The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Legends of the Jews, Volume 1, by Louis Ginzberg

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The clay kits for 13 year olds under 30 dollarsLegends of the Jews

by Louis Ginzberg

TRANSLATED PROM THE GERMAN MANUSCRIPT BY
HENRIETTA SZOLD

VOLUME I
BIBLE TIMES AND CHARACTERS
FROM THE CREATION TO JACOB

To
MY BROTHER ASHER

Contents

PREFACE

Was sich nie und nirgends hat begeben, das allein veraltet nie.

The term Rabbinic was applied to the Jewish Literature of post-Biblical timesby those who conceived the Judaism of the later epoch to be something differentfrom the Judaism of the Bible, something actually opposed to it. Such observersheld that the Jewish nation ceased to exist with the moment when its politicalindependence was destroyed. For them the Judaism of the later epoch has been aJudaism of the Synagogue, the spokesmen of which have been the scholars, theRabbis. And what this phase of Judaism brought forth has been considered bythem to be the product of the schools rather than the product of practical,pulsating life. Poetic phantasmagoria, frequently the vaporings of morbidvisionaries, is the material out of which these scholars construct thetheologic system of the Rabbis, and fairy tales, the spontaneous creations ofthe people, which take the form of sacred legend in Jewish literature, aredenominated the Scriptural exegesis of the Rabbis, and condemned incontinentlyas nugae rabbinorum.

As the name of a man clings to him, so men cling to names. For the primitivesavage the name is part of the essence of a person or thing, and even in themore advanced stages of culture, judgments are not always formed in agreementwith facts as they are, but rather according to the names by which they arecalled. The current estimate of Rabbinic Literature is a case in point. Withthe label Rabbinic later ages inherited from former ages a certain distortedview of the literature so designated. To this day, and even among scholars thatapproach its investigation with unprejudiced minds, the opinion prevails thatit is purely a learned product. And yet the truth is that the most prominentfeature of Rabbinic Literature is its popular character.

The school and the home are not mutually opposed to each other in theconception of the Jews. They study in their homes, and they live in theirschools. Likewise there is no distinct class of scholars among them, a classthat withdraws itself from participation in the affairs of practical life. Evenin the domain of the Halakah, the Rabbis were not so much occupied withtheoretic principles of law as with the concrete phenomena of daily existence.These they sought to grasp and shape. And what is true of the Halakah is truewith greater emphasis of the Haggadah, which is popular in the double sense ofappealing to the people and being produced in the main by the people. To speakof the Haggadah of the Tannaim and Amoraim is as far from fact as to speak ofthe legends of Shakespeare and Scott. The ancient authors and their modernbrethren of the guild alike elaborate legendary material which they found athand.

It has been held by some that the Haggadah contains no popular legends, that itis wholly a factitious, academic product. A cursory glance at thepseudepigraphic literature of the Jews, which is older than the Haggadahliterature by several centuries, shows how untenable this view is. That the oneliterature should have drawn from the other is precluded by historical facts.At a very early time the Synagogue disavowed the pseudepigraphic literature,which was the favorite reading matter of the sectaries and the Christians.Nevertheless the inner relation between them is of the closest kind. The onlyessential difference is that the Midrashic form prevails in the Haggadah, andthe parenetic or apocalyptic form in the pseudepigrapha. The common elementmust therefore depart from the Midrash on the one hand and from parenesis onthe other.

Folklore, fairy tales, legends, and all forms of story telling akin to theseare comprehended, in the terminology of the post-Biblical literature of theJews, under the inclusive description Haggadah, a name that can be explained bya circumlocution, but cannot be translated. Whatever it is applied to isthereby characterized first as being derived from the Holy Scriptures, and thenas being of the nature of a story. And, in point of fact, this dualism sums upthe distinguishing features of Jewish Legend. More than eighteen centuries agothe Jewish historian Josephus observed that "though we be deprived of ourwealth, of our cities, or of the other advantages we have, our law continuesimmortal." The word he meant to use was not law, but Torah, only he could notfind an equivalent for it in Greek. A singer of the Synagogue a thousand yearsafter Josephus, who expressed his sentiments in Hebrew, uttered the samethought: "The Holy City and all her daughter cities are violated, they lie inruins, despoiled of their ornaments, their splendor darkened from sight. Naughtis left to us save one eternal treasure alone—the Holy Torah." The sadder thelife of the Jewish people, the more it felt the need of taking refuge in itspast. The Scripture, or, to use the Jewish term, the Torah, was the onlyremnant of its former national independence, and the Torah was the magic meansof making a sordid actuality recede before a glorious memory. To the Scripturewas assigned the task of supplying nourishment to the mind as well as the soul,to the intellect as well as the imagination, and the result is the Halakah andthe Haggadah.

The fancy of the people did not die out in the post-Biblical time, but the bentof its activity was determined by the past.

Men craved entertainment in later times as well as in the earlier, only insteadof resorting for its subject-matter to what happened under their eyes, theydrew from the fountain-head of the past. The events in the ancient history ofIsrael, which was not only studied, but lived over again daily, stimulated thedesire to criticize it. The religious reflections upon nature laid down in themyths of the people, the fairy tales, which have the sole object of pleasing,and the legends, which are the people's verdict upon history—all these werewelded into one product. The fancy of the Jewish people was engaged by the pastreflected in the Bible, and all its creations wear a Biblical hue for thisreason. This explains the peculiar form of the Haggadah.

But what is spontaneously brought forth by the people is often preserved onlyin the form impressed upon it by the feeling and the thought of the poet, or bythe speculations of the learned. Also Jewish legends have rarely beentransmitted in their original shape. They have been perpetuated in the form ofMidrash, that is, Scriptural exegesis. The teachers of the Haggadah, calledRabbanan d'Aggadta in the Talmud, were no folklorists, from whom a faithfulreproduction of legendary material may be expected. Primarily they werehomilists, who used legends for didactic purposes, and their main object was toestablish a close connection between the Scripture and the creations of thepopular fancy, to give the latter a firm basis and secure a long term of lifefor them.

One of the most important tasks of the modern investigation of the Haggadah isto make a clean separation between the original elements and the later learnedadditions. Hardly a beginning has been made in this direction. But as long asthe task of distinguishing them has not been accomplished, it is impossible towrite out the Biblical legends of the Jews without including the supplementalwork of scholars in the products of the popular fancy.

In the present work, "The Legends of the Jews," I have made the first attemptto gather from the original sources all Jewish legends, in so far as they referto Biblical personages and events, and reproduce them with the greatestattainable completeness and accuracy. I use the expression Jewish, rather thanRabbinic, because the sources from which I have levied contributions are notlimited to the Rabbinic literature. As I expect to take occasion elsewhere toenter into a description of the sources in detail, the following data mustsuffice for the present.

The works of the Talmudic Midrashic literature are of the first importance.Covering the period from the second to the fourteenth century, they contain themajor part of the Jewish legendary material. Akin to this in content if notalways in form is that derived from the Targumim, of which the oldest versionswere produced not earlier than the fourth century, and the most recent notlater than the tenth. The Midrashic literature has been preserved only infragmentary form. Many Haggadot not found in our existing collections arequoted by the authors of the Middle Ages. Accordingly, a not inconsiderablenumber of the legends here printed are taken from medieval Bible commentatorsand homilists. I was fortunate in being able to avail myself also of fragmentsof Midrashim of which only manuscript copies are extant.

The works of the older Kabbalah are likewise treasuries of quotations from lostMidrashim, and it was among the Kabbalists, and later among the Hasidim, thatnew legends arose. The literatures produced in these two circles are thereforeof great importance for the present purpose.

Furthermore, Jewish legends can be culled not from the writings of theSynagogue alone; they appear also in those of the Church. Certain Jewish worksrepudiated by the Synagogue were accepted and mothered by the Church. This isthe literature usually denominated apocryphal-pseudepigraphic. From the pointof view of legends, the apocryphal books are of subordinate importance, whilethe pseudepigrapha are of fundamental value. Even quantitatively the latter arean imposing mass. Besides the Greek writings of the Hellenist Jews, theycontain Latin, Syrian, Ethiopic, Aramean, Arabic, Persian, and Old Slavicproducts translated directly or indirectly from Jewish works of Palestinian orHellenistic origin. The use of these pseudepigrapha requires great caution.Nearly all of them are embellished with Christian interpolations, and in somecases the inserted portions have choked the original form so completely that itis impossible to determine at first sight whether a Jewish or a Christianlegend is under examination. I believe, however, that the pseudepigraphicmaterial made use of by me is Jewish beyond the cavil of a doubt, and thereforeit could not have been left out of account in a work like the present.

However, in the appreciation of Jewish Legends, it is the Rabbinic writers thatshould form the point of departure, and not the pseudepigrapha. The formerrepresent the main stream of Jewish thought and feeling, the latter only anundercurrent. If the Synagogue cast out the pseudepigrapha, and the Churchadopted them with a great show of favor, these respective attitudes were notdetermined arbitrarily or by chance. The pseudepigrapha originated in circlesthat harbored the germs from which Christianity developed later on. The Churchcould thus appropriate them as her own with just reason.

In the use of some of the apocryphal and pseudepigraphic writings, I found itexpedient to quote the English translations of them made by others, in so faras they could be brought into accord with the general style of the book, forwhich purpose I permitted myself the liberty of slight verbal changes. Inparticulars, I was guided, naturally, by my own conception of the subject,which the Notes justify in detail.

Besides the pseudepigrapha there are other Jewish sources in Christian garb. Inthe rich literature of the Church Fathers many a Jewish legend lies embalmedwhich one would seek in vain in Jewish books. It was therefore my specialconcern to use the writings of the Fathers to the utmost.

The luxuriant abundance of the material to be presented made it impossible togive a verbal rendition of each legend. This would have required more thanthree times the space at my disposal. I can therefore claim completeness for mywork only as to content. In form it had to suffer curtailment. When severalconflicting versions of the same legend existed, I gave only one in the text,reserving the other one, or the several others, for the Notes, or, whenpracticable, they were fused into one typical legend, the component parts ofwhich are analyzed in the Notes. In other instances I resorted to the expedientof citing one version in one place and the others in other appropriate places,in furtherance of my aim, to give a smooth presentation of the matter, with asfew interruptions to the course of the narrative as possible. For this reason Iavoided such transitional phrases as "Some say," "It has been maintained," etc.That my method sometimes separates things that belong together cannot beconsidered a grave disadvantage, as the Index at the end of the work willpresent a logical rearrangement of the material for the benefit of theinterested student. I also did not hesitate to treat of the same personage indifferent chapters, as, for instance, many of the legends bearing upon Jacob,those connected with the latter years of the Patriarch, do not appear in thechapter bearing his name, but will be found in the sections devoted to Joseph,for the reason that once the son steps upon the scene, he becomes the centralfigure, to which the life and deeds of the father are subordinated. Again, inconsideration of lack of space the Biblical narratives underlying the legendshad to be omitted—surely not a serious omission in a subject with whichwidespread acquaintance may be presupposed as a matter of course.

As a third consequence of the amplitude of the material, it was thoughtadvisable to divide it into several volumes. The references, the explanationsof the sources used, and the interpretations given, and, especially, numerousemendations of the text of the Midrashim and the pseudepigrapha, whichdetermined my conception of the passages so emended, will be found in the lastvolume, the fourth, which will contain also an Introduction to the History ofJewish Legends, a number of Excursuses, and the Index.

As the first three volumes are in the hands of the printer almost in theirentirety, I venture to express the hope that the whole work will appear withinmeasurable time, the parts following each other at short intervals.

LOUIS GINZBERG.

NEW YORK, March 24, 1909

I
THE CREATION OF THE WORLD

THE FIRST THINGS CREATED

In the beginning, two thousand years before the heaven and the earth, seventhings were created: the Torah written with black fire on white fire, and lyingin the lap of God; the Divine Throne, erected in the heaven which later wasover the heads of the Hayyot; Paradise on the right side of God, Hell on theleft side; the Celestial Sanctuary directly in front of God, having a jewel onits altar graven with the Name of the Messiah, and a Voice that cries aloud,"Return, ye children of men."[1]

When God resolved upon the creation of the world, He took counsel with theTorah.[2] Her advice was this: "O Lord, a king without an army and withoutcourtiers and attendants hardly deserves the name of king, for none is nigh toexpress the homage due to him." The answer pleased God exceedingly. Thus did Heteach all earthly kings, by His Divine example, to undertake naught withoutfirst consulting advisers.[3]

The advice of the Torah was given with some reservations. She was skepticalabout the value of an earthly world, on account of the sinfulness of men, whowould be sure to disregard her precepts. But God dispelled her doubts. He toldher, that repentance had been created long before, and sinners would have theopportunity of mending their ways. Besides, the Temple service would beinvested with atoning power, and Paradise and hell were intended to do duty asreward and punishment. Finally, the Messiah was appointed to bring salvation,which would put an end to all sinfulness.[4]

Nor is this world inhabited by man the first of things earthly created by God.He made several worlds before ours, but He destroyed them all, because He waspleased with none until He created ours.[5] But even this last world would havehad no permanence, if God had executed His original plan of ruling it accordingto the principle of strict justice. It was only when He saw that justice byitself would undermine the world that He associated mercy with justice, andmade them to rule jointly.[6] Thus, from the beginning of all things prevailedDivine goodness, without which nothing could have continued to exist. If notfor it, the myriads of evil spirits had soon put an end to the generations ofmen. But the goodness of God has ordained, that in every Nisan, at the time ofthe spring equinox, the seraphim shall approach the world of spirits, andintimidate them so that they fear to do harm to men. Again, if God in Hisgoodness had not given protection to the weak, the tame animals would have beenextirpated long ago by the wild animals. In Tammuz, at the time of the summersolstice, when the strength of behemot is at its height, he roars so loud thatall the animals hear it, and for a whole year they are affrighted and timid,and their acts become less ferocious than their nature is. Again, in Tishri, atthe time of the autumnal equinox, the great bird ziz[7] flaps his wings andutters his cry, so that the birds of prey, the eagles and the vultures, blench,and they fear to swoop down upon the others and annihilate them in their greed.And, again, were it not for the goodness of God, the vast number of big fishhad quickly put an end to the little ones. But at the time of the wintersolstice, in the month of Tebet, the sea grows restless, for then leviathanspouts up water, and the big fish become uneasy. They restrain their appetite,and the little ones escape their rapacity.

Finally, the goodness of God manifests itself in the preservation of His peopleIsrael. It could not have survived the enmity of the Gentiles, if God had notappointed protectors for it, the archangels Michael and Gabriel.[8] WheneverIsrael disobeys God, and is accused of misdemeanors by the angels of the othernations, he is defended by his designated guardians, with such good result thatthe other angels conceive fear of them. Once the angels of the other nationsare terrified, the nations themselves venture not to carry out their wickeddesigns against Israel.

That the goodness of God may rule on earth as in heaven, the Angels ofDestruction are assigned a place at the far end of the heavens, from which theymay never stir, while the Angels of Mercy encircle the Throne of God, at Hisbehest.[9]

THE ALPHABET

When God was about to create the world by His word, the twenty-two letters ofthe alphabet[10] descended from the terrible and august crown of God whereonthey were engraved with a pen of flaming fire. They stood round about God, andone after the other spake and entreated, "Create the world through me!" Thefirst to step forward was the letter Taw. It said: "O Lord of the world! May itbe Thy will to create Thy world through me, seeing that it is through me thatThou wilt give the Torah to Israel by the hand of Moses, as it is written,'Moses commanded us the Torah.'" The Holy One, blessed be He, made reply, andsaid, "No!" Taw asked, "Why not?" and God answered: "Because in days to come Ishall place thee as a sign of death upon the foreheads of men." As soon as Tawheard these words issue from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, itretired from His presence disappointed.

The Shin then stepped forward, and pleaded: "O Lord of the world, create Thyworld through me: seeing that Thine own name Shaddai begins with me."Unfortunately, it is also the first letter of Shaw, lie, and of Sheker,falsehood, and that incapacitated it. Resh had no better luck. It was pointedout that it was the initial letter of Ra', wicked, and Rasha' evil, and afterthat the distinction it enjoys of being the first letter in the Name of God,Rahum, the Merciful, counted for naught. The Kof was rejected, because Kelalah,curse, outweighs the advantage of being the first in Kadosh, the Holy One. Invain did Zadde call attention to Zaddik, the Righteous One; there was Zarot,the misfortunes of Israel, to testify against it. Pe had Podeh, redeemer, toits credit, but Pesha: transgression, reflected dishonor upon it. 'Ain wasdeclared unfit, because, though it begins 'Anawah, humility, it performs thesame service for 'Erwah, immorality. Samek said: "O Lord, may it be Thy will tobegin the creation with me, for Thou art called Samek, after me, the Upholderof all that fall." But God said: "Thou art needed in the place in which thouart;[11] thou must continue to uphold all that fall." Nun introduces Ner, "thelamp of the Lord," which is "the spirit of men," but it also introduces Ner,"the lamp of the wicked," which will be put out by God. Mem starts Melek, king,one of the titles of God. As it is the first letter of Mehumah, confusion, aswell, it had no chance of accomplishing its desire. The claim of Lamed bore itsrefutation within itself. It advanced the argument that it was the first letterof Luhot, the celestial tables for the Ten Commandments; it forgot that thetables were shivered in pieces by Moses. Kaf was sure of victory Kisseh, thethrone of God, Kabod, His honor, and Keter, His crown, all begin with it. Godhad to remind it that He would smite together His hands, Kaf, in despair overthe misfortunes of Israel. Yod at first sight seemed the appropriate letter forthe beginning of creation, on account of its association with Yah, God, if onlyYezer ha-Ra' the evil inclination, had not happened to begin with it, too. Tetis identified with Tob, the good. However, the truly good is not in this world;it belongs to the world to come. Het is the first letter of Hanun, the GraciousOne; but this advantage is offset by its place in the word for sin, Hattat.Zain suggests Zakor, remembrance, but it is itself the word for weapon, thedoer of mischief. Waw and He compose the Ineffable Name of God; they aretherefore too exalted to be pressed into the service of the mundane world. IfDalet had stood only for Dabar, the Divine Word, it would have been used, butit stands also for Din, justice, and under the rule of law without love theworld would have fallen to ruin. Finally, in spite of reminding one of Gadol,great, Gimel would not do, because Gemul, retribution, starts with it.

After the claims of all these letters had been disposed of, Bet stepped beforethe Holy One, blessed be He, and pleaded before Him: "O Lord of the world! Mayit be Thy will to create Thy world through me, seeing that all the dwellers inthe world give praise daily unto Thee through me, as it is said, 'Blessed bethe Lord forever. Amen, and Amen.'" The Holy One, blessed be He, at oncegranted the petition of Bet. He said, "Blessed be he that cometh in the name ofthe Lord." And He created His world through Bet, as it is said, "Bereshit Godcreated the heaven and the earth." The only letter that had refrained fromurging its claims was the modest Alef, and God rewarded it later for itshumility by giving it the first place in the Decalogue.[12]

THE FIRST DAY

On the first day of creation God produced ten things:[13] the heavens and theearth, Tohu and Bohu, light and darkness, wind and water, the duration of theday[14] and the duration of the night.[15]

Though the heavens and the earth consist of entirely different elements,[16]they were yet created as a unit, "like the pot and its cover."[17] The heavenswere fashioned from the light of God's garment, and the earth from the snowunder the Divine Throne.[18] Tohu is a green band which encompasses the wholeworld, and dispenses darkness, and Bohu consists of stones in the abyss, theproducers of the waters. The light created at the very beginning is not thesame as the light emitted by the sun, the moon, and the stars, which appearedonly on the fourth day. The light of the first day was of a sort that wouldhave enabled man to see the world at a glance from one end to the other.Anticipating the wickedness of the sinful generations of the deluge and theTower of Babel, who were unworthy to enjoy the blessing of such light, Godconcealed it, but in the world to come it will appear to the pious in all itspristine glory.[19]

Several heavens were created,[20] seven in fact,[21] each to serve a purpose ofits own. The first, the one visible to man, has no function except that ofcovering up the light during the night time; therefore it disappears everymorning. The planets are fastened to the second of the heavens; in the thirdthe manna is made for the pious in the hereafter; the fourth contains thecelestial Jerusalem together with the Temple, in which Michael ministers ashigh priest, and offers the souls of the pious as sacrifices. In the fifthheaven, the angel hosts reside, and sing the praise of God, though only duringthe night, for by day it is the task of Israel on earth to give glory to God onhigh. The sixth heaven is an uncanny spot; there originate most of the trialsand visitations ordained for the earth and its inhabitants. Snow lies heaped upthere and hail; there are lofts full of noxious dew, magazines stocked withstorms, and cellars holding reserves of smoke. Doors of fire separate thesecelestial chambers, which are under the supervision of the archangel Metatron.Their pernicious contents defiled the heavens until David's time. The piousking prayed God to purge His exalted dwelling of whatever was pregnant withevil; it was not becoming that such things should exist near the Merciful One.Only then they were removed to the earth.

The seventh heaven, on the other hand, contains naught but what is good andbeautiful: right, justice, and mercy, the storehouses of life, peace, andblessing, the souls of the pious, the souls and spirits of unborn generations,the dew with which God will revive the dead on the resurrection day, and, aboveall, the Divine Throne, surrounded by the seraphim, the ofanim, the holyHayyot, and the ministering angels.[22]

Corresponding to the seven heavens, God created seven earths, each separatedfrom the next by five layers. Over the lowest earth, the seventh, called Erez,lie in succession the abyss, the Tohu, the Bohu, a sea, and waters.[23] Thenthe sixth[24] earth is reached, the Adamah, the scene of the magnificence ofGod. In the same way the Adamah is separated from the fifth earth, the Arka,which contains Gehenna, and Sha'are Mawet, and Sha'are Zalmawet, and BeerShahat, and Tit ha-Yawen, and Abaddon, and Sheol,[25] and there the souls ofthe wicked are guarded by the Angels of Destruction. In the same way Arka isfollowed by Harabah, the dry, the place of brooks and streams in spite of itsname, as the next, called Yabbashah, the mainland, contains the rivers and thesprings. Tebel, the second earth, is the first mainland inhabited by livingcreatures, three hundred and sixty-five species,[26] all essentially differentfrom those of our own earth. Some have human heads set on the body of a lion,or a serpent, or an ox; others have human bodies topped by the head of one ofthese animals. Besides, Tebel is inhabited by human beings with two heads andfour hands and feet, in fact with all their organs doubled excepting only thetrunk.[27] It happens sometimes that the parts of these double persons quarrelwith each other, especially while eating and drinking, when each claims thebest and largest portions for himself. This species of mankind is distinguishedfor great piety, another difference between it and the inhabitants of ourearth.

Our own earth is called Heled, and, like the others, it is separated from theTebel by an abyss, the Tohu, the Bohu, a sea, and waters.

Thus one earth rises above the other, from the first to the seventh, and overthe seventh earth the heavens are vaulted, from the first to the seventh, thelast of them attached to the arm of God. The seven heavens form a unity, theseven kinds of earth form a unity, and the heavens and the earth together alsoform a unity.[28]

When God made our present heavens and our present earth, "the new heavens andthe new earth"[29] were also brought forth, yea, and the hundred and ninety-sixthousand worlds which God created unto His Own glory.[30]

It takes five hundred years to walk from the earth to the heavens, and from oneend of a heaven to the other, and also from one heaven to the next,[31] and ittakes the same length of time to travel from the east to the west, or from thesouth to the north.[32] Of all this vast world only one-third is inhabited, theother two-thirds being equally divided between water and waste desert land.

Beyond the inhabited parts to the east is Paradise[33] with its sevendivisions, each assigned to the pious of a certain degree. The ocean issituated to the west, and it is dotted with islands upon islands, inhabited bymany different peoples. Beyond it, in turn, are the boundless steppes full ofserpents and scorpions, and destitute of every sort of vegetation, whetherherbs or trees. To the north are the supplies of hell-fire, of snow, hail,smoke, ice, darkness, and windstorms, and in that vicinity sojourn all sorts ofdevils, demons, and malign spirits. Their dwelling-place is a great stretch ofland, it would take five hundred years to traverse it. Beyond lies hell. To thesouth is the chamber containing reserves of fire, the cave of smoke, and theforge of blasts and hurricanes.[34] Thus it comes that the wind blowing fromthe south brings heat and sultriness to the earth. Were it not for the angelBen Nez, the Winged, who keeps the south wind back with his pinions, the worldwould be consumed.[35] Besides, the fury of its blast is tempered by the northwind, which always appears as moderator, whatever other wind may beblowing.[36]

In the east, the west, and the south, heaven and earth touch each other, butthe north God left unfinished, that any man who announced himself as a godmight be set the task of supplying the deficiency, and stand convicted as apretender.[37]

The construction of the earth was begun at the centre, with the foundationstone of the Temple, the Eben Shetiyah,[38] for the Holy Land is at the centralpoint of the surface of the earth, Jerusalem is at the central point ofPalestine, and the Temple is situated at the centre of the Holy City. In thesanctuary itself the Hekal is the centre, and the holy Ark occupies the centreof the Hekal, built on the foundation stone, which thus is at the centre of theearth.[39] Thence issued the first ray of light, piercing to the Holy Land, andfrom there illuminating the whole earth.[40] The creation of the world,however, could not take place until God had banished the ruler of the dark.[41]"Retire," God said to him, "for I desire to create the world by means oflight." Only after the light had been fashioned, darkness arose, the lightruling in the sky, the darkness on the earth.[42] The power of God displayeditself not only in the creation of the world of things, but equally in thelimitations which He imposed upon each. The heavens and the earth stretchedthemselves out in length and breadth as though they aspired to infinitude, andit required the word of God to call a halt to their encroachments.[43]

THE SECOND DAY

On the second day God brought forth four creations, the firmament, hell, fire,and the angels.[44] The firmament is not the same as the heavens of the firstday. It is the crystal stretched forth over the heads of the Hayyot, from whichthe heavens derive their light, as the earth derives its light from the sun.This firmament saves the earth from being engulfed by the waters of theheavens; it forms the partition between the waters above and the watersbelow.[45] It was made to crystallize into the solid it is by the heavenlyfire, which broke its bounds, and condensed the surface of the firmament. Thusfire made a division between the celestial and the terrestrial at the time ofcreation, as it did at the revelation on Mount Sinai.[46] The firmament is notmore than three fingers thick,[47] nevertheless it divides two such heavybodies as the waters below, which are the foundations for the nether world, andthe waters above, which are the foundations for the seven heavens, the DivineThrone, and the abode of the angels.[48]

The separation of the waters into upper and lower waters was the only act ofthe sort done by God in connection with the work of creation.[49] All otheracts were unifying. It therefore caused some difficulties. When God commanded,"Let the waters be gathered together, unto one place, and let the dry landappear," certain parts refused to obey. They embraced each other all the moreclosely. In His wrath at the waters, God determined to let the whole ofcreation resolve itself into chaos again. He summoned the Angel of the Face,and ordered him to destroy the world. The angel opened his eyes wide, andscorching fires and thick clouds rolled forth from them, while he cried out,"He who divides the Red Sea in sunder!"—and the rebellious waters stood. Theall, however, was still in danger of destruction. Then began the singer ofGod's praises: "O Lord of the world, in days to come Thy creatures will singpraises without end to Thee, they will bless Thee boundlessly, and they willglorify Thee without measure. Thou wilt set Abraham apart from all mankind asThine own; one of his sons Thou wilt call 'My first-born'; and his descendantswill take the yoke of Thy kingdom upon themselves. In holiness and purity Thouwilt bestow Thy Torah upon them, with the words, 'I am the Lord your God,'whereunto they will make answer, 'All that God hath spoken we will do.' And nowI beseech Thee, have pity upon Thy world, destroy it not, for if Thoudestroyest it, who will fulfil Thy will?" God was pacified; He withdrew thecommand ordaining the destruction of the world, but the waters He put under themountains, to remain there forever.[50] The objection of the lower waters todivision and Separation[51] was not their only reason for rebelling. The watershad been the first to give praise to God, and when their separation into upperand lower was decreed, the waters above rejoiced, saying, "Blessed are we whoare privileged to abide near our Creator and near His Holy Throne." Jubilatingthus, they flew upward, and uttered song and praise to the Creator of theworld. Sadness fell upon the waters below. They lamented: "Woe unto us, we havenot been found worthy to dwell in the presence of God, and praise Him togetherwith our companions." Therefore they attempted to rise upward, until Godrepulsed them, and pressed them under the earth.[52] Yet they were not leftunrewarded for their loyalty. Whenever the waters above desire to give praiseto God, they must first seek permission from the waters below.[53]

The second day of creation was an untoward day in more than the one respectthat it introduced a breach where before there had been nothing but unity; forit was the day that saw also the creation of hell. Therefore God could not sayof this day as of the others, that He "saw that it was good." A division may benecessary, but it cannot be called good, and hell surely does not deserve theattribute of good.[54] Hell[55] has seven divisions,[36] one beneath the other.They are called Sheol, Abaddon, Beer Shahat, Tit ha-Yawen, Sha'are Mawet,Sha'are Zalmawet: and Gehenna. It requires three hundred years to traverse theheight, or the width, or the depth of each division, and it would take sixthousand three hundred[37] years to go over a tract of land equal in extent tothe seven divisions.[38]

Each of the seven divisions in turn has seven subdivisions, and in eachcompartment there are seven rivers of fire and seven of hail. The width of eachis one thousand ells, its depth one thousand, and its length three hundred, andthey flow one from the other, and are supervised by ninety thousand Angels ofDestruction. There are, besides, in every compartment seven thousand caves, inevery cave there are seven thousand crevices, and in every crevice seventhousand scorpions. Every scorpion has three hundred rings, and in every ringseven thousand pouches of venom, from which flow seven rivers of deadly poison.If a man handles it, he immediately bursts, every limb is torn from his body,his bowels are cleft asunder, and he falls upon his face.[56] There are alsofive different kinds of fire in hell. One devours and absorbs, another devoursand does not absorb, while the third absorbs and does not devour, and there isstill another fire, which neither devours nor absorbs, and furthermore a firewhich devours fire. There are coals big as mountains, and coals big as hills,and coals as large as the Dead Sea, and coals like huge stones, and there arerivers of pitch and sulphur flowing and seething like live coals.[60]

The third creation of the second day was the angel hosts, both the ministeringangels and the angels of praise. The reason they had not been called into beingon the first day was, lest men believe that the angels assisted God in thecreation of the heavens and the earth.[61] The angels that are fashioned fromfire have forms of fire,[62] but only so long as they remain in heaven. Whenthey descend to earth, to do the bidding of God here below, either they arechanged into wind, or they assume the guise of men.[63] There are ten ranks ordegrees among the angels.[64]

The most exalted in rank are those surrounding the Divine Throne on all sides,to the right, to the left, in front, and behind, under the leadership of thearchangels Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael.[65]

All the celestial beings praise God with the words, "Holy, holy, holy, is theLord of hosts," but men take precedence of the angels herein. They may notbegin their song of praise until the earthly beings have brought their homageto God.[66] Especially Israel is preferred to the angels. When they encirclethe Divine Throne in the form of fiery mountains and flaming hills, and attemptto raise their voices in adoration of the Creator, God silences them with thewords, "Keep quiet until I have heard the songs, praises, prayers, and sweetmelodies of Israel." Accordingly, the ministering angels and all the othercelestial hosts wait until the last tones of Israel's doxologies rising aloftfrom earth have died away, and then they proclaim in a loud voice, "Holy, holy,holy, is the Lord of hosts." When the hour for the glorification of God by theangels draws nigh, the august Divine herald, the angel Sham'iel, steps to thewindows[67] of the lowest heaven to hearken to the songs, prayers, and praisesthat ascend from the synagogues and the houses of learning, and when they arefinished, he announces the end to the angels in all the heavens. Theministering angels, those who come in contact with the sublunary world,[68] nowrepair to their chambers to take their purification bath. They dive into astream of fire and flame seven times, and three hundred and sixty-five timesthey examine themselves carefully, to make sure that no taint clings to theirbodies.[69] Only then they feel privileged to mount the fiery ladder and jointhe angels of the seventh heaven, and surround the throne of God with Hashmaland all the holy Hayyot. Adorned with millions of fiery crowns, arrayed infiery garments, all the angels in unison, in the same words, and with the samemelody, intone songs of praise to God.[70]

THE THIRD DAY

Up to this time the earth was a plain, and wholly covered with water. Scarcelyhad the words of God, "Let the waters be gathered together," made themselvesheard, when mountains appeared all over and hills,[71] and the water collectedin the deep-lying basins. But the water was recalcitrant, it resisted the orderto occupy the lowly spots, and threatened to overflow the earth, until Godforced it back into the sea, and encircled the sea with sand. Now, whenever thewater is tempted to transgress its bounds, it beholds the sand, andrecoils.[72]

The waters did but imitate their chief Rahab, the Angel of the Sea, whorebelled at the creation of the world. God had commanded Rahab to take in thewater. But he refused, saying, "I have enough." The punishment for hisdisobedience was death. His body rests in the depths of the sea, the waterdispelling the foul odor that emanates from it.[73]

The main creation of the third day was the realm of plants, the terrestrialplants as well as the plants of Paradise. First of all the cedars of Lebanonand the other great trees were made. In their pride at having been put first,they shot up high in the air. They considered themselves the favored amongplants. Then God spake, "I hate arrogance and pride, for I alone am exalted,and none beside," and He created the iron on the same day, the substance withwhich trees are felled down. The trees began to weep, and when God asked thereason of their tears, they said: "We cry because Thou hast created the iron touproot us therewith. All the while we had thought ourselves the highest of theearth, and now the iron, our destroyer, has been called into existence." Godreplied: "You yourselves will furnish the axe with a handle. Without yourassistance the iron will not be able to do aught against you."[74]

The command to bear seed after their kind was given to the trees alone. But thevarious sorts of grass reasoned, that if God had not desired divisionsaccording to classes, He would not have instructed the trees to bear fruitafter their kind with the seed thereof in it, especially as trees are inclinedof their own accord to divide themselves into species. The grasses thereforereproduced themselves also after their kinds. This prompted the exclamation ofthe Prince of the World, "Let the glory of the Lord endure forever; let theLord rejoice in His works."[75]

The most important work done on the third day was the creation of Paradise. Twogates of carbuncle form the entrance to Paradise,[76] and sixty myriads ofministering angels keep watch over them. Each of these angels shines with thelustre of the heavens. When the just man appears before the gates, the clothesin which he was buried are taken off him, and the angels array him in sevengarments of clouds of glory, and place upon his head two crowns, one ofprecious stones and pearls, the other of gold of Parvaim,[77] and they puteight myrtles in his hand, and they utter praises before him and say to him,"Go thy way, and eat thy bread with joy." And they lead him to a place full ofrivers, surrounded by eight hundred kinds of roses and myrtles. Each one has acanopy according to his merits,[78] and under it flow four rivers, one of milk,the other of balsam, the third of wine, and the fourth of honey. Every canopyis overgrown by a vine of gold, and thirty pearls hang from it, each of themshining like Venus. Under each canopy there is a table of precious stones andpearls, and sixty angels stand at the head of every just man, saying unto him:"Go and eat with joy of the honey, for thou hast busied thyself with the Torah,and she is sweeter than honey, and drink of the wine preserved in the grapesince the six days of creation,[79] for thou hast busied thyself with theTorah, and she is compared to wine." The least fair of the just is beautiful asJoseph and Rabbi Johanan, and as the grains of a silver pomegranate upon whichfall the rays of the sun.[80] There is no light, "for the light of therighteous is the shining light." And they undergo four transformations everyday, passing through four states. In the first the righteous is changed into achild. He enters the division for children, and tastes the joys of childhood.Then he is changed into a youth, and enters the division for the youths, withwhom he enjoys the delights of youth. Next he becomes an adult, in the prime oflife, and he enters the division of men, and enjoys the pleasures of manhood.Finally, he is changed into an old man. He enters the division for the old, andenjoys the pleasures of age.

There are eighty myriads of trees in every corner of Paradise, the meanestamong them choicer than all the spice trees. In every corner there are sixtymyriads of angels singing with sweet voices, and the tree of life stands in themiddle and shades the whole of Paradise.[81] It has fifteen thousand tastes,each different from the other, and the perfumes thereof vary likewise. Over ithang seven clouds of glory, and winds blow upon it from all four sides,[82] sothat its odor is wafted from one end of the world to the other. Underneath sitthe scholars and explain the Torah. Over each of them two canopies are spread,one of stars, the other of sun and moon, and a curtain of clouds of gloryseparates the one canopy from the other.[83] Beyond Paradise begins Eden,containing three hundred and ten worlds[84] and seven compartments for sevendifferent classes of the pious. In the first are "the martyr victims of thegovernment," like Rabbi Akiba and his colleagues;[85] in the second those whowere drowned;[86] in the third[87] Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai and his disciples;in the fourth those who were carried off in the cloud of glory;[88] in thefifth the penitents, who occupy a place which even a perfectly pious man cannotobtain; in the sixth are the youths[89] who have not tasted of sin in theirlives; in the seventh are those poor who studied Bible and Mishnah, and led alife of self-respecting decency. And God sits in the midst of them and expoundsthe Torah to them.[90]

As for the seven divisions of Paradise, each of them is twelve myriads of milesin width and twelve myriads of miles in length. In the first division dwell theproselytes who embraced Judaism of their own free will, not from compulsion.The walls are of glass and the wainscoting of cedar. The prophet Obadiah,[91]himself a proselyte, is the overseer of this first division. The seconddivision is built of silver, and the wainscoting thereof is of cedar. Heredwell those who have repented, and Manasseh, the penitent son of Hezekiah,presides over them. The third division is built of silver and gold. Here dwellAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the Israelites who came out of Egypt, andthe whole generation that lived in the desert.[92] Also David is there,together with all his sons[93] except Absalom, one of them, Chileab, stillalive. And all the kings of Judah are there, with the exception of Manasseh,the son of Hezekiah, who presides in the second division, over the penitents.Moses and Aaron preside over the third division. Here are precious vessels ofsilver and gold and jewels and canopies and beds and thrones and lamps, ofgold, of precious stones, and of pearls, the best of everything there is inheaven.[94] The fourth division is built of beautiful rubies,[95] and itswainscoting is of olive wood. Here dwell the perfect and the steadfast infaith, and their wainscoting is of olive wood, because their lives were bitteras olives to them. The fifth division is built of silver and gold and refinedgold,[96] and the finest of gold and glass and bdellium, and through the midstof it flows the river Gihon. The wainscoting is of silver and gold, and aperfume breathes through it more exquisite than the perfume of Lebanon. Thecoverings of the silver and gold beds are made of purple and blue, woven byEve, and of scarlet and the hair of goats, woven by angels. Here dwells theMessiah on a palanquin made of the wood of Lebanon, "the pillars thereof ofsilver, the bottom of gold, the seat of it purple." With him is Elijah. Hetakes the head of Messiah, and places it in his bosom, and says to him, "Bequiet, for the end draweth nigh." On every Monday and Thursday and on Sabbathsand holidays, the Patriarchs come to him, and the twelve sons of Jacob, andMoses, Aaron, David, Solomon, and all the kings of Israel and of Judah, andthey weep with him and comfort him, and say unto him, "Be quiet and put trustin thy Creator, for the end draweth nigh." Also Korah and his company, andDathan, Abiram, and Absalom come to him on every Wednesday, and ask him: "Howlong before the end comes full of wonders? When wilt thou bring us life again,and from the abysses of the earth lift us?" The Messiah answers them, "Go toyour fathers and ask them"; and when they hear this, they are ashamed, and donot ask their fathers.

In the sixth division dwell those who died in performing a pious act, and inthe seventh division those who died from illness inflicted as an expiation forthe sins of Israel.[97]

THE FOURTH DAY

The fourth day of creation produced the sun, the moon, and the stars. Theseheavenly spheres were not actually fashioned on this day; they were created onthe first day, and merely were assigned their places in the heavens on thefourth.[98] At first the sun and the moon enjoyed equal powers andprerogatives.[99] The moon spoke to God, and said: "O Lord, why didst Thoucreate the world with the letter Bet?" God replied: "That it might be madeknown unto My creatures that there are two worlds." The moon: "O Lord: which ofthe two worlds is the larger, this world or the world to come?" God: "The worldto come is the larger." The moon: "O Lord, Thou didst create two worlds, agreater and a lesser world; Thou didst create the heaven and the earth, theheaven exceeding the earth; Thou didst create fire and water, the waterstronger than the fire, because it can quench the fire; and now Thou hastcreated the sun and the moon, and it is becoming that one of them should begreater than the other." Then spake God to the moon: "I know well, thou wouldsthave me make Thee greater than the sun. As a punishment I decree that thoumayest keep but one-sixtieth of thy light." The moon made supplication: "ShallI be punished so severely for having spoken a single word?" God relented: "Inthe future world I will restore thy light, so that thy light may again be asthe light of the sun." The moon was not yet satisfied. "O Lord," she said, "andthe light of the sun, how great will it be in that day?" Then the wrath of Godwas once more enkindled: "What, thou still plottest against the sun? As thoulivest, in the world to come his light shall be sevenfold the light he nowsheds."[100] The Sun runs his course like a bridegroom. He sits upon a thronewith a garland on his head.[101] Ninety-six angels accompany him on his dailyjourney, in relays of eight every hour, two to the left of him, and two to theright, two before Him, and two behind. Strong as he is, he could complete hiscourse from south to north in a single instant, but three hundred andsixty-five angels restrain him by means of as many grappling-irons. Every dayone looses his hold, and the sun must thus spend three hundred and sixty-fivedays on his course. The progress of the sun in his circuit is an uninterruptedsong of praise to God. And this song alone makes his motion possible.Therefore, when Joshua wanted to bid the sun stand still, he had to command himto be silent. His song of praise hushed, the sun stood still.[102]

The sun is double-faced; one face, of fire, is directed toward the earth, andone of hail, toward heaven, to cool off the prodigious heat that streams fromthe other face, else the earth would catch afire. In winter the sun turns hisfiery face upward, and thus the cold is produced.[103] When the sun descends inthe west in the evening, he dips down into the ocean and takes a bath, his fireis extinguished, and therefore he dispenses neither light nor warmth during thenight. But as soon as he reaches the east in the morning, he laves himself in astream of flame, which imparts warmth and light to him, and these he sheds overthe earth. In the same way the moon and the stars take a bath in a stream ofhail before they enter upon their service for the night.[104]

When the sun and the moon are ready to start upon their round of duties, theyappear before God, and beseech him to relieve them of their task, so that theymay be spared the sight of sinning mankind. Only upon compulsion they proceedwith their daily course. Coming from the presence of God, they are blinded bythe radiance in the heavens, and they cannot find their way. God, therefore,shoots off arrows, by the glittering light of which they are guided. It is onaccount of the sinfulness of man, which the sun is forced to contemplate on hisrounds, that he grows weaker as the time of his going down approaches, for sinshave a defiling and enfeebling effect, and he drops from the horizon as asphere of blood, for blood is the sign of corruption.[105] As the sun setsforth on his course in the morning, his wings touch the leaves on the trees ofParadise, and their vibration is communicated to the angels and the holyHayyot, to the other plants, and also to the trees and plants on earth, and toall the beings on earth and in heaven. It is the signal for them all to casttheir eyes upward. As soon as they see the Ineffable Name, which is engraved inthe sun, they raise their voices in songs of praise to God. At the same momenta heavenly voice is heard to say, "Woe to the sons of men that consider not thehonor of God like unto these creatures whose voices now rise aloft inadoration."[106] These words, naturally, are not heard by men; as little asthey perceive the grating of the sun against the wheel to which all thecelestial bodies are attached, although the noise it makes is extraordinarilyloud.[107] This friction of the sun and the wheel produces the motes dancingabout in the sunbeams. They are the carriers of healing to the sick,[108] theonly health-giving creations of the fourth day, on the whole an unfortunateday, especially for children, afflicting them with disease.[109] When Godpunished the envious moon by diminishing her light and splendor, so that sheceased to be the equal of the sun as she had been originally,[110] shefell,[111] and tiny threads were loosed from her body. These are thestars.[112]

THE FIFTH DAY

On the fifth day of creation God took fire[118] and water, and out of these twoelements He made the fishes of the sea.[114] The animals in the water are muchmore numerous than those on land. For every species on land, excepting only theweasel, there is a corresponding species in the water, and, besides, there aremany found only in the water.[115]

The ruler over the sea-animals is leviathan.[116] With all the other fishes hewas made on the fifth day.[117] Originally he was created male and female likeall the other animals. But when it appeared that a pair of these monsters mightannihilate the whole earth with their united strength, God killed thefemale.[119] So enormous is leviathan that to quench his thirst he needs allthe water that flows from the Jordan into the sea.[119] His food consists ofthe fish which go between his jaws of their own accord.[120] When he is hungry,a hot breath blows from his nostrils, and it makes the waters of the great seaseething hot. Formidable though behemot, the other monster, is, he feelsinsecure until he is certain that leviathan has satisfied his thirst.[121] Theonly thing that can keep him in check is the stickleback, a little fish whichwas created for the purpose, and of which he stands in great awe.[122] Butleviathan is more than merely large and strong; he is wonderfully made besides.His fins radiate brilliant light, the very sun is obscured by it,[123] and alsohis eyes shed such splendor that frequently the sea is illuminated suddenly byit.[121] No wonder that this marvellous beast is the plaything of God, in whomHe takes His pastime.[124]

There is but one thing that makes leviathan repulsive, his foul smell: which isso strong that if it penetrated thither, it would render Paradise itself animpossible abode.[125]

The real purpose of leviathan is to be served up as a dainty to the pious inthe world to come. The female was put into brine as soon as she was killed, tobe preserved against the time when her flesh will be needed.[126] The male isdestined to offer a delectable sight to all beholders before he is consumed.When his last hour arrives, God will summon the angels to enter into combatwith the monster. But no sooner will leviathan cast his glance at them thanthey will flee in fear and dismay from the field of battle. They will return tothe charge with swords, but in vain, for his scales can turn back steel likestraw. They will be equally unsuccessful when they attempt to kill him bythrowing darts and slinging stones; such missiles will rebound without leavingthe least impression on his body. Disheartened, the angels will give up thecombat, and God will command leviathan and behemot to enter into a duel witheach other. The issue will be that both will drop dead, behemot slaughtered bya blow of leviathan's fins, and leviathan killed by a lash of behemot's tail.From the skin of leviathan God will construct tents to shelter companies of thepious while they enjoy the dishes made of his flesh. The amount assigned toeach of the pious will be in proportion to his deserts, and none will envy orbegrudge the other his better share. What is left of leviathan's skin will bestretched out over Jerusalem as a canopy, and the light streaming from it willillumine the whole world, and what is left of his flesh after the pious haveappeased their appetite, will be distributed among the rest of men, to carry ontraffic therewith.[127]

On the same day with the fishes, the birds were created, for these two kinds ofanimals are closely related to each other. Fish are fashioned out of water, andbirds out of marshy ground saturated with water.[128]

As leviathan is the king of fishes, so the ziz is appointed to rule over thebirds.[129] His name comes from the variety of tastes his flesh has; it tasteslike this, zeh, and like that, zeh.[130] The ziz is as monstrous of size asleviathan himself. His ankles rest on the earth, and his head reaches to thevery sky.[121]

It once happened that travellers on a vessel noticed a bird. As he stood in thewater, it merely covered his feet, and his head knocked against the sky. Theonlookers thought the water could not have any depth at that point, and theyprepared to take a bath there. A heavenly voice warned them: "Alight not here!Once a carpenter's axe slipped from his hand at this spot, and it took it sevenyears to touch bottom." The bird the travellers saw was none other than theziz.[132] His wings are so huge that unfurled they darken the sun.[133] Theyprotect the earth against the storms of the south; without their aid the earthwould not be able to resist the winds blowing thence.[134] Once an egg of theziz fell to the ground and broke. The fluid from it flooded sixty cities, andthe shock crushed three hundred cedars. Fortunately such accidents do not occurfrequently. As a rule the bird lets her eggs slide gently into her nest. Thisone mishap was due to the fact that the egg was rotten, and the bird cast itaway carelessly. The ziz has another name, Renanin,[135] because he is thecelestial singer.[136] On account of his relation to the heavenly regions he isalso called Sekwi, the seer, and, besides, he is called "son of the nest,"[137]because his fledgling birds break away from the shell without being hatched bythe mother bird; they spring directly from the nest, as it were.[138] Likeleviathan, so ziz is a delicacy to be served to the pious at the end of time,to compensate them for the privations which abstaining from the unclean fowlsimposed upon them.[139]

THE SIXTH DAY

As the fish were formed out of water, and the birds out of boggy earth wellmixed with water, so the mammals were formed out of solid earth,[140] and asleviathan is the most notable representative of the fish kind, and ziz of thebird kind, so behemot is the most notable representative of the mammal kind.Behemot matches leviathan in strength, and he had to be prevented, likeleviathan, from multiplying and increasing, else the world could not havecontinued to exist; after God had created him male and female, He at oncedeprived him of the desire to propagate his kind.[141] He is so monstrous thathe requires the produce of a thousand mountains for his daily food. All thewater that flows through the bed of the Jordan in a year suffices him exactlyfor one gulp. It therefore was necessary to give him one stream entirely forhis own use, a stream flowing forth from Paradise, called Yubal.[142] Behemot,too, is destined to be served to the pious as an appetizing dainty, but beforethey enjoy his flesh, they will be permitted to view the mortal combat betweenleviathan and behemot, as a reward for having denied themselves the pleasuresof the circus and its gladiatorial contests.[143]

Leviathan, ziz, and behemot are not the only monsters; there are many others,and marvellous ones, like the reem, a giant animal, of which only one couple,male and female, is in existence. Had there been more, the world could hardlyhave maintained itself against them. The act of copulation occurs but once inseventy years between them, for God has so ordered it that the male and femalereem are at opposite ends of the earth, the one in the east, the other in thewest. The act of copulation results in the death of the male. He is bitten bythe female and dies of the bite. The female becomes pregnant and remains inthis state for no less than twelve years. At the end of this long period shegives birth to twins, a male and a female. The year preceding her delivery sheis not able to move. She would die of hunger, were it not that her own spittleflowing copiously from her mouth waters and fructifies the earth near her, andcauses it to bring forth enough for her maintenance. For a whole year theanimal can but roll from side to side, until finally her belly bursts, and thetwins issue forth. Their appearance is thus the signal for the death of themother reem. She makes room for the new generation, which in turn is destinedto suffer the same fate as the generation that went before. Immediately afterbirth, the one goes eastward and the other westward, to meet only after thelapse of seventy years, propagate themselves, and perish.[144] A traveller whoonce saw a reem one day old described its height to be four parasangs, and thelength of its head one parasang and a half.[145] Its horns measure one hundredells, and their height is a great deal more.[146]

One of the most remarkable creatures is the "man of the mountain," Adne Sadeh,or, briefly, Adam.[147] His form is exactly that of a human being, but he isfastened to the ground by means of a navel-string, upon which his life depends.The cord once snapped, he dies. This animal keeps himself alive with what isproduced by the soil around about him as far as his tether permits him tocrawl. No creature may venture to approach within the radius of his cord, forhe seizes and demolishes whatever comes in his reach. To kill him, one may notgo near to him, the navel-string must be severed from a distance by means of adart, and then he dies amid groans and moans.[143] Once upon a time a travellerhappened in the region where this animal is found. He overheard his hostconsult his wife as to what to do to honor their guest, and resolve to serve"our man," as he said. Thinking he had fallen among cannibals, the stranger ranas fast as his feet could carry him from his entertainer, who sought vainly torestrain him. Afterward, he found out that there had been no intention ofregaling him with human flesh, but only with the flesh of the strange animalcalled "man."[146] As the "man of the mountain" is fixed to the ground by hisnavel-string, so the barnacle-goose is grown to a tree by its bill. It is hardto say whether it is an animal and must be slaughtered to be fit for food, orwhether it is a plant and no ritual ceremony is necessary before eatingit.[150]

Among the birds the phoenix is the most wonderful. When Eve gave all theanimals some of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, the phoenix was the onlybird that refused to eat thereof, and he was rewarded with eternal life. Whenhe has lived a thousand years, his body shrinks, and the feathers drop from it,until he is as small as an egg. This is the nucleus of the new bird.[151]

The phoenix is also called "the guardian of the terrestrial sphere." He runswith the sun on his circuit, and he spreads out his wings and catches up thefiery rays of the sun.[152] If he were not there to intercept them, neither mannor any other animate being would keep alive. On his right wing the followingwords are inscribed in huge letters,[153] about four thousand stadia high:"Neither the earth produces me, nor the heavens, but only the wings of fire."His food consists of the manna of heaven and the dew of the earth. Hisexcrement is a worm, whose excrement in turn is the cinnamon used by kings andprinces.[152] Enoch, who saw the phoenix birds when he was translated,describes them as flying creatures, wonderful and strange in appearance, withthe feet and tails of lions, and the heads of crocodiles; their appearance isof a purple color like the rainbow; their size nine hundred measures. Theirwings are like those of angels, each having twelve, and they attend the chariotof the sun and go with him, bringing heat and dew as they are ordered by God.In the morning when the sun starts on his daily course, the phoenixes and thechalkidri[154] sing, and every bird flaps its wings, rejoicing the Giver oflight, and they sing a song at the command of the Lord.[155] Among reptiles thesalamander and the shamir are the most marvellous. The salamander originatesfrom a fire of myrtle wood[156] which has been kept burning for seven yearssteadily by means of magic arts. Not bigger than a mouse, it yet is investedwith peculiar properties. One who smears himself with its blood isinvulnerable,[157] and the web woven by it is a talisman against fire.[158] Thepeople who lived at the deluge boasted that, were a fire flood to come, theywould protect themselves with the blood of the salamander.[159]

King Hezekiah owes his life to the salamander. His wicked father, King Ahaz,had delivered him to the fires of Moloch, and he would have been burnt, had hismother not painted him with the blood of the salamander, so that the fire coulddo him no harm.[160]

The shamir was made at twilight on the sixth day of creation together withother extraordinary things.[161] It is about as large as a barley corn, and itpossesses the remarkable property of cutting the hardest of diamonds. For thisreason it was used for the stones in the breastplate worn by the high priest.First the names of the twelve tribes were traced with ink on the stones to beset into the breastplate, then the shamir was passed over the lines, and thusthey were graven. The wonderful circumstance was that the friction wore noparticles from the stones. The shamir was also used for hewing into shape thestones from which the Temple was built, because the law prohibited iron toolsto be used for the work in the Temple.[162] The shamir may not be put in aniron vessel for safe-keeping, nor in any metal vessel, it would burst such areceptacle asunder. It is kept wrapped up in a woollen cloth, and this in turnis placed in a lead basket filled with barley bran.[163] The shamir was guardedin Paradise until Solomon needed it. He sent the eagle thither to fetch theworm.[164] With the destruction of the Temple the shamir vanished.[165] Asimilar fate overtook the tahash, which had been created only that its skinmight be used for the Tabernacle. Once the Tabernacle was completed, the tahashdisappeared. It had a horn on its forehead, was gaily colored like theturkey-cock, and belonged to the class of clean animals.[166] Among the fishesthere are also wonderful creatures, the sea-goats and the dolphins, not tomention leviathan. A sea-faring man once saw a sea-goat on whose horns thewords were inscribed: "I am a little sea-animal, yet I traversed three hundredparasangs to offer myself as food to the leviathan."[167] The dolphins are halfman and half fish; they even have sexual intercourse with human beings;therefore they are called also "sons of the sea," for in a sense they representthe human kind in the waters.[163]

Though every species in the animal world was created during the last two daysof the six of creation,[169] yet many characteristics of certain animalsappeared later. Cats and mice, foes now, were friends originally. Their laterenmity had a distinct cause. On one occasion the mouse appeared before God andspoke: "I and the cat are partners, but now we have nothing to eat." The Lordanswered: "Thou art intriguing against thy companion, only that thou mayestdevour her. As a punishment, she shall devour thee." Thereupon the mouse: "OLord of the world, wherein have I done wrong?" God replied: "O thou uncleanreptile, thou shouldst have been warned by the example of the moon, who lost apart of her light, because she spake ill of the sun, and what she lost wasgiven to her opponent.[170] The evil intentions thou didst harbor against thycompanion shall be punished in the same way. Instead of thy devouring her, sheshall devour thee." The mouse: "O Lord of the world! Shall my whole kind bedestroyed?" God: "I will take care that a remnant of thee is spared." In herrage the mouse bit the cat, and the cat in turn threw herself upon the mouse,and hacked into her with her teeth until she lay dead. Since that moment themouse stands in such awe of the cat that she does not even attempt to defendherself against her enemy's attacks, and always keeps herself in hiding.[171]Similarly dogs and cats maintained a friendly relation to each other, and onlylater on became enemies. A dog and a cat were partners, and they shared witheach other whatever they had. It once happened that neither could find anythingto eat for three days. Thereupon the dog proposed that they dissolve theirpartnership. The cat should go to Adam, in whose house there would surely beenough for her to eat, while the dog should seek his fortune elsewhere. Beforethey separated, they took an oath never to go to the same master. The cat tookup her abode with Adam, and she found sufficient mice in his house to satisfyher appetite. Seeing how useful she was in driving away and extirpating mice,Adam treated her most kindly. The dog, on the other hand, saw bad times. Thefirst night after their separation he spent in the cave of the wolf, who hadgranted him a night's lodging. At night the dog caught the sound of steps, andhe reported it to his host, who bade him repulse the intruders. They were wildanimals. Little lacked and the dog would have lost his life. Dismayed, the dogfled from the house of the wolf, and took refuge with the monkey. But he wouldnot grant him even a single night's lodging; and the fugitive was forced toappeal to the hospitality of the sheep. Again the dog heard steps in the middleof the night. Obeying the bidding of his host, he arose to chase away themarauders, who turned out to be wolves. The barking of the dog apprised thewolves of the presence of sheep, so that the dog innocently caused the sheep'sdeath. Now he had lost his last friend. Night after night he begged forshelter, without ever finding a home. Finally, he decided to repair to thehouse of Adam, who also granted him refuge for one night. When wild animalsapproached the house under cover of darkness, the dog began to bark, Adamawoke, and with his bow and arrow he drove them away. Recognizing the dog'susefulness, he bade him remain with him always. But as soon as the cat espiedthe dog in Adam's house, she began to quarrel with him, and reproach him withhaving broken his oath to her. Adam did his best to pacify the cat. He told herhe had himself invited the dog to make his home there, and he assured her shewould in no wise be the loser by the dog's presence; he wanted both to staywith him. But it was impossible to appease the cat. The dog promised her not totouch anything intended for her. She insisted that she could not live in oneand the same house with a thief like the dog. Bickerings between the dog andthe cat became the order of the day. Finally the dog could stand it no longer,and he left Adam's house, and betook himself to Seth's. By Seth he was welcomedkindly, and from Seth's house, he continued to make efforts at reconciliationwith the cat. In vain. Yes, the enmity between the first dog and the first catwas transmitted to all their descendants until this very day.[172]

Even the physical peculiarities of certain animals were not original featureswith them, but owed their existence to something that occurred subsequent tothe days of creation. The mouse at first had quite a different mouth from itspresent mouth. In Noah's ark, in which all animals, to ensure the preservationof every kind, lived together peaceably, the pair of mice were once sittingnext to the cat. Suddenly the latter remembered that her father was in thehabit of devouring mice, and thinking there was no harm in following hisexample, she jumped at the mouse, who vainly looked for a hole into which toslip out of sight. Then a miracle happened; a hole appeared where none had beenbefore, and the mouse sought refuge in it. The cat pursued the mouse, andthough she could not follow her into the hole, she could insert her paw and tryto pull the mouse out of her covert. Quickly the mouse opened her mouth in thehope that the paw would go into it, and the cat would be prevented fromfastening her claws in her flesh. But as the cavity of the mouth was not bigenough, the cat succeeded in clawing the cheeks of the mouse. Not that thishelped her much, it merely widened the mouth of the mouse, and her prey afterall escaped the cat.[173] After her happy escape, the mouse betook herself toNoah and said to him, "O pious man, be good enough to sew up my cheek where myenemy, the cat, has torn a rent in it." Noah bade her fetch a hair out of thetail of the swine, and with this he repaired the damage. Thence the littleseam-like line next to the mouth of every mouse to this very day.[174]

The raven is another animal that changed its appearance during its sojourn inthe ark. When Noah desired to send him forth to find out about the state of thewaters, he hid under the wings of the eagle. Noah found him, however, and saidto him, "Go and see whether the waters have diminished." The raven pleaded:"Hast thou none other among all the birds to send on this errand?" Noah: "Mypower extends no further than over thee and the dove."[175] But the raven wasnot satisfied. He said to Noah with great insolence: "Thou sendest me forthonly that I may meet my death, and thou wishest my death that my wife may be atthy service."[176] Thereupon Noah cursed the raven thus: "May thy mouth, whichhas spoken evil against me, be accursed, and thy intercourse with thy wife beonly through it."[177] All the animals in the ark said Amen. And this is thereason why a mass of spittle runs from the mouth of the male raven into themouth of the female during the act of copulation, and only thus the female isimpregnated.[178] Altogether the raven is an unattractive animal. He is unkindtoward his own young so long as their bodies are not covered with blackfeathers,[179] though as a rule ravens love one another.[180] God thereforetakes the young ravens under His special protection. From their own excrementmaggots come forth,[181] which serve as their food during the three days thatelapse after their birth, until their white feathers turn black and theirparents recognize them as their offspring and care for them.[182]

The raven has himself to blame also for the awkward hop in his gait. Heobserved the graceful step of the dove, and envious of her tried to enmulateit. The outcome was that he almost broke his bones without in the leastsucceeding in making himself resemble the dove, not to mention that he broughtthe scorn of the other animals down upon himself. His failure excited theirridicule. Then he decided to return to his own original gait, but in theinterval he had unlearnt it, and he could walk neither the one way nor theother properly. His step had become a hop betwixt and between. Thus we see howtrue it is, that he who is dissatisfied with his small portion loses the littlehe has in striving for more and better things.[163]

The steer is also one of the animals that have suffered a change in the courseof time. Originally his face was entirely overgrown with hair, but now there isnone on his nose, and that is because Joshua kissed him on his nose during thesiege of Jericho. Joshua was an exceedingly heavy man. Horses, donkeys, andmules, none could bear him, they all broke down under his weight. What theycould not do, the steer accomplished. On his back Joshua rode to the siege ofJericho, and in gratitude he bestowed a kiss upon his nose.[134]

The serpent, too, is other than it was at first. Before the fall of man it wasthe cleverest of all animals created, and in form it resembled man closely. Itstood upright, and was of extraordinary size.[185] Afterward, it lost themental advantages it had possessed as compared with other animals, and itdegenerated physically, too; it was deprived of its feet, so that it could notpursue other animals and kill them. The mole and the frog had to be madeharmless in similar ways; the former has no eyes, else it were irresistible,and the frog has no teeth, else no animal in the water were sure of itslife.[186]

While the cunning of the serpent wrought its own undoing, the cunning of thefox stood him in good stead in many an embarrassing situation. After Adam hadcommitted the sin of disobedience, God delivered the whole of the animal worldinto the power of the Angel of Death, and He ordered him to cast one pair ofeach kind into the water. He and leviathan together thus have dominion over allthat has life. When the Angel of Death was in the act of executing the Divinecommand upon the fox, he began to weep bitterly. The Angel of Death asked himthe reason of his tears, and the fox replied that he was mourning the sad fateof his friend. At the same time he pointed to the figure of a fox in the sea,which was nothing but his own reflection. The Angel of Death, persuaded that arepresentative of the fox family had been cast into the water, let him go free.The fox told his trick to the cat, and she in turn played it on the Angel ofDeath.[187] So it happened that neither cats nor foxes are represented in thewater, while all other animals are.[188]

When leviathan passed the animals in review, and missing the fox was informedof the sly way in which he had eluded his authority, he dispatched great andpowerful fish on the errand of enticing the truant into the water. The foxwalking along the shore espied the large number of fish, and he exclaimed, "Howhappy he who may always satisfy his hunger with the flesh of such as these."The fish told him, if he would but follow them, his appetite could easily beappeased. At the same time they informed him that a great honor awaited him.Leviathan, they said, was at death's door, and he had commissioned them toinstall the fox as his successor. They were ready to carry him on their backs,so that he had no need to fear the water, and thus they would convey him to thethrone, which stood upon a huge rock. The fox yielded to these persuasions, anddescended into the water. Presently an uncomfortable feeling took possession ofhim. He began to suspect that the tables were turned; he was being made game ofinstead of making game of others as usual. He urged the fish to tell him thetruth, and they admitted that they had been sent out to secure his person forleviathan, who wanted his heart,[189] that he might become as knowing as thefox, whose wisdom he had heard many extol. The fox said reproachfully: "Why didyou not tell me the truth at once? Then I could have brought my heart alongwith me for King Leviathan, who would have showered honors upon me. As it is,you will surely suffer punishment for bringing me without my heart. The foxes,you see," he continued, "do not carry their hearts around with them. They keepthem in a safe place, and when they have need of them, they fetch them thence."The fish quickly swam to shore, and landed the fox, so that he might go for hisheart. No sooner did he feel dry land under his feet than he began to jump andshout, and when they urged him to go in search of his heart, and follow them,he said: "O ye fools, could I have followed you into the water, if I had nothad my heart with me? Or exists there a creature able to go abroad without hisheart?" The fish replied: "Come, come, thou art fooling us." Whereupon the fox:"O ye fools, if I could play a trick on the Angel of Death, how much easier wasit to make game of you?" So they had to return, their errand undone, andleviathan could not but confirm the taunting judgment of the fox: "In verytruth, the fox is wise of heart, and ye are fools."[190]

ALL THINGS PRAISE THE LORD

"Whatever God created has value." Even the animals and the insects that seemuseless and noxious at first sight have a vocation to fulfil. The snailtrailing a moist streak after it as it crawls, and so using up its vitality,serves as a remedy for boils. The sting of a hornet is healed by the house-flycrushed and applied to the wound. The gnat, feeble creature, taking in food butnever secreting it, is a specific against the poison of a viper, and thisvenomous reptile itself cures eruptions, while the lizard is the antidote tothe scorpion.[191] Not only do all creatures serve man, and contribute to hiscomfort, but also God "teacheth us through the beasts of the earth, and makethus wise through the fowls of heaven." He endowed many animals with admirablemoral qualities as a pattern for man. If the Torah had not been revealed to us,we might have learnt regard for the decencies of life from the cat, who coversher excrement with earth; regard for the property of others from the ants, whonever encroach upon one another's stores; and regard for decorous conduct fromthe cock, who, when he desires to unite with the hen, promises to buy her acloak long enough to reach to the ground, and when the hen reminds him of hispromise, he shakes his comb and says, "May I be deprived of my comb, if I donot buy it when I have the means." The grasshopper also has a lesson to teachto man. All the summer through it sings, until its belly bursts, and deathclaims it. Though it knows the fate that awaits it, yet it sings on. So manshould do his duty toward God, no matter what the consequences. The storkshould be taken as a model in two respects. He guards the purity of his familylife zealously, and toward his fellows he is compassionate and merciful. Eventhe frog can be the teacher of man. By the side of the water there lives aspecies of animals which subsist off aquatic creatures alone. When the frognotices that one of them is hungry, he goes to it of his own accord, and offershimself as food, thus fulfilling the injunction, "If thine enemy be hungry,give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink."[192]

The whole of creation was called into existence by God unto His glory,[193] andeach creature has its own hymn of praise wherewith to extol the Creator. Heavenand earth, Paradise and hell, desert and field, rivers and seas—all have theirown way of paying homage to God. The hymn of the earth is, "From the uttermostpart of the earth have we heard songs, glory to the Righteous." The seaexclaims, "Above the voices of many waters, the mighty breakers of the sea, theLord on high is mighty."

Also the celestial bodies and the elements proclaim the praise of theirCreator—the sun, moon, and stars, the clouds and the winds, lightning and dew.The sun says, "The sun and moon stood still in their habitation, at the lightof Thine arrows as they went, at the shining of Thy glittering spear"; and thestars sing, "Thou art the Lord, even Thou alone; Thou hast made heaven, theheaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things that arethereon, the seas and all that is in them, and Thou preservest them all; andthe host of heaven worshippeth Thee."

Every plant, furthermore, has a song of praise. The fruitful tree sings, "Thenshall all the trees of the wood sing for joy, before the Lord, for He cometh;for He cometh to judge the earth"; and the ears of grain on the field sing,"The pastures are covered with flocks; the valleys also are covered over withcorn; they shout for joy, they also sing."

Great among singers of praise are the birds, and greatest among them is thecock. When God at midnight goes to the pious in Paradise, all the trees thereinbreak out into adoration, and their songs awaken the cock, who begins in turnto praise God. Seven times he crows, each time reciting a verse. The firstverse is: "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlastingdoors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lordstrong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle." The second verse: "Lift up yourheads, O ye gates; yea, lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King ofglory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is theKing of glory." The third: "Arise, ye righteous, and occupy yourselves with theTorah, that your reward may be abundant in the world hereafter." The fourth: "Ihave waited for Thy salvation, O Lord!" The fifth: "How long wilt thou sleep, Osluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?" The sixth: "Love not sleep,lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied withbread." And the seventh verse sung by the cock runs: "It is time to work forthe Lord, for they have made void Thy law."

The song of the vulture is: "I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I haveredeemed them, and they shall increase as they have increased"—the same versewith which the bird will in time to come announce the advent of the Messiah,the only difference being, that when he heralds the Messiah he will sit uponthe ground and sing his verse, while at all other times he is seated elsewherewhen he sings it.

Nor do the other animals praise God less than the birds. Even the beasts ofprey give forth adoration. The lion says: "The Lord shall go forth as a mightyman; He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war; He shall cry, yea, He shallshout aloud; He shall do mightily against his enemies." And the fox exhortsunto justice with the words: "Woe unto him that buildeth his house byunrighteousness, and his chambers by injustice; that useth his neighbor'sservice without wages, and giveth him not his hire."

Yea, the dumb fishes know how to proclaim the praise of their Lord. "The voiceof the Lord is upon the waters," they say, "the God of glory thundereth, eventhe Lord upon many waters"; while the frog exclaims, "Blessed be the name ofthe glory of His kingdom forever and ever."

Contemptible though they are, even the reptiles give praise unto their Creator.The mouse extols God with the words: "Howbeit Thou art just in all that is comeupon me; for Thou hast dealt truly, but I have done wickedly." And the catsings: "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye theLord."[194]

II
ADAM

MAN AND THE WORLD

With ten Sayings God created the world, although a single Saying would havesufficed. God desired to make known how severe is the punishment to be metedout to the wicked, who destroy a world created with as many as ten Sayings, andhow goodly the reward destined for the righteous, who preserve a world createdwith as many as ten Sayings.[1]

The world was made for man, though he was the last-comer among its creatures.This was design. He was to find all things ready for him. God was the host whoprepared dainty dishes, set the table, and then led His guest to his seat. Atthe same time man's late appearance on earth is to convey an admonition tohumility. Let him beware of being proud, lest he invite the retort that thegnat is older than he.[2]

The superiority of man to the other creatures is apparent in the very manner ofhis creation, altogether different from theirs. He is the only one who wascreated by the hand of God.[3] The rest sprang from the word of God. The bodyof man is a microcosm, the whole world in miniature, and the world in turn is areflex of man. The hair upon his head corresponds to the woods of the earth,his tears to a river, his mouth to the ocean.[4] Also, the world resembles theball of his eye: the ocean that encircles the earth is like unto the white ofthe eye, the dry land is the iris, Jerusalem the pupil, and the Temple theimage mirrored in the pupil of the eye.[5] But man is more than a mere image ofthis world. He unites both heavenly and earthly qualities within himself. Infour he resembles the angels, in four the beasts. His power of speech, hisdiscriminating intellect, his upright walk, the glance of his eye—they all makean angel of him. But, on the other hand, he eats and drinks, secretes the wastematter in his body, propagates his kind, and dies, like the beast of the field.Therefore God said before the creation of man: "The celestials are notpropagated, but they are immortal; the beings on earth are propagated, but theydie. I will create man to be the union of the two, so that when he sins, whenhe behaves like a beast, death shall overtake him; but if he refrains from sin,he shall live forever."[6] God now bade all beings in heaven and on earthcontribute to the creation of man, and He Himself took part in it. Thus theyall will love man, and if he should sin, they will be interested in hispreservation.[7]

The whole world naturally was created for the pious, the God-fearing man, whomIsrael produces with the helpful guidance of the law of God revealed to him.[8]It was, therefore, Israel who was taken into special consideration at the timeman was made. All other creatures were instructed to change their nature, ifIsrael should ever need their help in the course of his history. The sea wasordered to divide before Moses, and the heavens to give ear to the words of theleader; the sun and the moon were bidden to stand still before Joshua, theravens to feed Elijah, the fire to spare the three youths in the furnace, thelion to do no harm to Daniel, the fish to spew forth Jonah, and the heavens toopen before Ezekiel.[9]

In His modesty, God took counsel with the angels, before the creation of theworld, regarding His intention of making man. He said: "For the sake of Israel,I will create the world. As I shall make a division between light and darkness,so I will in time to come do for Israel in Egypt—thick darkness shall be overthe land, and the children of Israel shall have light in their dwellings; as Ishall make a separation between the waters under the firmament and the watersabove the firmament, so I will do for Israel—I will divide the waters for himwhen he crosses the Red Sea; as on the third day I shall create plants, so Iwill do for Israel—I will bring forth manna for him in the wilderness; as Ishall create luminaries to divide day from night, so I will do for Israel—Iwill go before him by day in a pillar of cloud and by night in a pillar offire; as I shall create the fowl of the air and the fishes of the sea, so Iwill do for Israel—I will bring quails for him from the sea; and as I shallbreathe the breath of life into the nostrils of man, so I will do for Israel—Iwill give the Torah unto him, the tree of life." The angels marvelled that somuch love should be lavished upon this people of Israel, and God told them: "Onthe first day of creation, I shall make the heavens and stretch them out; sowill Israel raise up the Tabernacle as the dwelling-place of My glory. On thesecond day, I shall put a division between the terrestrial waters and theheavenly waters; so will he hang up a veil in the Tabernacle to divide the HolyPlace and the Most Holy. On the third day, I shall make the earth put forthgrass and herb; so will he, in obedience to My commands, eat herbs on the firstnight of the Passover, and prepare showbread for Me. On the fourth day, I shallmake the luminaries; so will he make a golden candlestick for Me. On the fifthday, I shall create the birds; so will he fashion the cherubim withoutstretched wings. On the sixth day, I shall create man; so will Israel setaside a man of the sons of Aaron as high priest for My service."[10]

Accordingly, the whole of creation was conditional. God said to the things Hemade on the first six days: "If Israel accepts the Torah, you will continue andendure; otherwise, I shall turn everything back into chaos again." The wholeworld was thus kept in suspense and dread until the day of the revelation onSinai, when Israel received and accepted the Torah, and so fulfilled thecondition made by God at the time when He created the universe.[11]

THE ANGELS AND THE CREATION OF MAN

God in His wisdom hiving resolved to create man, He asked counsel of all aroundHim before He proceeded to execute His purpose—an example to man, be he neverso great and distinguished, not to scorn the advice of the humble and lowly.First God called upon heaven and earth, then upon all other things He hadcreated, and last upon the angels.

The angels were not all of one opinion. The Angel of Love favored the creationof man, because he would be affectionate and loving; but the Angel of Truthopposed it, because he would be full of lies. And while the Angel of Justicefavored it, because he would practice justice, the Angel of Peace opposed it,because he would be quarrelsome.

To invalidate his protest, God cast the Angel of Truth down from heaven toearth, and when the others cried out against such contemptuous treatment oftheir companion, He said, "Truth will spring back out of the earth."

The objections of the angels would have been much stronger, had they known thewhole truth about man. God had told them only about the pious, and hadconcealed from them that there would be reprobates among mankind, too. And yet,though they knew but half the truth, the angels were nevertheless prompted tocry out: "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, thatThou visitest him?" God replied: "The fowl of the air and the fish of the sea,what were they created for? Of what avail a larder full of appetizing dainties,and no guest to enjoy them?" And the angels could not but exclaim: "O Lord, ourLord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth! Do as is pleasing in Thysight."[12]

For not a few of the angels their opposition bore fatal consequences. When Godsummoned the band under the archangel Michael, and asked their opinion on thecreation of man, they answered scornfully: "What is man, that Thou art mindfulof him? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him?" God thereupon stretchedforth His little finger, and all were consumed by fire except their chiefMichael. And the same fate befell the band under the leadership of thearchangel Gabriel; he alone of all was saved from destruction.

The third band consulted was commanded by the archangel Labbiel. Taught by thehorrible fate of his predecessors, he warned his troop: "You have seen whatmisfortune overtook the angels who said 'What is man, that Thou art mindful ofhim?' Let us have a care not to do likewise, lest we suffer the same direpunishment. For God will not refrain from doing in the end what He has planned.Therefore it is advisable for us to yield to His wishes." Thus warned, theangels spoke: "Lord of the world, it is well that Thou hast thought of creatingman. Do Thou create him according to Thy will. And as for us, we will be hisattendants and his ministers, and reveal unto him all our secrets." ThereuponGod changed Labbiel's name to Raphael, the Rescuer, because his host of angelshad been rescued by his sage advice. He was appointed the Angel of Healing, whohas in his safe-keeping all the celestial remedies, the types of the medicalremedies used on earth.[12]

THE CREATION OF ADAM

When at last the assent of the angels to the creation of man was given, Godsaid to Gabriel: "Go and fetch Me dust from the four corners of the earth, andI will create man therewith." Gabriel went forth to do the bidding of the Lord,but the earth drove him away, and refused to let him gather up dust from it.Gabriel remonstrated: "Why, O Earth, dost thou not hearken unto the voice ofthe Lord, who founded thee upon the waters without props or pillars?" The earthreplied, and said: "I am destined to become a curse, and to be cursed throughman, and if God Himself does not take the dust from me, no one else shall everdo it." When God heard this, He stretched out His hand, took of the dust of theground, and created the first man therewith.[14] Of set purpose the dust wastaken from all four corners of the earth, so that if a man from the east shouldhappen to die in the west, or a man from the west in the east, the earth shouldnot dare refuse to receive the dead, and tell him to go whence he was taken.Wherever a man chances to die, and wheresoever he is buried, there will hereturn to the earth from which he sprang. Also, the dust was of variouscolors—red, black, white, and green—red for the blood, black for the bowels,white for the bones and veins, and green for the pale skin.

At this early moment the Torah interfered. She addressed herself to God: "OLord of the world! The world is Thine, Thou canst do with it as seemeth good inThine eyes. But the man Thou art now creating will be few of days and full oftrouble and sin. If it be not Thy purpose to have forbearance and patience withhim, it were better not to call him into being." God replied, "Is it for naughtI am called long-suffering and merciful?"[15]

The grace and lovingkindness of God revealed themselves particularly in Histaking one spoonful of dust from the spot where in time to come the altar wouldstand, saying, "I shall take man from the place of atonement, that he mayendure."[19]

THE SOUL OF MAN

The care which God exercised in fashioning every detail of the body of man isas naught in comparison with His solicitude for the human soul. The soul of manwas created on the first day, for it is the spirit of God moving upon the faceof the waters. Thus, instead of being the last, man is really the first work ofcreation.[17]

This spirit, or, to call it by its usual name, the soul of man, possesses fivedifferent powers. By means of one of them she escapes from the body everynight, rises up to heaven, and fetches new life thence for man.[18]

With the soul of Adam the souls of all the generations of men were created.They are stored up in a promptuary, in the seventh of the heavens, whence theyare drawn as they are needed for human body after human body.[19]

The soul and body of man are united in this way: When a woman has conceived,the Angel of the Night, Lailah, carries the sperm before God, and God decreeswhat manner of human being shall become of it—whether it shall be male orfemale, strong or weak, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, long or short, fat orthin, and what all its other qualities shall be. Piety and wickedness alone areleft to the determination of man himself. Then God makes a sign to the angelappointed over the souls, saying, "Bring Me the soul so-and-so, which is hiddenin Paradise, whose name is so-and-so, and whose form is so-and-so." The angelbrings the designated soul, and she bows down when she appears in the presenceof God, and prostrates herself before Him. At that moment, God issues thecommand, "Enter this sperm." The soul opens her mouth, and pleads: "O Lord ofthe world! I am well pleased with the world in which I have been living sincethe day on which Thou didst call me into being. Why dost Thou now desire tohave me enter this impure sperm, I who am holy and pure, and a part of Thyglory?" God consoles her: "The world which I shall cause thee to enter isbetter than the world in which thou hast lived hitherto, and when I createdthee, it was only for this purpose." The soul is then forced to enter the spermagainst her will, and the angel carries her back to the womb of the mother. Twoangels are detailed to watch that she shall not leave it, nor drop out of it,and a light is set above her, whereby the soul can see from one end of theworld to the other. In the morning an angel carries her to Paradise, and showsher the righteous, who sit there in their glory, with crowns upon their heads.The angel then says to the soul, "Dost thou know who these are?" She replies inthe negative, and the angel goes on: "These whom thou beholdest here wereformed, like unto thee, in the womb of their mother. When they came into theworld, they observed God's Torah and His commandments. Therefore they becamethe partakers of this bliss which thou seest them enjoy. Know, also thou wiltone day depart from the world below, and if thou wilt observe God's Torah, thenwilt thou be found worthy of sitting with these pious ones. But if not, thouwilt be doomed to the other place."

In the evening, the angel takes the soul to hell, and there points out thesinners whom the Angels of Destruction are smiting with fiery scourges, thesinners all the while crying out Woe! Woe! but no mercy is shown unto them. Theangel then questions the soul as before, "Dost thou know who these are?" and asbefore the reply is negative. The angel continues: "These who are consumed withfire were created like unto thee. When they were put into the world, they didnot observe God's Torah and His commandments. Therefore have they come to thisdisgrace which thou seest them suffer. Know, thy destiny is also to depart fromthe world. Be just, therefore, and not wicked, that thou mayest gain the futureworld."

Between morning and evening the angel carries the soul around, and shows herwhere she will live and where she will die, and the place where she willburied, and he takes her through the whole world, and points out the just andthe sinners and all things. In the evening, he replaces her in the womb of themother, and there she remains for nine months.

When the time arrives for her to emerge from the womb into the open world, thesame angel addresses the soul, "The time has come for thee to go abroad intothe open world." The soul demurs, "Why dost thou want to make me go forth intothe open world?" The angel replies: "Know that as thou wert formed against thywill, so now thou wilt be born against thy will, and against thy will thoushalt die, and against thy will thou shalt give account of thyself before theKing of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He." But the soul is reluctant to leaveher place. Then the angel fillips the babe on the nose, extinguishes the lightat his head, and brings him forth into the world against his will. Immediatelythe child forgets all his soul has seen and learnt, and he comes into the worldcrying, for he loses a place of shelter and security and rest.

When the time arrives for man to quit this world, the same angel appears andasks him, "Dost thou recognize me?" And man replies, "Yes; but why dost thoucome to me to-day, and thou didst come on no other day?" The angel says, "Totake thee away from the world, for the time of thy departure has arrived." Thenman falls to weeping, and his voice penetrates to all ends of the world, yet nocreature hears his voice, except the cock alone. Man remonstrates with theangel, "From two worlds thou didst take me, and into this world thou didstbring me." But the angel reminds him: "Did I not tell thee that thou wertformed against thy will, and thou wouldst be born against thy will, and againstthy will thou wouldst die? And against thy will thou wilt have to give accountand reckoning of thyself before the Holy One, blessed be He."[20]

THE IDEAL MAN

Like all creatures formed on the six days of creation, Adam came from the handsof the Creator fully and completely developed. He was not like a child, butlike a man of twenty years of age.[21] The dimensions of his body weregigantic, reaching from heaven to earth, or, what amounts to the same, fromeast to west.[22] Among later generations of men, there were but few who in ameasure resembled Adam in his extraordinary size and physical perfections.Samson possessed his strength, Saul his neck, Absalom his hair, Asahel hisfleetness of foot, Uzziah his forehead, Josiah his nostrils, Zedekiah his eyes,and Zerubbabel his voice. History shows that these physical excellencies wereno blessings to many of their possessors; they invited the ruin of almost all.Samson's extraordinary strength caused his death; Saul killed himself bycutting his neck with his own sword; while speeding swiftly, Asahel was piercedby Abner's spear; Absalom was caught up by his hair in an oak, and thussuspended met his death; Uzziah was smitten with leprosy upon his forehead; thedarts that killed Josiah entered through his nostrils, and Zedekiah's eyes wereblinded.[23]

The generality of men inherited as little of the beauty as of the portentoussize of their first father. The fairest women compared with Sarah are as apescompared with a human being. Sarah's relation to Eve is the same, and, again,Eve was but as an ape compared with Adam. His person was so handsome that thevery sole of his foot obscured the splendor of the sun.[24]

His spiritual qualities kept pace with his personal charm, for God hadfashioned his soul with particular care. She is the image of God, and as Godfills the world, so the soul fills the human body; as God sees all things, andis seen by none, so the soul sees, but cannot be seen; as God guides the world,so the soul guides the body; as God in His holiness is pure, so is the soul;and as God dwells in secret, so doth the soul.[25]

When God was about to put a soul into Adam's clod-like body, He said: "At whichpoint shall I breathe the soul into him? Into the mouth? Nay, for he will useit to speak ill of his fellow-man. Into the eyes? With them he will winklustfully. Into the ears? They will hearken to slander and blasphemy. I willbreathe her into his nostrils; as they discern the unclean and reject it, andtake in the fragrant, so the pious will shun sin, and will cleave to the wordsof the Torah"[26]

The perfections of Adam's soul showed themselves as soon as he received her,indeed, while he was still without life. In the hour that intervened betweenbreathing a soul into the first man and his becoming alive, God revealed thewhole history of mankind to him. He showed him each generation and its leaders;each generation and its prophets; each generation and its teachers; eachgeneration and its scholars; each generation and its statesmen; each generationand its judges; each generation and its pious members; each generation and itsaverage, commonplace members; and each generation and its impious members. Thetale of their years, the number of their days, the reckoning of their hours,and the measure of their steps, all were made known unto him.[27]

Of his own free will Adam relinquished seventy of his allotted years. Hisappointed span was to be a thousand years, one of the Lord's days. But he sawthat only a single minute of life was apportioned to the great soul of David,and he made a gift of seventy years to her, reducing his own years to ninehundred and thirty.'

The wisdom of Adam displayed itself to greatest advantage when he gave names tothe animals. Then it appeared that God, in combating the arguments of theangels that opposed the creation of man, had spoken well, when He insisted thatman would possess more wisdom than they themselves. When Adam was barely anhour old, God assembled the whole world of animals before him and the angels.The latter were called upon to name the different kinds, but they were notequal to the task. Adam, however, spoke without hesitation: "O Lord of theworld! The proper name for this animal is ox, for this one horse, for this onelion, for this one camel." And so he called all in turn by name, suiting thename to the peculiarity of the animal. Then God asked him what his name was tobe, and he said Adam, because he had been created out of Adamah, dust of theearth. Again, God asked him His own name, and he said: "Adonai, Lord, becauseThou art Lord over all creatures"—the very name God had given unto Himself, thename by which the angels call Him, the name that will remain immutableevermore.[29] But without the gift of the holy spirit, Adam could not havefound names for all; he was in very truth a prophet, and his wisdom a propheticquality.[30]

The names of the animals were not the only inheritance handed down by Adam tothe generations after him, for mankind owes all crafts to him, especially theart of writing, and he was the inventor of all the seventy languages.[31] Andstill another task he accomplished for his descendants. God showed Adam thewhole earth, and Adam designated what places were to be settled later by men,and what places were to remain waste.[32]

THE FALL OF SATAN

The extraordinary qualities with which Adam was blessed, physical and spiritualas well, aroused the envy of the angels. They attempted to consume him withfire, and he would have perished, had not the protecting hand of God restedupon him, and established peace between him and the heavenly host.[33] Inparticular, Satan was jealous of the first man, and his evil thoughts finallyled to his fall. After Adam had been endowed with a soul, God invited all theangels to come and pay him reverence and homage. Satan, the greatest of theangels in heaven, with twelve wings, instead of six like all the others,refused to pay heed to the behest of God, saying, "Thou didst create us angelsfrom the splendor of the Shekinah, and now Thou dost command us to castourselves down before the creature which Thou didst fashion out of the dust ofthe ground!" God answered, "Yet this dust of the ground has more wisdom andunderstanding than thou." Satan demanded a trial of wit with Adam, and Godassented thereto, saying: "I have created beasts, birds, and reptiles, I shallhave them all come before thee and before Adam. If thou art able to give themnames, I shall command Adam to show honor unto thee, and thou shalt rest nextto the Shekinah of My glory. But if not, and Adam calls them by the names Ihave assigned to them, then thou wilt be subject to Adam, and he shall have aplace in My garden, and cultivate it." Thus spake God, and He betook Himself toParadise, Satan following Him. When Adam beheld God, he said to his wife, "Ocome, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." NowSatan attempted to assign names to the animals. He failed with the first twothat presented themselves, the ox and the cow. God led two others before him,the camel and the donkey, with the same result. Then God turned to Adam, andquestioned him regarding the names of the same animals, framing His questionsin such wise that the first letter of the first word was the same as the firstletter of the name of the animal standing before him. Thus Adam divined theproper name, and Satan was forced to acknowledge the superiority of the firstman. Nevertheless he broke out in wild outcries that reached the heavens, andhe refused to do homage unto Adam as he had been bidden.[34] The host of angelsled by him did likewise, in spite of the urgent representations of Michael, whowas the first to prostrate himself before Adam in order to show a good exampleto the other angels. Michael addressed Satan: "Give adoration to the image ofGod! But if thou doest it not, then the Lord God will break out in wrathagainst thee." Satan replied: "If He breaks out in wrath against me, I willexalt my throne above the stars of God, I will be like the Most High!" At onceGod flung Satan and his host out of heaven, down to the earth, and from thatmoment dates the enmity between Satan and man.'

WOMAN

When Adam opened his eyes the first time, and beheld the world about him, hebroke into praise of God, "How great are Thy works, O Lord!" But his admirationfor the world surrounding him did not exceed the admiration all creaturesconceived for Adam. They took him to be their creator, and they all came tooffer him adoration. But he spoke: "Why do you come to worship me? Nay, you andI together will acknowledge the majesty and the might of Him who hath createdus all. 'The Lord reigneth,'" he continued, "'He is apparelled withmajesty.'"[36]

And not alone the creatures on earth, even the angels thought Adam the lord ofall, and they were about to salute him with "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord ofhosts," when God caused sleep to fall upon him, and then the angels knew thathe was but a human being.[37]

The purpose of the sleep that enfolded Adam was to give him a wife, so that thehuman race might develop, and all creatures recognize the difference betweenGod and man. When the earth heard what God had resolved to do, it began totremble and quake. "I have not the strength," it said, "to provide food for theherd of Adam's descendants." But God pacified it with the words, "I and thoutogether, we will find food for the herd." Accordingly, time was dividedbetween God and the earth; God took the night, and the earth took the day.Refreshing sleep nourishes and strengthens man, it affords him life and rest,while the earth brings forth produce with the help of God, who waters it. Yetman must work the earth to earn his food.[38]

The Divine resolution to bestow a companion on Adam met the wishes of man, whohad been overcome by a feeling of isolation when the animals came to him inpairs to be named.[39] To banish his loneliness, Lilith was first given to Adamas wife. Like him she had been created out of the dust of the ground. But sheremained with him only a short time, because she insisted upon enjoying fullequality with her husband. She derived her rights from their identical origin.With the help of the Ineffable Name, which she pronounced, Lilith flew awayfrom Adam, and vanished in the air. Adam complained before God that the wife Hehad given him had deserted him, and God sent forth three angels to capture her.They found her in the Red Sea, and they sought to make her go back with thethreat that, unless she went, she would lose a hundred of her demon childrendaily by death. But Lilith preferred this punishment to living with Adam. Shetakes her revenge by injuring babes—baby boys during the first night of theirlife, while baby girls are exposed to her wicked designs until they are twentydays old. The only way to ward off the evil is to attach an amulet bearing thenames of her three angel captors to the children, for such had been theagreement between them.[40]

The woman destined to become the true companion of man was taken from Adam'sbody, for "only when like is joined unto like the union is indissoluble."[41]The creation of woman from man was possible because Adam originally had twofaces, which were separated at the birth of Eve.[42]

When God was on the point of making Eve, He said: "I will not make her from thehead of man, lest she carry her head high in arrogant pride; not from the eye,lest she be wanton-eyed; not from the ear, lest she be an eavesdropper; notfrom the neck, lest she be insolent; not from the mouth, lest she be a tattler;not from the heart, lest she be inclined to envy; not from the hand, lest shebe a meddler; not from the foot, lest she be a gadabout. I will form her from achaste portion of the body," and to every limb and organ as He formed it, Godsaid, "Be chaste! Be chaste!" Nevertheless, in spite of the great caution used,woman has all the faults God tried to obviate. The daughters of Zion werehaughty and walked with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes; Sarah was aneavesdropper in her own tent, when the angel spoke with Abraham; Miriam was atalebearer, accusing Moses; Rachel was envious of her sister Leah; Eve put outher hand to take the forbidden fruit, and Dinah was a gadabout.[43]

The physical formation of woman is far more complicated than that of man, as itmust be for the function of child-bearing, and likewise the intelligence ofwoman matures more quickly than the intelligence of man.[44] Many of thephysical and psychical differences between the two sexes must be attributed tothe fact that man was formed from the ground and woman from bone. Women needperfumes, while men do not; dust of the ground remains the same no matter howlong it is kept; flesh, however, requires salt to keep it in good condition.The voice of women is shrill, not so the voice of men; when soft viands arecooked, no sound is heard, but let a bone be put in a pot, and at once itcrackles. A man is easily placated, not so a woman; a few drops of watersuffice to soften a clod of earth; a bone stays hard, and if it were to soak inwater for days. The man must ask the woman to be his wife, and not the womanthe man to be her husband, because it is man who has sustained the loss of hisrib, and he sallies forth to make good his loss again. The very differencesbetween the sexes in garb and social forms go back to the origin of man andwoman for their reasons. Woman covers her hair in token of Eve's having broughtsin into the world; she tries to hide her shame; and women precede men in afuneral cortege, because it was woman who brought death into the world. And thereligious commands addressed to women alone are connected with the history ofEve. Adam was the heave offering of the world, and Eve defiled it. Asexpiation, all women are commanded to separate a heave offering from the dough.And because woman extinguished the light of man's soul, she is bidden to kindlethe Sabbath light.[45]

Adam was first made to fall into a deep sleep before the rib for Eve was takenfrom his side. For, had he watched her creation, she would not have awakenedlove in him. To this day it is true that men do not appreciate the charms ofwomen whom they have known and observed from childhood up. Indeed, God hadcreated a wife for Adam before Eve, but he would not have her, because she hadbeen made in his presence. Knowing well all the details of her formation, hewas repelled by her.[46] But when he roused himself from his profound sleep,and saw Eve before him in all her surprising beauty and grace, he exclaimed,"This is she who caused my heart to throb many a night!" Yet he discerned atonce what the nature of woman was. She would, he knew, seek to carry her pointwith man either by entreaties and tears, or flattery and caresses. He said,therefore, "This is my never-silent bell!"[47]

The wedding of the first couple was celebrated with pomp never repeated in thewhole course of history since. God Himself, before presenting her to Adam,attired and adorned Eve as a bride. Yea, He appealed to the angels, saying:"Come, let us perform services of friendship for Adam and his helpmate, for theworld rests upon friendly services, and they are more pleasing in My sight thanthe sacrifices Israel will offer upon the altar." The angels accordinglysurrounded the marriage canopy, and God pronounced the blessings upon thebridal couple, as the Hazan does under the Huppah. The angels then danced andplayed upon musical instruments before Adam and Eve in their ten bridalchambers of gold, pearls, and precious stones, which God had prepared for them.

Adam called his wife Ishah, and himself he called Ish, abandoning the nameAdam, which he had borne before the creation of Eve, for the reason that Godadded His own name Yah to the names of the man and the woman—Yod to Ish and Heto Ishah—to indicate that as long as they walked in the ways of God andobserved His commandments, His name would shield them against all harm. But ifthey went astray, His name would be withdrawn, and instead of Ish there wouldremain Esh, fire, a fire issuing from each and consuming the other.[48]

ADAM AND EVE IN PARADISE

The Garden of Eden was the abode of the first man and woman, and the souls ofall men must pass through it after death, before they reach their finaldestination. For the souls of the departed must go through seven portals beforethey arrive in the heaven 'Arabot. There the souls of the pious are transformedinto angels, and there they remain forever, praising God and feasting theirsight upon the glory of the Shekinah. The first portal is the Cave ofMachpelah, in the vicinity of Paradise, which is under the care and supervisionof Adam. If the soul that presents herself at the portal is worthy, he callsout, "Make room! Thou art welcome!" The soul then proceeds until she arrives atthe gate of Paradise guarded by the cherubim and the flaming sword. If she isnot found worthy, she is consumed by the sword; otherwise she receives apass-bill, which admits her to the terrestrial Paradise. Therein is a pillar ofsmoke and light extending from Paradise to the gate of heaven, and it dependsupon the character of the soul whether she can climb upward on it and reachheaven. The third portal, Zebul, is at the entrance of heaven. If the soul isworthy, the guard opens the portal and admits her 'to the heavenly Temple.Michael presents her to God, and conducts her to the seventh portal, 'Arabot,within which the souls of the pious, changed to angels, praise the Lord, andfeed on the glory of the Shekinah.[49]

In Paradise stand the tree of life and the tree of knowledge, the latterforming a hedge about the former. Only he who has cleared a path for himselfthrough the tree of knowledge can come close to the tree of life, which is sohuge that it would take a man five hundred years to traverse a distance equalto the diameter of the trunk, and no less vast is the space shaded by its crownof branches. From beneath it flows forth the water that irrigates the wholeearth,[50] parting thence into four streams, the Ganges, the Nile, the Tigris,and the Euphrates.[51] But it was only during the days of creation that therealm of plants looked to the waters of the earth for nourishment. Later on Godmade the plants dependent upon the rain, the upper waters. The clouds rise fromearth to heaven, where water is poured into them as from a conduit.[52] Theplants began to feel the effect of the water only after Adam was created.Although they had been brought forth on the third day, God did not permit themto sprout and appear above the surface of the earth, until Adam prayed to Himto give food unto them, for God longs for the prayers of the pious.[53]

Paradise being such as it was, it was, naturally, not necessary for Adam towork the land. True, the Lord God put the man into the Garden of Eden to dressit and to keep it, but that only means he is to study the Torah there andfulfil the commandments of God.[54] There were especially six commandmentswhich every human being is expected to heed: man should not worship idols; norblaspheme God; nor commit murder, nor incest, nor theft and robbery; and allgenerations have the duty of instituting measures of law and order.[55] Onemore such command there was, but it was a temporary injunction. Adam was to eatonly the green things of the field. But the prohibition against the use ofanimals for food was revoked in Noah's time, after the deluge. Nevertheless,Adam was not cut off from the enjoyment of meat dishes. Though he was notpermitted to slaughter animals for the appeasing of his appetite, the angelsbrought him meat and wine, serving him like attendants.[56] And as the angelsministered to his wants, so also the animals. They were wholly under hisdominion, and their food they took out of his hand and out of Eve's.[57] In allrespects, the animal world had a different relation to Adam from their relationto his descendants. Not only did they know the language of man,[58] but theyrespected the image of God, and they feared the first human couple, all ofwhich changed into the opposite after the fall of man.[59]

THE FALL OF MAN

Among the animals the serpent was notable. Of all of them he had the mostexcellent qualities, in some of which he resembled man. Like man he stoodupright upon two feet, and in height he was equal to the camel. Had it not beenfor the fall of man, which brought misfortune to them, too, one pair ofserpents would have sufficed to perform all the work man has to do, and,besides, they would have supplied him with silver, gold, gems, and pearls. As amatter of fact, it was the very ability of the serpent that led to the ruin ofman and his own ruin. His superior mental gifts caused him to become aninfidel. It likewise explains his envy of man, especially of his conjugalrelations. Envy made him meditate ways and means of bringing about the death ofAdam.[60] He was too well acquainted with the character of the man to attemptto exercise tricks of persuasion upon him, and he approached the woman, knowingthat women are beguiled easily. The conversation with Eve was cunninglyplanned, she could not but be caught in a trap. The serpent began, "Is it truethat God hath said, Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden?" "We may,"rejoined Eve, "eat of the fruit of all the trees in the garden, except thatwhich is in the midst of the garden, and that we may not even touch, lest we bestricken with death." She spoke thus, because in his zeal to guard her againstthe transgressing of the Divine command, Adam had forbidden Eve to touch thetree, though God had mentioned only the eating of the fruit. It remains atruth, what the proverb says, "Better a wall ten hands high that stands, than awall a hundred ells high that cannot stand." It was Adam's exaggeration thatafforded the serpent the possibility of persuading Eve to taste of theforbidden fruit. The serpent pushed Eve against the tree, and said: "Thou seestthat touching the tree has not caused thy death. As little will it hurt thee toeat the fruit of the tree. Naught but malevolence has prompted the prohibition,for as soon as ye eat thereof, ye shall be as God. As He creates and destroysworlds, so will ye have the power to create and destroy. As He doth slay andrevive, so will ye have the power to slay and revive.[61] He Himself ate firstof the fruit of the tree, and then He created the world. Therefore doth Heforbid you to eat thereof, lest you create other worlds. Everyone knows that'artisans of the same guild hate one another.' Furthermore, have ye notobserved that every creature hath dominion over the creature fashioned beforeitself? The heavens were made on the first day, and they are kept in place bythe firmament made on the second day. The firmament, in turn, is ruled by theplants, the creation of the third day, for they take up all the water of thefirmament. The sun and the other celestial bodies, which were created on thefourth day, have power over the world of plants. They can ripen their fruitsand flourish only through their influence. The creation of the fifth day, theanimal world, rules over the celestial spheres. Witness the ziz, which candarken the sun with its pinions. But ye are masters of the whole of creation,because ye were the last to be created. Hasten now and eat of the fruit of thetree in the midst of the garden, and become independent of God, lest He bringforth still other creatures to bear rule over you."[62]

To give due weight to these words, the serpent began to shake the treeviolently and bring down its fruit. He ate thereof, saying: "As I do not die ofeating the fruit, so wilt thou not die." Now Eve could not but say to herself,"All that my master"—so she called Adam—"commanded me is but lies," and shedetermined to follow the advice of the serpent.[63] Yet she could not bringherself to disobey the command of God utterly. She made a compromise with herconscience. First she ate only the outside skin of the fruit, and then, seeingthat death did not fell her, she ate the fruit itself.[64] Scarce had shefinished, when she saw the Angel of Death before her. Expecting her end to comeimmediately, she resolved to make Adam eat of the forbidden fruit, too, lest heespouse another wife after her death.[65] It required tears and lamentations onher part to prevail upon Adam to take the baleful step. Not yet satisfied, shegave of the fruit to all other living beings, that they, too, might be subjectto death.[66] All ate, and they all are mortal, with the exception of the birdmalham, who refused the fruit, with the words: "Is it not enough that ye havesinned against God, and have brought death to others? Must ye still come to meand seek to persuade me into disobeying God's command, that I may eat and diethereof? I will not do your bidding." A heavenly voice was heard then to say toAdam and Eve: "To you was the command given. Ye did not heed it; ye didtransgress it, and ye did seek to persuade the bird malham. He was steadfast,and he feared Me, although I gave him no command. Therefore he shall nevertaste of death, neither he nor his descendants—they all shall live forever inParadise."[67]

Adam spoke to Eve: "Didst thou give me of the tree of which I forbade thee toeat? Thou didst give me thereof, for my eyes are opened, and the teeth in mymouth are set on edge." Eve made answer, "As my teeth were set on edge, so maythe teeth of all living beings be set on edge."[68] The first result was thatAdam and Eve became naked. Before, their bodies had been overlaid with a hornyskin, and enveloped with the cloud of glory. No sooner had they violated thecommand given them than the cloud of glory and the horny skin dropped fromthem, and they stood there in their nakedness, and ashamed.[69] Adam tried togather leaves from the trees to cover part of their bodies, but he heard onetree after the other say: "There is the thief that deceived his Creator. Nay,the foot of pride shall not come against me, nor the hand of the wicked touchme. Hence, and take no leaves from me!" Only the fig-tree granted himpermission to take of its leaves. That was because the fig was the forbiddenfruit itself. Adam had the same experience as that prince who seduced one ofthe maid-ser vants in the palace. When the king, his father, chased him out, hevainly sought a refuge with the other maid-servants, but only she who hadcaused his disgrace would grant him assistance.[70]

THE PUNISHMENT

As long as Adam stood naked, casting about for means of escape from hisembarrassment, God did not appear unto him, for one should not "strive to see aman in the hour of his disgrace." He waited until Adam and Eve had coveredthemselves with fig leaves.[71] But even before God spoke to him, Adam knewwhat was impending. He heard the angels announce, "God betaketh Himself untothose that dwell in Paradise." He heard more, too. He heard what the angelswere saying to one another about his fall, and what they were saying to God. Inastonishment the angels exclaimed: "What! He still walks about in Paradise? Heis not yet dead?" Whereupon God: "I said to him, 'In the day that thou eatestthereof, thou shalt surely die!' Now, ye know not what manner of day Imeant—one of My days of a thousand years, or one of your days. I will give himone of My days. He shall have nine hundred and thirty years to live, andseventy to leave to his descendants."[72]

When Adam and Eve heard God approaching, they hid among the trees—which wouldnot have been possible before the fall. Before he committed his trespass,Adam's height was from the heavens to the earth, but afterward it was reducedto one hundred ells.[73] Another consequence of his sin was the fear Adam feltwhen he heard the voice of God: before his fall it had not disquieted him inthe least.[74] Hence it was that when Adam said, "I heard Thy voice in thegarden, and I was afraid," God replied, "Aforetime thou wert not afraid, andnow thou art afraid?"[75]

God refrained from reproaches at first. Standing at the gate of Paradise, Hebut asked, "Where art thou, Adam?" Thus did God desire to teach man a rule ofpolite behavior, never to enter the house of another without announcinghimself.[76] It cannot be denied, the words "Where art thou?" were pregnantwith meaning. They were intended to bring home to Adam the vast differencebetween his latter and his former state—between his supernatural size then andhis shrunken size now; between the lordship of God over him then and thelordship of the serpent over him now.[77] At the same time, God wanted to giveAdam the opportunity of repenting of his sin, and he would have received Divineforgiveness for it. But so far from repenting of it, Adam slandered God, anduttered blasphemies against Him.[78] When God asked him, "Hast thou eaten ofthe tree whereof I commanded thee thou shouldst not eat?" he did not confesshis sin, but excused himself with the words: "O Lord of the world! As long as Iwas alone, I did not fall into sin, but as soon as this woman came to me, shetempted me." God replied: "I gave her unto thee as a help, and thou artungrateful when thou accusest her, saying, 'She gave me of the tree.' Thoushouldst not have obeyed her, for thou art the head, and not she."[79] God, whoknows all things, had foreseen exactly this, and He had not created Eve untilAdam had asked Him for a helpmate, so that he might not have apparently goodreason for reproaching God with having created woman.[80]

As Adam tried to shift the blame for his misdeed from himself, so also Eve.She, like her husband, did not confess her transgression and pray for pardon,which would have been granted to her.[81] Gracious as God is, He did notpronounce the doom upon Adam and Eve until they showed themselves stiff-necked.Not so with the serpent. God inflicted the curse upon the serpent withouthearing his defense; for the serpent is a villain, and the wicked are gooddebaters. If God had questioned him, the serpent would have answered: "Thoudidst give them a command, and I did contradict it. Why did they obey me, andnot Thee?"[82] Therefore God did not enter into an argument with the serpent,but straightway decreed the following ten punishments: The mouth of the serpentwas closed, and his power of speech taken away; his hands and feet were hackedoff; the earth was given him as food; he must suffer great pain in sloughinghis skin; enmity is to exist between him and man; if he eats the choicestviands, or drinks the sweetest beverages, they all change into dust in hismouth; the pregnancy of the female serpent lasts seven years; men shall seek tokill him as soon as they catch sight of him; even in the future world, whereall beings will be blessed, he will not escape the punishment decreed for him;he will vanish from out of the Holy Land if Israel walks in the ways ofGod.[83]

Furthermore, God spake to the serpent: "I created thee to be king over allanimals, cattle and the beasts of the field alike; but thou wast not satisfied.Therefore thou shalt be cursed above all cattle and above every beast of thefield. I created thee of upright posture; but thou wast not satisfied.Therefore thou shalt go upon thy belly. I created thee to eat the same food asman; but thou wast not satisfied. Therefore thou shalt eat dust all the days ofthy life. Thou didst seek to cause the death of Adam in order to espouse hiswife. Therefore I will put enmity between thee and the woman." How true itis—he who lusts after what is not his due, not only does he not attain hisdesire, but he also loses what he has!

As angels had been present when the doom was pronounced upon the serpent—forGod had convoked a Sanhedrin of seventy-one angels when He sat in judgment uponhim—so the execution of the decree against him was entrusted to angels. Theydescended from heaven, and chopped off his hands and feet. His suffering was sogreat that his agonized cries could be heard from one end of the world to theother.[84]

The verdict against Eve also consisted of ten curses, the effect of which isnoticeable to this day in the physical, spiritual, and social state ofwoman.[85] It was not God Himself who announced her fate to Eve. The only womanwith whom God ever spoke was Sarah. In the case of Eve, He made use of theservices of an interpreter.[86]

Finally, also the punishment of Adam was tenfold: he lost his celestialclothing—God stripped it off him; in sorrow he was to earn his daily bread; thefood he ate was to be turned from good into bad; his children were to wanderfrom land to land; his body was to exude sweat; he was to have an evilinclination; in death his body was to be a prey of the worms; animals were tohave power over him, in that they could slay him; his days were to be few andfull of trouble; in the end he was to render account of all his doings onearth.

These three sinners were not the only ones to have punishment dealt out tothem. The earth fared no better, for it had been guilty of variousmisdemeanors. In the first place, it had not entirely heeded the command of Godgiven on the third day, to bring forth "tree of fruit." What God had desiredwas a tree the wood of which was to be as pleasant to the taste as the fruitthereof. The earth, however, produced a tree bearing fruit, the tree itself notbeing edible.[88] Again, the earth did not do its whole duty in connection withthe sin of Adam. God had appointed the sun and the earth witnesses to testifyagainst Adam in case he committed a trespass. The sun, accordingly, had growndark the instant Adam became guilty of disobedience, but the earth, not knowinghow to take notice of Adam's fall, disregarded it altogether.[89] The earthalso had to suffer a tenfold punishment: independent before, she was hereafterto wait to be watered by the rain from above; sometimes the fruits of the earthfail; the grain she brings forth is stricken with blasting and mildew; she mustproduce all sorts of noxious vermin; thenceforth she was to be divided intovalleys and mountains; she must grow barren trees, bearing no fruit; thorns andthistles sprout from her; much is sown in the earth, but little is harvested;in time to come the earth will have to disclose her blood, and shall no morecover her slain; and, finally, she shall, one day, "wax old like agarment."[90]

When Adam heard the words, "Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth,"concerning the ground, a sweat broke out on his face, and he said: "What! ShallI and my cattle eat from the same manger?" The Lord had mercy upon him, andspoke, "In view of the sweat of thy face, thou shalt eat bread."[91]

The earth is not the only thing created that was made to suffer through the sinof Adam. The same fate overtook the moon. When the serpent seduced Adam andEve, and exposed their nakedness, they wept bitterly, and with them wept theheavens, and the sun and the stars, and all created beings and things up to thethrone of God. The very angels and the celestial beings were grieved by thetrans gression of Adam. The moon alone laughed, wherefore God grew wroth, andobscured her light. Instead of shining steadily like the sun, all the length ofthe day, she grows old quickly, and must be born and reborn, again andagain.[92] The callous conduct of the moon offended God, not only by way ofcontrast with the compassion of all other creatures, but because He Himself wasfull of pity for Adam and his wife. He made clothes for them out of the skinstripped from the serpent.[93] He would have done even more. He would havepermitted them to remain in Paradise, if only they had been penitent. But theyrefused to repent, and they had to leave, lest their godlike understanding urgethem to ravage the tree of life, and they learn to live forever. As it was,when God dismissed them from Paradise, He did not allow the Divine quality ofjustice to prevail entirely. He associated mercy with it. As they left, Hesaid: "O what a pity that Adam was not able to observe the command laid uponhim for even a brief span of time!"

To guard the entrance to Paradise, God appointed the cherubim, called also theever-turning sword of flames, because angels can turn themselves from one shapeinto another at need.[94] Instead of the tree of life, God gave Adam the Torah,which likewise is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, and he waspermitted to take up his abode in the vicinity of Paradise in the east.[95]

Sentence pronounced upon Adam and Eve and the serpent, the Lord commanded theangels to turn the man and the woman out of Paradise. They began to weep andsupplicate bitterly, and the angels took pity upon them and left the Divinecommand unfulfilled, until they could petition God to mitigate His severeverdict. But the Lord was inexorable, saying, "Was it I that committed atrespass, or did I pronounce a false judgment?" Also Adam's prayer, to be givenof the fruit of the tree of life, was turned aside, with the promise, however,that if he would lead a pious life, he would be given of the fruit on the dayof resurrection, and he would then live forever.

Seeing that God had resolved unalterably, Adam began to weep again and implorethe angels to grant him at least permission to take sweet-scented spices withhim out of Paradise, that outside, too, he might be able to bring offeringsunto God, and his prayers be accepted before the Lord. Thereupon the angelscame before God, and spake: "King unto everlasting, command Thou us to giveAdam sweet-scented spices of Paradise," and God heard their prayer. Thus Adamgathered saffron, nard, calamus, and cinnamon, and all sorts of seeds besidesfor his sustenance. Laden with these, Adam and Eve left Paradise, and came uponearth.[96] They had enjoyed the splendors of Paradise but a brief span oftime—but a few hours. It was in the first hour of the sixth day of creationthat God conceived the idea of creating man; in the second hour, He tookcounsel with the angels; in the third, He gathered the dust for the body ofman; in the fourth, He formed Adam; in the fifth, He clothed him with skin; inthe sixth, the soulless shape was complete, so that it could stand upright; inthe seventh, a soul was breathed into it; in the eighth, man was led intoParadise; in the ninth, the Divine command prohibiting the fruit of the tree inthe midst of the garden was issued to him; in the tenth, he transgressed thecommand; in the eleventh, he was judged; and in the twelfth hour of the day, hewas cast out of Paradise, in atonement for his sin.

This eventful day was the first of the month of Tishri. Therefore God spoke toAdam: "Thou shalt be the prototype of thy children. As thou hast been judged byMe on this day and absolved, so thy children Israel shall be judged by Me onthis New Year's Day, and they shall be absolved."[97]

Each day of creation brought forth three things: the first, heaven, earth, andlight; the second, the firmament, Gehenna, and the angels; the third, trees,herbs, and Paradise; the fourth, sun, moon, and stars; and the fifth, fishes,birds, and leviathan. As God intended to rest on the seventh day, the Sabbath,the sixth day had to do double duty. It brought forth six creations: Adam, Eve,cattle, reptiles, the beasts of the field, and demons. The demons were madeshortly before the Sabbath came in, and they are, therefore, incorporealspirits—the Lord had no time to create bodies for them.[98]

In the twilight, between the sixth day and the Sabbath, ten creations were,brought forth: the rainbow, invisible until Noah's time; the manna;watersprings, whence Israel drew water for his thirst in the desert; thewriting upon the two tables of stone given at Sinai; the pen with which thewriting was written; the two tables themselves; the mouth of Balaam's she-ass;the grave of Moses; the cave in which Moses and Elijah dwelt; and the rod ofAaron, with its blossoms and its ripe almonds.[99]

SABBATH IN HEAVEN

Before the world was created, there was none to praise God and know Him.Therefore He created the angels and the holy Hayyot, the heavens and theirhost, and Adam as well. They all were to praise and glorify their Creator.During the week of creation, however, there was no suitable time to proclaimthe splendor and praise of the Lord. Only on the Sabbath, when all creationrested, the beings on earth and in heaven, all together, broke into song andadoration when God ascended His throne and sate upon it.[100] It was the Throneof Joy upon which He sate, and He had all the angels pass before Him—the angelof the water, the angel of the rivers, the angel of the mountains, the angel ofthe hills, the angel of the abysses, the angel of the deserts, the angel of thesun, the angel of the moon, the angel of the Pleiades, the angel of Orion, theangel of the herbs, the angel of Paradise, the angel of Gehenna, the angel ofthe trees, the angel of the reptiles, the angel of the wild beasts, the angelof the domestic animals, the angel of the fishes, the angel of the locusts, theangel of the birds, the chief angel of the angels, the angel of each heaven,the chief angel of each division of the heavenly hosts, the chief angel of theholy Hayyot, the chief angel of the cherubim, the chief angel of the ofanim,and all the other splendid, terrible, and mighty angel chiefs. They allappeared before God with great joy, laved in a stream of joy, and they rejoicedand danced and sang, and extolled the Lord with many praises and manyinstruments. The ministering angels began, "Let the glory of the Lord endureforever!" And the rest of the angels took up the song with the words, "Let theLord rejoice in His works!" 'Arabot, the seventh heaven, was filled with joyand glory, splendor and strength, power and might and pride and magnificenceand grandeur, praise and jubilation, song and gladness, steadfastness andrighteousness, honor and adoration.

Then God bade the Angel of the Sabbath seat himself upon a throne of glory, andHe brought before him the chiefs of the angels of all the heavens and all theabysses, and bade them dance and rejoice, saying, "Sabbath it is unto theLord!" and the exalted princes of the heavens responded, "Unto the Lord it isSabbath!" Even Adam was permitted to ascend to the highest heaven, to take partin the rejoicing over the Sabbath.

By bestowing Sabbath joy upon all beings, not excepting Adam, thus did the Lorddedicate His creation. Seeing the majesty of the Sabbath, its honor andgreatness, and the joy it conferred upon all, being the fount of all joy, Adamintoned a song of praise for the Sabbath day. Then God said to him, "Thousingest a song of praise to the Sabbath day, and singest none to Me, the God ofthe Sabbath?" Thereupon the Sabbath rose from his seat, and prostrated himselfbefore God, saying, "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord," and thewhole of creation added, "And to sing praises unto Thy Name, O Most High!"[101]

This was the first Sabbath, and this its celebration in heaven by God and theangels. The angels were informed at the same time that in days to come Israelwould hallow the day in similar manner. God told them: "I will set aside forMyself a people from among all the peoples. This people will observe theSabbath, and I will sanctify it to be My people, and I will be God unto it.From all that I have seen, I have chosen the seed of Israel wholly, and I haveinscribed him as My first-born son, and I sanctified him unto Myself unto alleternity, him and the Sabbath, that he keep the Sabbath and hallow it from allwork."[102]

For Adam the Sabbath had a peculiar significance. When he was made to departout of Paradise in the twilight of the Sabbath eve, the angels called afterhim, "Adam did not abide in his glory overnight!" Then the Sabbath appearedbefore God as Adam's defender, and he spoke: "O Lord of the world! During thesix working days no creature was slain. If Thou wilt begin now by slaying Adam,what will become of the sanctity and the blessing of the Sabbath?" In this wayAdam was rescued from the fires of hell, the meet punishment for his sins, andin gratitude he composed a psalm in honor of the Sabbath, which David laterembodied in his Psalter.[103]

Still another opportunity was given to Adam to learn and appreciate the valueof the Sabbath. The celestial light, whereby Adam could survey the world fromend to end, should properly have been made to disappear immediately after hissin. But out of consideration for the Sabbath, God had let this light continueto shine, and the angels, at sundown on the sixth day, intoned a song of praiseand thanksgiving to God, for the radiant light shining through the night. Onlywith the going out of the Sabbath day the celestial light ceased, to theconsternation of Adam, who feared that the serpent would attack him in thedark. But God illumined his understanding, and he learned to rub two stonesagainst each other and produce light for his needs.[104]

The celestial light was but one of the seven precious gifts enjoyed by Adambefore the fall and to be granted to man again only in the Messianic time. Theothers are the resplendence of his countenance; life eternal; his tall stature;the fruits of the soil; the fruits of the tree; and the luminaries of the sky,the sun and the moon, for in the world to come the light of the moon shall beas the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold.[105]

ADAM'S REPENTANCE

Cast out of Paradise, Adam and Eve built a hut for themselves, and for sevendays they sat in it in great distress, mourning and lamenting. At the end ofthe seven days, tormented by hunger, they came forth and sought food. For sevenother days, Adam journeyed up and down in the land, looking for such daintiesas he had enjoyed in Paradise. In vain; he found nothing. Then Eve spoke to herhusband: "My lord, if it please thee, slay me. Mayhap God will then take theeback into Paradise, for the Lord God became wroth with thee only on account ofme." But Adam rejected her plan with abhorrence, and both went forth again onthe search for food. Nine days passed, and still they found naught resemblingwhat they had had in Paradise. They saw only food fit for cattle and beasts.Then Adam proposed: "Let us do penance, mayhap the Lord God will forgive us andhave pity on us, and give us something to sustain our life." Knowing that Evewas not vigorous enough to undergo the mortification of the flesh which hepurposed to inflict upon himself, he prescribed a penance for her differentfrom his own. He said to her: "Arise, and go to the Tigris, take a stone andstand upon it in the deepest part of the river, where the water will reach ashigh as thy neck. And let no speech issue forth from thy mouth, for we areunworthy to supplicate God, our lips are unclean by reason of the forbiddenfruit of the tree. Remain in the water for thirty-seven days."

For himself Adam ordained forty days of fasting, while he stood in the riverJordan in the same way as Eve was to take up her stand in the waters of theTigris. After he had adjusted the stone in the middle of the Jordan, andmounted it, with the waters surging up to his neck, he said: "I adjure thee, Othou water of the Jordan! Afflict thyself with me, and gather unto me allswimming creatures that live in thee. Let them surround me and sorrow with me,and let them not beat their own breasts with grief, but let them beat me. Notthey have sinned, only I alone!" Very soon they all came, the dwellers in theJordan, and they encompassed him, and from that moment the water of the Jordanstood still and ceased from flowing.

The penance which Adam and Eve laid upon themselves awakened misgivings inSatan. He feared God might forgive their sin, and therefore essayed to hinderEve in her purpose. After a lapse of eighteen days he appeared unto her in theguise of an angel. As though in distress on account of her, he began to cry,saying: "Step up out of the river, and weep no longer. The Lord God hath heardyour mourning, and your penitence hath been accepted by Him. All the angelssupplicated the Lord in your behalf, and He hath sent me to fetch you out ofthe water and give you the sustenance that you enjoyed in Paradise, and forwhich you have been mourning." Enfeebled as she was by her penances andmortifications, Eve yielded to the solicitations of Satan, and he led her towhere her husband was. Adam recognized him at once, and amid tears he criedout: "O Eve, Eve, where now is thy penitence? How couldst thou let ouradversary seduce thee again—him who robbed us of our sojourn in Paradise andall spiritual joy?" Thereupon Eve, too, began to weep and cry out: "Woe untothee, O Satan! Why strivest thou against us without any reason? What have wedone unto thee that thou shouldst pursue us so craftily?" With a deep-fetchedsigh, Satan told them how that Adam, of whom he had been jealous, had been thereal reason of his fall. Having lost his glory through him, he had intrigued tohave him driven from Paradise.

When Adam heard the confession of Satan, he prayed to God: "O Lord my God! InThy hands is my life. Remove from me this adversary, who seeks to deliver mysoul to destruction, and grant me the glory he has forfeited." Satandisappeared forthwith, but Adam continued his penance, standing in the watersof the Jordan for forty days.[106]

While Adam stood in the river, he noticed that the days were growing shorter,and he feared the world might be darkened on account of his sin, and go undersoon. To avert the doom, he spent eight days in prayer and fasting. But afterthe winter solstice, when he saw that the days grew longer again, he spenteight days in rejoicing, and in the following year he celebrated both periods,the one before and the one after the solstice. This is why the heathencelebrate the calends and the saturnalia in honor of their gods, though Adamhad consecrated those days to the honor of God.[107]

The first time Adam witnessed the sinking of the sun be was also seized withanxious fears. It happened at the conclusion of the Sabbath, and Adam said,"Woe is me! For my sake, because I sinned, the world is darkened, and it willagain become void and without form. Thus will be executed the punishment ofdeath which God has pronounced against me!" All the night he spent in tears,and Eve, too, wept as she sat opposite to him. When day began to dawn, heunderstood that what he had deplored was but the course of nature, and hebrought an offering unto God, a unicorn whose horn was created before hishoofs,[108] and he sacrificed it on the spot on which later the altar was tostand in Jerusalem.[109]

THE BOOK OF RAZIEL

After Adam's expulsion from Paradise, he prayed to God in these words: "O God,Lord of the world! Thou didst create the whole world unto the honor and gloryof the Mighty One, and Thou didst as was pleasing unto Thee. Thy kingdom isunto all eternity, and Thy reign unto all generations. Naught is hidden fromThee, and naught is concealed from Thine eyes. Thou didst create me as Thyhandiwork, and didst make me the ruler over Thy creatures, that I might be thechief of Thy works. But the cunning, accursed serpent seduced me with the treeof desire and lusts, yea, he seduced the wife of my bosom. But Thou didst notmake known unto me what shall befall my children and the generations after me.I know well that no human being can be righteous in Thine eyes, and what is mystrength that I should step before Thee with an impudent face? I have no mouthwherewith to speak and no eye wherewith to see, for I did sin and commit atrespass, and, by reason of my sins, I was driven forth from Paradise. I mustplough the earth whence I was taken, and the other inhabitants of the earth,the beasts, no longer, as once, stand in awe and fear of me. From the time Iate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, wisdom departed from me, and Iam a fool that knoweth naught, an ignorant man that understandeth not. Now, Omerciful and gracious God, I pray to Thee to turn again Thy compassion to thehead of Thy works, to the spirit which Thou didst instil into him, and the soulThou didst breathe into him. Meet me with Thy grace, for Thou art gracious,slow to anger, and full of love. O that my prayer would reach unto the throneof Thy glory, and my supplication unto the throne of Thy mercy, and Thouwouldst incline to me with lovingkindness. May the words of my mouth beacceptable, that Thou turn not away from my petition. Thou wert fromeverlasting, and Thou wilt be unto everlasting; Thou wert king, and Thou wiltever be king. Now, have Thou mercy upon the work of Thy hands. Grant meknowledge and understanding, that I may know what shall befall me, and myposterity, and all the generations that come after me, and what shall befall meon every day and in every month, and mayest Thou not withhold from me the helpof Thy servants and of Thy angels."

On the third day after he had offered up this prayer, while he was sitting onthe banks of the river that flows forth out of Paradise, there appeared to him,in the heat of the day, the angel Raziel, bearing a book in his hand. The angeladdressed Adam thus: "O Adam, why art thou so fainthearted? Why art thoudistressed and anxious? Thy words were heard at the moment when thou didstutter thy supplication and entreaties, and I have received the charge to teachthee pure words and deep understanding, to make thee wise through the contentsof the sacred book in my hand, to know what will happen to thee until the dayof thy death. And all thy descendants and all the later generations, if theywill but read this book in purity, with a devout heart and an humble mind, andobey its precepts, will become like unto thee. They, too, will foreknow whatthings shall happen, and in what month and on what day or in what night. Allwill be manifest to them—they will know and understand whether a calamity willcome, a famine or wild beasts, floods or drought; whether there will beabundance of grain or dearth; whether the wicked will rule the world; whetherlocusts will devastate the land; whether the fruits will drop from the treesunripe; whether boils will afflict men; whether wars will prevail, or diseasesor plagues among men and cattle; whether good is resolved upon in heaven, orevil; whether blood will flow, and the death-rattle of the slain be heard inthe city. And now, Adam, come and give heed unto what I shall tell theeregarding the manner of this book and its holiness."

Raziel, the angel, then read from the book, and when Adam heard the words ofthe holy volume as they issued from the mouth of the angel, he fell downaffrighted. But the angel encouraged him. "Arise, Adam," he said, "be of goodcourage, be not afraid, take the book from me and keep it, for thou wilt drawknowledge from it thyself and become wise, and thou wilt also teach itscontents to all those who shall be found worthy of knowing what it contains."

In the moment when Adam took the book, a flame of fire shot up from near theriver, and the angel rose heavenward with it. Then Adam knew that he who hadspoken to him was an angel of God, and it was from the Holy King Himself thatthe book had come, and he used it in holiness and purity. It is the book out ofwhich all things worth knowing can be learnt, and all mysteries, and it teachesalso how to call upon the angels and make them appear before men, and answerall their questions. But not all alike can use the book, only he who is wiseand God-fearing, and resorts to it in holiness. Such an one is secure againstall wicked counsels, his life is serene, and when death takes him from thisworld, he finds repose in a place where there are neither demons nor evilspirits, and out of the hands of the wicked he is quickly rescued.[110]

THE SICKNESS OF ADAM

When Adam had lived to be nine hundred and thirty years old, a sickness seizedhim, and he felt that his days were drawing to an end. He summoned all hisdescendants, and assembled them before the door of the house of worship inwhich he had always offered his prayers to God, to give them his last blessing.His family were astonished to find him stretched out on the bed of sickness,for they did not know what pain and suffering were.[111] They thought he wasovercome with longing after the fruits of Paradise, and for lack of them wasdepressed. Seth announced his willingness to go to the gates of Paradise andbeg God to let one of His angels give him of its fruits. But Adam explained tothem what sickness and pain are, and that God had inflicted them upon him as apunishment for his sin.[112] Adam suffered violently; tears and groans werewrung from him. Eve sobbed, and said, "Adam, my lord, give me the half of thysickness, I will gladly bear it. Is it not on account of me that this hath comeupon thee? On account of me thou undergoest pain and anguish."

Adam bade Eve go with Seth to the gates of Paradise and entreat God to havemercy upon him, and send His angel to catch up some of the oil of life flowingfrom the tree of His mercy and give it to his messengers. The ointment wouldbring him rest, and banish the pain consuming him. On his way to Paradise, Sethwas attacked by a wild beast. Eve called out to the assailant, "How durst thoulay hand on the image of God?" The ready answer came: "It is thine own fault.Hadst thou not opened thy mouth to eat of the forbidden fruit, my mouth wouldnot be opened now to destroy a human being." But Seth remonstrated: "Hold thytongue! Desist from the image of God until the day of judgment." And the beastgave way, saying, "See, I refrain myself from the image of God," and it slunkaway to its covert.[113]

Arrived at the gates of Paradise, Eve and Seth began to cry bitterly, and theybesought God with many lamentations to give them oil from the tree of Hismercy. For hours they prayed thus. At last the archangel Michael appeared, andinformed them that he came as the messenger of God to tell them that theirpetition could not be granted. Adam would die in a few days, and as he wassubject to death, so would be all his descendants. Only at the time of theresurrection, and then only to the pious, the oil of life would be dispensed,together with all the bliss and all the delights of Paradise.[114] Returned toAdam, they reported what had happened, and he said to Eve: "What misfortunedidst thou bring upon us when thou didst arouse great wrath! See, death is theportion of all our race! Call hither our children and our children's children,and tell them the manner of our sinning." And while Adam lay prostrate upon thebed of pain, Eve told them the story of their fall.[115]

EVE'S STORY OF THE FALL

After I was created, God divided Paradise and all the animals therein betweenAdam and me. The east and the north were assigned to Adam, together with themale animals. I was mistress of the west and the south and all the femaleanimals. Satan, smarting under the disgrace of having been dismissed from theheavenly host, resolved to bring about our ruin and avenge himself upon thecause of his discomfiture. He won the serpent over to his side, and pointed outto him that before the creation of Adam the animals could enjoy all that grewin Paradise, and now they were restricted to the weeds. To drive Adam fromParadise would therefore be for the good of all. The serpent demurred, for hestood in awe of the wrath of God. But Satan calmed his fears, and said, "Dothou but become my vessel,[117] and I shall speak a word through thy mouthwherewith thou wilt succeed in seducing man."

The serpent thereupon suspended himself from the wall surrounding Paradise, tocarry on his conversation with me from without. And this happened at the verymoment when my two guardian angels had betaken themselves to heaven tosupplicate the Lord. I was quite alone therefore, and when Satan assumed theappearance of an angel, bent over the wall of Paradise, and intoned seraphicsongs of praise, I was deceived, and thought him an angel. A conversation washeld between us, Satan speaking through the mouth of the serpent:

"Art thou Eve?"

"Yes, it is I."

"What art thou doing in Paradise?"

"The Lord has put us here to cultivate it and eat of its fruits."

"That is good. Yet you eat not of all the trees."

"That we do, excepting a single one, the tree that stands in the midst ofParadise. Concerning it alone, God has forbidden us to eat of it, else, theLord said, ye will die."

The serpent made every effort to persuade me that I had naught to fear—that Godknew that in the day that Adam and I ate of the fruit of the tree, we should beas He Himself. It was jealousy that had made Him say,[118] "Ye shall not eat ofit." In spite of all his urging, I remained steadfast and refused to touch thetree. Then the serpent engaged to pluck the fruit for me. Thereupon I openedthe gate of Paradise, and he slipped in. Scarcely was he within, when he saidto me, "I repent of my words, I would rather not give thee of the fruit of theforbidden tree." It was but a cunning device to tempt me more. He consented togive me of the fruit only after I swore to make my husband eat of it, too. Thisis the oath he made me take: "By the throne of God, by the cherubim, and by thetree of life, I shall give my husband of this fruit, that he may eat, too."Thereupon the serpent ascended the tree and injected his poison, the poison ofthe evil inclination, into the fruit,[119] and bent the branch on which it grewto the ground. I took hold of it, but I knew at once that I was stripped of therighteousness in which I had been clothed.[120] I began to weep, because of itand because of the oath the serpent had forced from me.

The serpent disappeared from the tree, while I sought leaves wherewith to covermy nakedness, but all the trees within my reach had cast off their leaves atthe moment when I ate of the forbidden fruit.[121] There was only one thatretained its leaves, the fig-tree, the very tree the fruit of which had beenforbidden to me.[122] I summoned Adam, and by means of blasphemous words Iprevailed upon him to eat of the fruit. As soon as it had passed his lips, heknew his true condition, and he exclaimed against me: "Thou wicked woman, whatbast thou brought down upon me? Thou hast removed me from the glory of God."

At the same time Adam and I heard the archangel Michael[123] blow his trumpet,and all the angels cried out: "Thus saith the Lord, Come ye with Me to Paradiseand hearken unto the sentence which I will pronounce upon Adam."[124]

We hid ourselves because we feared the judgment of God. Sitting in his chariotdrawn by cherubim, the Lord, accompanied by angels uttering His praise,appeared in Paradise. At His coming the bare trees again put forth leaves.[125]His throne was erected by the tree of life, and God addressed Adam: "Adam,where dost thou keep thyself in hiding? Thinkest thou I cannot find thee? Can ahouse conceal itself from its architect?"[126]

Adam tried to put the blame on me, who had promised to hold him harmless beforeGod. And I in turn accused the serpent. But God dealt out justice to all threeof us. To Adam He said: "Because thou didst not obey My commands, but didsthearken unto the voice of thy wife, cursed is the ground in spite of thy work.When thou dost cultivate it, it will not yield thee its strength. Thorns andthistles shall it bring forth to thee, and in the sweat of thy face shalt thoueat bread. Thou wilt suffer many a hardship, thou wilt grow weary, and yet findno rest. Bitterly oppressed, thou shalt never taste of any sweetness. Thoushalt be scourged by heat, and yet pinched by cold. Thou shalt toil greatly,and yet not gain wealth. Thou shalt grow fat, and yet cease to live. And theanimals over which thou art the master will rise up against thee, because thoudidst not keep my command."[127]

Upon me God pronounced this sentence: "Thou shalt suffer anguish in childbirthand grievous torture. In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and in thehour of travail, when thou art near to lose thy life, thou wilt confess andcry, 'Lord, Lord, save me this time, and I will never again indulge in carnalpleasure,' and yet thy desire shall ever and ever be unto thy husband."[128]

At the same time all sorts of diseases were decreed upon us. God said to Adam:"Because thou didst turn aside from My covenant, I will inflict seventy plaguesupon thy flesh. The pain of the first plague shall lay hold on thy eyes; thepain of the second plague upon thy hearing, and one after the other all theplagues shall come upon thee."[129] The serpent God addressed thus: "Becausethou becamest the vessel of the Evil One,[130] deceiving the innocent, cursedart thou above all cattle and above every beast of the field. Thou shalt berobbed of the food thou wast wont to eat, and dust shalt thou eat all the daysof thy life. Upon thy breast and thy belly shalt thou go, and of thy hands andthy feet thou shalt be deprived. Thou shalt not remain in possession of thyears, nor of thy wings, nor of any of thy limbs wherewith thou didst seduce thewoman and her husband, bringing them to such a pass that they must be drivenforth from Paradise. And I will put enmity between thee and the seed of man. Itshall bruise thy head, and, thou shalt bruise his heel until the day ofjudgment."[131]

THE DEATH OF ADAM

On the last day of Adam's life, Eve said to him, "Why should I go on living,when thou art no more? How long shall I have to linger on after thy death? Tellme this!" Adam assured her she would not tarry long. They would die together,and be buried together in the same place. He commanded her not to touch hiscorpse until an angel from God had made provision regarding it, and she was tobegin at once to pray to God until his soul escaped from his body.

While Eve was on her knees in prayer, an angel came,[132] and bade her rise."Eve, arise from thy penance," he commanded. "Behold, thy husband hath left hismortal coil. Arise, and see his spirit go up to his Creator, to appear beforeHim." And, lo, she beheld a chariot of light, drawn by four shining eagles, andpreceded by angels. In this chariot lay the soul of Adam, which the angels weretaking to heaven. Arrived there, they burnt incense until the clouds of smokeenveloped the heavens. Then they prayed to God to have mercy upon His image andthe work of His holy hands. In her awe and fright, Eve summoned Seth, and shebade him look upon the vision and explain the celestial sights beyond herunderstanding. She asked, "Who may the two Ethiopians be, who are adding theirprayers to thy father's?" Seth told her, they were the sun and the moon, turnedso black because they could not shine in the face of the Father of light.[133]Scarcely had he spoken, when an angel blew a trumpet, and all the angels criedout with awful voices, "Blessed be the glory of the Lord by His creatures, forHe has shown mercy unto Adam, the work of His hands!" A seraph then seizedAdam, and carried him off to the river Acheron, washed him three times, andbrought him before the presence of God, who sat upon His throne, and,stretching out His hand, lifted Adam up and gave him over to the archangelMichael, with the words, "Raise him to the Paradise of the third heaven, andthere thou shalt leave him until the great and fearful day ordained by Me."Michael executed the Divine behest, and all the angels sang a song of praise,extolling God for the pardon He had accorded Adam.

Michael now entreated God to let him attend to the preparation of Adam's bodyfor the grave. Permission being given, Michael repaired to earth, accompaniedby all the angels. When they entered the terrestrial Paradise, all the treesblossomed forth, and the perfume wafted thence lulled all men into slumberexcept Seth alone. Then God said to Adam, as his body lay on the ground: "Ifthou hadst kept My commandment, they would not rejoice who brought thee hither.But I tell thee, I will turn the joy of Satan and his consorts into sorrow, andthy sorrow shall be turned into joy. I will restore thee to thy dominion, andthou shalt sit upon the throne of thy seducer, while he shall be damned, withthose who hearken unto him."[134]

Thereupon, at the bidding of God, the three great archangels[135] covered thebody of Adam with linen, and poured sweet-smelling oil upon it. With it theyinterred also the body of Abel, which had lain unburied since Cain had slainhim, for all the murderer's efforts to hide it had been in vain. The corpseagain and again sprang forth from the earth, and a voice issued thence,proclaiming, "No creature shall rest in the earth until the first one of allhas returned the dust to me of which it was formed."[136] The angels carriedthe two bodies to Paradise, Adam's and Abel's—the latter had all this time beenlying on a stone on which angels had placed it—and they buried them both on thespot whence God had taken the dust wherewith to make Adam.[137]

God called unto the body of Adam, "Adam! Adam!" and it answered, "Lord, here amI!" Then God said: "I told thee once, Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thoureturn. Now I promise thee resurrection. I will awaken thee on the day ofjudgment, when all the generations of men that spring from thy loins, shallarise from the grave." God then sealed up the grave, that none might do himharm during the six days to elapse until his rib should be restored to himthrough the death of Eve.[138]

THE DEATH OF EVE

The interval between Adam's death and her own Eve spent in weeping. She wasdistressed in particular that she knew not what had become of Adam's body, fornone except Seth had been awake while the angel interred it. When the hour ofher death drew nigh, Eve supplicated to be buried in the selfsame spot in whichthe remains of her husband rested. She prayed to God: "Lord of all powers!Remove not Thy maid-servant from the body of Adam, from which Thou didst takeme, from whose limbs Thou didst form me. Permit me, who am an unworthy andsinning woman, to enter into his habitation. As we were together in Paradise,neither separated from the other; as together we were tempted to transgress Thylaw, neither separated from the other, so, O Lord, separate us not now." To theend of her prayer she added the petition, raising her eyes heavenward, "Lord ofthe world! Receive my spirit!" and she gave up her soul to God.

The archangel Michael came and taught Seth how to prepare Eve for burial, andthree angels descended and interred her body in the grave with Adam and Abel.Then Michael spoke to Seth, "Thus shalt thou bury all men that die until theresurrection day." And again, having given him this command, he spoke: "Longerthan six days ye shall not mourn.[139] The repose of the seventh day is thetoken of the resurrection in the latter day, for on the seventh day the Lordrested from all the work which He had created and made."[140]

Though death was brought into the world through Adam, yet he cannot be heldresponsible for the death of men. Once on a time he said to God: "I am notconcerned about the death of the wicked, but I should not like the pious toreproach me and lay the blame for their death upon me. I pray Thee, make nomention of my guilt." And God promised to fulfil his wish. Therefore, when aman is about to die, God appears to him, and bids him set down in writing allhe has done during his life, for, He tells him, "Thou art dying by reason ofthy evil deeds." The record finished, God orders him to seal it with his seal.This is the writing God will bring out on the judgment day, and to each will bemade known his deeds.[141] As soon as life is extinct in a man, he is presentedto Adam, whom he accuses of having caused his death. But Adam repudiates thecharge: "I committed but one trespass. Is there any among you, and be he themost pious, who has not been guilty of more than one?"[142]

III
THE TEN GENERATIONS

THE BIRTH OF CAIN

There were ten generations from Adam to Noah, to show how long-suffering is theLord, for all the generations provoked Him unto wrath, until He brought thedeluge upon them.[1] By reason of their impiousness God changed His plan ofcalling one thousand generations into being between the creation of the worldand the revelation of the law at Mount Sinai; nine hundred and seventy-four Hesuppressed before the flood.[2]

Wickedness came into the world with the first being born of woman, Cain, theoldest son of Adam. When God bestowed Paradise upon the first pair of mankind,He warned them particularly against carnal intercourse with each other. Butafter the fall of Eve, Satan, in the guise of the serpent, approached her, andthe fruit of their union was Cain, the ancestor of all the impious generationsthat were rebellious toward God, and rose up against Him. Cain's descent fromSatan, who is the angel Samael, was revealed in his seraphic appearance. At hisbirth, the exclamation was wrung from Eve, "I have gotten a man through anangel of the Lord."[3]

Adam was not in the company of Eve during the time of her pregnancy with Cain.After she had succumbed a second time to the temptations of Satan, andpermitted herself to be interrupted in her penance,[4] she left her husband andjourneyed westward, because she feared her presence might continue to bring himmisery. Adam remained in the east. When the days of Eve to be delivered werefulfilled, and she began to feel the pangs of travailing, she prayed to God forhelp. But He hearkened not unto her supplications. "Who will carry the reportto my lord Adam?" she asked herself. "Ye luminaries in the sky, I beg you, tellit to my master Adam when ye return to the east!" In that self same hour, Adamcried out: "The lamentation of Eve has pierced to my ear! Mayhap the serpenthas again assaulted her," and he hastened to his wife. Finding her in grievouspain, he besought God in her behalf, and twelve angels appeared, together withtwo heavenly powers.[5] All these took up their post to right of her and toleft of her, while Michael, also standing on her right side, passed his handover her, from her face downward to her breast, and said to her, "Be thoublessed, Eve, for the sake of Adam. Because of his solicitations and hisprayers I was sent to grant thee our assistance. Make ready to give birth tothy child!" Immediately her son was born, a radiant figure.[6] A little whileand the babe stood upon his feet, ran off, and returned holding in his hands astalk of straw, which he gave to his mother. For this reason he was named Cain,the Hebrew word for stalk of straw.

Now Adam took Eve and the boy to his home in the east. God sent him variouskinds of seeds by the hand of the angel Michael, and he was taught how tocultivate the ground and make it yield produce and fruits, to sustain himselfand his family and his posterity.[7]

After a while, Eve bore her second son, whom she named Hebel, because, shesaid, he was born but to die.

FRATRICIDE

The slaying of Abel by Cain did not come as a wholly unexpected event to hisparents. In a dream Eve had seen the blood of Abel flow into the mouth of Cain,who drank it with avidity, though his brother entreated him not to take all.When she told her dream to Adam, he said, lamenting, "O that this may notportend the death of Abel at the hand of Cain!" He separated the two lads,assigning to each an abode of his own, and to each he taught a differentoccupation. Cain became a tiller of the ground, and Abel a keeper of sheep. Itwas all in vain. In spite of these precautions, Cain slew his brother.[9]

His hostility toward Abel had more than one reason. It began when God hadrespect unto the offering of Abel, and accepted it by sending heavenly firedown to consume it, while the offering of Cain was rejected.[10] They broughttheir sacrifices on the fourteenth day of Nisan, at the instance of theirfather, who had spoken thus to his sons: "This is the day on which, in times tocome, Israel will offer sacrifices. Therefore, do ye, too, bring sacrifices toyour Creator on this day, that He may take pleasure in you." The place ofoffering which they chose was the spot whereon the altar of the Temple atJerusalem stood later.[11] Abel selected the best of his flocks for hissacrifice, but Cain ate his meal first, and after he had satisfied hisappetite, he offered unto God what was left over, a few grains of flax seed. Asthough his offense had not been great enough in offering unto God fruit of theground which had been cursed by God![12] What wonder that his sacrifice was notreceived with favor! Besides, a chastisement was inflicted upon him. His faceturned black as smoke.[13] Nevertheless, his disposition underwent no change,even when God spoke to him thus: "If thou wilt amend thy ways, thy guilt willbe forgiven thee; if not, thou wilt be delivered into the power of the evilinclination. It coucheth at the door of thy heart, yet it depends upon theewhether thou shalt be master over it, or it shall be master over thee."[14]

Cain thought he had been wronged, and a dispute followed between him and Abel."I believed," he said, "that the world was created through goodness,[15] but Isee that good deeds bear no fruit. God rules the world with arbitrary power,else why had He respect unto thy offering, and not unto mine also?" Abelopposed him; he maintained that God rewards good deeds, without having respectunto persons. If his sacrifice had been accepted graciously by God, and Cain'snot, it was because his deeds were good, and his brother's wicked.[16]

But this was not the only cause of Cain's hatred toward Abel. Partly love for awoman brought about the crime. To ensure the propagation of the human race, agirl, destined to be his wife, was born together with each of the sons of Adam.Abel's twin sister was of exquisite beauty, and Cain desired her.[17] Thereforehe was constantly brooding over ways and means of ridding himself of hisbrother.

The opportunity presented itself ere long. One day a sheep belonging to Abeltramped over a field that had been planted by Cain. In a rage, the lattercalled out, "What right hast thou to live upon my land and let thy sheeppasture yonder?" Abel retorted: "What right hast thou to use the products of mysheep, to make garments for thyself from their wool? If thou wilt take off thewool of my sheep wherein thou art arrayed, and wilt pay me for the flesh of theflocks which thou hast eaten, then I will quit thy land as thou desirest, andfly into the air, if I can do it." Cain thereupon said, "And if I were to killthee, who is there to demand thy blood of me?" Abel replied: "God, who broughtus into the world, will avenge me. He will require my blood at thine hand, ifthou shouldst slay me. God is the Judge, who will visit their wicked deeds uponthe wicked, and their evil deeds upon the evil. Shouldst thou slay me, God willknow thy secret, and He will deal out punishment unto thee."

These words but added to the anger of Cain, and he threw himself upon hisbrother.[18] Abel was stronger than he, and he would have got the worst of it,but at the last moment he begged for mercy, and the gentle Abel released hishold upon him. Scarcely did he feel himself free, when he turned against Abelonce more, and slew him. So true is the saying, "Do the evil no good, lest evilfall upon thee."[19]

THE PUNISHMENT OF CAIN

The manner of Abel's death was the most cruel conceivable. Not knowing whatinjury was fatal, Cain pelted all parts of his body with stones, until onestruck him on the neck and inflicted death.

After committing the murder, Cain resolved to flee, saying, "My parents willdemand account of me concerning Abel, for there is no other human being onearth." This thought had but passed through his mind when God appeared untohim, and addressed him in these words: "Before thy parents thou canst flee, butcanst thou go out from My presence, too? 'Can any hide himself in secret placesthat I shall not see him?' Alas for Abel that he showed thee mercy, andrefrained from killing thee, when he had thee in his power! Alas that hegranted thee the opportunity of slaying him!"

Questioned by God, "Where is Abel thy brother?" Cain answered: "Am I mybrother's keeper? Thou art He who holdest watch over all creatures, and yetThou demandest account of me! True, I slew him, but Thou didst create the evilinclination in me. Thou guardest all things; why, then, didst Thou permit me toslay him? Thou didst Thyself slay him, for hadst Thou looked with a favorablecountenance toward my offering as toward his, I had had no reason for envyinghim, and I had not slain him." But God said, "The voice of thy brother's bloodissuing from his many wounds crieth out against thee,[20] and likewise theblood of all the pious who might have sprung from the loins of Abel."

Also the soul of Abel denounced the murderer, for she could find rest nowhere.She could neither soar heavenward, nor abide in the grave with her body, for nohuman soul had done either before.[21] But Cain still refused to confess hisguilt. He insisted that he had never seen a man killed, and how was he tosuppose that the stones which he threw at Abel would take his life? Then, onaccount of Cain, God cursed the ground, that it might not yield fruit untohim.[22] With a single punishment both Cain and the earth were chastised, theearth because it retained the corpse of Abel, and did not cast it aboveground.[23]

In the obduracy of his heart, Cain spake: "O Lord of the world! Are thereinformers who denounce men before Thee? My parents are the only living humanbeings, and they know naught of my deed. Thou abidest in the heavens, and howshouldst Thou know what things happen on earth?" God said in reply: "Thou fool!I carry the whole world. I have made it, and I will bear it"—a reply that gaveCain the opportunity of feigning repentance. "Thou bearest the whole world," hesaid, "and my sin Thou canst not bear?[24] Verily, mine iniquity is too greatto be borne! Yet, yesterday Thou didst banish my father from Thy presence,to-day Thou dost banish me. In sooth, it will be said, it is Thy way tobanish."[25]

Although this was but dissimulation, and not true repentance, yet God grantedCain pardon, and removed the half of his chastisement from him. Originally, thedecree had condemned him to be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. Now hewas no longer to roam about forever, but a fugitive he was to remain. And somuch was hard enough to have to suffer, for the earth quaked under Cain, andall the animals, the wild and the tame, among them the accursed serpent,gathered together and essayed to devour him in order to avenge the innocentblood of Abel. Finally Cain could bear it no longer, and, breaking out intears, he cried: "Whither shall I go from Thy spirit? Or whither shall I fleefrom Thy presence?"[26] To protect him from the onslaught of the beasts, Godinscribed one letter of His Holy Name upon his forehead, and furthermore Headdressed the animals: "Cain's punishment shall not be like unto the punishmentof future murderers. He has shed blood, but there was none to give himinstruction. Henceforth, however, he who slays another shall himself be slain."Then God gave him the dog as a protection against the wild beasts, and to markhim as a sinner, He afflicted him with leprosy.

Cain's repentance, insincere though it was, bore a good result. When Adam methim, and inquired what doom had been decreed against him, Cain told how hisrepentance had propitiated God, and Adam exclaimed, "So potent is repentance,and I knew it not!" Thereupon he composed a hymn of praise to God, beginningwith the words, "It is a good thing to confess thy sins unto the Lord!"[29]

The crime committed by Cain had baneful consequences, not for himself alone,but for the whole of nature also. Before, the fruits which the earth bore untohim when he tilled the ground had tasted like the fruits of Paradise. Now hislabor produced naught but thorns and thistles.[29] The ground changed anddeteriorated at the very moment of Abel's violent end. The trees and the plantsin the part of the earth whereon the victim lived refused to yield theirfruits, on account of their grief over him, and only at the birth of Seth thosethat grew in the portion belonging to Abel began to flourish and bear again.But never did they resume their former powers. While, before, the vine hadborne nine hundred and twenty-six different varieties of fruit, it now broughtforth but one kind. And so it was with all other species. They will regaintheir pristine powers only in the world to come.[30]

Nature was modified also by the burial of the corpse of Abel. For a long timeit lay there exposed, above ground, because Adam and Eve knew not what to dowith it. They sat beside it and wept, while the faithful dog of Abel kept guardthat birds and beasts did it no harm. On a sudden, the mourning parentsobserved how a raven scratched the earth away in one spot, and then hid a deadbird of his own kind in the ground. Adam, following the example of the raven,buried the body of Abel, and the raven was rewarded by God. His young are bornwith white feathers, wherefore the old birds desert them, not recognizing themas their offspring. They take them for serpents. God feeds them until theirplumage turns black, and the parent birds return to them. As an additionalreward, God grants their petition when the ravens pray for rain.[31]

THE INHABITANTS OF THE SEVEN EARTHS

When Adam was cast out of Paradise, he first reached the lowest of the sevenearths, the Erez, which is dark, without a ray of light, and utterly void. Adamwas terrified, particularly by the flames of the ever-turning sword, which ison this earth. After he had done penance, God led him to the second earth, theAdamah, where there is light reflected from its own sky and from itsphantom-like stars and constellations. Here dwell the phantom-like beings thatissued from the union of Adam with the spirits. They are always sad; theemotion of joy is not known to them. They leave their own earth and repair tothe one inhabited by men, where they are changed into evil spirits. Then theyreturn to their abode for good, repent of their wicked deeds, and till theground, which, however, bears neither wheat nor any other of the sevenspecies.[34] In this Adamah, Cain, Abel, and Seth were born. After the murderof Abel, Cain was sent back to the Erez, where he was frightened intorepentance by its darkness and by the flames of the ever-turning sword.Accepting his penitence, God permitted him to ascend to the third earth, theArka, which receives some light from the sun. The Arka was surrendered to theCainites forever, as their perpetual domain. They till the ground, and planttrees, but they have neither wheat nor any other of the seven species.

Some of the Cainites are giants, some of them are dwarfs. They have two heads,wherefore they can never arrive at a decision; they are always at loggerheadswith themselves.[34] It may happen that they are pious now, only to be inclinedto do evil the next moment.

In the Ge, the fourth earth, live the generation of the Tower of Babel andtheir descendants. God banished them thither because the fourth earth is notfar from Gehenna, and therefore close to the flaming fire.[35] The inhabitantsof the Ge are skilful in all arts, and accomplished in all departments ofscience and knowledge, and their abode overflows with wealth. When aninhabitant of our earth visits them, they give him the most precious thing intheir possession, but then they lead him to the Neshiah, the fifth earth, wherehe becomes oblivious of his origin and his home. The Neshiah is inhabited bydwarfs without noses; they breathe through two holes instead. They have nomemory; once a thing has happened, they forget it completely, whence theirearth is called Neshiah, "forgetting." The fourth and fifth earths are like theArka; they have trees, but neither wheat nor any other of the seven species.

The sixth earth, the Ziah, is inhabited by handsome men, who are the owners ofabundant wealth, and live in palatial residences, but they lack water, as thename of their territory, Ziah, "drought," indicates. Hence vegetation is sparsewith them, and their tree culture meets with indifferent success. They hastento any waterspring that is discovered, and sometimes they succeed in slippingthrough it up to our earth, where they satisfy their sharp appetite for thefood eaten by the inhabitants of our earth. For the rest, they are men ofsteadfast faith, more than any other class of mankind.[36]

Adam remained in the Adamah until after the birth of Seth. Then, passing thethird earth, the Arka, the abiding place of the Cainites, and the next threeearths as well, the Ge, the Neshiah, and the Ziah, God transported him to theTebel, the seventh earth, the earth inhabited by men.

THE DESCENDANTS OF CAIN

Cain knew only too well that his blood-guiltiness would be visited upon him inthe seventh generation. Thus had God decreed against him.[37] He endeavored,therefore, to immortalize his name by means of monuments,[38] and he became abuilder of cities. The first of them he called Enoch, after his son, because itwas at the birth of Enoch that he began to enjoy a measure of rest andpeace.[39] Besides, he founded six other cities.[40] This building of citieswas a godless deed, for he surrounded them with a wall, forcing his family toremain within. All his other doings were equally impious. The punishment Godhad ordained for him did not effect any improvement. He sinned in order tosecure his own pleasure, though his neighbors suffered injury thereby. Heaugmented his household substance by rapine and violence; he excited hisacquaintances to procure pleasures and spoils by robbery, and he became a greatleader of men into wicked courses. He also introduced a change in the ways ofsimplicity wherein men had lived before, and he was the author of measures andweights. And whereas men lived innocently and generously while they knewnothing of such arts, he changed the world into cunning craftiness.[41]

Like unto Cain were all his descendants, impious and godless, wherefore Godresolved to destroy them.[42]

The end of Cain overtook him in the seventh generation of men, and it wasinflicted upon him by the hand of his great-grandson Lamech. This Lamech wasblind, and when he went a-hunting, he was led by his young son, who wouldapprise his father when game came in sight, and Lamech would then shoot at itwith his bow and arrow. Once upon a time he and his son went on the chase, andthe lad discerned something horned in the distance. He naturally took it to bea beast of one kind or another, and he told the blind Lamech to let his arrowfly. The aim was good, and the quarry dropped to the ground. When they cameclose to the victim, the lad exclaimed: "Father, thou hast killed somethingthat resembles a human being in all respects, except it carries a horn on itsforehead!" Lamech knew at once what had happened—he had killed his ancestorCain, who had been marked by God with a horn.[43] In despair he smote his handstogether, inadvertently killing his son as he clasped them. Misfortune stillfollowed upon misfortune. The earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the fourgenerations sprung from Cain—Enoch, Irad, Mehujael, and Methushael. Lamech,sightless as he was, could not go home; he had to remain by the side of Cain'scorpse and his son's. Toward evening, his wives, seeking him, found him there.When they heard what he had done, they wanted to separate from him, all themore as they knew that whoever was descended from Cain was doomed toannihilation. But Lamech argued, "If Cain, who committed murder of maliceaforethought, was punished only in the seventh generation, then I, who had nointention of killing a human being, may hope that retribution will be avertedfor seventy and seven generations." With his wives, Lamech repaired to Adam,who heard both parties, and decided the case in favor of Lamech.[44]

The corruptness of the times, and especially the depravity of Cain's stock,appears in the fact that Lamech, as well as all the men in the generation ofthe deluge, married two wives, one with the purpose of rearing children, theother in order to pursue carnal indulgences, for which reason the latter wasrendered sterile by artificial means. As the men of the time were intent uponpleasure rather than desirous of doing their duty to the human race, they gaveall their love and attention to the barren women, while their other wives spenttheir days like widows, joyless and in gloom.

The two wives of Lamech, Adah and Zillah, bore him each two children, Adah twosons, Jabal and Jubal, and Zillah a son, Tubal-cain, and a daughter, Naamah.Jabal was the first among men to erect temples to idols, and Jubal invented themusic sung and played therein. Tubal-cain was rightly named, for he completedthe work of his ancestor Cain. Cain committed murder, and Tubal-cain, the firstwho knew how to sharpen iron and copper, furnished the instruments used in warsand combats. Naamah, "the lovely," earned her name from the sweet sounds whichshe drew from her cymbals when she called the worshippers to pay homage toidols.[45]

THE DESCENDANTS OF ADAM AND LILITH

When the wives of Lamech heard the decision of Adam, that they were to continueto live with their husband, they turned upon him, saying, "O physician, healthine own lameness!" They were alluding to the fact that he himself had beenliving apart from his wife since the death of Abel, for he had said, "Whyshould I beget children, if it is but to expose them to death?"[46]

Though he avoided intercourse with Eve, he was visited in his sleep by femalespirits, and from his union with them sprang shades and demons of variouskinds,[47] and they were endowed with peculiar gifts.

Once upon a time there lived in Palestine a very rich and pious man, who had ason named Rabbi Hanina. He knew the whole of the Torah by heart. When he was atthe point of death, he sent for his son, Rabbi Hanina, and bade him, as hislast request, to study the Torah day and night, fulfil the commands of the law,and be a faithful friend to the poor. He also told him that he and his wife,the mother of Rabbi Hanina, would die on the selfsame day, and the seven daysof mourning for the two would end on the eve of the Passover. He enjoined himnot to grieve excessively, but to go to market on that day, and buy the firstarticle offered to him, no matter how costly it might be. If it happened to bean edible, he was to prepare it and serve it with much ceremony. His expenseand trouble would receive their recompense. All happened as foretold: the manand his wife died upon the same day, and the end of the week of mourningcoincided with the eve of the Passover. The son in turn carried out hisfather's behest: he repaired to market, and there he met an old man who offereda silver dish for sale. Although the price asked was exorbitant, yet he boughtit, as his father had bidden. The dish was set upon the Seder table, and whenRabbi Hanina opened it, he found a second dish within, and inside of this alive frog, jumping and hopping around gleefully. He gave the frog food anddrink, and by the end of the festival he was grown so big that Rabbi Haninamade a cabinet for him, in which he ate and lived. In the course of time, thecabinet became too small, and the Rabbi built a chamber, put the frog within,and gave him abundant food and drink. All this he did that he might not violatehis father's last wish. But the frog waxed and grew; he consumed all his hostowned, until, finally, Rabbi Hanina was stripped bare of all his possessions.Then the frog opened his mouth and began to speak. "My dear Rabbi Hanina," hesaid, "do not worry! Seeing thou didst raise me and care for me, thou mayestask of me whatever thy heart desireth, and it shall be granted thee." RabbiHanina made reply, "I desire naught but that thou shouldst teach me the wholeof the Torah." The frog assented, and he did, indeed, teach him the whole ofthe Torah, and the seventy languages of men besides.[48] His method was towrite a few words upon a scrap of paper, which he had his pupil swallow. Thushe acquired not alone the Torah and the seventy tongues, but also the languageof beasts and birds. Thereupon the frog spoke to the wife of Rabbi Hanina:"Thou didst tend me well, and I have given thee no recompense. But thy rewardwill be paid thee before I depart from you, only you must both accompany me tothe woods. There you shall see what I shall do for you." Accordingly, they wentto the woods with him. Arrived there, the frog began to cry aloud, and at thesound all sorts of beasts and birds assembled. These he commanded to produceprecious stones, as many as they could carry. Also they were to bring herbs androots for the wife of Rabbi Hanina, and he taught her how to use them asremedies for all varieties of disease. All this they were bidden to take homewith them. When they were about to return, the frog addressed them thus: "Maythe Holy One, blessed be He, have mercy upon you, and requite you for all thetrouble you took on my account, without so much as inquiring who I am. Now Ishall make my origin known to you. I am the son of Adam, a son whom he begotduring the hundred and thirty years of his separation from Eve. God has endowedme with the power of assuming any form or guise I desire." Rabbi Hanina and hiswife departed for their home, and they became very rich, and enjoyed therespect and confidence of the king.[49]

SETH AND HIS DESCENDANTS

The exhortations of the wives of Lamech took effect upon Adam. After aseparation of one hundred and thirty years, he returned to Eve, and the love henow bore her was stronger by far than in the former time. She was in histhoughts even when she was not present to him bodily. The fruit of theirreunion was Seth, who was destined to be the ancestor of the Messiah.[50]

Seth was so formed from birth that the rite of circumcision could be dispensedwith. He was thus one of the thirteen men born perfect in a way.[51] Adam begothim in his likeness and image, different from Cain, who had not been in hislikeness and image. Thus Seth became, in a genuine sense, the father of thehuman race, especially the father of the pious, while the depraved and godlessare descended from Cain.[52]

Even during the lifetime of Adam the descendants of Cain became exceedinglywicked, dying successively, one after another, each more wicked than theformer. They were intolerable in war, and vehement in robberies, and if any onewere slow to murder people, yet was he bold in his profligate behavior inacting unjustly and doing injury for gain.

Now as to Seth. When he was brought up, and came to those years in which hecould discern what was good, he became a virtuous man, and as he was himself ofexcellent character, so he left children behind him who imitated his virtues.All these proved to be of good disposition. They also inhabited one and thesame country without dissensions, and in a happy condition, without anymisfortune's falling upon them, until they died. They also were the inventorsof that peculiar sort of wisdom which is concerned with the heavenly bodies andtheir order. And that their inventions might not be lost before they weresufficiently known, they made two pillars, upon Adam's prediction that theworld was to be destroyed at one time by the force of fire and at another timeby the violence and quantity of water. The one was of brick, the other ofstone, and they inscribed their discoveries on both, that in case the pillar ofbrick should be destroyed by the flood, the pillar of stone might remain, andexhibit these discoveries to mankind, and also inform them that there wasanother pillar, of brick, erected by them.[53]

ENOSH

Enosh was asked who his father was, and he named Seth. The questioners, thepeople of his time, continued: "Who was the father of Seth?" Enosh:"Adam."—"And who was the father of Adam?"—"He had neither father nor mother,God formed him from the dust of the earth."—"But man has not the appearance ofdust!"—"After death man returns to dust, as God said, 'And man shall turn againunto dust;' but on the day of his creation, man was made in the image ofGod."—"How was the woman created?"—"Male and female He created them."—"Buthow?"—"God took water and earth, and moulded them together in the form ofman."—"But how?" pursued the questioners.

Enosh took six clods of earth, mixed them, and moulded them, and formed animage of dust and clay. "But," said the people, "this image does not walk, nordoes it possess any breath of life." He then essayed to show them how Godbreathed the breath of life into the nostrils of Adam, but when he began toblow his breath into the image he had formed, Satan entered it, and the figurewalked, and the people of his time who had been inquiring these matters ofEnosh went astray after it, saying, "What is the difference between bowing downbefore this image and paying homage to a man?"[54]

The generation of Enosh were thus the first idol worshippers, and thepunishment for their folly was not delayed long. God caused the sea totransgress its bounds, and a portion of the earth was flooded. This was thetime also when the mountains became rocks, and the dead bodies of men began todecay. And still another consequence of the sin of idolatry was that thecountenances of the men of the following generations were no longer in thelikeness and image of God, as the countenances of Adam, Seth, and Enosh hadbeen. They resembled centaurs and apes, and the demons lost their fear ofmen.[55]

But there was a still more serious consequence from the idolatrous practicesintroduced in the time of Enosh. When God drove Adam forth from Paradise, theShekinah remained behind, enthroned above a cherub under the tree of life. Theangels descended from heaven and repaired thither in hosts, to receive theirinstructions, and Adam and his descendants sat by the gate to bask in thesplendor of the Shekinah, sixty-five thousand times more radiant than thesplendor of the sun. This brightness of the Shekinah makes all upon whom itfalls exempt from disease, and neither insects nor demons can come nigh untothem to do them harm.

Thus it was until the time of Enosh, when men began to gather gold, silver,gems, and pearls from all parts of the earth, and made idols thereof a thousandparasangs high. What was worse, by means of the magic arts taught them by theangels Uzza and Azzael, they set themselves as masters over the heavenlyspheres, and forced the sun, the moon, and the stars to be subservient tothemselves instead of the Lord. This impelled the angels to ask God: "'What isman, that Thou art mindful of him?' Why didst Thou abandon the highest of theheavens, the seat of Thy glory and Thy exalted Throne in 'Arabot, and descendto men, who pay worship to idols, putting Thee upon a level with them?" TheShekinah was induced to leave the earth and ascend to heaven, amid the blareand flourish of the trumpets of the myriads of angel hosts.[56]

THE FALL OF THE ANGELS

The depravity of mankind, which began to show itself in the time of Enosh, hadincreased monstrously in the time of his grandson Jared, by reason of thefallen angels. When the angels saw the beautiful, attractive daughters of men,they lusted after them, and spoke: "We will choose wives for ourselves onlyfrom among the daughters of men, and beget children with them." Their chiefShemhazai said, "I fear me, ye will not put this plan of yours into execution,and I alone shall have to suffer the consequences of a great sin." Then theyanswered him, and said: "We will all swear an oath, and we will bind ourselves,separately and together, not to abandon the plan, but to carry it through tothe end."

Two hundred angels descended to the summit of Mount Hermon, which owes its nameto this very occurrence, because they bound themselves there to fulfil theirpurpose, on the penalty of Herem, anathema. Under the leadership of twentycaptains they defiled themselves with the daughters of men, unto whom theytaught charms, conjuring formulas, how to cut roots, and the efficacy ofplants. The issue from these mixed marriages was a race of giants, threethousand ells tall, who consumed the possessions of men. When all had vanished,and they could obtain nothing more from them, the giants turned against men anddevoured many of them, and the remnant of men began to trespass against thebirds, beasts, reptiles, and fishes, eating their flesh and drinking theirblood.

Then the earth complained about the impious evil-doers. But the fallen angelscontinued to corrupt mankind. Azazel taught men how to make slaughteringknives, arms, shields, and coats of mail. He showed them metals and how to workthem, and armlets and all sorts of trinkets, and the use of rouge for the eyes,and how to beautify the eyelids, and how to ornament themselves with the rarestand most precious jewels and all sorts of paints. The chief of the fallenangels, Shemhazai, instructed them in exorcisms and how to cut roots; Armarostaught them how to raise spells; Barakel, divination from the stars; Kawkabel,astrology; Ezekeel, augury from the clouds; Arakiel, the signs of the earth;Samsaweel, the signs of the sun; and Seriel, the signs of the moon.[57]

While all these abominations defiled the earth, the pious Enoch lived in asecret place. None among men knew his abode, or what had become of him, for hewas sojourning with the angel watchers and holy ones. Once he heard the calladdressed to him: "Enoch, thou scribe of justice, go unto the watchers of theheavens, who have left the high heavens, the eternal place of holiness,defiling themselves with women, doing as men do, taking wives unto themselves,and casting themselves into the arms of destruction upon earth. Go and proclaimunto them that they shall find neither peace nor pardon. For every time theytake joy in their offspring, they shall see the violent death of their sons,and sigh over the ruin of their children. They will pray and supplicateevermore, but never shall they attain to mercy or peace."

Enoch repaired to Azazel and the other fallen angels, to announce the doomuttered against them. They all were filled with fear. Trembling seized uponthem, and they implored Enoch to set up a petition for them and read it to theLord of heaven, for they could not speak with God as aforetime, nor even raisetheir eyes heavenward, for shame on account of their sins. Enoch granted theirrequest, and in a vision he was vouchsafed the answer which he was to carryback to the angels. It appeared to Enoch that he was wafted into heaven uponclouds, and was set down before the throne of God. God spake: "Go forth and sayto the watchers of heaven who have sent thee hither to intercede for them:Verily, it is you who ought to plead in behalf of men, not men in behalf of youI Why did ye forsake the high, holy, and eternal heavens, to pollute yourselveswith the daughters of men, taking wives unto yourselves, doing like the racesof the earth, and begetting giant sons? Giants begotten by flesh and spiritswill be called evil spirits on earth, and on the earth will be theirdwelling-place. Evil spirits proceed from their bodies, because they arecreated from above, and from the holy watchers is their beginning and primalorigin; they will be evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits they will benamed. And the spirits of heaven have their dwelling in heaven, but the spiritsof the earth, which were born upon the earth, have their dwelling on the earth.And the spirits of the giants will devour, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle,and cause destruction on the earth, and work affliction. They will take no kindof food, nor will they thirst, and they will be invisible. And these spiritswill rise up against the children of men and against the women, because theyhave proceeded from them. Since the days of murder and destruction and thedeath of the giants, when the spirits went forth from the soul of their flesh,in order to destroy without incurring judgment—thus will they destroy until theday when the great consummation of the great world be consummated. And now asto the watchers who have sent thee to intercede for them, who had beenaforetime in heaven, say to them: You have been in heaven, and though thehidden things had not yet been revealed to you, you know worthless mysteries,and in the hardness of your hearts you have recounted these to the women, andthrough these mysteries women and men work much evil on earth. Say to themtherefore: You have no peace!"[58]

ENOCH, RULER AND TEACHER

After Enoch had lived a long time secluded from men, he once heard the voice ofan angel calling to him: "Enoch, Enoch, make thyself ready and leave the houseand the secret place wherein thou hast kept thyself hidden, and assume dominionover men, to teach them the ways in which they shall walk, and the deeds whichthey shall do, in order that they may walk in the ways of God."

Enoch left his retreat and betook himself to the haunts of men. He gatheredthem about him, and instructed them in the conduct pleasing to God. He sentmessengers all over to announce, "Ye who desire to know the ways of God andrighteous conduct, come ye to Enoch!" Thereupon a vast concourse of peoplethronged about him, to hear the wisdom he would teach and learn from his mouthwhat is good and right. Even kings and princes, no less than one hundred andthirty in number, assembled about him, and submitted themselves to hisdominion, to be taught and guided by him, as he taught and guided all theothers. Peace reigned thus over the whole world all the two hundred andforty-three years during which the influence of Enoch prevailed.

At the expiration of this period, in the year in which Adam died, and wasburied with great honors by Seth, Enosh, Enoch, and Methuselah, Enoch resolvedto retire again from intercourse with men, and devote himself wholly to theservice of God. But he withdrew gradually. First he would spend three days inprayer and praise of God, and on the fourth day he would return to hisdisciples and grant them instruction. Many years passed thus, then he appearedamong them but once a week, later, once a month, and, finally, once a year. Thekings, princes, and all others who were desirous of seeing Enoch and hearkeningto his words did not venture to come close to him during the times of hisretirement. Such awful majesty sat upon his countenance, they feared for theirvery life if they but looked at him. They therefore resolved that all menshould prefer their requests before Enoch on the day he showed himself untothem.

The impression made by the teachings of Enoch upon all who heard them waspowerful. They prostrated themselves before him, and cried "Long live the king!Long live the king!" On a certain day, while Enoch was giving audience to hisfollowers, an angel appeared and made known unto him that God had resolved toinstall him as king over the angels in heaven, as until then he had reignedover men. He called together all the inhabitants of the earth, and addressedthem thus: "I have been summoned to ascend into heaven, and I know not on whatday I shall go thither. Therefore I will teach you wisdom and righteousnessbefore I go hence." A few days yet Enoch spent among men, and all the time leftto him he gave instruction in wisdom, knowledge, God-fearing conduct, andpiety, and established law and order, for the regulation of the affairs of men.Then those gathered near him saw a gigantic steed descend from the skies, andthey told Enoch of it, who said, "The steed is for me, for the time has comeand the day when I leave you, never to be seen again." So it was. The steedapproached Enoch, and he mounted upon its back, all the time instructing thepeople, exhorting them, enjoining them to serve God and walk in His ways. Eighthundred thousand of the people followed a day's journey after him. But on thesecond day Enoch urged his retinue to turn back: "Go ye home, lest deathovertake you, if you follow me farther." Most of them heeded his words and wentback, but a number remained with him for six days, though he admonished themdaily to return and not bring death down upon themselves. On the sixth day ofthe journey, he said to those still accompanying him, "Go ye home, for on themorrow I shall ascend to heaven, and whoever will then be near me, he willdie." Nevertheless, some of his companions remained with him, saying:"Whithersoever thou goest, we will go. By the living God, death alone shallpart us."

On the seventh day Enoch was carried into the heavens in a fiery chariot drawnby fiery chargers. The day thereafter, the kings who had turned back in goodtime sent messengers to inquire into the fate of the men who had refused toseparate themselves from Enoch, for they had noted the number of them. Theyfound snow and great hailstones upon the spot whence Enoch had risen, and, whenthey searched beneath, they discovered the bodies of all who had remainedbehind with Enoch. He alone was not among them; he was on high in heaven.[59]

THE ASCENSION OF ENOCH

This was not the first time Enoch had been in heaven. Once before, while hesojourned among men, he had been permitted to see all there is on earth and inthe heavens. On a time when he was sleeping, a great grief came upon his heart,and he wept in his dream, not knowing what the grief meant, nor what wouldhappen to him. And there appeared to him two men, very tall. Their faces shonelike the sun, and their eyes were like burning lamps, and fire came forth fromtheir lips; their wings were brighter than gold, their hands whiter than snow.They stood at the head of Enoch's bed, and called him by his name. He awokefrom his sleep, and hastened and made obeisance to them, and was terrified. Andthese men said to him: "Be of good cheer, Enoch, be not afraid; the everlastingGod hath sent us to thee, and lo! to-day thou shalt ascend with us into heaven.And tell thy sons and thy servants, and let none seek thee, till the Lord bringthee back to them."

Enoch did as he was told, and after he had spoken to his sons, and instructedthem not to turn aside from God, and to keep His judgment, these two mensummoned him, and took him on their wings, and placed him on the clouds, whichmoved higher and higher, till they set him down in the first heaven. Here theyshowed him the two hundred angels who rule the stars, and their heavenlyservice. Here he saw also the treasuries of snow and ice, of clouds and dew.

From there they took him to the second heaven, where he saw the fallen angelsimprisoned, they who obeyed not the commandments of God, and took counsel oftheir own will. The fallen angels said to Enoch, "O man of God! Pray for us tothe Lord," and he answered: "Who am I, a mortal man, that I should pray forangels? Who knows whither I go, or what awaits me?"

They took him from thence to the third heaven, where they showed him Paradise,with all the trees of beautiful colors, and their fruits, ripe and luscious,and all kinds of food which they produced, springing up with delightfulfragrance. In the midst of Paradise he saw the tree of life, in that place inwhich God rests when He comes into Paradise. This tree cannot be described forits excellence and sweet fragrance, and it is beautiful, more than any createdthing, and on all its sides it is like gold and crimson in appearance, andtransparent as fire, and it covers everything. From its root in the gardenthere go forth four streams, which pour out honey, milk, oil, and wine, andthey go down to the Paradise of Eden, that lies on the confines between theearthly region of corruptibility and the heavenly region of incorruptibility,and thence they go along the earth. He also saw the three hundred angels whokeep the garden, and with never-ceasing voices and blessed singing they servethe Lord every day. The angels leading Enoch explained to him that this placeis prepared for the righteous, while the terrible place prepared for thesinners is in the northern regions of the third heaven. He saw there all sortsof tortures, and impenetrable gloom, and there is no light there, but a gloomyfire is always burning. And all that place has fire on all sides, and on allsides cold and ice, thus it burns and freezes. And the angels, terrible andwithout pity, carry savage weapons, and their torture is unmerciful.

The angels took him then to the fourth heaven, and showed him all the comingsin and goings forth, and all the rays of the light of the sun and the moon. Hesaw the fifteen myriads of angels who go out with the sun, and attend himduring the day, and the thousand angels who attend him by night. Each angel hassix wings, and they go before the chariot of the sun, while one hundred angelskeep the sun warm, and light it up. He saw also the wonderful and strangecreatures named phoenixes and chalkidri, who attend the chariot of the sun, andgo with him, bringing heat and dew. They showed him also the six gates in theeast of the fourth heaven, by which the sun goes forth, and the six gates inthe west where he sets, and also the gates by which the moon goes out, andthose by which she enters. In the middle of the fourth heaven he saw an armedhost, serving the Lord with cymbals and organs and unceasing voices.

In the fifth heaven he saw many hosts of the angels called Grigori. Theirappearance was like men, and their size was greater than the size of thegiants, their countenances were withered, and their lips silent. On hisquestion who they were, the angels leading him answered, "These are theGrigori, who with their prince Salamiel rejected the holy Lord." Enoch thensaid to the Grigori, "Why wait ye, brethren, and serve ye not before the faceof the Lord, and why perform ye not your duties before the face of the Lord,and anger not your Lord to the end?" The Grigori listened to the rebuke, andwhen the trumpets resounded together with a loud call, they also began to singwith one voice, and their voices went forth before the Lord with sadness andtenderness.

In the seventh heaven he saw the seven bands of archangels who arrange andstudy the revolutions of the stars and the changes of the moon and therevolution of the sun, and superintend the good or evil conditions of theworld. And they arrange teachings and instructions and sweet speaking andsinging and all kinds of glorious praise. They hold in subjection all livingthings, both in heaven and on earth. In the midst of them are seven phoenixes,and seven cherubim, and seven six-winged creatures, singing with one voice.

When Enoch reached the seventh heaven, and saw all the fiery hosts of greatarchangels and incorporeal powers and lordships and principalities and powers,he was afraid and trembled with a great terror. Those leading him took hold ofhim, and brought him into the midst of them, and said to him, "Be of goodcheer, Enoch, be not afraid," and they showed him the Lord from afar, sittingon His lofty throne, while all the heavenly hosts, divided in ten classes,having approached, stood on the ten steps according to their rank, and madeobeisance to the Lord. And so they proceeded to their places in joy and mirthand boundless light, singing songs with low and gentle voices, and gloriouslyserving Him. They leave not nor depart day or night, standing before the faceof the Lord, working His will, cherubim and seraphim, standing around Histhrone. And the six-winged creatures overshadow all His throne, singing with asoft voice before the face of the Lord, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord ofhosts; heaven and earth are full of His glory." When he had seen all these, theangels leading him said to him, "Enoch, up to this time we were ordered toaccompany thee." They departed, and he saw them no more. Enoch remained at theextremity of the seventh heaven, in great terror, saying to himself, "Woe isme! What has come upon me!" But then Gabriel came and said unto him, "Enoch, benot afraid, stand up and come with me, and stand up before the face of the Lordforever." And Enoch answered: "O my lord, my spirit has departed from me withfear and trembling. Call the men to me who have brought me to the place! Uponthem I have relied, and with them I would go before the face of the Lord." AndGabriel hurried him away like a leaf carried off by the wind, and set himbefore the face of the Lord. Enoch fell down and worshipped the Lord, who saidto him: "Enoch, be not afraid! Rise up and stand before My face forever." AndMichael lifted him up, and at the command of the Lord took his earthly robefrom him, and anointed him with the holy oil, and clothed him, and when hegazed upon himself, he looked like one of God's glorious ones, and fear andtrembling departed from him. God called then one of His archangels who was morewise than all the others, and wrote down all the doings of the Lord, and Hesaid to him, "Bring forth the books from My store-place, and give a reed toEnoch, and interpret the books to him." The angel did as he was commanded, andhe instructed Enoch thirty days and thirty nights, and his lips never ceasedspeaking, while Enoch was writing down all the things about heaven and earth,angels and men, and all that is suitable to be instructed in. He also wrotedown all about the souls of men, those of them which are not born, and theplaces prepared for them forever. He copied all accurately, and he wrote threehundred and sixty-six books. After he had received all the instructions fromthe archangel, God revealed unto him great secrets, which even the angels donot know. He told him how, out of the lowest darkness, the visible and theinvisible were created, how He formed heaven, light, water, and earth, and alsothe fall of Satan and the creation and sin of Adam He narrated to him, andfurther revealed to him that the duration of the world will be seven thousandyears, and the eighth millennium will be a time when there is no computation,no end, neither years, nor months, nor weeks, nor days, nor hours.

The Lord finished this revelation to Enoch with the words: "And now I give theeSamuil and Raguil, who brought thee to Me. Go with them upon the earth, andtell thy sons what things I have said to thee, and what thou hast seen from thelowest heaven up to My throne. Give them the works written out by thee, andthey shall read them, and shall distribute the books to their children'schildren and from generation to generation and from nation to nation. And Iwill give thee My messenger Michael for thy writings and for the writings ofthy fathers, Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, and Jared thy father. And Ishall not require them till the last age, for I have instructed My two angels,Ariuk and Mariuk, whom I have put upon the earth as their guardians, and I haveordered them in time to guard them, that the account of what I shall do in thyfamily may not be lost in the deluge to come. For on account of the wickednessand iniquity of men, I will bring a deluge upon the earth, and I will destroyall, but I will leave a righteous man of thy race with all his house, who shallact according to My will. From their seed will be raised up a numerousgeneration, and on the extinction of that family, I will show them the books ofthy writings and of thy father, and the guardians of them on earth will showthem to the men who are true and please Me. And they shall tell to anothergeneration, and they, having read them, shall be glorified at last more thanbefore."

Enoch was then sent to earth to remain there for thirty days to instruct hissons, but before he left heaven, God sent an angel to him whose appearance waslike snow, and his hands were like ice. Enoch looked at him, and his face waschilled, that men might be able to endure the sight of him. The angels who tookhim to heaven put him upon his bed, in the place where his son Methuselah wasexpecting him by day and by night. Enoch assembled his sons and all hishousehold, and instructed them faithfully about all things he had seen, heard,and written down, and he gave his books to his sons, to keep them and readthem, admonishing them not to conceal the books, but tell them to all desiringto know. When the thirty days had been completed, the Lord sent darkness uponthe earth, and there was gloom, and it hid the men standing with Enoch. And theangels hasted and took Enoch, and carried him to the highest heaven, where theLord received him and set him before His face, and the darkness departed fromthe earth, and there was light. And the people saw, and did not understand howEnoch was taken, and they glorified God.

Enoch was born on the sixth day of the month of Siwan, and he was taken toheaven in the same month, Siwan, on the same day and in the same hour when hewas born. And Methuselah hasted and all his brethren, the sons of Enoch, andbuilt an altar in the place called Achuzan, whence Enoch was taken up toheaven. The elders and all the people came to the festivity and brought theirgifts to the sons of Enoch, and made a great festivity, rejoicing and beingmerry for three days, praising God, who had given such a sign by means ofEnoch, who had found favor with them.[60]

THE TRANSLATION OF ENOCH

The sinfulness of men was the reason why Enoch was translated to heaven. ThusEnoch himself told Rabbi Ishmael. When the generation of the delugetransgressed, and spoke to God, saying, "Depart from us, for we do not desireto know Thy ways," Enoch was carried to heaven, to serve there as a witnessthat God was not a cruel God in spite of the destruction decreed upon allliving beings on earth.

When Enoch, under the guidance of the angel 'Anpiel, was carried from earth toheaven, the holy beings, the ofanim, the seraphim, the cherubim, all those whomove the throne of God, and the ministering spirits whose substance is ofconsuming fire, they all, at a distance of six hundred and fifty million andthree hundred parasangs, noticed the presence of a human being, and theyexclaimed: "Whence the odor of one born of woman? How comes he into the highestheaven of the fire-coruscating angels?" But God replied: "O My servants andhosts, ye, My cherubim, ofanim, and seraphim, let this not be an offense untoyou, for all the children of men denied Me and My mighty dominion, and theypaid homage to the idols, so that I transferred the Shekinah from earth toheaven. But this man Enoch is the elect of men. He has more faith, justice, andrighteousness than all the rest, and he is the only reward I have derived fromthe terrestrial world."

Before Enoch could be admitted to service near the Divine throne, the gates ofwisdom were opened unto him, and the gates of understanding, and ofdiscernment, of life, peace, and the Shekinah, of strength and power, of might,loveliness, and grace, of humility and fear of sin. Equipped by God withextraordinary wisdom, sagacity, judgment, knowledge, learning,compassionateness, love, kindness, grace, humility, strength, power, might,splendor, beauty, shapeliness, and all other excellent qualities, beyond theendowment of any of the celestial beings, Enoch received, besides, manythousand blessings from God, and his height and his breadth became equal to theheight and the breadth of the world, and thirty-six wings were attached to hisbody, to the right and to the left, each as large as the world, and threehundred and sixty-five thousand eyes were bestowed upon him, each brilliant asthe sun. A magnificent throne was erected for him beside the gates of theseventh celestial palace, and a herald proclaimed throughout the heavensconcerning him, who was henceforth to be called Metatron in the celestialregions: "I have appointed My servant Metatron as prince and chief over all theprinces in My realm, with the exception only of the eight august and exaltedprinces that bear My name. Whatever angel has a request to prefer to Me, shallappear before Metatron, and what he will command at My bidding, ye must observeand do, for the prince of wisdom and the prince of understanding are at hisservice, and they will reveal unto him the sciences of the celestials and theterrestrials, the knowledge of the present order of the world and the knowledgeof the future order of the world. Furthermore, I have made him the guardian ofthe treasures of the palaces in the heaven 'Arabot, and of the treasures oflife that are in the highest heaven."

Out of the love He bore Enoch, God arrayed him in a magnificent garment, towhich every kind of luminary in existence was attached, and a crown gleamingwith forty-nine jewels, the splendor of which pierced to all parts of the sevenheavens and to the four corners of the earth. In the presence of the heavenlyfamily, He set this crown upon the head of Enoch, and called him "the littleLord." It bears also the letters by means of which heaven and earth werecreated, and seas and rivers, mountains and valleys, planets andconstellations, lightning and thunder, snow and hail, storm and whirlwind—theseand also all things needed in the world, and the mysteries of creation. Eventhe princes of the heavens, when they see Metatron, tremble before him, andprostrate themselves; his magnificence and majesty, the splendor and beautyradiating from him overwhelm them, even the wicked Samael, the greatest ofthem, even Gabriel the angel of the fire, Bardiel the angel of the hail, Ruhielthe angel of the wind, Barkiel the angel of the lightning, Za'miel the angel ofthe hurricane, Zakkiel the angel of the storm, Sui'el the angel of theearthquake, Za'fiel the angel of the showers, Ra'miel the angel of the thunder,Ra'shiel the angel of the whirlwind, Shalgiel the angel of the snow, Matrielthe angel of the rain, Shamshiel the angel of the day, Leliel the angel of thenight, Galgliel the angel of the solar system, Ofaniel the angel of the wheelof the moon, Kokabiel the angel of the stars, and Rahtiel the angel of theconstellations.

When Enoch was transformed into Metatron, his body was turned into celestialfire—his flesh became flame, his veins fire, his bones glimmering coals, thelight of his eyes heavenly brightness, his eyeballs torches of fire, his hair aflaring blaze, all his limbs and organs burning sparks, and his frame aconsuming fire. To right of him sparkled flames of fire, to left of him burnttorches of fire, and on all sides he was engirdled by storm and whirlwind,hurricane and thundering.[61]

METHUSELAH

After the translation of Enoch, Methuselah was proclaimed ruler of the earth byall the kings. He walked in the footsteps of his father, teaching truth,knowledge, and fear of God to the children of men all his life, and deviatingfrom the path of rectitude neither to the right nor the left.[62] He deliveredthe world from thousands of demons, the posterity of Adam which he had begottenwith Lilith, that she-devil of she-devils. These demons and evil spirits, asoften as they encountered a man, had sought to injure and even slay him, untilMethuselah appeared, and supplicated the mercy of God. He spent three days infasting, and then God gave him permission to write the Ineffable Name upon hissword, wherewith he slew ninety-four myriads of the demons in a minute, untilAgrimus, the first-born of them, came to him and entreated him to desist, atthe same time handing the names of the demons and imps over to him. And soMethuselah placed their kings in iron fetters, while the remainder fled awayand hid themselves in the innermost chambers and recesses of the ocean. And itis on account of the wonderful sword by means of which the demons were killedthat he was called Methuselah.[63]

He was so pious a man that he composed two hundred and thirty parables inpraise of God for every word he uttered. When he died, the people heard a greatcommotion in the heavens, and they saw nine hundred rows of mournerscorresponding to the nine hundred orders of the Mishnah which he had studied,and tears flowed from the eyes of the holy beings down upon the spot where hedied. Seeing the grief of the celestials, the people on earth also mourned overthe demise of Methuselah, and God rewarded them therefor. He added seven daysto the time of grace which He had ordained before bringing destruction upon theearth by a flood of waters.[64]

IV
NOAH

THE BIRTH OF NOAH

Methuselah took a wife for his son Lamech, and she bore him a man child. Thebody of the babe was white as snow and red as a blooming rose, and the hair ofhis head and his long locks were white as wool, and his eyes like the rays ofthe sun. When he opened his eyes, he lighted up the whole house, like the sun,and the whole house was very full of light.[1] And when he was taken from thehand of the midwife, he opened his mouth and praised the Lord ofrighteousness.[2] His father Lamech was afraid of him, and fled, and came tohis own father Methuselah. And he said to him: "I have begotten a strange son;he is not like a human being, but resembles the children of the angels ofheaven, and his nature is different, and he is not like us, and his eyes are asthe rays of the sun, and his countenance is glorious.[3] And it seems to methat he is not sprung from me, but from the angels, and I fear that in his daysa wonder may be wrought on the earth. And now, my father, I am here to petitionthee and implore thee, that thou mayest go to Enoch, our father, and learn fromhim the truth, for his dwelling place is among the angels."

And when Methuselah heard the words of his son, he went to Enoch, to the endsof the earth, and he cried aloud, and Enoch heard his voice, and appearedbefore him, and asked him the reason of his coming. Methuselah told him thecause of his anxiety, and requested him to make the truth known to him. Enochanswered, and said: "The Lord will do a new thing in the earth. There will comea great destruction on the earth, and a deluge for one year. This son who isborn unto thee will be left on the earth, and his three children will be savedwith him, when all mankind that are on the earth shall die. And there will be agreat punishment on the earth, and the earth will be cleansed from allimpurity. And now make known to thy son Lamech that he who was born is in truthhis son, and call his name Noah, for he will be left to you, and he and hischildren will be saved from the destruction which will come upon the earth."When Methuselah had heard the words of his father, who showed him all thesecret things, he returned home, and he called the child Noah, for he wouldcause the earth to rejoice in compensation for all destruction.[4]

By the name Noah he was called only by his grandfather Methuselah; his fatherand all others called him Menahem. His generation was addicted to sorcery, andMethuselah apprehended that his grandson might be bewitched if his true namewere known, wherefore he kept it a secret. Menahem, Comforter, suited him aswell as Noah; it indicated that he would be a consoler, if but the evil-doersof his time would repent of their misdeeds.[5] At his very birth it was feltthat he would bring consolation and deliverance. When the Lord said to Adam,"Cursed is the ground for thy sake," he asked, "For how long a time?" and theanswer made by God was, "Until a man child shall be born whose conformation issuch that the rite of circumcision need not be practiced upon him." This wasfulfilled in Noah, he was circumcised from his mother's womb.

Noah had scarcely come into the world when a marked change was noticeable.Since the curse brought upon the earth by the sin of Adam, it happened thatwheat being sown, yet oats would sprout and grow. This ceased with theappearance of Noah: the earth bore the products planted in it. And it was Noahwho, when he was grown to manhood, invented the plough, the scythe, the hoe,and other implements for cultivating the ground. Before him men had worked theland with their bare hands.[6]

There was another token to indicate that the child born unto Lamech wasappointed for an extraordinary destiny. When God created Adam, He gave himdominion over all things: the cow obeyed the ploughman, and the furrow waswilling to be drawn. But after the fall of Adam all things rebelled againsthim: the cow refused obedience to the ploughman, and also the furrow wasrefractory. Noah was born, and all returned to its state preceding the fall ofman.

Before the birth of Noah, the sea was in the habit of transgressing its boundstwice daily, morning and evening, and flooding the land up to the graves. Afterhis birth it kept within its confines. And the famine that afflicted the worldin the time of Lamech, the second of the ten great famines appointed to comeupon it, ceased its ravages with the birth of Noah.[7]

THE PUNISHMENT OF THE FALLEN ANGELS

Grown to manhood, Noah followed in the ways of his grandfather Methuselah,while all other men of the time rose up against this pious king. So far fromobserving his precepts, they pursued the evil inclination of their hearts, andperpetrated all sorts of abominable deeds.[8] Chiefly the fallen angels andtheir giant posterity caused the depravity of mankind. The blood spilled by thegiants cried unto heaven from the ground, and the four archangels accused thefallen angels and their sons before God, whereupon He gave the following ordersto them: Uriel was sent to Noah to announce to him that the earth would bedestroyed by a flood, and to teach him how to save his own life. Raphael wastold to put the fallen angel Azazel into chains, cast him into a pit of sharpand pointed stones in the desert Dudael, and cover him with darkness, and sowas he to remain until the great day of judgment, when he would be thrown intothe fiery pit of hell, and the earth would be healed of the corruption he hadcontrived upon it. Gabriel was charged to proceed against the bastards and thereprobates, the sons of the angels begotten with the daughters of men, andplunge them into deadly conflicts with one another. Shemhazai's ilk were handedover to Michael, who first caused them to witness the death of their childrenin their bloody combat with each other, and then he bound them and pinned themunder the hills of the earth, where they will remain for seventy generations,until the day of judgment, to be carried thence to the fiery pit of hell.[9]

The fall of Azazel and Shemhazai came about in this way. When the generation ofthe deluge began to practice idolatry, God was deeply grieved. The two angelsShemhazai and Azazel arose, and said: "O Lord of the world! It has happened,that which we foretold at the creation of the world and of man, saying, 'Whatis man, that Thou art mindful of him?'" And God said, "And what will become ofthe world now without man?" Whereupon the angels: "We will occupy ourselveswith it." Then said God: "I am well aware of it, and I know that if you inhabitthe earth, the evil inclination will overpower you, and you will be moreiniquitous than ever men." The angels pleaded, "Grant us but permission todwell among men, and Thou shalt see how we will sanctify Thy Name." God yieldedto their wish, saying, "Descend and sojourn among men!"

When the angels came to earth, and beheld the daughters of men in all theirgrace and beauty, they could not restrain their passion. Shemhazai saw a maidennamed Istehar, and he lost his heart to her. She promised to surrender herselfto him, if first he taught her the Ineffable Name, by means of which he raisedhimself to heaven. He assented to her condition. But once she knew it, shepronounced the Name, and herself ascended to heaven, without fulfilling herpromise to the angel. God said, "Because she kept herself aloof from sin, wewill place her among the seven stars, that men may never forget her," and shewas put in the constellation of the Pleiades.

Shemhazai and Azazel, however, were not deterred from entering into allianceswith the daughters of men, and to the first two sons were born. Azazel began todevise the finery and the ornaments by means of which women allure men.Thereupon God sent Metatron to tell Shemhazai that He had resolved to destroythe world and bring on a deluge. The fallen angel began to weep and grieve overthe fate of the world and the fate of his two sons. If the world went under,what would they have to eat, they who needed daily a thousand camels, athousand horses, and a thousand steers?

These two sons of Shemhazai, Hiwwa and Hiyya by name, dreamed dreams. The onesaw a great stone which covered the earth, and the earth was marked all overwith lines upon lines of writing. An angel came, and with a knife obliteratedall the lines, leaving but four letters upon the stone. The other son saw alarge pleasure grove planted with all sorts of trees. But angels approachedbearing axes, and they felled the trees, sparing a single one with three of itsbranches.

When Hiwwa and Hiyya awoke, they repaired to their father, who interpreted thedreams for them, saying, "God will bring a deluge, and none will escape withhis life, excepting only Noah and his sons." When they heard this, the twobegan to cry and scream, but their father consoled them: "Soft, soft! Do notgrieve. As often as men cut or haul stones, or launch vessels, they shallinvoke your names, Hiwwa! Hiyya!" This prophecy soothed them.

Shemhazai then did penance. He suspended himself between heaven and earth, andin this position of a penitent sinner he hangs to this day. But Azazelpersisted obdurately in his sin of leading mankind astray by means of sensualallurements. For this reason two he-goats were sacrificed in the Temple on theDay of Atonement, the one for God, that He pardon the sins of Israel, the otherfor Azazel, that he bear the sins of Israel.[10]

Unlike Istehar, the pious maiden, Naamah, the lovely sister of Tubal-cain, ledthe angels astray with her beauty, and from her union with Shamdon sprang thedevil Asmodeus.[11] She was as shameless as all the other descendants of Cain,and as prone to bestial indulgences. Cainite women and Cainite men alike werein the habit of walking abroad naked, and they gave themselves up to everyconceivable manner of lewd practices. Of such were the women whose beauty andsensual charms tempted the angels from the path of virtue. The angels, on theother hand, no sooner had they rebelled against God and descended to earth thanthey lost their transcendental qualities, and were invested with sublunarybodies, so that a union with the daughters of men became possible. Theoffspring of these alliances between the angels and the Cainite women were thegiants,[12] known for their strength and their sinfulness; as their very name,the Emim, indicates, they inspired fear. They have many other names. Sometimesthey go by the name Rephaim, because one glance at them made one's heart growweak; or by the name Gibborim, simply giants, because their size was soenormous that their thigh measured eighteen ells; or by the name Zamzummim,because they were great masters in war; or by the name Anakim, because theytouched the sun with their neck; or by the name Ivvim, because, like the snake,they could judge of the qualities of the soil; or finally, by the nameNephilim, because, bringing the world to its fall, they themselves fell.[13]

THE GENERATION OF THE DELUGE

While the descendants of Cain resembled their father in his sinfulness anddepravity, the descendants of Seth led a pious, well-regulated life, and thedifference between the conduct of the two stocks was reflected in theirhabitations. The family of Seth was settled upon the mountains in the vicinityof Paradise, while the family of Cain resided in the field of Damascus, thespot whereon Abel was slain by Cain.

Unfortunately, at the time of Methuselah, following the death of Adam, thefamily of Seth became corrupted after the manner of the Cainites. The twostrains united with each other to execute all kinds of iniquitous deeds. Theresult of the marriages between them were the Nephilim, whose sins brought thedeluge upon the world. In their arrogance they claimed the same pedigree as theposterity of Seth, and they compared themselves with princes and men of nobledescent.[14]

The wantonness of this generation was in a measure due to the ideal conditionsunder which mankind lived before the flood. They knew neither toil nor care,and as a consequence of their extraordinary prosperity they grew insolent. Intheir arrogance they rose up against God. A single sowing bore a harvestsufficient for the needs of forty years, and by means of magic arts they couldcompel the very sun and moon to stand ready to do their service.[15] Theraising of children gave them no trouble. They were born after a few days'pregnancy, and immediately after birth they could walk and talk; theythemselves aided the mother in severing the navel string. Not even demons coulddo them harm. Once a new-born babe, running to fetch a light whereby his mothermight cut the navel string, met the chief of the demons, and a combat ensuedbetween the two. Suddenly the crowing of a cock was heard, and the demon madeoff, crying out to the child, "Go and report unto thy mother, if it had notbeen for the crowing of the cock, I had killed thee!" Whereupon the childretorted, "Go and report unto thy mother, if it had not been for my uncut navelstring, I had killed thee!"[16]

It was their care-free life that gave them space and leisure for theirinfamies. For a time God, in His long-suffering kindness, passed by theiniquities of men, but His forbearance ceased when once they began to leadunchaste lives, for "God is patient with all sins save only an immorallife."[17]

The other sin that hastened the end of the iniquitous generation was theirrapacity. So cunningly were their depredations planned that the law could nottouch them. If a countryman brought a basket of vegetables to market, theywould edge up to it, one after the other, and abstract a bit, each in itself ofpetty value, but in a little while the dealer would have none left to sell.[18]

Even after God had resolved upon the destruction of the sinners, He stillpermitted His mercy to prevail, in that He sent Noah unto them, who exhortedthem for one hundred and twenty years to amend their ways, always holding theflood over them as a threat. As for them, they but derided him. When they sawhim occupying himself with the building of the ark, they asked, "Wherefore thisark?"

Noah: "God will bring a flood upon you."

The sinners: "What sort of flood? If He sends a fire flood, against that weknow how to protect ourselves. If it is a flood of waters, then, if the watersbubble up from the earth, we will cover them with iron rods, and if theydescend from above, we know a remedy against that, too."

Noah: "The waters will ooze out from under your feet, and you will not be ableto ward them off."

Partly they persisted in their obduracy of heart because Noah had made known tothem that the flood would not descend so long as the pious Methuselah sojournedamong them. The period of one hundred and twenty years which God had appointedas the term of their probation having expired, Methuselah died, but out ofregard for the memory of this pious man God gave them another week's respite,the week of mourning for him. During this time of grace, the laws of naturewere suspended, the sun rose in the west and set in the east. To the sinnersGod gave the dainties that await man in the future world, for the purpose ofshowing them what they were forfeiting.[19] But all this proved unavailing,and, Methuselah and the other pious men of the generation having departed thislife, God brought the deluge upon the earth.[20]

THE HOLY BOOK

Great wisdom was needed for building the ark, which was to have space for allbeings on earth, even the spirits. Only the fishes did not have to be providedfor.[21] Noah acquired the necessary wisdom from the book given to Adam by theangel Raziel, in which all celestial and all earthly knowledge is recorded.

While the first human pair were still in Paradise, it once happened thatSamael, accompanied by a lad, approached Eve and requested her to keep awatchful eye upon his little son until he should return. Eve gave him thepromise. When Adam came back from a walk in Paradise, he found a howling,screaming child with Eve, who, in reply to his question, told him it wasSamael's. Adam was annoyed, and his annoyance grew as the boy cried andscreamed more and more violently. In his vexation he dealt the little one ablow that killed him. But the corpse did not cease to wail and weep, nor did itcease when Adam cut it up into bits. To rid himself of the plague, Adam cookedthe remains, and he and Eve ate them. Scarcely had they finished, when Samaelappeared and demanded his son. The two malefactors tried to deny everything;they pretended they had no knowledge of his son. But Samael said to them:"What! You dare tell lies, and God in times to come will give Israel the Torahin which it is said, 'Keep thee far from a false word'?"

While they were speaking thus, suddenly the voice of the slain lad was heardproceeding from the heart of Adam and Eve, and it addressed these words toSamael: "Go hence! I have penetrated to the heart of Adam and the heart of Eve,and never again shall I quit their hearts, nor the hearts of their children, ortheir children's children, unto the end of all generations."

Samael departed, but Adam was sore grieved, and he put on sackcloth and ashes,and he fasted many, many days, until God appeared unto him, and said: "My son,have no fear of Samael. I will give thee a remedy that will help thee againsthim, for it was at My instance that he went to thee." Adam asked, "And what isthis remedy?" God: "The Torah." Adam: "And where is the Torah?" God then gavehim the book of the angel Raziel, which he studied day and night. After sometime had passed, the angels visited Adam, and, envious of the wisdom he haddrawn from the book, they sought to destroy him cunningly by calling him a godand prostrating themselves before him, in spite of his remonstrance, "Do notprostrate yourselves before me, but magnify the Lord with me, and let us exaltHis Name together." However, the envy of the angels was so great that theystole the book God had given Adam from him, and threw it in the sea. Adamsearched for it everywhere in vain, and the loss distressed him sorely. Againhe fasted many days, until God appeared unto him, and said: "Fear not! I willgive the book back to thee," and He called Rahab, the Angel of the Sea, andordered him to recover the book from the sea and restore it to Adam. And so hedid.[22]

Upon the death of Adam, the holy book disappeared, but later the cave in whichit was hidden was revealed to Enoch in a dream. It was from this book thatEnoch drew his knowledge of nature, of the earth and of the heavens, and hebecame so wise through it that his wisdom exceeded the wisdom of Adam. Once hehad committed it to memory, Enoch hid the book again.

Now, when God resolved upon bringing the flood on the earth, He sent thearchangel Raphael to Noah, as the bearer of the following message: "I give theeherewith the holy book, that all the secrets and mysteries written therein maybe made manifest unto thee, and that thou mayest know how to fulfil itsinjunction in holiness, purity, modesty, and humbleness. Thou wilt learn fromit how to build an ark of the wood of the gopher tree, wherein thou, and thysons, and thy wife shall find protection."

Noah took the book, and when he studied it, the holy spirit came upon him, andhe knew all things needful for the building of the ark and the gatheringtogether of the animals. The book, which was made of sapphires, he took withhim into the ark, having first enclosed it in a golden casket. All the time hespent in the ark it served him as a time-piece, to distinguish night from day.Before his death, he entrusted it to Shem, and he in turn to Abraham. FromAbraham it descended through Jacob, Levi, Moses, and Joshua to Solomon, wholearnt all his wisdom from it, and his skill in the healing art, and also hismastery over the demons.[23]

THE INMATES OF THE ARK

The ark was completed according to the instructions laid down in the Book ofRaziel. Noah's next task was gathering in the animals. No less than thirty-twospecies of birds and three hundred and sixty-five of reptiles he had to takealong with him. But God ordered the animals to repair to the ark, and theytrooped thither, and Noah did not have to do so much as stretch out afinger.[24] Indeed, more appeared than were required to come, and Godinstructed him to sit at the door of the ark and note which of the animals laydown as they reached the entrance and which stood. The former belonged in theark, but not the latter. Taking up his post as he had been commanded, Noahobserved a lioness with her two cubs. All three beasts crouched. But the twoyoung ones began to struggle with the mother, and she arose and stood up nextto them. Then Noah led the two cubs into the ark. The wild beasts, and thecattle, and the birds which were not accepted remained standing about the arkall of seven days, for the assembling of the animals happened one week beforethe flood began to descend. On the day whereon they came to the ark, the sunwas darkened, and the foundations of the earth trembled, and lightning flashed,and the thunder boomed, as never before. And yet the sinners remainedimpenitent. In naught did they change their wicked doings during those lastseven days.

When finally the flood broke loose, seven hundred thousand of the children ofmen gathered around the ark, and implored Noah to grant them protection. With aloud voice he replied, and said: "Are ye not those who were rebellious towardGod, saying, 'There is no God'? Therefore He has brought ruin upon you, toannihilate you and destroy you from the face of the earth. Have I not beenprophesying this unto you these hundred and twenty years, and you would notgive heed unto the voice of God? Yet now you desire to be kept alive!" Then thesinners cried out: "So be it! We all are ready now to turn back to God, if onlythou wilt open the door of thy ark to receive us, that we may live and notdie." Noah made answer, and said: "That ye do now, when your need presses hardupon you. Why did you not turn to God during all the hundred and twenty yearswhich the Lord appointed unto you as the term of repentance? Now do ye come,and ye speak thus, because distress besets your lives. Therefore God will nothearken unto you and give you ear; naught will you accomplish!"

The crowd of sinners tried to take the entrance to the ark by storm, but thewild beasts keeping watch around the ark set upon them, and many were slain,while the rest escaped, only to meet death in the waters of the flood.[25] Thewater alone could not have made an end of them, for they were giants in statureand strength. When Noah threatened them with the scourge of God, they wouldmake reply: "If the waters of the flood come from above, they will never reachup to our necks; and if they come from below, the soles of our feet are largeenough to dam up the springs." But God bade each drop pass through Gehennabefore it fell to earth, and the hot rain scalded the skin of the sinners. Thepunishment that overtook them was befitting their crime. As their sensualdesires had made them hot, and inflamed them to immoral excesses, so they werechastised by means of heated water.[26]

Not even in the hour of the death struggle could the sinners suppress theirvile instincts. When the water began to stream up out of the springs, theythrew their little children into them, to choke the flood.[27]

It was by the grace of God, not on account of his merits, that Noah foundshelter in the ark before the overwhelming force of the waters.[28] Although hewas better than his contemporaries, he was yet not worthy of having wondersdone for his sake. He had so little faith that he did not enter the ark untilthe waters had risen to his knees. With him his pious wife Naamah, the daughterof Enosh, escaped the peril, and his three sons, and the wives of his threesons.

Noah had not married until he was four hundred and ninety-eight years old. Thenthe Lord had bidden him to take a wife unto himself. He had not desired tobring children into the world, seeing that they would all have to perish in theflood, and he had only three sons, born unto him shortly before the delugecame.[30] God had given him so small a number of offspring that he might bespared the necessity of building the ark on an overlarge scale in case theyturned out to be pious. And if not, if they, too, were depraved like the restof their generation, sorrow over their destruction would but be increased inproportion to their number.[31]

As Noah and his family were the only ones not to have a share in thecorruptness of the age, so the animals received into the ark were such as hadled a natural life. For the animals of the time were as immoral as the men: thedog united with the wolf, the cock with the pea-fowl, and many others paid noheed to sexual purity. Those that were saved were such as had kept themselvesuntainted.[32]

Before the flood the number of unclean animals had been greater than the numberof the clean. Afterward the ratio was reversed, because while seven pairs ofclean animals were preserved in the ark, but two pairs of the unclean werepreserved.[33]

One animal, the reem, Noah could not take into the ark. On account of its hugesize it could not find room therein. Noah therefore tied it to the ark, and itran on behind.[34] Also, he could not make space for the giant Og, the king ofBashan. He sat on top of the ark securely, and in this way escaped the flood ofwaters. Noah doled out his food to him daily, through a hole, because Og hadpromised that he and his descendants would serve him as slaves inperpetuity.[35]

Two creatures of a most peculiar kind also found refuge in the ark. Among thebeings that came to Noah there was Falsehood asking for shelter. He was deniedadmission, because he had no companion, and Noah was taking in the animals onlyby pairs. Falsehood went off to seek a partner, and he met Misfortune, whom heassociated with himself on the condition that she might appropriate whatFalsehood earned. The pair were then accepted in the ark. When they left it,Falsehood noticed that whatever he gathered together disappeared at once, andhe betook himself to his companion to seek an explanation, which she gave himin the following words, "Did we not agree to the condition that I might takewhat you earn?" and Falsehood had to depart empty-handed.

THE FLOOD

The assembling of the animals in the ark was but the smaller part of the taskimposed upon Noah. His chief difficulty was to provide food for a year andaccommodations for them. Long afterward Shem, the son of Noah, related toEliezer, the servant of Abraham, the tale of their experiences with the animalsin the ark. This is what he said: "We had sore troubles in the ark. The dayanimals had to be fed by day, and the night animals by night. My father knewnot what food to give to the little zikta. Once he cut a pomegranate in half,and a worm dropped out of the fruit, and was devoured by the zikta. Thenceforthmy father would knead bran, and let it stand until it bred worms, which werefed to the animal. The lion suffered with a fever all the time, and thereforehe did not annoy the others, because he did not relish dry food. The animalurshana my father found sleeping in a corner of the vessel, and he asked himwhether he needed nothing to eat. He answered, and said: 'I saw thou wast verybusy, and I did not wish to add to thy cares.' Whereupon my father said, 'Mayit be the will of the Lord to keep thee alive forever,' and the blessing wasrealized."[37]

The difficulties were increased when the flood began to toss the ark from sideto side. All inside of it were shaken up like lentils in a pot. The lions beganto roar, the oxen lowed, the wolves howled, and all the animals gave vent totheir agony, each through the sounds it had the power to utter.

Also Noah and his sons, thinking that death was nigh, broke into tears. Noahprayed to God: "O Lord, help us, for we are not able to bear the evil thatencompasses us. The billows surge about us, the streams of destruction make usafraid, and death stares us in the face. O hear our prayer, deliver us, inclineThyself unto us, and be gracious unto us! Redeem us and save us!"[38]

The flood was produced by a union of the male waters, which are above thefirmament, and the female waters issuing from the earth.[39] The upper watersrushed through the space left when God removed two stars out of theconstellation Pleiades. Afterward, to put a stop to the flood, God had totransfer two stars from the constellation of the Bear to the constellation ofthe Pleiades. That is why the Bear runs after the Pleiades. She wants her twochildren back, but they will be restored to her only in the future world.[40]

There were other changes among the celestial spheres during the year of theflood. All the time it lasted, the sun and the moon shed no light, whence Noahwas called by his name, "the resting one," for in his life the sun and the moonrested. The ark was illuminated by a precious stone, the light of which wasmore brilliant by night than by day, so enabling Noah to distinguish betweenday and night.[41]

The duration of the flood was a whole year. It began on the seventeenth day ofHeshwan, and the rain continued for forty days, until the twenty-seventh ofKislew. The punishment corresponded to the crime of the sinful generation. Theyhad led immoral lives, and begotten bastard children, whose embryonic statelasts forty days. From the twenty seventh of Kislew until the first of Siwan, aperiod of one hundred and fifty days, the water stood at one and the sameheight, fifteen ells above the earth. During that time all the wicked weredestroyed, each one receiving the punishment due to him.[42] Cain was amongthose that perished, and thus the death of Abel was avenged.[43] So powerfulwere the waters in working havoc that the corpse of Adam was not spared in itsgrave.[44]

On the first of Siwan the waters began to abate, a quarter of an ell a day, andat the end of sixty days, on the tenth day of Ab, the summits of the mountainsshowed themselves. But many days before, on the tenth of Tammuz, Noah had sentforth the raven, and a week later the dove, on the first of her three sallies,repeated at intervals of a week. It took from the first of Ab until the firstof Tishri for the waters to subside wholly from the face of the earth. Eventhen the soil was so miry that the dwellers in the ark had to remain withinuntil the twenty-seventh day of Heshwan, completing a full sun year, consistingof twelve moons and eleven days.[45]

Noah had experienced difficulty all along in ascertaining the state of thewaters. When he desired to dispatch the raven, the bird said: "The Lord, thyMaster, hates me, and thou dost hate me, too. Thy Master hates me, for He badethee take seven pairs of the clean animals into the ark, and but two pairs ofthe unclean animals, to which I belong. Thou hatest me, for thou dost notchoose, as a messenger, a bird of one of the kinds of which there are sevenpairs in the ark, but thou sendest me, and of my kind there is but one pair.Suppose, now, I should perish by reason of heat or cold, would not the world bethe poorer by a whole species of animals? Or can it be that thou hast cast alustful eye upon my mate, and desirest to rid thyself of me?" Where unto Noahmade answer, and said: "Wretch! I must live apart from my own wife in the ark.How much less would such thoughts occur to my mind as thou imputest to me!"[46]

The raven's errand had no success, for when he saw the body of a dead man, heset to work to devour it, and did not execute the orders given to him by Noah.Thereupon the dove was sent out. Toward evening she returned with an olive leafin her bill, plucked upon the Mount of Olives at Jerusalem, for the Holy Landhad not been ravaged by the deluge. As she plucked it, she said to God: "O Lordof the world, let my food be as bitter as the olive, but do Thou give it to mefrom Thy hand, rather than it should be sweet, and I be delivered into thepower of men."[47]

NOAH LEAVES THE ARK

Though the earth assumed its old form at the end of the year of punishment,Noah did not abandon the ark until he received the command of God to leave it.He said to himself, "As I entered the ark at the bidding of God, so I willleave it only at His bidding." Yet, when God bade Noah go out of the ark, herefused, because he feared that after he had lived upon the dry land for sometime, and begotten children, God would bring another flood. He therefore wouldnot leave the ark until God swore He would never visit the earth with a floodagain.[48]

When he stepped out from the ark into the open, he began to weep bitterly atsight of the enormous ravages wrought by the flood, and he said to God: "O Lordof the world! Thou art called the Merciful, and Thou shouldst have had mercyupon Thy creatures." God answered, and said: "O thou foolish shepherd, now thouspeakest to Me. Thou didst not so when I addressed kind words to thee, saying:'I saw thee as a righteous man and perfect in thy generation, and I will bringthe flood upon the earth to destroy all flesh. Make an ark for thyself ofgopher wood.' Thus spake I to thee, telling thee all these circumstances, thatthou mightest entreat mercy for the earth. But thou, as soon as thou didst hearthat thou wouldst be rescued in the ark, thou didst not concern thyself aboutthe ruin that would strike the earth. Thou didst but build an ark for thyself,in which thou wast saved. Now that the earth is wasted, thou openest thy mouthto supplicate and pray."

Noah realized that he had been guilty of folly. To propitiate God andacknowledge his sin, he brought a sacrifice.[49] God accepted the offering withfavor, whence he is called by his name Noah.[50] The sacrifice was not offeredby Noah with his own hands; the priestly services connected with it wereperformed by his son Shem. There was a reason for this. One day in the ark Noahforgot to give his ration to the lion, and the hungry beast struck him soviolent a blow with his paw that he was lame forever after, and, having abodily defect, he was not permitted to do the offices of a priest.[51]

The sacrifices consisted of an ox, a sheep, a goat, two turtle doves, and twoyoung pigeons. Noah had chosen these kinds because he supposed they wereappointed for sacrifices, seeing that God had commanded him to take seven pairsof them into the ark with him. The altar was erected in the same place on whichAdam and Cain and Abel had brought their sacrifices, and on which later thealtar was to be in the sanctuary at Jerusalem.[52]

After the sacrifice was completed, God blessed Noah and his sons. He made themto be rulers of the world as Adam had been,[53] and He gave them a command,saying, "Be fruitful and multiply upon the earth," for during their sojourn inthe ark, the two sexes, of men and animals alike, had lived apart from eachother, because while a public calamity rages continence is becoming even tothose who are left unscathed. This law of conduct had been violated by none inthe ark except by Ham, by the dog, and by the raven. They all received apunishment. Ham's was that his descendants were men of dark-hued skin.[54]

As a token that He would destroy the earth no more, God set His bow in thecloud. Even if men should be steeped in sin again, the bow proclaims to themthat their sins will cause no harm to the world. Times came in the course ofthe ages when men were pious enough not to have to live in dread of punishment.In such times the bow was not visible.[55]

God accorded permission to Noah and his descendants to use the flesh of animalsfor food, which had been forbidden from the time of Adam until then. But theywere to abstain from the use of blood. He ordained the seven Noachian laws, theobservance of which is incumbent upon all men, not upon Israel alone. Godenjoined particularly the command against the shedding of human blood. Whosowould shed man's blood, his blood would be shed. Even if human judges let theguilty man go free, his punishment would overtake him. He would die anunnatural death, such as he had inflicted upon his fellow-man. Yea, even beaststhat slew men, even of them would the life of men be required.[56]

THE CURSE OF DRUNKENNESS

Noah lost his epithet "the pious" when he began to occupy himself with thegrowing of the vine. He became a "man of the ground," and this first attempt toproduce wine at the same time produced the first to drink to excess, the firstto utter curses upon his associates, and the first to introduce slavery. Thisis the way it all came about. Noah found the vine which Adam had taken with himfrom Paradise, when he was driven forth. He tasted the grapes upon it, and,finding them palatable, he resolved to plant the vine and tend it.[57] On theselfsame day on which he planted it, it bore fruit, he put it in thewine-press, drew off the juice, drank it, became drunken, and wasdishonored—all on one day. His assistant in the work of cultivating the vinewas Satan, who had happened along at the very moment when he was engaged inplanting the slip he had found. Satan asked him: "What is it thou art plantinghere?"

Noah: "A vineyard."

Satan: "And what may be the qualities of what it produces?"

Noah: "The fruit it bears is sweet, be it dry or moist. It yields wine thatrejoiceth the heart of man."

Satan: "Let us go into partnership in this business of planting a vineyard."

Noah: "Agreed!"

Satan thereupon slaughtered a lamb, and then, in succession, a lion, a pig, anda monkey. The blood of each as it was killed he made to flow under the vine.Thus he conveyed to Noah what the qualities of wine are: before man drinks ofit, he is innocent as a lamb; if he drinks of it moderately, he feels as strongas a lion; if he drinks more of it than he can bear, he resembles the pig; andif he drinks to the point of intoxication, then he behaves like a monkey, hedances around, sings, talks obscenely, and knows not what he is doing.[58]

This deterred Noah no more than did the example of Adam, whose fall had alsobeen due to wine, for the forbidden fruit had been the grape, with which he hadmade himself drunk.[59]

In his drunken condition Noah betook himself to the tent of his wife. His sonHam saw him there, and he told his brothers what he had noticed, and said: "Thefirst man had but two sons, and one slew the other; this man Noah has threesons, yet he desires to beget a fourth besides." Nor did Ham rest satisfiedwith these disrespectful words against his father. He added to this sin ofirreverence the still greater outrage of attempting to perform an operationupon his father designed to prevent procreation.

When Noah awoke from his wine and became sober, he pronounced a curse upon Hamin the person of his youngest son Canaan. To Ham himself he could do no harm,for God had conferred a blessing upon Noah and his three sons as they departedfrom the ark. Therefore he put the curse upon the last-born son of the son thathad prevented him from begetting a younger son than the three he had. Thedescendants of Ham through Canaan therefore have red eyes, because Ham lookedupon the nakedness of his father; they have misshapen lips, because Ham spokewith his lips to his brothers about the unseemly condition of his father; theyhave twisted curly hair, because Ham turned and twisted his head round to seethe nakedness of his father; and they go about naked, because Ham did not coverthe nakedness of his father. Thus he was requited, for it is the way of God tomete out punishment measure for measure.

Canaan had to suffer vicariously for his father's sin. Yet some of thepunishment was inflicted upon him on his own account, for it had been Canaanwho had drawn the attention of Ham to Noah's revolting condition. Ham, itappears, was but the worthy father of such a son.[61] The last will andtestament of Canaan addressed to his children read as follows: "Speak not thetruth; hold not yourselves aloof from theft; lead a dissolute life; hate yourmaster with an exceeding great hate; and love one another."[62]

As Ham was made to suffer requital for his irreverence, so Shem and Japhethreceived a reward for the filial, deferential way in which they took a garmentand laid it upon both their shoulders, and walking backward, with avertedfaces, covered the nakedness of their father. Naked the descendants of Ham, theEgyptians and Ethiopians, were led away captive and into exile by the king ofAssyria, while the descendants of Shem, the Assyrians, even when the angel ofthe Lord burnt them in the camp, were not exposed, their garments remained upontheir corpses unsinged. And in time to come, when Gog shall suffer his defeat,God will provide both shrouds and a place of burial for him and all hismultitude, the posterity of Japheth.

Though Shem and Japheth both showed themselves to be dutiful and deferential,yet it was Shem who deserved the larger meed of praise. He was the first to setabout covering his father. Japheth joined him after the good deed had beenbegun. Therefore the descendants of Shem received as their special reward thetallit, the garment worn by them, while the Japhethites have only the toga.[63]A further distinction accorded to Shem was the mention of his name inconnection with God's in the blessing of Noah. "Blessed be the Lord, the God ofShem," he said, though as a rule the name of God is not joined to the name of aliving person, only to the name of one who has departed this life.[64]

The relation of Shem to Japheth was expressed in the blessing their fatherpronounced upon them: God will grant a land of beauty to Japheth, and his sonswill be proselytes dwelling in the academies of Shem.[65] At the same time Noahconveyed by his words that the Shekinah would dwell only in the first Temple,erected by Solomon, a son of Shem, and not in the second Temple, the builder ofwhich would be Cyrus, a descendant of Japheth.[66]

NOAH'S DESCENDANTS SPREAD ABROAD

When it became known to Ham that his father had cursed him, he fled ashamed,and with his family he settled in the city built by him, and named Neelatamaukfor his wife. Jealous of his brother, Japheth followed his example. He likewisebuilt a city which he named for his wife, Adataneses. Shem was the only one ofthe sons of Noah who did not abandon him. In the vicinity of his father's home,by the mountain, he built his city, to which he also gave his wife's name,Zedeketelbab. The three cities are all near Mount Lubar, the eminence uponwhich the ark rested. The first lies to the south of it, the second to thewest, and the third to the east.

Noah endeavored to inculcate the ordinances and the commands known to him uponhis children and his children's children. In particular he admonished themagainst the fornication, the uncleanness, and all the iniquity which hadbrought the flood down upon the earth. He reproached them with living apartfrom one another, and with their jealousies, for he feared that, after hisdeath, they might go so far as to shed human blood. Against this he warned themimpressively, that they be not annihilated from the earth like those that wentbefore. Another law which he enjoined upon them, to observe it, was the lawordaining that the fruit of a tree shall not be used the first three years itbears, and even in the fourth year it shall be the portion of the priestsalone, after a part thereof has been offered upon the altar of God. And havingmade an end of giving his teachings and injunctions, Noah said: "For thus didEnoch, your ancestor, exhort his son Methuselah, and Methuselah his son Lamech,and Lamech delivered all unto me as his father had bidden him, and now I doexhort you, my children, as Enoch exhorted his son. When he lived, in hisgeneration, which was the seventh generation of man, he commanded it andtestified it unto his children and his children's children, until the day ofhis death."[67]

In the year 1569 after the creation of the world, Noah divided the earth by lotamong his three sons, in the presence of an angel. Each one stretched forth hishand and took a slip from the bosom of Noah. Shem's slip was inscribed with themiddle of the earth, and this portion became the inheritance of his descendantsunto all eternity. Noah rejoiced that the lot had assigned it to Shem. Thus wasfulfilled his blessing upon him, "And God in the habitation of Shem," for threeholy places fell within his precincts—the Holy of Holies in the Temple, MountSinai, the middle point of the desert, and Mount Zion, the middle point of thenavel of the earth.

The south fell to the lot of Ham, and the north became the inheritance ofJapheth. The land of Ham is hot, Japheth's cold, but Shem's is neither hot norcold, its temperature is hot and cold mixed.[68]

This division of the earth took place toward the end of the life of Peleg, thename given to him by his father Eber, who, being a prophet, knew that thedivision of the earth would take place in the time of his son.[69] The brotherof Peleg was called Joktan, because the duration of the life of man wasshortened in his time.[70]

In turn, the three sons of Noah, while they were still standing in the presenceof their father, divided each his portion among his children, Noah threateningwith his curse any who should stretch out his hand to take a portion notassigned to him by lot. And they all cried, "So be it! So be it!"[71]

Thus were divided one hundred and four lands and ninety-nine islands amongseventy-two nations, each with a language of its own, using sixteen differentsets of characters for writing. To Japheth were allotted forty-four lands,thirty-three islands, twenty-two languages, and five kinds of writing; Hamreceived thirty-four lands, thirty-three islands, twenty-four languages, andfive kinds of writing; and Shem twenty-six lands, thirty-three islands,twenty-six languages, and six kinds of writing—one set of written charactersmore to Shem than to either of his brothers, the extra set being theHebrew.[72]

The land appointed as the inheritance of the twelve sons of Jacob wasprovisionally granted to Canaan, Zidon, Heth, the Jebusites, the Amorites, theGirgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, theZemarites, and the Hamathites. It was the duty of these nations to take care ofthe land until the rightful owners should come.[73]

No sooner had the children of Noah and their children's children takenpossession of the habitations apportioned to them, than the unclean spiritsbegan to seduce men and torment them with pain and all sorts of sufferingleading to spiritual and physical death. Upon the entreaties of Noah God sentdown the angel Raphael, who banished nine-tenths of the unclean spirits fromthe earth, leaving but one-tenth for Mastema, to punish sinners through them.Raphael, supported by the chief of the unclean spirits, at that time revealedto Noah all the remedies residing in plants, that he might resort to them atneed. Noah recorded them in a book, which he transmitted to his son Shem.[74]This is the source to which go back all the medical books whence the wise menof India, Aram, Macedonia, and Egypt draw their knowledge. The sages of Indiadevoted themselves particularly to the study of curative trees and spices; theArameans were well versed in the knowledge of the properties of grains andseeds, and they translated the old medical books into their language. The wisemen of Macedonia were the first to apply medical knowledge practically, whilethe Egyptians sought to effect cures by means of magic arts and by means ofastrology, and they taught the Midrash of the Chaldees, composed by Kangar, theson of Ur, the son of Kesed. Medical skill spread further and further until thetime of aesculapius. This Macedonian sage, accompanied by forty learnedmagicians, journeyed from country to country, until they came to the landbeyond India, in the direction of Paradise. They hoped there to find some woodof the tree of life, and thus spread their fame abroad over the whole world.Their hope was frustrated. When they arrived at the spot, they found healingtrees and wood of the tree of life, but when they were in the act of stretchingforth their hands to gather what they desired, lightning darted out of theever-turning sword, smote them to the ground, and they were all burnt. Withthem disappeared all knowledge of medicine, and it did not revive until thetime of the first Artaxerxes, under the Macedonian sage Hippocrates,Dioscorides of Baala, Galen of Caphtor, and the Hebrew Asaph.[75]

THE DEPRAVITY OF MANKIND

With the spread of mankind corruption increased. While Noah was still alive,the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth appointed princes over each of thethree groups—Nimrod for the descendants of Ham, Joktan for the descendants ofShem, and Phenech for the descendants of Japheth. Ten years before Noah'sdeath, the number of those subject to the three princes amounted to millions.When this great concourse of men came to Babylonia upon their journeyings, theysaid to one another: "Behold, the time is coming when, at the end of days,neighbor will be separated from neighbor, and brother from brother, and onewill carry on war against the other. Go to, let us build us a city, and atower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a great name uponthe earth. And now let us make bricks, and each one write his name upon hisbrick." All agreed to this proposal, with the exception of twelve pious men,Abraham among them. They refused to join the others. They were seized by thepeople, and brought before the three princes, to whom they gave the followingreason for their refusal: "We will not make bricks, nor remain with you, for weknow but one God, and Him we serve; even if you burn us in the fire togetherwith the bricks, we will not walk in your ways." Nimrod and Phenech flew intosuch a passion over the twelve men that they resolved to throw them into thefire. Joktan, however, besides being a God-fearing man, was of close kin to themen on trial, and he essayed to save them. He proposed to his two colleagues togrant them a seven days' respite. His plan was accepted, such deference beingpaid him as the primate among the three. The twelve were incarcerated in thehouse of Joktan. In the night he charged fifty of his attendants to mount theprisoners upon mules and take them to the mountains. Thus they would escape thethreatened punishment. Joktan provided them with food for a month. He was surethat in the meantime either a change of sentiment would come about, and thepeople desist from their purpose, or God would help the fugitives. Eleven ofthe prisoners assented to the plan with gratitude. Abraham alone rejected it,saying: "Behold, to-day we flee to the mountains to escape from the fire, butif wild beasts rush out from the mountains and devour us, or if food islacking, so that we die by famine, we shall be found fleeing before the peopleof the land and dying in our sins. Now, as the Lord liveth, in whom I trust, Iwill not depart from this place wherein they have imprisoned me, and if I am todie through my sins, then will I die by the will of God, according to Hisdesire."

In vain Joktan endeavored to persuade Abraham to flee. He persisted in hisrefusal. He remained behind alone in the prison house, while the other elevenmade their escape. At the expiration of the set term, when the people returnedand demanded the death of the twelve captives, Joktan could produce onlyAbraham. His excuse was that the rest had broken loose during the night. Thepeople were about to throw themselves upon Abraham and cast him into the limekiln. Suddenly an earthquake was felt, the fire darted from the furnace, andall who were standing round about, eighty four thousand of the people, wereconsumed, while Abraham remained untouched. Thereupon he repaired to his elevenfriends in the mountains, and told them of the miracle that had befallen forhis sake. They all returned with him, and, unmolested by the people, they gavepraise and thanks to God.[76]

NIMROD

The first among the leaders of the corrupt men was Nimrod.[77] His father Cushhad married his mother at an advanced age, and Nimrod, the offspring of thisbelated union, was particularly dear to him as the son of his old age. He gavehim the clothes made of skins with which God had furnished Adam and Eve at thetime of their leaving Paradise. Cush himself had gained possession of themthrough Ham. From Adam and Eve they had descended to Enoch, and from him toMethuselah, and to Noah, and the last had taken them with him into the ark.When the inmates of the ark were about to leave their refuge, Ham stole thegarments and kept them concealed, finally passing them on to his first-born sonCush. Cush in turn hid them for many years. When his son Nimrod reached histwentieth year, he gave them to him.[78] These garments had a wonderfulproperty. He who wore them was both invincible and irresistible. The beasts andbirds of the woods fell down before Nimrod as soon as they caught sight of himarrayed in them,[79] and he was equally victorious in his combats with men.[80]The source of his unconquerable strength was not known to them. They attributedit to his personal prowess, and therefore they appointed him king overthemselves.[81] This was done after a conflict between the descendants of Cushand the descendants of Japheth, from which Nimrod emerged triumphant, havingrouted the enemy utterly with the assistance of a handful of warriors. He choseShinar as his capital. Thence he extended his dominion farther and farther,until he rose by cunning and force to be the sole ruler of the whole world, thefirst mortal to hold universal sway, as the ninth ruler to possess the samepower will be the Messiah.[82]

His impiousness kept pace with his growing power. Since the flood there hadbeen no such sinner as Nimrod. He fashioned idols of wood and stone, and paidworship to them. But not satisfied to lead a godless life himself, he did allhe could to tempt his subjects into evil ways, wherein he was aided and abettedby his son Mardon. This son of his outstripped his father in iniquity. It wastheir time and their life that gave rise to the proverb, "Out of the wickedcometh forth wickedness."[83]

The great success that attended all of Nimrod's undertakings produced asinister effect. Men no longer trusted in God, but rather in their own prowessand ability,[84] an attitude to which Nimrod tried to convert the wholeworld.[85] Therefore people said, "Since the creation of the world there hasbeen none like Nimrod, a mighty hunter of men and beasts, and a sinner beforeGod."[86]

And not all this sufficed unto Nimrod's evil desire. Not enough that he turnedmen away from God, he did all he could to make them pay Divine honors untohimself. He set himself up as a god, and made a seat for himself in imitationof the seat of God. It was a tower built out of a round rock, and on it heplaced a throne of cedar wood, upon which arose, one above the other, fourthrones, of iron, copper, silver, and gold. Crowning all, upon the goldenthrone, lay a precious stone, round in shape and gigantic in size. This servedhim as a seat, and as he sate upon it, all nations came and paid him Divinehomage.[87]

THE TOWER OF BABEL

The iniquity and godlessness of Nimrod reached their climax in the building ofthe Tower of Babel. His counsellors had proposed the plan of erecting such atower, Nimrod had agreed to it, and it was executed in Shinar by a mob of sixhundred thousand men. The enterprise was neither more nor less than rebellionagainst God, and there were three sorts of rebels among the builders. The firstparty spoke, Let us ascend into the heavens and wage warfare with Him; thesecond party spoke, Let us ascend into the heavens, set up our idols, and payworship unto them there; and the third party spoke, Let us ascend into theheavens, and ruin them with our bows and spears.

Many, many years were passed in building the tower. It reached so great aheight that it took a year to mount to the top. A brick was, therefore, moreprecious in the sight of the builders than a human being. If a man fell down,and met his death, none took notice of it, but if a brick dropped, they wept,because it would take a year to replace it. So intent were they uponaccomplishing their purpose that they would not permit a woman to interruptherself in her work of brick-making when the hour of travail came upon her.Moulding bricks she gave birth to her child, and, tying it round her body in asheet, she went on moulding bricks.

They never slackened in their work, and from their dizzy height they constantlyshot arrows toward heaven, which, returning, were seen to be covered withblood. They were thus fortified in their delusion, and they cried, "We haveslain all who are in heaven." Thereupon God turned to the seventy angels whoencompass His throne, and He spake: "Go to, let us go down, and there confoundtheir language, that they may not understand one another's speech." Thus ithappened. Thenceforth none knew what the other spoke. One would ask for themortar, and the other handed him a brick; in a rage, he would throw the brickat his partner and kill him. Many perished in this manner, and the rest werepunished according to the nature of their rebellious conduct. Those who hadspoken, "Let us ascend into the heavens, set up our idols, and pay worship untothem there," God transformed into apes and phantoms; those who had proposed toassault the heavens with their arms, God set against each other so that theyfell in the combat; and those who had resolved to carry on a combat with God inheaven were scattered broadcast over the earth. As for the unfinished tower, apart sank into the earth, and another part was consumed by fire; only one-thirdof it remained standing.[88] The place of the tower has never lost its peculiarquality. Whoever passes it forgets all he knows.[89]

The punishment inflicted upon the sinful generation of the tower iscomparatively lenient. On account of rapine the generation of the flood wereutterly destroyed, while the generation of the tower were preserved in spite oftheir blasphemies and all their other acts offensive to God. The reason is thatGod sets a high value upon peace and harmony. Therefore the generation of thedeluge, who gave themselves up to depredation, and bore hatred to one another,were extirpated, root and branch, while the generation of the Tower of Babeldwelling amicably together, and loving one another, were spared alive, at leasta remnant of them.[90]

Beside the chastisement of sin and sinners by the confounding of speech,another notable circumstance was connected with the descent of God uponearth—one of only ten such descents to occur between the creation of the worldand the day of judgment. It was on this occasion that God and the seventyangels that surround His throne cast lots concerning the various nations. Eachangel received a nation, and Israel fell to the lot of God. To every nation apeculiar language was assigned, Hebrew being reserved for Israel—the languagemade use of by God at the creation of the world.[91]

V
ABRAHAM

THE WICKED GENERATIONS

Ten generations there were from Noah to Abraham, to show how great is theclemency of God, for all the generations provoked His wrath, until Abraham ourfather came and received the reward of all of them.[1] For the sake of AbrahamGod had shown himself long-suffering and patient during the lives of these tengenerations. Yea, more, the world itself had been created for the sake of hismerits.[2] His advent had been made manifest to his ancestor Reu, who utteredthe following prophecy at the birth of his son Serug: "From this child he shallbe born in the fourth generation that shall set his dwelling over the highest,and he shall be called perfect and spotless, and shall be the father ofnations, and his covenant shall not be dissolved, and his seed shall bemultiplied forever."[3]

It was, indeed, high time that the "friend of God"[4] should make hisappearance upon earth. The descendants of Noah were sinking from depravity tolower and lower depths of depravity. They were beginning to quarrel and slay,eat blood, build fortified cities and walls and towers, and set one man overthe whole nation as king, and wage wars, people against people, and nationsagainst nations, and cities against cities, and do all manner of evil, andacquire weapons, and teach warfare unto their children. And they began also totake captives and sell them as slaves. And they made unto themselves moltenimages, which they worshipped, each one the idol he had molten for himself, forthe evil spirits under their leader Mastema led them astray into sin anduncleanness. For this reason Reu called his son Serug, because all mankind hadturned aside unto sin and transgression. When he grew to manhood, the name wasseen to have been chosen fittingly, for he, too, worshipped idols, and when hehimself had a son, Nahor by name, he taught him the arts of the Chaldees, howto be a soothsayer and practice magic according to signs in the heavens. When,in time, a son was born to Nahor, Mastema sent ravens and other birds todespoil the earth and rob men of the proceeds of their work. As soon as theyhad dropped the seed in the furrows, and before they could cover it over withearth, the birds picked it up from the surface of the ground, and Nahor calledhis son Terah, because the ravens and the other birds plagued men, devouredtheir seed, and reduced them to destitution.[6]

THE BIRTH OF ABRAHAM

Terah married Emtelai, the daughter of Karnabo,[6] and the offspring of theirunion was Abraham. His birth had been read in the stars by Nimrod,[7] for thisimpious king was a cunning astrologer, and it was manifest to him that a manwould be born in his day who would rise up against him and triumphantly givethe lie to his religion. In his terror at the fate foretold him in the stars,he sent for his princes and governors, and asked them to advise him in thematter. They answered, and said: "Our unanimous advice is that thou shouldstbuild a great house, station a guard at the entrance thereof, and make known inthe whole of thy realm that all pregnant women shall repair thither togetherwith their midwives, who are to remain with them when they are delivered. Whenthe days of a woman to be delivered are fulfilled, and the child is born, itshall be the duty of the midwife to kill it, if it be a boy. But if the childbe a girl, it shall be kept alive, and the mother shall receive gifts andcostly garments, and a herald shall proclaim, 'Thus is done unto the woman whobears a daughter!'"

The king was pleased with this counsel, and he had a proclamation publishedthroughout his whole kingdom, summoning all the architects to build a greathouse for him, sixty ells high and eighty wide. After it was completed, heissued a second proclamation, summoning all pregnant women thither, and therethey were to remain until their confinement. Officers were appointed to takethe women to the house, and guards were stationed in it and about it, toprevent the women from escaping thence. He furthermore sent midwives to thehouse, and commanded them to slay the men children at their mothers' breasts.But if a woman bore a girl, she was to be arrayed in byssus, silk, andembroidered garments, and led forth from the house of detention amid greathonors. No less than seventy thousand children were slaughtered thus. Then theangels appeared before God, and spoke, "Seest Thou not what he doth, yon sinnerand blasphemer, Nimrod son of Canaarl, who slays so many innocent babes thathave done no harm?" God answered, and said: "Ye holy angels, I know it and Isee it, for I neither slumber nor sleep. I behold and I know the secret thingsand the things that are revealed, and ye shall witness what I will do unto thissinner and blasphemer, for I will turn My hand against him to chastise him."[8]

It was about this time that Terah espoused the mother of Abraham, and she waswith child. When her body grew large at the end of three months ofpregnancy,[9] and her countenance became pale, Terah said unto her, "What ailsthee, my wife, that thy countenance is so pale and thy body so swollen?" Sheanswered, and said, "Every year I suffer with this malady."[10] But Terah wouldnot be put off thus. He insisted: "Show me thy body. It seems to me thou artbig with child. If that be so, it behooves us not to violate the command of ourgod Nimrod."[11] When he passed his hand over her body, there happened amiracle. The child rose until it lay beneath her breasts, and Terah could feelnothing with his hands. He said to his wife, "Thou didst speak truly," andnaught became visible until the day of her delivery.

When her time approached, she left the city in great terror and wandered towardthe desert, walking along the edge of a valley,[12] until she happened across acave. She entered this refuge, and on the next day she was seized with throes,and she gave birth to a son. The whole cave was filled with the light of thechild's countenance as with the splendor of the sun, and the mother rejoicedexceedingly. The babe she bore was our father Abraham.

His mother lamented, and said to her son: "Alas that I bore thee at a time whenNimrod is king. For thy sake seventy thousand men children were slaughtered,and I am seized with terror on account of thee, that he hear of thy existence,and slay thee. Better thou shouldst perish here in this cave than my eye shouldbehold thee dead at my breast." She took the garment in which she was clothed,and wrapped it about the boy. Then she abandoned him in the cave, saying, "Maythe Lord be with thee, may He not fail thee nor forsake thee."[13]

THE BABE PROCLAIMS GOD

Thus Abraham was deserted in the cave, without a nurse, and he began to wail.God sent Gabriel down to give him milk to drink, and the angel made it to flowfrom the little finger of the baby's right hand, and he sucked at it until hewas ten days old.[14] Then he arose and walked about, and he left the cave, andwent along the edge of the valley.[15] When the sun sank, and the stars cameforth, he said, "These are the gods!" But the dawn came, and the stars could beseen no longer, and then he said, "I will not pay worship to these, for theyare no gods." Thereupon the sun came forth, and he spoke, "This is my god, himwill I extol." But again the sun set, and he said, "He is no god," andbeholding the moon, he called her his god to whom he would pay Divine homage.Then the moon was obscured, and he cried out: "This, too, is no god! There isOne who sets them all in motion."[16]

He was still communing with himself when the angel Gabriel approached him andmet him with the greeting, "Peace be with thee," and Abraham returned, "Withthee be peace," and asked, "Who art thou?" And Gabriel answered, and said, "Iam the angel Gabriel, the messenger of God," and he led Abraham to a spring ofwater near by, and Abraham washed his face and his hands and feet, and heprayed to God, bowing down and prostrating himself.

Meantime the mother of Abraham thought of him in sorrow and tears, and she wentforth from the city to seek him in the cave in which she had abandoned him. Notfinding her son, she wept bitterly, and said, "Woe unto me that I bore thee butto become a prey of wild beasts, the bears and the lions and the wolves!" Shewent to the edge of the valley, and there she found her son. But she did notrecognize him, for he had grown very large. She addressed the lad, "Peace bewith thee!" and he returned, "With thee be peace!" and he continued, "Unto whatpurpose didst thou come to the desert?" She replied, "I went forth from thecity to seek my son." Abraham questioned further, "Who brought thy son hither?"and the mother replied thereto: "I had become pregnant from my husband Terah,and when the days of my delivery were fulfilled, I was in anxiety about my sonin my womb, lest our king come, the son of Canaan, and slay him as he had slainthe seventy thousand other men children. Scarcely had I reached the cave inthis valley when the throes of travailing seized me, and I bore a son, whom Ileft behind in the cave, and I went home again. Now am I come to seek him, butI find him not."

Abraham then spoke, "As to this child thou tellest of, how old was it?"

The mother: "It was about twenty days old."

Abraham: "Is there a woman in the world who would forsake her new-born son inthe desert, and come to seek him after twenty days?"

The mother: "Peradventure God will show Himself a merciful God!"

Abraham: "I am the son whom thou hast come to seek in this valley!"

The mother: "My son, how thou art grown! But twenty days old, and thou canstalready walk, and talk with thy mouth!"[17]

Abraham: "So it is, and thus, O my mother, it is made known unto thee thatthere is in the world a great, terrible, living, and ever-existing God, whodoth see, but who cannot be seen. He is in the heavens above, and the wholeearth is full of His glory."

The mother: "My son, is there a God beside Nimrod?"

Abraham: "Yes, mother, the God of the heavens and the God of the earth, He isalso the God of Nimrod son of Canaan. Go, therefore, and carry this messageunto Nimrod."

The mother of Abraham returned to the city and told her husband Terah how shehad found their son. Terah, who was a prince and a magnate in the house of theking, betook himself to the royal palace, and cast himself down before the kingupon his face. It was the rule that one who prostrated himself before the kingwas not permitted to lift up his head until the king bade him lift it up.Nimrod gave permission to Terah to rise and state his request. Thereupon Terahrelated all that had happened with his wife and his son. When Nimrod heard histale, abject fear seized upon him, and he asked his counsellors and princeswhat to do with the lad. They answered, and said: "Our king and our god!Wherefore art thou in fear by reason of a little child? There are myriads uponmyriads of princes in thy realm,[18] rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds,rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens, and overseers without number. Let thepettiest of the princes go and fetch the boy and put him in prison." But theking interposed, "Have ye ever seen a baby of twenty days walking with hisfeet, speaking with his mouth, and proclaiming with his tongue that there is aGod in heaven, who is One, and none beside Him, who sees and is not seen?" Allthe assembled princes were horror struck at these words.[19]

At this time Satan in human form appeared, clad in black silk garb, and he casthimself down before the king. Nimrod said, "Raise thy head and state thyrequest." Satan asked the king: "Why art thou terrified, and why are ye all infear on account of a little lad? I will counsel thee what thou shalt do: Openthy arsenal and give weapons unto all the princes, chiefs, and governors, andunto all the warriors, and send them to fetch him unto thy service and to beunder thy dominion."

This advice given by Satan the king accepted and followed. He sent a greatarmed host to bring Abraham to him. When the boy saw the army approach him, hewas sore afraid, and amid tears he implored God for help. In answer to hisprayer, God sent the angel Gabriel to him, and he said: "Be not afraid anddisquieted, for God is with thee. He will rescue thee out of the hands of allthine adversaries." God commanded Gabriel to put thick, dark clouds betweenAbraham and his assailants. Dismayed by the heavy clouds, they fled, returningto Nimrod, their king, and they said to him, "Let us depart and leave thisrealm," and the king gave money unto all his princes and his servants, andtogether with the king they departed and journeyed to Babylon.[20]

ABRAHAM'S FIRST APPEARANCE IN PUBLIC

Now Abraham, at the command of God, was ordered by the angel Gabriel to followNimrod to Babylon. He objected that he was in no wise equipped to undertake acampaign against the king, but Gabriel calmed him with the words: "Thou needestno provision for the way, no horse to ride upon, no warriors to carry on warwith Nimrod, no chariots, nor riders. Do thou but sit thyself upon my shoulder,and I shall bear thee to Babylon."

Abraham did as he was bidden, and in the twinkling of an eye he found himselfbefore the gates of the city of Babylon.[21] At the behest of the angel, heentered the city, and he called unto the dwellers therein with a loud voice:"The Eternal, He is the One Only God, and there is none beside. He is the Godof the heavens, and the God of the gods, and the God of Nimrod. Acknowledgethis as the truth, all ye men, women, and children. Acknowledge also that I amAbraham His servant, the trusted steward of His house."

Abraham met his parents in Babylon, and also he saw the angel Gabriel, who badehim proclaim the true faith to his father and his mother. Therefore Abrahamspake to them, and said: "Ye serve a man of your own kind, and you pay worshipto an image of Nimrod. Know ye not that it has a mouth, but it speaks not; aneye, but it sees not; an ear, but it hears not; nor does it walk upon its feet,and there is no profit in it, either unto itself or unto others?"

When Terah heard these words, he persuaded Abraham to follow him into thehouse, where his son told him all that had happened—how in one day he hadcompleted a forty days' journey. Terah thereupon went to Nimrod and reported tohim that his son Abraham had suddenly appeared in Babylon.[22] The king sentfor Abraham, and he came before him with his father. Abraham passed themagnates and the dignitaries until he reached the royal throne, upon which heseized hold, shaking it and crying out with a loud voice: "O Nimrod, thoucontemptible wretch, that deniest the essence of faith, that deniest the livingand immutable God, and Abraham His servant, the trusted steward of His house.Acknowledge Him, and repeat after me the words: The Eternal is God, the OnlyOne, and there is none beside; He is incorporeal, living, ever-existing; Heslumbers not and sleeps not, who hath created the world that men might believein Him. And confess also concerning me, and say that I am the servant of Godand the trusted steward of His house."[23]

While Abraham proclaimed this with a loud voice, the idols fell upon theirfaces, and with them also King Nimrod.[24] For a space of two hours and a halfthe king lay lifeless, and when his soul returned upon him, he spoke and said,"Is it thy voice, O Abraham, or the voice of thy God?" And Abraham answered,and said, "This voice is the voice of the least of all creatures called intoexistence by God." Thereupon Nimrod said, "Verily, the God of Abraham is agreat and powerful God, the King of all kings," and he commanded Terah to takehis son and remove him, and return again unto his own city, and father and sondid as the king had ordered.[25]

THE PREACHER OF THE TRUE FAITH

When Abraham attained the age of twenty years, his father Terah fell ill. Hespoke as follows to his sons Haran and Abraham, "I adjure you by your lives, mysons, sell these two idols for me, for I have not enough money to meet ourexpenses." Haran executed the wish of his father, but if any one accostedAbraham, to buy an idol from him, and asked him the price, he would answer,"Three manehs," and then question in turn, "How old art thou?" "Thirty years,"the reply would be. "Thou art thirty years of age, and yet thou wouldst worshipthis idol which I made but to-day?" The man would depart and go his way, andanother would approach Abraham, and ask, "How much is this idol?" and "Fivemanehs" would be the reply, and again Abraham would put the question, "How oldart thou?"—"Fifty years."—"And dost thou who art fifty years of age bow downbefore this idol which was made but to-day?" Thereupon the man would depart andgo his way. Abraham then took two idols, put a rope about their necks, and,with their faces turned downward, he dragged them along the ground, cryingaloud all the time: "Who will buy an idol wherein there is no profit, eitherunto itself or unto him that buys it in order to worship it? It has a mouth,but it speaketh not; eyes, but it seeth not; feet, but it walketh not; ears,but it heareth not."

The people who heard Abraham were amazed exceedingly at his words. As he wentthrough the streets, he met an old woman who approached him with the purpose ofbuying an idol, good and big, to be worshipped and loved. "Old woman, oldwoman," said Abraham, "I know no profit therein, either in the big ones or inthe little ones, either unto themselves or unto others. And," he continued tospeak to her, "what has become of the big image thou didst buy from my brotherHaran, to worship it?" "Thieves," she replied, "came in the night and stole it,while I was still at the bath." "If it be thus," Abraham went on questioningher, "how canst thou pay homage to an idol that cannot save itself fromthieves, let alone save others, like thyself, thou silly old woman, out ofmisfortune? How is it possible for thee to say that the image thou worshippestis a god? If it be a god, why did it not save itself out of the hands of thosethieves? Nay, in the idol there is no profit, either unto itself or unto himthat adores it."[26]

The old woman rejoined, "If what thou sayest be true, whom shall I serve?""Serve the God of all gods," returned Abraham, "the Lord of lords, who hathcreated heaven and earth, the sea and all therein—the God of Nimrod and the Godof Terah, the God of the east, the west, the south, and the north. Who isNimrod, the dog, who calleth himself a god, that worship be offered unto him?"

Abraham succeeded in opening the eyes of the old woman, and she became azealous missionary for the true God. When she discovered the thieves who hadcarried off her idol, and they restored it to her, she broke it in pieces witha stone, and as she wended her way through the streets, she cried aloud, "Whowould save his soul from destruction, and be prosperous in all his doings, lethim serve the God of Abraham." Thus she converted many men and women to thetrue belief.

Rumors of the words and deeds of the old woman reached the king, and he sentfor her. When she appeared before him, he rebuked her harshly, asking her howshe dared serve any god but himself. The old woman replied: "Thou art a liar,thou deniest the essence of faith, the One Only God, beside whom there is noother god. Thou livest upon His bounty, but thou payest worship to another, andthou dost repudiate Him, and His teachings, and Abraham His servant."

The old woman had to pay for her zeal for the faith with her life. Neverthelessgreat fear and terror took possession of Nimrod, because the people became moreand more attached to the teachings of Abraham, and he knew not how to deal withthe man who was undermining the old faith. At the advice of his princes, hearranged a seven days' festival, at which all the people were bidden to appearin their robes of state, their gold and silver apparel. By such display ofwealth and power he expected to intimidate Abraham and bring him back to thefaith of the king. Through his father Terah, Nimrod invited Abraham to comebefore him, that he might have the opportunity of seeing his greatness andwealth, and the glory of his dominion, and the multitude of his princes andattendants. But Abraham refused to appear before the king. On the other hand,he granted his father's request that in his absence he sit by his idols and theking's, and take care of them.

Alone with the idols, and while he repeated the words, "The Eternal He is God,the Eternal He is God!" he struck the king's idols from their thrones, andbegan to belabor them with an axe. With the biggest he started, and with thesmallest he ended. He hacked off the feet of one, and the other he beheaded.This one had his eyes struck out, the other had his hands crushed.[27] Afterall were mutilated, he went away, having first put the axe into the hand of thelargest idol.

The feast ended, the king returned, and when he saw all his idols shivered inpieces, he inquired who had perpetrated the mischief. Abraham was named as theone who had been guilty of the outrage, and the king summoned him andquestioned him as to his motive for the deed. Abraham replied: "I did not doit; it was the largest of the idols who shattered all the rest. Seest thou notthat he still has the axe in his hand? And if thou wilt not believe my words,ask him and he will tell thee."

IN THE FIERY FURNACE

Now the king was exceedingly wroth at Abraham, and ordered him to be cast intoprison, where he commanded the warden not to give him bread or water.[28] ButGod hearkened unto the prayer of Abraham, and sent Gabriel to him in hisdungeon. For a year the angel dwelt with him, and provided him with all sortsof food, and a spring of fresh water welled up before him, and he drank of it.At the end of a year, the magnates of the realm presented themselves before theking, and advised him to cast Abraham into the fire, that the people mightbelieve in Nimrod forever. Thereupon the king issued a decree that all thesubjects of the king in all his provinces, men and women, young and old, shouldbring wood within forty days, and he caused it to be thrown into a greatfurnace and set afire.[29] The flames shot up to the skies, and the people weresore afraid of the fire. Now the warden of the prison was ordered to bringAbraham forth and cast him in the flames. The warden reminded the king thatAbraham had not had food or drink a whole year, and therefore must be dead, butNimrod nevertheless desired him to step in front of the prison and call hisname. If he made reply, he was to be hauled out to the pyre. If he hadperished, his remains were to receive burial, and his memory was to be wipedout henceforth.

Greatly amazed the warden was when his cry, "Abraham, art thou alive?" wasanswered with "I am living." He questioned further, "Who has been bringing theefood and drink all these many days?" and Abraham replied: "Food and drink havebeen bestowed upon me by Him who is over all things, the God of all gods andthe Lord of all lords, who alone doeth wonders, He who is the God of Nimrod andthe God of Terah and the God of the whole world. He dispenseth food and drinkunto all beings. He sees, but He cannot be seen, He is in the heavens above,and He is present in all places, for He Himself superviseth all things andprovideth for all."

The miraculous rescue of Abraham from death by starvation and thirst convincedthe prison-keeper of the truth of God and His prophet Abraham, and heacknowledged his belief in both publicly. The king's threat of death unless herecanted could not turn him away from his new and true faith. When the hangmanraised his sword and set it at his throat to kill him, he exclaimed, "TheEternal He is God, the God of the whole world as well as of the blasphemerNimrod." But the sword could not cut his flesh. The harder it was pressedagainst his throat, the more it broke into pieces.[30]

Nimrod, however, was not to be turned aside from his purpose, to make Abrahamsuffer death by fire. One of the princes was dispatched to fetch him forth. Butscarcely did the messenger set about the task of throwing him into the fire,when the flame leapt forth from the furnace and consumed him. Many moreattempts were made to cast Abraham into the furnace, but always with the samesuccess—whoever seized him to pitch him in was himself burnt, and a largenumber lost their lives. Satan appeared in human shape, and advised the king toplace Abraham in a catapult and sling him into the fire. Thus no one would berequired to come near the flame. Satan himself constructed the catapult. Havingproved it fit three times by means of stones put in the machine, they boundAbraham, hand and foot, and were about to consign him to the flames. At thatmoment Satan, still disguised in human shape, approached Abraham, and said, "Ifthou desirest to deliver thyself from the fire of Nimrod, bow down before himand believe in him." But Abraham rejected the tempter with the words, "May theEternal rebuke thee, thou vile, contemptible, accursed blasphemer!" and Satandeparted from him.

Then the mother of Abraham came to him and implored him to pay homage to Nimrodand escape the impending misfortune. But he said to her: "O mother, water canextinguish Nimrod's fire, but the fire of God will not die out for evermore.Water cannot quench it."[31] When his mother heard these words, she spake, "Maythe God whom thou servest rescue thee from the fire of Nimrod!"

Abraham was finally placed in the catapult, and he raised his eyes heavenward,and spoke, "O Lord my God, Thou seest what this sinner purposes to do untome!"[32] His confidence in God was unshakable. When the angels received theDivine permission to save him, and Gabriel approached him, and asked, "Abraham,shall I save thee from the fire?" he replied, "God in whom I trust, the God ofheaven and earth, will rescue me," and God, seeing the submissive spirit ofAbraham, commanded the fire, "Cool off and bring tranquillity to my servantAbraham."[33]

No water was needed to extinguish the fire. The logs burst into buds, and allthe different kinds of wood put forth fruit, each tree bearing its own kind.The furnace was transformed into a royal pleasance, and the angels sat thereinwith Abraham. When the king saw the miracle, he said: "Great witchcraft! Thoumakest it known that fire hath no power over thee, and at the same time thoushowest thyself unto the people sitting in a pleasure garden." But the princesof Nimrod interposed all with one voice, "Nay, our lord, this is notwitchcraft, it is the power of the great God, the God of Abraham, beside whomthere is no other god, and we acknowledge that He is God, and Abraham is Hisservant." All the princes and all the people believed in God at this hour, inthe Eternal, the God of Abraham, and they all cried out, "The Lord He is God inheaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is none else."[34]

Abraham was the superior, not only of the impious king Nimrod and hisattendants, but also of the pious men of his time, Noah, Shem, Eber, andAsshur.[35] Noah gave himself no concern whatsoever in the matter of spreadingthe pure faith in God. He took an interest in planting his vineyard, and wasimmersed in material pleasures. Shem and Eber kept in hiding, and as forAsshur, he said, "How can I live among such sinners?" and departed out of theland.[36] The only one who remained unshaken was Abraham. "I will not forsakeGod," he said, and therefore God did not forsake him, who had hearkened neitherunto his father nor unto his mother.

The miraculous deliverance of Abraham from the fiery furnace, together with hislater fortunes, was the fulfilment and explanation of what his father Terah hadread in the stars. He had seen the star of Haran consumed by fire, and at thesame time fill and rule the whole world. The meaning was plain now. Haran wasirresolute in his faith, he could not decide whether to adhere to Abraham orthe idolaters. When it befell that those who would not serve idols were castinto the fiery furnace, Haran reasoned in this manner: "Abraham, being myelder, will be called upon before me. If he comes forth out of the fiery trialtriumphant, I will declare my allegiance to him; otherwise I will take sidesagainst him." After God Himself had rescued Abraham from death, and Haran'sturn came to make his confession of faith, he announced his adherence toAbraham. But scarcely had he come near the furnace,[37] when he was seized bythe flames and consumed, because he was lacking in firm faith in God. Terah hadread the stars well, it now appeared: Haran was burnt, and his daughterSarah[38] became the wife of Abraham, whose descendants fill the earth.[39] Inanother way the death of Haran was noteworthy. It was the first instance, sincethe creation of the world, of a son's dying while his father was stillalive.[40]

The king, the princes, and all the people, who had been witnesses of thewonders done for Abraham, came to him, and prostrated themselves before him.But Abraham said: "Do not bow down before me, but before God, the Master of theuniverse, who hath created you. Serve Him and walk in His ways, for He it waswho delivered me from the flames, and He it is who hath created the soul andthe spirit of every human being, who formeth man in the womb of his mother, andbringeth him into the world. He saveth from all sickness those who put theirtrust in Him."

The king then dismissed Abraham, after loading him down with an abundance ofprecious gifts, among them two slaves who had been raised in the royal palace.'Ogi was the name of the one, Eliezer the name of the other. The princesfollowed the example of the king, and they gave him silver, and gold, and gems.But all these gifts did not rejoice the heart of Abraham so much as the threehundred followers that joined him and became adherents of his religion.

ABRAHAM EMIGRATES TO HARAN

For a period of two years Abraham could devote himself undisturbed to hischosen task of turning the hearts of men to God and His teachings.[41] In hispious undertaking he was aided by his wife Sarah, whom he had married in themeantime. While he exhorted the men and sought to convert them, Sarah addressedherself to the women.[42] She was a helpmeet worthy of Abraham. Indeed, inprophetical powers she ranked higher than her husband.[43] She was sometimescalled Iscah, "the seer," on that account.[44]

At the expiration of two years it happened that Nimrod dreamed a dream. In hisdream he found himself with his army near the fiery furnace in the valley intowhich Abraham had been cast. A man resembling Abraham stepped out of thefurnace, and he ran after the king with drawn sword, the king fleeing beforehim in terror. While running, the pursuer threw an egg at Nimrod's head, and amighty stream issued therefrom, wherein the king's whole host was drowned. Theking alone survived, with three men. When Nimrod examined his companions, heobserved that they wore royal attire, and in form and stature they resembledhimself. The stream changed back into an egg again, and a little chick brokeforth from it, and it flew up, settled upon the head of the king, and put outone of his eyes.

The king was confounded in his sleep, and when he awoke, his heart beat like atrip-hammer, and his fear was exceeding great. In the morning, when he arose,he sent and called for his wise men and his magicians, and told them his dream.One of his wise men, Anoko by name, stood up, and said: "Know, O king, thisdream points to the misfortune which Abraham and his descendants will bringupon thee. A time will come when he and his followers will make war upon thyarmy, and they will annihilate it. Thou and the three kings, thy allies, willbe the only ones to escape death. But later thou wilt lose thy life at thehands of one of the descendants of Abraham. Consider, O king, that thy wise menread this fate of thine in the stars, fifty-two years ago, at the birth ofAbraham. As long as Abraham liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not bestablished, nor thy kingdom." Nimrod took Anoko's words to heart, anddispatched some of his servants to seize Abraham and kill him. It happened thatEliezer, the slave whom Abraham had received as a present from Nimrod, was atthat time at the royal court. With great haste he sped to Abraham to induce himto flee before the king's bailiffs. His master accepted his advice, and tookrefuge in the house of Noah and Shem, where he lay in hiding a whole month. Theking's officers reported that despite zealous efforts Abraham was nowhere to befound. Thenceforth the king did not concern himself about Abraham.

When Terah visited his son in his hiding-place, Abraham proposed that theyleave the land and take up their abode in Canaan, in order to escape thepursuit of Nimrod. He said: "Consider that it was not for thy sake that Nimrodoverloaded thee with honors, but for his own profit. Though he continue toconfer the greatest of benefactions upon thee, what are they but earthlyvanity? for riches and possessions profit not in the day of wrath and fury.Hearken unto my voice, O my father, let us depart for the land of Canaan, andserve the God that hath created thee, that it may be well with thee."

Noah and Shem aided and abetted the efforts of Abraham to persuade Terah,whereupon Terah consented to leave his country, and he, and Abraham, and Lot,the son of Haran, departed for Haran with their households. They found the landpleasant, and also the inhabitants thereof, who readily yielded to theinfluence of Abraham's humane spirit and his piety. Many of them obeyed hisprecepts and became God-fearing and good.[45]

Terah's resolve to quit his native land for the sake of Abraham and take up hisabode in strange parts, and his impulse to do it before even the Divine callvisited Abraham himself—this the Lord accounted a great merit unto Terah, andhe was permitted to see his son Abraham rule as king over the whole world. Forwhen the miracle happened, and Isaac was born unto his aged parents, the wholeworld repaired to Abraham and Sarah, and demanded to know what they had donethat so great a thing should be accomplished for them. Abraham told them allthat had happened between Nimrod and himself, how he had been ready to be burntfor the glory of God, and how the Lord had rescued him from the flames. Intoken of their admiration for Abraham and his teachings, they appointed him tobe their king, and in commemoration of Isaac's wondrous birth, the money coinedby Abraham bore the figures of an aged husband and wife on the obverse side,and of a young man and his wife on the reverse side, for Abraham and Sarah bothwere rejuvenated at the birth of Isaac, Abraham's white hair turned black, andthe lines in Sarah's face were smoothed out.

For many years Terah continued to live a witness of his son's glory, for hisdeath did not occur until Isaac was a youth of thirty-five.[46] And a stillgreater reward waited upon his good deed. God accepted his repentance, and whenhe departed this life, he entered into Paradise, and not into hell, though hehad passed the larger number of his days in sin. Indeed, it had been his faultthat Abraham came near losing his life at the hands of Nimrod.[47]

THE STAR IN THE EAST

Terah had been a high official at the court of Nimrod, and he was held in greatconsideration by the king and his suite. A son was born unto him whom he calledAbram, because the king had raised him to an exalted place. In the night ofAbraham's birth, the astrologers and the wise men of Nimrod came to the houseof Terah, and ate and drank, and rejoiced with him that night. When they leftthe house, they lifted up their eyes toward heaven to look at the stars, andthey saw, and, behold, one great star came from the east and ran athwart theheavens and swallowed up the four stars at the four corners. They all wereastonished at the sight, but they understood this matter, and knew its import.They said to one another: "This only betokens that the child that hath beenborn unto Terah this night will grow up and be fruitful, and he will multiplyand possess all the earth, he and his children forever, and he and his seedwill slay great kings and inherit their lands."

They went home that night, and in the morning they rose up early, and assembledin their meeting-house. They spake, and said to one another: "Lo, the sightthat we saw last night is hidden from the king, it has not been made known tohim, and should this thing become known to him in the latter days, he will sayto us, Why did you conceal this matter from me? and then we shall all sufferdeath. Now, let us go and tell the king the sight which we saw, and theinterpretation thereof, and we shall be clear from this thing." And they wentto the king and told him the sight they had seen, and their interpretationthereof, and they added the advice that he pay the value of the child to Terah,and slay the babe.

Accordingly, the king sent for Terah, and when he came, he spake to him: "Ithath been told unto me that a son was born to thee yesternight, and a wondroussign was observed in the heavens at his birth. Now give me the boy, that we mayslay him before evil comes upon us from him, and I will give thee thy housefull of silver and gold in exchange for him." Terah answered: "This thing whichthou promisest unto me is like the words which a man spoke to a mule, saying,'I will give thee a great heap of barley, a houseful thereof, on condition thatI cut off thy head!' The mule replied, 'Of what use will all the barley be tome, if thou cuttest off my head? Who will eat it when thou givest it to me?'Thus also do I say: What shall I do with silver and gold after the death of myson? Who shall inherit me?" But when Terah saw how the king's anger burnedwithin him at these words, he added, "Whatever the king desireth to do unto hisservant, that let him do, even my son is at the king's disposal, without valueor exchange, he and his two older brethren."

The king spake, however, saying, "I will purchase thy youngest son for aprice." And Terah made answer, "Let my king give me three days' time toconsider the matter and consult about it with my family." The king agreed tothis condition, and on the third day he sent to Terah, saying, "Give me thy sonfor a price, as I spoke unto thee, and if thou wilt not do this, I will sendand slay all thou hast in thy house, there shall not be a dog left unto thee."

Then Terah took a child which his handmaid had borne unto him that day, and hebrought the babe to the king, and received value for him, and the king took thechild and dashed his head against the ground, for he thought it was Abraham.But Terah took his son Abraham, together with the child's mother and his nurse,and concealed them in a cave, and thither he carried provisions to them once amonth, and the Lord was with Abraham in the cave, and he grew up, but the kingand all his servants thought that Abraham was dead.

And when Abraham was ten years old, he and his mother and his nurse went outfrom the cave, for the king and his servants had forgotten the affair ofAbraham.

In that time all the inhabitants of the earth, with the exception of Noah andhis household, transgressed against the Lord, and they made unto themselvesevery man his god, gods of wood and stone, which could neither speak, nor hear,nor deliver from distress. The king and all his servants, and Terah with hishousehold, were the first to worship images of wood and stone. Terah madetwelve gods of large size, of wood and of stone, corresponding to the twelvemonths of the year, and he paid homage to them monthly in turn.[48]

THE TRUE BELIEVER

Once Abraham went into the temple of the idols in his father's house, to bringsacrifices to them, and he found one of them, Marumath by name, hewn out ofstone, lying prostrate on his face before the iron god of Nahor. The idol wastoo heavy for him to raise it alone, and he called his father to help him putMarumath back in his place. While they were handling the image, its headdropped off, and Terah took a stone, and chiselled another Marumath, settingthe head of the first upon the new body. Then Terah continued and made fivemore gods, and all these he delivered to Abraham, and bade him sell them in thestreets of the city.

Abraham saddled his mule, and went to the inn where merchants from Fandana inSyria put up on their way to Egypt. He hoped to dispose of his wares there.When he reached the inn, one of the camels belonging to the merchants belched,and the sound frightened his mule so that it ran off pell-mell and broke threeof the idols. The merchants not only bought the two sound idols from him, theyalso gave him the price of the broken ones, for Abraham had told them howdistressed he was to appear before his father with less money than he hadexpected to receive for his handiwork.

This incident made Abraham reflect upon the worthlessness of idols, and he saidto himself: "What are these evil things done by my father? Is not he the god ofhis gods, for do they not come into being by reason of his carving andchiselling and contriving? Were it not more seemly that they should pay worshipto him than he to them, seeing they are the work of his hands?" Meditatingthus, he reached his father's house, and he entered and handed his father themoney for the five images, and Terah rejoiced, and said, "Blessed art thou untomy gods, because thou didst bring me the price of the idols, and my labor wasnot in vain." But Abraham made reply: "Hear, my father Terah, blessed are thygods through thee, for thou art their god, since thou didst fashion them, andtheir blessing is destruction and their help is vanity. They that help notthemselves, how can they help thee or bless me?"

Terah grew very wrathful at Abraham, that he uttered such speech against hisgods, and Abraham, thinking upon his father's anger, left him and went from thehouse. But Terah called him back, and said, "Gather together the chips of theoak wood from which I made images before thou didst return, and prepare mydinner for me." Abraham made ready to do his father's bidding, and as he tookup the chips he found a little god among them, whose forehead bore theinscription "God Barisat." He threw the chips upon the fire, and set Barisat upnext to it, saying: "Attention! Take care, Barisat, that the fire go not outuntil I come back. If it burns low, blow into it, and make it flame up again."Speaking thus, he went out. When he came in again, he found Barisat lying proneupon his back, badly burnt. Smiling, he said to himself, "In truth, Barisat,thou canst keep the fire alive and prepare food," and while he spoke, the idolwas consumed to ashes. Then he took the dishes to his father, and he ate anddrank and was glad and blessed his god Marumath. But Abraham said to hisfather, "Bless not thy god Marumath, but rather thy god Barisat, for he it waswho, out of his great love for thee, threw himself into the fire that thy mealmight be cooked." "Where is he now?" exclaimed Terah, and Abraham answered, "Hehath become ashes in the fierceness of the fire." Terah said, "Great is thepower of Barisat! I will make me another this day, and to-morrow he willprepare my food for me."

These words of his father made Abraham laugh in his mind, but his soul wasgrieved at his obduracy, and he proceeded to make clear his views upon theidols, saying: "Father, no matter which of the two idols thou blessest, thybehavior is senseless, for the images that stand in the holy temple are more tobe worshipped than thine. Zucheus, the god of my brother Nahor, is morevenerable than Marumath, because he is made cunningly of gold, and when hegrows old, he will be worked over again. But when thy Marumath becomes dim, oris shivered in pieces, he will not be renewed, for he is of stone. And the godJoauv, who stands above the other gods with Zucheus, is more venerable thanBarisat, made of wood, because he is hammered out of silver, and ornamented bymen, to show his magnificence. But thy Barisat, before thou didst fashion himinto a god with thy axe, was rooted in the earth, standing there great andwonderful, with the glory of branches and blossoms. Now he is dry, and gone ishis sap. From his height he has fallen to the earth, from grandeur he came topettiness, and the appearance of his face has paled away, and he himself wasburnt in the fire, and he was consumed unto ashes, and he is no more. And thoudidst then say, 'I will make me another this day, and to-morrow he will preparemy food for me.' Father," Abraham continued, and said, "the fire is more to beworshipped than thy gods of gold and silver and wood and stone, because itconsumes them. But also the fire I call not god, because it is subject to thewater, which quenches it. But also the water I call not god, because it issucked up by the earth, and I call the earth more venerable, because itconquers the water. But also the earth I call not god, because it is dried outby the sun, and I call the sun more venerable than the earth, because heillumines the whole world with his rays. But also the sun I call not god,because his light is obscured when darkness cometh up. Nor do I call the moonand the stars gods, because their light, too, is extinguished when their timeto shine is past. But hearken unto this, my father Terah, which I will declareunto thee, The God who hath created all things, He is the true God, He hathempurpled the heavens, and gilded the sun, and given radiance to the moon andalso the stars, and He drieth out the earth in the midst of many waters, andalso thee hath He put upon the earth, and me hath He sought out in theconfusion of my thoughts."[49]

THE ICONOCLAST

But Terah could not be convinced, and in reply to Abraham's question, who theGod was that had created heaven and earth and the children of men, he took himto the hall wherein stood twelve great idols and a large number of littleidols, and pointing to them he said, "Here are they who have made all thouseest on earth, they who have created also me and thee and all men on theearth," and he bowed down before his gods, and left the hall with his son.

Abraham went thence to his mother, and he spoke to her, saying: "Behold, myfather has shown those unto me who made heaven and earth and all the sons ofmen. Now, therefore, hasten and fetch a kid from the flock, and make of itsavory meat, that I may bring it to my father's gods, perhaps I may therebybecome acceptable to them." His mother did according to his request, but whenAbraham brought the offering to the gods, he saw that they had no voice, nohearing, no motion, and not one of them stretched forth his hand to eat.Abraham mocked them, and said, "Surely, the savory meat that I prepared dothnot please you, or perhaps it is too little for you! Therefore I will preparefresh savory meat to-morrow, better and more plentiful than this, that I maysee what cometh therefrom." But the gods remained mute and without motionbefore the second offering of excellent savory meat as before the firstoffering, and the spirit of God came over Abraham, and he cried out, and said:"Woe unto my father and his wicked generation, whose hearts are all inclined tovanity, who serve these idols of wood and stone, which cannot eat, nor smell,nor hear, nor speak, which have mouths without speech, eyes without sight, earswithout hearing, hands without feeling, and legs without motion!"

Abraham then took a hatchet in his hand, and broke all his father's gods, andwhen he had done breaking them he placed the hatchet in the hand of the biggestgod among them all, and he went out. Terah, having heard the crash of thehatchet on the stone, ran to the room of the idols, and he reached it at themoment when Abraham was leaving it, and when he saw what had happened, hehastened after Abraham, and he said to him, "What is this mischief thou hastdone to my gods?" Abraham answered: "I set savory meat before them, and when Icame nigh unto them, that they might eat, they all stretched out their hands totake of the meat, before the big one had put forth his hand to eat. This one,enraged against them on account of their behavior, took the hatchet and brokethem all, and, behold, the hatchet is yet in his hands, as thou mayest see."

Then Terah turned in wrath upon Abraham, and he said: "Thou speakest lies untome! Is there spirit, soul, or power in these gods to do all thou hast told me?Are they not wood and stone? and have I not myself made them? It is thou thatdidst place the hatchet in the hand of the big god, and thou sayest he smotethem all." Abraham answered his father, and said: "How, then, canst thou servethese idols in whom there is no power to do anything? Can these idols in whichthou trustest deliver thee? Can they hear thy prayers when thou callest uponthem?" After having spoken these and similar words, admonishing his father tomend his ways and refrain from worshipping idols, he leapt up before Terah,took the hatchet from the big idol, broke it therewith, and ran away.

Terah hastened to Nimrod, bowed down before him, and besought him to hear hisstory, about his son who had been born to him fifty years back, and how he haddone to his gods, and how he had spoken. "Now, therefore, my lord and king," hesaid, "send for him that he may come before thee, and do thou judge himaccording to the law, that we may be delivered from his evil." When Abraham wasbrought before the king, he told him the same story as he had told Terah, aboutthe big god who broke the smaller ones, but the king replied, "Idols do neitherspeak, nor eat, nor move." Then Abraham reproached him for worshipping godsthat can do nothing, and admonished him to serve the God of the universe. Hislast words were, "If thy wicked heart will not hearken to my words, to causethee to forsake thy evil ways and serve the Eternal God, then wilt thou die inshame in the latter days, thou, thy people, and all that are connected withthee, who hear thy words, and walk in thy evil ways."

The king ordered Abraham to be put into prison, and at the end of ten days hecaused all the princes and great men of the realm to appear before him, and tothem he put the case of Abraham. Their verdict was that he should be burnt,and, accordingly, the king had a fire prepared for three days and three nights,in his furnace at Kasdim, and Abraham was to be carried thither from prison tobe burnt.

All the inhabitants of the land, about nine hundred thousand men, and the womenand the children besides, came to see what would be done with Abraham. And whenhe was brought forth, the astrologers recognized him, and they said to theking, "Surely, this is the man whom we knew as a child, at whose birth thegreat star swallowed the four stars. Behold, his father did transgress thycommand, and he made a mockery of thee, for he did bring thee another child,and him didst thou kill."

Terah was greatly terrified, for he was afraid of the king's wrath, and headmitted that he had deceived the king, and when the king said, "Tell me whoadvised thee to do this. Hide naught, and thou shalt not die," he falselyaccused Haran, who had been thirty-two years old at the time of Abraham'sbirth, of having advised him to deceive the king. At the command of the king,Abraham and Haran, stripped of all their clothes except their hosen, and theirhands and feet bound with linen cords, were cast into the furnace. Haran,because his heart was not perfect with the Lord, perished in the fire, and alsothe men who cast them into the furnace were burnt by the flames which leapt outover them, and Abraham alone was saved by the Lord, and he was not burnt,though the cords with which he was bound were consumed. For three days andthree nights Abraham walked in the midst of the fire, and all the servants ofthe king came and told him, "Behold, we have seen Abraham walking about in themidst of the fire."[50]

At first the king would not believe them, but when some of his faithful princescorroborated the words of his servants, he rose up and went to see for himself.He then commanded his servants to take Abraham from the fire, but they couldnot, because the flames leapt toward them from the furnace, and when they triedagain, at the king's command, to approach the furnace, the flames shot out andburnt their faces, so that eight of their number died. The king then calledunto Abraham, and said: "O servant of the God who is in heaven, go forth fromthe midst of the fire, and come hither and stand before me," and Abraham cameand stood before the king. And the king spoke to Abraham, and said, "How comethit that thou wast not burnt in the fire?" And Abraham made answer, "The God ofheaven and earth in whom I trust, and who hath all things in His power, He diddeliver me from the fire into which thou didst cast me."[51]

ABRAHAM IN CANAAN

With ten temptations Abraham was tempted, and he withstood them all, showinghow great was the love of Abraham.[52] The first test to which he was subjectedwas the departure from his native land. The hardships were many and severewhich he encountered, and he was loth to leave his home, besides. He spoke toGod, and said, "Will not the people talk about me, and say, 'He is endeavoringto bring the nations under the wings of the Shekinah, yet he leaves his oldfather in Haran, and he goes away.'" But God answered him, and said: "Dismissall care concerning thy father and thy kinsmen from thy thoughts. Though theyspeak words of kindness to thee, yet are they all of one mind, to ruinthee."[53]

Then Abraham forsook his father in Haran, and journeyed to Canaan, accompaniedby the blessing of God, who said unto him, "I will make of thee a great nation,and I will bless thee, and make thy name great." These three blessings were tocounteract the evil consequences which, he feared, would follow emigration, fortravelling from place to place interferes with the growth of the family, itlessens one's substance, and it diminishes the consideration one enjoys.[54]The greatest of all blessings, however, was the word of God, "And be thou ablessing." The meaning of this was that whoever came in contact with Abrahamwas blessed. Even the mariners on the sea were indebted to him for prosperousvoyages.[55] Besides, God held out the promise to him that in time to come hisname would be mentioned in the Benedictions, God would be praised as the Shieldof Abraham, a distinction accorded to no other mortal except David.[56] But thewords, "And be thou a blessing," will be fulfilled only in the future world,when the seed of Abraham shall be known among the nations and his offspringamong the peoples as "the seed which the Lord hath blessed."[57]

When Abraham first was bidden to leave his home, he was not told to what landhe was to journey—all the greater would be his reward for executing the commandof God.[58] And Abraham showed his trust in God, for he said, "I am ready to gowhithersoever Thou sendest me." The Lord then bade him go to a land wherein Hewould reveal Himself, and when he went to Canaan later, God appeared to him,and he knew that it was the promised land.[59]

On entering Canaan, Abraham did not yet know that it was the land appointed ashis inheritance. Nevertheless he rejoiced when he reached it. In Mesopotamiaand in Aramnaharaim, the inhabitants of which he had seen eating, drinking, andacting wantonly, he had always wished, "O that my portion may not be in thisland," but when he came to Canaan, he observed that the people devotedthemselves industriously to the cultivation of the land, and he said, "O thatmy portion may be in this land!" God then spoke to him, and said, "Unto thyseed will I give this land."[60] Happy in these joyous tidings, Abraham erectedan altar to the Lord to give thanks unto Him for the promise, and then hejourneyed on, southward, in the direction of the spot whereon the Temple wasonce to stand. In Hebron he again erected an altar, thus taking possession ofthe land in a measure. And likewise he raised an altar in Ai, because heforesaw that a misfortune would befall his offspring there, at the conquest ofthe land under Joshua. The altar, he hoped, would obviate the evil results thatmight follow.

Each altar raised by him was a centre for his activities as a missionary. Assoon as he came to a place in which he desired to sojourn, he would stretch atent first for Sarah, and next for himself, and then he would proceed at onceto make proselytes and bring them under the wings of the Shekinah. Thus heaccomplished his purpose of inducing all men to proclaim the Name of God.[61]

For the present Abraham was but a stranger in his promised land. After thepartition of the earth among the sons of Noah, when all had gone to theirallotted portions, it happened that Canaan son of Ham saw that the landextending from the Lebanon to the River of Egypt was fair to look upon, and herefused to go to his own allotment, westward by the sea. He settled in the landupon Lebanon, eastward and westward from the border of the Jordan and theborder of the sea. And Ham, his father, and his brothers Cush and Mizraim spoketo him, and said: "Thou livest in a land that is not thine, for it was notassigned unto us when the lots were drawn. Do not thus! But if thou persistest,ye, thou and thy children, will fall, accursed, in the land, in a rebellion.Thy settling here was rebellion, and through rebellion thy children will befelled down, and thy seed will be destroyed unto all eternity. Sojourn not inthe land of Shem, for unto Shem and unto the children of Shem was itapportioned by lot. Accursed art thou, and accursed wilt thou be before all thechildren of Noah on account of the curse, for we took an oath before the holyJudge and before our father Noah."

But Canaan hearkened not unto the words of his father and his brothers. Hedwelt in the land of the Lebanon from Hamath even unto the entrance of Egypt,he and his sons.[62] Though the Canaanites had taken unlawful possession of theland, yet Abraham respected their rights; he provided his camels with muzzles,to prevent them from pasturing upon the property of others.[63]

HIS SOJOURN IN EGYPT

Scarcely had Abraham established himself in Canaan, when a devastating faminebroke out—one of the ten God appointed famines for the chastisement of men. Thefirst of them came in the time of Adam, when God cursed the ground for hissake; the second was this one in the time of Abraham; the third compelled Isaacto take up his abode among the Philistines; the ravages of the fourth drove thesons of Jacob into Egypt to buy grain for food; the fifth came in the time ofthe Judges, when Elimelech and his family had to seek refuge in the land ofMoab; the sixth occurred during the reign of David, and it lasted three years;the seventh happened in the day of Elijah, who had sworn that neither rain nordew should fall upon the earth; the eighth was the one in the time of Elisha,when an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver; the ninth is thefamine that comes upon men piecemeal, from time to time; and the tenth willscourge men before the advent of Messiah, and this last will be "not a famineof bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord."[64]

The famine in the time of Abraham prevailed only in Canaan, and it had beeninflicted upon the land in order to test his faith. He stood this secondtemptation as he had the first. He murmured not, and he showed no sign ofimpatience toward God, who had bidden him shortly before to abandon his nativeland for a land of starvation.[65] The famine compelled him to leave Canaan fora time, and he repaired to Egypt, to become acquainted there with the wisdom ofthe priests and, if necessary, give them instruction in the truth.[66]

On this journey from Canaan to Egypt, Abraham first observed the beauty ofSarah. Chaste as he was, he had never before looked at her, but now, when theywere wading through a stream, he saw the reflection of her beauty in the waterlike the brilliance of the sun.[67] Wherefore he spoke to her thus, "TheEgyptians are very sensual, and I will put thee in a casket that no harm befallme on account of thee." At the Egyptian boundary, the tax collectors asked himabout the contents of the casket, and Abraham told them he had barley in it."No," they said, "it contains wheat." "Very well," replied Abraham, "I amprepared to pay the tax on wheat." The officers then hazarded the guess, "Itcontains pepper!" Abraham agreed to pay the tax on pepper, and when theycharged him with concealing gold in the casket, he did not refuse to pay thetax on gold, and finally on precious stones. Seeing that he demurred to nocharge, however high, the tax collectors, made thoroughly suspicious, insistedupon his unfastening the casket and letting them examine the contents. When itwas forced open, the whole of Egypt was resplendent with the beauty of Sarah.In comparison with her, all other beauties were like apes compared with men.She excelled Eve herself.[68] The servants of Pharaoh outbid one another inseeking to obtain possession of her, though they were of opinion that soradiant a beauty ought not to remain the property of a private individual. Theyreported the matter to the king,[69] and Pharaoh sent a powerful armed force tobring Sarah to the palace,[70] and so bewitched was he by her charms that thosewho had brought him the news of her coming into Egypt were loaded down withbountiful gifts.[71]

Amid tears, Abraham offered up a prayer. He entreated God in these words: "Isthis the reward for my confidence in Thee? For the sake of Thy grace and Thylovingkindness, let not my hope be put to shame."[72] Sarah also implored God,saying: "O God, Thou didst bid my lord Abraham leave his home, the land of hisfathers, and journey to Canaan, and Thou didst promise him to do good unto himif he fulfilled Thy commands. And now we have done as Thou didst command us todo. We left our country and our kindred, and we journeyed to a strange land,unto a people which we knew not heretofore. We came hither to save our peoplefrom starvation, and now hath this terrible misfortune befallen. O Lord, helpme and save me from the hand of this enemy, and for the sake of Thy grace showme good."

An angel appeared unto Sarah while she was in the presence of the king, to whomhe was not visible, and he bade her take courage, saying, "Fear naught, Sarah,for God hath heard thy prayer." The king questioned Sarah as to the man in thecompany of whom she had come to Egypt, and Sarah called Abraham her brother.Pharaoh pledged himself to make Abraham great and powerful, to do for himwhatever she wished. He sent much gold and silver to Abraham, and diamonds andpearls, sheep and oxen, and men slaves and women slaves, and he assigned aresidence to him within the precincts of the royal palace.[73] In the love hebore Sarah, he wrote out a marriage contract, deeding to her all he owned inthe way of gold and silver, and men slaves and women slaves, and the provinceof Goshen besides, the province occupied in later days by the descendants ofSarah, because it was their property. Most remarkable of all, he gave her hisown daughter Hagar as slave, for he preferred to see his daughter the servantof Sarah to reigning as mistress in another harem.[74]

His free-handed generosity availed naught. During the night, when he was aboutto approach Sarah, an angel appeared armed with a stick, and if Pharaoh buttouched Sarah's shoe to remove it from her foot, the angel planted a blow uponhis hand, and when he grasped her dress, a second blow followed. At each blowhe was about to deal, the angel asked Sarah whether he was to let it descend,and if she bade him give Pharaoh a moment to recover himself, he waited and didas she desired. And another great miracle came to pass. Pharaoh, and hisnobles, and his servants, the very walls of his house and his bed wereafflicted with leprosy, and he could not indulge his carnal desires.[75] Thisnight in which Pharaoh and his court suffered their well deserved punishmentwas the night of the fifteenth of Nisan, the same night wherein God visited theEgyptians in a later time in order to redeem Israel, the descendants ofSarah.[76]

Horrified by the plague sent upon him, Pharaoh inquired how he could ridhimself thereof. He applied to the priests, from whom he found out the truecause of his affliction, which was corroborated by Sarah. He then sent forAbraham and returned his wife to him, pure and untouched, and excused himselffor what had happened, saying that he had had the intention of connectinghimself in marriage with him, whom he had thought to be the brother ofSarah.[77] He bestowed rich gifts upon the husband and the wife, and theydeparted for Canaan, after a three months' sojourn in Egypt.[78]

Arrived in Canaan they sought the same night-shelters at which they had restedbefore, in order to pay their accounts, and also to teach by their example thatit is not proper to seek new quarters unless one is forced to it.[79]

Abraham's sojourn in Egypt was of great service to the inhabitants of thecountry, because he demonstrated to the wise men of the land how empty and vaintheir views were, and also he taught them astronomy and astrology, unknown inEgypt before his time.[80]

THE FIRST PHARAOH

The Egyptian ruler, whose meeting with Abraham had proved so untoward an event,was the first to bear the name Pharaoh. The succeeding kings were named thusafter him. The origin of the name is connected with the life and adventures ofRakyon, Have-naught, a man wise, handsome, and poor, who lived in the land ofShinar. Finding himself unable to support himself in Shinar, he resolved todepart for Egypt, where he expected to display his wisdom before the king,Ashwerosh, the son of 'Anam. Perhaps he would find grace in the eyes of theking, who would give Rakyon the opportunity of supporting himself and rising tobe a great man. When he reached Egypt, he learnt that it was the custom of thecountry for the king to remain in retirement in his palace, removed from thesight of the people. Only on one day of the year he showed himself in public,and received all who had a petition to submit to him. Richer by adisappointment, Rakyon knew not how he was to earn a livelihood in the strangecountry. He was forced to spend the night in a ruin, hungry as he was. The nextday he decided to try to earn something by selling vegetables. By a luckychance he fell in with some dealers in vegetables, but as he did not know thecustoms of the country, his new undertaking was not favored with good fortune.Ruffians assaulted him, snatched his wares from him, and made a laughing-stockof him. The second night, which he was compelled to spend in the ruin again, asly plan ripened in his mind. He arose and gathered together a crew of thirtylusty fellows. He took them to the graveyard, and bade them, in the name of theking, charge two hundred pieces of silver for every body they buried. Otherwiseinterment was to be prevented. In this way he succeeded in amassing greatwealth within eight months. Not only did he acquire silver, gold, and preciousgems, but also he attached a considerable force, armed and mounted, to hisperson.

On the day on which the king appeared among the people, they began to complainof this tax upon the dead. They said: "What is this thou art inflicting uponthy servants—permitting none to be buried unless they pay thee silver and gold!Has a thing like this come to pass in the world since the days of Adam, thatthe dead should not be interred unless money be paid therefor! We know wellthat it is the privilege of the king to take an annual tax from the living. Butthou takest tribute from the dead, too, and thou exactest it day by day. Oking, we cannot endure this any longer, for the whole of the city is ruinedthereby."

The king, who had had no suspicion of Rakyon's doings, fell into a great ragewhen the people gave him information about them. He ordered him and his armedforce to appear before him. Rakyon did not come empty-handed. He was precededby a thousand youths and maidens, mounted upon steeds and arrayed in stateapparel. These were a present to the king. When he himself stepped before theking, he delivered gold, silver, and diamonds to him in great abundance, and amagnificent charger. These gifts and the display of splendor did not fail oftaking effect upon the king, and when Rakyon, in well-considered words and witha pliant tongue, described the undertaking, he won not only the king to hisside, but also the whole court, and the king said to him, "No longer shalt thoube called Rakyon, Have-naught, but Pharaoh, Paymaster, for thou didst collecttaxes from the dead."

So profound was the impression made by Rakyon that the king, the grandees, andthe people, all together resolved to put the guidance of the realm in the handsof Pharaoh. Under the suzerainty of Ashwerosh he administered law and justicethroughout the year; only on the one day when he showed himself to the peopledid the king himself give judgment and decide cases. Through the power thusconferred upon him and through cunning practices, Pharaoh succeeded in usurpingroyal authority, and he collected taxes from all the inhabitants of Egypt.Nevertheless he was beloved of the people, and it was decreed that every rulerof Egypt should thenceforth bear the name Pharaoh.[81]

THE WAR OF THE KINGS

On his return from Egypt Abraham's relations to his own family were disturbedby annoying circumstances. Strife developed between the herdmen of his cattleand the herdmen of Lot's cattle. Abraham furnished his herds with muzzles, butLot made no such provision, and when the shepherds that pastured Abraham'sflocks took Lot's shepherds to task on account of the omission, the latterreplied: "It is known of a surety that God said unto Abraham, 'To thy seed willI give the land.' But Abraham is a sterile mule. Never will he have children.On the morrow he will die, and Lot will be his heir. Thus the flocks of Lot arebut consuming what belongs to them or their master." But God spoke: "Verily, Isaid unto Abraham I would give the land unto his seed, but only after the sevennations shall have been destroyed from out of the land. To-day the Canaanitesare therein, and the Perizzites. They still have the right of habitation."

Now, when the strife extended from the servants to the masters, and Abrahamvainly called his nephew Lot to account for his unbecoming behavior, Abrahamdecided he would have to part from his kinsman, though he should have to compelLot thereto by force. Lot thereupon separated himself not from Abraham alone,but from the God of Abraham also, and he betook himself to a district in whichimmorality and sin reigned supreme, wherefore punishment overtook him, for hisown flesh seduced him later unto sin.

God was displeased with Abraham for not living in peace and harmony with hisown kindred, as he lived with all the world beside. On the other hand, God alsotook it in ill part that Abraham was accepting Lot tacitly as his heir, thoughHe had promised him, in clear, unmistakable words, "To thy seed will I give theland." After Abraham had separated himself from Lot, he received the assuranceagain that Canaan should once belong to his seed, which God would multiply asthe sand which is upon the sea-shore. As the sand fills the whole earth, so theoffspring of Abraham would be scattered over the whole earth, from end to end;and as the earth is blessed only when it is moistened with water, so hisoffspring would be blessed through the Torah, which is likened unto water; andas the earth endures longer than metal, so his offspring would endure forever,while the heathen would vanish; and as the earth is trodden upon, so hisoffspring would be trodden upon by the four kingdoms.[82]

The departure of Lot had a serious consequence, for the war waged by Abrahamagainst the four kings is intimately connected with it. Lot desired to settlein the well-watered circle of the Jordan, but the only city of the plain thatwould receive him was Sodom, the king of which admitted the nephew of Abrahamout of consideration for the latter.[83] The five impious kings planned firstto make war upon Sodom on account of Lot and then advance upon Abraham.[84] Forone of the five, Amraphel, was none other than Nimrod, Abraham's enemy from ofold. The immediate occasion for the war was this: Chedorlaomer, one of Nimrod'sgenerals, rebelled against him after the builders of the tower were dispersed,and he set himself up as king of Elam. Then he subjugated the Hamitic tribesliving in the five cities of the plain of the Jordan, and made them tributary.For twelve years they were faithful to their sovereign ruler Chedorlaomer, butthen they refused to pay the tribute, and they persisted in theirinsubordination for thirteen years. Making the most of Chedorlaomer'sembarrassment, Nimrod led a host of seven thousand warriors against his formergeneral. In the battle fought between Elam and Shinar, Nimrod suffered adisastrous defeat, he lost six hundred of his army, and among the slain was theking's son Mardon. Humiliated and abased, he returned to his country, and hewas forced to acknowledge the suzerainty of Chedorlaomer, who now proceeded toform an alliance with Arioch king of Ellasar, and Tidal, the king of severalnations, the purpose of which was to crush the cities of the circle of theJordan. The united forces of these kings, numbering eight hundred thousand,marched upon the five cities, subduing whatever they encountered in theircourse,[85] and annihilating the descendants of the giants. Fortified places,unwalled cities, and flat, open country, all fell in their hands.[86] Theypushed on through the desert as far as the spring issuing from the rock atKadesh, the spot appointed by God as the place of pronouncing judgment againstMoses and Aaron on account of the waters of strife. Thence they turned towardthe central portion of Palestine, the country of dates, where they encounteredthe five godless kings, Bera, the villain, king of Sodom; Birsha, the sinner,king of Gomorrah; Shinab, the father-hater, king of Admah; Shemeber, thevoluptuary, king of Zeboiim; and the king of Bela, the city that devours itsinhabitants. The five were routed in the fruitful Vale of Siddim, the canals ofwhich later formed the Dead Sea. They that remained of the rank and file fledto the mountains, but the kings fell into the slime pits and stuck there. Onlythe king of Sodom was rescued, miraculously, for the purpose that he mightconvert those heathen to faith in God that had not believed in the wonderfuldeliverance of Abraham from the fiery furnace.[87]

The victors despoiled Sodom of all its goods and victuals, and took Lot,boasting, "We have taken the son of Abraham's brother captive," so betrayingthe real object of their undertaking; their innermost desire was to strike atAbraham.[88]

It was on the first evening of the Passover, and Abraham was eating of theunleavened bread,[89] when the archangel Michael brought him the report ofLot's captivity. This angel bears another name besides, Palit, the escaped,because when God threw Samael and his host from their holy place in heaven, therebellious leader held on to Michael and tried to drag him along downward, andMichael escaped falling from heaven only through the help of God.[90]

When the report of his nephew's evil state reached Abraham, he straightwaydismissed all thought of his dissensions with Lot from his mind, and onlyconsidered ways and means of deliverance.[91] He convoked his disciples to whomhe had taught the true faith, and who all called themselves by the nameAbraham.[92] He gave them gold and silver, saying at the same time: "Know thatwe go to war for the purpose of saving human lives. Therefore, do ye not directyour eyes upon money, here lie gold and silver before you." Furthermore headmonished them in these words: "We are preparing to go to war. Let none joinus who hath committed a trespass, and fears that Divine punishment will descendupon him." Alarmed by his warning, not one would obey his call to arms, theywere fearful on account of their sins. Eliezer alone remained with him,wherefore God spake, and said: "All forsook thee save only Eliezer. Verily, Ishall invest him with the strength of the three hundred and eighteen men whoseaid thou didst seek in vain."[93]

The battle fought with the mighty hosts of the kings, from which Abrahamemerged victorious, happened on the fifteenth of Nisan, the night appointed formiraculous deeds.[94] The arrows and stones hurled at him effected naught,[95]but the dust of the ground, the chaff, and the stubble which he threw at theenemy were transformed into death-dealing javelins and swords.[96] Abraham, astall as seventy men set on end, and requiring as much food and drink as seventymen, marched forward with giant strides, each of his steps measuring fourmiles, until he overtook the kings, and annihilated their troops. Further hecould not go, for he had reached Dan, where Jeroboam would once raise thegolden calves, and on this ominous spot Abraham's strength diminished.[97]

His victory was possible only because the celestial powers espoused his side.The planet Jupiter made the night bright for him, and an angel, Lailah by name,fought for him.[98] In a true sense, it was a victory of God. All the nationsacknowledged his more than human achievement, and they fashioned a throne forAbraham, and erected it on the field of battle. When they attempted to seat himupon it, amid exclamations of "Thou art our king! Thou art our prince! Thou artour god!" Abraham warded them off, and said, "The universe has its King, and ithas its God!" He declined all honors, and returned his property unto each man.Only the little children he kept by himself. He reared them in the knowledge ofGod, and later they atoned for the disgrace of their parents.

Somewhat arrogantly the king of Sodom set out to meet Abraham. He was proudthat a great miracle, his rescue from the slime pit, had been performed forhim, too. He made Abraham the proposition that he keep the despoiled goods forhimself.[99] But Abraham refused them, and said: "I have lift up mine hand untothe Lord, God Most High, who hath created the world for the sake of the pious,that I will not take a thread nor a shoe-latchet nor aught that is thine. Ihave no right upon any goods taken as spoils,[100] save only that which theyoung men have eaten, and the portion of the men who tarried by the stuff,though they went not down to the battle itself." The example of Abraham ingiving a share in the spoils even unto the men not concerned directly in thebattle, was followed later by David, who heeded not the protest of the wickedmen and the base fellows with him, that the watchers who staid by the stuffwere not entitled to share alike with the warriors that had gone down to thebattle.[101]

In spite of his great success, Abraham nevertheless was concerned about theissue of the war. He feared that the prohibition against shedding the blood ofman had been transgressed, and he also dreaded the resentment of Shem, whosedescendants had perished in the encounter. But God reassured him, and said: "Benot afraid! Thou hast but extirpated the thorns, and as to Shem, he will blessthee rather than curse thee." So it was. When Abraham returned from the war,Shem, or, as he is sometimes called, Melchizedek, the king of righteousness,priest of God Most High, and king of Jerusalem, came forth to meet him withbread and wine.[102] And this high priest instructed Abraham in the laws of thepriesthood and in the Torah, and to prove his friendship for him he blessedhim, and called him the partner of God in the possession of the world, seeingthat through him the Name of God had first been made known among men.[103] ButMelchizedek arranged the words of his blessing in an unseemly way. He namedAbraham first and then God. As a punishment, he was deposed by God from thepriestly dignity, and instead it was passed over to Abraham, with whosedescendants it remained forever.[104]

As a reward for the sanctification of the Holy Name, which Abraham had broughtabout when he refused to keep aught of the goods taken in battle,[105] hisdescendants received two commands, the command of the threads in the borders oftheir garments, and the command of the latchets to be bound upon their handsand to be used as frontlets between their eyes. Thus they commemorate thattheir ancestor refused to take so much as a thread or a latchet. And because hewould not touch a shoe-latchet of the spoils, his descendants cast their shoeupon Edom.[106]

THE COVENANT OF THE PIECES

Shortly after the war, God revealed Himself unto Abraham, to soothe hisconscience as to the spilling of innocent blood, for it was a scruple that gavehim much anguish of spirit. God assured him at the same time that He wouldcause pious men to arise among his descendants, who, like himself, would be ashield unto their generation.[107] As a further distinction, God gave him leaveto ask what he would have, rare grace accorded to none beside, except Jacob,Solomon, Ahaz, and the Messiah. Abraham spoke, and said: "O Lord of the world,if in time to come my descendants should provoke Thy wrath, it were better Iremained childless. Lot, for the sake of whom I journeyed as far as Damascus,where God was my protection, would be well pleased to be my heir. Moreover, Ihave read in the stars, 'Abraham, thou wilt beget no children.'" Thereupon Godraised Abraham above the vault of the skies, and He said, "Thou art a prophet,not an astrologer!"[108] Now Abraham demanded no sign that he would be blessedwith offspring. Without losing another word, he believed in the Lord, and hewas rewarded for his simple faith by a share in this world and a share in theworld to come as well, and, besides, the redemption of Israel from the exilewill take place as a recompense for his firm trust.[109]

But though he believed the promise made him with a full and abiding faith, heyet desired to know by what merit of theirs his descendants would maintainthemselves. Therefore God bade him bring Him a sacrifice of three heifers,three she-goats, three rams, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon, thus indicatingto Abraham the various sacrifices that should once be brought in the Temple, toatone for the sins of Israel and further his welfare.[110] "But what willbecome of my descendants," asked Abraham, "after the Temple is destroyed?" Godreplied, and said, "If they read the order of sacrifices as they will be setdown in the Scriptures, I will account it unto them as though they had offeredthe sacrifices, and I will forgive all their sins."[111] And God continued andrevealed to Abraham the course of Israel's history and the history of the wholeworld: The heifer of three years indicates the dominion of Babylon, theshe-goat of three years stands for the empire of the Greeks, the ram of threeyears for the Medo-Persian power, the rule of Ishmael is represented by theram, and Israel is the innocent dove.

Abraham took him these animals and divided them in the midst. Had he not doneso, Israel would not have been able to resist the power of the four kingdoms.But the birds he divided not, to indicate that Israel will remain whole. Andthe birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abraham drove them away.Thus was announced the advent of the Messiah, who will cut the heathen inpieces, but Abraham bade Messiah wait until the time appointed unto him.[112]And as the Messianic time was made known unto Abraham, so also the time of theresurrection of the dead. When he laid the halves of the pieces over againsteach other, the animals became alive again, as the bird flew over them.[112]

While he was preparing these sacrifices, a vision of great import was grantedto Abraham. The sun sank, and a deep sleep fell upon him, and he beheld asmoking furnace, Gehenna, the furnace that God prepares for the sinner; and hebeheld a flaming torch, the revelation on Sinai, where all the people sawflaming torches; and he beheld the sacrifices to be brought by Israel; and anhorror of great darkness fell upon him, the dominion of the four kingdoms. AndGod spake to him: "Abraham, as long as thy children fulfil the two duties ofstudying the Torah and performing the service in the Temple, the twovisitations, Gehenna and alien rule, will be spared them. But if they neglectthe two duties, they will have to suffer the two chastisements; only thoumayest choose whether they shall be punished by means of Gehenna or by means ofthe dominion of the stranger." All the day long Abraham wavered, until Godcalled unto him: "How long wilt thou halt between two opinions? Decide for oneof the two, and let it be for the dominion of the stranger!" Then God madeknown to him the four hundred years' bondage of Israel in Egypt, reckoning fromthe birth of Isaac, for unto Abraham himself was the promise given that heshould go to his fathers in peace, and feel naught of the arrogance of thestranger oppressor. At the same time, it was made known to Abraham that hisfather Terah would have a share in the world to come, for he had done penancefor his sinful deeds. Furthermore it was revealed to him that his son Ishmaelwould turn into the path of righteousness while yet his father was alive, andhis grandson Esau would not begin his impious way of life until he himself hadpassed away. And as he received the promise of their deliverance together withthe announcement of the slavery of his seed, in a land not theirs, so it wasmade known to him that God would judge the four kingdoms and destroy them.[114]

THE BIRTH OF ISHMAEL

The covenant of the pieces, whereby the fortunes of his descendants wererevealed to Abraham, was made at a time when he was still childless.[115] Aslong as Abraham and Sarah dwelt outside of the Holy Land, they looked upontheir childlessness as a punishment for not abiding within it. But when a tenyears' sojourn in Palestine found her barren as before, Sarah perceived thatthe fault lay with her.[116] Without a trace of jealousy she was ready to giveher slave Hagar to Abraham as wife,[117] first making her a freed woman.[118]For Hagar was Sarah's property, not her husband's. She had received her fromPharaoh, the father of Hagar. Taught and bred by Sarah, she walked in the samepath of righteousness as her mistress,[119] and thus was a suitable companionfor Abraham, and, instructed by the holy spirit, he acceded to Sarah'sproposal.

No sooner had Hagar's union with Abraham been consummated, and she felt thatshe was with child, than she began to treat her former mistress contemptuously,though Sarah was particularly tender toward her in the state in which she was.When noble matrons came to see Sarah, she was in the habit of urging them topay a visit to "poor Hagar," too. The dames would comply with her suggestion,but Hagar would use the opportunity to disparage Sarah. "My lady Sarah," shewould say, "is not inwardly what she appears to be outwardly. She makes theimpression of a righteous, pious woman, but she is not, for if she were, howcould her childlessness be explained after so many years of marriage, while Ibecame pregnant at once?"

Sarah scorned to bicker with her slave, yet the rage she felt found vent inthese words to Abraham:[120] "It is thou who art doing me wrong. Thou hearestthe words of Hagar, and thou sayest naught to oppose them, and I hoped thatthou wouldst take my part. For thy sake did I leave my native land and thehouse of my father, and I followed thee into a strange land with trust in God.In Egypt I pretended to be thy sister, that no harm might befall thee. When Isaw that I should bear no children, I took the Egyptian woman, my slave Hagar,and gave her unto thee for wife, contenting myself with the thought that Iwould rear the children she would bear. Now she treats me disdainfully in thypresence. O that God might look upon the injustice which hath been done untome, to judge between thee and me, and have mercy upon us, restore peace to ourhome, and grant us offspring, that we have no need of children from Hagar, theEgyptian bondwoman of the generation of the heathen that cast thee in the fieryfurnace!"[121]

Abraham, modest and unassuming as he was, was ready to do justice to Sarah, andhe conferred full power upon her to dispose of Hagar according to her pleasure.He added but one caution, "Having once made her a mistress, we cannot againreduce her to the state of a bondwoman." Unmindful of this warning, Sarahexacted the services of a slave from Hagar. Not alone this, she tormented her,and finally she cast an evil eye upon her, so that the unborn child droppedfrom her, and she ran away. On her flight she was met by several angels, andthey bade her return, at the same time making known to her that she would beara son who should be called Ishmael—one of the six men who have been given aname by God before their birth, the others being Isaac, Moses, Solomon, Josiah,and the Messiah.[122]

Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael the command was issued to Abrahamthat he put the sign of the covenant upon his body and upon the bodies of themale members of his household. Abraham was reluctant at first to do the biddingof God, for he feared that the circumcision of his flesh would raise a barrierbetween himself and the rest of mankind. But God said unto him, "Let it sufficethee that I am thy God and thy Lord, as it sufficeth the world that I am itsGod and its Lord."[123]

Abraham then consulted with his three true friends, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre,regarding the command of the circumcision. The first one spoke, and said, "Thouart nigh unto a hundred years old, and thou considerest inflicting such painupon thyself?" The advice of the second was also against it. "What," saidEshcol, "thou choosest to mark thyself so that thy enemies may recognize theewithout fail?" Mamre, the third, was the only one to advise obedience to thecommand of God. "God succored thee from the fiery furnace," he said, "He helpedthee in the combat with the kings, He provided for thee during the famine, andthou dost hesitate to execute His behest concerning the circumcision?"[124]Accordingly, Abraham did as God had commanded, in bright daylight, biddingdefiance to all, that none might say, "Had we seen him attempt it, we shouldhave prevented him."[125]

The circumcision was performed on the tenth day of Tishri, the Day ofAtonement, and upon the spot on which the altar was later to be erected in theTemple, for the act of Abraham remains a never-ceasing atonement forIsrael.[126]

THE VISIT OF THE ANGELS

On the third day after his circumcision, when Abraham was suffering direpain,[127] God spoke to the angels, saying, "Go to, let us pay a visit to thesick." The angels refused, and said: "What is man, that Thou art mindful ofhim? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him? And Thou desirest to betakeThyself to a place of uncleanness, a place of blood and filth?" But God repliedunto them, "Thus do ye speak. As ye live, the savor of this blood is sweeter tome than myrrh and incense, and if you do not desire to visit Abraham, I will goalone."[128]

The day whereon God visited him was exceedingly hot, for He had bored a hole inhell, so that its heat might reach as far as the earth, and no wayfarer ventureabroad on the highways, and Abraham be left undisturbed in his pain.[129] Butthe absence of strangers caused Abraham great vexation, and he sent his servantEliezer forth to keep a lookout for travellers. When the servant returned fromhis fruitless search, Abraham himself, in spite of his illness and thescorching heat, prepared to go forth on the highway and see whether he wouldnot succeed where failure had attended Eliezer, whom he did not wholly trust atany rate, bearing in mind the well-known saying, "No truth among slaves."[130]At this moment God appeared to him, surrounded by the angels. Quickly Abrahamattempted to rise from his seat, but God checked every demonstration ofrespect, and when Abraham protested that it was unbecoming to sit in thepresence of the Lord, God said, "As thou livest, thy descendants at the age offour and five will sit in days to come in the schools and in the synagogueswhile I reside therein."[131]

Meantime Abraham beheld three men. They were the angels Michael, Gabriel, andRaphael. They had assumed the form of human beings to fulfil his wish forguests toward whom to exercise hospitality. Each of them had been charged byGod with a special mission, besides, to be executed on earth. Raphael was toheal the wound of Abraham, Michael was to bring Sarah the glad tidings that shewould bear a son, and Gabriel was to deal destruction to Sodom and Gomorrah.Arrived at the tent of Abraham, the three angels noticed that he was occupiedin nursing himself, and they withdrew.[132] Abraham, however, hastened afterthem through another door of the tent, which had wide open entrances on allsides.[133] He considered the duty of hospitality more important than the dutyof receiving the Shekinah. Turning to God, he said, "O Lord, may it please Theenot to leave Thy servant while he provides for the entertainment of hisguests."[134] Then he addressed himself to the stranger walking in the middlebetween the other two, whom by this token he considered the mostdistinguished,—it was the archangel Michael—and he bade him and his companionsturn aside into his tent. The manner of his guests, who treated one anotherpolitely, made a good impression upon Abraham. He was assured that they weremen of worth whom he was entertaining.[135] But as they appeared outwardly likeArabs, and the people worshipped the dust of their feet, he bade them firstwash their feet, that they might not defile his tent.[136]

He did not depend upon his own judgment in reading the character of his guests.By his tent a tree was planted, which spread its branches out over all whobelieved in God, and afforded them shade. But if idolaters went under the tree,the branches turned upward, and cast no shade upon the ground. Whenever Abrahamsaw this sign, he would at once set about the task of converting theworshippers of the false gods. And as the tree made a distinction between thepious and the impious, so also between the clean and the unclean. Its shade wasdenied them as long as they refrained from taking the prescribed ritual bath inthe spring that flowed out from its roots, the waters of which rose at once forthose whose uncleanness was of a venial character and could be removedforthwith, while others had to wait seven days for the water to come up.Accordingly, Abraham bade the three men lean against the trunk of the tree.Thus he would soon learn their worth or their unworthiness.[137]

Being of the truly pious, "who promise little, but perform much,"[133] Abrahamsaid only: "I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your heart, seeingthat ye chanced to pass my tent at dinner time. Then, after ye have giventhanks to God, ye may pass on."[139] But when the meal was served to theguests, it was a royal banquet, exceeding Solomon's at the time of his mostsplendid magnificence. Abraham himself ran unto the herd, to fetch cattle formeat. He slaughtered three calves, that he might be able to set a "tongue withmustard" before each of his guests.[140] In order to accustom Ishmael toGod-pleasing deeds, he had him dress the calves,[141] and he bade Sarah bakethe bread. But as he knew that women are apt to treat guests niggardly, he wasexplicit in his request to her. He said, "Make ready quickly three measures ofmeal, yea, fine meal." As it happened, the bread was not brought to the table,because it had accidentally become unclean, and our father Abraham wasaccustomed to eat his daily bread only in a clean state.[142] Abraham himselfserved his guests, and it appeared to him that the three men ate. But this wasan illusion. In reality the angels did not eat,[143] only Abraham, his threefriends, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, and his son Ishmael partook of the banquet,and the portions set before the angels were devoured by a heavenly fire.[144]

Although the angels remained angels even in their human disguise, neverthelessthe personality of Abraham was so exalted that in his presence the archangelsfelt insignificant.[145]

After the meal the angels asked after Sarah, though they knew that she was inretirement in her tent, but it was proper for them to pay their respects to thelady of the house and send her the cup of wine over which the blessing had beensaid.[146] Michael, the greatest of the angels, thereupon announced the birthof Isaac. He drew a line upon the wall, saying, "When the sun crosses thispoint, Sarah will be with child, and when he crosses the next point, she willgive birth to a child." This communication, which was intended for Sarah andnot for Abraham, to whom the promise had been revealed long before,[147] theangels made at the entrance to her tent, but Ishmael stood between the angeland Sarah, for it would not have been seemly to deliver the message in secret,with none other by. Yet, so radiant was the beauty of Sarah that a beam of itstruck the angel, and made him look up. In the act of turning toward her, heheard her laugh within herself:[148] "Is it possible that these bowels can yetbring forth a child, these shrivelled breasts give suck? And though I should beable to bear, yet is not my lord Abraham old?"[149]

And the Lord said unto Abraham: "Am I too old to do wonders? And wherefore dothSarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?"[150] Thereproach made by God was directed against Abraham as well as against Sarah, forhe, too, had showed himself of little faith when he was told that a son wouldbe born unto him. But God mentioned only Sarah's incredulity, leaving Abrahamto become conscious of his defect himself.[151]

Regardful of the peace of their family life, God had not repeated Sarah's wordsaccurately to Abraham. Abraham might have taken amiss what his wife had saidabout his advanced years, and so precious is the peace between husband and wifethat even the Holy One, blessed be He, preserved it at the expense oftruth.[152]

After Abraham had entertained his guests, he went with them to bring them ontheir way, for, important as the duty of hospitality is, the duty of speedingthe parting guest is even more important.[153] Their way lay in the directionof Sodom, whither two of the angels were going, the one to destroy it, and thesecond to save Lot, while the third, his errand to Abraham fulfilled, returnedto heaven.[154]

THE CITIES OF SIN

The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah and the three other cities of the plainwere sinful and godless. In their country there was an extensive vale, wherethey foregathered annually with their wives and their children and allbelonging to them, to celebrate a feast lasting several days and consisting ofthe most revolting orgies. If a stranger merchant passed through theirterritory, he was besieged by them all, big and little alike, and robbed ofwhatever he possessed. Each one appropriated a bagatelle, until the travellerwas stripped bare. If the victim ventured to remonstrate with one or another,he would show him that he had taken a mere trifle, not worth talking about. Andthe end was that they hounded him from the city.

Once upon a time it happened that a man journeying from Elam arrived in Sodomtoward evening. No one could be found to grant him shelter for the night.Finally a sly fox named Hedor invited him cordially to follow him to his house.The Sodomite had been attracted by a rarely magnificent carpet, strapped to thestranger's ass by means of a rope. He meant to secure it for himself. Thefriendly persuasions of Hedor induced the stranger to remain with him two days,though he had expected to stay only overnight. When the time came for him tocontinue on his journey, he asked his host for the carpet and the rope. Hedorsaid: "Thou hast dreamed a dream, and this is the interpretation of thy dream:the rope signifies that thou wilt have a long life, as long as a rope; thevaricolored carpet indicates that thou wilt own an orchard wherein thou wiltplant all sorts of fruit trees." The stranger insisted that his carpet was areality, not a dream fancy, and he continued to demand its return. Not only didHedor deny having taken anything from his guest, he even insisted upon pay forhaving interpreted his dream to him. His usual price for such services, hesaid, was four silver pieces, but in view of the fact that he was his guest, hewould, as a favor to him, content himself with three pieces of silver.

After much wrangling, they put their case before one of the judges of Sodom,Sherek by name, and he said to the plaintiff, "Hedor is known in this city as atrustworthy interpreter of dreams, and what he tells thee is true." Thestranger declared himself not satisfied with the verdict, and continued to urgehis side of the case. Then Sherek drove both the plaintiff and the defendantfrom the court room. Seeing this, the inhabitants gathered together and chasedthe stranger from the city, and lamenting the loss of his carpet, he had topursue his way.

As Sodom had a judge worthy of itself, so also had the other cities—Sharkar inGomorrah, Zabnak in Admah, and Manon in Zeboiim. Eliezer, the bondman ofAbraham, made slight changes in the names of these judges, in accordance withthe nature of what they did: the first he called Shakkara, Liar; the secondShakrura, Arch-deceiver; the third Kazban, Falsifier; and the fourth,Mazle-Din, Perverter of Judgment. At the suggestion of these judges, the citiesset up beds on their commons. When a stranger arrived, three men seized him byhis head, and three by his feet, and they forced him upon one of the beds. Ifhe was too short to fit into it exactly, his six attendants pulled and wrenchedhis limbs until he filled it out; if he was too long for; it, they tried to jamhim in with all their combined strength, until the victim was on the verge ofdeath. Hit outcrles were met with the words, "Thus will be done to any man thatcomes into our land."

After a while travellers avoided these cities, but if some poor devil wasbetrayed occasionally into entering them, they would give him gold and silver,but never any bread, so that he was bound to die of starvation. Once he wasdead, the residents of the city came and took back the marked gold and silverwhich they had given him, and they would quarrel about the distribution of hisclothes, for they would bury him naked.

Once Eliezer, the bondman of Abraham, went to Sodom, at the bidding of Sarah,to inquire after the welfare of Lot. He happened to enter the city at themoment when the people were robbing a stranger of his garments. Eliezerespoused the cause of the poor wretch, and the Sodomites turned against him;one threw a stone at his forehead and caused considerable loss of blood.Instantly, the assailant, seeing the blood gush forth, demanded payment forhaving performed the operation of cupping. Eliezer refused to pay for theinfliction of a wound upon him, and he was haled before the judge Shakkara. Thedecision went against him, for the law of the land gave the assailant the rightto demand payment. Eliezer quickly picked up a stone and threw it at thejudge's forehead. When he saw that the blood was flowing profusely, he said tothe judge, "Pay my debt to the man and give me the balance."

The cause of their cruelty was their exceeding great wealth. Their soil wasgold, and in their miserliness and their greed for more and more gold, theywanted to prevent strangers from enjoying aught of their riches. Accordingly,they flooded the highways with streams of water, so that the roads to theircity were obliterated, and none could find the way thither. They were asheartless toward beasts as toward men. They begrudged the birds what they ate,and therefore extirpated them.[155] They behaved impiously toward one another,too, not shrinking back from murder to gain possession of more gold. If theyobserved that a man owned great riches, two of them would conspire against him.They would beguile him to the vicinity of ruins, and while the one kept him onthe spot by pleasant converse, the other would undermine the wall near which hestood, until it suddenly crashed down upon him and killed him. Then the twoplotters would divide his wealth between them.

Another method of enriching themselves with the property of others was in vogueamong them. They were adroit thieves. When they made up their minds to committheft, they would first ask their victim to take care of a sum of money forthem, which they smeared with strongly scented oil before handing it over tohim. The following night they would break into his house, and rob him of hissecret treasures, led to the place of concealment by the smell of the oil.

Their laws were calculated to do injury to the poor. The richer a man, the morewas he favored before the law. The owner of two oxen was obliged to render oneday's shepherd service, but if he had but one ox, he had to give two days'service. A poor orphan, who was thus forced to tend the flocks a longer timethan those who were blessed with large herds, killed all the cattle entrustedto him in order to take revenge upon his oppressors, and he insisted, when theskins were assigned, that the owner of two head of cattle should have but oneskin, but the owner of one head should receive two skins, in correspondence tothe method pursued in assigning the work. For the use of the ferry, a travellerhad to pay four zuz, but if he waded through the water, he had to pay eightzuz.[156]

The cruelty of the Sodomites went still further. Lot had a daughter, Paltit, sonamed because she had been born to him shortly after he escaped captivitythrough the help of Abraham. Paltit lived in Sodom, where she had married. Oncea beggar came to town, and the court issued a proclamation that none shouldgive him anything to eat, in order that he might die of starvation. But Paltithad pity upon the unfortunate wretch, and every day when she went to the wellto draw water, she supplied him with a piece of bread, which she hid in herwater pitcher. The inhabitants of the two sinful cities, Sodom and Gomorrah,could not understand why the beggar did not perish, and they suspected thatsome one was giving him food in secret. Three men concealed themselves near thebeggar, and caught Paltit in the act of giving him something to eat. She had topay for her humanity with death; she was burnt upon a pyre.

The people of Admah were no better than those of Sodom. Once a stranger came toAdmah, intending to stay overnight and continue his journey the next morning.The daughter of a rich man met the stranger, and gave him water to drink andbread to eat at his request. When the people of Admah heard of this infractionof the law of the land, they seized the girl and arraigned her before thejudge, who condemned her to death. The people smeared her with honey from topto toe, and exposed her where bees would be attracted to her. The insects stungher to death, and the callous people paid no heed to her heartrending cries.Then it was that God resolved upon the destruction of these sinners.[157]

ABRAHAM PLEADS FOR THE SINNERS

When God saw that there was no righteous man among the inhabitants of thesinful cities, and there would be none among their descendants, for the sake ofwhose merits the rest might be treated with lenient consideration, He resolvedto annihilate them one and all.[158] But before judgment was executed, the Lordmade known unto Abraham what He would do to Sodom, Gomorrah, and the othercities of the plain, for they formed a part of Canaan, the land promised untoAbraham, and therefore did God say, "I will not destroy them without theconsent of Abraham."[159]

Like a compassionate father, Abraham importuned the grace of God in behalf ofthe sinners. He spoke to God, and said: "Thou didst take an oath that no moreshould all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood. Is it meet that Thoushouldst evade Thy oath and destroy cities by fire? Shall the Judge of all theearth not do right Himself? Verily, if Thou desirest to maintain the world,Thou must give up the strict line of justice. If Thou insistest upon the rightalone, there can be no world." Whereupon God said to Abraham: "Thou takestdelight in defending My creatures, and thou wouldst not call them guilty.Therefore I spoke with none but thee during the ten generations sinceNoah."[160] Abraham ventured to use still stronger words in order to secure thesafety of the godless. "That be far from Thee," he said, "to slay the righteouswith the wicked, that the dwellers on the earth say not, 'It is His trade todestroy the generations of men in a cruel manner; for He destroyed thegeneration of Enosh, then the generation of the flood, and then He sent theconfusion of tongues. He sticks ever to His trade.'"

God made reply: "I will let all the generations I have destroyed pass beforethee, that thou mayest see they have not suffered the extreme punishment theydeserved. But if thou thinkest that I did not act justly, then instruct thou Mein what I must do, and I will endeavor to act in accordance with thy words."And Abraham had to admit that God had not diminished in aught the justice dueto every creature in this world or the other world.[161] Nevertheless hecontinued to speak, and he said: "Wilt Thou consume the cities, if there be tenrighteous men in each?" And God said, "No, if I find fifty righteous therein, Iwill not destroy the cities."[162]

Abraham: "I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, I who would have beenturned long since into dust of the ground by Amraphel and into ashes by Nimrod,had it not been for Thy grace.[163] Peradventure there shall lack five of thefifty righteous for Zoar, the smallest of the five cities. Wilt Thou destroyall the city for lack of five?"

God: "I will not destroy it, if I find there forty and five."

Abraham: "Peradventure there be ten pious in each of the four cities, thenforgive Zoar in Thy grace, for its sins are not so great in number as the sinsof the others."

God granted his petition, yet Abraham continued to plead, and he asked whetherGod would not be satisfied if there were but thirty righteous, ten in each ofthe three larger cities, and would pardon the two smaller ones, even thoughthere were no righteous therein, whose merits would intercede for them. This,too, the Lord granted, and furthermore He promised not to destroy the cities ifbut twenty righteous were found therein; yes, God conceded that He wouldpreserve the five cities for the sake of ten righteous therein.[164] More thanthis Abraham did not ask, for he knew that eight righteous ones, Noah and hiswife, and his three sons and their wives, had not sufficed to avert the doom ofthe generation of the flood, and furthermore he hoped that Lot, his wife, andtheir four daughters, together with the husbands of their daughters, would makeup the number ten. What he did not know was that even the righteous in thesesin-laden cities, though better than the rest, were far from good.[165]

Abraham did not cease to pray for the deliverance of the sinners even after theShekinah had removed from him. But his supplications and his intercessions werein vain.[166] For fifty-two years God had warned the godless; He had mademountains to quake and tremble. But they hearkened not unto the voice ofadmonition. They persisted in their sins, and their well-merited punishmentovertook them.[167] God forgives all sins, only not an immoral life. And as allthese sinners led a life of debauchery, they were burnt with fire.[168]

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SINFUL CITIES

The angels left Abraham at noon time, and they reached Sodom at the approach ofevening. As a rule, angels proclaim their errand with the swiftness oflightning, but these were angels of mercy, and they hesitated to execute theirwork of destruction, ever hoping that the evil would be turned aside fromSodom.[169] With nightfall, the fate of Sodom was sealed irrevocably, and theangels arrived there.[170]

Bred in the house of Abraham, Lot had learnt from him the beautiful custom ofextending hospitality, and when he saw the angels before him in human form,thinking they were wayfarers, he bade them turn aside and tarry all night inhis house. But as the entertainment of strangers was forbidden in Sodom onpenalty of death, he dared invite them only under cover of the darkness ofnight,[171] and even then he had to use every manner of precaution, bidding theangels to follow him by devious ways.

The angels, who had accepted Abraham's hospitality without delay, first refusedto comply with Lot's request, for it is a rule of good breeding to showreluctance when an ordinary man invites one, but to accept the invitation of agreat man at once. Lot, however, was insistent, and carried them into his houseby main force.[172] At home he had to overcome the opposition of his wife, forshe said, "If the inhabitants of Sodom hear of this, they will slay thee."

Lot divided his dwelling in two parts, one for himself and his guests, theother for his wife, so that, if aught happened, his wife would be spared.[173]Nevertheless it was she who betrayed him. She went to a neighbor and borrowedsome salt, and to the question, whether she could not have supplied herselfwith salt during daylight hours, she replied, "We had enough salt, until someguests came to us; for them we needed more." In this way the presence ofstrangers was bruited abroad in the city.[174]

In the beginning the angels were inclined to hearken to the petition of Lot inbehalf of the sinners, but when all the people of the city, big and little,crowded around the house of Lot with the purpose of committing a monstrouscrime, the angels warded off his prayers, saying, "Hitherto thou couldstintercede for them, but now no longer." It was not the first time that theinhabitants of Sodom wanted to perpetrate a crime of this sort. They had made alaw some time before that all strangers were to be treated in this horribleway. Lot, who was appointed chief judge on the very day of the angels' coming,tried to induce the people to desist from their purpose, saying to them, "Mybrethren, the generation of the deluge was extirpated in consequence of suchsins as you desire to commit, and you would revert to them?" But they replied:"Back! And though Abraham himself came hither, we should have no considerationfor him. Is it possible that thou wouldst set aside a law which thypredecessors administered?"[175]

Even Lot's moral sense was no better than it should have been. It is the dutyof a man to venture his life for the honor of his wife and his daughters, butLot was ready to sacrifice the honor of his daughters, wherefor he was punishedseverely later on.[176]

The angels told Lot who they were, and what the mission that had brought themto Sodom, and they charged him to flee from the city with his wife and his fourdaughters, two of them married, and two betrothed.[177] Lot communicated theirbidding to his sons-in-law, and they mocked at him, and said: "O thou fool!Violins, cymbals, and flutes resound in the city, and thou sayest Sodom will bedestroyed!" Such scoffing but hastened the execution of the doom of Sodom.[178]The angel Michael laid hold upon the hand of Lot, and his wife and hisdaughters, while with his little finger the angel Gabriel touched the rockwhereon the sinful cities were built, and overturned them. At the same time therain that was streaming down upon the two cities was changed intobrimstone.[179]

When the angels had brought forth Lot and his family and set them without thecity, he bade them run for their lives, and not look behind, lest they beholdthe Shekinah, which had descended to work the destruction of the cities. Thewife of Lot could not control herself. Her mother love made her look behind tosee if her married daughters were following. She beheld the Shekinah, and shebecame a pillar of salt. This pillar exists unto this day. The cattle lick itall day long, and in the evening it seems to have disappeared, but when morningcomes it stands there as large as before.[180]

The savior angel had urged Lot himself to take refuge with Abraham. But herefused, and said: "As long as I dwelt apart from Abraham, God compared mydeeds with the deeds of my fellow-citizens, and among them I appeared as arighteous man. If I should return to Abraham, God will see that his good deedsoutweigh mine by far."[181] The angel then granted his plea that Zoar be leftundestroyed. This city had been founded a year later than the other four; itwas only fifty-one years old, and therefore the measure of its sins was not sofull as the measure of the sins of the neighboring cities.[182]

The destruction of the cities of the plain took place at dawn of the sixteenthday of Nisan, for the reason that there were moon and sun worshippers among theinhabitants. God said: "If I destroy them by day, the moon worshippers willsay, Were the moon here, she would prove herself our savior; and if I destroythem by night, the sun worshippers will say, Were the sun here, he would provehimself our savior. I will therefore let their chastisement overtake them onthe sixteenth day of Nisan at an hour at which the moon and the sun are both inthe skies."[183]

The sinful inhabitants of the cities of the plain not only lost their life inthis world, but also their share in the future world. As for the citiesthemselves, however, they will be restored in the Messianic time.[184]

The destruction of Sodom happened at the time at which Abraham was performinghis morning devotions, and for his sake it was established as the proper hourfor the morning prayer unto all times.[185] When he turned his eyes towardSodom and beheld the rising smoke, he prayed for the deliverance of Lot, andGod granted his petition—the fourth time that Lot became deeply indebted toAbraham. Abraham had taken him with him to Palestine, he had made him rich inflocks, herds, and tents, he had rescued him from captivity, and by his prayerhe saved him from the destruction of Sodom. The descendants of Lot, theAmmonites and the Moabites, instead of showing gratitude to the Israelites, theposterity of Abraham, committed four acts of hostility against them. Theysought to compass the destruction of Israel by means of Balaam's curses, theywaged open war against him at the time of Jephthah, and also at the time ofJehoshaphat, and finally they manifested their hatred against Israel at thedestruction of the Temple. Hence it is that God appointed four prophets,Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zephaniah, to proclaim punishment unto thedescendants of Lot, and four times their sin is recorded in Holy Writ.[186]

Though Lot owed his deliverance to the petition of Abraham, yet it was at thesame time his reward for not having betrayed Abraham in Egypt, when hepretended to be the brother of Sarah.[187] But a greater reward still awaitshim. The Messiah will be a descendant of his, for the Moabitess Ruth is thegreat-grandmother of David, and the Ammonitess Naamah is the mother ofRehoboam, and the Messiah is of the line of these two kings.[188]

AMONG THE PHILISTINES

The destruction of Sodom induced Abraham to journey to Gerar. Accustomed toextend hospitality to travellers and wayfarers, he no longer felt comfortablein a district in which all traffic had ceased by reason of the ruined cities.There was another reason for Abraham's leaving his place; the people spoke toomuch about the ugly incident with Lot's daughters.[189]

Arrived in the land of the Philistines, he again, as aforetime in Egypt, cameto an understanding with Sarah, that she was to call herself his sister. Whenthe report of her beauty reached the king, he ordered her to be brought beforehim, and he asked her who her companion was, and she told him that Abraham washer brother. Entranced by her beauty, Abimelech the king took Sarah to wife,and heaped marks of honor upon Abraham in accordance with the just claims of abrother of the queen. Toward evening, before retiring, while he was stillseated upon his throne, Abimelech fell into a sleep, and he slept until themorning, and in the dream he dreamed he saw an angel of the Lord raising hissword to deal him a death blow. Sore frightened, he asked the cause, and theangel replied, and said: "Thou wilt die on account of the woman thou didst takeinto thy house this day, for she is the wife of Abraham, the man whom thoudidst cite before thee. Return his wife unto him! But if thou restore her not,thou shalt surely die, thou and all that are thine."

In that night the voice of a great crying was heard in the whole land of thePhilistines, for they saw the figure of a man walking about, with sword inhand, slaying all that came in his way. At the same time it happened that inmen and beasts alike all the apertures of the body closed up, and the land wasseized with indescribable excitement. In the morning, when the king awoke, inagony and terror, he called all his servants and told his dream in their ears.One of their number said: "O lord and king! Restore this woman unto the man,for he is her husband. It is but his way in a strange land to pretend that sheis his sister. Thus did he with the king of Egypt, too, and God sent heavyafflictions upon Pharaoh when he took the woman unto himself. Consider, also, Olord and king, what hath befallen this night in the land; great pain, wailing,and confusion there was, and we know that it came upon us only because of thiswoman."[190]

There were some among his servants who spake: "Be not afraid of dreams! Whatdreams make known to man is but falsehood." Then God appeared unto Abimelechagain and commanded him to let Sarah go free, otherwise he would be a deadman.[191] Abimelech replied: "Is this Thy way? Then, I ween, the generation ofthe flood and the generation of the confusion of tongues were innocent, too!The man himself did say unto me, She is my sister, and she, even she herselfsaid, He is my brother, and all the people of their household said the samewords." And God said unto him: "Yea, I know that thou hast not yet committed atrespass, for I withheld thee from sinning. Thou didst not know that Sarah wasa man's wife.[192] But is it becoming to question a stranger, no sooner does heset foot upon thy territory, about the woman accompanying him, whether she behis wife or his sister? Abraham, who is a prophet, knew beforehand the dangerto himself if he revealed the whole truth.[193] But, being a prophet, he alsoknows that thou didst not touch his wife, and he shall pray for thee, and thoushalt live."

The smoke was still rising from the ruins of Sodom, and Abimelech and hispeople, seeing it, feared that a like fate might overtake them.[194] The kingcalled Abraham and reproached him for having caused such great misfortunethrough his false statements concerning Sarah. Abraham excused his conduct byhis apprehension that, the fear of God not being in the place, the inhabitantsof the land slay him for his wife.[195] Abraham went on and told the history ofhis whole life, and he said: "When I dwelt in the house of my father, thenations of the world sought to do me harm, but God proved Himself my Redeemer.When the nations of the world tried to lead me astray to idolatry, God revealedHimself to me, and He said, 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred,and from thy father's house.' And when the nations of the world were about togo astray, God sent two prophets, my kinsmen Shem and Eber, to admonishthem."[196]

Abimelech gave rich gifts to Abraham, wherein he acted otherwise than Pharaohin similar circumstances. The Egyptian king gave gifts to Sarah, but Abimelechwas God fearing, and desired that Abraham pray for him.[197] To Sarah he gave acostly robe that covered her whole person, hiding her seductive charms from theview of beholders. At the same time it was a reproach to Abraham, that he hadnot fitted Sarah out with the splendor due to his wife.[198]

Though Abimelech had done him great injury, Abraham not only granted him theforgiveness he craved, but also he prayed for him to God. Thus he is anexemplar unto all. "Man should be pliant as a reed, not hard like the cedar."He should be easily appeased, and slow to anger, and as soon as he who hassinned against him asks for pardon, he should forgive him with all his heart.Even if deep and serious injury has been done to him, he should not bevengeful, nor bear his brother a grudge in his heart.[199]

Abraham prayed thus for Abimelech: "O Lord of the world! Thou hast created manthat he may increase and propagate his kind. Grant that Abimelech and his housemay multiply and increase!"[200] God fulfilled Abraham's petition in behalf ofAbimelech and his people, and it was the first time it happened in the historyof mankind that God fulfilled the prayer of one human being for the benefit ofanother.[201] Abimelech and his subjects were healed of all their diseases, andso efficacious was the prayer offered by Abraham that the wife of Abimelech,barren hitherto, bore a child.[202]

THE BIRTH OF ISAAC

When the prayer of Abraham for Abimelech was heard, and the king of thePhilistines recovered, the angels raised a loud cry, and spoke to God thus: "OLord of the world! All these years hath Sarah been barren, as the wife ofAbimelech was. Now Abraham prayed to Thee, and the wife of Abimelech hath beengranted a child. It is just and fair that Sarah should be remembered andgranted a child." These words of the angels, spoken on the New Year's Day, whenthe fortunes of men are determined in heaven for the whole year, bore a result.Barely seven months later, on the first day of the Passover, Isaac was born.

The birth of Isaac was a happy event, and not in the house of Abraham alone.The whole world rejoiced, for God remembered all barren women at the same timewith Sarah. They all bore children. And all the blind were made to see, all thelame were made whole, the dumb were made to speak, and the mad were restored toreason. And a still greater miracle happened: on the day of Isaac's birth thesun shone with such splendor as had not been seen since the fall of man, and ashe will shine again only in the future world.[203]

To silence those who asked significantly, "Can one a hundred years old beget ason?" God commanded the angel who has charge over the embryos, to give themform and shape, that he fashion Isaac precisely according to the model ofAbraham, so that all seeing Isaac might exclaim, "Abraham begot Isaac."[204]

That Abraham and Sarah were blessed with offspring only after they had attainedso great an age, had an important reason. It was necessary that Abraham shouldbear the sign of the covenant upon his body before he begot the son who wasappointed to be the father of Israel.[205] And as Isaac was the first childborn to Abraham after he was marked with the sign, he did not fail to celebratehis circumcision with much pomp and ceremony on the eighth day.[206] Shem,Eber, Abimelech king of the Philistines, and his whole retinue, Phicol thecaptain of his host in it—they all were present, and also Terah and his sonNahor, in a word, all the great ones round about.[207] On this occasion Abrahamcould at last put a stop to the talk of the people, who said, "Look at this oldcouple! They picked up a foundling on the highway, and they pretend he is theirown son, and to make their statement seem credible, they arrange a feast in hishonor." Abraham had invited not only men to the celebration, but also the wivesof the magnates with their infants, and God permitted a miracle to be done.Sarah had enough milk in her breasts to suckle all the babes there,[208] andthey who drew from her breasts had much to thank her for. Those whose mothershad harbored only pious thoughts in their minds when they let them drink themilk that flowed from the breasts of the pious Sarah, they became proselyteswhen they grew up; and those whose mothers let Sarah nurse them only in orderto test her, they grew up to be powerful rulers, losing their dominion only atthe revelation on Mount Sinai, because they would not accept the Torah. Allproselytes and pious heathen are the descendants of these infants.[209]

Among the guests of Abraham were the thirty-one kings and thirty-one viceroysof Palestine who were vanquished by Joshua at the conquest of the Holy Land.Even Og king of Bashan was present, and he had to suffer the teasing of theother guests, who rallied him upon having called Abraham a sterile mule, whowould never have offspring. Og, on his part, pointed at the little boy withcontempt, and said, "Were I to lay my finger upon him, he would be crushed."Whereupon God said to him: "Thou makest mock of the gift given to Abraham! Asthou livest, thou shalt look upon millions and myriads of his descendants, andin the end thou shalt fall into their hands."[210]

ISHMAEL CAST OFF

When Isaac grew up, quarrels broke out between him and Ishmael, on account ofthe rights of the first-born. Ishmael insisted he should receive a doubleportion of the inheritance after the death of Abraham, and Isaac should receiveonly one portion. Ishmael, who had been accustomed from his youth to use thebow and arrow, was in the habit of aiming his missiles in the direction ofIsaac, saying at the same time that he was but jesting.[211] Sarah, however,insisted that Abraham make over to Isaac all he owned, that no disputes mightarise after his death,[212] "for," she said, "Ishmael is not worthy of beingheir with my son, nor with a man like Isaac, and certainly not with my sonIsaac."[213] Furthermore, Sarah insisted that Abraham divorce himself fromHagar, the mother of Ishmael, and send away the woman and her son, so thatthere be naught in common between them and her own son, either in this world orin the future world.

Of all the trials Abraham had to undergo, none was so hard to bear as this, forit grieved him sorely to separate himself from his son. God appeared to him inthe following night, and said to him: "Abraham, knowest thou not that Sarah wasappointed to be thy wife from her mother's womb? She is thy companion and thewife of thy youth, and I named not Hagar as thy wife, nor Sarah as thybondwoman. What Sarah spoke unto thee was naught but truth, and let it not begrievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman." Thenext morning Abraham rose up early, gave Hagar her bill of divorcement, andsent her away with her son, first binding a rope about her loins that all mightsee she was a bondwoman.[214]

The evil glance cast upon her stepson by Sarah made him sick and feverish, sothat Hagar had to carry him, grown-up as he was. In his fever he drank often ofthe water in the bottle given her by Abraham as she left his house, and thewater was quickly spent. That she might not look upon the death of her child,Hagar cast Ishmael under the willow shrubs growing on the selfsame spot whereonthe angels had once spoken with her and made known to her that she would bear ason. In the bitterness of her heart, she spoke to God, and said, "YesterdayThou didst say to me, I will greatly multiply thy seed, that it shall not benumbered for multitude, and to-day my son dies of thirst." Ishmael himselfcried unto God, and his prayer and the merits of Abraham brought them help intheir need, though the angels appeared against Ishmael before God. They said,"Wilt Thou cause a well of water to spring up for him whose descendants willlet Thy children of Israel perish with thirst?" But God replied, and said,"What is Ishmael at this moment—righteous or wicked?" and when the angelscalled him righteous, God continued, "I treat man according to his deserts ateach moment."[215]

At that moment Ishmael was pious indeed, for he was praying to God in thefollowing words: "O Lord of the world! If it be Thy will that I shall perish,then let me die in some other way, not by thirst, for the tortures of thirstare great beyond all others." Hagar, instead of praying to God, addressed hersupplications to the idols of her youth. The prayer of Ishmael was acceptablebefore God, and He bade Miriam's well spring up, the well created in thetwilight of the sixth day of creation.[216] Even after this miracle Hagar'sfaith was no stronger than before. She filled the bottle with water, becauseshe feared it might again be spent, and no other would be nigh. Thereupon shejourneyed to Egypt with her son, for "Throw the stick into the air as thouwilt, it will always land on its point." Hagar had come from Egypt, and toEgypt she returned, to choose a wife for her son.[217]

THE TWO WIVES OF ISHMAEL

The wife of Ishmael bore four sons and a daughter, and afterward Ishmael, hismother, and his wife and children went and returned to the wilderness. Theymade themselves tents in the wilderness in which they dwelt, and they continuedto encamp and journey, month by month and year by year. And God gave Ishmaelflocks, and herds, and tents, on account of Abraham his father, and the manincreased in cattle. And some time after, Abraham said to Sarah, his wife, "Iwill go and see my son Ishmael; I yearn to look upon him, for I have not seenhim for a long time." And Abraham rode upon one of his camels to thewilderness, to seek his son Ishmael, for he heard that he was dwelling in atent in the wilderness with all belonging to him. And Abraham went to thewilderness, and he reached the tent of Ishmael about noon, and he asked afterhim. He found the wife of Ishmael sitting in the tent with her children, andher husband and his mother were not with them. And Abraham asked the wife ofIshmael, saying, "Where has Ishmael gone?" And she said, "He has gone to thefield to hunt game." And Abraham was still mounted upon the camel, for he wouldnot alight upon the ground, as he had sworn to his wife Sarah that he would notget off from the camel. And Abraham said to Ishmael's wife, "My daughter, giveme a little water, that I may drink, for I am fatigued and tired from thejourney." And Ishmael's wife answered, and said to Abraham, "We have neitherwater nor bread," and she was sitting in the tent, and did not take any noticeof Abraham. She did not even ask him who he was. But all the while she wasbeating her children in the tent, and she was cursing them, and she also cursedher husband Ishmael, and spoke evil of him, and Abraham heard the words ofIshmael's wife to her children, and it was an evil thing in his eyes. AndAbraham called to the woman to come out to him from the tent, and the womancame out, and stood face to face with Abraham, while Abraham was still mountedupon the camel. And Abraham said to Ishmael's wife, "When thy husband Ishmaelreturns home, say these words to him: A very old man from the land of thePhilistines came hither to seek thee, and his appearance was thus and so, andthus was his figure. I did not ask him who he was, and seeing thou wast nothere, he spoke unto me, and said, When Ishmael thy husband returns, tell him,Thus did the man say, When thou comest home, put away this tent-pin which thouhast placed here, and place another tent-pin in its stead." And Abrahamfinished his instructions to the woman, and he turned and went off on the camelhomeward. And when Ishmael returned to the tent, he heard the words of hiswife, and he knew that it was his father, and that his wife had not honoredhim. And Ishmael understood his father's words that he had spoken to his wife,and he hearkened to the voice of his father, and he divorced his wife, and shewent away. And Ishmael afterward went to the land of Canaan, and he tookanother wife, and he brought her to his tent, to the place where he dwelt.

And at the end of three years, Abraham said, "I will go again and see Ishmaelmy son, for I have not seen him for a long time." And he rode upon his camel,and went to the wilderness, and he reached the tent of Ishmael about noon. Andhe asked after Ishmael, and his wife came out of the tent, and she said, "He isnot here, my lord, for he has gone to hunt in the fields and feed the camels,"and the woman said to Abraham, "Turn in, my lord, into the tent, and eat amorsel of bread, for thy soul must be wearied on account of the journey." AndAbraham said to her, "I will not stop, for I am in haste to continue myjourney, but give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty," and the womanhastened and ran into the tent, and she brought out water and bread to Abraham,which she placed before him, urging him to eat and drink, and he ate and drank,and his heart was merry, and he blessed his son Ishmael. And he finished hismeal, and he blessed the Lord, and he said to Ishmael's wife: "When Ishmaelcomes home, say these words to him: A very old man from the land of thePhilistines came hither, and asked after thee, and thou wast not here, and Ibrought him out bread and water, and he ate and drank, and his heart was merry.And he spoke these words to me, When Ishmael thy husband comes home, say untohim, The tent-pin which thou hast is very good, do not put it away from thetent." And Abraham finished commanding the woman, and he rode off to his home,to the land of the Philistines, and when Ishmael came to his tent, his wifewent forth to meet him with joy and a cheerful heart, and she told him thewords of the old man. Ishmael knew that it was his father, and that his wifehad honored him, and he praised the Lord. And Ishmael then took his wife andhis children and his cattle and all belonging to him, and he journeyed fromthere, and he went to his father in the land of the Philistines. And Abrahamrelated to Ishmael all that had happened between him and the first wife thatIshmael had taken, according to what she had done. And Ishmael and his childrendwelt with Abraham many days in that land, and Abraham dwelt in the land of thePhilistines a long time.[218]

THE COVENANT WITH ABIMELECH

After a sojourn of twenty-six years in the land of the Philistines, Abrahamdeparted thence, and he settled in the neighborhood of Hebron. There he wasvisited by Abimelech with twenty of his grandees,[219] who requested him tomake an alliance with the Philistines.

As long as Abraham was childless, the heathen did not believe in his piety, butwhen Isaac was born, they said to him, "God is with thee." But again theyentertained doubt of his piety when he cast off Ishmael. They said, "Were he arighteous man, he would not drive his first-born forth from his house." Butwhen they observed the impious deeds of Ishmael, they said, "God is with theein all thou doest." That Abraham was the favorite of God, they saw in this,too, that although Sodom was destroyed and all traffic had come to a standstillin that region, yet Abraham's treasure chambers were filled. For these reasons,the Philistines sought to form an alliance with him, to remain in force forthree generations to come, for it is to the third generation that the love of afather extends.

Before Abraham concluded the covenant with Abimelech, king of the Philistines,he reproved him on account of a well, for "Correction leads to love," and"There is no peace without correction." The herdmen of Abraham and those ofAbimelech had left their dispute about the well to decision by ordeal: the wellwas to belong to the party for whose sheep the waters would rise so that theycould drink of them. But the shepherds of Abimelech disregarded the agreement,and they wrested the well for their own use.[220] As a witness and a perpetualsign that the well belonged to him, Abraham set aside seven sheep,corresponding to the seven Noachian laws binding upon all men alike.[221] ButGod said, "Thou didst give him seven sheep. As thou livest, the Philistinesshall one day slay seven righteous men, Samson, Hophni, Phinehas, and Saul withhis three sons, and they will destroy seven holy places, and they will keep theholy Ark in their country as booty of war for a period of seven months, andfurthermore only the seventh generation of thy descendants will be able torejoice in the possession of the land promised to them."[222] After concludingthe alliance with Abimelech, who acknowledged Abraham's right upon the well,Abraham called the place Beer-sheba, because there they swore both of them untoa covenant of friendship.

In Beer-sheba Abraham dwelt many years, and thence he endeavored to spread thelaw of God. He planted a large grove there, and he made four gates for it,facing the four sides of the earth, east, west, north, and south, and heplanted a vineyard therein. If a traveller came that way, he entered by thegate that faced him, and he sat in the grove, and ate, and drank, until he wassatisfied, and then he departed. For the house of Abraham was always open forall passers-by, and they came daily to eat and drink there. If one was hungry,and he came to Abraham, he would give him what he needed, so that he might eatand drink and be satisfied; and if one was naked, and he came to Abraham, hewould clothe him with the garments of the poor man's choice, and give himsilver and gold, and make known to him the Lord, who had created him and sethim on earth.[223] After the wayfarers had eaten, they were in the habit ofthanking Abraham for his kind entertainment of them, whereto he would reply:"What, ye give thanks unto me! Rather return thanks to your host, He who aloneprovides food and drink for all creatures." Then the people would ask, "Whereis He?" and Abraham would answer them, and say: "He is the Ruler of heaven andearth. He woundeth and He healeth, He formeth the embryo in the womb of themother and bringeth it forth into the world, He causeth the plants and thetrees to grow, He killeth and He maketh alive, He bringeth down to Sheol andbringeth up." When the people heard such words, they would ask, "How shall wereturn thanks to God and manifest our gratitude unto Him?" And Abraham wouldinstruct them in these words: "Say, Blessed be the Lord who is blessed! Blessedbe He that giveth bread and food unto all flesh!" In this manner did Abrahamteach those who had enjoyed his hospitality how to praise and thank God.[224]Abraham's house thus became not only a lodging-place for the hungry andthirsty, but also a place of instruction where the knowledge of God and His lawwere taught.[225]

SATAN ACCUSES ABRAHAM

In spite of the lavish hospitality practiced in the house of Abraham, ithappened once that a poor man, or rather an alleged poor man, was turned awayempty-handed, and this was the immediate reason for the last of Abraham'stemptations, the sacrifice of his favorite son Isaac. It was the day on whichAbraham celebrated the birth of Isaac with a great banquet, to which all themagnates of the time were bidden with their wives. Satan, who always appears ata feast in which no poor people participate, and keeps aloof from those towhich poor guests are invited, turned up at Abraham's banquet in the guise of abeggar asking alms at the door. He had noticed that Abraham had invited no poorman, and he knew that his house was the right place for him.

Abraham was occupied with the entertainment of his distinguished guests, andSarah was endeavoring to convince their wives, the matrons, that Isaac was herchild in very truth, and not a spurious child. No one concerned himself aboutthe beggar at the door, who thereupon accused Abraham before God.[226]

Now, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before theLord, and Satan came also among them.[227] And the Lord said unto Satan, "Fromwhence comest thou?" and Satan answered the Lord, and said, "From going to andfro on the earth, and from walking up and down in it." And the Lord said untoSatan, "What hast thou to say concerning all the children of the earth?" andSatan answered the Lord, and said: "I have seen all the children of the earthserving Thee and remembering Thee, when they require aught from Thee. And whenThou givest them what they require from Thee, then they forsake Thee, and theyremember Thee no more. Hast Thou seen Abraham, the son of Terah, who at firsthad no children, and he served Thee and erected altars to Thee wherever hecame, and he brought offerings upon them, and he proclaimed Thy namecontinually to all the children of the earth? And now his son Isaac is born tohim, he has forsaken Thee. He made a great feast for all the inhabitants of theland, and the Lord he has forgotten. For amidst all that he has done, hebrought Thee no offering, neither burnt offering nor peace offering, neitherone lamb nor goat of all that he had killed in the day that his son was weaned.Even from the time of his son's birth till now, being thirty-seven years, hebuilt no altar before Thee, nor brought up any offering to Thee, for he sawthat Thou didst give what he requested before Thee, and he therefore forsookThee." And the Lord said to Satan: "Hast thou considered My servant Abraham?For there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man before Mefor a burnt offering, and that feareth God and escheweth evil. As I live, wereI to say unto him, Bring up Isaac thy son before Me, he would not withhold himfrom Me, much less if I told him to bring up a burnt offering before Me fromhis flocks or herds." And Satan answered the Lord, and said, "Speak now untoAbraham as Thou hast said, and Thou wilt see whether he will not transgress andcast aside Thy words this day."[228]

God wished to try Isaac also. Ishmael once boasted to Isaac, saying, "I wasthirteen years old when the Lord spoke to my father to circumcise us, and I didnot transgress His word, which He commanded my father." And Isaac answeredIshmael, saying, "What dost thou boast to me about this, about a little bit ofthy flesh which thou didst take from thy body, concerning which the Lordcommanded thee? As the Lord liveth, the God of my father Abraham, if the Lordshould say unto my father, Take now thy son Isaac and bring him up as anoffering before Me, I would not refrain, but I would joyfully accede to it."

THE JOURNEY TO MORIAH

And the Lord thought to try Abraham and Isaac in this matter.[229] And He saidto Abraham, "Take now thy son."

Abraham: "I have two sons, and I do not know which of them Thou commandest meto take."

God: "Thine only son."

Abraham: "The one is the only son of his mother, and the other is the only sonof his mother."

God: "Whom thou lovest."

Abraham: "I love this one and I love that one."

God: "Even Isaac."[230]

Abraham: "And where shall I go?"

God: "To the land I will show thee, and offer Isaac there for a burntoffering."

Abraham: "Am I fit to perform the sacrifice, am I a priest? Ought not ratherthe high priest Shem to do it?"

God: "When thou wilt arrive at that place, I will consecrate thee and make theea priest."[231]

And Abraham said within himself, "How shall I separate my son Isaac from Sarahhis mother?" And he came into the tent, and he sate before Sarah his wife, andhe spake these words to her: "My son Isaac is grown up, and he has not yetstudied the service of God. Now, to-morrow I will go and bring him to Shem andEber his son, and there he will learn the ways of the Lord, for they will teachhim to know the Lord, and to know how to pray unto the Lord that He may answerhim, and to know the way of serving the Lord his God." And Sarah said, "Thouhast spoken well. Go, my lord, and do unto him as thou hast said, but removehim not far from me, neither let him remain there too long, for my soul isbound within his soul." And Abraham said unto Sarah, "My daughter, let us prayto the Lord our God that He may do good with us." And Sarah took her son Isaac,and he abode with her all that night, and she kissed and embraced him, and shelaid injunctions upon him till morning, and she said to Abraham: "O my lord, Ipray thee, take heed of thy son, and place thine eyes over him, for I have noother son nor daughter but him. O neglect him not. If he be hungry, give himbread, and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink; do not let him go onfoot, neither let him sit in the sun, neither let him go by himself on theroad, neither turn him from whatever he may desire, but do unto him as he maysay to thee."

After spending the whole night in weeping on account of Isaac, she got up inthe morning and selected a very fine and beautiful garment from those thatAbimelech had given to her. And she dressed Isaac therewith, and she put aturban upon his head, and she fastened a precious stone in the top of theturban, and she gave them provisions for the road. And Sarah went out withthem, and she accompanied them upon the road to see them off, and they said toher, "Return to the tent." And when Sarah heard the words of her son Isaac, shewept bitterly, and Abraham wept with her, and their son wept with them, a greatweeping, also those of their servants who went with them wept greatly. AndSarah caught hold of Isaac, and she held him in her arms, and she embraced him,and continued to weep with him, and Sarah said, "Who knoweth if I shall eversee thee again after this day?"

Abraham departed with Isaac amid great weeping, while Sarah and the servantsreturned to the tent.[232] He took two of his young men with him, Ishmael andEliezer, and while they were walking in the road, the young men spoke thesewords to each other. Said Ishmael to Eliezer: "Now my father Abraham is goingwith Isaac to bring him up for a burnt offering to the Lord, and when hereturneth, he will give unto me all that he possesses, to inherit after him,for I am his first-born." Eliezer answered: "Surely, Abraham did cast thee offwith thy mother, and swear that thou shouldst not inherit anything of all hepossesses. And to whom will he give all that he has, all his precious things,but unto his servant, who has been faithful in his house, to me, who haveserved him night and day, and have done all that he desired me?" The holyspirit answered, "Neither this one nor that one will inherit Abraham."[233]

And while Abraham and Isaac were proceeding along the road, Satan came andappeared to Abraham in the figure of a very aged man, humble and of contritespirit, and said to him: "Art thou silly or foolish, that thou goest to do thisthing to thine only son? God gave thee a son in thy latter days, in thine oldage, and wilt thou go and slaughter him, who did not commit any violence, andwilt thou cause the soul of thine only son to perish from the earth? Dost thounot know and understand that this thing cannot be from the Lord? For the Lordwould not do unto man such evil, to command him, Go and slaughter thy son."Abraham, hearing these words, knew that it was Satan, who endeavored to turnhim astray from the way of the Lord, and he rebuked him that he went away. AndSatan returned and came to Isaac, and he appeared unto him in the figure of ayoung man, comely and well-favored, saying unto him: "Dost thou not know thatthy silly old father bringeth thee to the slaughter this day for naught? Now,my son, do not listen to him, for he is a silly old man, and let not thyprecious soul and beautiful figure be lost from the earth." And Isaac toldthese words to his father, but Abraham said to him, "Take heed of him, and donot listen to his words, for he is Satan endeavoring to lead us astray from thecommands of our God." And Abraham rebuked Satan again, and Satan went fromthem, and, seeing he could not prevail over them, he transformed himself into alarge brook of water in the road, and when Abraham, Isaac, and the two youngmen reached that place, they saw a brook large and powerful as the mightywaters. And they entered the brook, trying to pass it, but the further theywent, the deeper the brook, so that the water reached up to their necks, andthey were all terrified on account of the water. But Abraham recognized theplace, and he knew that there had been no water there before, and he said tohis son: "I know this place, on which there was no brook nor water. Now,surely, it is Satan who doth all this to us, to draw us aside this day from thecommands of God." And Abraham rebuked Satan, saying unto him: "The Lord rebukethee, O Satan. Begone from us, for we go by the command of God." And Satan wasterri fied at the voice of Abraham, and he went away from them, and the placebecame dry land again as it was at first. And Abraham went with Isaac towardthe place that God had told him.[234]

Satan then appeared unto Sarah in the figure of an old man, and said unto her,"Where did thine husband go?" She said, "To his work." "And where did thy sonIsaac go?" he inquired further, and she answered, "He went with his father to aplace of study of the Torah." Satan said: "O thou poor old woman, thy teethwill be set on edge on account of thy son, as thou knowest not that Abrahamtook his son with him on the road to sacrifice him." In this hour Sarah's loinstrembled, and all her limbs shook. She was no more of this world. Neverthelessshe aroused herself, and said, "All that God hath told Abraham, may he do itunto life and unto peace."[235]

On the third day of his journey, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the placeat a distance, which God had told him. He noticed upon the mountain a pillar offire reaching from the earth to heaven, and a heavy cloud in which the glory ofGod was seen. Abraham said to Isaac, "My son, dost thou see on that mountainwhich we perceive at a distance that which I see upon it?" And Isaac answered,and said unto his father, "I see, and, lo, a pillar of fire and a cloud, andthe glory of the Lord is seen upon the cloud." Abraham knew then that Isaac wasaccepted before the Lord for an offering. He asked Ishmael and Eliezer, "Do youalso see that which we see upon the mountain?" They answered, "We see nothingmore than like the other mountains," and Abraham knew that they were notaccepted before the Lord to go with them.[236] Abraham said to them, "Abide yehere with the ass, you are like the ass—as little as it sees, so little do yousee.[237] I and Isaac my son go to yonder mount, and worship there before theLord, and this eve we will return to you."[238] An unconscious prophecy hadcome to Abraham, for he prophesied that he and Isaac would both return from themountain.[239] Eliezer and Ishmael remained in that place, as Abraham hadcommanded, while he and Isaac went further.

THE 'AKEDAH

And while they were walking along, Isaac spake unto his father, "Behold, thefire and the wood, but where then is the lamb for a burnt offering before theLord?" And Abraham answered Isaac, saying, "The Lord hath chosen thee, my son,for a perfect burnt offering, instead of the lamb." And Isaac said unto hisfather, "I will do all that the Lord hath spoken to thee with joy andcheerfulness of heart." And Abraham again said unto Isaac his son, "Is there inthy heart any thought or counsel concerning this which is not proper? Tell me,my son, I pray thee! O my son, conceal it not from me." And Isaac answered, "Asthe Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is nothing in my heart to causeme to deviate either to the right or the left from the word that He hath spokenunto thee. Neither limb nor muscle hath moved or stirred on account of this,nor is there in my heart any thought or evil counsel concerning this. But I amjoyful and cheerful of heart in this matter, and I say, Blessed is the Lord whohas this day chosen me to be a burnt offering before Him."

Abraham greatly rejoiced at the words of Isaac, and they went on and cametogether to that place that the Lord had spoken of.[240] And Abraham approachedto build the altar in that place, and Abraham did build, while Isaac handed himstones and mortar, until they finished erecting the altar. And Abraham took thewood and arranged it upon the altar, and he bound Isaac, to place him upon thewood which was upon the altar, to slay him for a burnt offering before theLord.[241] Isaac spake hereupon: "Father, make haste, bare thine arm, and bindmy hands and feet securely, for I am a young man, but thirty-seven years ofage, and thou art an old man. When I behold the slaughtering knife in thy hand,I may perchance begin to tremble at the sight and push against thee, for thedesire unto life is bold. Also I may do myself an injury and make myself unfitto be sacrificed. I adjure thee, therefore, my father, make haste, execute thewill of thy Creator, delay not. Turn up thy garment, gird thy loins, and afterthat thou hast slaughtered me, burn me unto fine ashes. Then gather the ashes,and bring them to Sarah, my mother, and place them in a casket in her chamber.At all hours, whenever she enters her chamber, she will remember her son Isaacand weep for him."

And again Isaac spoke: "As soon as thou hast slaughtered me, and hast separatedthyself from me, and returnest to Sarah my mother, and she asketh thee, Whereis my son Isaac? what wilt thou answer her, and what will you two do in yourold age?" Abraham answered, and said, "We know we can survive thee by a fewdays only. He who was our Comfort before thou wast born, will comfort us nowand henceforth."

After he had laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac on the altar, upon thewood, Abraham braced his arms, rolled up his garments, and leaned his kneesupon Isaac with all his strength. And God, sitting upon His throne, high andexalted, saw how the hearts of the two were the same, and tears were rollingdown from the eyes of Abraham upon Isaac, and from Isaac down upon the wood, sothat it was submerged in tears. When Abraham stretched forth his hand, and tookthe knife to slay his son, God spoke to the angels: "Do you see how Abraham myfriend proclaims the unity of My Name in the world? Had I hearkened unto you atthe time of the creation of the world, when ye spake, What is man, that Thouart mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him? who would therehave been to make known the unity of My Name in this world?" The angels thenbroke into loud weeping, and they exclaimed: "The highways lie waste, thewayfaring man ceaseth, he hath broken the covenant. Where is the reward ofAbraham, he who took the wayfarers into his house, gave them food and drink,and went with them to bring them on the way? The covenant is broken, whereofThou didst speak to him, saying, 'For in Isaac shall thy seed be called,' andsaying, 'My covenant will I establish with Isaac,' for the slaughtering knifeis set upon his throat."

The tears of the angels fell upon the knife, so that it could not cut Isaac'sthroat, but from terror his soul escaped from him. Then God spoke to thearchangel Michael, and said: "Why standest thou here? Let him not beslaughtered." Without delay, Michael, anguish in his voice, cried out:"Abraham! Abraham! Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thingunto him!" Abraham made answer, and he said: "God did command me to slaughterIsaac, and thou dost command me not to slaughter him! The words of the Teacherand the words of the disciple—unto whose words doth one hearken?"[242] ThenAbraham heard it said: "By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, because thouhast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that inblessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as thestars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seedshall possess the gate of his enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations ofthe earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed My voice."

At once Abraham left off from Isaac, who returned to life, revived by theheavenly voice admonishing Abraham not to slaughter his son. Abraham loosed hisbonds, and Isaac stood upon his feet, and spoke the benediction, "Blessed artThou, O Lord, who quickenest the dead."[243]

Then spake Abraham to God, "Shall I go hence without having offered up asacrifice?" Whereunto God replied, and said, "Lift up thine eyes, and beholdthe sacrifice behind thee."[244] And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and, behold,behind him a ram caught in the thicket, which God had created in the twilightof Sabbath eve in the week of creation, and prepared since then as a burntoffering instead of Isaac. And the ram had been running toward Abraham, whenSatan caught hold of him and entangled his horns in the thicket, that he mightnot advance to Abraham. And Abraham, seeing this, fetched him from the thicket,and brought him upon the altar as an offering in the place of his son Isaac.And Abraham sprinkled the blood of the ram upon the altar, and he exclaimed,and said, "This is instead of my son, and may this be considered as the bloodof my son before the Lord." And whatsoever Abraham did by the altar, heexclaimed, and said, "This is instead of my son, and may it be consideredbefore the Lord in place of my son." And God accepted the sacrifice of the ram,and it was accounted as though it had been Isaac.[245]

As the creation of this ram had been extraordinary, so also was the use towhich all parts of his carcass were put. Not one thing went to waste. The ashesof the parts burnt upon the altar formed the foundation of the inner altar,whereon the expiatory sacrifice was brought once a year, on the Day ofAtonement, the day on which the offering of Isaac took place. Of the sinews ofthe ram, David made ten strings for his harp upon which he played. The skinserved Elijah for his girdle, and of his two horns, the one was blown at theend of the revelation on Mount Sinai, and the other will be used to proclaimthe end of the Exile, when the "great horn shall be blown, and they shall comewhich were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and they that were outcastsin the land of Egypt, and they shall worship the Lord in the holy mountain atJerusalem."[246]

When God commanded the father to desist from sacrificing Isaac, Abraham said:"One man tempts another, because he knoweth not what is in the heart of hisneighbor. But Thou surely didst know that I was ready to sacrifice my son!"

God: "It was manifest to Me, and I foreknew it, that thou wouldst withhold noteven thy soul from Me."

Abraham: "And why, then, didst Thou afflict me thus?"

God: "It was My wish that the world should become acquainted with thee, andshould know that it is not without good reason that I have chosen thee from allthe nations. Now it hath been witnessed unto men that thou fearest God."[247]

Hereupon God opened the heavens, and Abraham heard the words, "By Myself Iswear!"

Abraham: "Thou swearest, and also I swear, I will not leave this altar until Ihave said what I have to say."

God: "Speak whatsoever thou hast to speak!"

Abraham: "Didst Thou not promise me Thou wouldst let one come forth out of mineown bowels, whose seed should fill the whole world?"

God: "Yes."

Abraham: "Whom didst Thou mean?"

God: "Isaac."

Abraham: "Didst Thou not promise me to make my seed as numerous as the sand ofthe sea-shore?"

God: "Yes."

Abraham: "Through which one of my children?"

God: "Through Isaac."

Abraham: "I might have reproached Thee, and said, O Lord of the world,yesterday Thou didst tell me, In Isaac shall Thy seed be called, and now Thousayest, Take thy son, thine only son, even Isaac, and offer him for a burntoffering. But I refrained myself, and I said nothing. Thus mayest Thou, whenthe children of Isaac commit trespasses and because of them fall upon eviltimes, be mindful of the offering of their father Isaac, and forgive their sinsand deliver them from their suffering."

God: "Thou hast said what thou hadst to say, and I will now say what I have tosay. Thy children will sin before me in time to come, and I will sit injudgment upon them on the New Year's Day. If they desire that I should grantthem pardon, they shall blow the ram's horn on that day, and I, mindful of theram that was substituted for Isaac as a sacrifice, will forgive them for theirsins."[248]

Furthermore, the Lord revealed unto Abraham that the Temple, to be erected onthe spot of Isaac's offering, would be destroyed,[249] and as the ramsubstituted for Isaac extricated himself from one tree but to be caught inanother, so his children would pass from kingdom to kingdom—delivered fromBabylonia they would be subjugated by Media, rescued from Media they would beenslaved by Greece, escaped from Greece they would serve Rome—yet in the endthey would be redeemed in a final redemption, at the sound of the ram's horn,when "the Lord God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of thesouth."[250]

The place on which Abraham had erected the altar was the same whereon Adam hadbrought the first sacrifice, and Cain and Abel had offered their gifts toGod—the same whereon Noah raised an altar to God after he left the ark;[251]and Abraham, who knew that it was the place appointed for the Temple, called itYireh, for it would be the abiding place of the fear and the service ofGod.[252] But as Shem had given it the name Shalem, Place of Peace, and Godwould not give offence to either Abraham or Shem, He united the two names, andcalled the city by the name Jerusalem.[253]

After the sacrifice on Mount Moriah, Abraham returned to Beer-sheba, the sceneof so many of his joys.[254] Isaac was carried to Paradise by angels, and therehe sojourned for three years. Thus Abraham returned home alone, and when Sarahbeheld him, she exclaimed, "Satan spoke truth when he said that Isaac wassacrificed," and so grieved was her soul that it fled from her body.[255]

THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF SARAH

While Abraham was engaged in the sacrifice, Satan went to Sarah, and appearedto her in the figure of an old man, very humble and meek, and said to her:"Dost thou not know all that Abraham has done unto thine only son this day? Hetook Isaac, and built an altar, slaughtered him, and brought him up as asacrifice. Isaac cried and wept before his father, but he looked not at him,neither did he have compassion upon him." After saying these words to Sarah,Satan went away from her, and she thought him to be an old man from amongst thesons of men who had been with her son. Sarah lifted up her voice, and criedbitterly, saying: "O my son, Isaac, my son, O that I had this day died insteadof thee I It grieves me for thee! After that I have reared thee and havebrought thee up, my joy is turned into mourning over thee. In my longing for achild, I cried and prayed, till I bore thee at ninety. Now hast thou servedthis day for the knife and the fire. But I console myself, it being the word ofGod, and thou didst perform the command of thy God, for who can transgress theword of our God, in whose hands is the soul of every living creature? Thou artjust, O Lord our God, for all Thy works are good and righteous, for I alsorejoice with the word which Thou didst command, and while mine eye weepethbitterly, my heart rejoiceth." And Sarah laid her head upon the bosom of one ofher handmaids, and she became as still as a stone.

She rose up afterward and went about making inquiries concerning her son, tillshe came to Hebron, and no one could tell her what had happened to her son. Herservants went to seek him in the house of Shem and Eber, and they could notfind him, and they sought throughout the land, and he was not there. And,behold, Satan came to Sarah in the shape of an old man, and said unto her, "Ispoke falsely unto thee, for Abraham did not kill his son, and he is not dead,"and when she heard the word, her joy was so exceedingly violent that her soulwent out through joy.

When Abraham with Isaac returned to Beer-sheba, they sought for Sarah and couldnot find her, and when they made inquiries concerning her, they were told thatshe had gone as far as Hebron to seek them. Abraham and Isaac went to her toHebron, and when they found that she was dead, they cried bitterly over her,and Isaac said: "O my mother, my mother, how hast thou left me, and whitherhast thou gone? O whither hast thou gone, and how hast thou left me?" AndAbraham and all his servants wept and mourned over her a great and heavymourning, even that Abraham did not pray, but spent his time in mourning andweeping over Sarah.[257] And, indeed, he had great reason to mourn his loss,for even in her old age Sarah had retained the beauty of her youth and theinnocence of her childhood.[258]

The death of Sarah was a loss not only for Abraham and his family, but for thewhole country. So long as she was alive, all went well in the land. After herdeath confusion ensued. The weeping, lamenting, and wailing over her goinghence was universal, and Abraham, instead of receiving consolation, had tooffer consolation to others. He spoke to the mourning people, and said: "Mychildren, take not the going hence of Sarah too much to heart. There is oneevent unto all, to the pious and the impious alike. I pray you now, give me aburying-place with you, not as a gift, but for money."[259]

In these last few words Abraham's unassuming modesty was expressed. God hadpromised him the whole land, yet when he came to bury his dead, he had to payfor the grave, and it did not enter his heart to cast aspersions upon the waysof God. In all humility he spake to the people of Hebron, saying, "I am astranger and a sojourner with you." Therefore spake God to him, and said, "Thoudidst bear thyself modestly. As thou livest, I will appoint thee lord andprince over them."[260]

To the people themselves he appeared an angel, and they answered his words,saying: "Thou art a prince of God among us. In the choice of our sepulchresbury thy dead, among the rich if thou wilt, or among the poor if thouwilt."[261]

Abraham first of all gave thanks to God for the friendly feeling shown to himby the children of Heth, and then he continued his negotiations for the Cave ofMachpelah.[262] He had long known the peculiar value of this spot. Adam hadchosen it as a burial-place for himself. He had feared his body might be usedfor idolatrous purposes after his death; he therefore designated the Cave ofMachpelah as the place of his burial, and in the depths his corpse was laid, sothat none might find it.[263] When he interred Eve there, he wanted to digdeeper, because he scented the sweet fragrance of Paradise, near the entranceto which it lay, but a heavenly voice called to him, Enough! Adam himself wasburied there by Seth, and until the time of Abraham the place was guarded byangels, who kept a fire burning near it perpetually, so that none daredapproach it and bury his dead therein.[264] Now, it happened on the day whenAbraham received the angels in his house, and he wanted to slaughter an ox fortheir entertainment, that the ox ran away, and in his pursuit of him Abrahamentered the Cave of Machpelah. There he saw Adam and Eve stretched out uponcouches, candles burning at the head of their resting-places, while a sweetscent pervaded the cave.

Therefore Abraham wished to acquire the Cave of Machpelah from the children ofHeth, the inhabitants of the city of Jebus. They said to him. "We know that intime to come God will give these lands unto thy seed, and now do thou swear acovenant with us that Israel shall not wrest the city of Jebus from itsinhabitants without their consent." Abraham agreed to the condition, and heacquired the field from Ephron, in whose possession it lay.[265]

This happened the very day on which Ephron had been made the chief of thechildren of Heth, and he had been raised to the position so that Abraham mightnot have to have dealings with a man of low rank. It was of advantage toAbraham, too, for Ephron at first refused to sell his field, and only thethreat of the children of Heth to depose him from his office, unless hefulfilled the desire of Abraham, could induce him to change hisdisposition.[266]

Dissembling deceitfully, Ephron then offered to give Abraham the field withoutcompensation, but when Abraham insisted upon paying for it, Ephron said: "Mylord, hearken unto me. A piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver,what is that betwixt me and thee?" showing only too well that the money was ofthe greatest consequence to him. Abraham understood his words, and when he cameto pay for the field, he weighed out the sum agreed upon between them in thebest of current coin.[267] A deed, signed by four witnesses, was drawn up, andthe field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, the field, and the cave which wastherein, were made sure unto Abraham and his descendants for all times.

The burial of Sarah then took place, amid great magnificence and the sympathyof all. Shem and his son Eber, Abimelech king of the Philistines, Aner, Eshcol,and Mamre, as well as all the great of the land, followed her bier. A sevendays' mourning was kept for her, and all the inhabitants of the land came tocondole with Abraham and Isaac.[268]

When Abraham entered the cave to place the body of Sarah within, Adam and Everefused to remain there, "because," they said, "as it is, we are ashamed in thepresence of God on account of the sin we committed, and now we shall be evenmore ashamed on account of your good deeds." Abraham soothed Adam. He promisedto pray to God for him, that the need for shame be removed from him. Adamresumed his place, and Abraham entombed Sarah, and at the same time he carriedEve, resisting, back to her place.[269]

One year after the death of Sarah, Abimelech king of the Philistines died, too,at the age of one hundred and ninety-three years. His successor upon the thronewas his twelve-year old son Benmelek, who took the name of his father after hisaccession. Abraham did not fail to pay a visit of condolence at the court ofAbimelech.

Lot also died about this time, at the age of one hundred and forty-two. Hissons, Moab and Ammon, both married Canaanitish wives. Moab begot a son, andAmmon had six sons, and the descendants of both were numerous exceedingly.

Abraham suffered a severe loss at the same time in the death of his brotherNahor, whose days ended at Haran, when he had reached the age of one hundredand seventy two years.[270]

ELIEZER'S MISSION

The death of Sarah dealt Abraham a blow from which he did not recover. So longas she was alive, he felt himself young and vigorous, but after she had passedaway, old age suddenly overtook him.[271] It was he himself who made the pleathat age be betrayed by suitable signs and tokens. Before the time of Abrahaman old man was not distinguishable externally from a young man, and as Isaacwas the image of his father, it happened frequently that father and son weremistaken for each other, and a request meant for the one was preferred to theother. Abraham prayed therefore that old age might have marks to distinguish itfrom youth, and God granted his petition, and since the time of Abraham theappearance of men changes in old age. This is one of the seven great wondersthat have occurred in the course of history.[272]

The blessing of God did not forsake Abraham in old age, either. That it mightnot be said it had been granted to him only for the sake of Sarah, Godprospered him after her death, too. Hagar bore him a daughter, and Ishmaelrepented of his evil ways and subordinated himself to Isaac. And as Abrahamenjoyed undisturbed happiness in his family, so also outside, in the world. Thekings of the east and the west eagerly besieged the door of his house in orderto derive benefit from his wisdom. From his neck a precious stone wassuspended, which possessed the power of healing the sick who looked upon it. Onthe death of Abraham, God attached it to the wheel of the sun. The greatestblessing enjoyed by him, and by none beside except his son Isaac and Jacob theson of Isaac, was that the evil inclination had no power over him, so that inthis life he had a foretaste of the future world.[273]

But all these Divine blessings showered upon Abraham were not undeserved. Hewas clean of hand, and pure of heart, one that did not lift up his soul untovanity.[274]

He fulfilled all the commands that were revealed later, even the Rabbinicalinjunctions, as, for instance, the one relating to the limits of a Sabbathday's journey, wherefor his reward was that God disclosed to him the newteachings which He expounded daily in the heavenly academy.[275]

But one thing lacked to complete the happiness of Abraham, the marriage ofIsaac. He therefore called his old servant Eliezer unto himself. Eliezerresembled his master not only externally, in his appearance, but alsospiritually. Like Abraham he possessed full power over the evilinclination,[276] and like the master, the servant was an adept in thelaw.[277] Abraham spake the following words to Eliezer: "I am stricken in age,and I know not the day of my death. Therefore prepare thyself, and go unto mycountry, and to my kindred, and fetch hither a wife for my son."[278] Thus hespake by reason of the resolution he had taken immediately after the sacrificeof Isaac on Moriah, for he had there said within himself, that if the sacrificehad been executed, Isaac would have gone hence childless. He was even ready tochoose a wife for his son from among the daughters of his three friends, Aner,Eshcol, and Mamre, because he knew them to be pious, and he did not attach muchimportance to aristocratic stock. Then spake God to him, and said: "Concernthyself not about a wife for Isaac.[279] One has already been provided forhim," and it was made known to Abraham that Milcah, the wife of his brotherNahor, childless until the birth of Isaac, had then been remembered by God andmade fruitful. She bore Bethuel, and he in turn, at the time of Isaac'ssacrifice, begot the daughter destined to be the wife of Isaac.[280]

Mindful of the proverb, "Even if the wheat of thine own place be darnel, use itfor seed," Abraham determined to take a wife for Isaac from his own family. Heargued that as any wife he chose would have to become a proselyte, it would bebest to use his own stock, which had the first claim upon him.[281]

Eliezer now said to his master: "Peradventure no woman will be willing tofollow me unto this land. May I then marry my own daughter to Isaac?" "No,"replied Abraham, "thou art of the accursed race, and my son is of the blessedrace, and curse and blessing cannot be united.[282] But beware thou that thoubring not my son again unto the land from whence I came, for if thou broughtesthim thither again, it were as though thou tookest him to hell. God who sets theheavens in motion, He will set this matter right, too,[283] and He that took mefrom my father's house, and that spake unto me, and that swore unto me inHaran, and at the covenant of the pieces, that He would give this land unto myseed, He shall send His excellent angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wifefor my son from thence." Eliezer then swore to his master concerning thematter, and Abraham made him take the oath by the sign of the covenant.[284]

THE WOOING OF REBEKAH

Attended by ten men,[285] mounted upon ten camels laden with jewels andtrinkets, Eliezer betook himself to Haran under the convoy of two angels, theone appointed to keep guard over Eliezer, the other over Rebekah.[286]

The journey to Haran took but a few hours, at evening of the same day hereached there, because the earth hastened to meet him in a wonderful way.[287]He made a halt at the well of water, and he prayed to God to permit him todistinguish the wife appointed for Isaac among the damsels that came to drawwater, by this token, that she alone, and not the others, would give himdrink.[288] Strictly speaking, this wish of his was unseemly, for suppose abondwoman had given him water to drink![289] But God granted his request. Allthe damsels said they could not give him of their water, because they had totake it home. Then appeared Rebekah, coming to the well contrary to her wont,for she was the daughter of a king, Bethuel her father being king of Haran.When Eliezer addressed his request for water to drink to this young innocentchild, not only was she ready to do his bidding, but she rebuked the othermaidens on account of their discourtesy to a stranger.[290] Eliezer noticed,too, how the water rose up to her of its own accord from the bottom of thewell, so that she needed not to exert herself to draw it. Having scrutinizedher carefully, he felt certain that she was the wife chosen for Isaac. He gaveher a nose ring, wherein was set a precious stone, half a shekel in weight,foreshadowing the half-shekel which her descendants would once bring to thesanctuary year by year. He gave her also two bracelets for her hands, of tenshekels weight in gold, in token of the two tables of stone and the TenCommandments upon them.[291]

When Rebekah, bearing the jewels, came to her mother and to her brother Laban,this one hastened to Eliezer in order to slay him and take possession of hisgoods. Laban soon learnt that he would not be able to do much harm to a giantlike Eliezer. He met him at the moment when Eliezer seized two camels and borethem across the stream.[292] Besides, on account of Eliezer's close resemblanceto Abraham, Laban thought he saw Abraham before him, and he said: "Come in,thou blessed of the Lord! It is not becoming that thou shouldst stand without,I have cleansed my house of idols."[293]

But when Eliezer arrived at the house of Bethuel, they tried to kill him withcunning. They set poisoned food before him. Luckily, he refused to eat beforehe had discharged himself of his errand. While he was telling his story, it wasordained by God that the dish intended for him should come to stand in front ofBethuel, who ate of it and died.[294]

Eliezer showed the document he had in which Abraham deeded all his possessionsto Isaac, and he made it known to the kindred of Abraham, how deeply attachedto them his master was, in spite of the long years of separation.[295] Yet helet them know at the same time that Abraham was not dependent wholly upon them.He might seek a wife for his son among the daughters of Ishmael or Lot. Atfirst the kindred of Abraham consented to let Rebekah go with Eliezer, but asBethuel had died in the meantime, they did not want to give Rebekah in marriagewithout consulting her. Besides, they deemed it proper that she should remainat home at least during the week of mourning for her father.[296] But Eliezer,seeing the angel wait for him, would brook no delay, and he said, "The man whocame with me and prospered my way, waits for me without," and as Rebekahprofessed herself ready to go at once with Eliezer, her mother and brothergranted her wish and dismissed her with their blessings.[297] But theirblessings did not come from the bottom of their hearts. Indeed, as a rule, theblessing of the impious is a curse, wherefore Rebekah remained barren foryears.

Eliezer's return to Canaan was as wonderful as his going to Haran had been. Aseventeen days' journey he accomplished in three hours. He left Haran at noon,and he arrived at Hebron[299] at three o'clock in the afternoon, the time forthe Minhah Prayer, which had been introduced by Isaac. He was in the posture ofpraying when Rebekah first laid eyes upon him, wherefore she asked Eliezer whatman this was. She saw he was not an ordinary individual. She noticed theunusual beauty of Isaac, and also that an angel accompanied him. Thus herquestion was not dictated by mere curiosity.[300] At this moment she learntthrough the holy spirit, that she was destined to be the mother of the godlessEsau. Terror seized her at the knowledge, and, trembling, she fell from thecamel and inflicted an injury upon herself.[301]

After Isaac had heard the wonderful adventures of Eliezer, he took Rebekah tothe tent of his mother Sarah, and she showed herself worthy to be hersuccessor. The cloud appeared again that had been visible over the tent duringthe life of Sarah, and had vanished at her death; the light shone again in thetent of Rebekah that Sarah had kindled at the coming in of the Sabbath, andthat had burnt miraculously throughout the week; the blessing returned withRebekah that had hovered over the dough kneaded by Sarah; and the gates of thetent were opened for the needy, wide and spacious, as they had been during thelifetime of Sarah.[302]

For three years Isaac had mourned for his mother, and he could find noconsolation in the academy of Shem and Eber, his abiding-place during thatperiod. But Rebekah comforted him after his mother's death,[303] for she wasthe counterpart of Sarah in person and in spirit.[304]

As a reward for having executed to his full satisfaction the mission with whichhe had charged him, Abraham set his bondman free.[305] The curse resting uponEliezer, as upon all the descendants of Canaan, was transformed into ablessing, because he ministered unto Abraham loyally.[306] Greatest reward ofall, God found him worthy of entering Paradise alive, a distinction that fellto the lot of very few.[307]

THE LAST YEARS OF ABRAHAM

Rebekah first saw Isaac as he was coming from the way of Beer-lahai-roi, thedwelling-place of Hagar, whither he had gone after the death of his mother, forthe purpose of reuniting his father with Hagar,[308] or, as she is also called,Keturah.[309]

Hagar bore him six sons, who, however, did scant honor to their father, forthey all were idolaters.[310] Abraham, therefore, during his own lifetime, sentthem away from the presence of Isaac, that they might not be singed by Isaac'sflame, and gave them the instruction to journey eastward as far aspossible.[311] There he built a city for them, surrounded by an iron wall, sohigh that the sun could not shine into the city. But Abraham provided them withhuge gems and pearls, their lustre more brilliant than the light of the sun,which will be used in the Messianic time when "the moon shall be confounded andthe sun ashamed."[312] Also Abraham taught them the black art, wherewith theyheld sway over demons and spirits. It is from this city in the east that Laban,Balaam, and Balaam's father Beor derived their sorceries.[313]

Epher, one of the grandsons of Abraham and Keturah, invaded Lybia with an armedforce, and took possession of the country. From this Epher the whole land ofAfrica has its name.[314] Aram is also a country made habitable by a kinsman ofAbraham. In his old age Terah contracted a new marriage with Pelilah, and fromthis union sprang a son Zoba, who was the father in turn of three sons. Theoldest of these, Aram, was exceedingly rich and powerful, and the old home inHaran sufficed not for him and his kinsmen, the sons of Nahor, the brother ofAbraham. Aram and his brethren and all that belonged to him therefore departedfrom Haran, and they settled in a vale, and they built themselves a city therewhich they called Aram-Zoba, to perpetuate the name of the father and hisfirst-born son. Another Aram, Aram-naharaim, on the Euphrates, was built byAram son of Kemuel, a nephew of Abraham. Its real name was Petor, after the sonof Aram, but it is better known as Aram-naharaim. The descendants of Kesed,another nephew of Abraham, a son of his brother Nahor, established themselvesopposite to Shinar, where they founded the city of Kesed, the city whence theChaldees are called Kasdim.[315]

Though Abraham knew full well that Isaac deserved his paternal blessing beyondall his sons, yet he withheld it from him, that no hostile feelings be arousedamong his descendants. He spake, and said: "I am but flesh and blood, hereto-day, to-morrow in the grave. What I was able to do for my children I havedone. Henceforth let come what God desires to do in His world," and it happenedthat immediately after the death of Abraham God Himself appeared unto Isaac,and gave him His blessing.[316]

A HERALD OF DEATH

When the day of the death of Abraham drew near, the Lord said to Michael,"Arise and go to Abraham and say to him, Thou shalt depart from life!" so thathe might set his house in order before he died. And Michael went and came toAbraham and found him sitting before his oxen for ploughing. Abraham, seeingMichael, but not knowing who he was, saluted him and said to him, "Sit down alittle while, and I will order a beast to be brought, and we will go to myhouse, that thou mayest rest with me, for it is toward evening, and arise inthe morning and go whithersoever thou wilt." And Abraham called one of hisservants, and said to him: "Go and bring me a beast, that the stranger may situpon it, for he is wearied with his journey." But Michael said, "I abstain fromever sitting upon any fourfooted beast, let us walk therefore, till we reachthe house."

On their way to the house they passed a huge tree, and Abraham heard a voicefrom its branches, singing, "Holy art thou, because thou hast kept the purposefor which thou wast sent." Abraham hid the mystery in his heart, thinking thatthe stranger did not hear it. Arrived at his house, he ordered the servants toprepare a meal, and while they were busy with their work, he called his sonIsaac, and said to him, "Arise and put water in the vessel, that we may washthe feet of the stranger." And he brought it as he was commanded, and Abrahamsaid, "I perceive that in this basin I shall never again wash the feet of anyman coming to us as a guest." Hearing this, Isaac began to weep, and Abraham,seeing his son weep, also wept, and Michael, seeing them weep, wept also, andthe tears of Michael fell into the water, and became precious stones.

Before sitting down to the table, Michael arose, went out for a moment, as ifto ease nature, and ascended to heaven in the twinkling of an eye, and stoodbefore the Lord, and said to Him: "Lord and Master, let Thy power know that Iam unable to remind that righteous man of his death, for I have not seen uponthe earth a man like him, compassionate, hospitable, righteous, truthful,devout, refraining from every evil deed." Then the Lord said to Michael, "Godown to My friend Abraham, and whatever he may say to thee, that do thou also,and whatever he may eat, eat thou also with him, and I will cast the thought ofthe death of Abraham into the heart of Isaac, his son, in a dream, and Isaacwill relate the dream, and thou shalt interpret it, and he himself will knowhis end." And Michael said, "Lord, all the heavenly spirits are incorporeal,and neither eat nor drink, and this man has set before me a table with anabundance of all good things earthly and corruptible. Now, Lord, what shall Ido?" The Lord answered him, "Go down to him and take no thought for this, forwhen thou sittest down with him, I will send upon thee a devouring spirit, andit will consume out of thy hands and through thy mouth all that is on thetable."

Then Michael went into the house of Abraham, and they ate and drank and weremerry. And when the supper was ended, Abraham prayed after his custom, andMichael prayed with him, and each lay down to sleep upon his couch in one room,while Isaac went to his chamber, lest he be troublesome to the guest. About theseventh hour of the night, Isaac awoke and came to the door of his father'schamber, crying out and saying, "Open, father, that I may touch thee beforethey take thee away from me." And Abraham wept together with his son, and whenMichael saw them weep, he wept likewise. And Sarah, hearing the weeping, calledforth from her bedchamber, saying: "My lord Abraham, why this weeping? Has thestranger told thee of thy brother's son Lot, that he is dead? or has aughtbefallen us?" Michael answered, and said to her, "Nay, my sister Sarah, it isnot as thou sayest, but thy son Isaac, methinks, beheld a dream, and came to usweeping, and we, seeing him, were moved in our hearts and wept." Sarah, hearingMichael speak, knew straightway that it was an angel of the Lord, one of thethree angels whom they had entertained in their house once before, andtherefore she made a sign to Abraham to come out toward the door, to inform himof what she knew. Abraham said: "Thou hast perceived well, for I, too, when Iwashed his feet, knew in my heart that they were the feet that I had washed atthe oak of Mamre, and that went to save Lot." Abraham, returning to hischamber, made Isaac relate his dream, which Michael interpreted to them,saying: "Thy son Isaac has spoken truth, for thou shalt go and be taken up intothe heavens, but thy body shall remain on earth, until seven thousand ages arefulfilled, for then all flesh shall arise. Now, therefore, Abraham, set thyhouse in order, for thou wast heard what is decreed concerning thee." Abrahamanswered, "Now I know thou art an angel of the Lord, and wast sent to take mysoul, but I will not go with thee, but do thou whatever thou art commanded."Michael returned to heaven and told God of Abraham's refusal to obey hissummons, and he was again commanded to go down and admonish Abraham not torebel against God, who had bestowed many blessings upon him, and he remindedhim that no one who has come from Adam and Eve can escape death, and that Godin His great kindness toward him did not permit the sickle of death to meethim, but sent His chief captain, Michael, to him. "Wherefore, then," he ended,"hast thou said to the chief captain, I will not go with thee?" When Michaeldelivered these exhortations to Abraham, he saw that it was futile to opposethe will of God, and he consented to die, but wished to have one desire of hisfulfilled while still alive. He said to Michael: "I beseech thee, lord, if Imust depart from my body, I desire to be taken up in my body, that I may seethe creatures that the Lord has created in heaven and on earth." Michael wentup into heaven, and spake before the Lord concerning Abraham, and the Lordanswered Michael, "Go and take up Abraham in the body and show him all things,and whatever he shall say to thee, do to him as to My friend."

ABRAHAM VIEWS EARTH AND HEAVEN

The archangel Michael went down, and took Abraham upon a chariot of thecherubim, and lifted him up into the air of heaven, and led him upon the cloud,together with sixty angels, and Abraham ascended upon the chariot over all theearth, and saw all things that are below on the earth, both good and bad.Looking down upon the earth, he saw a man committing adultery with a weddedwoman, and turning to Michael he said, "Send fire from heaven to consume them."Straightway there came down fire and consumed them, for God had commandedMichael to do whatsoever Abraham should ask him to do. He looked again, and hesaw thieves digging through a house, and Abraham said, "Let wild beasts comeout of the desert, and tear them in pieces," and immediately wild beasts cameout of the desert and devoured them. Again he looked down, and he saw peoplepreparing to commit murder, and he said, "Let the earth open and swallow them,"and, as he spoke, the earth swallowed them alive. Then God spoke to Michael:"Turn away Abraham to his own house and let him not go round the whole earth,because he has no compassion on sinners, but I have compassion on sinners, thatthey may turn and live and repent of their sins, and be saved."

So Michael turned the chariot, and brought Abraham to the place of judgment ofall souls. Here he saw two gates, the one broad and the other narrow, thenarrow gate that of the just, which leads to life, they that enter through itgo into Paradise. The broad gate is that of sinners, which leads to destructionand eternal punishment. Then Abraham wept, saying, "Woe is me, what shall I do?for I am a man big of body, and how shall I be able to enter by the narrowgate?" Michael answered, and said to Abraham, "Fear not, nor grieve, for thoushalt enter by it unhindered, and all they who are like thee." Abraham,perceiving that a soul was adjudged to be set in the midst, asked Michael thereason for it, and Michael answered, "Because the judge found its sins and itsrighteousness equal, he neither committed it to judgment nor to be saved."Abraham said to Michael, "Let us pray for this soul, and see whether God willhear us," and when they rose up from their prayer, Michael informed Abrahamthat the soul was saved by the prayer, and was taken by an angel and carried upto Paradise. Abraham said to Michael, "Let us yet call upon the Lord andsupplicate His compassion and entreat His mercy for the souls of the sinnerswhom I formerly, in my anger, cursed and destroyed, whom the earth devoured,and the wild beasts tore in pieces, and the fire consumed, through my words.Now I know that I have sinned before the Lord our God."

After the joint prayer of the archangel and Abraham, there came a voice fromheaven, saying, "Abraham, Abraham, I have hearkened to thy voice and thyprayer, and I forgive thee thy sin, and those whom thou thinkest that Idestroyed, I have called up and brought them into life by My exceedingkindness, because for a season I have requited them in judgment, and those whomI destroy living upon earth, I will not requite in death."

When Michael brought Abraham back to his house, they found Sarah dead. Notseeing what had become of Abraham, she was consumed with grief and gave up hersoul. Though Michael had fulfilled Abraham's wish, and had shown him all theearth and the judgment and recompense, he still refused to surrender his soulto Michael, and the archangel again ascended to heaven, and said unto the Lord:"Thus speaks Abraham, I will not go with thee, and I refrain from laying myhands on him, because from the beginning he was Thy friend, and he has done allthings pleasing in Thy sight. There is no man like him on earth, not even Job,the wondrous man." But when the day of the death of Abraham drew nigh, Godcommanded Michael to adorn Death with great beauty and send him thus toAbraham, that he might see him with his eyes.

While sitting under the oak of Mamre, Abraham perceived a flashing of light anda smell of sweet odor, and turning around he saw Death coming toward him ingreat glory and beauty. And Death said unto Abraham: "Think not, Abraham, thatthis beauty is mine, or that I come thus to every man. Nay, but if any one isrighteous like thee, I thus take a crown and come to him, but if he is asinner, I come in great corruption, and out of their sins I make a crown for myhead, and I shake them with great fear, so that they are dismayed." Abrahamsaid to him, "And art thou, indeed, he that is called Death?" He answered, andsaid, "I am the bitter name," but Abraham answered, "I will not go with thee."And Abraham said to Death, "Show us thy corruption." And Death revealed hiscorruption, showing two heads, the one had the face of a serpent, the otherhead was like a sword. All the servants of Abraham, looking at the fierce mienof Death, died, but Abraham prayed to the Lord, and he raised them up. As thelooks of Death were not able to cause Abraham's soul to depart from him, Godremoved the soul of Abraham as in a dream, and the archangel Michael took it upinto heaven. After great praise and glory had been given to the Lord by theangels who brought Abraham's soul, and after Abraham bowed down to worship,then came the voice of God, saying thus: "Take My friend Abraham into Paradise,where are the tabernacles of My righteous ones and the abodes of My saintsIsaac and Jacob in his bosom, where there is no trouble, nor grief, norsighing, but peace and rejoicing and life unending."[317]

Abraham's activity did not cease with his death, and as he interceded in thisworld for the sinners, so will he intercede for them in the world to come. Onthe day of judgment he will sit at the gate of hell, and he will not sufferthose who kept the law of circumcision to enter therein.[318]

THE PATRON OF HEBRON

Once upon a time some Jews lived in Hebron, few in number, but pious and good,and particularly hospitable. When strangers came to the Cave of Machpelah topray there, the inhabitants of the place fairly quarrelled with each other forthe privilege of entertaining the guests, and the one who carried off thevictory rejoiced as though he had found great spoil.

On the eve of the Day of Atonement, it appeared that, in spite of all theirefforts, the dwellers at Hebron could not secure the tenth man needed forpublic Divine service, and they feared they would have none on the holy day.Toward evening, when the sun was about to sink, they descried an old man withsilver white beard, bearing a sack upon his shoulder, his raiment tattered, andhis feet badly swollen from much walking. They ran to meet him, took him to oneof the houses, gave him food and drink, and, after supplying him with new whitegarments, they all together went to the synagogue for worship. Asked what hisname was, the stranger replied, Abraham.

At the end of the fast, the residents of Hebron cast lots for the privilege ofentertaining the guest. Fortune favored the beadle, who, the envy of the rest,bore his guest away to his house. On the way, he suddenly disappeared, and thebeadle could not find him anywhere. In vain all the Jews of the place went on aquest for him. Their sleepless night, spent in searching, had no result. Thestranger could not be found. But no sooner had the beadle lain down, towardmorning, weary and anxious, to snatch some sleep, than he saw the lost guestbefore him, his face luminous as lightning, and his garments magnificent andstudded with gems radiant as the sun. Before the beadle, stunned by fright,could open his mouth, the stranger spake, and said: "I am Abraham the Hebrew,your ancestor, who rests here in the Cave of Machpelah. When I saw how grievedyou were at not having the number of men prescribed for a public service, Icame forth to you. Have no fear! Rejoice and be merry of heart!"[319]

On another occasion Abraham granted his assistance to the people of Hebron. Thelord of the city was a heartless man, who oppressed the Jews sorely. One day hecommanded them to pay a large sum of money into his coffers, the whole sum inuniform coins, all stamped with the same year. It was but a pretext to kill theJews. He knew that his demand was impossible of fulfilment.

The Jews proclaimed a fast and day of public prayer, on which to supplicate Godthat He turn aside the sword suspended above them. The night following, thebeadle in a dream saw an awe-inspiring old man, who addressed him in thefollowing words: "Up, quickly! Hasten to the gate of the court, where lies themoney you need. I am your father Abraham. I have beheld the afflictionwherewith the Gentiles oppress you, but God has heard your groans." In greatterror the beadle arose, but he saw no one, yet he went to the spot designatedby the vision, and he found the money and took it to the congregation, tellinghis dream at the same time. Amazed, they counted the gold, precisely the amountrequired of them by the prince, no more and no less. They surrendered the sumto him, and he who had considered compliance with his demand impossible,recognized now that God is with the Jews, and thenceforth they found favor inhis eyes.[320]

VI
JACOB

THE BIRTH OF ESAU AND JACOB

Isaac was the counterpart of his father in body and soul. He resembled him inevery particular—"in beauty, wisdom, strength, wealth, and noble deeds."[1] Itwas, therefore, as great an honor for Isaac to be called the son of his fatheras for Abraham to be called the father of his son, and though Abraham was theprogenitor of thirty nations, he is always designated as the father ofIsaac.[2]

Despite his many excellent qualities, Isaac married late in life. God permittedhim to meet the wife suitable to him only after he had successfully disprovedthe mocking charges of Ishmael, who was in the habit of taunting him withhaving been circumcised at the early age of eight days, while Ishmael hadsubmitted himself voluntarily to the operation when he was thirteen years old.For this reason God demanded Isaac as a sacrifice when he had attained to fullmanhood, at the age of thirty-seven, and Isaac was ready to give up his life.Ishmael's jibes were thus robbed of their sting, and Isaac was permitted tomarry. But another delay occurred before his marriage could take place.Directly after the sacrifice on Mount Moriah, his mother died, and he mournedher for three years.[3] Finally he married Rebekah, who was then a maiden offourteen.[4]

Rebekah was "a rose between thorns." Her father was the Aramean Bethuel, andher brother was Laban, but she did not walk in their ways.[5] Her piety wasequal to Isaac's.[6] Nevertheless their marriage was not entirely happy, forthey lived together no less than twenty years without begetting children.[7]Rebekah besought her husband to entreat God for the gift of children, as hisfather Abraham had done. At first Isaac would not do her bidding. God hadpromised Abraham a numerous progeny, and he thought their childlessness wasprobably Rebekah's fault, and it was her duty to supplicate God, and not his.But Rebekah would not desist, and husband and wife repaired to Mount Moriahtogether to pray to God there. And Isaac said: "O Lord God of heaven and earth,whose goodness and mercies fill the earth, Thou who didst take my father fromhis father's house and from his birthplace, and didst bring him unto this land,and didst say unto him, To thee and thy seed will I give the land, and didstpromise him and declare unto him, I will multiply thy seed as the stars ofheaven and as the sand of the sea, now may Thy words be verified which Thoudidst speak unto my father. For Thou art the Lord our God, our eyes are towardThee, to give us seed of men as Thou didst promise us, for Thou art the Lordour God, and our eyes are upon Thee."[8] Isaac prayed furthermore that allchildren destined for him might be born unto him from this pious wife of his,and Rebekah made the same petition regarding her husband Isaac and the childrendestined for her.

Their united prayer was heard.[9] Yet it was chiefly for the sake of Isaac thatGod gave them children. It is true, Rebekah's piety equalled her husband's, butthe prayer of a pious man who is the son of a pious man is far more efficaciousthan the prayer of one who, though pious himself, is descended from a godlessfather.

The prayer wrought a great miracle, for Isaac's physique was such that he couldnot have been expected to beget children, and equally it was not in the courseof nature that Rebekah should bear children.[10]

When Rebekah had been pregnant seven months,[11] she began to wish that thecurse of childlessness had not been removed from her.[12] She sufferedtorturous pain, because her twin sons began their lifelong quarrels in herwomb. They strove to kill each other. If Rebekah walked in the vicinity of atemple erected to idols, Esau moved in her body, and if she passed a synagogueor a Bet ha-Midrash, Jacob essayed to break forth from her womb.[13] Thequarrels of the children turned upon such differences as these. Esau wouldinsist that there was no life except the earthly life of material pleasures,and Jacob would reply: "My brother, there are two worlds before us, this worldand the world to come. In this world, men eat and drink, and traffic and marry,and bring up sons and daughters, but all this does not take place in the worldto come. If it please thee, do thou take this world, and I will take theother."[14] Esau had Samael as his ally, who desired to slay Jacob in hismother's womb. But the archangel Michael hastened to Jacob's aid. He tried toburn Samael, and the Lord saw it was necessary to constitute a heavenly courtfor the purpose of arbitrating the case of Michael and Samael.[15] Even thequarrel between the two brothers regarding the birthright had its beginningbefore they emerged from the womb of their mother. Each desired to be the firstto come into the world. It was only when Esau threatened to carry his point atthe expense of his mother's life that Jacob gave way.[16]

Rebekah asked other women whether they, too, had suffered such pain duringtheir pregnancy, and when they told her they had not heard of a case like hers,except the pregnancy of Nimrod's mother, she betook herself to Mount Moriah,whereon Shem and Eber had their Bet ha-Midrash. She requested them as well asAbraham to inquire of God what the cause of her dire suffering was.[17] AndShem replied: "My daughter, I confide a secret to thee. See to it that nonefinds it out. Two nations are in thy womb, and how should thy body containthem, seeing that the whole world will not be large enough for them to exist init together peaceably? Two nations they are, each owning a world of its own,the one the Torah, the other sin. From the one will spring Solomon, the builderof the Temple, from the other Vespasian, the destroyer thereof. These two arewhat are needed to raise the number of nations to seventy. They will never bein the same estate. Esau will vaunt lords, while Jacob will bring forthprophets, and if Esau has princes, Jacob will have kings.[18] They, Israel andRome, are the two nations destined to be hated by all the world.[19] One willexceed the other in strength. First Esau will subjugate the whole world, but inthe end Jacob will rule over all.[20] The older of the two will serve theyounger, provided this one is pure of heart, otherwise the younger will beenslaved by the older."[21]

The circumstances connected with the birth of her twin sons were as remarkableas those during the period of Rebekah's pregnancy. Esau was the first to seethe light, and with him all impurity came from the womb;[22] Jacob was bornclean and sweet of body. Esau was brought forth with hair, beard, and teeth,both front and back,[23] and he was blood-red, a sign of his future sanguinarynature.[24] On account of his ruddy appearance he remained uncircumcised.Isaac, his father, feared that it was due to poor circulation of the blood, andhe hesitated to perform the circumcision. He decided to wait until Esau shouldattain his thirteenth year, the age at which Ishmael had received the sign ofthe covenant. But when Esau grew up, he refused to give heed to his father'swish, and so he was left uncircumcised.[25] The opposite of his brother in thisas in all respects, Jacob was born with the sign of the covenant upon his body,a rare distinction.[26] But Esau also bore a mark upon him at birth, the figureof a serpent, the symbol of all that is wicked and hated of God.[27]

The names conferred upon the brothers are pregnant with meaning. The older wascalled Esau, because he was 'Asui, fully developed when he was born, and thename of the younger was given to him by God, to point to some important eventsin the future of Israel by the numerical value of each letter. The first letterin Ya'akob, Yod, with the value of ten, stands for the decalogue; the second,'Ayin, equal to seventy, for the seventy elders, the leaders of Israel; thethird, Kof, a hundred, for the Temple, a hundred ells in height; and the last,Bet, for the two tables of stone.[28]

THE FAVORITE OF ABRAHAM

While Esau and Jacob were little, their characters could not be judgedproperly. They were like the myrtle and the thorn-bush, which look alike in theearly stages of their growth. After they have attained full size, the myrtle isknown by its fragrance, and the thorn-bush by its thorns.

In their childhood, both brothers went to school, but when they reached theirthirteenth year, and were of age, their ways parted. Jacob continued hisstudies in the Bet ha Midrash of Shem and Eber, and Esau abandoned himself toidolatry and an immoral life.[29] Both were hunters of men, Esau tried tocapture them in order to turn them away from God, and Jacob, to turn themtoward God.[30] In spite of his impious deeds, Esau possessed the art ofwinning his father's love. His hypocritical conduct made Isaac believe that hisfirst-born son was extremely pious. "Father," he would ask Isaac, "what is thetithe on straw and salt?" The question made him appear God-fearing in the eyesof his father, because these two products are the very ones that are exemptfrom tithing.[31] Isaac failed to notice, too, that his older son gave himforbidden food to eat. What he took for the flesh of young goats was dog'smeat.[32]

Rebekah was more clear-sighted. She knew her sons as they really were, andtherefore her love for Jacob was exceeding great. The oftener she heard hisvoice, the deeper grew her affection for him.[33] Abraham agreed with her. Healso loved his grandson Jacob, for he knew that in him his name and his seedwould be called. And he said unto Rebekah, "My daughter, watch over my sonJacob, for he shall be in my stead on the earth and for a blessing in the midstof the children of men, and for the glory of the whole seed of Shem." Havingadmonished Rebekah thus to keep guard over Jacob, who was destined to be thebearer of the blessing given to Abraham by God, he called for his grandson, andin the presence of Rebekah he blessed him, and said: "Jacob, my beloved son,whom my soul loveth, may God bless thee from above the firmament, and may Hegive thee all the blessing wherewith He blessed Adam, and Enoch, and Noah, andShem, and all the things of which He told me, and all the things which Hepromised to give me may He cause to cleave to thee and to thy seed forever,according to the days of the heavens above the earth. And the spirit of Mastemashall not rule over thee or over thy seed, to turn thee from the Lord, who isthy God from henceforth and forever. And may the Lord God be a father to thee,and mayest thou be His first-born son, and may He be a father to thy peoplealways. Go in peace, my son."[34]

And Abraham had good reason to be particularly fond of Jacob, for it was due tothe merits of his grandson that he had been rescued from the fiery furnace.[35]

Isaac and Rebekah, knowing of Abraham's love for their young son, sent theirfather a meal by Jacob on the last Feast of Pentecost which Abraham waspermitted to celebrate on earth, that he might eat and bless the Creator of allthings before he died. Abraham knew that his end was approaching, and hethanked the Lord for all the good He had granted him during the days of hislife, and blessed Jacob and bade him walk in the ways of the Lord, andespecially he was not to marry a daughter of the Canaanites. Then Abrahamprepared for death. He placed two of Jacob's fingers upon his eyes, and thusholding them closed he fell into his eternal sleep, while Jacob lay beside himon the bed. The lad did not know of his grandfather's death, until he calledhim, on awakening next morning, "Father, father," and received no answer.[36]

THE SALE OF THE BIRTHRIGHT

Though Abraham reached a good old age, beyond the limit of years vouchsafedlater generations, he yet died five years before his allotted time. Theintention was to let him live to be one hundred and eighty years old, the sameage as Isaac's at his death, but on account of Esau God brought his life to anabrupt close. For some time Esau had been pursuing his evil inclinations insecret. Finally he dropped his mask, and on the day of Abraham's death he wasguilty of five crimes: he ravished a betrothed maiden, committed murder,doubted the resurrection of the dead, scorned the birthright, and denied God.Then the Lord said: "I promised Abraham that he should go to his fathers inpeace. Can I now permit him to be a witness of his grandson's rebellion againstGod, his violation of the laws of chastity, and his shedding of blood? It isbetter for him to die now in peace."[37]

The men slain by Esau on this day were Nimrod and two of his adjutants. Along-standing feud had existed between Esau and Nimrod, because the mightyhunter before the Lord was jealous of Esau, who also devoted himselfassiduously to the chase. Once when he was hunting it happened that Nimrod wasseparated from his people, only two men were with him. Esau, who lay in ambush,noticed his isolation, and waited until he should pass his covert. Then hethrew himself upon Nimrod suddenly, and felled him and his two companions, whohastened to his succor. The outcries of the latter brought the attendants ofNimrod to the spot where he lay dead, but not before Esau had stripped him ofhis garments, and fled to the city with them.[38]

These garments of Nimrod had an extraordinary effect upon cattle, beasts, andbirds. Of their own accord they would come and prostrate themselves before himwho was arrayed in them. Thus Nimrod and Esau after him were able to rule overmen and beasts.[39]

After slaying Nimrod, Esau hastened cityward in great fear of his victim'sfollowers. Tired and exhausted he arrived at home to find Jacob busy preparinga dish of lentils. Numerous male and female slaves were in Isaac's household.Nevertheless Jacob was so simple and modest in his demeanor that, if he camehome late from the Bet ha-Midrash, he would disturb none to prepare his meal,but would do it himself.[40] On this occasion he was cooking lentils for hisfather, to serve to him as his mourner's meal after the death of Abraham. Adamand Eve had eaten lentils after the murder of Abel, and so had the parents ofHaran, when he perished in the fiery furnace. The reason they are used for themourner's meal is that the round lentil symbolizes death: as the lentil rolls,so death, sorrow, and mourning constantly roll about among men, from one to theother.[41]

Esau accosted Jacob thus, "Why art thou preparing lentils?"

Jacob: "Because our grandfather passed away; they shall be a sign of my griefand mourning, that he may love me in the days to come."

Esau: "Thou fool! Dost thou really think it possible that man should come tolife again after he has been dead and has mouldered in the grave?"[42] Hecontinued to taunt Jacob. "Why dost thou give thyself so much trouble?" hesaid. "Lift up thine eyes, and thou wilt see that all men eat whatever comes tohand—fish, creeping and crawling creatures, swine's flesh, and all sorts ofthings like these, and thou vexest thyself about a dish of lentils."

Jacob: "If we act like other men, what shall we do on the day of the Lord, theday on which the pious will receive their reward, when a herald will proclaim:Where is He that weigheth the deeds of men, where is He that counteth?"

Esau: "Is there a future world? Or will the dead be called back to life? If itwere so, why hath not Adam returned? Hast thou heard that Noah, through whomthe world was raised anew, hath reappeared? Yea, Abraham, the friend of God,more beloved of Him than any man, hath he come to life again?"

Jacob: "If thou art of opinion that there is no future world, and that the deaddo not rise to new life, then why dost thou want thy birthright? Sell it to me,now, while it is yet possible to do so. Once the Torah is revealed, it cannotbe done. Verily, there is a future world, in which the righteous receive theirreward. I tell thee this, lest thou say later I deceived thee."[43]

Jacob was little concerned about the double share of the inheritance that wentwith the birthright. What he thought of was the priestly service, which was theprerogative of the first-born in ancient times, and Jacob was loth to have hisimpious brother Esau play the priest, he who despised all Divine service.[44]

The scorn manifested by Esau for the resurrection of the dead he felt also forthe promise of God to give the Holy Land to the seed of Abraham. He did notbelieve in it, and therefore he was willing to cede his birthright and theblessing attached thereto in exchange for a mess of pottage.[45] In addition,Jacob paid him in coin,[46] and, besides, he gave him what was more than money,the wonderful sword of Methuselah, which Isaac had inherited from Abraham andbestowed upon Jacob.[47]

Esau made game of Jacob. He invited his associates to feast at his brother'stable, saying, "Know ye what I did to this Jacob? I ate his lentils, drank hiswine, amused myself at his expense, and sold my birthright to him." All thatJacob replied was, "Eat and may it do thee good!" But the Lord said, "Thoudespisest the birthright, therefore I shall make thee despised in allgenerations." And by way of punishment for denying God and the resurrection ofthe dead, the descendants of Esau were cut off from the world.[48]

As naught was holy to Esau, Jacob made him swear, concerning the birthright, bythe life of their father, for he knew Esau's love for Isaac, that it wasstrong.[49] Nor did he fail to have a document made out, duly signed bywitnesses, setting forth that Esau had sold him the birthright together withhis claim upon a place in the Cave of Machpelah.[50]

Though no blame can attach to Jacob for all this, yet he secured the birthrightfrom him by cunning, and therefore the descendants of Jacob had to serve thedescendants of Esau.[51]

ISAAC WITH THE PHILISTINES

The life of Isaac was a faithful reflex of the life of his father. Abraham hadto leave his birthplace; so also Isaac. Abraham was exposed to the risk oflosing his wife; so also Isaac. The Philistines were envious of Abraham; soalso of Isaac. Abraham long remained childless; so also Isaac. Abraham begotone pious son and one wicked son; so also Isaac. And, finally, as in the timeof Abraham, so also in the time of Isaac, a famine came upon the land.[52]

At first Isaac intended to follow the example of his father and remove toEgypt, but God appeared unto him, and spake: "Thou art a perfect sacrifice,without a blemish, and as a burnt offering is made unfit if it is taken outsideof the sanctuary, so thou wouldst be profaned if thou shouldst happen outsideof the Holy Land. Remain in the land, and endeavor to cultivate it. In thisland dwells the Shekinah, and in days to come I will give unto thy children therealms possessed by mighty rulers, first a part thereof, and the whole in theMessianic time."[53]

Isaac obeyed the command of God, and he settled in Gerar. When he noticed thatthe inhabitants of the place began to have designs upon his wife, he followedthe example of Abraham, and pretended she was his sister.[54] The report ofRebekah's beauty reached the king himself, but he was mindful of the greatdanger to which he had once exposed himself on a similar occasion, and he leftIsaac and his wife unmolested.[55] After they had been in Gerar for threemonths, Abimelech noticed that the manner of Isaac, who lived in the outercourt of the royal palace, was that of a husband toward Rebekah.[56] He calledhim to account, saying, "It might have happened to the king himself to take thewoman thou didst call thy sister."[57] Indeed, Isaac lay under the suspicion ofhaving illicit intercourse with Rebekah, for at first the people of the placewould not believe that she was his wife. When Isaac persisted in hisstatement,[58] Abimelech sent his grandees for them, ordered them to be arrayedin royal vestments, and had it proclaimed before them, as they rode through thecity: "These two are man and wife. He that toucheth this man or his wife shallsurely be put to death."

Thereafter the king invited Isaac to settle in his domains, and he assignedfields and vineyards to him for cultivation, the best the land afforded.[59]But Isaac was not self-interested. The tithe of all he possessed he gave to thepoor of Gerar. Thus he was the first to introduce the law of tithing for thepoor, as his father Abraham had been the first to separate the priests' portionfrom his fortune.[60] Isaac was rewarded by abundant harvests; the land yieldeda hundred times more than was expected, though the soil was barren and the yearunfruitful. He grew so rich that people wished to have "the dung from Isaac'sshe-mules rather than Abimelech's gold and silver."[61] But his wealth calledforth the envy of the Philistines, for it is characteristic of the wicked thatthey begrudge their fellow-men the good, and rejoice when they see evil descendupon them, and envy brings hatred in its wake, and so the Philistines firstenvied Isaac, and then hated him. In their enmity toward him, they stopped thewells which Abraham had had his servants dig. Thus they broke their covenantwith Abraham and were faithless, and they have only themselves to blame if theywere exterminated later on by the Israelites.

Isaac departed from Gerar, and began to dig again the wells of water which theyhad digged in the days of Abraham his father, and which the Philistines hadstopped. His reverence for his father was so great that he even restored thenames by which Abraham had called the wells. To reward him for his filialrespect, the Lord left the name of Isaac unchanged, while his father and hisson had to submit to new names.[62]

After four attempts to secure water, Isaac was successful; he found the well ofwater that followed the Patriarchs. Abraham had obtained it after threediggings. Hence the name of the well, Beer-sheba, "the well of seven diggings,"the same well that will supply water to Jerusalem and its environs in theMessianic time.[63]

Isaac's success with his wells but served to increase the envy of thePhilistines, for he had come upon water in a most unlikely spot and, besides,in a year of drouth. But "the Lord fulfils the desire of them that fear Him."As Isaac executed the will of his Creator, so God accomplished his desire.[64]And Abimelech, the king of Gerar, speedily came to see that God was on the sideof Isaac, for, to chastise him for having instigated Isaac's removal fromGerar, his house was ravaged by robbers in the night, and he himself wasstricken with leprosy.[65] The wells of the Philistines ran dry as soon asIsaac left Gerar, and also the trees failed to yield their fruit. None could bein doubt but that these things were the castigation for their unkindness.

Now Abimelech entreated his friends, especially the administrator of hiskingdom, to accompany him to Isaac and help him win back his friendship.[66]Abimelech and the Philistines spake thus to Isaac: "We have convinced ourselvesthat the Shekinah is with thee, and therefore we desire thee to renew thecovenant which thy father made with us, that thou wilt do us no hurt, as wealso did not touch thee." Isaac consented. It illustrates the character of thePhilistines strikingly that they took credit unto themselves for having donehim no hurt. It shows that they would have been glad to inflict harm upon him,for "the soul of the wicked desireth evil."

The place in which the covenant was made between Isaac and the Philistines wascalled Shib'ah, for two reasons, because an oath was "sworn" there, and as amemorial of the fact that even the heathen are bound to observe the "seven"Noachian laws.[67]

For all the wonders executed by God for Isaac, and all the good he enjoyedthroughout his life, he is indebted to the merits of his father. For his ownmerits he will be rewarded in future.[68] On the great day of judgment it willbe Isaac who will redeem his descendants from Gehenna. On that day the Lordwill speak to Abraham, "Thy children have sinned," and Abraham will make reply,"Then let them be wiped out, that Thy Name be sanctified." The Lord will turnto Jacob, thinking that he who had suffered so much in bringing his sons tomanhood's estate would display more love for his posterity. But Jacob will givethe same answer as Abraham. Then God will say: "The old have no understanding,and the young no counsel. I will now go to Isaac. Isaac," God will address him,"thy children have sinned," and Isaac will reply: "O Lord of the world, sayestThou my children, and not THINE? When they stood at Mount Sinai and declaredthemselves ready to execute all Thy bidding before even they heard it, Thoudidst call Israel 'My first-born,' and now they are MY children, and not THINE!Let us consider. The years of a man are seventy. From these twenty are to bededucted, for Thou inflictest no punishment upon those under twenty. Of thefifty years that are left, one-half are to be deducted for the nights passed insleep. There remain only twenty-five years, and these are to be diminished bytwelve and a half, the time spent in praying, eating, and attending to otherneeds in life, during which men commit no sins. That leaves only twelve yearsand a half. If Thou wilt take these upon Thyself, well and good. If not, doThou take one-half thereof, and I will take the other half." The descendants ofIsaac will then say, "Verily, thou art our true father!" But he will point toGod, and admonish them, "Nay, give not your praises to me, but to God alone,"and Israel, with eyes directed heavenward, will say, "Thou, O Lord, art ourFather; our Redeemer from everlasting is Thy name."[69]

It was Isaac, or, as he is sometimes called, Elihu the son of Barachel, whorevealed the wonderful mysteries of nature in his arguments with Job.[70]

At the end of the years of famine, God appeared unto Isaac, and bade him returnto Canaan. Isaac did as he was commanded, and he settled in Hebron. At thistime he sent his younger son Jacob to the Bet ha-Midrash of Shem and Eber, tostudy the law of the Lord. Jacob remained there thirty-two years. As for Esau,he refused to learn, and he remained in the house of his father. The chase washis only occupation, and as he pursued beasts, so he pursued men, seeking tocapture them with cunning and deceit.

On one of his hunting expeditions, Esau came to Mount Seir, where he becameacquainted with Judith, of the family of Ham, and he took her unto himself ashis wife, and brought her to his father at Hebron.

Ten years later, when Shem his teacher died, Jacob returned home, at the age offifty. Another six years passed, and Rebekah received the joyful news that hersister-in-law 'Adinah, the wife of Laban, who, like all the women of his house,had been childless until then, had given birth to twin daughters, Leah andRachel.[71] Rebekah, weary of her life on account of the woman chosen by herolder son, exhorted Jacob not to marry one of the daughters of Canaan, but amaiden of the family of Abraham. He assured his mother that the words ofAbraham, bidding him to marry no woman of the Canaanites, were graven upon hismemory, and for this reason he was still unmarried, though he had attained theage of sixty-two, and Esau had been urging him for twenty-two years past tofollow his example and wed a daughter of the people of the land in which theylived. He had heard that his uncle Laban had daughters, and he was resolved tochoose one of them as his wife. Deeply moved by the words of her son, Rebekahthanked him and gave praise unto God with the words: "Blessed be the Lord God,and may His Holy Name be blessed for ever and ever, who hath given me Jacob asa pure son and a holy seed; for he is Thine, and Thine shall his seed becontinually and throughout all the generations for evermore. Bless him, O Lord,and place in my mouth the blessing of righteousness, that I may bless him."

And when the spirit of the Lord came over her, she laid her hands upon the headof Jacob and gave him her maternal blessing. It ended with the words, "May theLord of the world love thee, as the heart of thy affectionate mother rejoicesin thee, and may He bless thee."[72]

ISAAC BLESSES JACOB

Esau's marriage with the daughters of the Canaanites was an abomination notonly in the eyes of his mother, but also in the eyes of his father. He sufferedeven more than Rebekah through the idolatrous practices of his daughtersin-law. It is the nature of man to oppose less resistance than woman todisagreeable circumstances. A bone is not harmed by a collision that wouldshiver an earthen pot in pieces. Man, who is created out of the dust of theground, has not the endurance of woman formed out of bone. Isaac was madeprematurely old by the conduct of his daughters-in-law, and he lost the sightof his eyes. Rebekah had been accustomed in the home of her childhood to theincense burnt before idols, and she could therefore bear it under her ownroof-tree. Unlike her, Isaac had never had any such experience while he abodewith his parents, and he was stung by the smoke arising from the sacrificesoffered to their idols by his daughters-in-law in his own house.[73] Isaac'seyes had suffered earlier in life, too. When he lay bound upon the altar, aboutto be sacrificed by his father, the angels wept, and their tears fell upon hiseyes, and there they remained and weakened his sight.

At the same time he had brought the scourge of blindness down upon himself byhis love for Esau. He justified the wicked for a bribe, the bribe of Esau'sfilial love, and loss of vision is the punishment that follows the taking ofbribes. "A gift," it is said, "blinds the eyes of the wise."

Nevertheless his blindness proved a benefit for Isaac as well as Jacob. Inconsequence of his physical ailments, Isaac had to keep at home, and so he wasspared the pain of being pointed out by the people as the father of the wickedEsau.[74] And, again, if his power of vision had been unimpaired, he would nothave blessed Jacob. As it was, God treated him as a physician treats a sick manwho is forbidden to drink wine, for which, however, he has a strong desire. Toplacate him, the physician orders that warm water be given him in the dark, andhe be told that it is wine.[75]

When Isaac reached the age of one hundred and twenty three, and was thusapproaching the years attained by his mother, he began to meditate upon hisend. It is proper that a man should prepare for death when he comes close tothe age at which either of his parents passed out of life. Isaac reflected thathe did not know whether the age allotted to him was his mother's or hisfather's, and he therefore resolved to bestow his blessing upon his older son,Esau, before death should overtake him.[76] He summoned Esau, and he said, "Myson," and Esau replied, "Here am I," but the holy spirit interposed: "Though hedisguises his voice and makes it sound sweet, put no confidence in him. Thereare seven abominations in his heart. He will destroy seven holy places—theTabernacle, the sanctuaries at Gilgal, Shiloh, Nob, and Gibeon, and the firstand the second Temple."

Gently though Esau continued to speak to his father, he yet longed for his endto come.[77] But Isaac was stricken with spiritual as well as physicalblindness. The holy spirit deserted him, and he could not discern thewickedness of his older son. He bade him sharpen his slaughtering knives andbeware of bringing him the flesh of an animal that had died of itself, or hadbeen torn by a beast, and he was to guard also against putting an animal beforeIsaac that had been stolen from its rightful owner. "Then," continued Isaac,"will I bless him who is worthy of being blessed."[78]

This charge was laid upon Esau on the eve of the Passover, and Isaac said tohim: "To-night the whole world will sing the Hallel unto God. It is the nightwhen the storehouses of dew are unlocked. Therefore prepare dainties for me,that my soul may bless thee before I die." But the holy spirit interposed, "Eatnot the bread of him that hath an evil eye."[79] Isaac's longing for tidbitswas due to his blindness. As the sightless cannot behold the food they eat,they do not enjoy it with full relish, and their appetite must be tempted withparticularly palatable morsels.

Esau sallied forth to procure what his father desired, little recking thewhence or how, whether by robbery or theft.[80] To hinder the quick executionof his father's order, God sent Satan on the chase with Esau. He was to delayhim as long as possible. Esau would catch a deer and leave him lying bound,while he pursued other game. Immediately Satan would come and liberate thedeer, and when Esau returned to the spot, his victim was not to be found. Thiswas repeated several times. Again and again the quarry was run down, and bound,and liberated, so that Jacob was able meanwhile to carry out the plan ofRebekah whereby he would be blessed instead of Esau.

Though Rebekah had not heard the words that had passed between Isaac and Esau,they nevertheless were revealed to her through the holy spirit,[81] and sheresolved to restrain her husband from taking a false step. She was not actuatedby love for Jacob, but by the wish of keeping Isaac from committing adetestable act.[82] Rebekah said to Jacob: "This night the storehouses of deware unlocked; it is the night during which the celestial beings chant theHallel unto God, the night set apart for the deliverance of thy children fromEgypt, on which they, too, will sing the Hallel. Go now and prepare savory meatfor thy father, that he may bless thee before his death.[83] Do as I bid thee,obey me as thou art wont, for thou art my son whose children, every one, willbe good and God-fearing—not one shall be graceless."

In spite of his great respect for his mother,[84] Jacob refused at first toheed her command. He feared he might commit a sin,[85] especially as he mightthus bring his father's curse down upon him. As it was, Isaac might still havea blessing for him, after giving Esau his. But Rebekah allayed his anxieties,with the words: "When Adam was cursed, the malediction fell upon his mother,the earth, and so shall I, thy mother, bear the imprecation, if thy fathercurses thee. Moreover, if the worst comes to the worst, I am prepared to stepbefore thy father and tell him, 'Esau is a villain, and Jacob is a righteousman.'"

Thus constrained by his mother, Jacob, in tears and with body bowed, went offto execute the plan made by Rebekah.[86] As he was to provide a Passover meal,she bade him get two kids, one for the Passover sacrifice and one for thefestival sacrifice.[87] To soothe Jacob's conscience, she added that hermarriage contract entitled her to two kids daily. "And," she continued, "thesetwo kids will bring good unto thee, the blessing of thy father, and they willbring good unto thy children, for two kids will be the atoning sacrificeoffered on the Day of Atonement."

Jacob's hesitation was not yet removed. His father, he feared, would touch himand convince himself that he was not hairy, and therefore not his son Esau.Accordingly, Rebekah tore the skins of the two kids into strips and sewed themtogether, for Jacob was so tall a giant that otherwise they would not havesufficed to cover his hands.[88] To make Jacob's disguise complete, Rebekahfelt justified in putting Esau's wonderful garments on him. They were the highpriestly raiment in which God had clothed Adam, "the first-born of the world,"for in the days before the erection of the Tabernacle all the first-born malesofficiated as priests. From Adam these garments descended to Noah, whotransmitted them to Shem, and Shem bequeathed them to Abraham, and Abraham tohis son Isaac, from whom they reached Esau as the older of his two sons. It wasthe opinion of Rebekah that as Jacob had bought the birthright from hisbrother, he had thereby come into possession of the garments as well.[89] Therewas no need for her to go and fetch them from the house of Esau. He knew hiswives far too well to entrust so precious a treasure to them; they were in thesafe-keeping of his mother. Besides, he used them most frequently in the houseof his parents. As a rule, he did not lay much stress upon decent apparel. Hewas willing to appear on the street clad in rags, but he considered it his dutyto wait upon his father arrayed in his best. "My father," Esau was in the habitof saying, "is a king in my sight, and it would ill become me to serve beforehim in any thing but royal apparel." To the great respect he manifested towardhis father, the descendants of Esau owe all their good fortune on earth. Thusdoth God reward a good deed.

Rebekah led Jacob equipped and arrayed in this way to the door of Isaac'schamber. There she parted from him with the words, "Henceforward may thyCreator assist thee."[90] Jacob entered, addressing Isaac with "Father," andreceiving the response, "Here am I! Who art thou, my son?" he repliedequivocally, "It is I, thy first-born son is Esau." He sought to avoid afalsehood, and yet not betray that he was Jacob.[91] Isaac then said: "Thou artgreatly in haste to secure thy blessing. Thy father Abraham was seventy-fiveyears old when he was blessed, and thou art but sixty-three." Jacob repliedawkwardly, "Because the Lord thy God sent me good speed." Isaac concluded atonce that this was not Esau, for he would not have mentioned the name of God,and he made up his mind to feel the son before him and make sure who he was.Terror seized upon Jacob at the words of Isaac, "Come near, I pray thee, that Imay feel thee, my son." A cold sweat covered his body, and his heart meltedlike wax. Then God caused the archangels Michael and Gabriel to descend. Theone seized his right hand, the other his left hand, while the Lord God Himselfsupported him, that his courage might not fail him. Isaac felt him, and,finding his hands hairy, he said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the handsare the hands of Esau," words in which he conveyed the prophecy that so long asthe voice of Jacob is heard in the houses of prayer and of learning, the handsof Esau will not be able to prevail against him. "Yes," he continued, "it isthe voice of Jacob, the voice that imposes silence upon those on earth and inheaven," for even the angels may not raise their voices in praise of God untilIsrael has finished his prayers.

Isaac's scruples about blessing the son before him were not yet removed, forwith his prophetical eye he foresaw that this one would have descendants whowould vex the Lord. At the same time, it was revealed to him that even thesinners in Israel would turn penitents, and then he was ready to bless Jacob.He bade him come near and kiss him, to indicate that it would be Jacob whowould imprint the last kiss upon Isaac before he was consigned to the grave—heand none other. When Jacob stood close to him, he discerned the fragrance ofParadise clinging to him, and he exclaimed, "See, the smell of my son is as thesmell of the field which the Lord hath blessed."[92]

The fragrance emanating from Jacob was not the only thing about him derivedfrom Paradise. The archangel Michael had fetched thence the wine which Jacobgave his father to drink,[93] that an exalted mood might descend upon him, foronly when a man is joyously excited the Shekinah rests upon him.[94] The holyspirit filled Isaac, and he gave Jacob his tenfold blessing: "God give thee ofthe dew of heaven," the celestial dew wherewith God will awaken the pious tonew life in days to come; "and of the fatness of the earth," the goods of thisworld; "and plenty of corn and wine," the Torah and the commandments whichbestow the same joy upon man as abundant harvests;[95] "peoples shall servethee," the Japhethites and the Hamites; "nations shall bow down to thee," theShemite nations; "thou wilt be lord over thy brethren," the Ishmaelites and thedescendants of Keturah; "thy mother's sons will bow down to thee," Esau and hisprinces; "cursed be every one that curseth thee," like Balaam; "and blessed beevery one that blesseth thee," like Moses.[96]

For each blessing invoked upon Jacob by his father Isaac, a similar blessingwas bestowed upon him by God Himself in the same words. As Isaac blessed himwith dew, so also God: "And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of manypeoples as dew from the Lord." Isaac blessed him with the fatness of the earth,so also God: "And he shall give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow theground withal; and bread of the increase of the ground, and it shall be fat andplenteous." Isaac blessed him with plenty of corn and wine, so also God: "Iwill send you corn and wine." Isaac said, "Peoples shall serve thee," so alsoGod: "Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers;they shall bow down to thee with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust ofthy feet." Isaac said, "Nations shall bow down to thee," so also God: "And Hewill make thee high above all nations which He hath made, in praise, and inname, and in honor."

To this double blessing his mother Rebekah joined hers: "For He shall give Hisangels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee upin their hands, lest thou dash thy feet against a stone. Thou shalt tread uponthe lion and adder; the young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample underfeet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him; Iwill set him on high, because he hath known my name."

The holy spirit added in turn: "He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; Iwill be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. With long lifewill I satisfy him, and show him my salvation."[97]

Jacob left the presence of his father crowned like a bridegroom, adorned like abride, and bathed in celestial dew, which filled his bones with marrow, andtransformed him into a hero and a giant.[98]

Of a miracle done for him at that very moment Jacob himself was not aware. Hadhe tarried with his father an instant longer, Esau would have met him there,and would surely have slain him. It happened that exactly as Jacob was on thepoint of leaving the tent of his father, carrying in his hands the plates offwhich Isaac had eaten, he noticed Esau approaching, and he concealed himselfbehind the door. Fortunately, it was a revolving door, so that though he couldsee Esau, he could not be seen by him.

ESAU'S TRUE CHARACTER REVEALED

Esau arrived after a delay of four hours.[99] In spite of all the efforts hehad put forth, he had not succeeded in catching any game, and he was compelledto kill a dog and prepare its flesh for his father's meal.[100] All this hadmade Esau ill-humored, and when he bade his father partake of the meal, theinvitation sounded harsh. "Let my father arise," he said, "and eat of his son'svenison." Jacob had spoken differently; he had said, "Arise, I pray thee, sitand eat of my venison." The words of Esau terrified Isaac greatly. His frightexceeded that which he had felt when his father was about to offer him as asacrifice, and he cried out, "Who then is he that hath been the mediatorbetween me and the Lord, to make the blessing reach Jacob?"—words meant toimply that he suspected Rebekah of having instigated Jacob's act.

Isaac's alarm was caused by his seeing hell at the feet of Esau. Scarcely hadhe entered the house when the walls thereof began to get hot on account of thenearness of hell, which he brought along with him. Isaac could not but exclaim,"Who will be burnt down yonder, I or my son Jacob?" and the Lord answered him,"Neither thou nor Jacob, but the hunter."

Isaac told Esau that the meat set before him by Jacob had had marvellousqualities. Any savor that one desired it possessed, it was even endowed withthe taste of the food that God will grant the pious in the world to come. "Iknow not," he said, "what the meat was. But I had only to wish for bread, andit tasted like bread, or fish, or locusts, or flesh of animals, in short, ithad the taste of any dainty one could wish for." When Esau heard the word"flesh," he began to weep, and he said: "To me Jacob gave no more than a dishof lentils, and in payment for it he took my birthright. What must he havetaken from thee for flesh of animals?" Hitherto Isaac had been in great anguishon account of the thought that he had committed a wrong in giving his blessingto his younger son instead of the first-born, to whom it belonged by law andcustom. But when he heard that Jacob had acquired the birthright from Esau, hesaid, "I gave my blessing to the right one!"

In his dismay, Isaac had had the intention of cursing Jacob for having wrestedthe blessing from him through cunning. God prevented him from carrying out hisplan. He reminded him that he would but curse himself, seeing that his blessingcontained the words, "Cursed be every one that curseth thee." But Isaac was notwilling to acknowledge his blessing valid as applied to Jacob, until he wasinformed that his second son was the possessor of the birthright. Only then didhe say, "Yea, he shall be blessed," whereat Esau cried with an exceeding greatand bitter cry. By way of punishment for having been the cause of suchdistress, a descendant of Jacob, Mordecai, was also made to cry with a loud andbitter cry, and his grief was brought forth by the Amalekite Haman, thedescendant of Esau. At the words of Isaac, "Thy brother came with wisdom, andhath taken away thy blessing," Esau spat out in vexation, and said, "He tookaway my birthright, and I kept silence, and now that he takes away my blessing,should I also keep silence?[101] Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hathsupplanted me these two times."[102]

Isaac continued to speak to Esau: "Behold, I have made him thy lord, he is thyking, and do what thou wilt, thy blessings will still belong to him; all hisbrethren have I given to him for slaves, and what slaves possess belongs totheir owner. There is nothing for it, thou must be content that thou wiltreceive thy bread baked from thy master." The Lord took it ill of Isaac that hecheered him with such kind words. "To Mine enemy," He reproached him, "thousayest, 'What shall I do for thee, my son?'" Isaac replied, "O that he mightfind grace with Thee!" God: "He is a recreant." Isaac: "Doth he not actrighteously when he honors his parents?" God: "In the land of uprightness willhe deal wrongfully, he will stretch his hand forth in days to come against theTemple." Isaac: "Then let him enjoy much good in this world, that he may notbehold the abiding-place of the Lord in the world to come."[103]

When it became plain to Esau that he could not induce his father to annul theblessing bestowed upon Jacob, he tried to force a blessing for himself by anunderhand trick. He said: "Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me,even me also, O my father, else it will be said thou hast but one blessing tobestow. Suppose both Jacob and I had been righteous men, had not then thy Godhad two blessings, one for each?" The Lord Himself made reply: "Silence! Jacobwill bless the twelve tribes, and each blessing will be different from everyother." But Isaac felt great pity for his older son, and he wanted to blesshim, but the Shekinah forsook him, and he could not carry out what he purposed.Thereupon Esau began to weep. He shed three tears—one ran from his right eye,the second from his left eye, and the third remained hanging from his eyelash.God said, "This villain cries for his very life, and should I let him departempty-handed?" and then He bade Isaac bless his older son.[104]

The blessing of Isaac ran thus: "Behold, of the fat of the earth shall be thydwelling," by which he meant Greater Greece, in Italy; "and of the dew ofheaven from above," referring to Bet-Gubrin; "and by thy sword shalt thou live,and thou shalt serve thy brother," but when he casts off the yoke of the Lord,then shalt thou "shake his yoke from off thy neck," and thou wilt be hismaster.[105]

The blessing which Isaac gave to his older son was bound to no conditionwhatsoever. Whether he deserved them or not, Esau was to enjoy the goods ofthis world. Jacob's blessing, however, depended upon his pious deeds; throughthem he would have a just claim upon earthly prosperity. Isaac thought: "Jacobis a righteous man, he will not murmur against God, though it should come topass that suffering be inflicted upon him in spite of his upright life. Butthat reprobate Esau, if he should do a good deed, or pray to God and not beheard, he would say, 'As I pray to the idols for naught, so it is in vain topray to God.'" For this reason did Isaac bestow an unconditional blessing uponEsau.[106]

JACOB LEAVES HIS FATHER'S HOUSE

Esau hated his brother Jacob on account of the blessing that his father hadgiven him, and Jacob was very much afraid of his brother Esau, and he fled tothe house of Eber, the son of Shem, and he concealed himself there fourteenyears on account of his brother Esau, and he continued there to learn the waysof the Lord and His commandments. When Esau saw that Jacob had fled and escapedfrom him, and Jacob had cunningly obtained the blessing, then Esau grievedexceedingly, and he was also vexed at his father and mother. He also rose upand took his wife, and went away from his father and mother to the land ofSeir. There he married his second wife, Basemath, the daughter of Elon theHittite, and he called her name Adah, saying that the blessing had in that timepassed from him. After dwelling in Seir for six months, Esau returned to theland of Canaan, and placed his two wives in his father's house in Hebron. Andthe wives of Esau vexed and provoked Isaac and Rebekah with their works, forthey walked not in the ways of the Lord, but served their fathers' gods of woodand stone, as their fathers had taught them, and they were more wicked thantheir fathers. They sacrificed and burnt incense to the Baalim, and Isaac andRebekah became weary of them. And at the end of fourteen years of Jacob'sresiding in the house of Eber, Jacob desired to see his father and his mother,and he returned home. Esau had forgotten in those days what Jacob had done tohim, in having taken the blessing from him, but when Esau saw Jacob returningto his parents, he remembered what Jacob had done to him, and he was greatlyincensed against him, and he sought to slay him.[107]

But Esau would not kill Jacob while his father was yet alive, lest Isaac begetanother son. He wanted to be sure of being the only heir.[108] However, hishatred against Jacob was so great that he determined to hasten the death of hisfather and then dispatch Jacob. Such murderous plans Esau cherished in hisheart, though he denied that he was harboring them. But God spoke, "Probablythou knowest not that I examine the hearts of men, for I am the Lord thatsearcheth the heart." And not God alone knew the secret desires of Esau.Rebekah, like all the Mothers, was a prophetess, and she delayed not to warnJacob of the danger that hung over him. "Thy brother," she said to him, "is assure of accomplishing his wicked purpose as though thou wert dead. Nowtherefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother, toHaran, and tarry with him for seven years, until thy brother's fury turn away."In the goodness of her heart, Rebekah could not but believe that the anger ofEsau was only a fleeting passion, and would disappear in the course of time.But she was mistaken, his hate persisted until the end of his life.[109]

Courageous as he was, Jacob would not run away from danger. He said to hismother, "I am not afraid; if he wishes to kill me, I will kill him," to whichshe replied, "Let me not be bereaved of both my sons in one day."[110] By wordsRebekah again showed her prophetic gift. As she spoke, so it happened—whentheir time came, Esau was slain while the burial of Jacob was takingplace.[111]

And Jacob said to Rebekah: "Behold, thou knowest that my father has become oldand does not see, and if I leave him and go away, he will be angry and willcurse me. I will not go; if he sends me, only then will I go."[112]

Accordingly, Rebekah went to Isaac, and amid tears she spoke to him thus: "IfJacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, what good shall my life dome?"[113] And Isaac called Jacob, and charged him, and said unto him: "Thoushalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, for thus did our fatherAbraham command us according to the word of the Lord, which He had commandedhim, saying, 'Unto thy seed will I give the land; if thy children keep Mycovenant that I have made with thee, then will I also perform to thy childrenthat which I have spoken unto thee, and I will not forsake them.' Nowtherefore, my son, hearken to my voice, to all that I shall command thee, andrefrain from taking a wife from amongst the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go toHaran, to the house of Bethuel, thy mother's father, and take thee a wife fromthence of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother. Take heed lest thoushouldst forget the Lord thy God and all His ways in the land to which thougoest, and shouldst join thyself to the people of the land, and pursue vanity,and forsake the Lord thy God. But when thou comest to the land, serve the Lord.Do not turn to the right or to the left from the way which I commanded thee,and which thou didst learn. And may the Almighty God grant thee favor beforethe people of the land, that thou mayest take a wife there according to thychoice, one who is good and upright in the way of the Lord. And may God giveunto thee and thy seed the blessing of thy father Abraham and make theefruitful and multiply thee, and mayest thou become a multitude of people in theland whither thou goest, and may God cause thee to return to thy land, the landof thy father's dwelling, with children and with great riches, with joy andwith pleasure."[114]

As the value of a document is attested by its concluding words, the signatureof the witnesses, so Isaac confirmed the blessing he had bestowed uponJacob.[116] That none might say Jacob had secured it by intrigue and cunning,he blessed him again with three blessings, in these words, "In so far as I amendowed with the power of blessing, I bestow blessing upon thee. May God, withwhom there is endless blessing, give thee His, and also the blessing wherewithAbraham desired to bless me, desisting only in order not to provoke thejealousy of Ishmael."[116]

Seeing with his prophetic eye that the seed of Jacob would once be compelled togo into exile, Isaac offered up one more petition, that God would bring theexiles back again. He said, "He shall deliver thee in six troubles, and in theseventh there shall no evil touch thee." And also Rebekah prayed to God inbehalf of Jacob: "O Lord of the world, let not the purpose prosper which Esauharbors against Jacob. Put a bridle upon him, that he accomplish not all hewills to do."[117]

When Esau observed that even his father's love had passed from him to Jacob, hewent away, to Ishmael, and he addressed him as follows: "Lo, as thy father gaveall his possessions to thy brother Isaac, and dismissed thee with empty hands,so my father purposeth to do to me. Make thyself ready then, go forth and slaythy brother, and I will slay mine, and then we two shall divide the whole worldbetween us." And Ishmael replied: "Why dost thou want me to slay thy father?thou canst do it thyself." Esau said: "It hath happened aforetime that a mankilled his brother—Cain murdered Abel. But that a son should kill his father isunheard of."

Esau did not really shrink back from parricide, only it chanced not to fit theplan he had hatched. "If Ishmael slays my father," he said to himself, "I amthe rightful redeemer, and I shall kill Ishmael to avenge my father, and if,then, I murder Jacob, too, everything will belong to me, as the heir of myfather and my uncle."[118] This shows that Esau's marriage with Mahalath, thedaughter of Ishmael and grandchild of Abraham, was not concluded out of regardfor his parents, who were opposed to his two other wives, daughters of theCanaanites. All he desired was to enter into amicable relations with Ishmael inorder to execute his devilish plan.[119]

But Esau reckoned without his host. The night before his wedding with MahalathIshmael died, and Nebaioth, the son of Ishmael, stepped into his father'splace, and gave away his sister.[120] How little it had been in Esau's mind tomake his parents happy by taking a granddaughter of Abraham to wife, appearsfrom the fact that he kept his two other wives, the Canaanitish women. Thedaughter of Ishmael followed the example of her companions, and thus she butadded to the grief caused the parents of Esau by their daughters-in-law.[121]And the opportunity might have been a most favorable one for Esau to turn asidefrom his godless ways and amend his conduct, for the bridegroom is pardoned onhis wedding day for all his sins committed in years gone by.[122]

Scarcely had Jacob left his father's house, when Rebekah began to weep, for shewas sorely distressed about him. Isaac comforted her, saying: "Weep not forJacob! In peace doth he depart, and in peace will he return. The Lord, God MostHigh, will guard him against all evil and be with him. He will not forsake himall the days of his life. Have no fear for him, for he walketh on the rightpath, he is a perfect man, and he hath faith in God—he will not perish."[123]

JACOB PURSUED BY ELIPHAZ AND ESAU

When Jacob went away to go to Haran, Esau called his son Eliphaz, and secretlyspoke unto him, saying: "Now hasten, take thy sword in thy hand and pursueJacob, and pass before him in the road, and lurk for him and slay him with thysword in one of the mountains, and take all belonging unto him, and come back."And Eliphaz was dexterous and expert with the bow, as his father had taughthim, and he was a noted hunter in the field and a valiant man. And Eliphaz didas his father had commanded him. And Eliphaz was at that time thirteen yearsold, and he arose and went and took ten of his mother's brothers with him, andpursued Jacob. And he followed Jacob closely, and when he overtook him, he layin ambush for him on the borders of the land of Canaan, opposite to the city ofShechem. And Jacob saw Eliphaz and his men pursuing after him, and Jacob stoodin the place in which he was going in order to know what it was, for he did notunderstand their purpose. Eliphaz drew his sword and went on advancing, he andhis men, toward Jacob, and Jacob said unto them, "Wherefore have you comehither, and why do you pursue with your swords?" Eliphaz came near to Jacob,and answered as follows, "Thus did my father command me, and now therefore Iwill not deviate from the orders which my father gave me." And when Jacob sawthat Esau had impressed his command urgently upon Eliphaz, he approached andsupplicated Eliphaz and his men, saying, "Behold, all that I have, and thatwhich my father and mother gave unto me, that take unto thee and go from me,and do not slay me, and may this thing that thou wilt do with me be accountedunto thee as righteousness." And the Lord caused Jacob to find favor in thesight of Eliphaz and his men, and they hearkened to the voice of Jacob, andthey did not put him to death, but took all his belongings, together with thesilver and gold that he had brought with him from Beer-sheba. They left himnothing. When Eliphaz and his men returned to Esau, and told him all that hadhappened to them with Jacob, he was wroth with his son Eliphaz and with hismen, because they had not put Jacob to death. And they answered, and said untoEsau, "Because Jacob supplicated us in this matter, not to slay him, our pitywas moved toward him, and we took all belonging to him, and we came back." Esauthen took all the silver and gold which Eliphaz had taken from Jacob, and heput them by in his house.[124]

Nevertheless Esau did not give up the hope of intercepting Jacob on his flightand slaying him. He pursued him, and with his men occupied the road along whichhe had to journey to Haran. There a great miracle happened to Jacob. When heobserved what Esau's intention was, he turned off toward the Jordan river, and,with eyes directed to God, he cleft the waters with his wanderer's staff, andsucceeded in crossing to the other side. But Esau was not to be deterred. Hekept up the pursuit, and reached the hot springs at Baarus before his brother,who had to pass by there. Jacob, not knowing that Esau was on the watch forhim, decided to bathe in the spring, saying, "I have neither bread nor otherthings needful, so I will at least warm my body in the waters of the well."While he was in the bath, Esau occupied every exit, and Jacob would surely haveperished in the hot water, if the Lord had not caused a miracle to come topass. A new opening formed of itself, and through it Jacob escaped. Thus werefulfilled the words, "When thou passest through the waters, I will be withthee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt," for Jacobwas saved from the waters of the Jordan and from the fire of the hot spring.

At the same time with Jacob, a rider, leaving his horse and his clothes on theshore, had stepped into the river to cool off, but he was overwhelmed by thewaves, and he met his death. Jacob put on the dead man's clothes, mounted hishorse, and went off. It was a lucky chance, for Eliphaz had stripped him ofeverything, even his clothes, and the miracle of the river had happened onlythat he might not be forced to appear naked among men.[125]

Though Jacob was robbed of all his possessions, his courage did not fail him.He said: "Should I lose hope in my Creator? I set my eyes upon the merits of myfathers. For the sake of them the Lord will give me His aid." And God said:"Jacob, thou puttest thy trust in the merits of thy fathers, therefore I willnot suffer thy foot to be moved; He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Yea,still more! While a keeper watcheth only by day as a rule, and sleepeth bynight, I will guard thee day and night, for, behold, He that keepeth Israelshall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord will keep thee from all evil, fromEsau as well as Laban; He will keep thy soul, that the Angel of Death do theeno hurt; He will keep thy going out and thy coming in, He will support thee nowthou art leaving Canaan, and when thou returnest to Canaan."[126]

Jacob was reluctant to leave the Holy Land before he received direct permissionfrom God. "My parents," he reflected, "bade me go forth and sojourn outside ofthe land, but who knows whether it be the will of God that I do as they say,and beget children outside of the Holy Land?"[127] Accordingly, he betookhimself to Beer-sheba. There, where the Lord had given permission to Isaac todepart from Canaan and go to Philistia, he would learn the will of the Lordconcerning himself.

He did not follow the example of his father and grandfather and take refugewith Abimelech, because he feared the king might force also him into acovenant, and make it impossible for his descendants of many generations totake possession of the Philistine land. Nor could he stay at home, because ofhis fear that Esau might wrest the birthright and the blessing from him, and tothat he would not and could not agree.[128] He was as little disposed to takeup the combat with Esau, for he knew the truth of the maxim, "He who courtsdanger will be overcome by it; he who avoids danger will overcome it." BothAbraham and Isaac had lived according to this rule. His grandfather had fledfrom Nimrod, and his father had gone away from the Philistines.[129]

THE DAY OF MIRACLES

Jacob's journey to Haran was a succession of miracles. The first of the fivethat befell for his sake in the course of it was that the sun sank while Jacobwas passing Mount Moriah, though it was high noon at the time. He was followingthe spring that appeared wherever the Patriarchs went or settled. Itaccompanied Jacob from Beer-sheba to Mount Moriah, a two days' journey. When hearrived at the holy hill, the Lord said to him: "Jacob, thou hast bread in thywallet, and the spring of waters is near by to quench thy thirst. Thus thouhast food and drink, and here thou canst lodge for the night." But Jacobreplied: "The sun has barely passed the fifth of its twelve day stages, whyshould I lie down to sleep at so unseemly an hour?" But then Jacob perceivedthat the sun was about to sink, and he prepared to make ready his bed.[130] Itwas the Divine purpose not to let Jacob pass the site of the future Templewithout stopping; he was to tarry there at least one night. Also, God desiredto appear unto Jacob, and He shows Himself unto His faithful ones only atnight.[131] At the same time Jacob was saved from the pursuit of Esau, who hadto desist on account of the premature darkness.[132]

Jacob took twelve stones from the altar on which his father Isaac had lainbound as a sacrifice, and he said: "It was the purpose of God to let twelvetribes arise, but they have not been begotten by Abraham or Isaac. If, now,these twelve stones will unite into a single one, then shall I know for acertainty that I am destined to become the father of the twelve tribes." Atthis time the second miracle came to pass, the twelve stones joined themselvestogether and made one, which he put under his head, and at once it became softand downy like a pillow. It was well that he had a comfortable couch. He was ingreat need of rest, for it was the first night in fourteen years that he didnot keep vigils. During all those years, passed in Eber's house of learning, hehad devoted the nights to study. And for twenty years to come he was not tosleep, for while he was with his uncle Laban, he spent all the night and everynight reciting the Psalms.[133]

On the whole it was a night of marvels. He dreamed a dream in which the courseof the world's history was unfolded to him. On a ladder set up on the earth,with the top of it reaching to heaven, he beheld the two angels who had beensent to Sodom. For one hundred and thirty-eight years they had been banishedfrom the celestial regions, because they had betrayed their secret mission toLot. They had accompanied Jacob from his father's house thither, and now theywere ascending heavenward. When they arrived there, he heard them call theother angels, and say, "Come ye and see the countenance of the pious Jacob,whose likeness appears on the Divine throne, ye who yearned long to see it,"and then he beheld the angels descend from heaven to gaze upon him.[134] Healso saw the angels of the four kingdoms ascending the ladder. The angel ofBabylon mounted seventy rounds, the angel of Media, fifty-two, that of Greece,one hundred and eighty, and that of Edom mounted very high, saying, "I willascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High," andJacob heard a voice remonstrating, "Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, tothe uttermost parts of the pit." God Himself reproved Edom, saying, "Thoughthou mount on high as the eagle, and though thy nest be set among the stars, Iwill bring thee down from thence."[135]

Furthermore, God showed unto Jacob the revelation at Mount Sinai, thetranslation of Elijah, the Temple in its glory and in its spoliation,Nebuchadnezzar's attempt to burn the three holy children in the fiery furnace,and Daniel's encounter with Bel.[136]

In this, the first prophetic dream dreamed by Jacob,[137] God made him thepromise that the land upon which he was lying would be given to him, but theland he lay upon was the whole of Palestine, which God had folded together andput under him. "And," the promise continued, "thy seed will be like unto thedust of the earth. As the earth survives all things, so thy children willsurvive all the nations of the earth. But as the earth is trodden upon by all,so thy children, when they commit trespasses, will be trodden upon by thenations of the earth."[138] And, furthermore, God promised that Jacob shouldspread out to the west and to the east, a greater promise than that given tohis fathers Abraham and Isaac, to whom He had allotted a limited land. Jacob'swas an unbounded possession.[139]

From this wondrous dream Jacob awoke with a start of fright, on account of thevision he had had of the destruction of the Temple.[140] He cried out, "Howdreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, wherein is thegate of heaven through which prayer ascends to Him." He took the stone made outof the twelve, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it,which had flowed down from heaven for him, and God sank this anointed stoneunto the abyss, to serve as the centre of the earth, the same stone, the EbenShetiyah,[141] that forms the centre of the sanctuary, whereon the IneffableName is graven, the knowledge of which makes a man master over nature, and overlife and death.[142]

Jacob cast himself down before the Eben Shetiyah, and entreated God to fulfilthe promise He had given him, and also he prayed that God grant him honorablesustenance. For God had not mentioned bread to eat and raiment to put on, thatJacob might learn to have faith in the Lord. Then he vowed to give the tenth ofall he owned unto God, if He would but grant his petition. Thus Jacob was thefirst to take a vow upon himself,[143] and the first, too, to separate thetithe from his income.[144]

God had promised him almost all that is desirable, but he feared he mightforfeit the pledged blessings through his sinfulness,[145] and again he prayedearnestly that God bring him back to his father's house unimpaired in body,possessions, and knowledge,[146] and guard him, in the strange land whither hewas going, against idolatry, an immoral life, and bloodshed.[147]

His prayer at an end, Jacob set out on his way to Haran, and the third wonderhappened. In the twinkling of an eye he arrived at his destination. The earthjumped from Mount Moriah to Haran. A wonder like this God has executed onlyfour times in the whole course of history.[148]

The first thing to meet his eye in Haran was the well whence the inhabitantsdrew their supply of water. Although it was a great city, Haran suffered fromdearth of water, and therefore the well could not be used by the people free ofcharge. Jacob's sojourn in the city produced a change. By reason of hismeritorious deeds the water springs were blessed, and the city had water enoughfor its needs.

Jacob saw a number of people by the well, and he questioned them, "My brethren,whence be ye?" He thus made himself a model for all to follow. A man should becompanionable, and address others like brothers and friends, and not wait forthem to greet him. Each one should strive to be the first to give thesalutation of peace, that the angels of peace and compassion may come to meethim. When he was informed that the by-standers hailed from Haran, he madeinquiry about the character and vocation of his uncle Laban, and whether theywere on terms of friendly intercourse with him. They answered briefly: "Thereis peace between us, but if thou art desirous of inquiring further, here comesRachel the daughter of Laban. From her thou canst learn all thou hast a mind tolearn." They knew that women like to talk, wherefore they referred him toRachel.[149]

Jacob found it strange that so many should be standing idle by the well, and hequestioned further: "Are you day laborers? then it is too early for you to putby your work. But if you are pasturing your own sheep, why do you not wateryour flocks and let them feed?"[150] They told him they were waiting until allthe shepherds brought their flocks thither, and together rolled the stone fromthe mouth of the well. While he was yet speaking with them, Rachel came withher father's sheep, for Laban had no sons, and a pest having broken out shortlybefore among his cattle, so few sheep were left that a maiden like Rachel couldeasily tend them. Now, when Jacob saw the daughter of his mother's brotherapproaching, he rolled the great stone from the mouth of the well as easily asa cork is drawn from a bottle—the fourth wonder of this extraordinary day.Jacob's strength was equal to the strength of all the shepherds; with his twoarms alone he accomplished what usually requires the united forces of a largeassemblage of men. He had been divinely endowed with this supernatural strengthon leaving the Holy Land. God had caused the dew of the resurrection to dropdown upon him, and his physical strength was so great that even in a combatwith the angels he was victorious.[152]

The fifth and last wonder of the day was that the water rose from the depths ofthe well to the very top, there was no need to draw it up, and there itremained all the twenty years that Jacob abode in Haran.[153]

JACOB WITH LABAN

Rachel's coming to the well at the moment when Jacob reached the territorybelonging to Haran was an auspicious omen. To meet young maidens on firstentering a city is a sure sign that fortune is favorable to one's undertakings.Experience proves this through Eliezer, Jacob, Moses, and Saul. They allencountered maidens when they approached a place new to them, and they all metwith success.[154]

Jacob treated Rachel at once as his cousin, which caused significant whisperingamong the by-standers. They censured Jacob for his demeanor toward her, forsince God had sent the deluge upon the world, on account of the immoral lifeled by men, great chastity had prevailed, especially among the people of theeast. The talk of the men reduced Jacob to tears. Scarcely had he kissed Rachelwhen he began to weep, for he repented of having done it.

There was reason enough for tears. Jacob could not but remember sadly thatEliezer, his grandfather's slave, had brought ten camels laden with presentswith him to Haran, when he came to sue for a bride for Isaac, while he had noteven a ring to give to Rachel. Moreover, he foresaw that his favorite wifeRachel would not lie beside him in the grave, and this, too, made him weep.

As soon as Rachel heard that Jacob was her cousin, she ran home to tell herfather about his coming. Her mother was no longer among the living, else shewould naturally have gone to her. In great haste Laban ran to receive Jacob. Hereflected, if Eliezer, the bondman, had come with ten camels, what would notthe favorite son of the family bring with him, and when he saw that Jacob wasunattended, he concluded that he carried great sums of money in his girdle, andhe threw his arms about his waist to find out whether his supposition was true.Disappointed in this, he yet did not give up hope that his nephew Jacob was aman of substance. Perhaps he concealed precious stones in his mouth, and hekissed him in order to find out whether he had guessed aright. But Jacob saidto him: "Thou thinkest I have money. Nay, thou art mistaken, I have butwords."[155] Then he went on to tell him how it had come about that he stoodbefore him empty-handed. He said that his father Isaac had sent him on his wayprovided with gold, silver, and money, but he had encountered Eliphaz, who hadthreatened to slay him. To this assailant Jacob had spoken thus: "Know that thedescendants of Abraham have an obligation to meet, they will have to serve fourhundred years in a land that is not theirs. If thou slayest me, then you, theseed of Esau, will have to pay the debt. It were better, therefore, to take allI have, and spare my life, so that what is owing may be paid by me. Hence,"Jacob continued, "I stand before thee bare of all the substance carried off byEliphaz."[156]

This tale of his nephew's poverty filled Laban with dismay. "What," heexclaimed, "shall I have to give food and drink for a month or, perhaps, even ayear to this fellow, who has come to me empty-handed!" He betook himself to histeraphim, to ask them for counsel upon the matter, and they admonished him,saying: "Beware of sending him away from thy house. His star and hisconstellation are so lucky that good fortune will attend all his undertakings,and for his sake the blessing of the Lord will rest upon all thou doest, in thyhouse or in thy field."

Laban was satisfied with the advice of the teraphim, but he was embarrassed asto the way in which he was to attach Jacob to his house. He did not venture tooffer him service, lest Jacob's conditions be impossible of fulfilment. Againhe resorted to the teraphim, and asked them with what reward to tempt hisnephew, and they replied: "A wife is his wage; he will ask nothing else of theebut a wife. It is his nature to be attracted by women, and whenever hethreatens to leave thee, do but offer him another wife, and he will notdepart."

Laban went back to Jacob, and said, "Tell me, what shall thy wages be?" and hereplied, "Thinkest thou I came hither to make money? I came only to get me awife,"[158] for Jacob had no sooner beheld Rachel than he fell in love with herand made her a proposal of marriage. Rachel consented, but added the warning:"My father is cunning, and thou art not his match." Jacob: "I am his brother incunning." Rachel: "But is deception becoming unto the pious?" Jacob: "Yes,'with the righteous righteousness is seemly, and with the deceiver deception.'But," continued Jacob, "tell me wherein he may deal cunningly with me." Rachel:"I have an older sister, whom he desires to see married before me, and he willtry to palm her off on thee instead of me." To be prepared for Laban'strickery, Jacob and Rachel agreed upon a sign by which he would recognize herin the nuptial night.[159]

Thus warned to be on his guard against Laban, Jacob worded his agreement withhim regarding his marriage to Rachel with such precision that no room was leftfor distortion or guile. Jacob said: "I know that the people of this place areknaves, therefore I desire to put the matter very clearly to thee. I will servethee seven years for Rachel, hence not Leah; for thy daughter, that thoubringest me not some other woman likewise named Rachel; for the youngerdaughter, that thou exchangest not their names in the meantime."

Nothing of all this availed: "It profits not if a villain is cast into asawmill"—neither force nor gentle words can circumvent a rascal. Laban deceivednot only Jacob, but also the guests whom he invited to the wedding.

THE MARRIAGE OF JACOB

After Jacob had served Laban seven years, he said to his uncle: "The Lorddestined me to be the father of twelve tribes. I am now eighty-four years old,and if I do not take thought of the matter now, when can I?"[160] ThereuponLaban consented to let him have his daughter Rachel to wife, and he was marriedforty-four years after his brother Esau. The Lord often defers the happiness ofthe pious, while He permits the wicked to enjoy the fulfilment of their desiressoon.[161] Esau, however, had purposely chosen his fortieth year for hismarriage; he had wanted to indicate that he was walking in the footsteps of hisfather Isaac, who had likewise married at forty years of age. Esau was like aswine that stretches out its feet when it lies down, to show that it iscloven-footed like the clean animals, though it is none the less one of theunclean animals. Until his fortieth year Esau made a practice of violating thewives of other men, and then at his marriage he acted as though he werefollowing the example of his pious father. Accordingly, the woman he marriedwas of his own kind, Judith, a daughter of Heth, for God said: "This one, whois designed for stubble, to be burnt by fire, shall take unto wife one of apeople also destined for utter destruction." They, Esau and his wife,illustrated the saying, "Not for naught does the raven consort with the crow;they are birds of a feather."[162]

Far different it was with Jacob. He married the two pious and lovely sisters,Leah and Rachel, for Leah, like her younger sister, was beautiful ofcountenance, form, and stature. She had but one defect, her eyes were weak, andthis malady she had brought down upon herself, through her own action. Laban,who had two daughters, and Rebekah, his sister, who had two sons, had agreed byletter, while their children were still young, that the older son of the onewas to marry the older daughter of the other, and the younger son the youngerdaughter. When Leah grew to maidenhood, and inquired about her future husband,all her tidings spoke of his villainous character, and she wept over her fateuntil her eyelashes dropped from their lids. But Rachel grew more and morebeautiful day by day, for all who spoke of Jacob praised and extolled him, and"good tidings make the bones fat."

In view of the agreement between Laban and Rebekah, Jacob refused to marry theolder daughter Leah. As it was, Esau was his mortal enemy, on account of whathad happened regarding the birthright and the paternal blessing. If, now, Jacobmarried the maiden appointed for him, Esau would never forgive his youngerbrother. Therefore Jacob resolved to take to wife Rachel, the younger daughterof his uncle.[163]

Laban was of another mind. He purposed to marry of his older daughter first,for he knew that Jacob would consent to serve him a second period of sevenyears for love of Rachel. On the day of the wedding he assembled theinhabitants of Haran, and addressed them as follows: "Ye know well that we usedto suffer from lack of water, and as soon as this pious man Jacob came to dwellamong us, we had water in abundance." "What hast thou in mind to do?" theyasked Laban. He replied: "If ye have naught to say against it, I will deceivehim and give him Leah to wife. He loves Rachel with an exceeding great love,and for her sake he will tarry with us yet seven other years." "Do as itpleaseth thee," his friends said. "Well, then," said Laban, "let each one ofyou give me a pledge that ye will not betray my purpose."

With the pledges they left with him, Laban bought wine, oil, and meat for thewedding feast, and he set a meal before them which they had themselves paidfor. Because he deceived his fellow-citizens thus, Laban is called Arami, "thedeceiver." They feasted all day long, until late at night, and when Jacobexpressed his astonishment at the attention shown him, they said to him:"Through thy piety thou didst a great service of lovingkindness unto us, oursupply of water was increased unto abundance, and we desire to show ourgratitude therefor." And, indeed, they tried to give him a hint of Laban'spurpose. In the marriage ode which they sang they used the refrain "Halia," inthe hope that he would understand it as Ha Leah, "This is Leah." But Jacob wasunsuspicious and noticed nothing.

When the bride was led into the nuptial chamber, the guests extinguished allthe candles, much to Jacob's amazement. But their explanation satisfied him."Thinkest thou," they said, "we have as little sense of decency as thycountrymen?" Jacob therefore did not discover the deception practiced upon himuntil morning. During the night Leah responded whenever he called Rachel, forwhich he reproached her bitterly when daylight came. "O thou deceiver, daughterof a deceiver, why didst thou answer me when I called Rachel's name?" "Is therea teacher without a pupil?" asked Leah, in return. "I but profited by thyinstruction. When thy father called thee Esau, didst thou not say, Here amI?"[164]

Jacob was greatly enraged against Laban, and he said to him: "Why didst thoudeal treacherously with me? Take back thy daughter, and let me depart, seeingthou didst act wickedly toward me."[165] Laban pacified him, however, saying,"It is not so done in our place, to give the younger before the first-born,"and Jacob agreed to serve yet seven other years for Rachel, and after the sevendays of the feast of Leah's wedding were fulfilled, he married Rachel.[166]

With Leah and Rachel, Jacob received the handmaids Zilpah and Bilhah, two otherdaughters of Laban, whom his concubines had borne unto him.[167]

THE BIRTH OF JACOB'S CHILDREN

The ways of God are not like unto the ways of men. A man clings close to hisfriend while he has riches, and forsakes him when he falls into poverty. Butwhen God sees a mortal unsteady and faltering, He reaches a hand out to him,and raises him up. Thus it happened with Leah. She was hated by Jacob, and Godvisited her in mercy. Jacob's aversion to Leah began the very morning aftertheir wedding, when his wife taunted him with not being wholly free fromcunning and craft himself. Then God said, "Help can come to Leah only if shegives birth to a child; then the love of her husband will return to her."[168]God remembered the tears she had shed when she prayed that her doom, chainingher to that recreant Esau, be averted from her, and so wondrous are the uses ofprayer that Leah, besides turning aside the impending decree, was permitted tomarry Jacob before her sister and be the first to bear him a child. There wasanother reason why the Lord was compassionately inclined toward Leah. She hadgotten herself talked about. The sailors on the sea, the travellers along thehighways, the women at their looms, they all gossiped about Leah, saying, "Sheis not within what her seeming is without. She appears to be pious, but if shewere, she would not have deceived her sister."[169] To put an end to all thistattle, God granted her the distinction of bearing a son at the end of sevenmonths after her marriage. He was one of a pair of twins, the other child beinga daughter. So it was with eleven of the sons of Jacob, all of them exceptJoseph were born twins with a girl, and the twin sister and brother marriedlater on.[170] Altogether it was an extraordinary childbirth, for Leah wasbarren, not formed by nature to bear children.

She called her first-born son Reuben, which means "See the normal man," for hewas neither big nor little, neither dark nor fair, but exactly normal.[171] Incalling her oldest child Reuben, "See the son," Leah indicated his futurecharacter. "Behold the difference," the name implied, "between my first-bornson and the first-born son of my father in-law. Esau sold his birthright toJacob of his own free will, and yet he hated him. As for my first-born son,although his birthright was taken from him without his consent, and given toJoseph, it was nevertheless he who rescued Joseph from the hands of hisbrethren."[172]

Leah called her second son Shime'on, "Yonder is sin," for one of hisdescendants was that Zimri who was guilty of vile trespasses with the daughtersof Moab.[173]

The name of her third son, Levi, was given him by God Himself, not by hismother. The Lord summoned him through the angel Gabriel, and bestowed the nameupon him as one who is "crowned" with the twenty-four gifts that are thetribute due to the priests.[174]

At the birth of her fourth son, Leah returned thanks to God for a specialreason. She knew that Jacob would beget twelve sons, and if they weredistributed equally among his four wives, each would bear three. But now itappeared that she had one more than her due share, and she called him Jehudah,"thanks unto God." She was thus the first since the creation of the world togive thanks to God,[175] and her example was followed by David and Daniel, thedescendants of her son Judah.

When Rachel saw that her sister had borne Jacob four sons, she envied Leah. Notthat she begrudged her the good fortune she enjoyed, she only envied her forher piety, saying to herself that it was to her righteous conduct that she owedthe blessing of many children.[176] Then she besought Jacob: "Pray unto God forme, that He grant me children, else my life is no life. Verily, there are fourthat may be regarded as though they were dead, the blind, the leper, thechildless, and he who was once rich and has lost his fortune." Jacob's angerwas kindled against Rachel, and he said: "It were better thou shouldst addressthy petition to God, and not to me, for am I in God's stead, who hath withheldfrom thee the fruit of the womb?"[177] God was displeased with this answer thatJacob made to his sad wife. He rebuked him with the words: "Is it thus thouwouldst comfort a grief-stricken heart? As thou livest, the day will come whenthy children will stand before the son of Rachel, and he will use the samewords thou hast but now used, saying, 'Am I in the place of the Lord?'"

Rachel also made reply to Jacob, saying: "Did not thy father, too, entreat Godfor thy mother with earnest words, beseeching Him to remove her barrenness?"Jacob: "It is true, but Isaac had no children, and I have several." Rachel:"Remember thy grandfather Abraham, thou canst not deny that he had childrenwhen he supplicated God in behalf of Sarah!" Jacob: "Wouldst thou do for mewhat Sarah did for my grandfather?" Rachel: "Pray, what did she?" Jacob: "Sheherself brought a rival into her house." Rachel: "If that is all that isnecessary, I am ready to follow the example of Sarah, and I pray that as shewas granted a child for having invited a rival, so may I be blessed, too."[178]Thereupon Rachel gave Jacob Bilhah, her freed handmaid, to wife, and she borehim a son, whom Rachel called Dan, saying, "As the Lord was gracious unto meand gave me a son according to my petition, so He will permit Samson, thedescendant of Dan, to judge his people, that it fall not into the hands of thePhilistines."[179] Bilhah's second son Rachel named Naphtali, saying, "Mine isthe bond that binds Jacob to this place, for it was for my sake that he came toLaban." At the same time she wanted to convey by this name that the Torah,which is as sweet as Nofet, "honeycomb," would be taught in the territory ofNaphtali.[180] And the name had still a third meaning: "As God hath heard myfervent prayer for a son, so He will hearken unto the fervent prayer of theNaphtalites when they are beset by their enemies."[181]

Leah, seeing that she had left bearing, while Bilhah, her sister's handmaid,bore Jacob two sons, concluded that it was Jacob's destiny to have four wives,her sister and herself, and their half-sisters Bilhah and Zilpah. Therefore shealso gave him her handmaid to wife.[182] Zilpah was the youngest of the fourwomen. It was the custom of that time to give the older daughter the olderhandmaid, and the younger daughter the younger handmaid, as their dowry, whenthey got married. Now, in order to make Jacob believe that his wife was theyounger daughter he had served for, Laban had given Leah the younger handmaidas her marriage portion. This Zilpah was so young that her body betrayed nooutward signs of pregnancy, and nothing was known of her condition until herson was born. Leah called the boy Gad, which means "fortune," or it may mean"the cutter," for from Gad was descended the prophet Elijah, who brings goodfortune to Israel, and he also cuts down the heathen world.[183] Leah had otherreasons, too, for choosing this name of double meaning. The tribe of Gad hadthe good fortune of entering into possession of its allotment in the Holy Landbefore any of the others,[184] and, also, Gad the son of Jacob was borncircumcised.[185]

To Zilpah's second son Leah gave the name of Asher, "praise," for, she said,"Unto me all manner of praise is due, for I brought my handmaid into the houseof my husband as wife. Sarah did likewise, but only because she had nochildren, and so it was also with Rachel. But as for me, I had children, andnevertheless I subdued my passion, and without jealousy I gave my handmaid tomy husband for wife. Verily, all will praise and extol me."[186] Furthermoreshe spoke: "As the women will praise me, so the sons of Asher will in time tocome praise God for their fruitful possession in the Holy Land."[187]

The next son born unto Jacob was Issachar, "a reward," and once more it wasLeah who was permitted to bring forth the child, as a reward from God for herpious desire to have the twelve tribes come into the world. To secure thisresult, she left no means untried.[188]

It happened once that her oldest son Reuben was tending his father's ass duringthe harvest, and he bound him to a root of dudaim, and went his way. Onreturning, he found the dudaim torn out of the ground, and the ass lying deadbeside it. The beast had uprooted it in trying to get loose, and the plant hasa peculiar quality, whoever tears it up must die.[189] As it was the time ofthe harvest, when it is permitted for any one to take a plant from a field, andas dudaim is, besides, a plant which the owner of a field esteems lightly,Reuben carried it home. Being a good son, he did not keep it for himself, butgave it to his mother. Rachel desired the dudaim, and she asked the plant ofLeah, who parted with it to her sister, but on the condition that Jacob, whenhe returned from work in the evening, should tarry with her for a while. It wasaltogether unbecoming conduct in Rachel to dispose thus of her husband. Shegained the dudaim, but she lost two tribes. If she had acted otherwise, shewould have borne four sons instead of two. And she suffered another punishment,her body was not permitted to rest in the grave beside her husband's.

Jacob came home from the field after night had fallen, for he observed the lawobliging a day laborer to work until darkness sets in, and Jacob's zeal in theaffairs of Laban was as great in the last seven years, after his marriage, asin the first seven, while he was serving for the hand of Rachel.[190] When Leahheard the braying of Jacob's ass, she ran to meet her husband,[191] and withoutgiving him time to wash his feet, she insisted upon his turning aside into hertent.[192] At first Jacob refused to go, but God compelled him to enter, forunto God it was known that Leah acted from pure, disinterested motives.[193]Her dudaim secured two sons for her, Issachar, the father of the tribe thatdevotes itself to the study of the Torah, whence his name meaning "reward," andZebulon, whose descendants carried on commerce, using their profits to enabletheir brethren of Issachar to keep at their studies.[194] Leah called thislast-born son of hers Zebulon, "dwelling-place," for she said, "Now will myhusband dwell with me, seeing that I have borne him six sons, and, also, thesons of Zebulon will have a goodly dwelling-place in the Holy Land."[195]

Leah bore once more, and this last time it was a daughter, a man child turnedinto a woman by her prayer. When she conceived for the seventh time, she spakeas follows: "God promised Jacob twelve sons. I bore him six, and each of thetwo handmaids has borne him two. If, now, I were to bring forth another son, mysister Rachel would not be equal even unto the handmaids." Therefore she prayedto God to change the male embryo in her womb into a female, and God hearkenedunto her prayer.[196]

Now all the wives of Jacob, Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah, united theirprayers with the prayer of Jacob, and together they besought God to remove thecurse of barrenness from Rachel. On New Year's Day, the day whereon God sits injudgment upon the inhabitants of the earth, He remembered Rachel, and grantedher a son.[197] And Rachel spake, "God hath taken away my reproach," for allthe people had said that she was not a pious woman, else had she bornechildren, and now that God had hearkened to her, and opened her womb, such idletalk no longer had any reason.[198]

By bearing a son, she had escaped another disgrace. She had said to herself:"Jacob hath a mind to return to the land of his birth, and my father will notbe able to hinder his daughters who have borne him children from followingtheir husband thither with their children. But he will not let me, thechildless wife, go, too, and he will keep me here and marry me to one of theuncircumcised."[199] She said furthermore, "As my son hath removed my reproach,so Joshua, his descendant, will roll away a reproach from the Israelites, whenhe circumcises them beyond Jordan."[200]

Rachel called her son Joseph, "increase," saying, "God will give me anadditional son." Prophetess as she was, she foresaw she would have a secondson. But an increase added on by God is larger than the original capitalitself. Benjamin, the second son, whom Rachel regarded merely as a supplement,had ten sons, while Joseph begot only two. These twelve together may beconsidered the twelve tribes borne by Rachel.[201] Had Rachel not used the formof expression, "The Lord add to me another son," she herself would havebegotten twelve tribes with Jacob.[202]

JACOB FLEES BEFORE LABAN

Jacob had only been waiting for Joseph to be born to begin preparations for hisjourney home. The holy spirit had revealed to him that the house of Josephwould work the destruction of the house of Esau, and, therefore, Jacobexclaimed at the birth of Joseph, "Now I need not fear Esau or hislegions."[203]

About this time, Rebekah sent her nurse Deborah, the daughter of Uz,accompanied by two of Isaac's servants, to Jacob, to urge him to return to hisfather's house, now that his fourteen years of service had come to an end. ThenJacob approached Laban, and spoke, "Give me my wives and my children, that Imay go unto mine own place, and to my country, for my mother has sentmessengers unto me, bidding me to return to my father's house."[204] Labananswered, saying, "O that I might find favor in thine eyes! By a sign it wasmade known unto me that God blesseth me for thy sake." What Laban had in mindwas the treasure he had found on the day Jacob came to him, and he consideredthat a token of his beneficent powers.[205] Indeed, God had wrought many athing in the house of Laban that testified to the blessings spread abroad bythe pious. Shortly before Jacob came, a pest had broken out among Laban'scattle, and with his arrival it ceased.[206] And Laban had had no son, butduring Jacob's sojourn in Haran sons were born unto him.[207]

All the hire he asked in return for his labor and for the blessings he hadbrought Laban was the speckled and spotted among the goats of his herd, and theblack among the sheep. Laban assented to his conditions, saying, "Behold, Iwould it might be according to thy word." The arch-villain Laban, whose tonguewagged in all directions, and who made all sorts of promises that were neverkept, judged others by himself, and therefore suspected Jacob of wanting todeceive him.[208] And yet, in the end, it was Laban himself who broke his word.No less than a hundred times he changed the agreement between them.Nevertheless his unrighteous conduct was of no avail. Though a three days'journey had been set betwixt Laban's flocks and Jacob's, the angels were wontto bring the sheep belonging to Laban down to Jacob's sheep, and Jacob's drovesgrew constantly larger and better.[209] Laban had given only the feeble andsick to Jacob, yet the young of the flock, raised under Jacob's tendance, wereso excellent in quality that people bought them at a heavy price.[210] AndJacob had no need to resort to the peeled rods. He had but to speak, and theflocks bare according to his desire.[211] What Laban deserved was utter ruin,for having permitted the pious Jacob to work for him without hire, and afterhis wages had been changed ten times, and ten times Laban had tried tooverreach him, God rewarded him in this way.[212] But his good luck with theflocks was only what Jacob deserved. Every faithful laborer is rewarded by Godin this world, quite regardless of what awaits him in the world to come.[213]With empty hands Jacob had come to Laban, and he left him with herds numberingsix hundred thousand. Their increase had been marvellous, an increase that willbe equalled only in the Messianic time.[214]

The wealth and good fortune of Jacob called forth the envy of Laban and hissons, and they could not hide their vexation in their intercourse with him. Andthe Lord said unto Jacob, "Thy father-in-law's countenance is not toward theeas beforetime, and yet thou tarriest with him? Do thou rather return unto theland of thy fathers, and there I will let My Shekinah rest upon thee, for Icannot permit the Shekinah to reside outside of the Holy Land."[215]Immediately Jacob sent the fleet messenger Naphtali[216] to Rachel and Leah tosummon them to a consultation, and he chose as the place of meeting the openfield, where none could overhear what was said.[217]

His two wives approved the plan of returning to his home, and Jacob resolved atonce to go away with all his substance, without as much as acquainting Labanwith his intention. Laban was gone to shear his sheep, and so Jacob couldexecute his plan without delay.

That her father might not learn about their flight from his teraphim, Rachelstole them, and she took them and concealed them upon the camel upon which shesat, and she went on. And this is the manner they used to make the images: Theytook a man who was the first-born, slew him and took the hair off his head,then salted the head, and anointed it with oil, then they wrote "the Name" upona small tablet of copper or gold, and placed it under his tongue. The head withthe tablet under the tongue was then put in a house where lights were lightedbefore it, and at the time when they bowed down to it, it spoke to them on allmatters that they asked of it, and that was due to the power of the Name whichwas written upon it.[218]

THE COVENANT WITH LABAN

Jacob departed and crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward Gilead, forthe holy spirit revealed to him that God would bring help there to his childrenin the days of Jephthah. Meantime the shepherds of Haran observed that thewell, which had been filled to overflowing since the arrival of Jacob in theirplace, ran dry suddenly. For three days they watched and waited, in the hopethat the waters would return in the same abundance as before. Disappointed,they finally told Laban of the misfortune, and he divined at once that Jacobhad departed thence, for he knew that the blessing had been conferred uponHaran only for the sake of his son-in-law's merits.[219]

On the morrow Laban rose early, assembled all the people of the city, andpursued Jacob with the intention of killing him when he overtook him. But thearchangel Michael appeared unto him, and bade him take heed unto himself, thathe do not the least unto Jacob, else would he suffer death himself.[220] Thismessage from heaven came to Laban during the night, for when, in extraordinarycases, God finds it necessary to reveal Himself unto the heathen, He does itonly in the dark, clandestinely as it were, while He shows Himself to theprophets of the Jews openly, during daylight.

Laban accomplished the journey in one day for which Jacob had taken seven,[221]and he overtook him at the mountain of Gilead. When he came upon Jacob, hefound him in the act of praying and giving praise unto God.[222] ImmediatelyLaban fell to remonstrating with his son-in-law for having stolen away unawaresto him. He showed his true character when he said, "It is in the power of myhand to do thee hurt, but the God of thy father spake unto me yesternight,saying, Take heed to thyself that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad."That is the way of the wicked, they boast of the evil they can do. Laban wantedto let Jacob know that only the dream warning him against doing aught that washarmful to Jacob prevented him from carrying out the wicked design he hadformed against him.[223]

Laban continued to take Jacob to task, and he concluded with the words, "Andnow, though thou wouldst needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thyfather's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?" When he pronounced thelast words, his grandchildren interrupted him, saying, "We are ashamed of thee,grandfather, that in thy old age thou shouldst use such words as 'my gods.'"Laban searched all the tents for his idols, going first to the tent of Jacob,which was Rachel's at the same time, for Jacob always dwelt with his favoritewife. Finding nothing, he went thence to Leah's tent, and to the tents of thetwo handmaids, and, noticing that Rachel was feeling about here and there, hissuspicions were aroused, and he entered her tent a second time. He would nowhave found what he was looking for, if a miracle had not come to pass. Theteraphim were transformed into drinking vessels, and Laban had to desist fromhis fruitless search.

Now Jacob, who did not know that Rachel had stolen her father's teraphim inorder to turn him aside from his idolatrous ways, was wroth with Laban, andbegan to chide with him. In the quarrel between them, Jacob's noble charactermanifested itself. Notwithstanding his excitement, he did not suffer a singleunbecoming word to escape him. He only reminded Laban of the loyalty anddevotion with which he had served him, doing for him what none other would orcould have done. He said: "I dealt wrongfully with the lion, for God hadappointed of Laban's sheep for the lion's daily sustenance, and I deprived himthereof. Could another shepherd have done thus? Yes, the people abused me,calling me robber and sneak thief, for they thought that only by stealing byday and stealing by night could I replace the animals torn by wild beasts. Andas to my honesty," he continued, "is it likely there is another son-in-law who,having lived with his father-in-law, hath not taken some little thing from thehousehold of his father-in-law, a knife, or other trifle? But thou hast feltabout all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? Not somuch as a needle or a nail."

In his indignation, and conscious of his innocence, Jacob exclaimed, "Withwhomsoever thou findest thy gods, he shall not live," words which contained acurse—the thief was cursed with premature death, and therefore Rachel had todie in giving birth to Benjamin. Indeed, the curse would have taken effect atonce, had it not been the wish of God that Rachel should bear Jacob hisyoungest son.[224]

After the quarrel, the two men made a treaty, and with his gigantic strengthJacob set up a huge rock as a memorial, and a heap of stones as a sign of theircovenant. In this matter Jacob followed the example of his fathers, wholikewise had covenanted with heathen nations, Abraham with the Jebusites, andIsaac with the Philistines. Therefore Jacob did not hesitate to make a treatywith the Arameans.[225] Jacob summoned his sons, calling them brethren, forthey were his peers in piety and strength, and he bade them cast up heaps ofstones. Thereupon he swore unto his father-in-law that he would take no wivesbeside his four daughters, either while they were alive or after their death,and Laban, on his part, swore that he would not pass over the heaps or over thepillar unto Jacob with hostile intent,[226] and he took the oath by the God ofAbraham, and the God of Nahor, while Jacob made mention of the Fear of Isaac.He refrained from using the term "the God of Isaac," because God never unitesHis name with that of a living person, for the reason that so long as a man hasnot ended his years, no trust may be put in him, lest he be seduced by the evilinclination. It is true, when He appeared unto Jacob at Beth-el, God calledHimself "the God of Isaac." There was a reason for the unusual phrase. Beingblind, Isaac led a retired life, within his tent, and the evil inclination hadno power over him any more. But though God had full confidence in Isaac, yetJacob could not venture to couple the name of God with the name of a livingman, wherefore he took his oath by "the Fear of Isaac."[227]

Early in the morning after the day of covenanting, Laban rose up, and kissedhis grandchildren and his daughters, and blessed them. But these acts and wordsof his did not come from the heart; in his innermost thoughts he regretted thatJacob and his family and his substance had escaped him.[228] His true feelingshe betrayed in the message which he sent to Esau at once upon his return toHaran, by the hand of his son Beor and ten companions of his son. The messageread: "Hast thou heard what Jacob thy brother has done unto me, who first cameto me naked and bare, and I went to meet him, and took him to my house withhonor, and brought him up, and gave him my two daughters for wives, and alsotwo of my maids? And God blessed him on my account, and he increasedabundantly, and had sons and daughters and maid-servants, and also an uncommonstock of flocks and herds, camels and asses, also silver and gold in abundance.But when he saw that his wealth increased, he left me while I went to shear mysheep, and he rose up and fled in secrecy. And he put his wives and childrenupon camels, and he led away all his cattle and substance which he acquired inmy land, and he resolved to go to his father Isaac, to the land of Canaan. Andhe did not suffer me to kiss my sons and daughters, and he carried away mydaughters as captives of the sword, and he also stole my gods, and he fled. Andnow I have left him in the mountain of the brook of Jabbok, he and allbelonging to him, not a jot of his substance is lacking. If it be thy wish togo to him, go, and there wilt thou find him, and thou canst do unto him as thysoul desireth."[229]

Jacob had no need to fear either Laban or Esau, for on his journey he wasaccompanied by two angel hosts, one going with him from Haran to the borders ofthe Holy Land, where he was received by the other host, the angels ofPalestine.[230] Each of these hosts consisted of no less than six hundredthousand angels,[231] and when he beheld them, Jacob said: "Ye belong neitherto the host of Esau, who is preparing to go out to war against me, nor the hostof Laban, who is about to pursue me again. Ye are the hosts of the holy angelssent by the Lord." And he gave the name Mahanaim, Double-Host, to the spot onwhich the second army relieved the first.[232]

JACOB AND ESAU PREPARE TO MEET

The message of Laban awakened Esau's old hatred toward Jacob with increasedfury, and he assembled his household, consisting of sixty men. With them andthree hundred and forty inhabitants of Seir, he went forth to do battle withJacob and kill him. He divided his warriors into seven cohorts, giving to hisson Eliphaz his own division of sixty, and putting the other six divisionsunder as many of the Horites.

While Esau was hastening onward to meet Jacob, the messengers which Laban hadsent to Esau came to Rebekah and told her that Esau and his four hundred menwere about to make war upon Jacob, with the purpose of slaying him and takingpossession of all he had. Anxious lest Esau should execute his plan while yetJacob was on the journey, she hastily dispatched seventy-two of the retainersof Isaac's household, to give him help. Jacob, tarrying on the banks of thebrook Jabbok, rejoiced at the sight of these men, and he greeted them with thewords, "This is God's helping host," wherefore he called the place of theirmeeting Mahanaim, Host.

After the warriors sent by Rebekah had satisfied his questions regarding thewelfare of his parents, they delivered his mother's message unto him, thus: "Ihave heard, my son, that thy brother Esau hath gone forth against thee on theroad, with men of the children of Seir the Horite, and therefore, my son,hearken to my voice, and take counsel with thyself what thou wilt do, and whenhe cometh up to thee, supplicate him, and do not speak roughly to him, and givehim a present from what thou possessest, and from what God has favored theewith. And when he asketh thee concerning thy affairs, conceal nothing from him,perhaps he may turn from his anger against thee, and thou wilt thereby save thysoul, thou and all belonging to thee, for it is thy duty to honor him, since heis thy elder brother."

And when Jacob heard the words of his mother which the messengers had spoken tohim, he lifted up his voice and wept bitterly, and did as his mother commandedhim.

He sent messengers to Esau to placate him, and they said unto him: "Thusspeaketh thy servant Jacob: My lord, think not that the blessing which myfather bestowed upon me profited me. Twenty years I served Laban, and hedeceived me, and changed my hire ten times, as thou well knowest. Yet did Ilabor sorely in his house, and God saw my affliction, my labor, and the work ofmy hands, and afterward He caused me to find grace and favor in the sight ofLaban. And through God's great mercy and kindness, I acquired oxen and assesand cattle and men-servants and maid servants. And now I am coming to mycountry and to my home, to my father and mother, who are in the land of Canaan.And I have sent to let my lord know all this in order to find favor in the eyesof my lord, so that he may not imagine that I have become a man of substance,or that the blessing with which my father blessed me has benefited me."[233]

Furthermore spake the messengers: "Why dost thou envy me in respect to theblessing wherewith my father blessed me? Is it that the sun shineth in my land,and not in thine? Or doth the dew and the rain fall only upon my land, and notupon thine? If my father blessed me with the dew of heaven, he blessed theewith the fatness of the earth, and if he spoke to me, Peoples will serve thee,he hath said unto thee, By thy sword shalt thou live. How long, then, wilt thoucontinue to envy me? Come, now, let us set up a covenant between us, that wewill share equally all the vexations that may occur."

Esau would not agree to this proposal, his friends dissuaded him therefrom,saying, "Accept not these conditions, for God hath said to Abraham, Know of asurety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, andshall serve the people thereof, and the aliens shall afflict them four hundredyears. Wait, therefore, until Jacob and his family go down into Egypt to payoff this debt."

Jacob also sent word to Esau, saying: "Though I dwelt with that heathen of theheathen, Laban, yet have I not forgotten my God, but I fulfil the six hundredand thirteen commandments of the Torah.[234] If thy mind be set upon peace,thou wilt find me ready for peace. But if thy desire be war, thou wilt find meready for war. I have with me men of valor and strength, they have but to uttera word, and God fulfils it. I tarried with Laban until Joseph should be born,he who is destined to subdue thee.[235] And though my descendants be held inbondage in this world, yet a day will come when they will rule over theirrulers."[236]

In reply to all these gentle words, Esau spoke with arrogance: "Surely I haveheard, and truly it has been told unto me what Jacob has been to Laban, whobrought him up in his house, and gave him his daughters for wives, and he begotsons and daughters, and abundantly increased in wealth and riches in Laban'shouse and with his help. And when he saw that his wealth was abundant and hisriches were great, he fled with all belonging to him from Laban's house, and hecarried away Laban's daughters from their father as captives of the sword,without telling him of it. And not only to Laban hath Jacob done thus, but alsounto me hath he done so, and he hath twice supplanted me, and shall I besilent? Now, I have this day come with my camp to meet him, and I will do untohim according to the desire of my heart."

The messengers dispatched by Jacob now returned to him, and reported thesewords of Esau unto him.[237] They also told him that his brother was advancingagainst him with an army consisting of four hundred crowned heads, each leadinga host of four hundred men.[238] "It is true, thou art his brother, and thoutreatest him as a brother should," they said to Jacob, "but he is an Esau, thoumust be made aware of his villainy."[239]

Jacob bore in mind the promise of God, that He would bring him back to hisfather's house in peace, yet the report about his brother's purpose alarmed himgreatly. A pious man may never depend upon promises of earthly good. God doesnot keep the promise if he is guilty of the smallest conceivable trespass, andJacob feared that he might have forfeited happiness by reason of a sincommitted by him. Moreover, he was anxious lest Esau be the one favored by God,inasmuch as he had these twenty years been fulfilling two Divine commands thatJacob had had to disregard. Esau had been living in the Holy Land, Jacoboutside of it; the former had been in attendance upon his parents, the latterdwelling at a distance from them. And much as he feared defeat, Jacob alsofeared the reverse, that he might be victorious over Esau, or might even slayhis brother, which would be as bad as to be slain by him. And he was depressedby another apprehension, that his father had died, for he reasoned that Esauwould not take such warlike steps against his own brother, were his fatherstill alive.[240]

When his wives saw the anxiety that possessed Jacob, they began to quarrel withhim, and reproach him for having taken them away from their father's house,though he knew that such danger threatened from Esau.[241] Then Jacobdetermined to apply the three means that might save him from the fateimpending: he would cry to God for help, appease Esau's wrath with presents,and hold himself in readiness for war if the worst came to the worst.[242]

He prayed to God: "O Thou God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac,God of all who walk in the ways of the pious and do like unto them! I am notworthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hastshowed unto Thy servant. O Lord of the world, as Thou didst not suffer Laban toexecute his evil designs against me, so also bring to naught the purpose ofEsau, who desireth to slay me. O Lord of the world, in Thy Torah which Thouwilt give us on Mount Sinai it is written, And whether it be cow or ewe, yeshall not kill it and her young both in one day. If this wretch should come andmurder my children and their mothers at the same time, who would then desire toread Thy Torah which Thou wilt give us on Mount Sinai? And yet Thou didstspeak, For the sake of thy merits and for the merits of thy fathers I will dogood unto thee, and in the future world thy children shall be as numerous asthe sand of the sea."

As Jacob prayed for his own deliverance, so also he prayed for the salvation ofhis descendants, that they might not be annihilated by the descendants of Esau.

Such was the prayer of Jacob when he saw Esau approaching from afar, and Godheard his petition and looked upon his tears, and He gave him the assurancethat for his sake his descendants, too, would be redeemed from alldistress.[243]

Then the Lord sent three angels, and they went before Esau, and they appearedunto Esau and his people as hundreds and thousands of men riding upon horses.They were furnished with all sorts of weapons, and divided into four columns.And one division went on, and they found Esau coming with four hundred men, andthe division ran toward them, and terrified them. Esau fell off his horse inalarm, and all his men separated from him in great fear, while the approachingcolumn shouted after them, "Verily, we are the servants of Jacob, the servantof God, and who can stand against us?" Esau then said unto them, "O, then mylord and brother Jacob is your lord, whom I have not seen these twenty years,and now that I have this day come to see him, do you treat me in this manner?"The angels answered, "As the Lord liveth, were not Jacob thy brother, we hadnot left one remaining of thee and thy people, but on account of Jacob we willdo nothing to thee." This division passed from Esau, and when he had gone fromthere about a league, the second division came toward him, and they also didunto Esau and his men as the first had done to them, and when they permittedhim to go on, the third came and did like the first, and when the third hadpassed also, and Esau still continued with his men on the road to Jacob, thefourth division came and did to them as the others had done. And Esau wasgreatly afraid of his brother, because he thought that the four columns of thearmy which he had encountered were the servants of Jacob.

After Jacob had made an end of praying, he divided all that journeyed with himinto two companies, and he set over them Damesek and Alinus, the two sons ofEliezer, the bondman of Abraham, and their sons.[244] Jacob's example teachesus not to conceal the whole of our fortune in one hiding-place, else we run thedanger of losing everything at one stroke.

Of his cattle he sent a part to Esau as a present, first dividing it into threedroves in order to impress his brother more. When Esau received the firstdrove, he would think he had the whole gift that had been sent to him, andsuddenly he would be astonished by the appearance of the second portion, andagain by the third. Jacob knew his brother's avarice only too well.[245]

The men who were the bearers of Jacob's present to Esau were charged with thefollowing message, "This is an offering to my lord Esau from his slave Jacob."But God took these words of Jacob in ill part, saying, "Thou profanest what isholy when thou callest Esau lord." Jacob excused himself; he was but flatteringthe wicked in order to escape death at his hands.[246]

JACOB WRESTLES WITH THE ANGEL

The servants of Jacob went before him with the present for Esau, and hefollowed with his wives and his children. As he was about to pass over the fordof Jabbok, he observed a shepherd, who likewise had sheep and camels. Thestranger approached Jacob and proposed that they should ford the streamtogether, and help each other move their cattle over, and Jacob assented, onthe condition that his possessions should be put across first. In the twinklingof an eye Jacob's sheep were transferred to the other side of the stream by theshepherd. Then the flocks of the shepherd were to be moved by Jacob, but nomatter how many he took over to the opposite bank, always there remained someon the hither shore. There was no end to the cattle, though Jacob labored allthe night through. At last he lost patience, and he fell upon the shepherd andcaught him by the throat, crying out, "O thou wizard, thou wizard, at night noenchantment succeeds!" The angel thought, "Very well, let him know once for allwith whom he has had dealings," and with his finger he touched the earth,whence fire burst forth. But Jacob said, "What! thou thinkest thus to affrightme, who am made wholly of fire?"[247]

The shepherd was no less a personage than the archangel Michael, and in hiscombat with Jacob he was assisted by the whole host of angels under hiscommand. He was on the point of inflicting a dangerous wound upon Jacob, whenGod appeared, and all the angels, even Michael himself, felt their strengthooze away. Seeing that he could not prevail against Jacob, the archangeltouched the hollow of his thigh, and injured him, and God rebuked him, saying,"Dost thou act as is seemly, when thou causest a blemish in My priest Jacob?"Michael said in astonishment, "Why, it is I who am Thy priest!" But God said,"Thou art My priest in heaven, and he is My priest on earth." Thereupon Michaelsummoned the archangel Raphael, saying, "My comrade, I pray thee, help me outof my distress, for thou art charged with the healing of all disease," andRaphael cured Jacob of the injury Michael had inflicted.

The Lord continued to reproach Michael, saying, "Why didst thou do harm unto Myfirst-born son?" and the archangel answered, "I did it only to glorify Thee,"and then God appointed Michael as the guardian angel of Jacob and his seed untothe end of all generations, with these words: "Thou art a fire, and so is Jacoba fire; thou art the head of the angels, and he is the head of the nations;thou art supreme over all the angels, and he is supreme over all the peoples.Therefore he who is supreme over all the angels shall be appointed unto him whois supreme over all the peoples, that he may entreat mercy for him from theSupreme One over all."

Then Michael said unto Jacob, "How is it possible that thou who couldst prevailagainst me, the most distinguished of the angels, art afraid of Esau?"

When the day broke, Michael said to Jacob, "Let me go, for the day breaketh,"but Jacob held him back, saying, "Art thou a thief, or a gambler with dice,that thou fearest the daylight?" At that moment appeared many different hostsof angels, and they called unto Michael: "Ascend, O Michael, the time of songhath come, and if thou art not in heaven to lead the choir, none will sing."And Michael entreated Jacob with supplications to let him go, for he feared theangels of 'Arabot would consume him with fire, if he were not there to startthe songs of praise at the proper time. Jacob said, "I will not let thee go,except thou bless me," whereto Michael made reply: "Who is greater, the servantor the son? I am the servant, and thou art the son. Why, then, cravest thou myblessing?"[248] Jacob urged as an argument, "The angels that visited Abrahamdid not leave without blessing him," but Michael held, "They were sent by Godfor that very purpose, and I was not." Yet Jacob insisted upon his demand, andMichael pleaded with him, saying, "The angels that betrayed a heavenly secretwere banished from their place for one hundred and thirty eight years. Dostthou desire that I should acquaint thee with what would cause my banishmentlikewise?" In the end the angel nevertheless had to yield; Jacob could not bemoved, and Michael took counsel with himself thus: "I will reveal a secret tohim, and if God demands to know why I revealed it, I will make answer, Thychildren stand upon their wishes with Thee, and Thou dost yield to them. How,then, could I have left Jacob's wish unfulfilled?"

Then Michael spoke to Jacob, saying: "A day will come when God will revealHimself unto thee, and He will change thy name, and I shall be present when Hechangeth it.[249] Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel, for happythou, of woman born, who didst enter the heavenly palace, and didst escapethence with thy life." And Michael blessed Jacob with the words, "May it be thewill of God that thy descendants be as pious as thou art."[250]

At the same time the archangel reminded Jacob that he had promised to give atithe of his possessions unto God, and at once Jacob separated five hundred andfifty head of cattle from his herds, which counted fifty-five hundred. ThenMichael went on, "But thou hast sons, and of them thou hast not set apart thetenth." Jacob proceeded to pass his sons in review: Reuben, Joseph, Dan, andGad being the first-born, each of his mother, were exempt, and there remainedbut eight sons, and when he had named them, down to Benjamin, he had to go backand begin over again with Simon, the ninth, and finish with Levi as the tenth.

Michael took Levi with him into heaven, and presented him before God, saying,"O Lord of the world, this one is Thy lot, and the tenth belonging unto Thee,"and God stretched forth His hand and blessed Levi with the blessing that hischildren should be the servants of God on earth as the angels were His servantson high. Michael spoke again, "Doth not a king provide for the sustenance ofhis servants?" whereupon God appointed for the Levites all that was holy untothe Lord.[251]

Then Jacob spoke to the angel: "My father conferred the blessing upon me thatwas intended for Esau, and now I desire to know whether thou wilt acknowledgethe blessing as mine, or wilt bring charges against me on account of it." Andthe angel said: "I acknowledge the blessing to be thine by right. Thou didstnot gain it by craft and cunning, and I and all the heavenly powers recognizeit to be valid, for thou hast shown thyself master over the mighty powers ofthe heavens as over Esau and his legions."[252]

And even then Jacob would not let the angel depart, he had to reveal his nameto him first, and the angel made known to him that it was Israel, the same namethat Jacob would once bear.[253]

At last the angel departed, after Jacob had blessed him, and Jacob called theplace of wrestling Penuel, the same place to which before he had given the nameMahanaim, for both words have but one meaning, the place of encounter withangels.[254]

THE MEETING BETWEEN ESAU AND JACOB

At the break of day the angel left off from wrestling with Jacob. The dawn onthat day was of particularly short duration. The sun rose two hours before histime, by way of compensation for having set early, on the day on which Jacobpassed Mount Moriah on his journey to Haran, to induce him to turn aside andlodge for a night on the future Temple place.[255] Indeed, the power of the sunon this same day was altogether remarkable. He shone with the brilliance andardor with which he was invested during the six days of the creation, and as hewill shine at the end of days, to make whole the halt and the blind among theJews and to consume the heathen. This same healing and devastating property hehad on that day, too, for Jacob was cured, while Esau and his princes were allbut burnt up by his terrible heat.[256]

Jacob was in dire need of healing lotions for the injury he had sustained inthe encounter with the angel. The combat between them had been grim, the dustwhirled up by the scuffle rose to the very throne of God.[257] Though Jacobprevailed against his huge opponent, as big as one-third of the whole world,throwing him to the ground and keeping him pinned down, yet the angel hadinjured him by clutching at the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow ofthe thigh, so that it was dislocated, and Jacob halted upon his thigh.[258] Thehealing power of the sun restored him, nevertheless his children took it uponthemselves not to eat the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of thethigh, for they reproached themselves with having been the cause of his mishap,they should not have left him alone in that night.[259]

Now, although Jacob had prepared for the worst, for open hostilities even, yetwhen he saw Esau and his men, he thought it discreet to make separate divisionsof the households of Leah, Rachel, and the handmaids, and divide the childrenunto each of them. And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, andLeah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost. It was thestratagem which the fox used with the lion. Once upon a time the king of beastswas wroth with his subjects, and they looked hither and thither for a spokesmanwho mastered the art of appeasing their ruler. The fox offered himself for theundertaking, saying, "I know three hundred fables which will allay his fury."His offer was accepted with joy. On the way to the lion, the fox suddenly stoodstill, and in reply to the questions put to him, he said, "I have forgotten onehundred of the three hundred fables." "Never mind," said those accompanyinghim, "two hundred will serve the purpose." A little way further on the foxagain stopped suddenly, and, questioned again, he confessed that he hadforgotten half of the two hundred remaining fables. The animals with him stillconsoled him that the hundred he knew would suffice. But the fox halted a thirdtime, and then he admitted that his memory had failed him entirely, and he hadforgotten all the fables he knew, and he advised that every animal approach theking on his own account and endeavor to appease his anger. At first Jacob hadhad courage enough to enter the lists with Esau in behalf of all with him. Nowhe came to the conclusion to let each one try to do what he could for himself.

However, Jacob was too fond a father to expose his family to the first brunt ofthe danger. He himself passed over before all the rest, saying, "It is betterthat they attack me than my children."[260] After him came the handmaids andtheir children. His reason for placing them there was that, if Esau should beovercome by passion for the women, and try to violate them, he would thus meetthe handmaids first, and in the meantime Jacob would have the chance ofpreparing for more determined resistance in the defense of the honor of hiswives.[261] Joseph and Rachel came last, and Joseph walked in front of hismother, though Jacob had ordered the reverse. But the son knew both the beautyof his mother and the lustfulness of his uncle, and therefore he tried to hideRachel from the sight of Esau.[262]

In the vehemence of his rage against Jacob, Esau vowed that he would not slayhim with bow and arrow, but would bite him dead with his mouth, and suck hisblood. But he was doomed to bitter disappointment, for Jacob's neck turned ashard as ivory, and in his helpless fury Esau could but gnash his teeth.[263]The two brothers were like the ram and the wolf. A wolf wanted to tear a ram inpieces, and the ram defended himself with his horns, striking them deep intothe flesh of the wolf. Both began to howl, the wolf because he could not securehis prey, and the ram from fear that the wolf renew his attacks. Esau bawledbecause his teeth were hurt by the ivory-like flesh of Jacob's neck, and Jacobfeared that his brother would make a second attempt to bite him.[264]

Esau addressed a question to his brother. "Tell me," he said, "what was thearmy I met?" for on his march against Jacob he had had a most peculiarexperience with a great host of forty thousand warriors. It consisted ofvarious kinds of troops, armor-clad soldiers walking on foot, mounted onhorses, and seated in chariots, and they all threw themselves upon Esau whenthey met. He demanded to know whence they came, and the strange soldiers hardlyinterrupted their savage onslaught to reply that they belonged to Jacob. Onlywhen Esau told them that Jacob was his brother did they leave off, saying, "Woeto us if our master hears that we did thee harm." This was the army and theencounter Esau inquired about as soon as he met his brother. But the army was ahost of angels, who had the appearance of warriors to Esau and his men.[265]Also the messengers sent by Jacob to Esau had been angels, for no mere humanbeing could be induced to go forth and face the recreant.[266]

Jacob now gave Esau the presents intended for him, a tenth of all hiscattle,[267] and also pearls and precious stones,[268] and, besides, a falconfor the chase.[269] But even the animals refused to give up their gentle masterJacob and become the property of the villain Esau. They all ran away when Jacobwanted to hand them over to his brother, and the result was that the only onesthat reached Esau were the feeble and the lame, all that could not make goodtheir escape.[270]

At first Esau declined the presents offered to him. Naturally, that was a merepretense. While refusing the gifts with words, he held his hand outstretchedready to receive them.[271] Jacob took the hint, and insisted that he acceptthem, saying: "Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, thenreceive my present at my hand, forasmuch as I have seen thy face, as I haveseen the face of angels, and thou art pleased with me." The closing words werechosen with well-calculated purpose. Jacob wanted Esau to derive the meaningthat he had intercourse with angels, and to be inspired with awe. Jacob waslike the man invited to a banquet by his mortal enemy who has been seeking anopportunity to slay him. When the guest divines the purpose for which he hasbeen brought thither, he says to the host: "What a magnificent and deliciousmeal this is! But once before in my life did I partake of one like it, and thatwas when I was bidden by the king to his table"—enough to drive terror to theheart of the would-be slayer. He takes good care not to harm a man on suchintimate terms with the king as to be invited to his table![272]

Jacob had valid reason for recalling his encounter with the angel, for it wasthe angel of Esau who had measured his strength with Jacob's, and had beenovercome.[273]

As Esau accepted the presents of Jacob willingly on this first occasion, so hecontinued to accept them for a whole year; daily Jacob gave him presents as onthe day of their meeting, for, he said, "'A gift doth blind the eyes of thewise,' and how much more doth it blind the wicked! Therefore will I give himpresents upon presents, perhaps he will let me alone." Besides, he did notattach much value to the possessions he had acquired outside of the Holy Land.Such possessions are not a blessing, and he did not hesitate to part with them.

Beside the presents which Jacob gave Esau, he also paid out a large sum ofmoney to him for the Cave of Machpelah. Immediately upon his arrival in theHoly Land he sold all he had brought with him from Haran, and a pile of goldwas the proceeds of the sale. He spoke to Esau, saying: "Like me thou hast ashare in the Cave of Machpelah, wilt thou take this pile of gold for thyportion therein?" "What care I for the Cave?" returned Esau. "Gold is what Iwant," and for his share in Machpelah he took the gold realized from the saleof the possessions Jacob had accumulated outside of the Holy Land. But God"filled the vacuum without delay," and Jacob was as rich as before.[274]

Wealth was not an object of desire to Jacob. He would have been well content,in his own behalf and in behalf of his family, to resign all earthly treasuresin favor of Esau and his family. He said to Esau: "I foresee that in futuredays suffering will be inflicted by thy children upon mine. But I do not demur,thou mayest exercise thy dominion and wear thy crown until the time when theMessiah springs from my loins, and receives the rule from thee." These wordsspoken by Jacob will be realized in days to come, when all the nations willrise up against the kingdom of Edom, and take away one city after another fromhim, one realm after another, until they reach Bet-Gubrin, and then the Messiahwill appear and assume his kingship. The angel of Edom will flee for refuge toBozrah, but God will appear there, and slay him, for though Bozrah is one ofthe cities of refuge, yet will the Lord exercise the right of the avengertherein. He will seize the angel by his hair, and Elijah will slaughter him,letting the blood spatter the garments of God.[275] All this Jacob had in mindwhen he said to Esau, "Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant,until I come unto my lord unto Seir." Jacob himself never went to Seir. What hemeant was the Messianic time when Israel shall go to Seir, and take possessionthereof.[276]

Jacob tarried in Succoth a whole year, and he opened a house of learningthere.[277] Then he journeyed on to Shechem, while Esau betook himself to Seir,saying to himself, "How long shall I be a burden to my brother?" for it wasduring Jacob's sojourn at Succoth that Esau received daily presents fromJacob.[278]

And Jacob, after abiding these many years in a strange land, came to Shechem inpeace, unimpaired in mind and body. He had forgotten none of the knowledge hehad acquired before; the gifts he gave to Esau did not encroach upon hiswealth; the injury inflicted by the angel that wrestled with him had beenhealed, and likewise his children were sound and healthy.[279]

Jacob entered Shechem on a Friday, late in the afternoon, and his first concernwas to lay out the boundaries of the city, that the laws of the Sabbath mightnot be transgressed. As soon as he was settled in the place, he sent presentsto the notables. A man must be grateful to a city from which he derivesbenefits. No less did the common people enjoy his bounty. For them he opened amarket where he sold all wares at low prices.[280]

Also he lost no time in buying a parcel of ground, for it is the duty of everyman of substance who comes to the Holy Land from outside to make himself thepossessor of land there.[281] He gave a hundred lambs for his estate, a hundredyearling sheep, and a hundred pieces of money, and received in return a bill ofsale, to which he attached his signature, using the letters Yod-He for it. Andthen he erected an altar to God upon his land, and he said, "Thou art the Lordof all celestial things, and I am the lord of all earthly things." But Godsaid, "Not even the overseer of the synagogue arrogates privileges in thesynagogue, and thou assumest lordship with a high hand? Forsooth, on the morrowthy daughter will go abroad, and she shall be humbled."[282]

THE OUTRAGE AT SHECHEM

While Jacob and his sons were sitting in the house of learning, occupied withthe study of the Torah,[283] Dinah went abroad to see the dancing and singingwomen, whom Shechem had hired to dance and play in the streets in order toentice her forth.[284] Had she remained at home, nothing would have happened toher. But she was a woman, and all women like to show themselves in thestreet.[285] When Shechem caught sight of her, he seized her by main force,young though she was,[286] and violated her in beastly fashion.[287]

This misfortune befell Jacob as a punishment for his excessive self-confidence.In his negotiations with Laban, he had used the expression, "My righteousnessshall answer for me hereafter." Besides, on his return to Palestine, when hewas preparing to meet his brother, he concealed his daughter Dinah in a chest,lest Esau desire to have her for wife, and he be obliged to give her to him.God spoke to him, saying: "Herein hast thou acted unkindly toward thy brother,and therefore Dinah will have to marry Job, one that is neither circumcised nora proselyte. Thou didst refuse to give her to one that is circumcised, and onethat is uncircumcised will take her. Thou didst refuse to give her to Esau inlawful wedlock, and now she will fall a victim to the ravisher's illicitpassion."[288]

When Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter, he sent twelve servantsto fetch Dinah from Shechem's house, but Shechem went out to them with his men,and drove them from his house, and he would not suffer them to come unto Dinah,and he kissed and embraced her before their eyes. Jacob then sent two maidensof his servants' daughters to remain with Dinah in the house of Shechem.Shechem bade three of his friends go to his father Hamor, the son of Haddakum,the son of Pered, and say, "Get me this damsel to wife." Hamor tried at firstto persuade his son not to take a Hebrew woman to wife, but when Shechempersisted in his request, he did according to the word of his son, and wentforth to communicate with Jacob concerning the matter. In the meanwhile thesons of Jacob returned from the field, and, kindled with wrath, they spoke untotheir father, saying, "Surely death is due to this man and his household,because the Lord God of the whole earth commanded Noah and his children thatman shall never rob nor commit adultery. Now, behold, Shechem has ravaged andcommitted fornication with our sister, and not one of all the people of thecity spake a word to him." And whilst they were speaking, Hamor came to speakto Jacob the words of his son concerning Dinah, and after he ceased to speak,Shechem himself came to Jacob and repeated the request made by his father.Simon and Levi answered Hamor and Shechem deceitfully, saying: "All you havespoken unto us we will do. And, behold, our sister is in your house, but keepaway from her until we send to our father Isaac concerning this matter, for wecan do nothing without his counsel. He knows the ways of our father Abraham,and whatever he saith unto us we will tell you, we will conceal nothing fromyou."

Shechem and his father went home thereafter, satisfied with the resultachieved, and when they had gone, the sons of Jacob asked him to seek counseland pretext in order to kill all the inhabitants of the city, who had deservedthis punishment on account of their wickedness. Then Simon said to them: "Ihave good counsel to give you. Bid them be circumcised. If they consent not, weshall take our daughter from them, and go away. And if they consent to do this,then, when they are in pain, we shall attack them and slay them." The nextmorning Shechem and his father came again to Jacob, to speak concerning Dinah,and the sons of Jacob spoke deceitfully to them, saying: "We told our fatherIsaac all your words, and your words pleased him, but he said, that thus didAbraham his father command him from God, that any man that is not of hisdescendants, who desireth to take one of his daughters to wife, shall causeevery male belonging to him to be circumcised."

Shechem and his father hastened to do the wishes of the sons of Jacob, and theypersuaded also the men of the city to do likewise, for they were greatlyesteemed by them, being the princes of the land.

On the next day, Shechem and his father rose up early in the morning, and theyassembled all the men of the city, and they called for the sons of Jacob, andthey circumcised Shechem, his father, his five brothers, and all the males inthe city, six hundred and forty-five men and two hundred and seventy-six lads.Haddakum, the grandfather of Shechem, and his six brothers would not becircumcised, and they were greatly incensed against the people of the city forsubmitting to the wishes of the sons of Jacob.

In the evening of the second day, Shechem and his father sent to have eightlittle children whom their mothers had concealed brought to them to becircumcised. Haddakum and his six brothers sprang at the messengers, and soughtto slay them, and sought to slay also Shechem, Hamor, and Dinah. They chidedShechem and his father for doing a thing that their fathers had never done,which would raise the ire of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan againstthem, as well as the ire of all the children of Ham, and that on account of aHebrew woman. Haddakum and his brothers finished by saying: "Behold, to-morrowwe will go and assemble our Canaanitish brethren, and we will come and smiteyou and all in whom you trust, that there shall not be a remnant left of you orthem."

When Hamor and his son Shechem and all the people of the city heard this, theywere sore afraid, and they repented what they had done, and Shechem and hisfather answered Haddakum and his brothers: "Because we saw that the Hebrewswould not accede to our wishes concerning their daughter, we did this thing,but when we shall have obtained our request from them, we will then do untothem that which is in your hearts and in ours, as soon as we shall becomestrong."

Dinah, who heard their words, hastened and dispatched one of her maidens whomher father had sent to take care of her in Shechem's house, and informed Jacoband his sons of the conspiracy plotted against them. When the sons of Jacobheard this, they were filled with wrath, and Simon and Levi swore, and said,"As the Lord liveth, by to-morrow there shall not be a remnant left In thewhole city."

They began the extermination by killing eighteen of the twenty young men whohad concealed themselves and were not circumcised, and two of them fled andescaped to some lime pits that were in the city. Then Simon and Levi slew allthe city, not leaving a male over, and while they were looking for spoilsoutside of the city, three hundred women rose against them and threw stones anddust upon them, but Simon single-handed slew them all, and returned to thecity, where he joined Levi. Then they took away from the people outside of thecity their sheep, their oxen, their cattle, and also the women and the littlechildren, and they led all these away, and took them to the city to theirfather Jacob. The number of women whom they did not slay, but only tookcaptive, was eighty-five virgins, among them a young damsel of great beauty bythe name of Bunah, whom Simon took to wife. The number of the males which theytook captive and did not slay was forty-seven, and all these men and women wereservants to the sons of Jacob, and to their children after them, until the daythey left Egypt.

A WAR FRUSTRATED

When Simon and Levi had gone from the city, the two young men who had concealedthemselves in the lime pits, and were not slain amongst the people of the city,rose up, and they found the city desolate, without a man, only weeping women,and they cried out, saying, "Behold, this is the evil which the sons of Jacobdid who destroyed one of the Canaanite cities, and were not afraid of all theland of Canaan."

They left the city and went to Tappuah, and told the inhabitants all that thesons of Jacob had done to the city of Shechem. Jashub, the king of Tappuah,sent to Shechem to see whether these young men told the truth, for he did notbelieve them, saying, "How could two men destroy a large city like Shechem?"The messengers of Jashub returned, and they reported, "The city is destroyed,not a man is left there, only weeping women, neither are there flocks andcattle there, for all that was in the city was taken away by the sons ofJacob."

Jashub wondered thereat, for the like had not been heard from the days ofNimrod, and not even from the remotest times, that two men should be able todestroy so large a city, and he decided to go to war against the Hebrews, andavenge the cause of the people of Shechem. His counsellors said to him: "If twoof them laid waste a whole city, surely if thou goest against them, they allwill rise up against us, and destroy us. Therefore, send to the kings roundabout, that we all together fight against the sons of Jacob, and prevailagainst them."

The seven kings of the Amorites, when they heard the evil that the sons ofJacob had done to the city of Shechem, assembled together, with all theirarmies, ten thousand men, with drawn swords, and they came to fight against thesons of Jacob. And Jacob was greatly afraid, and he said to Simon and Levi,"Why have you brought such evil upon me? I was at rest, and you provoked theinhabitants of the land against me by your acts."

Then Judah spoke to his father: "Was it for naught that Simon and Levi killedthe inhabitants of Shechem? Verily, it was because Shechem dishonored oursister, and transgressed the command of our God to Noah and his children, andnot one of the inhabitants of the city interfered in the matter. Now, why artthou afraid, and why art thou displeased at my brethren? Surely, our God, whodelivered the city of Shechem and its people into their hand, He will alsodeliver into our hands all the Canaanitish kings who are coming against us. Nowcast away thy fears, and pray to God to assist us and deliver us."

Judah then addressed his brethren, saying: "The Lord our God is with us! Fearnaught, then! Stand ye forth, each man girt with his weapons of war, his bowand his sword, and we will go and fight against the uncircumcised. The Lord isour God, He will save us."

Jacob, his eleven sons, and one hundred servants belonging to Isaac, who hadcome to their assistance, marched forward to meet the Amorites, a peopleexceedingly numerous, like unto the sand upon the sea-shore. The sons of Jacobsent unto their grandfather Isaac, at Hebron, requesting him to pray unto theLord to protect them from the hand of the Canaanites, and he prayed as follows:"O Lord God, Thou didst promise my father, saying, I will multiply thy seed asthe stars of heaven, and also me Thou didst promise that Thou wouldst establishThy word to my father. Now, O Lord, God of the whole world, pervert, I prayThee, the counsel of these kings, that they may not fight against my sons, andimpress the hearts of their kings and their people with the terror of my sons,and bring down their pride that they turn away from my sons. Deliver my sonsand their servants from them with Thy strong hand and outstretched arm, forpower and might are in Thy hands to do all this."

Jacob also prayed unto God, and said: "O Lord God, powerful and exalted God,who hast reigned from days of old, from then until now and forever! Thou art Hewho stirreth up wars and causeth them to cease. In Thy hand are power and mightto exalt and to bring low. O may my prayer be acceptable unto Thee, that Thoumayest turn to me with Thy mercies, to impress the hearts of these kings andtheir people with the terror of my sons, and terrify them and their camps, andwith Thy great kindness deliver all those that trust in Thee, for Thou art Hewho subdues the peoples under us, and the nations under our feet."

God heard the prayers of Isaac and Jacob, and He filled the hearts of all theadvisers of the Canaanite kings with great fear and terror, and when the kings,who were undecided whether to undertake a campaign against the sons of Jacob,consulted them, they said: "Are you silly, or is there no understanding in you,that you propose to fight with the Hebrews? Why do you take delight in your owndestruction this day? Behold, two of them came to the city of Shechem withoutfear or terror, and they put all the inhabitants of the city to the sword, noman stood up against them, and how will you be able to fight with them all?"

The royal counsellors then proceeded to enumerate all the mighty things God haddone for Abraham, Jacob, and the sons of Jacob, such as had not been done fromdays of old and by any of the gods of the nations. When the kings heard all thewords of their advisers, they were afraid of the sons of Jacob, and they wouldnot fight against them. They turned back with their armies on that day, each tohis own city. But the sons of Jacob kept their station that day till evening,and seeing that the kings did not advance to do battle with them in order toavenge the inhabitants of Shechem whom they had killed, they returnedhome.[289]

The wrath of the Lord descended upon the inhabitants of Shechem to theuttermost on account of their wickedness. For they had sought to do unto Sarahand Rebekah as they did unto Dinah, but the Lord had prevented them. Also theyhad persecuted Abraham when he was a stranger, and they had vexed his flockswhen they were big with young, and Eblaen, one born in his house, they hadhandled most shamefully. And thus they did to all strangers, taking away theirwives by force.[290]

THE WAR WITH THE NINEVITES

The destruction of Shechem by Simon and Levi terrified the heathen all around.If two sons of Jacob had succeeded in ruining a great city like Shechem, theyargued, what would Jacob and all his sons accomplish acting together? Jacobmeanwhile left Shechem, hindered by none, and with all his possessions he setout, to betake himself to his father Isaac. But after an eight days' march heencountered a powerful army, which had been dispatched from Nineveh to levytribute upon the whole world and subjugate it. On coming in the vicinity ofShechem, this army heard to what the city had been exposed at the hands of thesons of Jacob, and fury seized the men, and they resolved to make war uponJacob.

But Jacob said to his sons: "Fear not, God will be your helper, and He willfight for you against your enemies. Only you must put away from you the strangegods in your possession, and you must purify yourselves, and wash your garmentsclean."

Girt with his sword, Jacob advanced against the enemy, and in the firstonslaught he slew twelve thousand of the weak in the army. Then Judah spake tohim, and said, "Father, thou art tired and exhausted, let me fight the enemyalone." And Jacob replied, saying, "Judah, my son, I know thy strength and thybravery, that they are exceeding great, so that none in the world is like untothee therein." His countenance like a lion's and inflamed with wrath, Judahattacked the army, and slew twelve myriads of tried and famous warriors. Thebattle raged hot in front and in the rear, and Levi his brother hastened to hisaid, and together they won a victory over the Ninevites. Judah alone slew fivethousand more soldiers, and Levi dealt blows right and left with such vigorthat the men of the enemy's army fell like grain under the scythe of thereaper.

Alarmed about their fate, the people of Nineveh said: "How long shall we fightwith these devils? Let us return to our land, lest they exterminate us root andbranch, without leaving a remnant." But their king desired to restrain them,and he said: "O ye heroes, ye men of might and valor, have you lost your sensesthat you ask to return to your land? Is this your bravery? After you havesubdued many kingdoms and countries, ye are not able to hold out against twelvemen? If the nations and the kings whom we have made tributary to ourselves hearof this, they will rise up against us as a man, and make a laughing-stock ofus, and do with us according to their desire. Take courage, ye men of the greatcity of Nineveh, that your honor and your name be exalted, and you become not amockery in the mouth of your enemies."

These words of their king inspired the warriors to continue the campaign. Theysent messengers to all the lands to ask for help, and, reinforced by theirallies, the Ninevites assaulted Jacob a second time. He spoke to his sons,saying, "Take courage and be men, fight against your enemies." His twelve sonsthen took up their stand in twelve different places, leaving considerableintervals between one and another, and Jacob, a sword in his right hand and abow in his left, advanced to the combat. It was a desperate encounter for him.He had to ward off the enemy to the right and the left. Nevertheless heinflicted a severe blow, and when a band of two thousand men beset him, heleapt up in the air and over them and vanished from their sight. Twenty-twomyriads he slew on this day, and when evening came he planned to flee undercover of darkness. But suddenly ninety thousand men appeared, and he wascompelled to continue the fight. He rushed at them with his sword, but itbroke, and he had to defend himself by grinding huge rocks into lime powder,and this he threw at the enemy and blinded them so that they could see nothing.Luckily, darkness was about to fall, and he could permit himself to take restfor the night.

In the morning, Judah said to Jacob, "Father, thou didst fight the whole ofyesterday, and thou art weary and exhausted. Let me fight this day." When thewarriors caught sight of Judah's lion face and his lion teeth, and heard hislion voice, they were greatly afraid. Judah hopped and jumped over the armylike a flea, from one warrior to the next, raining blows down upon themincessantly, and by evening he had slain eighty thousand and ninety-six men,armed with swords and bows. But fatigue overcame him, and Zebulon took up hisstation at his brother's left hand, and mowed down eighty thousand of theenemy. Meantime Judah regained some of his strength, and, rising up in wrathand fury, and gnashing his teeth with a noise like unto thunder claps inmidsummer, he put the army to flight. It ran a distance of eighteen miles, andJudah could enjoy a respite that night.

But the army reappeared on the morrow, ready for battle again, to take revengeon Jacob and his children. They blew their trumpets, whereupon Jacob spake tohis sons, "Go forth and fight with your enemies." Issachar and Gad said thatthis day they would take the combat upon themselves, and their father bade themdo it while their brothers kept guard and held themselves in readiness to aidand relieve the two combatants when they showed signs of weariness andexhaustion.

The leaders of the day slew forty-eight thousand warriors, and put to flighttwelve myriads more, who concealed themselves in a cave. Issachar and Gadfetched trees from the woods, piled the trunks up in front of the opening ofthe cave, and set fire to them. When the fire blazed with a fierce flame, thewarriors spoke, saying: "Why should we stay in this cave and perish with thesmoke and the heat? Rather will we go forth and fight with our enemies, then wemay have a chance of saving ourselves." They left the cave, going throughopenings at the side, and they attacked Issachar and Gad in front and behind.Dan and Naphtali saw the plight of their brothers and ran to their assistance.They laid about with their swords, hewing a way for themselves to Issachar andGad, and, united with them, they, too, opposed the foe.

It was the third day of the conflict, and the Ninevites were reinforced by anarmy as numerous as the sand on the sea-shore. All the sons of Jacob united tooppose it, and they routed the host. But when they pursued after the enemy, thefugitives faced about and resumed the battle, saying: "Why should we run away?Let us rather fight them, perhaps we may be victorious, now they are weary." Astubborn combat ensued, and when Jacob saw the vehement attack upon hischildren, he himself sprang into the thick of the battle and dealt blows rightand left. Nevertheless the heathen were victorious, and succeeded in separatingJudah from his brethren. As soon as Jacob was aware of the peril of his son, hewhistled, and Judah responded, and his brethren hastened to his aid. Judah wasfatigued and parched with thirst, and there was no water for him to drink, buthe dug his finger into the ground with such force that water gushed out in thesight of the whole army. Then said one warrior to another, "I will flee beforethese devils, for God fights on their side," and he and all the army fledprecipitately, pursued by the sons of Jacob. Soldiers without number they slew,and then they went back to their tents. On their return they noticed thatJoseph was missing, and they feared he had been killed or taken captive.Naphtali ran after the retreating enemy, to make search for Joseph, and hefound him still fighting against the Ninevite army. He joined Joseph, andkilled countless soldiers, and of the fugitives many drowned, and the men thatwere besetting Joseph ran off and left him in safety.

At the end of the war Jacob continued his journey, unhindered, to his fatherIsaac.[291]

THE WAR WITH THE AMORITES

At first the people that lived round about Shechem made no attempt to molestJacob, who had returned thither after a while, together with his household, totake up his abode there and establish himself. But at the end of seven yearsthe heathen began to harass him. The kings of the Amorites assembled togetheragainst the sons of Jacob to slay them in the Valley of Shechem. "Is it notenough," they said, "that they have slain all the men of Shechem? Should theybe permitted now to take possession of their land, too?" and they advanced torender battle.

Judah leapt into the midst of the ranks of the foot soldiers of the alliedkings, and slew first of all Jashub, the king of Tappuah, who was clad in ironand brass from top to toe. The king was mounted, and from his horse he cast hisspears downward with both hands, in front of him and in back, without evermissing his aim, for he was a mighty warrior, and he could throw javelins withone hand or the other. Nevertheless Judah feared neither him nor his prowess.He ran toward him, snatching a stone of sixty sela'im from the ground andhurling it at him. Jashub was at a distance of one hundred and seventy-sevenells and one-third of an ell, and, protected with iron armor and throwingspears, he moved forward upon Judah. But Judah struck him on his shield withthe stone, and unhorsed him. When the king attempted to rise, Judah hastened tohis side to slay him before he could get on his feet. But Jashub was nimble, hestood ready to attack Judah, shield to shield, and he drew his sword to cut offJudah's head. Quickly Judah raised his shield to catch the blow upon it, but itbroke in pieces. What did Judah now? He wrested the shield of his opponent awayfrom him, and swung his sword against Jashub's feet, cutting them off above theankles. The king fell prostrate, his sword slipped from his grasp, and Judahhastened to him and severed his head from his body.

While Judah was removing the armor of his slain adversary, nine of Jashub'sfollowers appeared. Judah slung a stone against the head of the first of themthat approached him, with such force that he dropped his shield, which Judahsnatched from the ground and used to defend himself against his eightassailants. His brother Levi came and stood next to him, and shot off an arrowthat killed Elon, king of Gaash, and then Judah killed the eight men. And hisfather Jacob came and killed Zerori king of Shiloh. None of the heathen couldprevail against these sons of Jacob, they had not the courage to stand upbefore them, but took to flight, and the sons of Jacob pursued after them, andeach slew a thousand men of the Amorites on that day, before the going down ofthe sun. And the other sons of Jacob set forth from the Hill of Shechem, wherethey had taken up their stand, and they also pursued after them as far asHazor. Before this city they had another severe encounter with the enemy, moresevere than that in the Valley of Shechem. Jacob let his arrows fly, and slewPirathon king of Hazor, and then Pasusi king of Sartan, Laban king of Aram, andShebir king of Mahanaim.

Judah was the first to mount the walls of Hazor. As he approached the top, fourwarriors attacked him, but he slew them without stopping in his ascent, andbefore his brother Naphtali could bring him succor. Naphtali followed him, andthe two stood upon the wall, Judah to the right and Naphtali to the left, andthence they dealt out death to the warriors. The other sons of Jacob followedtheir two brothers in turn, and made an end of exterminating the heathen hoston that day. They subjugated Hazor, slew the warriors thereof, let no manescape with his life, and despoiled the city of all therein.

On the day following they went to Sartan, and again a bloody battle took place.Sartan was situated upon high land, and the hill before the city was likewisevery high, so that none could come near unto it, and also none could come nearunto the citadel, because the wall thereof was high. Nevertheless they madethemselves masters of the city. They scaled the walls of the citadel, Judah onthe east side being the first to ascend, then Gad on the west side, Simon andLevi on the north, and Reuben and Dan on the south, and Naphtali and Issacharset fire to the hinges upon which the gates of the city were hung.

In the same way the sons of Jacob subdued five other cities, Tappuah, Arbel,Shiloh, Mahanaim, and Gaash, making an end of all of them in five days. On thesixth day all the Amorites assembled, and they came to Jacob and his sonsunarmed, bowed down before them, and sued for peace. And the sons of Jacob madepeace with the heathen, who ceded Timna to them, and all the land of Harariah.In that day also Jacob concluded peace with them, and they made restitution tothe sons of Jacob for all the cattle they had taken, two head for one, and theyrestored all the spoil they had carried off. And Jacob turned to go to Timna,and Judah went to Arbel, and thenceforth the Amorites troubled them nomore.[292]

ISAAC BLESSES LEVI AND JUDAH

If a man voweth a vow, and he does not fulfil it in good time, he will stumblethrough three grave sins, idolatry, unchastity, and bloodshed. Jacob had beenguilty of not accomplishing promptly the vow he had taken upon himself atBeth-el, and therefore punishment overtook him—his daughter was dishonored, hissons slew men, and they kept the idols found among the spoils of Shechem.[293]Therefore, when Jacob prostrated himself before God after the bloody outrage atShechem, He bade him arise, and go to Beth-el and accomplish the vow he hadvowed there.[294] Before Jacob set out for the holy place to do the bidding ofGod, he took the idols which were in the possession of his sons, and theteraphim which Rachel had stolen from her father, and he shivered them inpieces, and buried[295] the bits under an oak upon Mount Gerizim,[296]uprooting the tree with one hand, concealing the remains of the idols in thehollow left in the earth, and planting the oak again with one hand.[297]

Among the destroyed idols was one in the form of a dove, and this theSamaritans dug up later and worshipped.

On reaching Beth-el he erected an altar to the Lord, and on a pillar he set upthe stone whereon he had rested his head during the night which he had passedthere on his journey to Haran.[298] Then he bade his parents come to Beth-eland take part in his sacrifice. But Isaac sent him a message, saying, "O my sonJacob, that I might see thee before I die," whereupon Jacob hastened to hisparents, taking Levi and Judah with him. When his grandchildren stepped beforeIsaac, the darkness that shrouded his eyes dropped away, and he said, "My son,are these thy children, for they resemble thee?" And the spirit of prophecyentered his mouth, and he grasped Levi with his right hand and Judah with hisleft in order to bless them, and he spoke these words to Levi: "May the Lordbring thee and thy seed nigh unto Him before all flesh, that ye serve in Hissanctuary like the Angel of the Face and the Holy Angels. Princes, judges, andrulers shall they be unto all the seed of the children of Jacob. The word ofGod they will proclaim in righteousness, and all His judgments they willexecute in justice, and they will make manifest His ways unto the children ofJacob, and unto Israel His paths." And unto Judah he spake, saying: "Be yeprinces, thou and one of thy sons, over the sons of Jacob. In thee shall be thehelp of Jacob, and the salvation of Israel shall be found in thee. And whenthou sittest upon the throne of the glory of thy justice, perfect peace shallreign over all the seed of the children of my beloved Abraham."

On the morrow, Isaac told his son that he would not accompany him to Beth-el onaccount of his great age, but he bade him not delay longer to fulfil his vow,and gave him permission to take his mother Rebekah with him to the holy place.And Rebekah and her nurse Deborah went to Beth-el with Jacob.[299]

JOY AND SORROW IN THE HOUSE OF JACOB

Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, and some of the servants of Isaac had been sentto Jacob by his mother, while he still abode with Laban, to summon him home atthe end of his fourteen years' term of service. As Jacob did not at once obeyhis mother's behest, the two servants of Isaac returned to their master, butDeborah remained with Jacob then and always. Therefore, when Deborah died inBeth-el, Jacob mourned for her, and he buried her below Beth-el under thepalm-tree,[300] the same under which the prophetess Deborah sat later, when thechildren of Israel came to her for judgment.[301]

But a short time elapsed after the death of the nurse Deborah, and Rebekahdied, too. Her passing away was not made the occasion for public mourning. Thereason was that, as Abraham was dead, Isaac blind, and Jacob away from home,there remained Esau as the only mourner to appear in public and represent herfamily, and beholding that villain, it was feared, might tempt a looker-on tocry out, "Accursed be the breasts that gave thee suck." To avoid this, theburial of Rebekah took place at night.

God appeared unto Jacob to comfort him in his grief,[302] and with Him appearedthe heavenly family. It was a sign of grace, for all the while the sons ofJacob had been carrying idols with them the Lord had not revealed Himself toJacob.[303] At this time God announced to Jacob the birth of Benjamin soon tooccur, and the birth of Manasseh and Ephraim, who also were to be founders oftribes, and furthermore He told him that these three would count kings amongtheir descendants, Saul and Ish-bosheth, of the seed of Benjamin, Jeroboam theEphraimite, and Jehu of the tribe of Manasseh. In this vision, God confirmedthe change of his name from Jacob to Israel, promised him by the angel withwhom he had wrestled on entering the Holy Land, and finally God revealed to himthat he would be the last of the three with whose names the Name of God wouldappear united, for God is called only the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, andthe God of Jacob, and never the God of any one else.[304]

In token of this revelation from God, Jacob set up a pillar of stone, and hepoured out a drink offering thereon, as in a later day the priests were tooffer libations in the Temple on the Feast of Tabernacles,[305] and thelibation brought by Jacob at Beth-el was as much as all the waters in the Seaof Tiberias.[306]

At the time when Deborah and Rebekah died, occurred also the death of Rachel,at the age of thirty-six,[307] but not before her prayer was heard, that shebear Jacob a second son, for she died in giving birth to Benjamin. Twelve yearsshe had borne no child, then she fasted twelve days, and her petition wasgranted her. She brought forth the youngest son of Jacob, whom he calledBenjamin, the son of days, because he was born in his father's old age,[308]and with him a twin sister was born.[309]

Rachel was buried in the way to Ephrath, because Jacob, gifted with propheticspirit, foresaw that the exiles would pass this place on their march toBabylon, and as they passed, Rachel would entreat God's mercy for the pooroutcasts.[310]

Jacob journeyed on to Jerusalem.[311]

During Rachel's lifetime, her couch had always stood in the tent of Jacob.After her death, he ordered the couch of her handmaid Bilhah to be carriedthither. Reuben was sorely vexed thereat, and he said, "Not enough that Rachelalive curtailed the rights of my mother, she must needs give her annoyance alsoafter death!" He went and took the couch of his mother Leah and placed it inJacob's tent instead of Bilhah's couch.[312] Reuben's brothers learned of hisdisrespectful act from Asher. He had found it out in one way or another, andhad told it to his brethren, who ruptured their relations with him, for theywould have nothing to do with an informer, and they did not become reconciledwith Asher until Reuben himself confessed his transgression.[313] For it wasnot long before Reuben recognized that he had acted reprehensibly toward hisfather, and he fasted and put on sackcloth, and repented of his misdeed. He wasthe first among men to do penance, and therefore God said to him: "Since thebeginning of the world it hath not happened that a man hath sinned and thenrepented thereof. Thou art the first to do penance, and as thou livest, aprophet of thy seed, Hosea, shall be the first to proclaim, 'O Israel, return.'"[314]

ESAU'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST JACOB

When Isaac felt his end approaching, he called his two sons to him, and chargedthem with his last wish and will, and gave them his blessing. He said: "Iadjure you by the exalted Name, the praised, honored, glorious, immutable, andmighty One, who hath made heaven and earth and all things together, that yefear Him, and serve Him, and each shall love his brother in mercy and justice,and none wish evil unto the other, now and henceforth unto all eternity, allthe days of your life, that ye may enjoy good fortune in all your undertakings,and that ye perish not."

Furthermore he commanded them to bury him in the Cave of Machpelah, by the sideof his father Abraham, in the grave which he had dug for himself with his ownhands. Then he divided his possessions between his two sons, giving Esau thelarger portion, and Jacob the smaller. But Esau said, "I sold my birthright toJacob, and I ceded it to him, and it belongs unto him." Isaac rejoiced greatlythat Esau acknowledged the rights of Jacob of his own accord, and he closed hiseyes in peace.[315]

The funeral of Isaac was not disturbed by any unseemly act, for Esau was sureof his heritage in accordance with the last wishes expressed by his father. Butwhen the time came to divide Isaac's possessions between the two brothers, Esausaid to Jacob, "Divide the property of our father into two portions, but I asthe elder claim the right of choosing the portion I desire." What did Jacob do?He knew well that "the eye of the wicked never beholds treasures enough tosatisfy it," so he divided their common heritage in the following way: all thematerial possessions of his father formed one portion, and the other consistedof Isaac's claim upon the Holy Land, together with the Cave of Machpelah, thetomb of Abraham and Isaac. Esau chose the money and the other things belongingto Isaac for his inheritance, and to Jacob were left the Cave and the title tothe Holy Land. An agreement to this effect was drawn up in writing in due form,and on the strength of the document Jacob insisted upon Esau's leavingPalestine. Esau acquiesced, and he and his wives and his sons and daughtersjourneyed to Mount Seir, where they took up their abode.[316]

Though Esau gave way before Jacob for the nonce, he returned to the land tomake war upon his brother. Leah had just died, and Jacob and the sons borne byLeah were mourning for her, and the rest of his sons, borne unto him by hisother wives, were trying to comfort them, when Esau came upon them with apowerful host of four thousand men, well equipped for war, clad in armor ofiron and brass, all furnished with bucklers, bows, and swords. They surroundedthe citadel wherein Jacob and his sons dwelt at that time with their servantsand children and households, for they had all assembled to console Jacob forthe death of Leah, and they sat there unconcerned, none entertained a suspicionthat an assault upon them was meditated by any man. And the great army hadalready encircled their castle, and still none within suspected any harm,neither Jacob and his children nor the two hundred servants. Now when Jacob sawthat Esau presumed to make war upon them, and sought to slay them in thecitadel, and was shooting darts at them, he ascended the wall of the citadeland spake words of peace and friendship and brotherly love to Esau. He said:"Is this the consolation which thou hast come to bring me, to comfort me for mywife, who hath been taken by death? Is this in accordance with the oath thoudidst swear twice unto thy father and thy mother before they died? Thou hastviolated thy oath, and in the hour when thou didst swear unto thy father, thouwast judged." But Esau made reply: "Neither the children of men nor the beastsof the field swear an oath to keep it unto all eternity, but on every day theydevise evil against one another, when it is directed against an enemy, or whenthey seek to slay an adversary. If the boar will change his skin and make hisbristles as soft as wool, or if he can cause horns to sprout forth on his headlike the horns of a stag or a ram, then shall I observe the tie of brotherhoodwith thee."

Then spoke Judah to his father Jacob, saying: "How long wilt thou stand yetwasting words of peace and friendship upon him? And he attacks us unawares,like an enemy, with his mail-clad warriors, seeking to slay us." Hearing thesewords, Jacob grasped his bow and killed Adoram the Edomite, and a second timehe bent his bow, and the arrow struck Esau upon the right thigh. The wound wasmortal, and his sons lifted Esau up and put him upon his ass, and he came toAdora, and there he died.

Judah made a sally to the south of the citadel, and with him were Naphtali andGad, aided by fifty of Jacob's servants; to the east Levi and Dan went forthwith fifty servants; Reuben, Issachar, and Zebulon with fifty servants, to thenorth; and Simon, Benjamin, and Enoch, the last the son of Reuben, with fiftyservants, to the west. Judah was exceedingly brave in battle. Together withNaphtali and Gad he pressed forward into the ranks of the enemy, and capturedone of their iron towers. On their bucklers they caught the sharp missileshurled against them in such numbers that the light of the sun was darkened byreason of the rocks and darts and stones. Judah was the first to break theranks of the enemy, of whom he killed six valiant men, and he was accompaniedon the right by Naphtali and by Gad on the left. They also hewed down twosoldiers each, while their troop of servants killed one man each. Neverthelessthey did not succeed in forcing the army away from the south of the citadel,not even when all together, Judah and his brethren, made an united attack uponthe enemy, each of them picking out a victim and slaying him. And they werestill unsuccessful in a third combined attack, though this time each killed twomen.

When Judah saw now that the enemy remained in possession of the field, and itwas impossible to dislodge them, he girded himself with strength, and an heroicspirit animated him. Judah, Naphtali, and Gad united, and together they piercedthe ranks of the enemy, Judah slaying ten of them, and his brothers each eight.Seeing this, the servants took courage, and they joined their leaders andfought at their side. Judah laid about him to right and to left, always aidedby Naphtali and Gad, and so they succeeded in forcing the enemy one ris furtherto the south, away from the citadel. But the hostile army recovered itself, andmaintained a brave stand against all the sons of Jacob, who were faint from thehardships of the combat, and could not continue to fight. Thereupon Judahturned to God in prayer, and God hearkened unto his petition, and He helpedthem. He set loose a storm from one of His treasure chambers, and it blew intothe faces of the enemy, and filled their eyes with darkness, and they could notsee how to fight. But Judah and his brothers could see clearly, for the windblew upon their backs. Now Judah and his two brothers wrought havoc among them,they hewed the enemy down as the reaper mows down the stalks of grain and heapsthem up for sheaves.

After they had routed the division of the army assigned to them on the south,they hastened to the aid of their brothers, who were defending the east, north,and west of the citadel with three companies. On each side the wind blew intothe faces of the enemy, and so the sons of Jacob succeeded in annihilatingtheir army. Four hundred were slain in battle, and six hundred fled, among thelatter Esau's four sons, Reuel, Jeush, Lotan, and Korah. The oldest of hissons, Eliphaz, took no part in the war, because he was a disciple of Jacob, andtherefore would not bear arms against him.

The sons of Jacob pursued after the fleeing remnant of the army as far asAdora. There the sons of Esau abandoned the body of their father, and continuedtheir flight to Mount Seir. But the sons of Jacob remained in Adora over night,and out of respect for their father they buried the remains of his brotherEsau. In the morning they went on in pursuit of the enemy, and besieged them onMount Seir. Now the sons of Esau and all the other fugitives came and fell downbefore them, bowed down, and entreated them without cease, until they concludedpeace with them. But the sons of Jacob exacted tribute from them.[317]

THE DESCENDANTS OF ESAU

The worthiest among the sons of Esau was his first-born Eliphaz. He had beenraised under the eyes of his grandfather Isaac, from whom he had learnt thepious way of life.[318] The Lord had even found him worthy of being endowedwith the spirit of prophecy, for Eliphaz the son of Esau is none other than theprophet Eliphaz, the friend of Job. It was from the life of the Patriarchs thathe drew the admonitions which he gave unto Job in his disputes with him.Eliphaz spake: "Thou didst ween thyself the equal of Abraham, and thou didstmarvel, therefore, that God should deal with thee as with the generation of theconfusion of tongues. But Abraham stood the test of ten temptations, and thoufaintest when but one toucheth thee. When any that was not whole came to thee,thou wouldst console him. To the blind thou wouldst say, If thou didst buildthyself a house, thou wouldst surely put windows in it, and if God hath deniedthee light, it is but that He may be glorified through thee in the day when'the eyes of the blind shall be opened.' To the deaf thou wouldst say, If thoudidst fashion a water pitcher, thou wouldst surely not forget to make ears forit, and if God created thee without hearing, it is but that He may be glorifiedthrough thee in the day when 'the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.' In suchwise thou didst endeavor to console the feeble and the maimed. But now it iscome unto thee, and thou art troubled. Thou sayest, I am an upright man, whydoth He chastise me? But who, I pray thee, ever perished, being innocent? Noahwas saved from the flood, Abraham from the fiery furnace, Isaac from theslaughtering knife, Jacob from angels, Moses from the sword of Pharaoh, andIsrael from the Egyptians that were drowned in the Sea. Thus shall all thewicked fare."

Job answered Eliphaz, and said, "Look at thy father Esau!"

But Eliphaz returned: "I have nothing to do with him, the son should not bearthe iniquity of the father. Esau will be destroyed, because he executed no gooddeeds, and likewise his dukes will perish. But as for me, I am a prophet, andmy message is not unto Esau, but unto thee, to make thee render account ofthyself." But God rebuked Eliphaz, and said: "Thou didst speak harsh words untoMy servant Job. Therefore shall Obadiah, one of thy descendants, utter aprophecy of denunciation against thy father's house, the Edomites."[319]

The concubine of Eliphaz was Timna, a princess of royal blood, who had asked tobe received into the faith of Abraham and his family, but they all, Abraham,Isaac, and Jacob, had rejected her, and she said, "Rather will I be a maidservant unto the dregs of this nation, than mistress of another nation," and soshe was willing to be concubine to Eliphaz. To punish the Patriarchs for theaffront they had offered her, she was made the mother of Amalek, who inflictedgreat injury upon Israel.[320]

Another one of Esau's descendants, Anah, had a most unusual experience. Oncewhen he was pasturing his father's asses in the wilderness, he led them to oneof the deserts on the shores of the Red Sea, opposite the wilderness of thenations, and while he was feeding the beasts, a very heavy storm came from theother side of the sea, and the asses could not move. Then about one hundred andtwenty great and terrible animals came out from the wilderness at the otherside of the sea, and they all came to the place where the asses were, and theyplaced themselves there. From the middle down, these animals were in the shapeof a man, and from the middle up some had the likeness of bears, some of apes,and they all had tails behind them like the tail of the dukipat, from betweentheir shoulders reaching down to the earth. The animals mounted the asses, andthey rode away with them, and unto this day no eye hath seen them. One of themapproached Anah, and smote him with its tail, and then ran off.

When Anah saw all this, he was exceedingly afraid on account of his life, andhe fled to the city, where he related all that had happened to him. Manysallied forth to seek the asses, but none could find them. Anah and hisbrothers went no more to the same place from that day forth, for they weregreatly afraid on account of their lives.[321]

This Anah was the offspring of an incestuous marriage; his mother was at thesame time the mother of his father Zibeon. And as he was born of an unnaturalunion, so he tried to bring about unnatural unions among animals. He was thefirst to mix the breed of the horse and the ass and produce the mule. As apunishment, God crossed the snake and the lizard, and they brought forth thehabarbar, whose bite is certain death, like the bite of the whiteshe-mule.[322]

The descendants of Esau had eight kings before there reigned any king over thedescendants of Jacob. But a time came when the Jews had eight kings duringwhose reign the Edomites had none and were subject to the Jewish kings. Thiswas the time that intervened between Saul, the first Israelitish king, whoruled over Edom, and Jehoshaphat, for Edom did not make itself independent ofJewish rule until the time of Joram, the son of Jehoshaphat. There was adifference between the kings of Esau's seed and the kings of Jacob's seed. TheJewish people always produced their kings from their own midst, while theEdomites had to go to alien peoples to secure theirs.[323] The first Edomiteking was the Aramean Balaam,[324] called Bela in his capacity as ruler of Edom.His successor Job, called Jobab also, came from Bozrah, and for furnishing Edomwith a king this city will be chastised in time to come. When God sits injudgment on Edom, Bozrah will be the first to suffer punishment.[325]

The rule of Edom was of short duration, while the rule of Israel will be untoall times, for the standard of the Messiah shall wave forever and ever.[326]

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