Life of Martin & Chronicle 1 part 2/4

(5) And now from afar arms and standards, and battle-lines extended over the wide open plains, were being seen, while the Hebrews trembled with fear and gazed at heaven; then Moses, warned by God, struck the sea with his rod and divided it. (6) Thus for the people, the waters yielding to either side, the way was passable as if upon dry land. Nor did the Egyptian king hesitate to follow those who yielded, entering the sea where it lay open; soon, the waters coming together, he was destroyed with his whole army. 16 (1) Then Moses, exulting in the safety of his own and the destruction of the enemy, sang a song to God, and the whole throng of male and female sex did likewise. (2) But as they entered the desert, when they had now journeyed for three days, the want of water pressed hard, and that which was found, on account of its bitterness, was not for use.

(3) And then first appeared the obstinacy of the impatient people, and now it was directed against Moses, when, taught by God, he cast a piece of wood into the waters, whose power was such that it rendered the flowing waters of a sweet savour. (4) Thence the band, being advanced, settled at Elim, where twelve fountains of water and seventy palm-trees were found. Again the people, complaining of hunger, reproached Moses, longing for the servitude of Egypt with fullness of belly; then a flock of quails, sent from above, filled the camp. (5) But on the following day those who had gone forth outside the camp noticed the ground covered with certain small pods; whose appearance was after the manner of coriander seed, of an icy whiteness, as we often see the earth in winter months covered with the frosts spread over it.

(6) Then through Moses the people were admonished that this bread had been sent to them as a gift of God; that each one ought to take of it only so much as was sufficient for a single day according to the number of individuals, in vessels prepared for the purpose; yet on the sixth day, because it might not be gathered on the sabbath, they should take a double portion in advance. (7) But the people, as ever too little heedful of the command, after the manner of human disposition, did not curb their greed, looking to the morrow as well out of what they had hidden away. But what was stored up boiled up with a foul stench into worms, (8) while what had been reserved on the sixth day for the sabbath remained whole. This food the Hebrews used for forty years, whose savour was next to honey; its name is handed down as manna. And in testimony of the divine gift, Moses is said to have reserved a full omer in a golden vessel.

17 (1) Advancing thence, the people, being tried by want of water, with difficulty refrained from the destruction of their leader. Then Moses, at the Lord's command, striking the rock with his rod at a place named Horeb, brought forth a great abundance of water. (2) But when they reached Rephidim, the Amalekites were ravaging the people with their incursions. Moses, having led out his men into battle, when he had set Joshua over those who fought, taking Aaron and Hur, to be a spectator of the fight and at the same time for the sake of praying to the Lord, ascended the mountain. But when the lines had clashed with doubtful outcome, by the prayers of Moses, Joshua the victor cut down the enemy until nightfall.

(3) About the same time Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, with his daughter Zipporah—who was married to Moses and had remained at home when her husband set out into Egypt—and with Moses' children, having learned of the things that were being done through Moses, came to him. (4) By his counsel Moses distributed the orders of the people, appointing tribunes and centurions and decurions, and handed down to posterity a necessary rite of discipline; Jethro returned to his own country. (5) Thence they came to Mount Sinai. There Moses was warned by the Lord that the people should be sanctified, being about to hear the voices of God; and this was carefully seen to. But when God stood upon the mountain, the air was shaken with mighty blasts of trumpets, and thick clouds with frequent lightnings rolled around.

(6) But Moses and Aaron stood near the Lord at the summit of the mountain, while the people stood around the foot of the mountain. Thus the law was given, manifold and copious in the words of God, and often repeated; of which if anyone shall be more curious, let him go to the source itself; we touch upon it briefly. (7) "You shall not have," He says, "strange gods before me; you shall not make for yourself an idol; you shall not take the name of your God in vain; on the sabbath you shall do no work; honour your father and your mother; you shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness against your neighbour; you shall not covet anything of your neighbour's."

18 (1) When these things had been said by God, while the trumpets sounded round about, the torches blazed, and smoke covered the mountain, the people shuddered with fear, unable to bear the words of God; and they begged of Moses that God should speak to him alone, and that thus, having heard, he should report them to the people. (2) Now the decrees of God to Moses are of this kind: A Hebrew boy bought with money shall serve six years, after this he shall be free; but to one remaining of his own will in servitude, the ear shall be pierced. He who has killed a man shall pay the penalty with his head; he who has done it unwittingly shall duly be an exile. He who has struck his father or mother, or spoken abuse to them, shall be punished with capital punishment. (3) If anyone has sold a Hebrew who has been kidnapped, he shall be given over to death.

If anyone has struck his own male or female slave and from that blow the slave has died, he shall be made guilty in judgment. If anyone has caused a woman to miscarry an unformed offspring ... he shall be put to death. If anyone has knocked out the eye or tooth of a slave, the slave shall be freed in compensation. (4) If a bull has killed a man, it shall be stoned; if its owner, knowing the beast's defect, has not taken precaution against it, he too shall be stoned, or let him redeem himself with a price, to the amount the accuser shall demand. If a bull has killed a slave, money shall be paid to the master in thirty didrachmas. If anyone has not covered a dug pit, and a beast has fallen into the pit, he shall give the price of the beast to its owner. If a bull has killed another's bull, the beast shall be sold and they shall share the price between the owners, and they shall also divide the one that was killed.

But if the owner, knowing the ox to be vicious, has not taken precautions, he shall surrender the ox. (6) If anyone steals a calf, he shall make fivefold restitution; if he steals a sheep, the penalty shall be fourfold; if the animals are found alive in the rustler's possession, he shall make twofold restitution. It is lawful to kill a thief by night, but not by day. If anyone's cattle have grazed down another's crops, the owner of the cattle shall make good the damage. If a deposit is lost, the one with whom it was deposited shall swear that he has done nothing fraudulently. A thief who is caught shall pay double. An entrusted animal seized by a wild beast shall not be made good. (7) If anyone violates a maiden not yet betrothed, he shall provide a dowry for the girl and so take her as his wife; if the girl's father refuses the marriage, the ravisher shall give the dowry.

If anyone couples with a beast, he shall be put to death. (8) Whoever sacrifices to idols shall perish. The widow and orphan are not to be oppressed; the poor debtor is not to be pressed hard, nor is interest to be demanded; the garment of a poor man is not to be taken as a pledge. The ruler of the people is not to be reviled. All firstborn are to be offered to God. Flesh taken by a wild beast is not to be eaten. Conspiracies to bear false witness for any kind of malice are not to be made. [You shall not pass by your enemy's straying animal, but shall lead it back. If you find your enemy's beast collapsed under its burden, you must help it up. (9) You shall not slay the innocent and the just. You shall not justify the wicked for the sake of bribes.] Bribes are not to be accepted. The stranger is to be treated kindly. Work is to be done for six days, and rest taken on the Sabbath.

The produce of the seventh year is not to be reaped, but left for the poor and needy. 19 (1) These, in sum, are the words of God which Moses reported to the people; and he set up an altar of twelve stones at the foot of the mountain. (2) Then again he ascended the mountain on which God was present, taking with him Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders. But these, unable to gaze upon the Lord, nevertheless saw the place where God stood; its wondrous form and surpassing brightness are recounted. Moses, however, summoned by God, entered the inner cloud which had stood about God, and is reported to have remained there forty days and as many nights. (3) During that time he was instructed by the words of God concerning the building of the tabernacle and the ark, and the manner of sacrificing;

But since these things seemed altogether lengthy, I did not think they should be inserted into so concise a work as this. (4) But while Moses delayed rather long, since he spent forty days with the Lord, the people, despairing of his return, compelled Aaron to make images. (5) Then from the molten metals there arose the head of a calf. When the people, forgetful of God, had offered sacrifices to it and given themselves over to wine and gluttony, God, beholding these things, in righteous indignation would have destroyed the wicked people, had He not been entreated by Moses. (6) But Moses, on returning—having brought down two stone tablets written by the hand of God—and finding the people given over to debauchery and sacrilege, shattered the tablets, judging the nation unworthy that the law of the Lord should be delivered to it.

Yet after sharply rebuking them, he gathered the Levites to himself and commanded them to draw their swords and cut down the people. By this onslaught twenty-three thousand men are reported to have been slain. (7) Then Moses set up the tabernacle outside the camp; and as often as he entered it, a pillar of cloud was seen to stand before the doors, and God spoke face to face with Moses. (8) But when Moses asked that he might see the Lord in His own majesty, the answer was that the form of God could not be perceived by mortal eyes, yet it was granted him to see His back parts; and the tablets which Moses had earlier shattered were renewed. But in this converse with God, Moses is reported to have remained with the Lord forty days.

(9) And when he came down from the mountain bearing the tablets, his face shone with such brightness that the people could not look upon him. But when he was about to report God's commands, he covered his face with a veil, and thus spoke to the people the words of God. In this place is recounted the tabernacle and the construction of its inner parts. When this was completed, a cloud descended from above (10) and so overshadowed the tabernacle that it shut out Moses himself from entering. These things, in sum, are contained in two books, Genesis and Exodus. 20 (1) Next follows the book of Leviticus, in which the precepts of offering sacrifice are delivered, and commands are also added to the law set forth above, all of it full of priestly ordinances. Whoever wishes to learn these will gain them more fully there.

For we, keeping to the measure of the work we have undertaken, pursue the narrative alone. (2) Therefore, when the tribe of Levi had been set apart for the priesthood, the remaining tribes were numbered, and six hundred three thousand five hundred men were found. (3) Now since the people fed on the food of manna, as we have related above, ungrateful as ever for so many and so great benefits of God, they longed for the worthless things to which they had grown accustomed in Egypt. (4) Then God brought an immense supply of quails into the camp; and as they greedily snatched at them, they perished with the meat scarcely brought to their lips. And there was a great slaughter in the camp that day, so that twenty-three thousand men are reported to have perished. Thus the people were punished by the very food they had craved. (5) From there the host advanced and came to Paran;

and Moses, instructed by God that the land whose possession God had promised them was near, sent spies into it; and it was reported back that the region was rich in every kind of plenty, but that the peoples were strong and the towns fortified with vast walls. (6) When this became known to the people, a great fear seized the minds of all; and they came to such a pitch of evil that, spurning Moses' command, they made ready to appoint a leader for themselves under whose guidance they might return to Egypt. (7) Then Joshua and Caleb, who had been among the spies of the land, with their garments torn, weeping, implored the people not to believe the spies who reported terrifying things; that they too had been with them, and had found nothing to be feared in that land;

(8) that they ought to trust in the promises of God, and that the enemies would be prey rather than destruction. But the untamed nation, stubbornly resisting sound counsels, was rushing to its own ruin. Moved by these things, God exposed a part of the people to be slaughtered by the enemies, while the spies were killed to strike terror into the multitude. 21 (1) There followed the insolence of those who, under the leadership of Dathan and Abiram, attempted to rise up against Moses and Aaron; but the earth swallowed them up alive in its chasm. (2) And not long after, a sedition arose among the whole people against Moses and Aaron, so much so that they burst into the tabernacle, which it was unlawful for any but the priests to enter. Then indeed death raged among them in droves;

and in a moment all would have perished, had not the Lord, appeased by the prayers of Moses, turned away the calamity. Yet the number of those slain was fourteen thousand seven hundred. (3) And not long after, on account of a scarcity of water—as had already happened rather often—a sedition of the people arose. Then Moses, warned by God to strike the rock with his rod—a method familiar to him, since he had already done so before—struck the rock once and again, and so water flowed out. In this very matter Moses is reported to have been censured by God, because through distrust he brought out the water only with a repeated blow; and finally, on account of this sin, he did not enter the promised land, as I shall show below.

(4) Therefore Moses, advancing from that place, when he prepared to lead the host past Edom, sent envoys to the king and asked leave to pass through, thinking he should refrain from war by reason of kinship of blood; for that nation was descended from Esau. But the king, scorning his suppliants, refused passage, ready to contend in arms. (5) Then Moses turned his march toward Mount Hor, keeping clear of the forbidden way, lest he furnish any cause of war among kinsmen; and in that course he destroyed the king of the nation of the Canaanites. He also struck down Sihon king of the Amorites and seized all their towns; he likewise conquered the kings Og of Bashan and Balak. He pitched camp upon the Jordan not far from Jericho. Then war was waged against the Midianites, and they were defeated and subdued.

(6) Moses died, having ruled over the people for forty years in the wilderness. Moreover, the Hebrews are reported to have remained in the desert for so long a time for this reason: until all who had not believed the words of God should perish. For except Joshua and Caleb, no one over twenty years old who had set out from Egypt crossed the Jordan. (7) That Moses himself only saw the promised land but did not reach it is ascribed to his sin, namely that at the time when he was commanded to strike the rock and bring forth water, after so many proofs of his own powers, he had doubted. (8) He died in the hundred and twentieth year of his age. Of the place of his burial little is known. 22 (1) When Moses had died, the chief power lay with Joshua son of Nun;

for indeed Moses had appointed him as his successor, a man most like himself in virtues. (2) At the outset of his assumed command, dispatching messengers through the camp, he made the people aware that they should prepare provisions, and he announced a march for the next three days. (3) But the river Jordan, exceedingly strong, prevented their crossing, since neither was there a supply of boats for the occasion, nor could the river be forded, as it was then flowing with a full channel. So he commanded that the ark be carried in front by the priests, and that they take their stand in the river facing the current; and when this was done, the Jordan is said to have been cut off; thus the host was led across on dry ground. (4) In these regions there was a town named Jericho, fortified with very strong walls and not easy either to storm or to besiege.

But Joshua, relying on God and not assaulting the city with arms or force, commanded the ark of God to be carried around the walls and the priests to go before the ark and sound the trumpet. And when the ark had been carried around seven times, the walls and towers fell down, and the town was plundered and burned. (5) Then Joshua is reported... Thence the army was led against Ai, and with an ambush set behind the city, Joshua, feigning fear, turned his back to the enemy. Seeing this, those who were in the town, with the gates open, pressed upon the retreating men. Thus those who had been in the ambush took the empty city, and all were slain without any escaping; the king was captured and subjected to the utmost punishment. 23 (1) When this became known to the kings of the neighboring nations, they conspired in war to drive off the Hebrews by arms.

But the Gibeonites, a strong nation from a wealthy city, of their own accord surrendered themselves to the Hebrews, promising to do what was commanded, and were received into a covenant; it was commanded that they should gather wood and water. (2) But their surrender had provoked the wrath of the kings of the neighboring cities. So, bringing up their forces, they laid siege around the Gibeonites' town named Gibeah. The townsmen, therefore, in their straitened circumstances, sent messengers to Joshua, that he might come to the aid of the besieged. (3) Thus he, hastening his march, came upon them unawares, and many thousands of the enemy were cut down to annihilation. When the day was failing the slayers and the night seemed likely to be a protection to the conquered, the Hebrew leader, by the merit of his faith, turned back the night and prolonged the day; thus there was no escape for the enemy. Five kings were captured and put to death.

By the same onslaught the neighboring cities too were added to his rule, and their kings slain. (4) But since it was not my plan to pursue all these things in order, while we strive for brevity, we have taken care to note only this: that twenty-nine kingdoms were subjected to the rule of the Hebrews; and their land was distributed man by man among eleven tribes. For to the Levites, who were taken into the priesthood, no portion was given, that they might serve God more freely. (5) Indeed, I would not pass over this example in silence, and I would gladly press it for the reading of the ministers of the churches. For they seem to me not only forgetful of this precept, but even ignorant of it; so great in our time has the lust of possessing crept upon their minds like a wasting disease.

They gape after possessions, cultivate estates, brood over gold, buy and sell, and in all things are eager for gain. (6) But if any seem of a better resolve, neither owning nor trading—which is far more shameful—they sit waiting for gifts, and hold all the honor of their life corrupted by hire, while they offer up holiness as though it were for sale. (7) But I have digressed farther than I wished, while the times we live in disgust and weary me; I return to my undertaking. Therefore, as I said above, the conquered soil having been divided among the tribes, the Hebrews enjoyed the deepest peace, while their neighbors, terrified by war, were unwilling to try in arms a people renowned for so many victories. (8) In the same period Joshua died, in the hundred and tenth year of his age. But concerning the duration of his rule I make little definite statement;

yet it is the common opinion that he ruled the Hebrews for twenty-seven years. If this is so, from the beginning of the world to his death there are three thousand eight hundred and eighty-four years. 24 (1) When Joshua had died, the people acted without a leader. But when war had to be waged against the Canaanites, Judah was chosen as leader of the war. Under his leadership affairs were prosperously conducted; there was the utmost ease both at home and in war; the people held sway over the nations subdued or received by surrender. (2) Thence, as always tends to happen in prosperity, the people, forgetful of morals and discipline, began to take wives from the conquered, gradually to adopt foreign customs, and soon to sacrifice to idols with profane rite; so utterly pernicious is all fellowship with foreigners.

These things God, foreseeing long beforehand, had instructed the Hebrews by a salutary response: that they should put the conquered nations to annihilation. But the people, eager for dominion, preferred to rule the conquered even at their own peril. (3) Therefore, when, having forsaken God, they worshiped idols, deprived of divine aid, they were overcome and subdued by the king of Mesopotamia and bore captivity for eight years, until, restored to liberty under the leadership of Othniel, they held power for fifty years. (4) And again, corrupted by the evil of a long peace, they sacrificed to idols. And soon punishment was at hand for the sinners; defeated by Eglon king of the Moabites, they were enslaved for eighteen years, until, by the prompting of God, Ehud slew the enemy king by guile and, having mustered a hastily gathered army, vindicated their liberty by arms.

He ruled the Hebrews in peace for eighty years. To him succeeded Shamgar; and he, engaging against the Philistines, fought a battle with favorable outcome. (5) And again, when the Hebrews followed idols, a king of the Canaanites named Jabin subjugated them and exercised a most grievous dominion over them for twenty years, until the woman Deborah restored their former state. So utterly was there no hope in their leaders, that they were defended by a woman's aid. Although this was set forth beforehand as a type of the Church, by whose aid captivity is driven off. (6) Under this leader, or judge, the Hebrews remained for forty years. And again, on account of their sins, handed over to the Midianites, they were held under a harsh rule, and, afflicted by the evil of servitude, they implored divine aid.

Thus, always in prosperity forgetful of the heavenly benefits, they supplicated idols, but in adversity, God. (7) Hence, when I am wont to ponder in my mind that the people, bound by so many benefits of God, restrained by so many disasters when they sinned, having experienced both the mercy and the severity of God, were in no way amended, and, though they always received pardon for their error, always sinned after pardon, it can seem no wonder that Christ was not received by them, since from the very beginning they are found to be so often rebellious against the Lord; and it is rather a wonder that, though they always sinned, the clemency of God never failed them whenever they implored Him.

25 (1) Therefore, when the Midianites lorded it over them, as we related above, having turned to the Lord and earnestly begging the accustomed mercy, they obtained it. (2) There was among the Hebrews a certain man named Gideon, a just man, dear to God and acceptable. To him, as he was returning home from the field of harvest, an angel stood by and said, 'The Lord is with you, mighty in valor.' (3) But he, in a lowly voice, lamented that God was not within him, since he wept as he recalled that captivity oppressed the people, and the mighty deeds of the Lord who had led them out of the land of Egypt. (4) Then the angel said, 'Go in this spirit in which you have spoken, and rescue the people from captivity.' But he refused, saying that, with the strength of his people broken, while he himself was the least, he could undertake so great a burden.

The angel persisted, that he should not doubt that what God spoke could be done. (5) Having completed a sacrifice and overthrown the altar which the Midianites had consecrated to the idol of Baal, he set out to his own people and pitched camp facing the enemy's camp. But the nation of Amalek too had joined itself to the Midianites; yet Gideon had prepared an army of no more than thirty-two thousand. (6) But before he engaged, God spoke to him, saying that this multitude which he wished to lead into battle was too great; that the Hebrews, by their habitual faithlessness, would ascribe the outcome of the fight not to God but to their own strength; and so he should give those who wished it permission to depart. When this was made known to the people, twenty-two thousand withdrew from the camp.

But of the ten thousand who had remained, warned by God, he kept no more than three hundred; (7) the rest he dismissed from arms. Thus, having entered the enemy's camp at midnight, with all commanded to sound the trumpet, he struck great terror into them; and no one had the courage to resist; in shameful flight they slipped away wherever each could. But as the Hebrews met them on every side, they fell as they fled in all directions. Gideon pursued the kings beyond the Jordan and, having seized them, put them to death. In that battle one hundred and twenty thousand of the enemy are reported to have been slain, and fifteen thousand captured. (8) Then by the consent of all it was offered to Gideon that he should be prince of the people. But he, scorning it, preferred to live among the citizens by common right rather than to rule over his own.

When therefore the captivity which had held the people for seven years had been driven off, there was peace for forty years. 26 (1) But when Gideon had died, his son Abimelech, born of a concubine, having killed his brothers—with all the basest men consenting and especially the chiefs of the Shechemites lending their effort—seized the kingship. (2) And he, harassed by civil discords, while he was pressing his own people with war, set about to storm a certain tower into which those fleeing from the lost town had withdrawn; and as he approached too incautiously, struck by a stone thrown by a woman, he perished, having held power for three years. (3) To him succeeded Tola, who held the rule for twenty-two years.

After him came Jair, who, when he likewise had held the principate for twenty-two years, the people, having forsaken God, gave themselves over to idols. And on account of this the Israelites were subdued by the Philistines and Ammonites, and were under their rule for eighteen years. (4) At which time, when they called upon God, the divine response was returned that they should rather call upon their images, for He would no longer grant mercy to the ungrateful. But they, weeping, confessed their fault and begged for pardon, and, casting away their idols and imploring God, obtained the mercy that had been denied. (5) Therefore, with Jephthah as leader, they assembled in great numbers to vindicate their liberty by arms, having first sent envoys to the king of Ammon, that, content with his own borders, he should refrain from war.

But he, not refusing battle, drew up his line. Then Jephthah, before the signal for battle was given, is said to have vowed that, if he fought successfully, whoever first met him on his return he would give as a victim to God. (6) Thus, when the enemy had been conquered and he was returning home, his daughter came to meet him, who had gone forth joyfully with timbrels and dances to greet her father the victor. Then Jephthah, dismayed, with his garments torn in grief, made known to his daughter the necessity of his vow. But she, with no womanly steadfastness, not refusing to die, asked only for the space of two months of life, that she might first see her companions. When this was done, she returned of her own accord to her father, and he rendered the vow to God. (7) Jephthah held the principate for six years.

To him succeeded Ibzan, and, his rule passing in tranquil affairs, he died in the seventh year. After him Elon the Zebulonite held power for ten years, and likewise Abdon for eight years; in the time of peace they brought forth nothing that history might tell. 27 (1) Again the Israelites, turned to idols and deprived of divine protection, were made subject to the Philistines and paid the penalties of their faithlessness through forty years of captivity. (2) At that season Samson is reported to have been born. His mother, long barren, saw an angel, and it was told her that she should abstain from wine and strong drink and unclean things; that she would bear a boy who would be the vindicator of liberty and the avenger of the enemies. Thus the woman, having brought forth the boy, gave him the name Samson.