, the king of Galadene and Gaulanitis, attacks the Israelites, having come as ally to Sihon, who had already perished. So he himself dies in the battle and his army is destroyed, and the cities were taken and the inhabitants perished. From there Moses leads the force along the great plain and encamps opposite Jericho. This is a prosperous city, bearing palms and rich in balsam. And Balak, the king of the Moabites, summons the seer Balaam, that he might come and lay curses to the destruction of the Israelites. And he set out, but on the road, a divine angel having set upon him, the donkey on which Balaam rode, perceiving the divine spirit, would not go forward nor yield to the blows, but speaking in human voice by the divine will, called his master unjust for laying blows upon it and not understanding that it was hindered by God from serving the purpose to which he was hastening. And while he was troubled at the human voice, the angel appeared and said that it was he himself who was hindering the road for the beast; and though Balaam wished to turn back, he urged him to go further forward, and to say whatever should be inspired in him by God. And he comes to Balak, and being brought to a mountain, having offered seven bulls and as many rams as whole burnt offerings, when he saw a turning of events signified, not only did he not curse the Hebrews, but, divinely inspired, he blessed them and their whole race and praised them in song. And when Balak was vexed at this, Balaam said, "It does not rest with us, O king, to be silent or to speak about such things, but whenever the spirit of God takes hold of us, it sends forth through us such utterances as it wishes. But since I wish to gratify you, an altar must again be prepared, and victims." So he sacrifices again, and falling upon his face he foretold what sufferings would come upon kings and what upon cities. But Balak sends Balaam away dishonored. Then he sends the maidens against the Israelites, according to the counsel of Balaam, by whom the young men of the Hebrews were captivated and consorted with them, so that now the transgression spread through the whole army, the young men, out of love of the Midianite women, sacrificing to their gods and tasting unaccustomed foods. But Moses, leading the people to an assembly, said that the young men were doing things unworthy of themselves and of their fathers, and tried to set them right. But Zimri, who was the chief of the tribe of Simeon, and dwelt with a Midianite woman and loved her madly, behaved insolently toward Moses, and swore that he would never leave the woman. And Phinehas, the son of the high priest Eleazar, in great anguish did not cease striking the Midianite woman and Zimri with the sword until he had killed both of them. And other young men too, who cared for virtue, imitating him, slew those of the young men who had transgressed with foreign women. So there perished men not fewer than fourteen thousand. From this Moses, provoked against the Midianites, sent out an army, appointing as its commander Phinehas. And when the battle was joined, their kings fall, being five, and a very great multitude. And the Hebrews plundered their country, and destroying the inhabitants together with the women, they left alive only the maidens, numbered at thirty-two thousand, whom Moses distributed among the priests and the Levites and the people. And being now an old man, he appointed as his successor Joshua the son of Nun, at God's command.

19. The tribes of Gad and Reuben and the half of Manasseh asked Moses to allot to them the land of the Amorites. But he called them cowards, men unwilling to share with their kinsmen in the battle against the Canaanites. They, however, replied that this was not so, but that, abounding in a multitude of cattle, they wished to leave these in that country, which was good for the feeding of four-footed beasts, so that they themselves might set out unencumbered with their kinsmen to the struggles. Moses approved this and allotted them the Amorite land on such terms. And when a certain man of the tribe of Manasseh had died, leaving only daughters, Moses, being asked whose his inheritance should be, answered, "If the maidens marry men of their own tribe, let them go with the inheritance to those men; but if they be betrothed to men of another tribe, let them leave the inheritance in their ancestral tribe." And so he ordained that each one's inheritance should remain within the tribes. And when forty years had now passed, less thirty days, since the Israelites had gone out of Egypt, Moses, having gathered the people, being a hundred and twenty years old, announced to them his own end. And having exhorted them much, and given laws in books and the ordering of their commonwealth, and commanded them to make war against the Amalekites, and required of them an oath concerning the keeping of the laws, and spurred on the leader Joshua to make war against the Canaanites, he said, "Behold, I go to our forefathers; for God has shown me this day of my coming to them." And the multitude wept, and their lamentation was inconsolable and so great that even Moses himself was overcome by the emotion and shed tears. And as he went to where he was to vanish from sight, all followed, beating their breasts. But he, signaling with his hand to those at a distance, bade them remain, and only the council of elders escorted him, and the high priest Eleazar and the general Joshua, until he came to the mountain Nebo, to the peak of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho; from there the Lord showed him the land that the sons of Israel were to inherit, saying to him, "See this with your eyes, but into it you shall not enter." And coming to this mountain, which was high, he sent away the council of elders, but while speaking with Eleazar and Joshua, a cloud suddenly enfolded him and he became invisible. And they have written in the sacred books that he died, lest, on account of the surpassing greatness of his virtue, some should dare to say that he had been made a god. He lived in all a hundred and twenty years, of which he ruled the third part, less one month. And they mourned him for thirty days. These things Josephus says; but the book of Deuteronomy contains, near its end, thus, word for word: "And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died, and no one knows his end to this day." Now when the mourning had abated, Joshua sends spies to Jericho, and having summoned the chiefs of the tribes of Reuben and Gad and Manasseh, he reminded them of their agreements with Moses. And with fifty thousand foot soldiers following him, he advanced to the Jordan. And the spies sent to Jericho, coming there, observed the whole city, but being made known to the king of the country, they are reported; and he at once commanded that they be seized. But when the woman with whom they had taken refuge, called Rahab, learned of the approach of those seeking the men, she hid the spies, having placed bundles of flax over them, and to those seeking she said that those unknown men had dined with her before sunset and had departed. And so, the woman having deceived them, they set out, each in a different direction, pursuing the men. But Rahab bade the men go to their own people and remember her and pay her a recompense when they had become masters of the land of the Canaanites. And they acknowledged that they were grateful, and commanded that, when the city should be taken, she should shut up her possessions and her household in her lodging, and hang a scarlet cord before the doors, that the house might be recognized and preserved. And they were brought safely to their own people and made known what they had done. And though the Jordan was flowing in flood, Joshua thus brought the Hebrews across it. The priests went before, carrying the ark, then the Levites bearing the tabernacle, and the people followed these. And when the stream of the river was cut off as the priests first stepped in, all crossed over in confidence. And the priests stood in the midst until the multitude had crossed; then they too came out, letting the stream flow free. And ten stadia before Jericho

20. they encamp. And Joshua, having set up an altar from the stones that each of the chiefs of the tribes had taken up from the depth of the Jordan at his command, sacrificed upon it and kept the festival of the Passover. At that time too the manna had failed them, after they had used it for forty years; for now they had abundance from the country of all that they needed. And on the first day of the festival Joshua undertook the siege of Jericho, conducting it thus. The priests, carrying the ark, went round the wall, sounding seven horns, and the council of elders followed; then they returned to the camp. And this they did for six days. But on the seventh, when they had done the same and gone round seven times, the wall fell down, and the people, entering, killed all and burned the city. Only Rahab, with her household, the spies saved, since she had hung a scarlet cord before the house. And Joshua gave her fields as a gift and held her in honor. And against those who should wish to raise up the city again he laid curses, that he who laid the foundations should be deprived of his firstborn child, and he who completed it should be bereaved of his youngest. And a great quantity of silver and gold is gathered from the city, and all was dedicated to God as being the firstfruits of their successes; for it had been forbidden to all to appropriate anything from this. But a certain Achar, of the tribe of Judah, finding a garment woven with gold and a lump of gold weighing two hundred shekels, made these his own, having buried them in his tent. After this, when a battle was joined, the Hebrews are routed and thirty-six of their men fall. This grieved the multitude greatly. And Joshua, falling upon his face, prayed to God. And being informed by an oracle that a theft of the consecrated goods had occurred, he committed the judgment to the lot. And when the lot fell upon Achar, he confesses the theft and brings forth the stolen things. And he is killed with stones, together with his household; and Joshua besieges Ai and takes it. But the Gibeonites and their neighbors, who belonged to the Canaanites, fearing that they would suffer the same as the people of Jericho and Ai, send an embassy to Joshua, saying that they dwelt very far off and had no kinship with the Canaanites, and seeking that the Israelites make a treaty and a covenant of friendship with them. So Joshua made friendship with them. But learning afterward that they were of the race of the Canaanites, he charged them with the deceit. They, however, said that they had done this of necessity, fearing destruction. And Joshua, that he might not transgress the oath, appoints them public servants. So says Josephus; but the book of Joshua records that they appointed them hewers of wood and drawers of water for the whole congregation and for the altar of God. And when the king of Jerusalem attacked the Gibeonites on account of their treaty with the Hebrews, Joshua allies himself with them and routs the enemy, and pursued them as they fled. At that time too hail greater than usual and thunderbolts fell from heaven upon the enemy, and the day was lengthened, God having stopped the course of the sun at the entreaty of Joshua, that the enemy might not escape with the coming on of night. And the kings too are caught, hidden in a certain cave, and all are killed. And Joshua returned again to the hill country of Canaan, and having wrought a great slaughter of those in it and taken spoil, he came to the camp at Gilgal. And the place of the camp was called Gilgal, since the Israelites now recognized themselves to be free of the Egyptians and of the hardship in the wilderness; for the Hebrews call freedom "galgala." And the Canaanites about Lebanon and those in the plains make war upon them, allied with the Palestinians. And their army was three hundred thousand foot soldiers, and ten thousand horsemen and thirty thousand chariots. And when God had promised victory, a strong battle takes place, so that the whole army of the enemy, except a few, was destroyed, and the kings too fell.

21. Now the fifth year had already passed, and no longer was any one of the Canaanites left. And Joshua sets up the tabernacle at the city of Shiloh, until it should be possible to build them a temple. And gathering the people to Shiloh, he reckoned up the cities that had been taken and how many armies of the enemy had been destroyed, and that thirty-one of their kings had been killed. But the cities still left, he said, required a long siege on account of their strength, and he asked to release to their homes those from across the Jordan who had set out with them. And summoning those of the two tribes and the half, who were fifty thousand, he permitted them to go to their allotments. And they, crossing the Jordan, set up an altar on the bank. This caused a tumult among the multitude of the Israelites. So they send against them ten of the honored men and Phinehas, charging them concerning the altar. But they said that they had not set up the altar for any innovation, but as a token to those who came after of their kinship with you; for they acknowledged one God, common to all the Hebrews. When they had said these things, Phinehas and those with him returned to Joshua. And Joshua, having allotted the lands to the multitude, passed his time at Shechem. And being now very old and about to die, he made an exhortation to the multitude, and ended his life, having lived a hundred and ten years, of which he passed forty with Moses, and after his death, leading the army, twenty-five. And the high priest Eleazar too dies, leaving the high-priesthood to his son Phinehas. After this the Canaanites, hoping to prevail over the race of the Hebrews now that Joshua was dead, made war against them, entrusting the command to King Adonibezek. The name means "Lord of Bezek"; for "Adoni" in Hebrew means "lord." And the two tribes, that of Judah and that of Simeon, engaging the Canaanites, rout them and capture Adonibezek and maim him. And they took many cities, and the lower city of Jerusalem, and killed the inhabitants; but the siege of the upper city was difficult, both by the nature of the ground and by the strength of the walls. And having taken Hebron too, they put all to the sword, and gave it to Caleb for an inheritance, as Moses had commanded. And to the descendants of Jethro, who were kinsmen of Moses, they allotted land, because, leaving their fatherland, they had accompanied the people of the Hebrews in the wilderness. And the tribes of Judah and Simeon, having greatly prospered, laid down their arms. But the tribe of Ephraim, besieging Bethel, accomplished nothing. And having seized one of the men of the city, they gave him pledges that, if he handed over his fatherland, they would save both him and his kindred. And so he, having thus betrayed it, is saved with his household, while they, killing the inhabitants, held the city. And the Benjamites, since the city of Jerusalem had fallen to their lot, laid tribute upon the inhabitants, permitting them to live, contrary to the divine ordinances. And the other tribes did likewise.

22. Now when those of Israel were prospering, luxury corrupted them, and they transgressed the divine laws and were disinclined toward labor, and the aristocracy failed, and the council of elders was no longer appointed. Whence a terrible sedition seizes them from such a cause as this. A man, a Levite, taking along his wife, who was from Bethlehem, was going home. And as it was now evening, he is lodged as a guest with a certain old man in Gibeah, a city of the tribe of Benjamin. But certain young men of Gibeah, having seen the woman, came demanding her; and when the old man would not give her, they threatened to kill him. And he offered them his own daughter, that those lodged with him might not suffer any violence. But they, seizing the woman, departed, and having sated themselves with her through the whole night, they let her go at the break of day. And she, cast down by the night's hardship and by shame before her husband and by grief, perished. And her husband, dividing the dead woman into twelve parts, sent a part to each tribe, teaching them both the outrage and those responsible for the calamity. So they send to Gibeah, demanding the surrender of those who had transgressed; but they would not give them up. And the tribes made war against them, and twice, when they engaged, the Israelites are defeated. Then through Phinehas the high priest they pray to God, and so, engaging the Benjamites, they prevailed, so that all fell except six hundred, who fled to the neighboring mountains. And the Israelites burned Gibeah and put to the sword the women and children, and on the other cities too they did the like. And the inhabitants of Jabesh of Gilead, because it had not allied with them, they slay, with women and children, except four hundred maidens, whom they gave to the survivors of the Benjamites, that they might have them as wives, taking pity on their calamity. And they considered how the remaining two hundred too might be provided with women; for they had previously sworn, on account of the outrage, that no one would give a daughter in marriage to a Benjamite. And on consideration it seemed good to them not themselves to give, on account of the oath, but that it should be permitted to the Benjamites, by seizing maidens, to take them as wives for themselves, they neither hindering nor encouraging. And so it seemed good to them about these things, and the Benjamites brought to deed what had seemed good. Now, the Israelites having long before ceased from fighting, the Canaanites despised them and took cities from them. And those of the tribe of Dan fled to the mountain, and from there migrated to the interior. But against the Israelites, who had taken on the customs of the Canaanites and despised their own commonwealth, the Divine was angered. So the king of the Assyrians, Cushan-rishathaim, makes war against them and lays heavy tributes upon them, by which they were oppressed for eight years. Then a man of action of the tribe of Judah, called Othniel, having gathered to himself a few men, by a divine oracle destroys the garrison of the Assyrians among them. And when more had afterward been gathered, having conquered the Assyrians in battle, he drove them off, and for this was chosen to rule the multitude and to judge the people. He, having held the rule for fifty years, departed life. And the Israelites, being without a ruler and despising the Divine, were made subject by Aiglom the king of the Moabites and were charged with annual contributions. He, having built a palace in Jericho, ill-treated them in many ways for eighteen years. But a certain young Benjamite, Aoth by name—Josephus says this man was called Judas—daring and strong, becomes familiar with Aiglom, and continually frequented his presence, flattering the man and ingratiating himself. This man, once bringing gifts to Aiglom with two servants, carried a small dagger concealed. And as the day was now at its middle and the guards had withdrawn to themselves, finding him alone, he goes in as a familiar, and taking him by himself, as though to converse with him about something more secret, he strikes him mortally with the dagger and kills him. And going to the people of Jericho, he persuades them to lay claim to liberty. And they armed themselves, while those about Aiglom, finding him dead, turn to flight and are destroyed as they are pursued. And so the Hebrews are freed from the slavery of the Moabites, and the rule of the multitude was entrusted to Aoth. He, having led the people for eighty years, ended his life. And after him Megar, the son of Dinach, ruling, died in the first year of his rule, having struck down many of the foreigners.

23. And when the people of the Hebrews transgressed the divine laws, God was angered. And Sisera, the commander-in-chief of Jabin the king of Canaan, attacking them, ill-treated them greatly and subjected them to tributes; and they were thus for twenty years. But a certain prophetess Deborah—the name means "bee"—supplicated God on behalf of the people. And God consented, and bids them choose as general Barak; and this means "lightning" in the language of the Hebrews. The man was of the tribe of Naphtali. And Deborah urged Barak to go against the enemy with ten thousand men, since God commanded this. But he demanded that she too share the command. The woman is persuaded, and when battle was joined for them with the ten thousand against Sisera, much rain pours down and hail breaks forth, and these were driven by the wind against the face of the enemy and darkened their sight, and from this they bent to flight. And Sisera too, fleeing, took refuge with a certain woman, asking her to hide him; the woman was named Jael. And she receives him and gives him milk to drink, and he, having drunk, fell asleep. And while he slept, Jael set upon him, and driving a nail through his temple, pinned him to the ground, and shows the dead enemy to those about Barak. And Barak, making war also against Jabin the king of Canaan, killed him and razed his city. And having been general for thirty years, he dies, Deborah also dying at the same time. Then the Midianites, with the Amalekites and Arabs, routed the Israelites in battle. And while they attacked them for seven years there was famine and lack of necessities, and they prayed to God. And Gideon, of the tribe of Manasseh, was secretly beating sheaves of grain in the winepress, and he sees one standing by him in the form of a young man, calling him a friend of God and blessed. And he, in irony, said that the proof of his blessedness was his using the winepress instead of a threshing-floor. And the young man exhorted him to take courage and to hasten for the liberty of his fellow tribesmen. And Gideon begged the one who appeared not to depart from there, and going in he brought a sacrifice. And the angel commanded him to set it by the rock; and touching the rock with his rod, he kindled a fire of its own accord and consumed the sacrifice. Then Gideon asked God that dew should come upon the fleece, and it came; and again he asked that dew should come upon all the ground, but dryness upon the fleece, and so it was. So Gideon is persuaded, and with ten thousand armed himself against the enemy. Then by command of God he leads them all at midday to the river, and taking with himself those who lapped while drinking and drank with haste, as though fearful—these were three hundred—he set out for the war, and left the rest behind. And by night, taking one of the soldiers, he went to the camp of the enemy. And he hears one of the enemy relating to his tent-mate that he had seemed to see in his sleep a barley loaf rolling through the camp, which overthrew the tent of the king and those of the army; and the other judged that the dream signified the destruction of the army, likening to a barley loaf Gideon and those with him, on account of their fewness and weakness. Hearing this, Gideon took courage, and returning he commanded his men to be at their arms, and dividing the army into three hundreds, he ordered each to carry an empty jar and a lighted torch and a ram's horn, and at the fourth watch of the night he led them out against the enemy. And being now near them, they sounded the horns and broke the jars, and with the torches they rushed forward shouting. These things struck terror into the enemy, and some were killed by the enemy themselves, while the greater part were destroyed by one another, since it was night, and nearly all perished, and two of their kings, Oreb and Zeeb. And those of the leaders and the army who were left, fleeing, are caught by Gideon and those with him, and all fell. And Gideon held the rule for forty years, and died an old man, leaving from various wives seventy legitimate sons, and one from a concubine, called Abimelech. He, having killed all his brothers except one, Jotham, who fled, set up a tyranny. But the people, rising against Abimelech, drive him out of the city of Shechem. And he, aided by one of the Shechemites, takes the city by treachery and slays the Shechemites of full age, and razes the city. And he marched against Thebes, another city, and took it by assault. But the multitude ran together into one great tower, which was in the middle of the city. And as Abimelech drew near to its gates, a woman threw down a fragment of a millstone from above upon his head and killed him. And the rule of the Hebrews was entrusted to Jair, who was of the tribe of Manasseh; and he, having directed the rule for twenty-two years, died. Then the Ammonites with the Palestinians next plundered the country. And while the Ammonites were ravaging Gilead, the inhabitants chose Jephthah as leader. He, being about to engage the enemy, made a vow that, if he should conquer, he would sacrifice whatever first met him as he returned. And engaging, he conquers; but as he returned, his little daughter met him, who was his only child and still a virgin. And he lamented aloud, but, that he might not break his promise, he sacrificed the girl and offered her as a whole burnt offering. And when those of the tribe of Ephraim were angry with him because he had not taken them along to the war against the Ammonites, since he could not persuade them with apologies, he killed many of them who fought with him. And having held the leadership for six years, he ended his life. And the rule is taken up by Amesa, who was of the tribe of Judah, and having judged Israel for seven years, he died. And after him Labdon, coming forth from the tribe of Ephraim, was appointed leader, and died an old man, having ruled eight years.

24. Then the Palestinians prevailed over the Israelites and held them tributary for forty years. At that time was born Samson—the name signifies "strength"—who set himself against the Palestinians; and the beginning of his life came about thus. Manoah, being of the tribe of Dan, dwelt with a barren wife and asked God that a child be given to them. So once, when the woman was alone, there appeared a young man, great and fair, bringing the good news of the birth of a child, and he commanded her not to drink wine or strong drink, nor to cut the hair of the child; for he said that the child would be a Nazirite to the Lord—that is, holy—and that Israel would be saved through him from the hand of the foreigners. And she announced these things to her husband. And he prayed to God that the one who had appeared to his wife might appear to him also. So again the angel came to the woman; but Manoah was again absent; and the woman begged him to await the coming of her husband. And Manoah, coming, asked the angel what they should do when the child was born. And he said, "He shall not drink wine or strong drink, and shall eat nothing unclean, and his hair shall not be shaved." And Manoah sought to learn the name of the one speaking with him, but he said that it was wonderful, and was silent. And Manoah, bringing a kid, sacrificed it and offered loaves. And the angel commanded him to set the flesh and the loaves upon the rock, and when they were set he touches them with his rod, and a fire, kindled from there, consumed them, and through the flame the angel went up to heaven, while Manoah and his wife looked on. So after these things the child is born to them and is named Samson, and he grew, and the spirit of the Lord went along with him. And seeing in Thamna, a city of the Palestinians, a girl of the foreigners, he falls in love with the maiden. And though his parents deprecated the marriage with a foreign woman, he prevailed to marry her. And while frequenting the parents of the girl, he meets a lion, and having nothing for defense, he crushed the beast with his hands, and turning aside from the road he threw it into the brushwood. And after some days, going again to his betrothed, he found a swarm of bees gathered in the mouth of the lion. And taking from there a honeycomb, he ate it and brought some to his father and mother. And going to the foreigners, he sets a riddle for the thirty young men who were feasting with him at the wedding; and he agreed, if they should find the solution within seven days, to give each of them a linen cloth and a robe, but if they could not solve the riddle, he demanded that a robe and a linen cloth be given to him by each. And when the young men had agreed, he put forward the question, saying, "Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong, sweetness." And they, unable to perceive the riddle, begged the girl to learn it from the man and report it to them. And Samson, when the girl entreated him to tell her the meaning of the riddle, at first resisted, but when she wept, he told her the whole; and she reported it to the young men. And on the seventh day they said to Samson, "What is sweeter than honey, or what is stronger than a lion?" So Samson was angered, and gave the young men what he had promised, but renounced the marriage. And the father gave the woman to another. And Samson, provoked at this, having caught three hundred foxes, tied lighted torches to their tails and let them loose upon the fields of the Palestinians at the onset of summer, and thus burned up their crops and their vines. And the Palestinians in return burned and consumed with fire the woman who had been his wife and her relatives. And Samson, having killed many of the foreigners, settled himself on a rock; but they made war against the Israelites, saying, "If you wish to be guiltless, give us Samson into our hands." And three thousand armed men went to the rock. And Samson, coming down willingly, gave himself up to his fellow tribesmen, and they handed him over bound to the Palestinians. But he, breaking the bonds and snatching up the jawbone of an ass thrown down somewhere there, killed a thousand of the foreigners with it, and routed the rest. Whence from that time the place was called Siagon ("Jawbone"). Then he thirsted so as to faint from thirst, and he wept, praying to God. And God sent up a spring of water from the cleft that Samson had made by throwing the jawbone to the ground. And he went to Gaza. But the men of Gaza set an ambush for him, and that he might not escape their notice as he went out, they shut the gates of the city. But he, rising about midnight, hoisted upon his shoulders the gates and their posts and the doorframes and carried them up to the summit of the mountain and set them down there. And falling in love with a Palestinian courtesan called Delilah, he consorted with her; and the chief men of the foreigners made many promises to the woman, if she should learn from Samson what was the cause of his strength and report it to them. And she went after the man in various ways, seeking to know whence came such great strength to him; but he, feigning now one cause, now another, told the woman. And the woman, testing his words, found them to be deceptions. But as she pressed and entreated him more warmly, he revealed to her the secret, saying that by the command of God he let his hair grow, since God had commanded not to cut it, and that in this lay his strength. The woman cuts his hair while he slept and hands him over weak to the enemy. And they put out the man's eyes, and he who had once been fearful became a plaything for them. But as time went on, his hair grew again and his strength returned. And when the Palestinians were holding a drinking-feast, and the rulers and nobles were feasting together in a house supported by pillars, Samson too was brought to be made sport of, and a young boy led him by the hand. And there was gathered by the house a multitude of men and women, about three thousand, that they might see Samson abused. And he, being mocked and struck, says to the one leading him by the hand, "Bring me to the pillars, that I may lean upon them, since I need to rest." And grasping the two pillars, he pulled the house down upon himself, and he himself and all those in the house perished. And such was the end of this man, who had judged the people of the Hebrews for twenty years.

25. No longer did judges lead Israel, but the high priest Eli presided over them; in his time there was a famine, and a certain man of Bethlehem called Abimelech migrated with his wife and two sons into Moab on account of the famine. So he takes Moabite wives for his sons. Within ten years, however, both Abimelech and his sons died, and there were left as widows both Naomi, the wife of Abimelech, and the two wives of his sons, Orpah and Ruth. And Naomi returned to her fatherland, and of her daughters-in-law Orpah, being entreated by her mother-in-law, remained among the Moabites, but Ruth departed with Naomi. And when they had now come to Bethlehem, Boaz, who was a kinsman of Abimelech, received them as guests. And when the woman was addressed by name by the citizens, she said, "Call me not Naomi but Mara"—for "Naomi" means "good fortune," but "Mara" means "grief and bitterness"—"for I went out full and returned empty." And as it was harvest time, Ruth went out, by the counsel of her mother-in-law, to glean in the field of Boaz. And he, seeing the girl and learning who she was, permitted her to reap what she could and to keep it, and commanded the farm-overseer to provide her a meal. And she, having received barley meal from him, kept it for her mother-in-law, and went away late, carrying also the barley she had gathered, and related to her the things she had from Boaz. And again she went out with the maidservants of Boaz. And Naomi resolved to lay Ruth beside him, and sends her daughter-in-law, having instructed her to fall asleep at the feet of the man while he slept on the threshing-floor. And so she did, but Boaz, perceiving about midnight, asked who she was. And learning, he then kept quiet, but at dawn, waking Ruth, he commanded her to go to her mother-in-law, and said, "I myself will ask the one who is a nearer kinsman to you, and if he wishes to take you, you shall go to that man, but if he declines, you shall lawfully dwell with me." So the woman went away and reported everything to Naomi. And Boaz called together before the council of elders Ruth and the kinsman, and said to him, "Do you hold the inheritance of Abimelech our kinsman and of his sons?" And when he had agreed to hold it according to the laws by right of kinship, Boaz said, "Then one must not remember the laws by halves, but in all things do according to them. It remains that you must also marry the wife of Mahlon, the son of Abimelech, that you may raise up seed for the kinsman." But he declined, yielding to him both the inheritance and the woman. So, according to the law, before the council of elders Ruth loosed the sandal of that man and spat in his face. And so Boaz took her, and she bore him Obed—which in Greek is interpreted "serving." And from Obed comes Jesse, and from him David, who reigned over those of Israel and left the rule to his children, which endured for twenty-one generations. And while Eli the high priest, as has already been related, was leading the people, his two sons Hophni and Phinehas were pestilent, transgressing in all things, and not turning back when their father exhorted them. And God, angered on account of their transgressions, through Samuel, who was still a child, made known to Eli what he himself and his children and his house would suffer. Now Samuel was the son of Elkanah, a Levite man, with whom dwelt two wives, of whom the one was named Hannah and the other Peninnah. And to one there were children from Elkanah, but Hannah was without offspring. And when the man came with both wives to Shiloh and had sacrificed, since it was a time of feasting and Peninnah rejoiced with her children, Hannah, because she was alone, wept for herself, and running to the tabernacle of God, prayed to the Lord to grant her offspring, vowing to consecrate the firstborn to God. And as she lingered in her prayers, Eli, sitting before the tabernacle, supposed her to be drunk and sent her away. But she said, "I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, lord, but being in anguish on account of my childlessness I have wasted away." And the priest said to her, "Go, and may God grant you your request." And returning home with her husband, she conceives and bears Samuel—one might call him "asked of God." And when the child had grown, she brings him to Eli, according to the vow, to be reared for God, letting his hair grow and dwelling in the sanctuary and using water for drink. And being now twelve years old, he prophesied. And once, while he slept, God called him by name. And he went to the high priest, supposing that he was perhaps called by him. And this happened three times. And Eli, perceiving that the call was from God, said to Samuel, "If you are called again, say, 'Behold I am here, Lord.'" And when the child had done so, the one who called said to him that there would be a heavy calamity for the Israelites, and that the sons of Eli would die together and the priesthood would pass over to the house of Eleazar. And Samuel was unwilling to disclose the words to the priest, but, constrained by oaths, he reported everything just as he had heard.

26. From this the Palestinians make war against the Israelites, and were superior in the battle. And the people ask that the ark be brought to their aid. And when the ark was sent there with the sons of Eli, a battle was joined. And the Hebrews were defeated, and about thirty thousand fell, and the sons of the high priest, and the ark was taken by the enemy. And Eli the high priest was sitting upon a high seat, and learning of the battle and the slaughter of his sons and the capture of the ark, in great anguish he fell from his seat and died, being ninety years old, of which he had led Israel forty years. And the foreigners, having carried off the ark to the city of Azotus, dedicated it to Dagon—for so they called their god. And at dawn, entering the house of Dagon, they found the image lying before the ark upon the ground. And raising it up, they set it upon its former base. But when they found this happen often, and many times having set the idol upright, found it as often lying in the posture of one worshiping the ark, they were astounded and at a loss. Then a destruction fell upon the city and country of the Azotians—a disease among the people about the seat, which Josephus calls dysentery, and many died of it; and mice, springing up from the ground, ravaged the whole country. And at last the Azotians understood that the ark was the cause of their sufferings, and they send it to Ascalon; and those too suffered the like. And so the ark passed through five cities of the Palestinians, and to all became a cause of affliction. So the rulers of the five afflicted cities came together—of Gath and Ekron and Ascalon and Gaza and Azotus—and some counseled one thing about the ark, others another. And at last it seemed good to all to make five golden seats and as many golden mice and to place them upon the ark, and to make a new wagon and yoke to the wagon cows that had borne their first calves, but to keep back their calves, and to set the ark upon the wagon, and, having led the cows to a place where three roads met, to leave them, that it might rest with them to go whichever way they should set out: if they went straight toward the Israelites, they would believe that on account of the ark the evils were being brought upon them, and would not hinder their journey to those people; but if they went somewhere else, they would turn the cows and the wagon and what was on it back again. Having, then, accomplished what seemed good, they let the cows go, themselves following at a distance, that they might see the outcome. And they went straight toward the Hebrews and did not stop before they came to a great plain in Bethshemesh. So when the men of that village saw the ark, they hastened to it, and taking it down from the wagon, they sacrificed the cows and offered them as whole burnt offerings with the wood of which the wagon had been made. And seeing this, the Palestinians returned home. But those who touched the ark, not being priests, God in anger put to death. And the rest made known to the community of the Hebrews the things concerning the ark; and they, taking it, carry it away to Kiriath-jearim and deposit it in the house of Aminadab, who was of the tribe of Levi. And it remained there twenty years, but among the foreigners four months. And Samuel the prophet, having now gained a great name and come to much glory, gathering the people, spoke to them about freedom and persuaded them to lay claim to it. Learning this, the Palestinians come unexpectedly upon the Hebrews and terrified them, so that they ran to Samuel, saying that their safety was despaired of unless he himself asked for them the aid from God. And he exhorted them to take courage, and assured them that God would help them, and having sacrificed a lamb, he prayed to God. And before the sacred flame had consumed the sacrifice, the enemy attacked the Hebrews, supposing they would more easily prevail over them as unarmed. But when the earth was shaken by God with an earthquake, and thunders broke forth and lightnings flashed, the enemy fell into cowardice and turned to flight. And Samuel and the multitude pursued after them and destroyed many, and no longer after this blow did they make war against the Israelites, but Samuel even recovered for the Hebrews the country that they had taken. And he judged the people and ruled over them.

27. And being now grown old, he distributed to his sons the leadership of the people and the office of judging. The name of the elder was Joel, and of the younger Abiah. But they did not walk in the ways of their father, but, turning aside, betrayed justice for gifts and gave their judgments for bribes. And the people, on account of this, gathering to Samuel, said, "Since you are not able to preside over us by reason of age, make us a king, who shall both lead the nation and make war against the enemy." And while Samuel grieved at this, God said to him, "It is not you the people have rejected, but me. Hearken, then, to them, and whomever I shall point out to you, anoint him as king." And gathering the Hebrews, Samuel set forth that he would appoint them a king, but foretold that they would repent and would ask of God a deliverance from kings. But they persisted, seeking a king, and asked him not to be concerned about what was to come. And the prophet said, "Go now, and when I learn whom God gives you as king, I will send for you." Now there was a certain Benjamite, Kish by name, who, having lost his donkeys, sent his son, who was tall and fair and called Saul, in search of the donkeys, with one of his servants. And he, having gone about and sought and not found them, came to Armathaim, to Samuel, to inquire about the donkeys. So God reveals to Samuel that this is he whom He wishes to reign over the people of the Hebrews. So when Saul asked about the donkeys, Samuel said that they had been recovered, and having lodged Saul, he sent him forth at dawn, and going outside the city with him and taking the young man aside alone, he pours oil upon his head. And kissing him, he said, "The Lord has anointed you ruler over his people Israel, and let this be the sign of the anointing: that two men shall meet you about the tomb of Rachel, bringing you the good news of the finding of the donkeys." And he told him other signs of the truth, and that he would prophesy when he came to Gabatha among the prophets there, and he commanded him to come to Gilgal when he should be summoned by him. And then he gathered the people and bade the tribes cast lots, that it might be shown from which the one who was to reign would be. So the lot fell upon Benjamin, then upon the family of Mattari. And when the family had been allotted man by man, the lot fell upon Saul. And as, when sought, he was not found, Samuel is informed by God where he was hidden, and having him brought, set him in the midst. And he was a head taller than all and surpassing all in the stature of his body. And the prophet said to the multitude, "This man the Lord has anointed for you as king, to whom there is none like among you all." And the people shouted approval and said, "Long live the king." So, when Saul had thus become king, many attended him as king and honored him as was fitting, but many despised and mocked him. And after a month Nahash the king of the Ammonites makes war against Jabesh-gilead, saying that he would not otherwise spare the men unless they gave him the right eye of each to put out. And they asked for a respite of seven days; and receiving it, they send messengers to Gabaa. And when those there heard the words of the Ammonite, they wept; but Saul was greatly angered, and taking two oxen, he cut them in pieces and sent them into all the territory of Israel, threatening to do likewise to those who would not march out with him against the Ammonites. And when the people had run together, he numbered them and found seven hundred thousand. And the spirit of the Lord leaped upon Saul, and he prophesied, saying that on the morrow there would be deliverance for the men of Jabesh. And rising, he himself and the people marched all night, and about the morning watch he came upon the Ammonites, dividing the army into three parts. And surrounding them, he killed many, and the king Nahash himself, and turned the survivors to flight; and invading their country and taking very much spoil, he returned in splendor. So no longer was he held in low esteem by any, but he was renowned for his courage and honored even by those who had formerly mocked him. And Samuel, gathering the people again, proclaims Saul king a second time, anointing him again with the oil. So the commonwealth of the Hebrews passed from an aristocracy into a kingship; for in the time of Moses and Joshua they were governed as an aristocracy, then for eighteen years they continued without a ruler, and afterward they were ruled by those called judges, entrusting to the best man the judging and management of all affairs.

28. And when Samuel adjured the people to say if he had done any wrong to them, all cried out that he had presided over the nation justly and well. And he answered them, "Know that you have greatly sinned in asking a king for yourselves, and by this you have provoked God to anger. And this shall be a sign to you, that in the height of summer there shall come a storm." And according to the word of the prophet there were thunders and lightnings, and hail came down, so that fear fell upon the people and they entreated Samuel to come and reconcile God to them, since they had sinned. And while the Palestinians were subduing the Hebrews and taking away their arms and forbidding them to use iron, Saul, going down to Gilgal, urged the people to rise up against the Palestinians for their freedom. But they were cautious on account of the multitude of the enemy. And the king called Samuel to him. And he promised to come after six days, and to sacrifice on the seventh, that so they might engage the foreigners. But Saul, seeing the people slipping away and abandoning him, sacrificed. And hearing that Samuel was now approaching, he went out to meet him. But he said, "What is this you have done, transgressing my command? Know, then, that your kingdom shall not stand, but the Lord shall seek a man after his own heart." And Samuel withdrew, but Saul and Jonathan his son came to Gabaa with six hundred soldiers. And the foreigners, divided into three parts, plundered the country of the Israelites. And Saul and Jonathan and Ahiah the high priest, seeing from a height what was being done, and not strong enough to defend on account of the fewness of their men, were grieved. But Jonathan, saying nothing to his father, went down from the hill with only his armor-bearer and said, "Let us attack the camp of the foreigners, and if they say to us, 'Stand off,' we will not go up to them, but if they say, 'Come up to us,' we must reckon the word a token of victory for us." And they set out for the camp of the enemy. And the foreigners said to them, "Come up to us, and we will make known to you a matter." This put courage into Jonathan; and withdrawing from there, he crept up from another side with his attendant and came upon the enemy while they slept. And they kill about twenty, and into the rest they put cowardice; who, thrown into confusion and fleeing, were destroyed by one another. And Saul, seeing the camp of the enemy thrown into confusion, and perceiving that his son was absent together with his armor-bearer, himself also attacks the disordered enemy; and those who before, out of fear, had hidden, taking courage, joined the king. And pursuing the enemy he kept killing them. So he laid a curse upon his own men, that if any one, ceasing from the slaughter of the enemy, should eat before night stopped them, he should die. And in the pursuit they came to a certain wood, in which there was a beehive, and Jonathan, taking a honeycomb, ate it; for he had not heard the curse of his father. And Saul, wishing to attack the camp of the enemy, asked God through the high priest whether He would grant victory. And when God did not reveal it, he sought the cause, and said, "I swear by God himself that I will kill the one who has sinned, even if it be Jonathan my son." And when they cast lots, the lot fell upon Jonathan. And he, being examined about the sin, said he was conscious of nothing in himself except that "yesterday, not knowing the curse, I tasted a honeycomb in the pursuit." And hearing this, his father swore that he would kill him. But the people swore in turn that they would not allow the author of the victory to die, and snatching him away, they propitiated God with prayers. And Saul, having destroyed about sixty thousand of the Palestinians, returned. And he subdues the Ammonites and Moabites and Palestinians and Idumaeans and Amalekites, and the king of Suba, and delivered Israel from the hand of the foreigners.

29. Now Saul had three sons, Jonathan and Ishvi and Malchishua, and two daughters, Merob and Michal; and he had as commander-in-chief Abner, the son of Ner, his kinsman. And Samuel said to Saul that God commanded him to strike Amalek, and, when he had prevailed, to spare nothing—not women, not infants, not beasts of burden, not cattle—but to blot out his name from the earth. And Saul, engaging Amalek, conquers mightily and kills all, and takes captive also the king of the country, named Agag, and did not kill him, admiring him for his beauty and stature; and the choicest of the herds and flocks and the rest he kept for himself, forgetting the divine command. And Samuel, being informed by God, who said that He repented of having made Saul king, met the king. And he said that he gave thanks to God for granting him power over the enemy, and that he had done all that was commanded. And the prophet said, "I hear the bleating of beasts of burden and of other cattle. Whence are these?" And Saul said that the people had kept them for sacrifice to God, but that all the Amalekites had been destroyed except their king. To this Samuel said, "Since you have transgressed what was commanded you by God, know that you shall be deprived of the kingdom." And he confessed that he had sinned, and entreated the prophet to offer a propitiatory sacrifice. And as he withdrew, Saul lays hold of his cloak and tears it, forcing him to stay. And the prophet said, "So shall your kingdom be torn and given to a man righteous and good." And when the king still entreated, he is persuaded, and asks that Agag be brought, and when that man had been killed, at his command, he at once withdraws to Armathaim. And God commands him to go to Jesse and to anoint with oil for king one of his sons, whomever He should point out to him. And going to Bethlehem and sacrificing, he called Jesse and his sons. And seeing the firstborn, tall and fair, he supposed that God favored him. But God said, "Look not upon his appearance, nor upon the greatness of his body; for man looks upon the face, but God upon the heart." And when the other sons of Jesse had passed by, God favored none of them. And Samuel said, "The Lord has not chosen among these, and if there is yet one remaining, let him come." And Jesse said, "There is still left the youngest, tending the flock." So the prophet commanded that he be called. And when David came, being called—a ruddy youth with fair eyes and otherwise fair—God reveals to Samuel that this was the one to be anointed. And he, taking the horn of oil, anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And he went away to Armathaim. And a divine spirit leaped upon David, but departed from Saul, and an evil spirit pursued him, choking and tormenting the man. So it seemed good that there should stand by the king one who knew how to play the harp, that when the demon fell upon him and troubled him, he might play upon the harp and lull the disturbance. So he sends for David as such a one; and the young man was greatly loved by the king, and became his armor-bearer. And when the evil spirit came upon the king, David sang over him, and it departed, and Saul came back to himself. And the foreigners made war against the Israelites, and those of Israel set themselves against them. And in the space between the two armies a certain man of the foreigners stood—Goliath was his name—a powerful man towering above all, for his height was six cubits and a span, and his breastplate weighed five thousand shekels, and his spear was like a weaver's beam, and the head of the spear six hundred shekels; this man, standing in the midst, cried out to the sons of Israel, "Let one of you come down and stand against me; and if he strikes me, we will serve you, but if I lay him low, you shall be servants to us." And this he did for forty days. Now when Saul had sent David back to Jesse, his father sent him to the camp to bring provisions to his brothers who were in the army; for three of the elder ones were following Saul. And when David came to his brothers, the foreigner Goliath again, as was his custom, challenged to single combat and reproached the Hebrews because none dared to engage him. And hearing these words, David was indignant and said to those present, "I will fight him in single combat." This was reported to the king, and to David, standing before him, he said, "You will not be able to go in battle against this uncircumcised man, for you are still a boy." And David said he took courage in God, who had strengthened him against the bear and against the lion when they came upon the flock and snatched the young, whom, he said, he pursued and recovered what had been snatched, and struck the beasts and killed them. In Him, he said, he took courage, that He would grant him to strike down the foreigner too and to take away the reproach from the sons of Israel. So he said this, and the king permitted him to go, and put his own arms upon him. But they were a burden to him, and he took them off, and taking up his staff and putting five stones in his pouch and carrying the sling in his hand, he set out against the foreigner. And he laughed at him and asked whether he came against a dog with a staff and stones. And David answered that he reckoned him worse than a dog. And he, angered, and boasting that he would give his flesh to the birds and the beasts, rushed upon him. But David, being quick and putting a stone in the sling, struck the enemy upon the forehead. And the blow was mighty, and the foreigner fell upon his face. And David, running and drawing his sword, cuts off the head of Goliath and strips off his arms. This put cowardice into the foreigners, and they turned to flight. And Saul leads his own army against them as they fled; and a great multitude of the Palestinians is killed, and more are wounded, and their camp is plundered. And David brings the head of Goliath to Saul, but dedicates the sword to God.

30. And as the army returned, the women met them, and dancing they sang that Saul had slain thousands, while the maidens answered in song that David had destroyed ten thousands. This stirred Saul to envy, and he said, "What is lacking to him but the kingdom?" And he looked askance at David. And when an evil spirit fell upon Saul, and David sang over him as was his custom, Saul threw his spear at him; and he did this twice. But David turned aside, for the Lord was with him. And the king, fearing him, made him a commander of a thousand, that going against the enemy he might be endangered. But he, with God as ally, prospered, and the people loved him, and the king's daughter Michal loved David. So her love was reported to the king, and he used the love as a handle for a plot. For he said that he would give him his daughter if he would bring him a hundred foreskins, supposing that he would fall fighting the foreigners. Learning this, David went with his men, and struck among the foreigners and brought Saul a hundred foreskins. (But Josephus says that David brought not a hundred foreskins, but six hundred heads of foreigners.) And he joins to him his daughter Michal. But seeing David both allied with God and beloved by the multitude, he feared still more, and plotted against him, and tried to kill him. So he commands his son Jonathan and his most trusted servants to do away with him. But Jonathan, loving David, reveals to him the command, and exhorts him to be on his guard, and promises to speak about him to his father and to disclose everything to him. And indeed he spoke and turned him to gentleness; for, changing his mind, Saul swore that he would do David no wrong. And Jonathan, having revealed this to David, brings him to the king, and he remained with him as before. And when the Palestinians stirred again and came against the Hebrews, David is sent by Saul to set himself against them, and returns with victory. But with the man's successes the envy against him grew in Saul. And when the evil spirit came upon him again and choked him, David was present, striking the harp and singing over him. And Saul, holding his spear, hurled it at David; but he, foreseeing it, turned aside and withdrew. And Saul sent guards by night to David's house, that he might kill him by day. But Michal his wife, learning this, let her husband down through a window, and he fled. And at dawn, when Saul sent for David, Michal, having prepared the bed as though someone lay in it, and having placed under the coverings the liver of a freshly slaughtered goat, so that by its movement the covering, being shaken, might give the appearance that someone lay upon the bed, brings in those who had been sent and says that the man is sick. And they reported it to Saul, and he commanded that he be brought to him on the bed. But those sent, going and lifting the covering of the bed, perceived the trick and reported it to the king. So David, having thus escaped death, came to Samuel at Armathaim and passed his time with him at Nabioth in Rama. So Saul sends there too those who should bring David. But they, going and finding an assembly of prophets, themselves also prophesied. Learning this, the king sends others, and when these too were likewise affected, he sent still others, and when the third group too had been seized by the spirit, he himself set out in anger, and drawing near, he himself also began to prophesy. At which time those present uttered the saying, "Is Saul too among the prophets?" And coming to where Samuel was, becoming as it were out of his mind and stripping off his clothing, he lay naked through a whole day and night.

31. And David fled from there and made known to Jonathan his father's design against him; but he disbelieved it. And David asked him to make trial of his father's intent and to disclose it to him as he waited outside the city. So Jonathan, bringing words to his father about David, and having learned that his father's purpose thirsted for the man's death, reports everything to him secretly in person, and urges him to save himself. And he adjured David to remember him, and, even should he chance to die, to show some kindness to his offspring. Saying this, Jonathan returned, and David, fleeing to Nob, comes to Abimelech the high priest. And he inquired how he came alone. And David said that something secret had been commanded him by the king, "and that no one might know of it, I am alone; and here he ordered me to meet with my servants." Saying this, he asked for loaves. And the high priest said he had none but the holy ones, and, "If you have kept yourselves from a woman, take these and eat." And he asked that a sword too be given him. But the high priest answered that he had no other weapon except the sword of Goliath, which David himself had dedicated to God. And taking these, David went away to Gath, to Achish the king of the foreigners. And being recognized for who he was and taking fright, he feigned madness and behaved and acted as one out of his mind. And so, escaping safe from the foreigners, he comes to the tribe of Judah, and hides in the cave of Adullam. There his brothers and his kindred came to him; then others too flowed together there, so that all became about four hundred. And he goes from there to the Moabites, and begs the king of Moab to let his parents dwell with him until matters concerning him should come to some end. And he is persuaded and receives Jesse and his household. And David went into the land of Judah, since Gad the prophet commanded this. But Saul, learning that a multitude had gathered to David, called together his friends and reproached them as taking his part. And a certain servant of Saul, a Syrian by race, Doeg by name, who had been present when the high priest gave the loaves to David and the sword of Goliath, standing then beside him, reported to the king that he had seen David come to the high priest and inquire of God through him and receive provisions and the sword. And the king, summoning the high priest, charged him with conspiracy with David. And he commanded the armed men standing by him to kill the high priest and all his kindred; but when they shrank from laying hands on those consecrated to God, he orders Doeg to do the killing. And he killed them all, three hundred and five in number, and struck their city, killing all of full age, sparing neither women nor infants nor any other age. But one son of the high priest alone escaped death, called Abiathar, who, fleeing to David, reported what had happened. And when the foreigners had invaded Keilah and were plundering the country, David, at God's command, came upon them with the four hundred, and struck them and brought back all the spoil. But Saul sends a multitude of soldiers to do away with him there. And he went from Keilah into the wilderness. And Saul did not cease seeking to put him to death. And Jonathan came to David and encouraged him and exhorted him to have good hopes. And when David had taken refuge upon the rock in the wilderness of Maon, and Saul came upon him with a great multitude, David was in danger of being taken, had not a messenger come to Saul that the foreigners had attacked the country; for, leaving David, he set out against the enemy. Then it was reported to him that David was encamped in the wilderness of Gaddi, and taking three thousand he set out. And as he went he was troubled by his bowels. And there was a certain cave there, in which David and those with him were hidden farther within; into this Saul entered to relieve himself. And David was urged by those with him to kill Saul. But he was not persuaded; rather, he secretly cut off the skirt of his cloak and took it. And when the king had gone out, David came forward and called out after Saul. And the king turned at the voice. And David did obeisance and said, "Do not believe slanders. Behold, the Lord delivered you into my hands; for when in the cave I cut off the skirt of your cloak, it was easy for me to kill you also." And at the same time he showed him the piece, and cried out, "May the Lord judge between me and you." And Saul, pierced to the heart at this, lifted up his voice and, weeping, said to David, "You are righteous; for I have been the cause of evils to you, but you have repaid me with good. Whence I am persuaded that God is keeping you to be king of Israel. Give me, then, pledges that you will not destroy my house, but will preserve my line." And David swore to Saul, and they departed from one another.

32. At that time too Samuel the prophet died, a righteous and good man, who had ruled Israel after Eli, alone for twelve years, but together with Saul for eighteen. And David went into the wilderness of Maon. And he sent to Nabal the Carmelite, a rich man who was shearing his flocks, those who should greet him and ask him to give to those with him and to himself, as he might choose, since they had kept his flocks and his shepherds untouched. But Nabal, being harsh and insolent, answered David's men inhumanly and shamelessly, saying, "Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse?" and calling him a runaway. At this David is angered, and swore to destroy all that belonged to Nabal, and set out against him with four hundred armed men. But Nabal's wife, being sensible and fair, having learned both how David had greeted her husband and how he had kept their property unharmed, and what blasphemous things Nabal had answered David, without communicating anything to her own husband, taking on donkeys gifts of every kind and many, set out to David. And meeting him, she did obeisance, and begged him not to bear a grudge against her husband; for his disposition was according to his name—for Nabal means "folly"—but to lay aside his anger and to receive what was offered. And he both praised the woman and, granting pardon, returned. And the woman, returning to Nabal, made known to him David's coming. And he, seized by fear and grief, surviving not more than ten days, broke off his life. And learning this, David sent to Abigail, wooing her for himself. And she said she was not worthy to dwell with such a man; nevertheless she went, and David took her as his wife. But Saul still plotted against him, and with three thousand chosen men encamps by the hill of Hachilah, where David was passing his time with the six hundred men who were with him. And by night David himself and Amesa went into the camp of Saul, and they entered where Saul was sleeping. And when Amesa set out to kill him, David did not allow it, but, taking the king's spear and the vessel of water, they went out without anyone perceiving, and this though Abner, the commander of his army, and many others lay around the king. And going up to the top of the mountain, David called out to Abner, "Why is it that you do not guard the king? For behold, some men came in to kill him, and you have not known it. Look, then, for the spear and the flask of water, and you will know what a danger has passed you by." And Saul, recognizing David's voice, and how he had spared him again when able to kill him, said that he had sinned and acted foolishly, and exhorted him to take courage and to return to his house. And he said, "May the Lord render to each according to his righteousness and his faith." And David went away with the six hundred who were with him to Achish the king of Gath, and passed four months there. And when the Palestinians wished to make war against Israel, Achish said to David, "Will you go out with me to the war, you and those with you?" And he readily promised to be his ally. But when the foreigners had now advanced into the country of the Israelites, Saul was thrown into confusion and inquired of God whether he should fight. And when He did not answer, he sought out a woman with a familiar spirit and went to her in disguise, that it might not be recognized who he was, and asked that the soul of Samuel be brought up for him. And when, by certain incantations, Saul supposed it had been brought up, he said, "I am greatly distressed, because the foreigners have gathered against me and the Lord has departed from me." And the phantom of Samuel answered, "The Lord has done to you what he foretold through me, and he takes away your kingdom and gives it to David, and subjects the people to the enemy; and you and your sons shall fall tomorrow." And Saul, greatly grieved at hearing this, departed. And the foreigners encamped, and David and the six hundred with him were behind. But it did not please the satraps that David should march with them, saying, "Lest he do us some harm by joining his own people in the battle," and they asked that he be sent back. And Achish, persuaded by the satraps, commanded David to depart. And he went away with those who were with him, and found Ziklag, which Achish had given him for a dwelling, burned with fire, and his two wives and all who were there taken captive by the Amalekites. And David and those with him lamented over this, and he asked God through the high priest Abiathar whether he should pursue after them. And when God permitted it, he pursued with the four hundred, leaving the two hundred to guard the baggage. And finding them scattered, eating and drinking, and falling upon them suddenly, he killed them all except four hundred who had fled on swift camels, and recovered all the spoil. But the four hundred with David, returning, were unwilling that the two hundred too should share with them, and demanded to be content with the recovery of their own wives. But David judged this opinion unjust, and declared that the gain should be divided equally among all. And from that time this became a law also, commanding that those who guarded the baggage should share equally in the spoils with those who fought. And when a battle broke out between the Israelites and the Palestinians, very many of the Hebrews are killed, and the three sons of Saul fell, and Saul himself was wounded in the lower abdomen. And knowing that he had been struck mortally and would not live, he told his armor-bearer to run him through, that he might not be taken alive by the enemy. And when he would not do what was commanded, Saul himself fell upon his sword and died. And his armor-bearer, when he saw the king fallen, killed himself also. And on the next day, while the foreigners were stripping the fallen of the Israelites, they came upon the bodies of Saul and his sons on the mountains of Gilboa, and cutting off their heads, they sent them into their own country, making a show of them everywhere and announcing the good news, and they dedicated their armor to their own gods, but crucified the bodies by the wall of Methsam, which was afterward called Scythopolis. But when the inhabitants of the city of Jabesh in Gilead learned what had befallen Saul, the strongest of them went out, and pressing their march through the whole night, they took down the bodies of Saul and Jonathan, and carrying them to Jabesh, they burned them, and gathering the bones, they buried them. And Saul reigned eighteen years while Samuel was still living, and after his death twenty-two.